Washingtonblade.com, Volume 51, Issue 12, March 20, 2020

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LGBTQ workers hit hard by coronavirus closings in area Emergency legislation passed by D.C. Council aimed at helping displaced employees

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com With LGBTQ people believed to make up a disproportionately high percentage of hospitality industry workers, the coronavirus related shutdown of onsite operations at D.C. area bars, restaurants, and nightclubs and the dramatic drop in people staying at hotels will have an especially severe impact on LGBTQ workers, according to sources familiar with the industry.

An updated emergency directive issued

by Mayor Muriel Bowser on Monday requiring all city restaurants and bars to temporarily end onsite service and convert to carry-out only establishments has resulted in the closing of all of the city’s 13 gay bars for in-house patrons and has led to a major cut back in the operations of two D.C. restaurants with a largely LGBTQ clientele – Annie’s and Duplex Diner.

In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan issued an emergency order similar to Bowser’s calling for the on-site closing of all restaurants, bars, and nightclubs as well as the full closing of other establishments such as gyms, health spas and theaters.

Although Virginia had not put in place an order to close restaurants and bars as of Wednesday, the Arlington gay bar Freddie’s Beach Bar, which also operates as a restaurant, announced it too would convert to a carry-out only establishment.

Its owner, gay businessman Freddie Lutz, said he has also temporarily converted his other nearby restaurant Federico’s into a carryout only establishment.

D.C. gay nightlife advocates Mark Lee and Dito Sevilla said the coronavirus related developments would have a far greater impact on LGBTQ workers than just the closings of the LGBTQ clubs.

The two said a large number of LGBTQ people in the D.C. metro area, including the Virginia and Maryland suburbs, work in service industry jobs at hotels as well as bars and restaurants not specifically catering to an LGBTQ clientele.

“D.C. bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and entertainment venues are in a world of hurt now that all on premise activity has been halted as part of the city’s coronavirus prevention effort,” said Lee, who serves as coordinator of the D.C. Nightlife Council, a

local trade association representing bars, restaurants and nightclubs among other entertainment venues.

“The personal toll for out-of-work staff, however, is a great hardship among the nearly 65,000 industry workers,” Lee said.

“Employed residents working from home still have paychecks rolling in, but nightlife and hospitality service professionals do not,” he said. “A disproportionate number of these workers are LGBT and literally don’t know how they’re going to make their mortgage or rent payments, pay their bills, or afford groceries.”

Sevilla, a longtime bartender at the 17th Street, N.W. restaurant Floriana, said he has learned of an informal survey that found as many as 30 percent of LGBTQ residents in D.C. work in the hospitality industry.

“I absolutely believe it’s at least 30 percent,” said Sevilla, who said he bases this assumption on his own observation from years of interaction with the local LGBTQ community. “So for us gays this is a major problem. It’s unprecedented with this many people out of work and without income.”

Sevilla and Lee said they were hopeful that an emergency bill approved unanimously on Tuesday by the D.C. City Council to address the impact of the coronavirus on the city’s economy would provide some relief for displaced LGBTQ workers.

Among other things, the legislation, which Mayor Bowser signed, makes it easier for temporarily displaced workers to immediately receive unemployment benefits from the city and expands eligibility to most self-employed and independent contract workers. It also prohibits evictions and the disconnection of electric, gas, and water service during a public health emergency.

In addition, the legislation creates a small business grant program to provide financial assistance to businesses that may include the city’s struggling LGBT bars and clubs. Bowser said the U.S. Small Business Administration has also accepted D.C.’s official declaration for assistance in the form of economic injury disaster loans due to the coronavirus outbreak. LGBT clubs could be eligible for those loans.

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JR.’s is among the local gay bars that have closed due to coronavirus.

(Blade photo by Michael Key)

David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay sports bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar League of Her Own, created a GoFundMe page linked to his bars’ website to help his temporarily unemployed staff.

“With the closing of Pitchers/League of Her Own we have staff that will go without income until we open again,” he said in a message on the GoFundMe site. “The money will go to the people who solely rely on the bars to make a living,” Perruzza said, adding that he will not accept any of the money for himself.

At least two other gay bars, Nellie’s sports bar and Dirty Goose, located in the U Street, N.W. entertainment district, appealed to their customers on their Facebook page to consider offering “tips” to their temporarily laid off employees through Venmo.

Jeffrey DeWitt, D.C.’s Chief Financial Officer, pointed out at a news conference called by Bowser that the hospitality industry accounts for 30 to 50 percent of the city’s sales tax revenue which comes to about $787 million in a normal year. He said the industry makes up about 14 percent of the city’s employment and provides about 8 percent of D.C.’s income tax revenue.

In noting the potential seriousness of the Coronavirus impact on the city, DeWitt said if the coronavirus crisis doesn’t subside in the near future the city would have to cut $500 million from its 2020 spending and the city could face an unemployment rate of between 15 and 20 percent.

Cancellations, postponements continue SMYAL announced on Tuesday that it would move all of its youth programs normally carried out at its headquarters at 410 7th St., S.E. on Capitol Hill to “virtual platforms.” In a statement, it said “SMYAL is intentional about continuing to offer vital support for LGBTQ youth while mitigating risk by moving programs and service navigation online through Zoom, text, Q Chat Space, phone, and email.”

National Cannabis Festival: The 5th Annual National Cannabis Festival originally scheduled for April 18 at the grounds surrounding D.C.’s RFK Stadium has been postponed and rescheduled for Sept.

19 at the same location. In an announcement this week organizers said all purchases for the April date will be honored for the rescheduled date in September.

AIDS/LifeCycle cancelled: Organizers of AIDS/LifeCycle, the annual seven-day, 545-mile fundraising bicycle journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles scheduled for May 31-June 6, has been cancelled “in order to protect vulnerable communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Bicyclists from the D.C. area were expected to participate in the event.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which organize the marathon bike ride, urged those who planned to participate in the ride to conduct individual fundraising for AIDS related cause and to consider joining the 2021 AIDS/ LifeClycle ride.

Visit washingtonblade.com for an updated list of cancellations and postponements.

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Coronavirus leaves LGBTQ elders particularly vulnerable Years of discrimination lead to anxiety, isolation for many

By PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN

During the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, D.C.’s Salon Roi remained open while other shops shut down due to the epidemic. But coronavirus has forced former owner Roi Barnard to put down his shears to protect himself and his community.

“My goal is to take very good care of others, such as my clients at Salon Roi who are older,” the 82-year-old gay stylist told the Blade. “We are holding each other up and I am being as careful for them as they are for me.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, coronavirus is a respiratory illness first identified in a December outbreak in Wuhan, China.

It spreads easily from person to person through small droplets expelled during coughs or sneezes.

The World Health Organization as of Wednesday reported more than 200,000 confirmed cases globally with a death toll of more than 8,200. Nearly 3,500 of those cases are in the U.S. with 114 deaths reported so far. The virus has hit Washington state the hardest with 41 deaths, most occurring at the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland.

CDC guidance regarding high-risk populations states, “Older people with severe chronic conditions should take special precautions because they are at higher risk of developing serious COVID-19 illness.”

LGBTQ elders, like Barnard and many others of the “Stonewall Generation,” survived decades of historic repression, trauma and epidemic; however, this new threat is stalking them at a far more vulnerable time in their lives.

“It’s the history of discrimination, it’s the history of unemployment — all of this has impacted how they age,” David Vincent, chief program officer for SAGE, an LGBTQ senior advocacy and services organization, told the Blade. “They often don’t have a community that will take care of them.”

Last December, Stonewall House, New York’s first LGBTQ-friendly affordable senior housing, opened to fill the growing needs of this aging generation. This complex follows the model of Philadelphia’s LGBTQfriendly John C. Anderson Apartments and

others like it being established around the country.

Vincent pointed out the lingering economic impact LGBTQ seniors continue to live with as a result of being fired for being gay and other discriminatory policies such as the military’s former “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy and the continued ban on open transgender service.

Additionally, many faced other forms of harassment, such as arrests and legal restrictions against marrying or adopting children. The result is they are now socially and economically as well as medically vulnerable in their senior years.

These historical realities, coupled with the loss of peers during the AIDS crisis, means LGBTQ seniors are particularly vulnerable to isolation and loneliness. This is one factor not mentioned in the open letter to U.S. public health officials released on March 11 by more than 100 LGBTQaffirming organizations when assessing the increased risk LGBTQ individuals, particularly seniors, face when confronting the coronavirus.

“These are very vulnerable, very low income individuals,” Vincent said. “They come to us not only for socialization … they come to us for a meal.”

And this can be a problem in cities with infrastructures stressed by a global crisis.

With 950 reported cases so far reported in New York, the state has taken extreme measures, like much of the country, including the closure of LGBTQ community centers that serve as a medical, nutritional and emotional lifeline to many LGBTQ seniors without other support.

“In New York City, we run five senior centers,” said SAGE Senior Communications Director Christina Da Costa. “Some of these folks not only depend on the centers for social programming, but also for nutritional purposes. For some, this is the one meal a day they receive.”

“When we closed our state centers, we did so with a heavy heart,” Vincent added.

“We knew it would impact the social system for our seniors.”

But he felt the seriousness of the current situation left them with little choice.

“We knew it was detrimental to their

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health to be in such a large public setting,” he explained.

Similarly, in Maryland, Elizabeth Weglein, CEO of the Elizabeth Cooney Care Network, which specializes in LGBTQfriendly senior services, is facing tough choices during this current crisis.

“Social isolation was already the highest risk for seniors, even surpassing heart disease and cancer,” Weglein said. “This forced isolationism is causing unprecedented anxiety.”

Weglein told of a senior who called her network to say he had all of the coronavirus symptoms, but refused any medical care.

“After working with him, we realized he was just extremely fearful of having anyone with him and felt all alone at the same time,” she explained. “Ultimately, he is stable and well, but his mental health well-being is unbalanced and stressed due to the current heightened COVID-19 environment.”

Mark Segal, an over-65 gay man in Philadelphia who is fortunate to have his husband with him during this period of social restriction for seniors, was surprised when a medical provider discriminated against him in a way that is similar to what gay men faced during the AIDS crisis.

“Fear breeds discrimination,” he said, upset by a doctor’s office staff who refused to treat him, or anyone else 65 and over because of what they understood to be CDC guidelines, “but they were wrong.”

Segal said he was scheduled to have a nonemergency outpatient procedure to relieve two herniated disks and “a sciatic nerve issue” on Monday.

He told the Blade the doctor called him the night before to confirm his appointment.

But as a sign of quickly changing situations due to the virus, the doctor’s office called him on Monday morning and abruptly cancelled the procedure.

“They told me they weren’t treating anyone over 65,” he said, still surprised. “I asked what about someone who was 64 and in bad health. They said that person would be treated, but not someone who was 65 and in good health … This is age discrimination.”

Part of Segal’s hurt arose from memories about doctors decades ago turning patients

ROI BARNARD on the roof of his business Salon Roi. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

away because they were gay and assumed to have HIV or AIDS, “Now, they turn me away because I’m old,” said Segal.

Even though many of the support systems LGBTQ seniors like Segal and others turn to are closed, Vincent says there are ways the younger LGBTQ community can help.

“Reach out to an LGBT elder and see if they are doing OK,” Vincent said. “Can you pick something up at the store for them?

They are not supposed to leave home for the next six to eight weeks. Maybe pick up their medication at the pharmacy and drop it off at someone’s doorstep. Think local community. Maybe even watch ‘Ellen’ with someone over the phone. That’s a nice way to stay connected.”

He also recommends for seniors to check in with their friends to make sure they are OK, again even if it is by phone or social media during this crisis. This is what Segal is doing.

“I have been in my house since last Thursday with my husband and we both are symptom free,” he said, though he realizes others his age or older aren’t so fortunate.

“There will be a time that this, too, will be in the rear view mirror,” Segal said confidently. “And just like AIDS, we learn from it.”

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Coronavirus devastates LGBTQ travel industry The coronavirus has inflicted a serious blow to the LGBTQ travel industry.

Atlantis Events, which caters to gay men, has cancelled a cruise on the Celebrity Summit that was scheduled to leave San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 21, and would have made stops in St. Maarten, Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao before returning to Puerto Rico on March 28.

Virgin Voyages has postponed Atlantis Events’ Virgin Caribbean Cruise that was to have departed from Miami on May 31. The cruise was scheduled to sail to Key West, Fla., Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico and Bimini in the Bahamas before returning to Miami.

Atlantis Events Vice President of Marketing Jim Cone on Monday told the Blade in an email the company’s Club Atlantis Resort in the Mexican resort city of Cancún The iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris is among the “is still scheduled to operate as planned” on world’s many tourist attractions that remain April 25. closed.

Media reports that emerged last week before Atlantis Events cancelled its Southern Caribbean Cruise indicate customers who cancelled their reservations were unable to receive refunds.

“We are currently working on accommodating our guests with options relative to cancellations,” Cone told the Blade. “Once we have this updated information I’ll be able to share.”

Olivia Travel, a company that caters to lesbian travelers, has a cruise on a Holland America ship that is scheduled to leave San Diego on April 23 and make stops in Santa Barbara; Calif., San Francisco; Astoria, Ore.; and Seattle before arriving in Vancouver on April 29.

Holland America has suspended operations through April 14.

Olivia Travel Strategic Marketing Director Maggie Beaumier on Monday told the Blade during a telephone interview from San Francisco that “everything is still in flux.”

“We are addressing this trip by trip,” said Beaumier.

Beaumier told the Blade that Olivia Travel is also “proactively reaching out to our guests.”

“It’s a very complex situation,” added Beaumier.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday said there are at least 200,000 coronavirus cases in more than 100 countries. Statistics also indicate the virus has killed 6,606 people around the world, with 1,808 of the reported deaths in Italy.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday announced his country will close its borders to anyone who is not a citizen, permanent resident or an American. Germany, El Salvador and Kenya are among the dozens of other countries that have also their closed their borders in an effort to curb coronavirus’ spread.

The State Department on Sunday issued an advisory that Americans should “reconsider travel abroad” because of coronavirus.

“Many areas throughout the world are now experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks and taking action that may limit traveler mobility, including quarantines and border restrictions,” it reads.

“Even countries, jurisdictions, or areas where cases have not been reported may restrict travel without notice.”

The State Department on March 9 also urged Americans not to travel on cruise ships.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

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ICE urged to release those at risk for coronavirus Several LGBTQ advocacy groups on Tuesday called for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release all detainees in its custody and to close all of its detention centers because of coronavirus.

“People in ICE custody are vulnerable to getting COVID-19 given the close proximity of detained people to each other,” reads a press release the Transgender Law Center, the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement issued. “ICE officers, guards and other staff are also likely to transmit the virus.”

“Worldwide, epidemiologists are advising social distancing as a way to mitigate the spread of the novel COVID-19,” say the groups. “Prisons, jails and detention centers cannot accommodate this advice.

Solitary confinement further impedes access to necessary medical care. Given ICE’s history of inadequate treatment and the recent deaths of eight immigrants in ICE custody in the last five months, it is clear that ICE is not ready nor equipped to handle a COVID-19 outbreak in any of its facilities.”

Immigration Equality Executive Director Aaron Morris on Tuesday told the Blade during a telephone interview that ICE should release detainees with HIV/AIDS on parole because of the threat of coronavirus.

“Any communicable disease that is introduced into a detention facility spreads way faster than in the general population,” said Morris. “People are sandwiched in there.

They are over-populated. They have no privacy and that is just a recipe for disaster.”

Roxsana Hernández, a transgender Honduran woman with HIV, was in ICE custody in New Mexico when she died on May 25, 2018. Johana “Joa” Medina Leon, a transgender Salvadoran woman who was also living with HIV, died at a Texas hospital on June 1, 2019, three days after ICE released her from its custody.

A group of more than two dozen trans women who were in ICE custody at the Cibola County Correctional Center, a privately run detention center in Milan, N.M., in a letter they sent to Trans Queer Pueblo, a Phoenix-based group that advocates on behalf of undocumented LGBTQ immigrants, last summer noted detainees with HIV did not receive “adequate” medical attention. Hernández was in ICE custody at the detention center before her death.

The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator concluded Hernández died from Castleman disease associated with AIDS. Arianna Lint, chief executive officer of Arianna’s Center, a South Florida organization that serves trans women, on Tuesday said ICE should also release trans women with HIV as a way to protect them from coronavirus.

“We are at the most risk,” Lint told the Blade during a telephone interview.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Md., Ohio primaries postponed until June Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday announced the state’s April 28 primary will now take place on June 2.

Hogan, however, said the special election to fill the late-U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings’ seat in Maryland’s 7th Congressional District will take place on April 28 as scheduled by mail.

“I have two main priorities,” Hogan at a press conference in Annapolis. “Keeping Marylanders safe and protecting their constitutional right to vote.”

The governor announced the Maryland State Board of Elections must develop a plan

by April 3 to conduct the primary in a way to address coronavirus concerns and prevent further spread of the disease.

Kweisi Mfume, a former Democratic congressman and former NAACP president, is competing against Republican Kimberly

Klacik to serve out the rest of Cummings’ term that ends in January 2021.

In the Baltimore mayoral race, state Sen. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City), the state’s first openly LGBTQ person of color elected to the Maryland Senate, has suspended her campaign to focus on statewide efforts to combat the coronavirus spread.

Meanwhile, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine defied a court ruling late Monday and announced that the state’s health department would order all polling stations to close for Tuesday’s election to protect voters and staffers from COVID-19, according to media reports. Ohio’s primary will likely be rescheduled for June.

PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN

Dr. Anthony Fauci: From reviled to revered Target of ACT UP protests in ‘90s wins praise for coronavirus response

By CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading voice of medical authority as the world confronts the coronavirus, is no stranger to viral epidemics — nor protesters who once displayed him in effigy in frustration amid new infections and rising death tolls.

At the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the early 1990s, Fauci was at the frontlines as director of the National Institutes of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, a role he began in 1984 and continues to this day. During that time, Fauci’s research contributed to the understanding of HIV’s destruction of the immune system and therapy that has significantly contained the disease in more recent years.

Now, as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Fauci has provided sage advice, calmed fears, and — at times — acted as voice of accountability for the Trump administration amid efforts to contain COVID-19.

As the coronavirus epidemic began to unfold, Fauci himself compared the situation to the early days of the HIV epidemic — as well as other diseases — because “there’s still a lot that’s unknown.“ “It’s not that different than the very early years of the HIV epidemic, of the anthrax attacks, of the concern about the pre-pandemic bird flu,” Fauci said March 9 on CNN’s “New Day.” “Everything has a little bit of a different twist to it. It’s not exactly the same, but there’s always that uncertainty that gets people very anxious.”

Under Fauci’s leadership, NIH in 1987 developed AZT, or zidovudine, the first antiretroviral approved for the treatment of HIV, although the epidemic continued.

After more research, when combinations of drugs were seen to be effective against HIV, NIH cleared the way for more effective therapy in 1996.

Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV & Hepatitis Policy Institute, was among the advocates fighting HIV/AIDS who hailed Fauci’s work both then and now.

“No one does a better job at explaining and conquering infectious diseases, whether it is HIV/AIDS or coronavirus, than Tony Fauci,” Schmid said.

But it wasn’t always a happy relationship with HIV/AIDS activists. As the HIV/AIDS epidemic raged and continued to the claim the lives of thousands of gay men, Fauci was the target of activists who

accused him of not moving quickly with new medicines to fight the disease.

ACT UP, the grassroots network that held “die-in” protests to draw attention to mass fatalities from HIV/AIDS amid silence from the U.S. government, held a massive demonstration at the National Institutes of Health on April 21, 1990, as reported at the time by the Washington Blade and published in a subsequent article now available in the archives.

According to the article, written by veteran Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro, Jr., more than 1,000 demonstrators marched through the sprawling grounds of the NIH “using placards, costumes, bull horns and red-colored tape to draw attention to their demand for faster government action on AIDS research programs.”

One photo taken at the event by the Blade — but never published until now — shows three protesters dressed in black robes and skull masks in the style of the Grim Reaper.

The three hold a large coffin-like box with letters reading, “Fauci: Resign Now — Release Compound: O.” Another holds a sign reading, “120,000 AIDS Deaths, Courtesy NIH.” Another holds up a pole within a bloody head mask on top and a sign underneath designating the effigy as “Fauci.”

“Scores of drugs and alternative treatments languish untested while more than 200 new cases of AIDS are diagnosed each day,” stated ACT UP in papers distributed at the demonstration.

Police reportedly arrested 61 protesters during the four-hour demonstration and charged them with trespassing, including five members of ACT UP/D.C. Following the demonstration, Fauci reportedly said he was sympathetic to ACT UP’s cause, but believes its allegations were untrue. Further, Fauci was quoted as saying NIH implemented recent changes to direct more resources to fight infections diseases like HIV/AIDS. A chief critic of Fauci was Larry Kramer, a longtime HIV/AIDS activist who helped found ACT UP in the late 1980s and remains hostile to this day. As recently as 2015, Kramer in an op-ed for The Advocate faulted Fauci for failing to live up to his promise to find a cure for HIV infection. (Kramer didn’t respond to

ACT UP protest at the National Institutes of Health on April 21, 1990.

(Washington Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

a Blade email this week to comment on Fauci’s approach to the coronavirus.)

Kramer’s harsh words may be persiflage. Fauci was quoted in a 2012 article in the New Yorker about Larry Kramer as saying he’s come to regard the activist as a friend, crediting his work with instituting a major change in medicine against infectious diseases.

But to say the relationship between HIV/AIDS activists and Fauci was entirely frosty would be inaccurate. On Dec. 22, 1990, also as reported by the Blade, when President George H.W. Bush met with gay men with AIDS at NIH, Fauci was among those who took part in the discussion.

Also at the meeting was first lady Barbara Bush and George Bush, Jr., otherwise known as future President George W. Bush. It was the first time “a sitting U.S. president formally met with open gays,” the Blade reported at the time.

The presidential party, Fauci reportedly said, listened to the gay men in attendance and sat in on a support sessions for people undertaking NIH’s experimental AIDS drug trials. Some of the men had HIV, some had developed AIDS, the Blade reported.

The elder Bush shook hands with each of the men and presented them with a commemorative presidential tie pin, according to the Blade.

“He was really touched,” Fauci was quoted as saying. “This was not just a formality. He was really interested.”

The meeting, Fauci reportedly said, was open to the White House press corps

and news photographers took photos of the elder Bush shaking hands with the men.

“But much to his disappointment, Fauci said, almost all the photos appearing in the nation’s daily newspapers the next day were of a different part of the NIH visit — when the president cradled babies with AIDS in the NIH pediatric ward,” the Blade reported.

Asia Russell, executive director of the New York-based group HealthGAP, was among the HIV/AIDS activists at the time and told the Blade this week that work was responsible for pushing Fauci into supporting the community.

“Dr. Fauci has been the target of AIDS activists’ campaigns and protests in the past, and those protests delivered results — they helped him see how access to the benefits of science is not neutral, it’s driven, or hindered, by politics, and that remains true today,” Russell said.

Thirty years after the massive protest at NIH, the nature of the virus inspiring fear among the public and responsible for the deaths of thousands worldwide has changed, but Fauci’s work has not.

Russell said Fauci in his role within the White House Coronavirus Task Force has brought to the fore shortcomings in the Trump administration’s approach to COVID-19, which she said “has been a disgrace.”

“It’s an embarrassment that Dr. Fauci, a trusted voice in public health, has to testify before Congress and make the rounds on the Sunday shows to contradict the lies the president is telling,” Russell said.

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LA mayor to LGBTQ community: ‘Be leaders, save lives’ Garcetti on small biz assistance, social distancing

By KAREN OCAMB

LOS ANGELES — The LGBTQ community is not invisible to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has been a strong ally for decades. He is keenly aware that his emergency order to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is an inconvenience – but one that will save lives, not overwhelm hospitals and not crash the unprepared system of healthcare.

“I know this is an anxious time for a lot of people, but Angelenos should stay focused on preparation and protection — not panic,” Garcetti said Sunday issuing his directive ordering temporary restrictions on restaurants, bars, gyms, and other gathering spots in the City of Los Angeles. “We will continue doing everything we can to help guide people through this situation, and working closely with our local, state, and federal partners to keep our communities safe, aware, and informed.”

“Unlike past emergencies where we’ve had heroic first responders, each one of us is a first responder,” Garcetti tells the Los Angeles Blade in a March 16 phone interview. “It’s a different mindset to think that it’s not just a firefighter or a police officer who might save my life — it’s now literally me.

We’ve got so many people, we know them even today, while most people are abiding by our mandate, we all have friends who are saying, ‘I’m young, I’m healthy, even if I get it, it’s not going to be too much’ — and they’re not practicing safe practices,” meaning the precautions recommended by the CDC to vigorously wash hands and follow “social distance.”

“That isn’t just a threat to them, that’s a threat to people they know, people they love, people they interact with. We all have seniors who we know and love and in our family we have people who are fighting diseases and are immunocompromised,” says Garcetti.

“In the LGBTQ community, we have practice with that. But now is a moment when in these two weeks, we’ll either push the curve out and flatten it or it will spike and the severity of deaths, the damage to our economy, the length of this crisis is literally in our hands and those hands shouldn’t be touching other people.”

Last year, LA became the largest municipality to formally include LGBTQ businesses in their contracts. Nationally,

Los Angeles Mayor ERIC GARCETTI (Screen capture via YouTube)

LGBTQ businesses contribute $1.7 trillion to the U.S. economy, generate, on average, $2,475,642 in revenue, and create more than 33,000 jobs, according to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Garcetti is aware of the need by LGBTQ and minority businesses to stay afloat, that the impact of the coronavirus on LGBTQ and other businesses could be devastating.

“We’re pennies on the dollar, compared to the federal government,” Garcetti tells the Blade. “But we are looking at this week putting out a small business assistance program that would just be a bridge loan to folks, just like payroll, to keep their rent going, to basically stay alive and what we hope will be something lasting weeks and not months.”

Garcetti says the city has been very aggressively “pushing everything from helping workers of those business, which relieves those businesses, expanded EITC help from the state where they could maybe double down on the EITC tax credit that they pay families who are eligible.”

Garcetti says “it’d be no more than a billion dollars of the state and we have a six billion dollar surplus to be able to pay those workers. Obviously, helping out businesses too. We’re exploring an amendment where we could have a commercial eviction moratorium without being on the line with every landlord for quote unquote ‘lost business.’”

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There’s been help for both renters and residential evictions. “But could we do that for small businesses as well? I’ve asked the city attorney to explore that,” he says. “In terms of outreach specifically to the LGBTQ community and businesses — everybody would be eligible for this and I think as we’ve done with the city, we’ve have a careful eye towards making sure that that information gets out quickly within communities that are more vulnerable and communities that have more small businesses. So I think we’ll have that program rolling by tomorrow — Wednesday I think at the latest.”

Garcetti is looking at how to help alleviate the span of needs, including creating the LA Emergency COVID-19 Crisis Fund through the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles.

“Obviously, we’re looking for places where people can get rehired. We’ve looking for places where people can donate to help with those small businesses and the most vulnerable workers and that’s up and running at Corona-virus.LA, where people can donate now,” Garcetti says. “We hope to have already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help out and we’ll put a big chunk of that to businesses assistance.”

Hunger is a major issue. “I worked very closely with Katherine Berger, chair of [LA County Board of Supervisors] and there were rumors that Meals on Wheels was going to suspend. It’s quite the opposite,” he says.

“We’re ramping those up further. Our senior

meals program, which was usually done in rec centers, is now going to go towards delivery to seniors so that they can protect themselves and stay in their homes during this critical few weeks period.”

Garcetti had a special message for the LGBTQ community.

“This community has been through tougher days than this and the most important thing is to not only be resilient but to be calm,” he says. “There is plenty of food, not just for today or tomorrow, but for months. The overwhelming majority of people are going to not only make it through this but we will come back, but we can be leaders.

“The LGBTQ community — which has seen what spread can do to a community and how devastating it can be — can really be the leaders of influencing in our workplaces, with our families and with others,” he says.

Garcetti goes for Rhodes Scholar cool, as if imitating a millennial influencer: “Hey, let’s maintain this distance for a few weeks so that the party starts again months earlier.”

But the message is deadly serious. “If we don’t do it (social distancing) now, we will see a long, deep suffering — for not just Los Angeles — but this country and this world,” Garcetti says. “My mantra has been: ‘Be a leader, no matter who you are, and when it feels wrong that’s probably the right time to do it. By the time it feels right it’s too late.”

If what feels wrong? “All the advice we’re giving. The social distancing, not going to the gym, not hanging out with friends.

‘Everything’s closed, let’s get together.’

Don’t do those things right now,” he says.

“We’re steadily closing those options down but people find their way of being the one exception. Don’t be the exception! Keep your distance. We will get through this…. It’s tough but you adjust to it and then you know that the quicker the adjustment, the quicker the cure.”

The other thing to watch out for is misinformation.

“There’s so much misinformation — check with official sources and trusted media,” Garcetti says. “There’s robocalls, there’s people preying on folks and fraud, especially our seniors, offering tests that don’t exist. Go to your trusted sources, L.A. City, L.A. County and, of course, The LA Blade.”

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Will the Coronavirus make us better?

A return to valuing competence and knowledge

If we were living in biblical times, the coronavirus pandemic would serve as a lesson on greed, ignorance, and cruelty in the age of Trump.

Paid sick leave is essential right now as most Americans have few savings to fall back on, but Trump and the Republicans have forced a compromise on the sick leave mandate that will exempt companies with 500+ employees and give Trump a waiver for employers with less than 50 employees. That leaves only 20% of the workforce with guaranteed coverage. Waivers for small businesses are understandable, but corporate America has massive cash reserves; they also have masses of lobbyists, hence the exemption.

This is probably less about short-term profits and more about avoiding a precedent. The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board worries that the crisis might lead to an expanded “welfare state” with new mandates and urges only temporary relief. That view is probably shared by many company bosses and shareholders. For example, Whole Foods, owned by Amazon, rather than extending the company’s paid sick time, has told its employees to share their paid time off.

(And this comes after Whole Foods ended health insurance for part-time employees.)

After the coronavirus, will we recognize that we need better protections for workers so that our economy and livelihoods are not severely disrupted whenever we have a public health crisis?

Then there’s the pride in ignorance amongst the president’s sycophantic base.

These people feel no shame about a reality TV host holding the most important office in the country. Instead, they think it’s a riot that the president is “owning the libs” by dismissing basic facts, floating absurd theories, and expelling career officers in an institutional brain drain they mistake for “draining the swamp.”

Their world is upside-down: Trump’s

profiting off his properties billing taxpayers, but the real problem is FBI career officers part of a “Deep State” conspiracy to take down their man. Rather than being repulsed, they find Trump’s buffoonery endearing.

The upheaval from this virus is a small taste of what awaits the world if we don’t avert catastrophic climate change. But they mock the science on climate change, and they mocked the concerns over this virus — portraying it as a hoax to harm the president — until denial became too much even for Fox News. To amend Neil deGrasse Tyson’s famous axiom, the tragedy of science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it. The bill for ignorance and ineptitude will eventually come due.

After the coronavirus, will we again value competence and knowledge? We will listen to the scientists who are warning us about an even bigger calamity on the horizon?

Trump’s ushered in the ugly side of America with a vengeance. The president’s first major act was the Muslim ban, which includes war-torn Syria. Trump has expanded the ban to include Myanmar, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been displaced due to the regime’s genocidal actions. There are 65 million refugees around the world today; more than at any time since World War II. But Trump repeatedly halved refugee admittance and capped it at 18,000, the lowest level since Congress created the program in 1980. In October, we admitted zero refugees. The president has attacked desperate migrants seeking asylum on the southern border as an invasion. He has separated children from parents and locked them in cages where some have died from medical neglect, including from the seasonal flu. And he has ended a program to let sick immigrants, including children, to stay in the country.

After the coronavirus, will we have more empathy for people seeking shelter from war, violence, and disease?

Let’s hope for good health, but also that this moment might have salutatory effects.

More of us might vote for a competent government this November and start demanding that Congress improve employment laws and support asylum and refugee policies that reflect our better selves.

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Showing our best (and worst) in a crisis Besides a virus, a chaotic White House Amid the worldwide health crisis caused by the novel coronavirus, encouraging signs include creative responses to event cancellations.

Broadway star Laura Benanti tweeted on March 13, “If you were meant to perform in your High School musical and it was cancelled please post yourself singing and tag me. I want to be your audience!!” She suggested the hashtag #SunshineSongs. The result was a delightful assortment of kids’ performances.

In Italy, quarantined tenor Maurizio Marchini serenaded his neighbors in Florence by singing Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” from his balcony.

If our short-fingered vulgarian (to use Graydon Carter’s apt phrase) decides to sing from the Truman Balcony to celebrate being virus-free, perhaps he should sing about why we should trust the White House physician.

Trump declared March 15 a National Day of Prayer. In the interest of not overloading the Secret Service, it might be best to keep the particulars of our prayers to ourselves.

I marvel at the obsequiousness of Mike Pence and other administration officials who assuage Trump’s fragile ego with endless “Dear Leader” hosannas. If you think bullshitting doesn’t get a person anywhere, please tell us how this president got to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

When you read about “dens of discord, with officials with varying portfolios feuding over policy or even simply power and position,” (hat tip to The Washington Post), does it describe some banana republic?

Maybe so, but specifically it refers to Pence’s daily task force meetings. Nor is that the executive mansion’s only center of viral activity. Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, with no relevant expertise, has inserted himself into the #CoronaChaos. And with the prez between chiefs of staff, “People just show up in the Oval and spout off ideas,” according to one of the 19 senior administration officials interviewed by the Post.

Trump’s inability to admit a mistake, his compulsive lying, and his pathological narcissism are not lapses but character traits.

He over-promises, exaggerates, and says, “It’s going to be just fine” after Dr. Anthony Fauci says it’s going to get worse. His Rose Garden appearances, as the Post observes, display “the sort of behaviors health experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised against.”

Many businesses, state and local governments, and individuals are addressing transmission risks more seriously. But too many people echo Trump’s denialism. In D.C. on Sunday, the Hill Restaurant Group vowed to defy Mayor Muriel Bowser’s directive restricting bar and restaurant operations. A megachurch pastor in South Florida rejected fear of COVID-19 exposure as “a demonic spirit.”

It is easy to say we will get through this, but the pain is unevenly distributed. Those on the lower economic rungs, such as restaurant workers, will suffer most. Chinese restaurants were the earliest targets, due not to rational concerns but to fears that anything or anyone Chinese might be deadly simply because the outbreak began in Wuhan.

After weeks of putting his polling numbers ahead of the public health, Trump finally declared a national state of emergency on March 13. He previously refused test kits from the World Health Organization. In 2018, he shut down the National Security Council’s pandemic office, for which he denies responsibility.

The Post on Sunday relayed a German newspaper report that Trump was trying to get German biopharmaceutical firm CureVac to develop a vaccine “only for the USA.” CureVac responded by affirming its commitment to “help and protect patients worldwide.”

A compromise bill to provide coronavirus relief, which Trump agreed to sign, was passed by the House in the wee hours of March 14 under Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, some of whose Republican colleagues tried to insert anti-choice provisions into the measure, sent senators home for the weekend.

As we rise to this crisis, let us keep one eye on helping those most adversely impacted by it, and the other on the Nov. 3 election, when it will be time to send Donald, Mitch, and their heedless, heartless crew home permanently.

PETER ROSENSTEIN

BROCK THOMPSON

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

is a D.C.-based writer.

He contributes regularly to the Blade.

Will Sanders do the right thing in 2020?

Virus days are back

His support for Biden critical in beating Trump

Gays, we can show ‘em how it’s done

In 2016, when it was clear Hillary Clinton had the required number of delegates to win the nomination and Sen. Bernie Sanders had lost he refused to accept the result and pushed on to the convention continuing to incite his supporters against Clinton. Let’s hope he will not do the same in 2020 to Joe Biden.

There were times before when a losing candidate’s supporters threatened not to work for the nominee but in 2016 it was the candidate himself who made things worse. In 2020, let’s hope Sanders will talk to his supporters and convince them how important it will be to unite behind the nominee of the party in the general election.

In 2008, I was an ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton and was an elected delegate for her to the convention in Denver. It had been a hard fought campaign and contrary to the 2016 primary campaign, which Hillary won by four million votes, the vote count was about equal between she and Barack Obama. Nevertheless he won the delegates needed for the nomination. Hillary called a meeting of her delegates at the convention and told us what she would do and asked that we enthusiastically support her when she stood on the floor to ask the convention to make the Obama nomination unanimous.

Just prior to the convention when it was clear Obama would have the needed delegates for the nomination I wrote a column for the Washington Blade pledging my support for him and urged everyone to do the same. I was pilloried by a large group of Hillary supporters who called themselves PUMAs, which stood for ‘Party Unity my Ass.’ The difference between 2008 and 2016 was Hillary not only spoke to unity, she and Bill campaigned enthusiastically with and for Obama across the nation. In 2016, Sanders did the opposite. He kept

Hillary waiting for 30 days leading into the convention refusing to endorse her and actually kept inciting his supporters against her. Then after the convention, when Sanders did travel the country to ostensibly support Hillary, you only had to listen to realize all his speeches were about him. We later learned he was already taking notes for his book, which would make him one of the millionaires he had spent his campaign railing against.

Now with the Democratic primary in 2020 all but over Sanders has a chance to make up for that. As I write this column, it is already clear Biden will be the nominee of the Democratic Party.

If the results of the Tuesday primaries match the polling in Florida, Illinois, and Arizona (Ohio postponed due to coronavirus) and prove anywhere near to being correct they will have been the nail in the coffin of Sanders’s campaign.

So Sanders will have the opportunity to make a quick endorsement and pledge to truly campaign for the nominee and move to unify the party.

His role must focus on urging his supporters, particularly those who stayed home or voted for a third party in 2016 in a protest against Clinton to understand if they do that again they are helping to reelect Trump. After four years of Trump they now know how dangerous that will be to any of their dreams and aspirations and to democracy as we know it.

Sanders can remind them if Democrats don’t take back the presidency and the Senate, Trump will continue to nominate, and the Senate will confirm, lifetime ultraconservative judges who will rule against all they believe in for generations. In 2020, Sanders has to control his ego and accept he will never be president of the United States. If he is able to do that he will have that major role in electing a Democratic president and defeating Trump. While he and Biden may differ on many things I do believe Sanders will fight for our country and fight to protect the Constitution. Defeating Trump may just depend on his doing that.

During the last week, most of us made preparations for selfquarantining as news of cancelled events and shuttering businesses came pouring in. While all this was happening, memes and stories floated around social media. And a lot of gays collectively rolled their eyes at yet another nationwide bungling of a pandemic. In some ways, we’ve seen this before, haven’t we?

Debating whether or not yet another virus is being politicized or even colossally mishandled is probably best left to other columnists.

But I’m reminded, remembering reports from the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, of people gay or straight doing whatever they could. Whatever they could to bring some comfort and joy to those suffering. Anything from bake sales, blood drives, to even reports of a woman who brought her tap dancing show to a San Francisco AIDS ward once a week. People just doing whatever they could.

I think gays can easily capture that pep-in-the-step cheerfulness in the face of crisis again. For instance, one of the events on my spring calendar that is now indefinitely postponed was the DC Progressive Dinner. For those of you unfamiliar, basically three teams of gays get together and informally compete in food courses, putting on cabaret-style comedy and dance routines, cooking and serving up theme-related dishes and cocktails. And yes, the thing more or less devolves into a drunken mess by the end of the evening, but what’s always remained special to me is it does give people a chance to showcase their talents and passions, and a chance to reveal another part of themselves that you might not have been aware of. Seeing gays designing and sewing costumes, coming up with and cooking recipes, writing

up comedy, choreographing dance numbers, and yes even shaking up drinks.

I don’t know when Progressive Dinner will be back, but it could be time for us to showcase that talent in other ways. Of course, what removes us from those bleak days of the ‘80s and ‘90s is our ability to stay connected online. I’m already seeing friends displaying their skills and talents by doing yoga videos, one started a virtual bookclub. Though no one should ever be subjected to my cooking, I would love to see some gays doing their own cooking shows, offering up some quick and easy quarantine casseroles or something like that. How about some gay Ted talks? You know, on topics we might actually find interesting.

As this stretches on and on, I predict gays will find more and more creative ways to brighten up everyone’s day, even if we’re not faceto-face. I’m envisioning drag queens by truck, driving around town belting out the divas. Wouldn’t that bring a smile to your face? And if that’s not feasible, an online show? And we can all venmo our dollars in.

I should note that the Progressive Dinner benefits charity, particularly D.C.’s SYMAL organization. And I don’t think it’s particularly unreasonable to say that gays are more civic minded than some, maybe most. It could be because back then, in those days, we had to look after ourselves. No one else seemed to care. But now, this time around, besides all the potential online shows and such, let’s show them how it’s done. Let’s remember to check in on elderly neighbors. Check in on those who live alone.

The truth is, gays can make community anywhere. Under the toughest of circumstances we can carve out space for ourselves all the while looking out for those around us.

So let’s go gays, let’s show them how it’s done.

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Division of labor?

Studies find same-sex couples generally happier than straight counterparts

By ALEXANDRA RADOVIC Danielle Pavlesich walked into the pharmacy on a sunny Florida day to start what she didn’t know would be her last day at work. A photo on her desk of her and her wife Elizabeth caught the eye of one of Pavlesich’s coworkers, who said she couldn’t tell which of the partners was the “man” in the relationship, because they both had long hair. Danielle quit that very same day, and she and her wife moved to Maryland.

“I get it, that’s what people see,” Danielle, 44, says. “They have to construct (gender roles) in their minds … it makes them more comfortable.”

But she said her marriage isn’t defined by traditional male and female roles and responsibilities.

“I think we started out in a more femme-butch relationship, where Elizabeth did most of the heavy lifting and I was just here for looks,” Danielle says. “But throughout the course of our relationship, we started to realize that I’m better at some of the things she was doing and she’s better at some of the things I was doing. … Just through communication, I think we’ve evened everything out.”

Researcher Stephanie Coontz, author of “Marriage, a History” and director of research and public education at the Council on Contemporary Families says data has shown that same-sex couples are generally happier than straight couples, due to the lack of stereotyping in the household division of labor. She says married couples since the 1990s who reported the highest marital and sexual satisfaction are those who share tasks relatively evenly.

“I think what straight couples can learn from same-sex ones is not that everyone has to share every chore equally, but that they really need to talk it through,” Coontz says.

She advises couples to, “Confront the stereotypes and assumptions they bring to their sense of what they should or could be responsible for and experiment with ways to make sure everyone is getting something they enjoy doing and something they don’t enjoy so much, but are willing to do, or learn to do.”

In her relationship, Elizabeth Pavlesich said she and Danielle practice this balance and communication regularly with a couple’s therapist.

“Communicating expectations was a huge breakthrough in our relationship,” Elizabeth says. “I would come home and see trash everywhere and dirty dishes in the sink, and I would think, ‘I know Danielle sees that the trash is full. … My expectation would be that she would clean it up and I’d get pissed off.”

But Elizabeth, 45, says she’s learned that it’s important for couples to avoid stereotypes by openly discussing expectations.

“When I do start to get pissed off, I’m like, ‘Look, I have this expectation, can you please do this for me,’” she says, “and (Danielle) is like, ‘Oh my god, I didn’t even notice.’”

Elizabeth prefers to do laundry and cook and Danielle is better at handling finances and insurance.

But assumed gender roles aren’t exclusive to lesbian couples.

Daniel Watkins, a 32-year-old substance abuse service director in Annapolis, Md., has been with his partner Micah Shockney, 33, since 2007.

“We get a lot of questions about why we aren’t married after 13 years, but that is just where the two of us are after growing up in a time it wasn’t legal,” Watkins says.

Despite this, Watkins says the two still share roles and responsibilities as if they were married. He does a majority of the yard work, while Shockney cooks more often.

Watkins says he and Shockney agree that it’s important to be “able to talk when he needs a break or I’m not keeping up my share of the work. ... I don’t think traditional gender roles give the option for a day off. We are really good about working together to give each other a break when needed.”

Coontz says that after years of couples socializing into specialized gender roles, it’s important for more of them to “meet in the middle.”

DANIEL WATKINS (left) and his partner, MICAH SHOCKNEY. Photos courtesy the couples

ELIZABETH PAVLESICH (left) and her wife, DANIELLE.

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Most summer camps still on — for now Region offers wide spate of LGBT-affirming camps for kids of all interests

By PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN Coronavirus concerns have closed or postponed many youth spring break programs currently underway, particularly in Maryland. However, registration continues for summer activities.

Continue to monitor program websites for COVID-19 adjustments and updates.

Brave Trails Camp is an LGBTQ youth-focused experience with sessions one-three held in California beginning June 20 and session four in the Catoctin Mountains of western Maryland from Aug. 11-20. The $1,500 tuition includes all meals and snacks, program materials, leadership training classes, lodging, health center access, a camp T-shirt and more. Financial assistance is available.

Virtual Camp BT is planned for two weeks on the camp’s Instagram page. Find it at #virtualcampbt. Scavengr hunts, live classes, conversations, photo challenges and more will be available for all ages. Look at @bravetrails on Instagram for details.

Continue to monitor bravetrails.org or call 323-300-4401 for updates and details.

Adventure Theatre is a musical theater academy for D.C.-area youth with an integrated and nationally renowned professional family friendly theatre. Academy camps provide youth with theater experiences by working with teaching artists to learn new skills, rehearse material and perform for family and friends. Youth programming includes summer musical theatre camp for grades one-six at its Glen Echo Park location (7300 Macarthur Blvd., Glen Echo, Md.) and summer musical theater training program for grades six-12 at its Wintergreen Plaza location (837 Rockville Pk., Rockville, Md.).

Costs start at $800 for the musical theater camp session one, which begins June 16. The musical theater training program starts June 22. Tuition is $1,350 and includes a one-day trip to New York City for training and to see a Broadway show. Scholarship applications and audition information is available at adventuretheatre-mtc.org.

Current programming, including the Virtual Spring Gala, is postponed due to Maryland’s statewide COVID-19 precautions. Continue to monitor the website for updates regarding summer programming.

Camp Rim Rock for Girls (343 Camp Rim Rock Rd., Yellow Spring, W.Va.) is a summer camp program for girls going to grades two-10. Two-week or four-week sessions feature horseback riding, performing arts, aquatics, arts and crafts, and sports activities.

Mini Camp sessions for rising grades one-three is $1,600 and starts June 21; riding camp sessions for rising grades four-10 are $2,000 and also begin June 21; while general camp sessions for rising grades two-10 are $3,050 for two weeks, $5,600 for four weeks and start June 28.

Coronavirus information is not currently posted to its website, but continue to monitor camprimrock.com or contact them at 347-746-7625 or info@camprimrock.com for updates.

Last year’s Adventure Theatre MTC Summer Musical Theatre Camp.

Photo courtesy Adventure

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Children perform ‘Star Force’ at last year’s summer Synetic Classic.

Photo courtesy Synetic Theatre

Circle Yoga (3838 Northampton St., N.W.) offers both a Teaching Yoga to Kids class April 2426 for $595 as a way for parents to share yoga practice with their families and a Circle Yoga Kids summer camp starting June 22 for ages 6-12 at $420 per week and starting July 6 for ages 4-7 at $315 per week.

Campers learn yoga, mindfulness and other stress-reducing activities in an environment free from competition, pressure and strict scheduling. Partial scholarship applications are available at circleyoga.com.

Circle Yoga classes and workshops are currently cancelled through April 3 due to COVID-19 concerns; however, online classes are available using Zoom video conferencing. More information is available at info@circleyoga.com and circleyoga.com.

Green Acres Camp (11701 Danville Dr., North Bethesda, Md.) offers age-grouped programming for pre-Kindergarten to grade seven with fees ranging from $349 per week to $3,125 for a seven-week session starting June 22. Camp programs include Kreative Kangaroos for pre-K, Junior Camp for Kindergarten to grade two and Senior Camp for grades three-seven.

No COVID-19 restrictions or cancellations are currently posted to its website; however, continue to monitor headfirstcamps.com or call 301-881-4100 for updates and more information.

The Lowell School (1640 Kalmia Rd., N.W.) offers a variety of summer camp activities for children ages 2-15. This year the school’s new offerings include an early bird mini camp open for age 2 to rising fifth graders, Camp Rock for aspiring musicians in grades four-six, and a summer stage production of “The Wiz” from June 22-July 17.

Costs range from $455 for the one week Early Bird Mini Camp which starts June 15 to $1,335$1,775 for summer stage and various specialty camps starting June 22. There currently is no COVID-19 information posted; however, contact the school at 202-577-2000 or at admissions@ lowellschool.org or visit its website at lowellschool.org for updates.

Silver Stars Gymnastics offers a youth gymnastics camp at their Silver Spring (2701 Pittman Dr., Silver Spring, Md.) and Bowie (14201 Woodcliff Ct., Bowie, Md.) locations. The Bowie location also offers a laser tag camp.

According to their website, due to coronavirus concerns, starting March 16, all activities are suspended. Email office@castlelasertag.com or call 301-352-5777 for updates or more information as the situation develops.

Synetic Theater specializes in adaptation and ensemble work and offers two youth camp programs this summer. Synetic Classic is a traditional two-week program for “Young Artists” in grades K-five and “Thespians” in grades six-nine. Classes for this program start June 22 and cost $725. Synetic Remix is a new one-week program for both age groups and costs $375.

This year Synetic will feature three different show opportunities depending on the session, “A Tale of Two Ghostbusters,” “The Wild and Wacky Wizarding World of Wiley Skylar” and “Star Force.”

A program representative emailed the Washington Blade that summer programming is currently continuing as planned and registrations are still being accepted. However, call 703-8248060 or email synetic@synetictheater.org for updates and information and continue to monitor its website at synetictheater.org.

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Coronavirus wreaks havoc on D.C. queer nightlife Promoters, drag queens, performers all brace for extreme income loss

By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO joeyd@washblade.com As coronavirus continues its surge across the U.S., little will remain unaffected. Millions will likely manage to remain uninfected but few will not feel the economic impact in some fashion, especially those whose economic lives were tenuous before. With practically all performances and concerts canceled indefinitely, Washingtonians in the gay nightlife world are reeling.

Dougie Meyer presents weekly Avalon Saturdays at Soundcheck, which bills itself as “D.C.’s No. 1 weekly LGBTQ+ dance party.” The parties have been canceled at least through the end of March and Meyer, who’s gay, says between this and other events he runs (some in New York), he expects a severe loss.

“This is so serious,” he says. “I will not only lose thousands and thousands of dollars personally, but this is coming into what would normally be my busy season.

As is fairly common in nightlife, January and February are always your slowest months and we pretty much keep things going in the red. People are maxed out from the holidays, it’s bitter cold out and not only are we not making any money, we’re actually losing money because we still have to pay employees, still have to pay lighting cost, decor, drag queens, the expenses keep adding up. Things usually start to rebound in March and April and people are finally going out again, the weather has warmed up and people are in a better mood but now, even that has been completely stripped away from us.”

Actress/comedian Beverly “Miss Chocolate” White works by day as an executive assistant at a local non-profit but says her nightlife gigs help her pay bills and give her some financial cushion in the pricey District (Investopedia places it as the fifth most expensive U.S. city). All 10 bookings she had coming up have been canceled, she says. Her day job, too, is uncertain because of the virus.

“I probably won’t starve or be put out from that income, but it does help,” White, a lesbian, says. “It’s enabled me to be a sponsor, to have a little bit of disposable income, to sponsor with ‘Ask Rayceen,’ to donate to Casa Ruby and Wanda Alston House … but I do pretty much live paycheck to paycheck, so I don’t know what will happen next month, next week. I was finally to a point where it wasn’t costing me to do a

The last Avalon Saturday event — for now — was held March 7 to a packed house with nearly 500 in attendance.

Photo by Yaro Vargas; courtesy Dougie Meyer Presents

show, they were paying me, so I don’t know where this will all lead.”

Losses across the wider financial sector are expected to be staggering. The 30-day U.S. travel ban for most of Europe is expected to result in 2 million unsold airline seats, the Wall Street Journal estimates. Ticket sales in the $100 million ballpark will be lost while Broadway stays dark for four weeks. The suspended NBA season could result in $972 million in TV ad revenue based on last year’s figures, the Journal reports.

In the arts world, even industry leaders one thinks of as robust will also feel the sting.

The Kennedy Center, of course, is closed at least through month’s end. In New York, where the Metropolitan Opera usually runs on a $308 million annual budget, the effect of the virus could be catastrophic. That sounds like a huge figure but with the high cost of mounting opera, box office tenuousness even under normal circumstances and a heavy reliance on donations, impact is likely to be “severe,” as Peter Gelb, general manager, told the New York Times.

That kind of impact has a “trickle down” effect on nightlife performers, White says.

“It’s impacting everybody,” she says. I had a show that would have been this Saturday in Anacostia, I was going to be going back to

New York. I know these are just small things, I have to count my blessings, but it’s really impacting everyone and everything.”

Chris Smith/Kristina Kelly, one of the city’s most well-known drag performers, is also facing a suddenly free schedule. Smith, who has been doing drag in the region full time for 10 years, says under normal circumstances, it’s a solid, realistic income, though that often involves working six or sometimes even seven nights per week.

Smith’s mother lives on Social Security income in Lexington, Va., (where he’s from) so he sends her money as well.

“It could be weeks before we go back to work and even if we do, people still have to be able to afford to come see us,” he says. “People with regular jobs, if they’re not getting paid, they’re not going to be able to come see a drag show. You can’t come and laugh and enjoy yourself if you don’t have the money to do so.”

Meyer says he knows of one New York bartender who moved back home with his parents to Pennsylvania this week.

There was no way to continue New York rent with income suspended indefinitely.

He says his drag queens, bartenders, barbacks, DJs, go go dancers — all are feeling the pinch. He guesses there are

about 50 people impacted by the closure of his various events.

“It’s crippling the entire industry,” he says.

“Everyone is depressed in capital letters. Very depressed and upset. It’s just really bad.”

Meyer was managing a bar in New York during the 2008 financial meltdown. He remembers many slow months then but says this is shaping up to be worse.

“I don’t even think that is even close to what we’re dealing with today,” he says.

Smith says he feels “overwhelmed.” He was already somewhat in rebound mode having had gastric bypass surgery in early December (he’s lost about 190 pounds total, pre- and post-surgery, he says).

“It’s a lot coming at once and when you’re that person who feels you can fix everything and then you’re at a point where you just can’t, I feel helpless,” he says.

Could some of this move online? Smith says that’s unrealistic.

“We’re in an emergency situation — you think people are gonna pay money to watch some damn drag queen in her basement? I just don’t see any scenario where that would work at all.”

What about Pride? Nobody has a crystal ball, but what are people feeling? Will things be back to normal by then?

“I could see this affecting Pride all over the country,” White says. “We may have to take this down time to go back to the drawing board and think about what plan B looks like, not just keep our fingers crossed that things will be back to normal by then.

Now is the time to think about that.”

Meyer says LGBT folks may even be disproportionately impacted. Sure, there are straight DJs and bartenders but drag and gay nightlife, to some degree, are their own things without as many straight-world counterparts.

“To some degree, yeah, it’s across the board, but when you think about drag queens and the time and expense they put into pulling off a look … it’s gonna affect them at a much higher rate,” he says.

Smith says he’s working hard to stay positive.

“I always say, the next 30 seconds is not guaranteed,” he says. “If I wake up today, I’m blessed and I’m already winning. A lot of people don’t have that option. If you’re able to wake up and start your day, you’re already in a winning situation.”

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John Waters won’t get to do the Dinah Filmmaker tapped as first male keynote speaker at postponed event

By ED GUNTS

The annual Club Skirts Dinah Shore Weekend in Palm Springs is mostly a lesbian affair, but this year the organizers invited a man to the party.

Filmmaker and writer John Waters, whose movies include “Female Trouble,” “Serial Mom” and “Hairspray,” was scheduled to present a stand-up comedy show during the event, written just for the occasion. The title was “John Waters Does The Dinah.”

“It just got announced that I am the first male keynote speaker” at the annual gathering, he said during a recent radio interview. “I’m a lezbro!”

Organizers of the event announced its postponement last week due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. It was scheduled for April 1-6. The event will now be held Sept. 16-20. An organizer of the event told the Blade that it’s too soon to say who will be in the lineup for September and that Waters is not confirmed as new agreements need to be signed with all talent.

If he does appear, Waters said he knows what he’s in for at the event.

“It’s like a lesbian Woodstock,” he said on WIYY-98 Rock’s Justin, Scott and Spiegel show in Baltimore.

“I mean, they’re dancing topless, drinking, partying, and it’s great.”

Named after a singer and TV personality who was popular in the 1940s and 1950s and who lived in Palm Springs (Leonardo DiCaprio bought her house after she died), The Dinah is a music festival and getaway that caters to the lesbian community.

Marking its 30th anniversary this year and billed as the largest lesbian event of its kind in the world (even though Shore wasn’t a lesbian), The Dinah typically draws more than 15,000 and features pool parties, dancing, concerts, comedy sets and other activities.

It coincides with the annual ANA Inspiration golf tournament in Rancho Mirage, one of the five major championships on the Ladies

Professional Golf Association tour and known for many years as the ColgateDinah Shore Golf Tournament.

Other performers this year were to include: Saweetie, Ally Brooke, Jozzy, Yung Baby Tate, Layton Greene, Madison Paige, UMI, Lion Babe, SWSH and Sophia Messa, as well as comediennes Gina Yashere, Dana Goldberg and Dinah Leffert, and a “battle” of regional DJs from queer and lesbian clubs. The complete 2020 lineup and other information is available at TheDinah.com.

Past performers have included Lady Gaga, Tegan and Sara, Ke$ha, Katy Perry and Lizzo.

Mariah Hanson, organizer of the event, approached Waters after learning that he talked about The Dinah during one of his performances in 2017.

“I have always taken a stance that The Dinah is a lesbian event or a queer-women event, but that if you’re best friends with a guy, bring him.

I just don’t believe in that kind of separatism. So we always have a few good men at The Dinah,” Hanson said in an Outtake Voices podcast interview with Charlotte Robinson.

“I had heard that John Waters was talking effusively about The Dinah in a show he performed a couple years ago in Palm Springs and I thought, wow, that’s kind of cool, he’s an icon,” she continued. “And I got him on the phone and he was so excited about the possibility of doing a one-man show, The Lezbro Show, specifically for The Dinah. That is the content of this show.”

Hanson said she admires what Waters has done for the LGBTQ community and believes it’s fitting to bring him to The Dinah.

“I love the messaging of inclusivity and that we can keep a very respectful balance and yet we should every now and then celebrate the men in our lives that make a difference for

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JOHN WATERS was to give the keynote at this year’s Dinah Shore Weekend, which was postponed from April to September. No word yet on whether he will make the rescheduled event.

us,” she said on the podcast. “John Waters is definitely at the top of that apex of men who really care about the community as a whole, who normalize the fringe, who make a really grand statement about being all we can be, exactly as we are.”

Waters said in a phone interview with the Blade that he’s honored to be one of the first men asked to appear at a typically all-women event.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

“I think it’s going to be exciting. I’m proud to have been asked. I’ve always been against separatism. I’m proud to be crossing the barrier.”

He said he remembers watching Dinah Shore’s television shows, which were sponsored by Chevrolet, when he was growing up.

“I loved Dinah Shore when I was

young. She was kind of a square. See the USA in your Chevrolet.”

He said he loves the irony that a lesbian-oriented event is named after someone who wasn’t a lesbian.

“She wasn’t a lesbian. She dated Burt Reynolds for a while. He looked like a lesbian. Maybe that’s where this got started.”

Waters says he’s aware he’ll be in the minority if he appears.

“As a proud ‘lezbro’ who’s never been scared of women smarter than me, I’m happy to be the comic relief in a sea of partying, ‘all-girl’ music festival fans,” he said in a statement released with the event’s press materials.

“Thanks to The Dinah, I will finally be a true outsider.”

Corona coincidence?

Out-of-work actor ponders ‘The Amateurs’ uncanny timing

By PATRICK FOLLIARD On Tuesday midday, Olney Theatre Center’s lovingly rendered and urgently topical production of out playwright Jordan Harrison’s “The Amateurs” was officially cancelled, joining the veritable multitude of other area closures.

Because it was presented in Olney’s more intimate Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab, the play ran a tad longer than shows in larger venues, but ultimately Maryland Gov. Hogan’s executive order and Olney’s concern for the health and safety of audience, artists and staff shut them down.

What makes Harrison’s 2018 play unwittingly and unnervingly timely is that it’s set against Medieval Europe’s devastating Black Death.

The plot follows a group of itinerant actors doing their best to keep one step ahead of the pestilence. As they pull their cart forward each day and sleep rough by night, they’re also rehearsing their new production of Noah’s Flood. The cranky troupe’s ultimate goal is to delight the Duke with their new work and be granted sanctuary and safety from the terrifying scourge behind the walls of his duchy.

Of course, when Olney hierarchy decided to actually produce the show (spring, 2019), no one had ever heard of COVID-19; they never imagined they’d be staging something that might prove so uncomfortably current.

Out cast member Michael Russotto, who plays the troupe’s unsentimental manager Larking, says “Rarely has the phrase ‘life imitates art’ felt more applicable. I first became aware of this script over a year ago, when I participated in a completely cold reading of several scenes from the play. I fell in love with it instantly.”

It’s filled with humor, high and low. But it’s dark, too.

When one of the actors dies from plague, there’s little time to bury much less mourn him. As Larking (Russotto) makes it clear, the show must go on. For the dead actor’s sister Hollis (Emily Townley), or his emotionally tortured, lover Brom (John Keabler), it isn’t so easy. The remainder of the resilient squad — simple scenery designer Gregory (Evan Casey), hardboiled Rona (Rachel Zampelli) and a mysterious stranger, The Physic

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JOHN KEABLER and EVAN CASEY in ‘The Amateurs.’ Despite closing early, the cast found the show oddly prescient.

(Photo by Teresa Castracane Photography)

(James Konicek) — are survivors.

Shortly after learning the show had closed, Russotto recalls that because the production itself coincided so directly with a deadly, world-wide pandemic, it felt a bit like being in an episode of “The Twilight Zone.”

“It’s one of those spooky coincidences the universe throws at us occasionally; one that almost makes me believe there is a higher intelligence pulling the strings, an intelligence with a wicked sense of irony,” he says.

There’s a stunning moment in the play when Evan Casey pulls off his shaggy Gregory wig and plays the playwright, citing his experiences and thoughts on the AIDS epidemic and the early beginnings of humanism. Certainly, there’s no mention of the current pandemic, but nonetheless, it’s what came to mind for many in the press night audience.

When the COVID pandemic was announced, Russotto says, everyone involved in the production initially felt like they had to continue to share this timely gem of a play with theatergoers no matter what and damn the consequences.

Perhaps the cast and crew were the conduit to deliver a message of hope through art, a circumstance that seemed weirdly ordained by some outside sentient force?

But then practicality set in: “There was lots of lively debate over the virtues of carrying on vs concern over the danger to ourselves and our potential audiences. We want to do what feels right artistically, but we also want to be socially responsible.

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QUEERY David Amoroso

Amoroso says large paintings such as that can be done in two or three days “when I am on a roll and painting obsessively.” Others, he says, “drag on much longer.” He guesses he’s painted more than 1,000 works total.

Amoroso paints full time — his main livelihood — though he also has a side job with a non-profit. Find him on social media or at amorosoart.wixsite.com.

Amoroso is single and lives in Arlington, Va. He enjoys painting, music and movies but says, “I almost never relax. I am always painting and developing my business.”

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

I thought everyone always knew, so there was no drama or people that I felt I needed to tell. I have always defined myself by what I do or create, so the other stuff seemed inconsequential.

Who’s your LGBTQ hero?

Frida Khalo

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

QUEERY: David Amoroso The local painter answers 20 queer questions

By JOEY DIGUGLIELMO joeyd@washblade.com

2 2 • WAS H I NGTO NBLA D E.COM • MA RCH 20, 20 20

“Maude,” George and Weezy, Edith Bunker, Mister Rogers, Mike and Carol Brady, three maids in a row — Alice (“The Brady Bunch”), Florence (“The Jeffersons”) and “Hazel.” All those and more are featured in “Raised by TV,” painter David Amoroso’s current exhibit at Artist & Makers Studios (11810 Parklawn Dr., Rockville, Md.), up through March 26.

Amoroso started painting in 1997 after being particularly dazzled by the colors he saw on a trip to Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador. He says the paint-by-number kits he painted in childhood inspire the nonblended, pop art style he uses today.

Amoroso was always into pop culture subjects, but his current show is populated

by TV shows — mostly sitcoms — he watched religiously as a kid.

“I truly was raised by TV,” the 56-year-old Falls Church, Va., native says. “I escaped from the reality of my life through TV. I didn’t realize how much TV influenced me until recently.

Many of my values and paradigms are based on the ‘realities’ of my TV world.”

He says classic ’70s sitcoms like “The Brady Bunch” or the Norman Lear shows have endured because they presented characters honestly.

“Even when the characters were unlikeable on many levels, they were treated respectfully and somehow maintained a certain level of dignity,” he says.

“Maude,” for example (Bea Arthur), at the time reminded Amoroso of his “loud, opinionated” grandmother. Her 36x48-inch acrylic on canvas painting is for sale for $1,000.

What LGBTQ stereotype most annoys you?

I see all (gay and non-gay) stereotypes as limiting. As time goes on, I see it is even more important to look deeper into each and every human being. In general, I don’t like it when anyone thinks they know someone based on limited information.

What’s your proudest professional achievement?

Hopefully there will be more to come, but I felt so proud when I first exhibited my work next to other artists I respected so much at ChimMaya Gallery. It definitely validated me.

What terrifies you?

I fear losing my ability to use my hands to paint or my eyes to see.

What’s something trashy or vapid you love?

Retro TV. What’s your greatest domestic skill?

I can organize the hell out of a small space.

What’s your favorite LGBTQ movie or show?

I love the movies of Pedro Almodovar.

What’s your social media pet peeve?

Social media! I just got my first cell phone about three years ago. I loved the peace and quiet I used to have, but now I’m addicted.

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

I would love to see that all people have equal rights and feel valued. It still blows my mind that anyone is interested in anyone else’s sexuality. Especially if they have no interest in having sex with the person.

What’s the most overrated social custom?

Could “fitting in” be considered a social custom? It’s time to truly embrace individualism.

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

Although I was dragged to church throughout my youth, I never believed. The stories we were told just didn’t add up. As a child, religion seemed like propaganda used to control people. I consider myself spiritual but not religious.

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What’s D.C.’s best hidden gem?

Is anything hidden in D.C.? I still love eating pupusas at El Tamarindo, but they are a landmark in D.C. What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?

Was the bicentennial a pop culture moment? If so, I remember everything being hyped-up for the 200th birthday of the United States. Everything was covered in red, white and blue. I remember sitting in my front yard with a flag on a hot summer afternoon on our country’s 200th birthday. I was staring down the street waiting for something like a parade to happen. Nothing happened. The feeling has stayed with me all these years. Nothing happened.

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What celebrity death hit you hardest?

David Bowie, without a doubt. He was a visionary artist who was widely accepted and was always authentic. I was in a band back in the late ’80s through the early ’90s and he was always so cool. I love that he always reinvented himself. I think that he empowered me to always feel comfortable with myself and accept the fact that we change as we experience life.

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

I would have liked to have gone to college and lived on campus. The money wasn’t available at the time, but I’m sure I could have figured it out.

What are your obsessions?

Besides painting, hip hop in Espanol.

Finish this sentence — It’s about damn time: … people look at themselves a little more closely. Hypocrisy drives me mad!

What do you wish you’d known at 18?

It is so important that we trust our instincts.

I have a history of being too tolerant with some people. Usually it’s best to “rip the Band-Aid off” instead of waiting for things to work out.

Why Washington?

I was brought here as a child. As much as other cities have their allure, I believe that I’m able to do whatever I want to do in this area.

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Niall’s sophomore solo effort One Direction alum releases middling album anchored by killer title cut

By THOM MURPHY Boy bands aren’t meant to last. The Korean group BTS is everywhere at the moment, but eight years ago, One Direction was selling out shows almost instantly and packing concert venues all over the world. Since their hiatus in 2016, the five boys have turned to solo work and this week sees the release of Niall Horan’s sophomore album “Heartbreak Weather,” which debuted at no. 1 spot on Billboard.

Of the original One Direction lineup (Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson), all have put out solo albums. Harry Styles (as in the One Direction days) remains the most prominent with two solo albums (“Harry Styles” in 2017 and “Fine Line” last year), followed closely in popularity by Zayn, who put out “Mind of Mine” in 2016 and “Icarus Falls” in 2018. Liam’s debut album, “LP1,” was released in December and Louis’ first full album entitled “Walls” came out in January. In many ways, Horan has found a middle road between the most prominent former One Direction members and the least.

Unlike Styles and Malik, he was not of the most popular members in the group, both of whom have struggled to break free from their prior association. But he has also managed to stay relevant, unlike Payne and Tomlinson, whose only claim to fame is their association with the group. With the release of his debut solo album, “Flicker,” in 2017, Horan managed to score a number of major hits. The album landed at no. 1 on Billboard and the singles “Slow Hands” and “This Town” are still played relentlessly. “Flicker” is nevertheless a solid if unremarkable album — a safe play for a young artist charting out a solo career for the first time. But as always, the real test comes with the second album.

I didn’t have high expectations for “Heartbreak Weather,” an album I feared would be another safe bet and already several years out of date. It only took the first track to change my mind completely.

The eponymous single “Heartbreak Weather” and first track on the new album is a fantastic up-tempo pop dance tune that feels like an ’80s tribute. The gated reverb on the drums (that characteristically ’80s drum sound) with the feel-good guitar riff feels pressingly nostalgic, reminiscent of late ’80s pop hits like Belinda Carlisle’s 1987 “Heaven Is A Place On Earth.” Yet the song feels especially ripe for pop music right now. It’s a beautiful, conscious throwback and no doubt the best pop song released this year to date. For Black Mirror fans, it’s quite like the beautifully decorated (with Ryan Murphylevel attention to detail) ’80s tribute of the Series 3 episode “San Junipero” (which uses Carlisle’s song as its theme).

So dizzying is the effect of the first track that it is hard to think critically about the subsequent songs. (Odd marketing choice to release “Heartbreak Weather” with the album and to lead instead with more generic singles.) Despite what the cover art leads one to believe — it looks like again ’80s-themed tribute, not unlike the promotional material for the Netflix series “Stranger Things” — the album does not commit to this new direction.

Instead, it’s something of miscellany. But not necessarily in a bad way. It gives Horan a chance to show off his versatility. And his raspy baritone (far deeper than his youthful One Direction tenor) rises to the occasion. The next best single, after “Heartbreak Weather,” is “No Judgment,” which has something of an Ed Sheeran flavor. Lead single “Nice To Meet Ya” is a few years past its expiration date, though “Put A Little Love On Me” is a good, piano-driven song. But again, the best of the album is hidden from plain view.

“Bend The Rules” is an excellent track with long, effective build up — it sounds like an updated version of a song that could have been written by The Script (think their 2011 album “Science & Faith”). The album is good as a whole, perhaps wobbles at a few points, but when it kills, it kills. With a single like “Heartbreak Weather,” Horan may have set a new course for the year, maybe even the decade.

2 4 • WAS H I NGTO NBLA DE.COM • MA RCH 20, 2020

NIALL HORAN, formerly of One Direction, is just out with his second solo effort, which, like his first, went to Billboard No. 1.

(Photo courtesy Capitol Records)

Ready to ‘Feel Good?

New lesbian-themed Netflix series offers humor, diversion

By BRIAN T. CARNEY

While you’re sheltering in place or just trying to observe the proper social distancing, streaming TV is an excellent way to keep yourself occupied and connected.

Luckily, two great new series with strong LGBT content are premiering this week.

You can start by binge-watching the excellent “Feel Good” on Netflix.

The semi-autobiographical six-episode series is loosely based on the adventures of creator and star Mae Martin, an award-winning actress and comedian.

She plays Mae, a Canadian comic living in England who’s trying to stop her world from spinning out of control — again. She’s a rising talent on the standup comedy circuit and a recovering addict trying to navigate her fraught relationship with her parents and issues of gender and sexual identity.

She’s also a recently single hopeless romantic whose passion gets reignited when she meets George, a teacher and a classic English beauty. The two are instantly smitten with each other, but there are, of course, a few challenges.

As Mae wryly observes, it’s like Mary Poppins making out with Bart Simpson, or an English rose matched with a corn cob (Mae is tall and thin with an unruly shock of blond hair).

George also confesses that she has never been involved with a woman before and has trouble telling her friends she’s dating Mae. The series is fresh and funny, exploring these issues with a deft touch that nicely balances humor and heartbreak. Ally Pankiw (“Shrill” and “Schitt’s Creek”) directs all six episodes with a confident, steady hand. The series starts at a breakneck speed, capturing the manic energy of Mae’s mind and moods, then slows down to let the audience enjoy the ride to the fullest.

The cast is outstanding. Martin is passionate and endearing, diving into the highs and lows of Mae’s turbulent life, embracing both Mae’s appealing vulnerabilities and her annoying quirks.

She’s a great comedian and a gifted actor.

Martin is well-matched by the superb Charlotte Ritchie as George.

The two share a powerful chemistry.

The sex scenes sizzle but there is an appealing warmth and naturalness to all of their interactions. Ritchie makes George’s reluctance to tell her friends about Mae a fascinating high-wire act, understandable yet infuriating.

Lisa Kudrow and Adrian Lukis are terrific as Mae’s parents Linda and Malcolm. Their relationship with each other and with Mae is thoroughly credible and funny. It’s easy to see where Mae’s struggles and strengths come from. The rest of the supporting cast is equally strong and enjoyably inclusive, especially Phil Burgers as George’s daffy roommate, Ramon Tikaram as the long-suffering leader of Mae’s recovery group and Sophie Thompson as Mae’s reluctant sponsor.

Meanwhile, Freeform has started dropping weekly episodes of the intriguing new series “Motherland: Fort Salem.” In this fascinating alternative American history, the Salem Witch Trials have been replaced by the Salem Accord. The witches have reached a truce with the Massachusetts Bay Colony (and later the United States) and have agreed to form an elite fighting squad to defend the country.

In present-day America, the witches are defending America against The Spree, a deadly terrorist force. Three young witches, all descended from ancient bloodlines, are called into basic training at Fort Salem under the watchful eyes of General Adler (the stern Lyne Renee) and Anacostia, a tough but funny drill sergeant (Demetria McKinney).

The ambitious Abigail Merriweather (Ashley Nicole Williams) is part of an elite military family; Tally Craven (Jessica Sutton) has enlisted over the passionate objections of her pacifist mother; and Raelle Collar (Taylor Hickson) is still grieving the recent death of her mother on the front lines.

The tense relationship between the three recruits is tested even further when Raelle becomes romantically involved with the mysterious Scylla

From left, LISA KUDROW, CHARLOTTE RITCHIE, ADRIAN LUKIS and MAE MARTIN in ‘Feel Good.’

(Photo by Matt Squire, courtesy Netflix)

(Amalia Holm), a young witch with dark secrets of her own.

In the episodes available for preview, the series gets off to a strong start. The acting is strong with the largely female cast quickly creating distinct and interesting characters.

Under the guidance of creator Eliot Laurence (“Claws” and “The Big Gay Sketch Show”), the series creates an exciting new world where traditional gender roles are flipped and where an elite female fighting squad depends on supernatural skills and the power of women’s upraised voices as much as on advanced weaponry and physical prowess.

Unfolding weekly over the next 10 weeks, the world of “Motherland: Fort Salem” is well worth a visit.

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GAME CHANGERS: ‘Food is a way to people’s hearts’ Mike Correlli Flamingos charter member went from nerd to movie moment

Lesbian entrepreneurs in N.C. dazzle with delicacies

By KEVIN MAJOROS

By EVAN CAPLAN

Everyone who plays sports dreams of a “Field of Dreams” moment — this week in Game Changers, we meet a gay athlete who had his on the rugby pitch.

The LGBT-based Baltimore Flamingos RFC launched in the summer of 2016 when a group of hopeful players attended a Rugby 101 session in Baltimore with players from the Philadelphia Gryphons and Washington Scandals.

After nine months of practices and matches, charter member Mike Correlli became the first Flamingos player to score a try (grounding the ball in the opposition’s in-goal area) in competitive play at the Colonial Cup 2017 in Philadelphia.

“I was desperately trying to get out of the game because I had thrown my back out in an earlier match. I ended up catching a really easy pass and found a hole in their defense to score the try,” Correlli says. “It was my movie moment and people were crying because it was our first try. It is one of those life images that I think back on when I’m down. It always brings a smile to my face.”

Correlli grew up in a family of lacrosse fans in Perry Hall, Md. He played high school soccer for one year but had no interest and didn’t find any other sport that fit. He describes his college years at Towson State University as getting by, video gaming and nerd culture.

After graduating with a degree in journalism, he began looking for a way to get in shape and thought he would benefit from a group setting. He attended that first Flamingos Rugby 101 clinic and his life took a new turn.

“It was really the first time I was seeing an organization that was primarily a gay organization. After the clinic, I went directly to a sporting goods store and bought cleats,” Correlli says. “Rugby offers a strong sense of community and camaraderie. My Facebook friends list is completely different than it was four years ago.”

Correlli, who works as an account manger at a startup company, plays in the second row forward (lock) or 8-man positions with the Flamingos who

Christi Ferretti doesn’t need to hang a rainbow flag outside the café she runs with her wife in Wilmington, N.C. Her identity is present in every made-from-scratch Southern biscuit sandwich she sells.

“Unpretentious-Americana” is how owner and South Beach Wine and Food Festival chef-participant Christi Ferretti describes Pine Valley Market. Ferretti and wife Kathy WebbFerretti are not just business partners, having married and adopted a son. But when they opened shop in 2002, the community didn’t often see it that way.

Ferretti grew up in Florida, rolling calzones by her father’s side. A teacher and caterer, she met Webb-Ferretti, who was raised in North Carolina, and settled in Orlando. When the opportunity arose to move to Wilmington and open their own store, they couldn’t say no: but they also had to move somewhat back into the closet.

“Being an LGBT-owned business in the heart of the South has had its challenges,” Ferretti says. “I remember the game of telling people Kathy and I were ‘partners’ which left it up for interpretation.”

Owning a hangout along the town’s main drag meant the two were popular figures.

When they purchased Pine Valley, it was a small corner store. Today, it’s a gourmet café, focusing on local products that highlight their pride in North Carolina and themselves.

“We love selling these old-timey products from Eastern North Carolina,” says Ferretti, noting that it connects them even closer to the community they love. Some of her favorites: an elderberry syrup made from local berry bushes and a sea salt mix pulled right from the nearby Atlantic.

Half of their business, however, comes from catering, including weddings.

“With the political climate as it is, we get some flak for catering political events,” she notes. But as one of the most popular caterers in Wilmington, “people want our food when they want to impress.”

In 2012, after significant consideration, the couple decided to speak to the town that they weren’t just together to craft home-style sandwiches and make house-aged steak. “My wife and I finally decided to step out into the light as a LGBT family. … I remember waiting

MIKE CORRELLI found challenge and friendship in gay rugby.

(Photo by Jordan Felle)

compete in Division IV of the Mid-Atlantic Conference league. He served as a captain in 2019.

“I wasn’t expecting leadership to be so rewarding,” Correlli says. “Teaching people and watching them fall in love with the sport is an incredible experience.”

Tournament play is also part of being a Flamingos player and Correlli has competed throughout the Eastern Seaboard and Mid-Atlantic States. In 2018 he traveled to Amsterdam with the team for the Bingham Cup and is looking forward to their next global event in Ottawa in August.

“This sport has given me a better sense of self-confidence and I am more able to stand up for myself, both emotionally and physically,” Correlli says. “Rugby is also helping to bring the LGBT community together in Baltimore, which includes our Flamingos fans and supporters. There is a need and we are fulfilling it.”

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for the fallout and there was none. We were embraced by our community and if we lost customers because of it, we didn’t notice.”

Ferretti says it was easier to be out in Orlando. But the lesbian community in Wilmington was older and “rooted in Southern-ness.”

In 2005, the two started a biannual women’s tea dance fundraiser. They rented out a venue on the beach, but hidden from street view.

“We remember crying at the end of first one,” she says. “There were couples together 20 years but couldn’t dance together in public.” The only concern, she notes, is that the DJ has to balance country music with Billboard pop songs.

Today, Ferretti volunteers with the Girls Leadership Academy in Wilmington, an organizations connected to former Food Network president Judy Girard. Food Network chef Tyler Florence headlined a recent event, where he and Ferretti connected. Last month, at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, Ferretti partnered with Florence to cook up Southern-style fried chicken at Florence’s exclusive “Chicken Coup” chicken and champagne event. She also has a Washignton, D.C. connection: after Hurricane Florence, Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen partnered with Pine Valley as a satellite kitchen to assist in relief efforts.

CHRISTI FERRETTI (left) and JESSICA CABO, two lesbian chef/entrepreneurs in North Carolina.

(Photos courtesy the subjects)

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Cozy crossovers New ’20 models offer sleek design, range of tech features

By JOE PHILLIPS

From the pandemic to Wall Street pandemonium, the world is getting scarier by the day. All this talk about hand washing and sani-wipes reminds me of a recent study by the insurance company NetQuote. It noted the average rideshare vehicle has 35,000 times more germs than a toilet seat. Yikes! Luckily, driving your own vehicle doesn’t seem so risky.

As for the three compact crossovers I test drove below, all are affordable, reliable and, yes, extremely clean.

KIA SOUL $22,000 MPG: 27 city/33 highway Kia certainly has a winning formula with the Soul: Funky, fun-to-drive and super affordable. Completely redesigned this year, this is the third-gen Soul since it was introduced almost 10 years ago.

The design — a big leap from previous versions — is now showier, more like a Range Rover Evoque. Both have a thin strip of wraparound headlights, a snubnosed hood and a pronounced grille that juts out like Jay Leno’s chin. Yet the heart and soul of the Soul is pure bohemian, with backlit door panels that pulse to the beat of your favorite music.

The perky 147-hp engine and precise handling are both a plus. So is the sky-high roof, which allows for plenty of visibility, cargo space and headroom. While the basemodel Soul starts at $17,490, splurge a little for the X-Line with its special exterior trim and added safety features. Inside, the techy cabin is trendy and inviting, with dual-zone climate control, smartphone compatibility and a flat-bottomed steering wheel.

A 7.0-inch touchscreen comes standard, though a new 10-3-inch widescreen display is available on upper models. Yes, there are a few quibbles: a bit more engine noise than expected and no all-wheel-drive option. But it’s hard to beat such panache at this price.

MAZDA CX-3 $22,000 MPG: 29 city/34 highway While the Kia Soul is a hip hauler, the Mazda CX-3 is more of a hot hatchback. It sits low to the ground and has a sexy design that still seems fresh after being introduced

a few years ago. Unfortunately, the severely sloped roof creates cramped rear seating and limited cargo space. But the front seats are soothing and well-bolstered.

Overall, the cabin is quiet and upscale, with Bose stereo, smartphone compatibility and steering wheel paddle shifters. A raised infotainment screen in the center of the dash helps keep your eyes on the road, and the power liftgate is a nice touch. Crash-test scores are stellar, and various active safety features are now standard: head-up display, adaptive cruise control, adaptive/automatic headlights, lane-departure warning, blindsport monitor, forward-collision warning and automatic emergency braking.

For 2020, the CX-3 is only offered in one trim level and competes with the all-new, slightly larger and more expensive CX30.

Translation: This is your chance to snag a great deal on a well-appointed CX-3.

Kia Soul

TOYOTA C-HR $22,000 MPG: 27 city/31 highway For decades, Toyota played it safe when it came to vehicle design. But with the cutesy C-HR two years ago, the automaker went from mild to wild. The choppy, in-your-face styling gets a slight refresh this year, with a sleeker front bumper, grille and headlights.

There’s also an edgier spoiler and wheel treatment, as well as optional silver roof.

Inside a new gray headliner helps make the interior feel more spacious. Alas, the pokey engine stays the same. For anyone with a lead foot, this probably means fewer speeding tickets. For me, even though the C-HR is no dynamo, it’s perfectly fine for puttering around town. It also rides smoothly over most road surfaces and fits in the tightest of parking spaces. Gas mileage for the C-HR is also good.

What’s most striking is the laundry list of standard features, even on the base model: LED headlights, power/heated side mirrors with integrated turn signals, 8-inch touchscreen, stolen-vehicle locator and more. Other models add more luxe-like features, such as auto-folding side mirrors, puddle lamps and ambient lighting. Basically, what the C-HR lacks in performance, it makes up for in flair, features and fuel efficiency.

Mazda CX-3

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