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Protesters demand racial justice across region D.C., Baltimore, Virginia and Delaware see big turnout FROM STAFF REPORTS Protesters gathered outside the White House on Saturday to direct their anger at President Trump after days of demonstrations over police brutality against Black people, including George Floyd.

The portion of 16th Street leading up to the White House, where D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser had imprinted in large yellow letters “Black Lives Matter,” was filled with demonstrators, including LGBTQ protesters expressing solidarity and anger over racism and police brutality.

Thomas Smith, a gay 40-year-old D.C. resident, said he came to the protest to “stand in solidarity with my brothers and sisters of all races and ethnicities and backgrounds because of really horrifying things that have happened in this country over the past few weeks.”

Watching these events unfold, Smith said he was taken by “the horrifying nature of it all and that there’s a segment of this country who refuse to speak out and stand up for what’s right.”

The viral nine-minute video of Minneapolis police killing George Floyd — which ignited a firestorm of protests across not just in the United States, but across the globe — is but one in a series of attacks on Black Americans in recent weeks.

Others include the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia; the death of Breonna Taylor in a shooting by police in Louisville; a white woman in New York City calling the police on Christian Cooper, a black gay man who told her to obey the rules in Central Park and leash her dog.

Demonstrators before the White House held up signs reading “Black Lives Matter,” “Fire Bad Cops,” “Fuck Trump,” and “How Many Weren’t Filmed.” Visible among the messages were rainbow Pride signs as well as individuals wearing rainbow-themed clothing.

At several points during the demonstration, protesters took a knee in a symbolic stand against systemic racism, at one time amid chants of “I Can’t Breathe.”

One incident of violence not as high-profile is the killing of Tony McDade, a Black transgender man at the hands of police in Tallahassee this week. At one point, a Black trans activist approached protesters to urge them to remember “All Black Lives Matter,” including the lives of transgender people and transgender kids.

“Kids, black men, black women,” the activist said.

“You want to acknowledge us, too? We are standing right beside, y’all. And guess what? All Black lives matter.”

Trans protest in Baltimore Baltimore Safe Haven, a nonprofit organization that provides food, shelter and other services for the area’s LGBTQ community, held a Black Trans Lives Matter protest rally and march on June 5.

The event was one of many held in Baltimore and nationally following the killing of George Floyd.

Iya Dammons, founder and executive director of Baltimore Safe Haven, led the diverse audience in a series of supportive chants while a panel held up images of slain black trans individuals and spoke to the crowd.

“We need the community of Black people to step up,” Dammons told the Washington Blade. “This is not just

“We’re not changing the narrative,” Dammons said after the march ended. “We stand together as a community.

Include us. We’re including you.”

Protesters denounce President Trump in White House protests last week.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

about Baltimore Safe Haven, this is about the community as a whole.”

A crowd of about 200 attended the event, reported The Baltimore Sun. Ruby Corado, the executive director and founder of D.C.’s Casa Ruby, was also present and assisted organizers.

“It’s time that we say Black Trans Lives Matter are in Black Lives Matter, too,” said Rev. Merrick Moses, a Baltimore religious leader and LGBTQ activist who was invited to read a prayer at the rally. “Because oftentimes we feel left out and we are interjecting ourselves right now that we matter, too.”

Akil Patterson, an advocacy consultant for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation who said Baltimore Safe Haven receives funding from the foundation, also assisted with the rally and march.

“I’m a gay black man that’s cisgender and who uses they/them and he/him pronouns,” Patterson, who ran for the Baltimore City Council in last week’s Democratic primary, said. “I feel there needs to be more black people here because I feel that if we’re not here for our brothers and sisters and siblings of gender-nonconforming identities, then where will we be at when they are murdered?”

One trans woman speaker on the panel during the rally said she was there to “say our final goodbyes to our brother Tony McDade,” while another asked “Why doesn’t my life have value in their eyes?”

McDade, a black trans man, was killed by police officers in Tallahassee, Fla., two days after Floyd.

WTXL, a local Tallahassee news station, on Friday reported the city is moving forward with releasing the officer’s name after initially stating the officer’s identity was protected under a crime victim law.

Keyayshia, a black trans woman and Baltimore native who participated in the event, also spoke to the Blade.

“You cannot have a Black Lives Movement unless every black life is valued. And these black trans women’s lives,” she said while pointing to the pictures scattered in the grass which included Ashanti Carmon and Zoe Spears who were murdered in Fairmount Heights in 2019, “were not valued.”

Rallying in Lynchburg A peaceful protest in support of the black LGBTQ community took place in Lynchburg, Va., on Sunday.

“It’s also Pride month and so we were wanting to remember the queer black lives that also matter,” the event organizer, Stacey O’Hara, told WFXR, a local television station.

The protest started with a rally in Riverside Park with speakers presenting poems, songs and facts about contributions made by black LGBTQ community members, reported the News and Advance newspaper. The march went along Rivermont Avenue before returning to the park.

Demanding justice in Delaware Protesters also marched in Delaware in response to the death of Floyd.

Tensions ran high at a Wilmington protest last Sunday.

Peaceful demonstrations in 1898 Park and Wilmington City Hall earlier in the day gave way to what Mayor Bill Saffo told WECT News he saw as “a group of people in here that were hell bent on coming in here to riot or disrupt our community.”

The riots, unaffiliated with organizations such as Black Lives Matter, occurred despite local leaders calling off Sunday night demonstrations.

Officers used rubber bullets, inert gas, and CS gas to disperse protesters. Wilmington Police Department spokeswoman Linda Thompson said that police needed to clear protesters because the street was not properly blocked off, leaving open the risk of cars injuring protesters.

May 31 protests in Dover in front of Legislative Hall and the Dover Police Department progressed peacefully for much of the day.

Only later in the night did the protests give way to looting.

“Me as a leader of that group, that peaceful protest group, I broke it up. We said what we had to say,” DeAndre Valentine, organizer of the Dover protest told WDEL. “Let this not be one day of our voice, but many days of our voice.”

In Rehoboth, a peaceful protest was cancelled last Monday after reports that Antifa disruptors planned to riot in the small beach town. A massive police presence rolled into town, with officers blocking access to outlet store parking lots along Route 1. Police from nearby jurisdictions were called in to support Rehoboth police. A small group of peaceful protesters gathered Monday night in the Rehoboth bandstand and later walked down Rehoboth Avenue without incident. A man brandishing an AK-47 created a stir outside one Rehoboth Avenue restaurant.

He later explained he was there voluntarily to protect the establishment from rioters.

(Chris Johnson, Philip Van Slooten and Joshua Keller contributed to this report.)

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Casa Ruby threatened with ‘Pulse nightclub’ massacre The ex-husband of a transgender woman who is a client of the D.C. LGBTQ community services center Casa Ruby has threatened in a Facebook post to commit a ”massacre” at Casa Ruby similar to the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., according to Casa Ruby founder and executive director Ruby Corado.

Corado told the Washington Blade she called police on Sunday, June 7, after the trans woman showed up at Casa Ruby seeking help, saying her ex-husband threatened to kill her if she continued to refuse his demands that they resume their relationship. Corado said the woman broke off the relationship and obtained a divorce after accusing the ex-husband of abuse.

Corado posted on her own Facebook page a screen shot of the ex-husband’s Facebook post, written in Spanish, making the threats. The screenshot posted by Corado has two photos of the ex-husband but doesn’t identify him by name.

“He said that he will commit a massacre like the Pulse in Florida,” Corado said in translating the ex-husband’s posting. “And the first people he would kill are the people at Casa Ruby.”

The ex-husband’s Facebook post also mentions the names of two D.C. nightclubs, Noa Noa and Adiente Club that host LGBTQ Latino events on certain nights.

Corado said the ex-husband, who appears in his 20s, knew the woman he married was transgender. She said the two are members of the Latino community and are U.S. citizens who speak English and Spanish. Corado said the trans woman, who is in her late 20s, spoke to D.C. police, who arrived at Casa Ruby on Sunday, to take a report.

Corado said the she and the trans woman provided police with the ex-husband’s name and address in Herndon, Va., where he lives.

Corado said she is hopeful that police will obtain a warrant for the ex-husband’s arrest.

“I just wanted to bring awareness to this because people could end up dead,” Corado said.

The public version of a D.C. police incident report obtained by the Blade makes no mention of the trans woman or that the suspect was her ex-husband. All it says is that Respondent 1, meaning Corado or the trans woman, told police that Suspect 1, “made a threat via text message to executive a massacre Florida style at Casa Ruby.”

In response to an inquiry from the Blade, D.C. police spokesperson Karimah Bilal said the case remains under investigation but declined further comment.

The Blade couldn’t immediately determine whether the ex-husband sent his former wife a text message making his threats in addition to his Facebook posting.

The Pulse gay nightclub massacre took place June 12, 2016, when 29-year-old Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 mostly Latino LGBTQ patrons at the club and wounded another 53 patrons who were attending one of the club’s Latino events.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

RUBY CORADO called police this week after someone threatened a violent attack on Casa Ruby and two D.C. gay nightlife events in a Facebook post.

3-way race for mayor in Rehoboth Beach Incumbent Mayor Paul Kuhns is set to face off against former longtime commissioner Stan Mills and current commissioner Edward Chrzanowski in the Rehoboth Beach election on Aug. 8.

Kuhns unseated 30-year incumbent Sam Cooper in 2017 to become mayor of the resort town. His election signified a new direction for a city government that had long been seen as prioritizing the interests of homeowners over those of businesses.

So far in his term, Kuhns has strengthened the partnership between city government and Rehoboth Beach Main Street, updated the website to ease use for visitors, and avoided expensive projects that would lead to tax increases such as the Cooper-led new City Hall.

“Some in the business community said Kuhns didn’t move fast enough,” said Peter Rosenstein, who is active in Rehoboth life and politics. “He had a fine line to walk between the business community and homeowners and some now question whether he did it well enough.”

Kuhns sees helping businesses as a way to help everyone in Rehoboth.

“Property values are where they are because people want to be in Rehoboth not just to own property, but to visit our shops and our restaurants,” Kuhns told the Blade.

In a town with so many gay-owned businesses, Kuhns’ pro-business platform naturally leads to a pro-LGBT platform. A gay-friendly head of city government came as a welcome change from Cooper, who eventually gained some gay support by the end of his tenure after years of supporting efforts to keep Rehoboth “family friendly.”

Stan Mills served most of his time as a commissioner during Cooper’s tenure and his election would be seen as a return to an administration that Kuhns describes as “not very pro-business at all.”

Mills faces questions about his support for gay residents stemming from his 2011 use of a rarely enforced ordinance to target businesses, some of them gay owned, for hosting

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late night drinking and dining on outdoor patios. Mills’ invocation of the ordinance led to a raid of the gay-owned Aqua Grill and the arrest of its then-owner Bill Shields. The Delaware State Public Integrity Commission issued an opinion stating that Mills may have violated a state conflict of interest law because he owns a bed and breakfast located next to the gay bar Blue Moon, which has a patio.

“Stan Mills is a well-known entity and will have the support of some of the homeowners who want to go back to the way things were with Cooper,” Rosenstein said.

Mills could not be reached for comment.

Also running for Mayor is Edward Chrzanowski, who has served as a commissioner since 2019. Along with commissioner Lisa Schlosser, Chrzanowski led efforts to expand sidewalk space to promote social distancing during the pandemic.

The candidacy of Chrzanowski, who’s gay, may complicate decisions for some gay voters who might otherwise be inclined to support Kuhns.

Two other openly gay candidates will be on the ballot.

One is Purple Parrot owner Hugh Fuller, who is running for a nonresident spot on the city commission; the other is Patrick Gossett, a longtime former commissioner who seeks a return to office.

Fuller and Gossett are two of four candidates running for two open commissioner seats. The others are former Commissioner Jay Lagree and planning commission member Rachel Macha. Lagree served as a commissioner for 10 months after he was appointed to fill Kuhns’ slot after he defeated Cooper for mayor.

JOSHUA KELLER

Pinto considered winner in Ward 2 race Although the D.C. Board of Elections had yet to certify the outcome, it became clear last week that former Assistant D.C. Attorney General Brooke Pinto would emerge as the winner of the city’s June 2 Democratic primary in the hotly contested Ward 2 D.C. Council race.

The Board of Elections released an updated vote count showing Pinto had 2,967 votes, or 28.36 percent of the vote in an eight-candidate race, with a lead of 347 votes over her closest rival, Foggy Bottom Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Patrick Kennedy, who had 2,620 votes or 25.04 percent.

Like all of the Ward 2 candidates running in the Democratic primary, Pinto, 28, has expressed strong support for LGBTQ rights.

Gay Logan Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner John Fanning, whose supporters said he would have played an important role as the Council’s only LGBTQ member, finished in fifth place with 666 votes or 6.37 percent of the vote, according to the June 5 election returns.

Fanning, Grossman, and Kennedy have announced they have suspended their respective campaigns for a June 16 Ward 2 special election and have endorsed Pinto in the special election.

The special election was called after longtime Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans (D) resigned from the Council in January upon learning his Council colleagues were about to expel him for multiple ethics violations related to his private consulting work.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

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‘Our country is at a crossroad’ Biden’s LGBTQ outreach director talks campaign, road ahead

By CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com As LGBTQ+ vote director for Joseph Biden’s presidential campaign, Reggie Greer has his work cut out for him.

After all, he’s charged with marshaling LGBTQ support for the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate amid a deadly coronavirus pandemic and tremendous unrest over racism and police brutality.

In an interview with the Washington Blade on Monday, Greer said he relies heavily on his upbringing and passionate belief in inclusion in confronting the challenges he faces in the 2020 election.

“I am a gay Black man who grew up in the South and has been lucky and fortunate to have been impacted and influenced by many LGBTQ leaders and my parents and teachers, who really instilled in me that kindness and inclusion and the power of your own voices is something that you ought to cherish,” Greer said. “And I think every day in this role, given that this campaign cycle has been so unique, I’ve leaned in on that.”

Greer, who’s 33 and remains a D.C. resident, is charged with serving as liaison between the Biden campaign and the LGBTQ community — a role that involves conference calls and highlighting issues important to people, such as passing into law long-awaited federal LGBTQ non-discrimination protections in the form of the Equality Act. In a prior role, Greer was director of community engagement for the LGBTQ Victory Institute, where he served as point person for the nation’s more than 850 openly LGBTQ public officials.

Although Greer declined to say whether Biden would name his Cabinet members before Election Day, including any LGBTQ appointments, Greer pledged Biden “will prioritize the appointments of LGBTQ people in an administration.”

Bolstering Greer’s work is “Out for Biden,” a newly created steering committee in the Biden campaign that seeks to motivate the estimated 11 million LGBTQ adults to vote for Biden.

Among the goals for “Out for Biden” is strengthening collaboration across intersectional lines, honing communications for a cohesive movement and providing unprecedented access to our country’s most prominent LGBTQ+ leaders.

High-profile LGBTQ members of “Out for Biden” include Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.); Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David; Mara Keisling, executive director, National Center for Transgender Equality Action Fund; and Pennsylvania State Rep. Brian Sims.

Greer said the LGBTQ steering committee would be welcome to undertake campaign efforts to motivate LGBTQ voters in the 2020 election.

“Through ‘Out for Biden,’ which we launched today, we’ve been working to increase our efforts to collaborate with LGBTQ organizations and leaders at the local, statewide, federal level, to ensure that voters have the tools they need to be a part of the process, and also improve the communication between all these different entities that are doing really important work to register voters, get information to them about mail-in voting, to get them involved in some of the

REGGIE GREER is LGBTQ+ vote director for the Biden campaign.

(Blade photo by Michael Key)

local races and statewide races and that also are important to ensuring that we have a pro-equality government up and down the ticket,” Greer said.

WASHINGTON BLADE: Let me start off with a very basic, but important question: Who is Reggie Greer?

REGGIE GREER: Who is Reggie Greer? That’s a very good question. I’m glad that you started off there. I am someone who is deeply passionate about the future LGBTQ Americans have — and I want to be part of a growing movement of people trying to ensure that [Phone line disconnects, but Biden campaign calls again shortly after.]

GREER: As I was saying, I am deeply passionate about the LGBTQ community, LGBTQ issues, LGBTQ voices and want to be part of a growing movement that includes us in the increasingly diverse American electorate.

Vice President Biden has made it clear that LGBTQ people are a big part of his coalition and as someone that really values engagement, I’m really excited to bring this approach to this work.

I am a gay Black man who grew up in the South and has been lucky and fortunate to have been impacted and influenced by many LGBTQ leaders and my parents and teachers, who really instilled in me that kindness and inclusion and the power of your own voices is something that you ought to cherish.

And I think every day in this role, given that this campaign cycle has been so unique, I’ve leaned in on that. I leaned in on the idea that every person has a voice, and if any of us can fight to ensure those voices are heard, that’s what we ought to be doing.

BLADE: Tell me about some of the specific goals you have as LGBTQ+ vote director for the Biden campaign.

GREER: Absolutely. I think, given the fact that our country is at a crossroad right now, and we have COVID-19 impacting our communities in so many ways, and this election season is so unique, the main goal is clear that LGBTQ people, no matter where they live, no matter their background, and pro-

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equality voters are able to not only interact with this campaign, but able to be a part of the electoral process in a way that’s substantive.

So, through “Out for Biden,” which we launched today, we’ve been working to increase our efforts to collaborate with LGBTQ organizations and leaders at the local, statewide, federal level, to ensure that voters have the tools they need to be a part of the process, and also improve the communication between all these different entities that are doing really important work to register voters, get information to them about mail-in voting, to get them involved in some of the local races and statewide races and that also are important to ensuring that we have a pro-equality government up and down the ticket. So, that’s the main goal is really to give voters the tools they need to be a part of this process.

BLADE: I think many Americans, including LGBTQ people are increasingly concerned about racism and police brutality.

How do you see that playing out in your role?

GREER: Absolutely. Systemic injustice, and racism are issues that we’re going to have to address head on, and we’re going to have to do it through leadership. Vice President Biden has spent his whole life fighting against systemic issues, and working to change the system in ways that benefit and work for everyone, and has shown this kind of leadership that we need to actually get things done.

Right now, as we speak, the vice president is down with the family of George Floyd, paying tribute to his life and really bringing comfort to a nation that can’t understand why we don’t have leadership now willing to address these issues head on.

When we look at COVID-19, which is another problem that is complex enough, not to be solved by through rhetoric and bluster, but really requires someone to understand how government works, requires that you need experts at the table to get things done. Vice President Biden has really leaned in on ensuring that he’s surrounded himself with the people who know how to get things done.

And I think for me, personally, again, as someone who’s Black, gay, has a disability, I know full well how important it is to have a government that values and includes diverse voices, appoints people to important positions within the government that can bring those lived experiences to these very tough issues. And the promise really of a Biden presidency is something that we’re working on now, as a campaign which is including as many voices from around the country as possible, so that we can have a government that that sees us, that includes us, and fully represents us.

BLADE: How has the coronavirus hampered your work personally?

GREER: So, the campaign has completely shifted digital, and even through the launch of “Out for Biden,” we are empowering LGBTQ people and those who support our campaign to engage virtually.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 42

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Activists around the country back protests against police brutality Andrea Jenkins represents neighborhood where George Floyd was killed

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS mlavers@washblade.com Activists around the country continue to show their support for the protests against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Tremaine Jones is the project director of the Freedom Fund, an organization based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that helps LGBTQ prisoners and detained immigrants post bail.

Jones also identifies as a black queer man.

Jones on June 1 told the Washington Blade during a telephone interview he supports those who have taken to the streets to protest Floyd’s death, noting “people are tired of black bodies and black lives being exploited and killed.”

Jones added technology has also allowed passersby to document incidents of police brutality as they happen.

“As a black queer man I have to navigate thinking about this everyday,” said Jones.

“We see everyday how black people, LGBTQ people, queer people ... are being exploited,” added Jones.

Jones spoke with the Blade a week after Floyd died after then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.

Minnesota prosecutors have charged Chauvin with second-degree murder in connection with Floyd’s death.

Three other now former police officers who were with Chauvin face charges of second-degree manslaughter and aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins — who is the first openly transgender woman of color elected to public office in the U.S. — represents the area in which Floyd was killed.

Jenkins acknowledged during a June 3 virtual town hall that Equality Florida CEO Nadine Smith moderated that the area of Minneapolis she represents is “a community in pain.”

Jenkins nevertheless added the outrage over Floyd’s death has already brought about change.

“Last Monday George Floyd was murdered; (the next day) four officers were fired, three days later the murder was charged and arrested,” said Jenkins. “He’s still in jail. He’s not out on bail. He’s still in custody.”

Jenkins during the town hall also noted the Minnesota Department of Human Rights has filed a civil rights complaint against the Minneapolis Police Department that “really allows us now this opportunity to undo some of the structural themes that are holding up this racism in our society.” Jenkins is one of the nine Minneapolis City Council members who support “dismantling” the department in the wake of Floyd’s death.

Floyd was killed roughly three months after Travis McMichael, who is white, fatally shot Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old black man, in Brunswick, Ga. Georgia authorities in May charged McMichael and his father, Gregory McMichael, with felony murder and aggravated assault after a video of the Feb. 23 shooting in the city’s Satilla Shores neighborhood became public.

William “Roddie” Bryan Jr., the white man who recorded the shooting on his cell phone, has been indicted on charges

Two men hold their fists in their air during an anti-police brutality protest in downtown Miami on June 1.

(Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

Reports indicate Travis McMichael used a racial slur to describe Arbery after he killed him.

A white police officer in Tallahassee, Fla., on May 27 shot and killed Tony McDade, who was a black trans man.

Local media reports indicate the shooting took place shortly after McDade fatally stabbed a 21-year-old man. The Tallahassee Police Department has said McDade pointed a handgun at the officer, who has not been publicly identified, but an eyewitness to shooting has questioned this account.

Black Lives Matter protesters in Asheville, N.C., honored McDade with a makeshift memorial they placed near a monument to Zebulon Vance, a former Confederate military officer who became North Carolina’s governor and a U.S. senator after the Civil War. Protesters who gathered outside the South Carolina State House on Sunday chanted “black trans lives matter.”

Then-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in 2015 ordered the removal of the Confederate flag from the state house’s grounds after a gunman killed nine people inside the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston. A statue of former U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who opposed efforts to end racial segregation, remains in place.

Janel Diaz, a black trans woman who is a member of the Tallahassee Mayor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Council, on Tuesday told the Blade during a telephone interview the city’s LGBTQ residents remain divided over McDade, in part, because he allegedly fatally stabbed someone before he was killed. Diaz nevertheless acknowledged McDade’s death has become part of the broader protest movement against police brutality.

“We don’t know what took place,” Diaz told the Blade.

“He’s not here to speak for himself ... what I can take away from all of this is it’s bringing about hopefully some sort of change within our community and hopefully this can bring the divide that we have amongst communities together.”

Smith acknowledged McDade and Arbery in the virtual

town hall she moderated.

“When we began to envision this panel weeks ago, George Floyd was alive in Minneapolis, Tony McDade had not been shot by police in Tallahassee,” said Smith in her opening remarks. “We began the planning in the aftermath of Ahmaud Arbery’s killing by white vigilantes just two hours over the Florida border.”

Smith said she and others who organized the town hall “wanted to draw attention and outrage to the epidemic of black transgender women being murdered.” Smith later acknowledged June is Pride month.

Diaz also acknowledged Pride month when she spoke with the Blade.

“Right now, it’s time for us to come together as a community,” she said. “For my community who is not black, it’s ok not to understand how we feel as being black and being transgender. We face different things. We face different obstacles.”

The town hall that Smith moderated took place two days after a dozen men at a convenience store in St. Paul, Minn., punched and kicked Iyanna Dior, a 21-year-old trans woman in an attack that was recorded and posted to social media.

OutFront Minnesota, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy group, in a statement that condemned the attack noted LGBTQ people “face higher rates of violence than their straight and cisgender peers” and added these rates “drastically increase for BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) LGBTQ+ communities.”

The organization noted “the vast majority” of the 26 trans people who were reported killed in the U.S. in 2019 were black trans women. OutFront Minnesota in its statement also referenced McDade.

“Black trans women are attacked far too often across Minnesota,” said the organization. “It is an epidemic and it must be stopped. No one should have to live in fear of violence because of who they are.”

Jenkins also acknowledged Dior, noting she was “brutally beaten in this community by black cis men.”

“Our work, our struggle is real,” she said during the Equality Florida town hall. “It’s very real and being at these intersections ... this is one space where maybe this is a recognized reality.”

Monica Roberts, a black trans woman and activist who lives in Houston, sought to highlight these intersections when she spoke with the Blade on Tuesday. Roberts in her statement also acknowledged McDade.

“It’s disgustingly sad that it took another murder of a black man to wake the rest of America to the fact that police departments across the nation are murdering us,” said Roberts. “Those murders by cop include Tony McDade, a trans man in Tallahassee, Fla. They are also a reminder that when my human rights aren’t secure, your human rights aren’t either.”

Roberts spoke with the Blade shortly before Floyd was buried next to his mother at a Houston cemetery.

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Trans woman attacked by mob in Minnesota Police in St. Paul, Minn. are urging a 21-year-old transgender woman who was attacked and beaten on June 1 by more than dozen men at a St. Paul convenience store that was captured on video to report the incident to police, who are eager to apprehend the attackers.

According to St. Paul police spokesperson Steve Linders, the victim, who identifies herself on Facebook as Iyanna Dior, never contacted police about the incident. Linders told the Blade that he is unaware of either an employee or another customer at Sana’s Market convenience store at 1541 Maryland Avenue East in St. Paul having called police about the incident.

Most social media accounts of the incident incorrectly reported it took place in the neighboring city of Minneapolis and that it occurred at a gas station. Linders said there is no gas station located at the site of the convenience store where the incident took place.

A video that captured the incident and which has gone viral shows at least a dozen if not many more mostly men and one or two women punching and kicking Dior inside a store while shouting and screaming at her. One or two people who appear to be store employees standing behind a counter appear on the video to be trying to help Dior by separating her from the attackers.

Although unconfirmed reports on social media have said the incident started after a “fender-bender” car accident at or near the convenience store, Linders said police have yet to determine what triggered the attack.

“Our investigators are doing everything they can to find her,” said Linders. “So hopefully we can reach her and hopefully she wants to make a complaint and then we can move forward with the investigation,” he said.

“What was shown in that video is beyond troubling,” Linders told the Blade. “And we want to do everything we can to first make sure that she’s OK and second find the people who assaulted her and hold them accountable. And we’re working many different angles to make that happen.”

The Blade sent Dior a Facebook message asking to speak with her to get her firsthand account of what happened. She had not replied as of Friday afternoon.

The attack against Dior occurred at a time when protests, some of which have become violent, erupted in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and across the country over the death of African American Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. A video capturing that incident shows the officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck as Floyd shouted that he could not breathe.

Prosecutors in Minneapolis have charged the police officer who placed his weight on Floyd’s neck, essentially choking him to death, according to authorities, with seconddegree murder. Three other officers on the scene have been charged with accessory to a murder.

Linders said St. Paul Police would not speculate on who it was that committed the attack until they compile the evidence they need to make an arrest.

“I don’t want to do a disservice to her by speculating on how this happened until we talk to her and find the people responsible,” he said. “So I don’t want to speculate on what people heard online. We need to talk to her to find out with precision why this happened and make sure she’s OK first and foremost.”

Out Front Minnesota, a statewide LGBTQ rights organization, issued a statement on June 3 condemning the attack and assault on Iyanna Dior, calling it yet another in a long list of attacks on transgender women of color in recent years.

“In 2019, at least 26 transgender people were murdered in the United States, and the vast majority of those killed were Black transgender women,” the statement says.

The statement identifies by name each of the trans people killed in 2019, including two black trans women who were shot to death in Prince George’s County, Md., just across the D.C. line – Ashanti Carmon and Zoe Spears.

“This violence has got to stop,” said Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for the Human Rights Campaign’s Transgender Justice Initiative, in an interview with Rolling Stone. “Black lives matter and that includes trans, nonbinary, queer, cis and straight black lives,” Cooper told Rolling Stone.

“All of our hearts should hurt watching the video of this young trans woman being hit by a group of people,” she said.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

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IYANNA DIOR was attacked in St. Paul, Minn., and the incident was caught on camera.

(Photo via Facebook)

Stuart Milk praises protests against racism FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The nephew of Harvey Milk on Thursday expressed his support for those who are protesting against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

“I’m inspired by the protests,” Stuart Milk told the Blade during a brief interview at a Fort Lauderdale restaurant.

“I am really hopeful that maybe we can create some systemic change.”

Milk spoke with the Blade less than two weeks after Floyd died after thenMinneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck.

Rep. ADAM SCHIFF has introduced a Minnesota prosecutors have charged resolution against the gay blood ban.

Chauvin with second-degree murder (Blade file photo by Michael key) in connection with Floyd’s death. The Associated Press notes the three other now former police officers who were with Chauvin face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and seconddegree manslaughter.

Christopher Street West, the group that organizes Los Angeles’ annual Pride parade, has announced it will hold a march “in response to racial injustice, systematic racism and all forms of oppression.” Milk told the Blade he “would like to see more of that and hopefully one day we can do that on our global scale.”

“It’s been nine days … sometimes we see these things really light up and then fizzle out and then we move on to something else,” he said. “It’s my hope and desire that we don’t move on and that we as an LGBTQ community keep that fire burning.”

“Unless there is justice for everyone in the United States there is justice for no one,” added Milk.

Milk on Thursday also talked about the Trump administration’s campaign to encourage countries to decriminalize consensual same-sex relations.

The White House last year tapped outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to spearhead the initiative.

The U.S. Embassy in Germany last summer hosted a group of LGBTQ rights activists from around the world. Grenell and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Kelly Knight Craft late last year organized an event on the sidelines of a U.N. Security Council meeting that focused on efforts to decriminalize homosexuality around the world.

“The campaign has had some deep back door discussions that I think are important,” Milk told the Blade. “It’s important that we keep global LGBT rights moving forward.”

Milk added “it’s just totally unacceptable that we have over 70 countries where it’s still illegal and criminalized to be LGBT.” MICHAEL K. LAVERS

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Global Pride to feature celebrities, politicians LA Pride turns over march to new All Black Lives Matter

U.S. Rep. SHARICE DAVIDS (D-Kan.) and THELMA HOUSTON. (Photo courtesy of Cathy Renna/Global Pride)

LGBTQ musical icons, drag queens and global human rights leaders are set to take part in Global Pride 2020 on June 27, a 24-hour virtual LGBTQ celebration that hopes to attract 300 million viewers, according to event organizers.

Singers Deborah Cox, Thelma Houston, Ava Max and many other musical stars are set to participate in the event. Drag queens Pabllo Vittar and Courtney Act are also set to perform. Visual and audio design by the late George Michael will underscore the celebration.

Global leaders like Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil of India, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada are scheduled to give remarks.

Costa Rica late last month extended marriage rights to same-sex couples, the first country in Central America to do so.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) will also make an appearance at the event. Davids, elected in 2018, is the first openly gay person from Kansas and first openly LGBTQ Native American elected to Congress.

About 500 Pride events have been canceled or postponed, according to data collected by the European Pride Organizers Association. These widespread cancellations pushed European Pride, InterPride and other organizations to develop Global Pride 2020 to ensure “the spirit of Pride will live on.”

Kristine Garina, a Global Pride 2020 organizer who is president of the European Pride Association, noted why she was excited to create a virtual Pride event.

“Every Pride organizer in the world can tell you a story of someone whose life changed when they visited Pride, and so with so many Prides being canceled or postponed, as organizers we felt we had a responsibility to come together and deliver Pride online,” said Garina in a press release.

Julian Sanjivan, co-president of InterPride, said bringing a Pride festival to the virtual world could benefit LGBTQ people across the globe.

“By taking Pride online, not only are we making sure that LGBTQIA+ people everywhere can still experience the joy and community of Pride, but we also for the first time are enabling people to take part in Pride wherever they are,” he said. “This means people who aren’t out, or who are living in socially conservative countries, can take part.

The support of these incredible world leaders and performers will mean so much to marginalized LGBTQIA+ people everywhere.”

This event will be streamed for free on Global Pride 2020’s website and YouTube channel.

KAELA ROEDER

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After nearly two weeks of controversy, the Christopher Street West/LA Pride Board of Directors announced it is turning over its proposed June 14 solidarity march to All Black Lives Matter, an advisory board of Black LGBTQI+ activists and community leaders.

The initial announcement by CSW/LA Pride on June 3, “to peacefully assemble a protest in solidarity with the Black community […]” rankled Black activists and allies who labeled it insensitive and tone-deaf, disrespecting the Black community, especially LGBTQI+ people of color. The now deleted press release suggested that CSW/LAPride had conferred with Black Lives Matter, which it had not.

Several activists took to Twitter blasting the CSW/LAPride announcement. This included community organizer and prominent blogger Jasmyne Cannick, a former board member of LA Black Pride, who led numerous protests against the City of West Hollywood and Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey over their handling of the Ed Buck case. Buck is currently on trial for contributing to the drug-related overdose deaths of two Black men.

“LAPride wants to show solidarity w/Black folk—and Black folks want that—they can come to where Black folks live. Don’t invite Black folks into anti Black spaces. Y’all had a well known and loved serial killer of Black men in #WeHo for years,” Cannick tweeted.

On Friday, June 5, CSW/LA Pride released a statement apologizing for what the organization characterized as a “misstep” and announced that the organization was “reevaluating” its decision to move forward with the planned protest march.

On Monday, June 8, CSW/LA Pride apologized directly to BLM organizers and announced that it was in the process of turning over direct control of the protest march to the Black LGBTQI+ advisory board, which released a public letter that reads in part: “The Advisory Board is not working with CSW on pre-march rally programming but will serve as an independent body creating a program aimed at amplifying the voices of the Black community and allies. Additionally, in tandem, we will engage Black-owned businesses to help support and put this peaceful march together.”

The Blade spoke via phone to two of the community activists who had direct knowledge of the events that transpired prior to Monday’s announcement. They participated in a Thursday, June 4 telephone conference call regarding the previous day’s announcement

by CSW/LA Pride.

According to activist Mackenzie MacDade, she asked if the parade was a “Rainbow CoDependency Parade” designed to bolster CSW/LA Pride’s corporate sponsors and donors.

MacDade also indicated that CSW/LA Pride promised direct engagement with the activist community, including having activists included in polling over the weekend of June 6 to garner support and feedback about moving forward with the march. She told the Blade that the poll never happened.

Marquita Thomas told the Blade that she and others on the call insisted on greater transparency from CSW/LA Pride. However, she felt as though concerns about the structure and execution of the protest march were not being adequately addressed. Thomas indicated that she received no followup on the poll nor had CSW/LA Pride reached out again since the Thursday call.

The Board of Directors of CSW/LA Pride posted the following statement regarding plans for the protest march going forward: “June 7, 2020, an Advisory Board, made up of all Black LGBTQ+ leaders was formed to move forward in organizing the All Black Lives Matter solidarity march on Sunday, June 14, 2020 at 10:00am PT in Los Angeles. The protest is in direct response to racial injustice, systemic racism, and all forms of oppression.”

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Unhappy Pride Protests, pandemic, and a detestable president

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What a difference a year makes.

Twelve months ago, we were preparing for the city’s annual Pride celebration and marking 50 years since Stonewall with parades, galas and Madonna performing in New York City. At the Blade, we were also celebrating 50 years since the newspaper’s founding in 1969.

A year later, more than 100,000 Americans are dead of coronavirus, a pandemic that brought the world to a standstill. Unemployment is at Great Depression-era levels. Small businesses everywhere are hanging on by a thread.

Police brutality against black citizens continues, triggering mass protests after George Floyd was murdered by a cop on video. And the president of the United States, hiding in a bunker and surrounded by fences, turns law enforcement officials against his own people, gassing peaceful demonstrators in service of a clumsy, cheesy photo op.

We are living through unprecedented times. As we reflect on Pride this week, we should remember that our own modern movement for equality began as a protest against police violence and raids on our bars. I can think of no better tribute to Pride than joining the movement for racial equality and the protests against police brutality and racism.

As the peaceful protests continued this weekend in communities large and small and in countries around the world, many asked what’s next for the movement. Many ideas are being floated, from investing more in mental health to outright defunding police departments.

But one thing we should all agree on: On Nov. 3, we must clean house of the Republican Party and send not just Donald Trump packing, but all of his enablers in Congress who have turned a blind eye to this president’s criminal abuse of power, his cruelty, and his tactic of dividing the American people at a perilous time.

Trump didn’t create the coronavirus, but his incompetent response and

delayed action unnecessarily cost thousands of American lives. Trump didn’t create racism or police brutality, but his heartless and cowardly response to Floyd’s murder served to exacerbate the exploding tensions. At a time when the country needed unity, our president doubled down on division and used the Bible as a prop to excite his shrinking base.

The time is now for Republicans everywhere to earn an ounce of redemption by condemning Trump, endorsing Joe Biden and actively campaigning for him. We don’t need coy innuendo from George W. and Laura Bush, who have issued vague statements hinting they won’t vote for Trump. They should publicly endorse Biden and then actively campaign all over Texas for his election. Polls show that Texas may be winnable for Biden. Imagine if the Bushes spent the summer crisscrossing the state for him. That may be a pipedream, but imagine.

The same is true of congressional Republicans who have cowered in fear of Trump’s twitter attacks and enabled this madness. The cracks are starting to appear, as Sen. Mitt Romney declared this weekend, “Black Lives Matter.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, too, is hinting that she will oppose Trump’s re-election.

Polls show that Sen. Lindsay Graham, a target this weekend of sex worker tweets alleging all sorts of things that have long been rumored about his sexual orientation, is vulnerable in South Carolina. He must go, along with the ultimate toadie, Sen. Mitch McConnell.

They and so many other Republicans have shirked their responsibility to the Constitution in service of a racist, sexist fake president.

So in honor of Pride, LGBTQ Americans should resolve to vote in November and to protest against racism and police brutality. Let’s look forward to an unprecedented celebration next year of a new, pro-equality president, a favorable Supreme Court ruling expected any day now on LGBTQ workplace rights, and the sight of Donald Trump being led away in handcuffs.

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JASMYNE A. CANNICK

is a political strategist, journalist, and media commentator in Los Angeles. Find her online at iamjasmyne.com.

OK, you’ve marched.

Now what?

We need more concrete actions in wake of another killing As a Black woman, I get it — the collective anger and rage after watching the killing of yet another Black man by the police. I, too, have witnessed how the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has touched off a new firestorm of protests against police killings of Black people around America. But when this round is all said and done with, when everyone has gone home, when the media has stopped their over-sensationalized tone-deaf coverage — what are we left with?

A week — maybe two — before we wash, rinse, and repeat the cycle with a new video, a new dead Black body at the hands of the police and a new name to mourn.

In 2020, it’s not enough for police chiefs to fire the police officers involved in these egregious situations. This generation is no longer pacified by lip service. What we demand is that those police officers who recklessly and with no regard for human life kill Black and brown people face the same criminal charges any civilian would in the same situation. But the reality is, protesting will only get us so far. To effectuate any kind of long-lasting change in this country when it relates to human and civil rights it has almost always required one of two things — a court ruling or legislation.

Facts. There are serious conflicts of interest at the heart of our criminal justice system.

The solution? From state to state, county to county, it’s time to remove the decision on whether or not to prosecute police officers involved in disputed police killings out of the district attorney’s office once and for all and create an independent prosecutor’s office.

Independent prosecutors don’t take money from police unions and should not be appointed by people who do or anyone who is elected for that matter.

Now granted, even with an independent prosecutor’s office, not all force is going

to be deemed excessive, and not all fatal shootings are going to dictate criminal charges be filed against the officer involved.

But with the removal of any conflict of interest, the public can have faith in the process and an unbiased investigation. That doesn’t exist currently.

As long as prosecutors, elected sheriffs, local and state lawmakers — both Democrats and Republicans — are the recipients of obscene amounts of money from police unions, they will continue to be reluctant to push for any meaningful change when it comes to prosecuting police officers.

There are only one of two ways we’re going to get independent prosecutors — legislation to create and fund the office in each state or direct democracy. But it’s up to the people to fight for what they want to happen.

As a political strategist, I’m all about the end game — how do we make long-term change after the protests so that future generations don’t have to pick up this mantle of fighting police brutality and killings? This fight against police accountability — whether it be the sheriff, constable, watchmen, slave patrol, or slave overseer — has been a burden to every generation of Black people since the first one of us was pushed off the ship that brought us here.

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.

Complaining does not work as a strategy.

If the prosecution of police officers is truly what the protesters want, then it’s time to get out of the street and participate in civic engagement and change the law.

It’s time to either vote the people out of office who won’t take on the police unions or circumvent them altogether and take it straight to the ballot.

Consider this, it’s been 50 years of marching, chanting, and protesting and we’re still fighting the same fight.

If the same people in the streets of America protesting over George Floyd’s death put their money where their mouth is, pooled their resources, and showed up on Election Day, they could have had the change they’re calling for.

is a community activist and former candidate for Baltimore City Council.

White LGBTQ community must fight racism Spread the wealth and fund black organizations On Monday, June 1, the night before the election in Baltimore City, most people were making calls and counting votes. I was working to protect my city from outsiders who wanted to see our city burn like so many others. Many of them were young white individuals looking to start a revolution in a black town that would then get labeled thugs and terrorists.

We saw it in 2015, and many of us were committed to never seeing the horrors of those nine days. We spoke with youth, and we gave them a platform to join in unity with my friends Stokely Cannady, Aaron Maybin (former NFL first round pick), and Catalina Byrd. She was running for mayor of Baltimore as a Republican. We stood on the front lines as black leaders of varying backgrounds to protect our youth from the violence that once hurt so many in 2015 and communities that still have not recovered. Yet we had people calling for more hate, more anger, and more aggressive actions. We, the leaders of our city of Baltimore, find it difficult to be worried about our sexual orientation or our gender identity as black people in a moment that our youth are at risk.

As we began to wrap up the program, a group of younger college people came up to us and began to yell about how could we not give space to LGBTQ people at this protest, as I tried to interject I kept getting cut off. The shocking part is all I wanted to say to them is that we did have LGBTQ people speak and that I can introduce them to all of them. Sadly that was not the intention of this group. This group, like so many others, only wants to see themselves or hear themselves because, well, because they are angry with society.

Nearly everything in my life has been about service to others since I got off

cocaine some 10 years ago, and I enjoy fighting for causes, but I am tired of struggling to go and fight.

We must recognize the trauma that we may cause transgender men and women who are often not heard or who are beaten within an inch of their lives, black men who are arrested, shot, or murdered, trans black men and women who are killed, and yet we talk about who has it worse when it comes to our narratives. So what does some of our black trauma look like? Most times, it is the person you do not want to have sex with; it is the person you walk past, not even asking how they are doing. It is walking into JR.’s and feeling like white people look at you like you are a freak. It is getting DMs on Facebook from white men who want you to breed them, and older women ask to see that BBC and every time we have to smile.

It is time for the white LGBTQ community to stop the never-ending assault on others because we stood with them when they yelled for marriage.

White brothers, sisters, and siblings, we do not ask your permission to grow. We are demanding that you learn that you cannot ignore our narratives anymore.

What can you do to help rectify these actions of your family’s past? End qualified immunity for police, and start the practice of allowing community policing.

Start by funding black organizations with ethical practices and stop giving money to your groups that do not include black senior leadership. Find people who have nothing and help them come up with you. Reach back and grow communities and spread the wealth, and you will see less crime.

We must create a better world after COVID-19 — this is that chance the God or Gods you follow have given us to hit the reset button, and it comes when they have forced you to bear witness to the horrors that black and brown people have been telling you for years that happen.

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PETER ROSENSTEIN

KATHI WOLFE

is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

Saying ‘All Lives Matter’ is wrong Black and brown lives must matter as much as mine does There are still some who find it necessary to say ‘All Lives Matter’ when others chant ‘Black Lives Matter.’ The problem is when talking about ‘all lives’ people are missing the point of what is and has been going on in our country from its founding.

It took a compromise to have our Constitution ratified and it is called the Three-Fifths Compromise, which is found in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 and reads: “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.”

So from day one we looked at African Americans as less. In every action since, including the Civil War, while clearly progress has been made, we still have systemic racism and economic inequality rampant in our nation. We need only look at statistics to see that today, “The White-Black economic divide is as wide as it was in 1968.”

Although my life matters, the simple fact is I was born with white privilege and in every aspect my life is safer than someone who is born Black or Brown.

My white privilege is not something I earned, rather it is something society bestowed on me. Society looks at me differently than it does my Black and Brown sisters and brothers and therefore I am treated differently. The fight we face in our country and around the world is to have people first accept and then act to insist Black and Brown lives must matter as much as mine does.

Today, unfortunately, we still live in a society that makes it abundantly clear

to those who are Black and Brown their lives don’t matter as much.

Every person of white privilege must regularly look in the mirror and judge themselves. Ask if they really understand this and then ask what they will do about it. Over the years there have been many times I have made myself look in a mirror and ask myself: Am I racist? Do I always act in the way I say people should? If I am totally honest the truth is not always and while it may not have been intentional nevertheless, I sometimes failed. The first time I took that look in the mirror I was 16 years old and just had the honor of presenting my high school’s citizenship award to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was an incredible honor to meet him and get the chance to talk with him. This was in New York, February 1963, six months before King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in D.C. It was a seminal moment in my life.

One of the most quoted lines from that speech is “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Through the years that line has often been interpreted by many to mean we should live in a ‘color blind’ world. That has never made sense to me. Dr. King was a realist and I don’t think he ever meant we should not see each other as we are and that would include the color of our skin be it white, Black or Brown.

He didn’t mean we need to pretend we don’t see color but rather the goal to strive for must be to see each other, color and all, and still be able to not judge each other by that. When that goal is reached we will know our society is truly moving forward.

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

Honoring the life of Larry Kramer Make art and fight for justice You know your heroes are only human – they can’t live forever. But so many of us were still gobsmacked when renowned playwright, writer and AIDS activist Larry Kramer died on May 27 at age 84 from pneumonia in Manhattan. Somehow, we couldn’t help thinking Kramer, who’d brought government officials and big pharma to their knees, would outwit the Grim Reaper.

Many queer writers and activists are known primarily by LGBTQ folk. This wasn’t the case with Kramer who fought with, worked with and inspired everyone from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to acclaimed queer playwright Tony Kushner. “Even if you’re straight you know Larry Kramer,” a hetero friend told me on hearing of his death.

I was in New York in the 1980s during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Little to no money was allocated to do research into the disease. Undertakers wouldn’t bury people with AIDS. Once, I visited a friend with AIDS in the hospital. The staff there wouldn’t bathe him because they feared catching the disease.

Though alarming numbers of gay people were dying from AIDS, few gay leaders or groups wanted to engage in activism when the epidemic started.

Kramer, who is survived by his husband David Webster, hadn’t grown up wanting to be a leader of queer activism. He graduated from Yale in 1957, served in the Army and worked as an executive for Columbia Pictures. He wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for “Women in Love.”

“I was not a gay man first,” Kramer said in an interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, “until I became involved in fighting AIDS because someone close to me died and suddenly I was no longer the white man from Yale, I was a faggot without a name.”

With the zeal of the most outraged prophet, Kramer co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and later, after that group expelled him for being too radical, ACT UP.

Since the epidemic began, more than 32 million people have died of AIDS, according to the World Health Organization. Yet, words fail to describe what the devastation would have been without Kramer’s activism.

Kramer channeled his activism not only through action, but through his art. In remembering his AIDS activism, it’s easy to gloss over his talent as an artist. His work ranged from his satiric novel “Faggots” (which many in the queer community loathed) to his autobiographical play “The Destiny of Me” (which has a character based on Dr. Fauci) to the two-volume novel “The American People” (which depicts George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other American historical figures as queer).

To me, his most moving work is his play “The Normal Heart,” which premiered at the Public Theater in New York in 1985.

Taking its title from W.H. Auden’s poem “September 1, 1939,” the play vividly tells the story of Kramer’s struggle to mobilize the queer community in the early years of the AIDS epidemic.

Often, art that engages social issues is dismissed as being merely “political.” Yet, “The Normal Heart,” as the (late) Joseph Papp wrote in the forward to the play, “is a play in the great tradition of Western drama … [it] reveals its origins in the theater of Sophocles, Euripides, and Shakespeare.”

Kramer has inspired me to write poetry to change hearts and minds around marriage equality, disability and other social issues.

Kramer’s legacy is an inspiration to younger queer generations, my friends Micah Bucey and Matthew Cleaver, a 30-something married couple told me by phone and email. “His fiery words, his rage... all of it dug into my heart and reshaped my queer soul,” Bucey, a minister, artist and community organizer, said.

Kramer’s “compassionate, angry art” inspired Cleaver, a writer and performer, to perform his 2006 one-man show “Gay Blues.” “Kramer taught me that anger can fuel art and activism,” he said.

I bet Kramer wouldn’t want us to only mourn his passing or merely celebrate his life. To truly honor his legacy, we must make art and fight for justice. R.I.P., Larry.

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BROCK THOMPSON is a D.C.-based writer.

He contributes regularly to the Blade.

What’s to take pride in?

Turns out, a lot Celebrating our black queer heroes this month Last week was a rollercoaster of emotions for me, and for a lot of us I’m sure. It all began on Monday, following the death of George Floyd, when peacefully assembled protesters were violently dispersed from Lafayette Park across from the White House. I watched it all unfold on live television, and it all was done so President Trump could have his now infamous photo op awkwardly holding up a Bible I’m guessing he’s never read.

That Monday, watching all that, I was so despondent over the state of things.

That evening and the following night had us under a city-wide curfew and we saw our beloved city practically under siege.

It was a low point for me and the city.

But, as the week went on, I had a remarkable change in attitude. Revisiting a few times the sight on that bumbling photo op, now aptly renamed by Mayor Muriel Bowser “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” I felt my mood go from hopeless to hopeful, even excited. Come last Saturday, the city was transformed. The energy around town, and especially downtown, was palpable. By the weekend there was almost a festive spirit. That Saturday would have been the beginning of Pride week, and in so many ways it felt incredibly similar. And it was not just the smiling faces and partylike atmosphere, though there was that of course. What you were seeing unfold was our city at its absolute best.

This weekend, many of us might be scratching our heads as to ways to celebrate, even things to take pride in.

Let’s be clear, though I love Pride week in our city, we can certainly have Pride without the parade. The events of last week taught us that for sure.

One remarkable thing about this particular Pride is that it seems that queer Washingtonians have collectively agreed

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to give this space to another community in need. So, as this non-traditional Pride unfolds, perhaps we can use it as a time to celebrate some of our awesome SERVING THE LGBT COMMUNITY FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS. NOW IN DC, MD & VA! African-American queer icons. Wouldn’t 827 Woodside Parkway • Silver Spring, MD 20910 it be nice to adorn Trump’s baby wall surrounding the White House with p: 240.863.2441 • f: 240.491.9551 images of Bayard Rustin, the openly gay jfairfax@jenniferfairfax.com • www.jenniferfairfax lieutenant of Martin Luther King, Jr., and principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. Or the great Marsha P. Johnson, transgender activist who was present at the Stonewall Riots. Or even the new no-nonsense mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, who essentially told Trump to ‘fuck off’ at a news conference recently.

She’s a personal hero of mine.

So, when you think about it, there’s actually a lot to take pride in this month. You have so many of our queer Washingtonians listening to others, protesting the deaths of black citizens.

I’ve also noticed so many us who survived the coronavirus, now bypassing the FDA’s absurd and offensive gay blood ban, going to NIH to donate their plasma to be studied. There are so many of us circling the wagons around our beloved gay bars and restaurants, just to throw a little income their way. You can see a lot of us donating food and clothing to shelters and other organizations that ADVERTISIN have seen a tremendous spike in need.

After all, we have practically PROOF #1 written the ISSUE DATE: 171208 SALES REPRESENTATIVE: playbook on both navigating a virus and REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of proof. Proof will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of establishing enduring pride. And we take the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts REVISIONS omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is pride in our city. responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users REDESIGN can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or TEXT of REVISIONS And maybe the best part having any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair IMAGE/LOGO REVISIONS competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, this somewhat muted Pride now? We get or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the ADVERTISER SIGNATURE NO REVISIONS washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless from any and all By signing this proof you are agreeing to yo to have that second one, we hope, come liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred washington blade newspaper. This includes by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the foregoing representations payment and insertion schedule. fall. And at that time, with the election and warranties. before us, and coupled with the lessons we’re learning now, can you imagine the energy in our city? It will certainly be a Pride for the history books.

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Capital Pride to focus on support for Black Lives Matter ‘Pridemobile,’ some virtual events postponed in deference to George Floyd death

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com the impact of the Black Lives Matters protests Following its announcement last month of were expected to be discussed in the the cancellation of this weekend’s annual D.C. upcoming forums, which begin at 4 p.m. and LGBTQ Pride parade, festival, and other Pride can be accessed via the Blade’s Facebook related gatherings due to the coronavirus page or at washingtonblade.com/pride. pandemic, the Capital Pride Alliance, the Smith said some of the Capital Pride’s group that organizes the city’s annual Pride virtual events might be postponed. One event events, said it was making further changes for that has been postponed, Smith said, was the its planned virtual events in June. launching of a series of online performances Ashley Smith, president of the Capital called Pride in the City, which was scheduled Pride Alliance board of directors, said the for Sunday, June 14. Capital Pride said the organization would postpone some of its performances were to be by local and virtual events such as online celebrations regional performing and visual artists. as well as a planned ‘Pridemobile’ vehicle One event that organizers say will take tour of the city on Saturday, June 13, so that place as scheduled is the June 27 Global it could focus on its support for Black Lives Pride 2020, a worldwide virtual celebration Matter protests and advocacy work to fight organized by Pride groups in the U.S., Europe, police brutality and racism. and other locations throughout the world.

The originally planned Pridemobile tour Anger over the police killing of George Floyd and other incidents of police brutality and racism In keeping with the racial justice was to travel to each of the city’s eight wards have become the focus of Pride this year. and Black Lives Matter protests that are and include drag performers and others to (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key) now taking place throughout the world, promote the spirit of LGBTQ Pride. Capital organizers of Global Pride 2020 have said Pride said it wanted LGBTQ community the event will also focus now on some of the members and their supporters to watch the issues raised by Black Lives Matter organizations in the U.S., including police brutality, racism, Pridemobile from their windows, porches, or balconies. It would have been one of the few nonand discrimination. virtual events in the midst of coronavirus social distancing restrictions.

Links to the sites through which Global Pride 2020 can be viewed – all free of charge – will be But Smith told the Washington Blade on Tuesday that the Capital Pride Alliance’s board posted on the Capital Pride Alliance and D.C. Center websites – capitalpride.org and dccenter. and staff have decided to join LGBTQ Pride organizations across the country that have shifted org. A list of the other local virtual Pride events is also posted on the two websites. their emphasis from celebrations to the serious issues of racial injustice. Those issues surfaced Among the LGBTQ Pride organizations that are shifting their focus to racial justice and Black following the mass protests across the country over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Lives Matter movement issues in addition to D.C. are those in New York City, Los Angeles, San a white police officer in Minneapolis two weeks ago.

Francisco, and Boston among many other cities.

“Right now, to be very candid, our focus is really on the current situation in what is taking Some have said that had the coronavirus pandemic not surfaced this year resulting in place in our community and uniting and partnering with the other Black Lives Matter groups the cancellation of virtually all LGBTQ Pride parades and other large events, LGBTQ activists and organizations who are supportive of efforts to ensure that racial justice is being had by all sympathetic to the Black Lives Matter movement would have faced a tough dilemma over and justice and equality is had by all,” Smith told the Blade. whether to carry out or cancel their Pride events in the wake of the George Floyd murder.

“Obviously, the Pridemobile is something that we may put back on the agenda along with Earl Fowlkes, president and CEO of the D.C.-based national LGBTQ group Center for Black other things we are looking at in the fall of this year,” Smith said. “So we’re taking that off the Equity, which helps to organize Black Pride events in the U.S. and abroad, talked about that table, taking the normal Pride events off the table and focusing on the events in the environment dilemma in an appearance on Tuesday on WAMU-FM Radio’s Kojo Nnamdi Show. One of the that we’re in because it’s affecting all black and brown individuals,” he said. listeners of the show called in to ask whether LGBTQ Pride events should be held in spite of the “And obviously you have a lot of black and brown people, including myself, who are LGBTQ coronavirus restrictions just as the Black Lives Matter mass protests have been held. as well,” Smith continued. “So therefore it does really have a huge impact on all of us.”

“I think one doesn’t necessarily have to do with the other,” said Fowlkes after Nnamdi asked Smith said Capital Pride would partner with other local and national LGBTQ organizations him to respond to the question. “I’m actually personally, as a person who helps organize Black to support the Black Lives Matter movement. He said Capital Pride members and supporters Prides around the world, I’m actually glad that the Prides were – it’s unfortunate for the reason have participated in the D.C. street protests and have volunteered to support the protesters in they were cancelled,” he said. various ways, including handing out water bottles to demonstrators during last Saturday’s mass “But I’m glad that we did not come to a conflict with trying to celebrate Black Prides or marches at the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, and other locations. celebrate Pride and dealing with this police brutality – this horrible incident of police brutality,” The websites for the Capital Pride Alliance and the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, he continued. “My fear would have been that some of the organizers of Pride, especially our which is partnering with Capital Pride in organizing a series of “reimagined” virtual Pride white queer community, would not have been wise enough to have cancelled the parades and events online for June and beyond, include listings of those events. A calendar on the D.C. the celebrations, because this is not a time to celebrate.”

Center’s website shows about 25 such events, many of which are sponsored by local LGBTQ Both the Capital Pride Alliance and the DC Center have released strongly worded statements organizations affiliated with the D.C. Center. condemning the George Floyd killing at the hands of the Minneapolis police officer, who has Beginning on June 4, the Washington Blade, the Blade Foundation, and the Los Angles been charged with second-degree murder and other recent incidents of African Americans Blade began hosting a weekly Thursday afternoon Blade Pride Chats online forum on topics of dying from incidents of force used by police. interest to the LGBTQ community sponsored by the Ariadne Getty Foundation. Issues related to

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JUSTIN NELSON & CHANCE MITCHELL

are cofounders of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the business voice of the LGBT community.

Taking pride in solidarity is our business Let’s double down on supporting inclusive businesses

By JUSTIN NELSON & CHANCE MITCHELL

When the COVID-19 crisis began, the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce said that it has never been more imperative to commit ourselves to shop local, shop LGBT, give back what we can to our community organizations, and support all those around us. The virus hit our communities hard and indiscriminately, especially in the most vulnerable, intersectional communities among us. And businesses large and small stepped up to support them. We were reminded from the beginning that we truly are in this together.

That sense of togetherness is amplified exponentially as we have arrived at both Pride season and this unprecedented moment of awakening for racial and economic justice throughout our country. While small business powers America, diversity powers our movement — and always has.

As we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first ‘official’ Pride celebrations in this country, it is a stunning reminder that history doesn’t always repeat itself, but it definitely rhymes. Once again the movement for long-overdue social change in America is being led by communities of color. And the LGBT business community — all 1.4 million of our fellow entrepreneurs, their teams, and their allies — stands in solidarity with them.

In fact, the unity among diverse communities and business groups has never been more apparent than this moment. As NGLCC and the partners we brought together to form the National Business Inclusion Consortium (NBIC) shared in our coalition statement: “The time is now for us to stand as one unified community to demand action and declare together that discrimination and bigotry against any fellow human being is wrong and will not be tolerated. That in fact #BlackLivesMatter.”

The NGLCC and our partners are guided by one fundamental principle: equality is good for business. And this year’s Pride and actions for racial justice carry a similar theme. Too many lives are being lost. Too many families are being devastated. The negative impact on our cities and towns is not and should not be sustainable. Our

local, state, and national economies have been stretched to the max already. The time for action is now. We have to shed light on institutional racism and we must work to find solid equity for all. Our country deserves better, our people deserve justice, families of color deserve respect, journalism merits the exercise of reporting and free speech, and businesses deserve to thrive in a safe economy.

Our community is holding its breath for the Supreme Court to possibly decide this month if LGBTQ people — especially our black and brown brothers and sisters — have even the most basic rights to work and live in this country. If you don’t think racial justice is an LGBT fight too, you don’t get it. The unique threads of diversity that weave together forming our LGBT community highlight that our causes are forever linked.

LGBT people are black and brown, Asian and Native American, abled and disabled, and so much more. But we all fight, march, and commit ourselves to one goal: a nation that sees us, respects us, treats each of us as equals.

It wouldn’t be a Pride reflection from the world’s largest LGBT business organization without a reminder and a call to action. This is the time to remind your favorite brands, TV networks, and magazines that inclusivity has never been more important.

Just because we aren’t waving at your Pride float in person doesn’t mean we aren’t watching how you engage with our community and our allies in the black community.

As the economy regains its footing in the months ahead, leading with a commitment to diversity — as a business owner or consumer — can help supercharge our economy and our community back to where we should be with our $917 billion LGBT purchasing power.

Now is the time to double down on supporting inclusive businesses so that all our communities feel seen, supported, and empowered throughout — and long after this moment. Every dollar spent with the LGBT Business Community, especially our LGBT brothers and sisters of color, helps all of us come out of this moment stronger — and that is something that should give us all pride.

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MELISSA LAVINSON is Senior Vice President of Governmental and External Affairs for Pepco Holdings.

Committing to an inclusive workforce Pepco, Exelon condemn racism, injustice, violence

By MELISSA LAVINSON

Being Proud of Where You Work. When defining moments impact our communities, companies often debate whether it’s appropriate to weigh-in and if so, how. We are living one of those moments. As people across the country protest racial injustice, hatred and violence, prominent voices, including religious and military leaders, entertainers and athletes are calling for change – calling for action. For Pepco, and our parent company Exelon, whether and how to weigh in always starts with our values. Does the moment call on us to step up, to speak out, and to remind both our employees and stakeholders what we stand for and why?

This moment is one of those times. I am proud that, as a company, we reaffirmed that we cannot and will not stand for acts of racism, injustice, and violence. And, I am proud that we unequivocally stated – Black Lives Matter.

Pride Within Our Business. At Pepco, and across Exelon, our commitment is to not only have a diverse workforce, but to have an inclusive workforce as well. That means creating the environment in which our employees know they can bring their whole selves to work and their full experience. Providing a supportive environment means caring about the issues that are meaningful to employees, especially those that profoundly affect their lives and the communities in which they live and work.

As we celebrate Pride month, we are doing so against a backdrop that reminds us of how far we have to go and of the importance of continuing to create opportunities for dialogue, education, and engagement to help us get there. As a company, we have done this by supporting our LGBTQ employees and the broader community through establishing

the Pride Employee Resource Group (ERG), sponsoring and turning out for Capital Pride, and launching a company-wide Ally program to encourage conversation and raise visibility.

We also encourage all our ERGs to collaborate and support each other, and work together for the betterment of all our communities. They did this during the onset of the pandemic, coming together to raise more than $85,000 from employees to help our neighbors and communities address food insecurity, financial hardship, and health-related needs. And that commitment and collaboration is ongoing. Although Capital Pride programming is virtual this year, our Exelon Pride ERGs are working with their colleagues across the company to tap into their collective creativity and dedication to roll out digital events to keep employees engaged, talking, and moving forward.

Looking to the Future. We are at a transformative moment in our country. Even if progress is made, it does not mean that progress will be sustained without continued work, engagement, and understanding. Like so many of our employees, it’s important to me to be a part of a company that not only shares my values, but also knows in order to keep making positive progress, we must keep speaking out, working, learning, and moving forward together. We must be the change we want. It is important to know that the company I work for cares about me as an individual and cares about not just the LGBTQ community, of which me and my family are a part of, but about making positive change for all communities. As we celebrate Pride month during a truly unprecedented time, my wish is that everyone can not only be proud at work, but proud of where they work, too. Happy Pride Month.

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Living Large in The District.

My passion derives from problem-solving the technical and emotional issues people may experience during a real estate transThe first Blade Pride Webchat was held last week featuring reflections on panelists’ first Pride experiences.

(Screencapture courtesy Blade)

Starker, sparer Pride season No Justice protest one of few non-virtual events planned

By PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN Not quite as many of the dozens of parties and events that always heavily pepper Pride weekend in Washington with near-24/7 options are happening virtually as you might expect.

It’s a starker, sparer Pride season this year with Black Lives Matter issues occupying more head space than the usual floats, drag queens, thongs and glitter.

There are a few, however: Capital Pride #StillWe launches a virtual series of streamed events June and beyond through a partnership with The D.C. Center.

Programs include monthly online town halls, expanded resources available through its websites and a shared community calendar. Pride 2020 Reimagined includes new Pride month programming as well as ongoing virtual versions of the D.C. Center’s Reel Affirmations film series, Outwrite Literary Festival and more.

For more information and a listing of events, visit the Capital Pride and D.C. Center websites.

A series of groups led by No Justice No Pride plans its own counter-Pride programming this year with the D.C. Pride2020 March+Caravan on Saturday, June 13 at 2:30 p.m. at the Takoma Metro (327 Cedar St., N.W.) station for a black- and trans-centered march.

“In response to the continued terror that Black People face in D.C. and the lack of integrity displayed by Capital Pride — three years after hundreds of No Justice No Pride activists shut down the 2017 Capital Pride parade demanding a Police free Pride — NJNP among a coalition of community groups rooted in abolition is rejecting Capital Pride Alliances failed leadership and returning Pride to its roots — a protest against police violence,” organizers wrote on Facebook.

Its demands are: defunding D.C.-MPD, police-free schools, decriminalization of sex work, charges against protestors dropped, an end to cash bail in Maryland, no new jails in Washington and abolish prisons, a ban on stop-and-frisk, community investment, ICE-free Washington. Groups joining No Justice are HIPS, DeCrim Now D.C., Showing Up for Racial Justice, D.C. Dyke March, Plantita Power and Black Lives Matter D.C. The march will start at 3 p.m. A ball will be held at 4:30 at a TBD location.

Look for the event on Facebook for details via dccapitalpride.org.

National Pride Shabbat is tonight at 7 p.m. online hosted by Sixth & I. In solidarity with Pride 2020 “reimagined,” Rabbi Aaron, Rabbi Avi Strausberg of Hadar and Sixth & I members will “lend their voices to an inclusive service celebrating the diversity of D.C. Jewish life.”

Details on Facebook.

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation has its “LGBTQ+ Charla” event online today at 4 p.m. to discuss Latinx LGBTQ experiences, perspectives and ideas. More at hhf.page.link/trza.

The Future is Queer is Saturday, June 13 at 5 p.m. hosted by Joie D Vivre. It’s a queer dance party showcase with DJs, dancers, spoken word, with multiple performers, rooms and more. Tickets are $20 through eventbrite.

Celebrate Pride: Berry Pride Shrub and Flick Night is Saturday at 7:15 online hosted by Yoga District. Tickets at clients.mindbodyonline.com.

Also, the Blade’s Pride content continues throughout the month. In the June 19 edition, the topic will be “reflections of Pride.” A related webchat will be on Thursday, June 18 at 4 p.m. EST. In the June 26 edition, we’ll examine “global virtual Pride.” A webchat will happen on Thursday, June 25 at 4 p.m. EST with officials from Capital Pride, L.A. Pride and others TBD. Links to the webchats will be published each week on the Blade’s Facebook page.

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QUEERY Natalie Thompson

sculpting, crafting, singing and watching TV in her free time.

the right to live their truth without fear of discrimination, persecution or death.

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

I have been out since I was 16 years old, and believe it or not, my friends were always the hardest to tell. My family was amazing when I finally told them; my mom already seemed to know. I remember her telling me there was no need to make this whole production to tell her I was queer. I believe she said, “Girl, I don’t care as long as you are happy!” This might have been the most affirming moment of my life.

What’s the most overrated social custom?

Now I would say shaking hands due to COVID-19.

Who’s your LGBTQ hero?

I don’t have a hero. I respect anyone who lives a life of purpose and authenticity.

Everyone has the ability to impact the world in a positive way and I’m here for all of their efforts.

(Photo courtesy Thompson)

QUEERY: Natalie Thompson

The Capital Pride board member answers 20 queer questions

By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO joeyd@washblade.com

Pride season is different this year for sure, but for Capital Pride board member Natalie Thompson, it’s not anti-climactic in the least.

As co-chair for Global Pride, a June 27 worldwide virtual event (globalpride2020. org), she says, “We’re determined to have the largest Pride event ever.”

“We’re working wth Prides from around the world to highlight their stories,” says the 35-year-old Northern Virginia native. “We are focusing our attention on highlighting the origination of Pride as a riot spearheaded by black and brown trans leaders and bringing attention to how we have much work to do to ensure all people are able to live their trusts free from persecution and discrimination.”

She says the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement is being harnessed into Pride season.

“To me, this is an exciting time to transform what Pride can be so that it includes all the

intersectionality of our global community,” she says.

Thompson, who grew up in the region, began volunteering for Capital Pride in 2016 and joined its board in 2018. She is also on the board of InterPride (a memberled association for Pride organizers around the world) and co-chair of Global Pride, a program broken up into the 24 time zones starting at noon on June 27 NZST (New Zealand Standard Time) where Prides from each region will be highlighted with local leaders and performers.

“The idea … is to pay homage to how Pride began, honor those who have come before us, celebrate our diversity and address the work still left to do,” she says.

Thompson works as a director of programs for Shelters to Shutters. She lives with her partner, Corbin Shansky, in Kensington, Md. She enjoys volunteering, cooking, painting,

What LGBTQ stereotype most annoys you?

Stereotypes are all annoying. We don’t exist in a world where people fall into categories so why do we always try to put people in boxes?

What’s your proudest professional achievement?

When I reconnect with clients who have broken the cycle of homelessness and share their successes. That lets me know the work I do in the community has a positive impact.

What terrifies you?

Failure What’s something trashy or vapid you love?

Reality television. It’s terrible but I can’t get enough of those types of shows.

What’s your greatest domestic skill?

I’m a pretty good caregiver.

What’s your favorite LGBTQ movie or show?

I love “Set It Off” and “The Color Purple.”

“Noah’s Arc” would have to be my favorite show. Queer black love on screen is amazing to see and we need more of that in the media. I’m also a big fan of “Fried Green Tomatoes.”

What’s your social media pet peeve?

People live tweeting their day. It’s just not that interesting to know you just had your first cup of coffee. I guess this is why I don’t really use social media too often.

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

I don’t think there will be an end but a transition where we can fully celebrate because all people around the world have

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

Raised Catholic. I’m no longer religious but I very much believe. When I was a child, I could think of nothing I wanted to be more than a priest. I wanted to inspire people and I had a profound connection to my faith.

When I learned women could not aspire to this role, it shook me to my core.

What’s D.C.’s best hidden gem?

D.C. is changing so rapidly; all the hidden gems seem to be disappearing.

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

I would say, when we lose a great pop icon, like Michael, Prince, Whitney, Tupac, Biggie, etc. Those moments have stayed with me. I remember where I was, what I was doing, the weather that day — I remember everything.

What celebrity death hit you hardest?

Amy Winehouse. She was an incredible talent and gone too soon. Her music will forever be in my rotation.

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

I don’t think I would redo anything. As much as I would love to have not made certain mistakes, I know that I would not be who I am and where I am without them. I don’t think it’s healthy for my well-being to dwell in the past but learn from it and make better choices in the future.

What are your obsessions?

I’m obsessed with music. Music gives me so much life. When I find an artist I dig, I can play the same song or album over and over again for hours. I think I get that trait from my dad. He does the same exact thing and when I was young it used to annoy me, but I get it now.

Finish this sentence — It’s about damn time: … we dismantle the systems spawned from white supremacy.

What do you wish you’d known at 18?

That I didn’t need to be afraid to be myself.

I was timid and quiet which didn’t allow me to fully express myself. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to find my voice.

Why Washington?

Why not Washington? This is an amazing area — it’s HOME!

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

Reggie Greer talks Trump and what’s at stake in election For now, because this is the main priority is ensuring that people remain safe and keep their attention on caring for those around them. Of course, organizing virtually has been challenging but it’s certainly opened up the campaign in a way that has allowed us to reach across the country faster and people, the kinds of conversations that we’re having around all the issues that we care about.

In this time, I feel like we’ve been able to raise raise awareness faster through some of the roundtables that we’ve hosted. The last national call that we did was on the impact of COVID-19 on LGBTQ people. And the people who watched were from all across the country, and after the call, and after any of the virtual events that we’ve done, I’ve gotten messages from all across the country talking about how they’ve shared that with their networks and with their friends and their neighbors and their family members.

So, this is a very interesting time to do electoral organizing virtually, but certainly you know we’re leaning in on trying to get the vice president’s message out there as far and as wide as possible.

Because I do think LGBTQ people know what’s at stake.

There are 11 million eligible LGBTQ voters around the country, there are millions more pro-equality voters, and they see this administration for what it is. They understand that this government has intentionally attacked transgender Americans, has rolled back protections for LGBTQ youth, has diminished our standing in the world on LGBTQ equality, and they are also leading and responding to the call to get out the message of not only our campaign but for everyone really fighting for LGBTQ equality.

That’s part of the reason why I’m hopeful, I think LGBTQ people because we are in every other community, quite literally understand how to build coalitions better than any other community and I’m proud to be a part of it.

BLADE: Four years ago, Hillary Clinton was the first presidential candidate to march in a Pride parade. Of course, Biden won’t have the same opportunity. What has been under discussion about ways Biden could recognize Pride?

GREER: That is good you asked that. Obviously, given the moment that we’re in, we’ve been really respectful of things that we’re rolling out, but please stay tuned. We have a lot of exciting Pride initiatives coming up. Today, the launch of “Out for Biden” being the start of that.

I think we’re trying to ensure with all plans the rolling out from Capitol Hill and from the campaign around racial equity, around the economy, plans around how to continue to address the impact of COVID-19, we certainly have been working with each other to figure out when best to roll everything out, but please stay tuned, we’re going to have some pretty fun announcements about how we’re going to mark Pride Month.

Because, again, the vice president has spent his entire career fighting for LGBTQ people, and he was the highestranking official to come out in favor of marriage equality when he did in 2012 and as a private citizen has made LGBTQ equality, a priority through making it one of his hallmark pillars at the Biden Foundation and starting initiatives like “As You Are.” And even on this campaign, the plan that he rolled out, the plan to advance equality is comprehensive and really will push the well-being and equality forward if we can get Joe Biden elected as president. So stay tuned for some announcements, I promise you they’ll be great.

BLADE: Can you give us a flavor of what they’ll be?

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GREER: I can’t right now. I would love to, but I can say that we’re thinking about what I was talking about earlier, the intersection of our community, and the diversity within our community, uplifting the voices of lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer, folks of color, youth and veterans and people who are small business owners, artists, advocates, activists. We’re really now as a program thinking through how to do that effectively, but throughout Pride Month, we’re certainly going to be featuring all of our community.

BLADE: You’re pretty close to Biden. Do you have a favorite memory of an interaction with him or anecdote along those lines?

GREER: I do, I do. The vice president has a level of empathy and has the amazing ability to care for people. His ability to empathize with people I think this is — it can’t be matched by very many other people, and it’s something I really value about him as a person, and as a leader.

And I was talking to him about LGBTQ equality, just as in preparation for an event and he stopped me and he said this is something I really want to do. This is something — this is what I want to make the hallmark of my administration. And I think that shows that he has a level of commitment to LGBTQ equality, that is paramount.

Also, thinking about the recent passing of Aimee Stevens.

In some of the folks that whenever he was asked about it, whenever he was attending an event, he had attempted to call her, but unfortunately she passed earlier in the day and you could tell that her death has impacted him, but he really took time to talk through her legacy and why her passion and her commitment to fighting that should be something that all of us should be inspired by, something that deeply touched me because it demonstrated not only who he is as a person, but that he has always been a leader and who he will be as president.

BLADE: Any day now the Supreme Court is going to rule on LGBTQ rights. Is the Biden campaign doing any contingency planning for possible outcomes in that decision?

GREER: We are actively monitoring the Title VII rulings, and as with any decision that the Trump administration may be coming coming down with. Specifically for Title VII, we have been very grateful to be working with LGBTQ movement leaders to understand the scope and impact of those rulings potentially and will be ready on decision day to inform and to help be a part of talking about what we need to do moving forward after the decision.

I think more than anything, the vice president believes in respect and dignity for all people, including LGBTQ workers, and I think for all of us, we ought to be thinking about the kind of country that comes after the Title VII rulings because really the decision is in our hands. The ultimate decision is in our hands. And this is why this election is so important in fighting to create an America that’s inclusive and includes everyone, and the vice president’s made passing the Equality Act, and advancing LGBTQ legislative priorities central pieces of his plan to advance equality.

In doing so, we have the beginning of what will be our response, not only as a campaign, but hopefully as an administration. And, we will most certainly be ready whenever the Supreme Court rules and we are monitoring this very, very closely.

BLADE: Can you divulge the details about the talks you’ve had with advocacy groups about the decision like, who was

involved and what possible things were considered?

GREER: I think that very generally, it’s just informative, getting information from movement leaders who can help us shape the outcome but until the decision comes down I wouldn’t want to say.

BLADE: Let’s talk about appointments. Is the campaign considering a unity Cabinet, or naming a diverse set of Cabinet members ahead of the election?

GREER: The way I would answer it is the president has to make 4,100 appointments. Going back to my time at the Victory Institute, federal appointments has been something I’ve been passionate about for a very, very long time, and Vice President Biden’s made a commitment to ensuring that this administration reflects the diversity of America that’s including making LGBTQ appointments. Under the Obama-Biden administration, 330 LGBTQ people were appointed to positions throughout the federal government, which accounts for around eight percent of all appointments, which may be higher than the population share, which demonstrated even then their commitment to ensuring that LGBTQ people have very important decisionmaking roles throughout the administration.

So, you know, while it’s too early to talk about Cabinet appointments, you can rest assured that Vice President Biden will prioritize the appointments of LGBTQ people in an administration.

BLADE: Let’s talk a little bit about the Trump administration, which has built a significant anti-LGBTQ record? Which one of his anti-LGBTQ policies bothers you the most?

GREER: Where do we start? So, in thinking about the way the Trump administration has treated LGBTQ people. I always start with the appointees that President Trump has named.

His government as taking an intentional approach toward protections for LGBTQ Americans and attacking LGBTQ people for the sake of doing it.

And thinking about restoring the soul of our country, really is prioritizing restoring a government that doesn’t do that, that sees people, that seeks to represent people, it doesn’t deceive people. So that that’s where I would start.

But I think what’s really troubling, for me, is the protection that the Trump administration has rolled back for trans Americans, thinking about access to health care, thinking about trans people serving in the military, and so forth and so on.

This administration has been willing to single out transgender Americans in a way that has been very troubling and personally upsetting to me, which is why in summarizing the Vice President’s plan, which is protecting LGBT youth, passing the Equality Act, making the U.S. a leader again on equality around the world. The summary of that plan, which is advancing, protecting and restoring protections for trans Americans is something I’m really excited about because we need to get our government back to a place where are fighting for all of us, especially our transgender siblings.

And then the second part is the attacks on LGBTQ youth, the disregard to the lived experiences, the bullying, the harassment that LGBTQ youth face, and this administration’s willingness to — everything from having the Education Department turn a blind eye to it, to ignoring it, not supporting bills that would ban conversion therapy. LGBTQ youth are completely ignored by this administration. I also think that is very troubling.

CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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MICHAEL SALAZAR (Photo courtesy of RTVE)

A Californian conquers the kitchens of ‘MasterChef Spain’ Michael Salazar rejected by his mother because he is gay

By YARIEL VALDÉS GONZÁLES

A chill went through Michael Salazar’s body when, at 16, his mother asked him if he was a “faggot.” He said yes and got kicked out.

Salazar, 51, is competing now on “MasterChef Spain,” a culinary talent show. He was born in Costa Rica and moved to the U.S. with his family when he was 7. He grew up in Long Beach, Calif., a city he calls his hometown.

In a Washington Blade chat, he explains how that harrowing formative experience affected him.

His comments have been edited for length. A full transcript of this conversation is at washingtonblade.com.

WASHINGTON BLADE: How do you remember life with your family in the U.S.?

SALAZAR: My family life, if you can call it that, was not very loving. Sometimes, I try to remember something fun or something that makes me feel nostalgic and it only comes to mind when the Costa Rican team arrived in Los Angeles to play a soccer game. My mother threw a party with her friends to celebrate, but I don’t remember if she won or who she played against. As a child, I imagined that I was adopted and that someday my real parents would come to take me. I saw the families of my friends as if they were on TV, both love and affection, and made me want to stay and live with them. In those years, my mother did not like the fact that I was such an effeminate child. It was a cultural and religious issue of the time. She once told me that I was the “family’s disrepute.” I didn’t know what the phrase meant at the

time, but I knew it wasn’t good. I was about 8 or 9 years old, but it stuck with me.

BLADE: How did feeling discriminated against by your family affect you?

SALAZAR: For many years, I felt guilty and I shouldn’t say that I was gay. But I met such good people who helped me understand that it wasn’t my fault and taught me to love myself. Today, I am a happily married man and I see life with optimism.

I know there are things that I will not be able to change, but I do my part to be a better person every day.

BLADE: How much has your life changed since then?

SALAZAR: Having gone through that situation has made me more sensitive to other people who experience any form of discrimination. As a teacher, I instill respect in my students. I understand that there are situations that we cannot change, but what we can do is have a more optimistic view of things. I am a living example that everything can improve in life if you give it a chance.

BLADE: You said that when your mother kicked him out of the house, the California government placed you with a gay father. How different was everything from there?

CONTINUES ON PAGE 46

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 45

MICHAEL SALAZAR (Photo courtesy of RTVE)

SALAZAR: The Department of Human Services together with the Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles formed a group called Pink Project, which works to place homeless gay and lesbian youth with gay or lesbian parents because other families almost never understood us. I had to live in Burbank, Calif. The one who welcomed me was one of those angels in my life who treated me with great respect and affection, and although I only stayed at his house for a few months, he left such a positive mark on my life that I dare to say that I am who I am, thanks to him.

BLADE: Have you ever felt discriminated against again?

SALAZAR: Unfortunately, yes. In my case, I have been discriminated against on many occasions for three reasons: For being Hispanic, gay and dark, everything that racists hate. I was very sad at first, because I felt it was the never-ending story.

Afterwards I developed a thicker skin and I didn’t let it affect me so much. I am happy with who I am and I have people who love me just the same.

BLADE: And how did you end up living in Spain?

SALAZAR: I was working for a great phone company in Victorville, Calif. I made a lot of money, but at the same time it was very hard and I had a lot of stress. I had no life, I was not happy there, I wanted a change. I started traveling within the continent (North America) and nothing. So, I decided to seek out Europe. I went to London, to Paris and when I got to Madrid I said, “Oh! This is it!” I had an immediate connection to Spain and decided to come live here. That was in 2010 and, by the end of 2012, I was already living here in Barcelona.

BLADE: However, you also fell in love with your husband …

SALAZAR: Fernando and I met online. I had already planned to go to Barcelona and, once there, we met. That was at the end of 2012 and since then we started seeing each other almost every day. It was very nice. After a few months, we moved in together. On Aug. 4, 2017, we got legally married here in Barcelona. We have been a couple for eight years and married for three years.

MICHAEL SALAZAR (Photo courtesy of RTVE)

BLADE: Where does your passion for cooking come from?

SALAZAR: I always liked cooking, but before I only did it more out of necessity than pleasure. For about 15 years now I started to try out new recipes and cook with different mixtures of flavor and textures, but always focusing on the traditional. In my travels — I love to travel — I have learned a lot from different gastronomic cultures and I have always tried to capture them in my dishes. This has given me more breadth when it comes to cooking. I love that my friends enjoy something that I have cooked.

BLADE: Why did you decide to join “MasterChef”?

SALAZAR: The first time I saw “MasterChef” was in 2014 and I liked it, but I couldn’t follow it due to schedule issues. In 2015, I changed my work schedule so I could watch it in full. I was so impressed that I started looking for the recipes they made and practiced them at home. I remember at first I told Fernando that someday I was going to become part of that program.

BLADE: How have you felt so far in the contest?

SALAZAR: The talent show is very difficult, but I love it. If you ask me if I recommend it, I say 1,000

4 6 • WAS H I NGTO NBLA D E.COM • J UNE 12, 2020

MICHAEL SALAZAR (Photo courtesy of RTVE)

times yes. Not only because of what you learn, but also because of how all the people on the show treat me: The jury, the production workers, the cameras, the makeup artists, the hair stylists ... It has been a wonderful experience.

BLADE: What has the program taught you so far, professionally and personally?

SALAZAR: Thanks to “MasterChef” I am perfecting myself in the things I already did. I am also learning techniques that alone would have been very difficult.

Personally, I tell you that now I appreciate more time with my partner and my friends, details that before did not give much importance, now I value them more.

BLADE: How much of its roots are in your dishes?

SALAZAR: A lot. We in California are lucky to have a lot of Mexican influence, which at the same time has a lot to do with Spanish food. In the United States, we grow with a wide variety of foods from all over the world. All that influence has helped me to improvise faster than the rest of my teammates in the different tests.

BLADE: What would it mean for you to get the “MasterChef Spain” trophy?

SALAZAR: Winning the title of “MasterChef Spain” not only represents money or fame, it is also having achieved one more of my goals. The opportunity to study at the Basque Culinary Center is something you would never have imagined.

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CALENDAR OUT&ABOUT

BY PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN

Cherry kiki is June 19 Cherry’s Bi-Weekly Quarantine Kiki is Friday, June 19 at 9 p.m. This free online event is hosted by DJ TWiN and The Cherry Fund.

This live special event supports DJs and the local entertainment community who are currently enduring income losses due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Kristina Kelly is kiki host and presents live sets featuring DJs TWiN, Isaac Escalante and CIndel Coss.

The Cherry Fund has donated more than $1.3 million in grants and support to benefit mental health and HIV/AIDS service organizations in the D.C. area and beyond. Their 25th anniversary weekend is now scheduled for October 1-5. All pre-purchased tickets will be honored and transferred on Eventbrite.

For more information on the quarantine kiki or Cherry 25, visit them on cherrydc.com and Facebook.

‘Irving Park,’ a story of older gay Chicago men in master/slave relationships, screens virtually June 19.

(Photo courtesy Reel Affirmations)

TODAY

Sunday, June 14

The Queer Student Alliance Pride Netflix Party hosted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore, is tonight at 8 p.m. Participants join in a virtual chat with other QSA members while watching an LGBTQ-significant film. A Netflix account is needed to participate. For more information, visit the group’s event page on Facebook.

Baltimore’s #1 Drag Brunch is today at Bookmakers Cocktail Club (31 E Cross St., Baltimore) at 11:30 a.m. The event features a $35 brunch buffet, $4 Mimosas and Bloody Marys, drag performances, twerk contests and more. Reservations are required through its website at bookmakersbaltimore.com.

Continue to monitor its website for any COVIDrelated changes.

Corona Drag Bingo hosted by the D.C. Fray, Constellation Brands and Nellie’s is online tonight at 6 p.m. via Zoom. The cost is $5. For more information, and to register, visit dcfray.com.

Saturday, June 13

The Future is Queer hosted by Joie De Vivre is an online dance party showcasing DJs, dancers, spoken word artists and more via multiple rooms including cruise and chill spaces. Tickets are $20 on Eventbrite for this event which starts tonight at 5 p.m..

A Silent Vigil for George Floyd and Protest for Black Lives is tonight at 6 p.m. in Logan Circle. The neighboring community is invited to gather in silence and take a knee for 8 minutes, 46 seconds in memory of George Floyd and many others. Participants are asked to maintain COVID-19 precautions including wearing masks and social distancing. Visit this event’s Facebook page for details.

Monday, June 15

Genderqueer D.C. hosted by the D.C. Center meets today at 7 p.m. via Zoom. This monthly support group is for people who identify outside of the gender binary. For more information visit genderqueerdc.org or thedccenter.org.

Tuesday, June 16

P&P Live! featuring Ibram X. Kendi and Ashley Kukashevsky is tonight at 7 p.m. via their Facebook page. Kendi is

a bestselling author and the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University.

His works have won the National Book Award for Nonfiction and the W.E.B. DuBois Book Prize. Lukashevski is an illustrator and artist who uses art to strengthen social movements against systemic racism and sexism. For more on this event, visit crowdcast.io/e/kendilukashevsky-antiracist-baby.

Wednesday, June 17

Bingo with B. Ro and Balston Quarter is tonight at 8 p.m. and hosted by the D.C. Fray. This is an online event via Zoom. For more information and other Fray online events, visit dcfray.com/ virtualcommunity.

Thursday, June 18

Blade Pride Chats Presented by the Ariadne Getty Foundation continue tonight at 4 p.m. This event streams on each of the hosts’ Facebook pages.

Tonight’s topic is Reflections of Pride. For more information, visit the D.C. Center’s Pride 2020 Community Calendar or the event’s Facebook page.

Queer families potluck planned The Bi-Monthly Queer Families Potluck hosted by Baltimore’s Pride Center of Maryland (2530 N. Charles St., Baltimore) is Saturday, June 20 at 11 a.m.

Kids are welcome at this every-othermonth event celebrating queer families.

Donations are accepted and support the Pride Center. June 20 events are listed on their Facebook event page as Pride Weekend and Drag Story Hour, while June 21 is Family Pride at Druid Hill Park.

For questions regarding possible changes due to COVID-19, email info@ pridecentermd.org.

Reel Aff. plans features Reel Affirmations on Demand is set to stream “Irving Park” June 19 and “Breaking Fast” on June 26. Tickets are $12 for 72 hours of availability.

“Irving Park” is the story of four 60-something gay men in Chicago living together and exploring master/slave relationships, while “Breaking Fast” tells of Mo, a Muslim in West Hollywood, and his American love-interest Kal who offers to break fast with him during the holy month of Ramadan.

For tickets and information, visit thedccenter.org.

JUN E 1 2 , 2 0 2 0 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • 5 1

Love Is Love Celebrating Pride 2020

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BUSINESS

Pitchers patrons drink outdoors last weekend.

Outdoor seating area at Freddie’s in Crystal City.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

LGBTQ bars reimagine dining and drinking Restaurants utilize patio seating and plan for Pride

By KAELA ROEDER

As Washington moves forward with reopening parks, retailers and restaurants, LGBTQ bars have started to bring back their staff and reimagine dining spaces to welcome customers in their establishments for the first time since March.

Restaurants have started expanding traditional indoor accommodations to outdoor patio seating and increased takeout options. Patrons are required to wear masks when not eating or drinking and encouraged to call ahead of arriving.

Pitchers Bar D.C. and its sister bar A League of Her Own in Adams Morgan reopened on May 29 and are now serving food and drinks in three different patio seating areas holding about 50 seats total, as well as offering carryout options.

Both bars are open Thursday through Sunday at 3 or 5 p.m. depending on staffing (updates on hours are posted on Pitchers’ Facebook page). Customers can email dcalohojo@gmail.com to make reservations.

Rachel Pike, a bartender at A League of Her Own and head of security for Pitchers said it was “initially nervewracking” to begin serving customers at the bar again. But, once the first night was over, Pike said her fears began to ease. “[Opening] was 100 percent worth it to the community. Everyone was ecstatic to be back, drinking the drinks from their bartender and seeing their friends come in and out,” Pike says.

Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington has also reopened, utilizing the parking lot to expand outdoor seating as well as offering takeout options.

Northern Virginia has been put under separate restrictions from the rest of the state and continues to be in phase one of Gov. Ralph Northam’s “Forward Virginia” plan, while the rest of the state has moved forward in allowing restaurants to have indoor seating at 50 percent capacity. Customers are only able to dine at restaurants with outdoor seating in Northern Virginia, similar to Washington’s current phase of reopening.

Freddie’s is only serving takeout Tuesday-Thursday. On the weekend, the bar patio opens seating to serve brunch from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. on Saturday, and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. on Sunday. Brunch was served buffet-style prior to coronavirus restrictions, but will now be served individually.

5 4 • WAS H I NGTO NBLA D E.COM • J UNE 12, 2020

“I am trying to remain very optimistic and I do think things are slowly getting back to some semblance of normal,” owner Freddie Lutz says.

The staff at Freddie’s Beach Bar told Lutz that they plan to dress in rainbow Pride gear on June 13, when the Capital Pride parade would have taken place. Lutz also said he is brainstorming other ideas to celebrate Pride.

Nellie’s Sports Bar, located on U Street, is currently offering takeout options for patrons without outdoor seating options. Customers can either order on takeout services such as UberEats or Postmates, or directly pick up orders from the restaurant at the two “to-go windows.”

Nellie’s owner Doug Shantz says he hopes to offer indoor seating for customers in the next reopening phases. Takeout windows have been successful, he says.

“We’re just chugging along, taking it … day by day,” Shantz says.

Shantz is planning to serve Pride-themed alcoholic drinks during June, partnering with the vendor Red Bull to create a special “Nellie’s Drink Pouch.”

Number Nine, in Logan Circle, is offering limited patio seating, with two fourperson tables available. The restaurant opens at 4 p.m. during the week and 2 p.m. on weekends. Carryout options are also available.

Ed Bailey, part owner of Number Nine, says he and his team are having trouble planning Pride-related events for the bar because of restrictions and the unpredictable nature of the last months.

“One of the things that have helped us be successful is our ability to plan and be very strategic. And currently, the world that we are kind of disallows us from being able to plan anything,” he says.

Despite the limitations, Bailey is planning to create Pride digital campaigns on Number Nine’s social media.

Each LGBTQ owner said the limitations that come with Phase 1 of reopening is making it hard to turn a profit. But owners say they will do everything in their power to keep their doors open.

“I’m a fighter, I’ll make work,” says Dave Perruzza, Pitchers owner.

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All that you can Be

Out singer/songwriter Steadwell passionate about queer music

By PATRICK FOLLIARD

Performing virtual concerts is odd at first, out singer/songwriter Be Steadwell says.

“You can’t see the audience,” she says.

“There’s no applause or laughter. Still, when you really get into it, you can get that same energy. But it’s definitely a new language.”

Her next virtual gig is the upcoming installment of Strathmore’s “Live from the Livingroom,” (Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on Strathmore’s Facebook page) a free weekly online series of short concerts that showcase Strathmore’s artists in residence.

Steadwell, a gifted and compelling performer, describes her music as “queeraffirming love songs with pop, soul and folk influences.” She utilizes looping, vocal layering and beat boxing to compose her songs on stage, or in this case, at home.

During a recent phone interview, Steadwell, speaking from her parents’ home in Northwest Washington, where she’s been staying during quarantine, explains just what her virtual audience may expect: “Essentially, I’ll be hanging out at home, most likely my bedroom, singing songs for about twenty minutes. There will be some banter between tunes, but mostly music.

“When I’m performing, I’m sensitive about where the audience is, energy wise what the space is like, so this virtual venue — a bedroom — is unique and relevant to BE STEADWELL says lying low at home has given her time to write lots of new songs.

(Photo courtesy Strathmore) my performance. I’ll probably do one song related expressly to quarantine, but the whole set will consider that we’re all a little restless, a little bored, and maybe a little depressed. I’ll try to speak to that and do a tiny bit of healing around that. That’s the audiences. They have a lot of stuff already. For me specificity is better.” goal.”

For a performer who’s typically on the road promoting her album “Queer Love Steadwell’s love for live music making doesn’t prevent her from exploring Songs,” and has shared stages with names like Big Freedia, Nona Hendryx, Nikky other forms of expression.

Finney, Gina Yashere, and Toshi Reagon, it is odd to not be moving. Still, she has After graduating from Oberlin College, she pursued a master’s in film at Howard found quarantine to be a creatively fecund time.

University. Her well-received film “Vow of Silence,” the story of a heartbroken “Of course there are those days when you watch too much TV, but I’ve found composer who takes a vow of silence to win back the heart of her ex-girlfriend, that I’ve been able to do a lot of song writing,” she says. has been screened internationally.

Looking forward, Steadwell is uncertain what the future holds. Her summer “I really like storytelling, and part of that includes using the best medium to tours have been cancelled. And like all performing musicians, she’s uncertain tell the story,” says Steadwell, 32. Last year, she tried something entirely new and about when and how people will be able to gather and listen to live music again. made a musical “A Letter to My Ex,” the story of a queer black woman who finds “I have no clue. I do know that I miss it dearly and am more grateful for those self-love through the pain of separation. In short, her own experience. spaces than I ever knew.”

When asked if she might consider making music that’s more mainstream or Until that becomes clear, she’ll keep making music at home. less specific to her own experience, the D.C. native who came out in high school replies without hesitation: “No. Pop music exists in its form for heteronormative

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CHARLES BLOW and BIG FREEDIA in ‘Freedia Got a Gun.’ (Photo courtesy AFI Docs)

’Transhood’ follows the lives of four trans youth in Kansas City, Mo., over a five-year period.

(Photo courtesy HBO)

AFI DOCS goes virtual

2020 fest features usual generous spate of LGBT content

By BRIAN T. CARNEY As always, the numbers behind AFI DOCS, the annual celebration of documentary filmmaking hosted by the American Film Institute, are impressive. Running June 17-21, the festival will feature 59 films from 11 countries with 12 world premieres. Sixty-one percent of the films were directed by women. Twenty-five percent of the films were helmed by people of color and 14 percent had LGBT directors.

But this year, AFI DOCS will look quite different. All of the screenings and special events will take place online and can be viewed through a secure virtual channel.

As always, the festival features outstanding work by queer filmmakers and LGBT themes. “Freedia Got a Gun” profiles bounce superstar Big Freedia and her courageous battle against gun violence in New Orleans.

“Transhood” is a powerful five-year exploration of the challenges faced by four trans kids in Kansas City.

“Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn” is directed by Ivy Meeropol, the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, two victims of Cohn’s antiCommunist witch-hunt. Meeropol’s film is both a searing indictment of Cohn and a poignant family history.

“Dilemma of Desire” is about a courageous band of queer and straight women, including scientists, sex workers, artists and sex toy designers, dedicated to helping women reclaim their sexuality and promoting the importance of “cliteracy.”

One of the highlights of AFI DOCS is the Charles Guggenheim Symposium which “honors masters of the non-fiction art form who inspire audiences by documenting and examining the human condition.” The 2020 Symposium celebrates the amazing work of Lee Grant, the award-winning actress and filmmaker. Grant is a veteran LGBT and HIV/AIDS ally and an outspoken supporter for the freedom of expression.

Grant made her film debut in William Wyler’s 1951 film adaptation of “Detective Story”; her performance earned her the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award nomination for Best

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Supporting Actress. However, her promising career was derailed later that year when she spoke out against the powerful House Un-American Activities Committee during the “Red Scare.” She was blacklisted by Sen. Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn and was unable to work in Hollywood for the next 12 years.

Once her name was cleared, Grant worked tirelessly for the next several decades on stage and in movies and television. From 1965-1966 she appeared in 71 episodes of the hit primetime drama “Peyton Place” and won an Emmy award for her performance as Stella Chernak. She also won an Emmy Award for her appearance in “The Neon Ceiling” (1971) and was nominated for an Emmy Award for her appearance as a guest murderer in the detective series “Columbo” starring her friend Peter Falk.

Ironically, she was also nominated for an Emmy Award in 1992 for playing Roy Cohn’s mother Dora in the television movie “Citizen Cohn.”

Grant appeared as the manipulative Miriam in the camp classic “Valley of the Dolls” (1967) and won an Academy Award for her performance as one of Warren Beatty’s conquests in the provocative 1975 satire “Shampoo.”

In 1963, Grant won an Obie Award for her searing performance in queer playwright Jean Genet’s “The Maids.” Later that year she appeared in the film adaptation of Genet’s “The Balcony” and shared a steamy onscreen kiss with co-star Shelley Winters.

Grant also appeared in two powerful movies about HIV/AIDS: the television drama “Something to Live For: The Alison Gertz Story” (1992) and Randal Kleiser’s “It’s My Party” (1996).

Grant helmed her first movie (“The Shape of Things”) in 1973 and has since been acclaimed for her work directing both narrative and documentary films. In 1986, she became the first female director to win the prestigious Directors Guild of America for her work on “Nobody’s Child,” a narrative film starring Marlo Thomas.

In 1986 she also won the Academy Award for Best

Documentary Feature for “Down and Out in America,” a hard-hitting exploration of poverty in the United States.

Grant also directed the ground-breaking 1985 HBO documentary “What Sex Am I?” a sympathetic and sensitive examination of the challenges faced by members of the trans community.

The Guggenheim Symposium will be held on Friday, June 19 and will feature an interview with Grant and a screening of “Down and Out in America.”

Virtual attendees may also get to learn about Grant’s appearance on “Empty Nest,” the popular sitcom starring her daughter Dinah Manoff.

AFI DOCS kicks off on Wednesday, June 17 with “Boys State” and closes Sunday, June 21 with “Jimmy Carter Rock and Roll President” about the country music stars who helped Carter build his presidential campaign. The Centerpiece Screening on Friday, July 19 is dedicated to “The Fight” which details how the ACLU is fighting against the Trump Administration’s attempts to rollback civil rights, including the ability of trans troops to serve openly in the military.

Since 2020 is an election year, the festival slate also includes several fascinating documentaries about American politics past and present: “And She Could Be Next” about women of color (including Stacey Abrams and Rashida Tlaib) who ran for office in 2018; “Sisters of ‘77” about the National Women’s Conference (as depicted in the FX on Hulu series “Mrs. America”); “Unladylike2020” which profiles of unsung women who have shaped American history; “The Vote” which marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the struggle for female enfranchisement; “White Noise” about the rise of the alt-right; and “Women in Blue” about the challenges faced by female police officers.

The complete AFI DOCS schedule and information on festival passes and individual tickets can be found at docs.afi.com.

The Jenn Smira Team: proud to be guiding you home. a t t a in i a it a ri rit t r vi r i nt it t b t r a tat rvi i bratin r vibrant nit

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The case of the neglected colonial Stalking a house under renovation in my neighborhood

By VALERIE M. BLAKE During the stay-at-home order, people worked remotely, applied for D.C. grants and Small Business Administration loans, ordered takeout, and binge watched everything on Netflix, Hulu and Prime. They cut their own hair, became kitchen table dog groomers, learned how to Zoom, and relied on Randy Rainbow, Sarah Cooper and TikTok videos for comic relief.

Me, I became a house stalker.

There’s a house on my block that I’ve been staring at for the four-and-a-half years I have lived there. Full disclosure: I have never been inside. (I’m a stalker, not a trespasser.)

The house was first listed in the fall of 2013 and after three contracts, two price drops and five years, it finally sold to an investor in August 2018. The owner took three dumpsters of trash out of the house and did nothing more before putting the house back on the market. It sold six months later for $100,000 more than he had paid for it.

Nice work if you can get it.

Now, let’s talk taxes. D.C. has three classes of residential property: $0.85 per $100 for residential and certain multifamily homes, $5.00 per $100 for vacant properties and $10.00 per $100 for blighted properties. There can be other permutations, but that discussion is for another day.

Suffice it to say that property taxes were levied at the vacant rate in 2017 and then at the blighted rate in 2018, resulting in a whopping tax bill of $34,000 per year.

I’m speculating that the new owner, also an investor, applied for an 18-month exemption available for vacant properties that are on the market for sale, thereby reducing his tax liability to one-tenth of what it had been in 2018.

To meet the exemption requirements, the house went back on the market only a month later for – wait for it – $300,000 more than he paid. Nine months later the price was lowered by $50,000, still vastly overpriced considering no renovations had been made. Finally, in late April (presumably in the last months of the owner’s tax

It’s good news when a dumpster arrives on your block — it means a renovation is underway.

exemption), things began to happen.

The first thing I noticed was the delivery of roof trusses.

A few days later someone installed a few replacement slates on the tile roof. Next, a red truck arrived, a small one that would become a familiar sight in the neighborhood.

In early May, the real fun began. Another dumpster had appeared in the driveway (the roof trusses had been relocated to the back of the property) and I realized that I had developed a Facebook following with the saga of the house.

From a real estate standpoint, having a dumpster in your neighborhood is a good thing. It means someone is renovating or upgrading their home, which is good for property values. In fact, my neighborhood has two wholehouse renovations going on my street alone. But when 1-800-toilets brings in the portable toilet and the Home Depot truck arrives with lumber and drywall, it’s time for a celebration.

Starting with old appliances and lumber, the dumpster began to fill up and by mid-May, a truck came to pick it up. I happened to be at my front door and stood there conspicuously watching it make a 36-point turnaround on a narrow street without driving over my lawn. No pressure.

The next day, I awoke to find not only a new dumpster in the driveway but also a backhoe on the front lawn. I watched as the front landscaping was dug out close to the house, as if someone were going to install a French drain to keep water out of the basement. In fact, they installed window wells with protective covers.

The most beautiful part of the home’s exterior was revealed in late May when the contractors removed an ugly metal awning from over the front door. There, hidden away for years, was gorgeous arched brick work that was prominent in houses of the 1940s framing the entrance.

We did have a little scare in the neighborhood when the contractors hit a gas line, but thanks to observant neighbors, Washington Gas was on it like Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

I continue my diligent observation, but now that the contractors have begun working on the inside, my house stalking has been intermittent. But don’t worry. I’m sure there will be more to the saga.

In fact, I may write a screenplay. I’ll need a working title and since “Rear Window” and “Disturbia” have already been taken, I’m thinking “Valerie Blake: House Stalker.”

Susan Sarandon can play me in the movie.

Valerie M. Blake

is a licensed Associate Broker in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia and Director of Education & Mentorship at RLAH Real Estate. Call or text her at 202-246-8602, email her via www.DCHomeQuest.com, or follow her on Facebook at TheRealst8ofAffairs.

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