Washingtonblade.com, Volume 51, Issue 40, October 2, 2020.

Supreme Fight

(Photo by Rachel Malehorn; Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License)

Dems vow to derail nominee, calling her threat to RBG’s legacy PAGE 10

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Ruby Corado announces she’s COVID positive

The Kennedy on L condo building at 37 L St., S.E., is on the site of the Cinema Follies Theater where a 1977 fire claimed the lives of nine men.

(Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro Jr.)

Casa Ruby leader calls on community to be careful, dispel stigma

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

The announcement came last Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 23, in a post on Facebook.

Friends and supporters of Ruby Corado usually look forward to reading her Facebook postings about her ongoing projects in support of the LGBTQ community, especially transgender women of color.

But this time it was different and it generated an immediate outpouring of concern and support.

“OMG! I tested Positive For COVID 19 Today!

People Said ‘Don’t Say Nothing.’ But Even Though I Might be Asymptomatic, I Refuse To Be Stigmatized for This, please pray for Me!” Corado, the founder and executive director of D.C.’s LGBTQ community services center Casa Ruby, posted a series of short follow-up messages on Facebook sharing her thoughts as she disclosed experiencing some COVID-related symptoms.

“Sense of Smell Gone,” she posted one day later on Sept. 24. “Keep me in Your prayers!” The next day on Friday, Sept. 25, Corado wrote, “Took ‘OMG! I tested Positive For COVID 19 Today,’ RUBY CORADO posted on social media. a walk to the kitchen and Honey You Would Have (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key) Thought That I Run Another Marathon! Going back to bed!”

Earlier that day Corado spoke with the Washington Blade, saying she wanted to inform the LGBTQ community and anyone who would listen that the COVID-19 pandemic should be taken seriously and those directly impacted by it should be supported and treated with respect.

She said since the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak became known earlier this year all Casa Ruby employees and clients have been tested for COVID-19 every two weeks. She said social distancing and the wearing of masks have been followed in accordance with the recommendations of the D.C. Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

She said she tested negative less than two weeks earlier but requested another test from her doctor during an unrelated visit to look into sharp pain she was having in her knees. She learned of the positive test result two days later through a phone call from the doctor’s office.

“At the end of the day I came out because I have already seen a trend of people shaming people with COVID – like they’re not careful, like they’re people who just don’t care,” Corado told the Blade. “And the reality is no one took more care of myself than me, and it still happened,” she said. “I have been wearing a 95 mask from the beginning because I have supporters who gave them to me. And it still happened.”

Corado was referring to what is known as the N95 face mask, a mask initially designed for healthcare professionals and first responders that provides an airtight seal fit that filters out tiny particles such as bacteria and viruses to a greater degree than ordinary cloth masks.

“So at the end of the day that doesn’t matter because we are living in a time of COVID and it could happen to anyone, even when you are very careful like I have been,” Corado said. “That’s why I thought it was important for me to come out and say it because believe it or not I have received almost a dozen calls and messages from people who said ‘I had it.’”

“And it was like they were afraid to even say something,” she said. “I have had people who messaged me and offered help and were just being very helpful,” Corado continued. “But a lot of people said don’t say nothing, it’s going to hurt your name,” she said. “I don’t want to do that. I want people to know this is real and when someone gets it, it does not mean that they were not careful.”

Corado said she is under the care of a physician at Whitman-Walker Health and is hopeful that the symptoms she currently has encountered will quickly subside.

“The fact is that I have it,” she said. “I want to utilize my spirituality to know that I will be OK. And if I’m not – I do think about it and worry about it. We have some great things coming up at Casa Ruby this year, including our pharmacy,” she said. “We’re doing great things. And I don’t know if people will support the organization if I’m not here. And that worries me.”

Added Corado, “But I also have to stay in good spirits. I worry. But you know, I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine.”

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Memorial proposed for 9 gay victims of 1977 Follies fire

A gay man from New York City has started an online petition calling on the developer of a condominium apartment building under construction near the Washington Nationals baseball stadium to place a commemorative plaque on the property, which was the site of the Cinema Follies adult gay movie theater where nine men died in a 1977 fire.

Anthony Patrick Hello, who describes himself as a history buff interested in exploring how discrimination often caused LGBTQ people to place themselves in compromising situations, is asking DBT Development Group to place a commemorative plaque on the site of its 11-story Kennedy on L project the company is building at 37 L St., S.E. The new condo development is located in a section of Southeast D.C. less than a mile from the U.S. Capitol that was once known as home in the 1970s and 1980s to several gay bars, gay male strip clubs, a gay bathhouse and the Cinema Follies. Also located in the area was the Cinema Follies’ successor, the Follies Theater, which opened three blocks south of the one that caught fire. All of them have long since been displaced by upscale redevelopment surrounding the Nationals stadium.

A representative of DBT Development Group didn’t immediately respond to an email and phone message from the Washington Blade seeking their reaction to Hello’s petition drive asking the company to install a memorial plaque honoring the nine men who perished in the Cinema Follies fire.

Hello told the Blade that Kenric Walwyn, the company’s vice president, called him to ask for more details about Hello’s request. According to Hello, Walwyn told him a decision on whether or not to install such a memorial would have to be made by the soon to be formed condominium association whose members will be the owners of the project’s 74 luxury apartments that are expected to be placed on the market soon.

Resident owners are expected to begin moving into the soon-to-be-completed building sometime next year. Hello said he plans to contact a management company that DBT Development Group has retained to represent the condo association to advocate for the commemorative plaque.

The two-story warehouse building that was home to the Cinema Follies was demolished a few years ago to make way for the condo development project.

A write-up on the website of D.C.’s Rainbow History Project says the Cinema Follies first opened in 1975 in a former auto repair building that it converted into a theater showing X-rated gay films.

“A disastrous fire on October 24, 1977, trapped patrons in a second floor theater,” the write-up says.

D.C. Fire Department officials said at the time that all of the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation rather than burns. Officials said the fire was ruled an accident caused by a cleaning attendant using an electric carpet cleaning machine that was believed to have created sparks that ignited highly flammable cleaning fluid.

Several of the victims of the 1977 fire were later identified as men married to women whose families did not know they had been patronizing a gay adult theater. The Rainbow History Project write-up says the fire, among other things, led to the founding of the Gay and Married Men’s Association “as a social alternative.”

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

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Stein Club fails to endorse Biden after dispute over Ward 2 race Those backing gay independent candidate opposed blanket vote for ticket

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

the Democratic candidates on the Nov. A heated dispute over whether to 3 ballot included the Joe Biden-Kamala endorse the Democratic opponent of a Harris presidential-vice presidential ticket. popular gay candidate running for the But several club members raised Ward 2 D.C. Council seat as an independent objections to making an endorsement resulted in a decision on Monday night by of Democrat Brooke Pinto, who won the the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club not Democratic primary for the Ward 2 Council to endorse any additional candidates, seat and also won a Ward 2 special election including Democratic presidential to fill the Council seat until January candidate Joe Biden. following the resignation earlier this year If the Stein Club, the city’s largest local of longtime Ward 2 Council member Jack LGBTQ political organization, holds firm Evans. on the action it took at its Sept. 28 virtual These club members said their meeting it would become the first time in objection to a blanket endorsement of all its 44-year history that it will not endorse a Democrats on the D.C. ballot was based Democratic presidential candidate. on their support for gay independent “The second largest gay Democratic candidate Randy Downs, a popular club in the nation and definitely the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood second oldest continuously operating Commissioner who is challenging Pinto in LGBT Democratic club in the nation the Nov. 3 election. Downs is aggressively decided tonight not to support Joe Biden campaigning for the LGBTQ vote in a ward for president,” said gay Democratic activist A dispute over whether to endorse the full Democratic ticket led the Stein Club to fail to endorse JOE BIDEN this week. with a large LGBTQ population.

David Meadows, a former Stein Club Downs, a long-time Democrat, did not president. “That’s your story,” Meadows run in the Ward 2 Democratic primary and instead decided to enter the race for the told the Washington Blade shortly after the club’s Zoom meeting ended. general election as an independent. In addition to Downs and incumbent Pinto, Stein Club President Kent Boese on Tuesday had a different interpretation of the Statehood Green Party candidate Peter Bolton and independent candidate Martin club’s action at the virtual meeting.

Miguel Fernandez are running in the November election for the Ward 2 seat.

“Based on the discussion and debate of last night’s meeting regarding Downs’ Stein Club supporters proposed that Nemeth’s motion be amended to endorsements, as things currently stand, the Stein Club has not voted to endorse eliminate an endorsement in the Ward 2 race while moving ahead with endorsing Biden/Harris, nor have we voted to not endorse them,” he told the Blade in an two other Democratic primary winners for D.C. Council seats – Janeese Lewis email. “I do plan on discussing this with the Executive Committee to see what George in Ward 4 and incumbent Trayon White in Ward 8. options are open to use to consider this issue,” he said.

An endorsement for Biden would also have remained a part of the proposed The endorsement dispute arose when Monika Nemeth, the Stein Club’s vice amendment by the Downs supporters to Nemeth’s motion. The club’s bylaws president for legislative affairs, introduced a motion calling for the club to endorse prohibit an endorsement of a non-Democratic candidate in a race where a the winners of the city’s June Democratic primary for the D.C. Council seats in Democratic candidate is running, and the Downs supporters did not suggest that Wards 2, 4, and 8. The club was unable to make an endorsement in those races for he or any other non-Democrat be endorsed. the primary because none of the multiple Democratic candidates, most of whom Other club members, however, objected to withholding an endorsement for expressed support for LGBTQ rights, received a required 60 percent vote from Pinto, saying a Democratic club should back all Democratic candidates when they club members required for an endorsement. are supportive of LGBTQ rights. Pinto has expressed strong support for LGBTQ Nemeth pointed out at the Monday night virtual meeting that the Stein Club has rights during her primary and general election campaigns. traditionally voted in each election cycle to endorse all of the city’s Democratic Meadows told the meeting that as a Ward 6 Democratic Committeeman he primary winners for the November general election when the club has not was obligated to support Democratic candidates, including Pinto in Ward 2. endorsed one or more of them at the time of the primary.

Stein member Austin Naughton, who is chair of the Ward 2 Democrats, said he Due to the complexity of its online endorsement vote in the primary for multiple too was obligated to back the Democratic contender. He is among several LGBTQ D.C. Council candidates in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the club decided Democratic leaders that have endorsed Pinto. to hold off on an endorsement vote for U.S. president until after the primary.

Thus Nemeth’s blanket motion calling for the club to endorse the remainder of

Blade to host Nat’l Coming Out Day event at the Wharf The Washington Blade, in partnership with The Wharf and ABSOLUT, is excited to announce the first National Coming Out Day at the Wharf on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020.

Each year on Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day celebrates coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. National Coming Out Day at The Wharf brings business specials, pride-themed fitness classes, and more to the Southwest Waterfront.

“While we weren’t able to have our annual Pride on the Pier event at the Wharf during the city’s Pride celebration we are excited to be able to celebrate National

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Coming Out Day,” says the Washington Blade’s director of marketing, Stephen Rutgers. “During this time it is important to still celebrate coming out in a safe and socially distanced way.”

Visit washingtonblade.com/comingout for a full list of business specials, fitness classes and more.

Event sponsors include Absolut, Pepco, Washington Regional Transplant Community and The Wharf.

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Trump pick a threat to RBG’s legacy, activists fear Coney Barrett asserted need to place faith above law

By CHRIS JOHNSON | cjohnson@washblade.com

President Trump has selected Amy Coney Barrett, a federal appellate judge and a favorite among religious conservatives, as his choice to replace progressive champion Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.

Trump announced his selection of Barrett, who currently serves on the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, at a White House Rose Garden event on Saturday, calling for a “straightforward and prompt confirmation.”

“For the last three years, Judge Barrett has served with immense distinction on the federal bench,” Trump said. “Amy is more than a stellar scholar and judge; she is also a profoundly devoted mother. Her family is a core part of who Amy is. She opened her home and her heart, and adopted two beautiful children from Haiti. Her incredible bond with her youngest child, a son with Down Syndrome, is a true inspiration.”

Barrett in her remarks acknowledged Ginsburg upon her passing, but also the late U.S. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia with whom she worked as a law clerk and who was renowned for his anti-LGBTQ dissents.

“I clerked for Justice Scalia more than 20 years ago, but the lessons I learned still resonate,” Barrett said. “His judicial philosophy is mine too: A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policymakers, and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold.”

An inside source close to the selection process confirmed to the Blade late Friday Trump’s pick would be Barrett. The news was first reported by CNN and CBS News.

Barrett is Trump’s third pick for the Supreme Court after the appointment and confirmations of U.S. Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Senate Republicans have signaled they intend to hold a confirmation vote on the nominee, despite objections from Democrats who say the chamber should hold off given Election Day is less than two months away. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings starting Oct. 12, and Politico reported that Barrett’s nomination could be voted out of committee as soon as Oct. 22. “Senate Republicans are widely expected to confirm Barrett before the Nov. 3 election, eyeing an Oct. 29 confirmation vote,” Politico reported.

LGBTQ rights groups, wary of Barrett’s writings asserting a judge’s obligation is to place faith about the law, were quick to denounce the choice after the news was made.

Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement the nomination is a slap in the face to Ginsburg’s legacy.

“If she is nominated and confirmed, Coney Barrett would work to dismantle all that Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought for during her extraordinary career,” David said. “An appointment of this magnitude must be made by the president inaugurated in January.

The Human Rights Campaign fervently opposes Coney Barrett’s nomination, and this sham process.”

In contrast to Ginsburg, who joined each of the major decisions in favor of LGBTQ rights from the Supreme Court, Barrett has expressed a judicial philosophy suggesting she may undermine LGBTQ rights or rule on the side of religious freedom when it comes into conflict with LGBTQ non-discrimination policy.

Most tellingly, Barrett in 2015 co-signed a letter with other Catholic women to bishops affirming marriage is between a man and a woman and the sexual difference between men and women was significant.

“We give witness that the Church’s teachings — on the dignity of the human person and the value of human life from conception to natural death; on the meaning of human sexuality, the significance of sexual difference and the complementarity of men and women; on openness to life and the gift of motherhood; and on marriage and family founded on the indissoluble commitment of a man and a woman — provide a sure guide to the Christian life, promote women’s flourishing, and serve to protect the poor and most vulnerable among us,” the letter says.

Questioned about signing the letter during her confirmation hearing in 2017, Barrett denied it would have any bearing on her legal interpretation of the Constitution should the issue of same-sex marriage come back to the Supreme Court.

“In the context of same-sex marriages and in any context, my religious beliefs really would not bear on that at all,” Barrett said. “I think one of the great traditions in this country is that judges participate in the law, participate in the decision of cases, and rule even when they disagree with the outcome.’”

In 2016, when addressing the Jacksonville University Policy Institute in remarks hailing the originalist perspective of the late Antonin Scalia, Barrett spoke favorably about the dissenters in the Obergefell v. Hodges case that guaranteed same-sex couples across the country the right to marry, including U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts.

Refuting the notion the decision was based on which justices of the Supreme Court 1 0 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • OCTOBER 02 , 2 0 2 0 • NAT I O NA L NE WS

AMY CONEY BARRETT is Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court.

(Photo by Rachel Malehorn; Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License)

supported same-sex marriage and which didn’t, Barrett said the majority found it was a “right guaranteed by the Constitution, so therefore states were not free — kind of in that Odysseus tying themselves to the mast — that states weren’t free to say that marriage had to be between a man and a woman.”

“The dissenters weren’t taking a view — in fact, Chief Justice John Robert’s dissent was very explicit about that,” Barrett said. “He said if you want same-sex marriage you have every right to lobby in state legislatures and make that happen, but the dissent’s view is that it wasn’t for the court to decide, that the Constitution didn’t speak to the question, and so that it was a change that should occur in the legislative process. And indeed, many states were already moving in that direction and making legislative changes.”

Additionally, Barrett confirmed in 2017 she took a speaking fee from Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal group that has argued against LGBTQ rights and brought the Masterpiece Cakeshop case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kevin Jennings, CEO of Lambda Legal, said in a statement that if confirmed she will “unleash a Supreme Court majority that is hostile to all of our basic civil rights, and the impact will be felt for decades.”

“Judge Barrett’s personal belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, coupled with her unwillingness to affirm that the Supreme Court’s decision making marriage equality the law of the land is settled law, should sound the alarm for anyone who cares about LGBTQ people and their families,” Jennings said. “However, her cramped socalled ‘originalist’ view of the Constitution threatens the civil rights of not just LGBTQ people but a host of others, including women and people of color, who have relied on the courts to make progress in the fight for equality and justice.”

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Trump bullies, Biden holds firm in embarrassing debate President declines to repudiate white supremacism

By CHRIS JOHNSON | cjohnson@washblade.com

Eric Trump says he’s ‘part of’ LGBTQ community Later clarifies he’s straight

By CHRIS JOHNSON | cjohnson@washblade.com

Former Vice President JOE BIDEN and President DONALD TRUMP faced each other Tuesday in the first presidential debate of 2020.

President Trump sought to bully Joe Biden in a slapfast of a presidential debate Tuesday night, although the Democratic nominee held firm and repudiated his opponent for stoking racism and for his failures in addressing the coronavirus.

Throughout the night, Trump talked over Biden in the time allocated for his responses, accusing the former vice president of failing to accomplish anything in his 47 years of public service and raising questions about his son Hunter Biden’s financial ties to Russia and China.

Biden, having enough of Trump at times, referred to him as a “clown” and denounced him for stoking racism.

“This is a president who has used everything as a dog whistle to try to generate racist hatred, racist division,” Biden said.

Even Chris Wallace of Fox News, who was moderating the debate, said Trump was breaking debate rules more than Biden by speaking over his opponent, pleading with both to uphold the deal their campaigns reached.

Biden deployed one of his best lines of the night when criticizing Trump for his handling of the coronavirus epidemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Americans.

“Two hundred thousand dead, as you said over 7 million infected in the United States,” Biden said. “We in fact have 5 percent of 4 percent of the world’s population, 20 percent of the deaths.

40,000 people a day are contracting COVID. In addition to that, between 750 and 1,000 people a day, they’re dying.”

Biden concluded, “When you were presented with that number he said it is what it is. It is what it is because you are who you are. The president has no plan.”

Another key moment came up when Trump declined to repudiate white supremacy, shifting the blame for ongoing violence in civil unrest to left-wing groups. Trump specifically declined to denounce the Proud Boys, a white supremacist group that has been labeled a terrorist organization, and instead encouraged its members to “stand by.”

“I’ll tell you what: Somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem,” Trump said. “This is a left-wing problem.”

For his part, Biden refused to give a clear answer when asked whether he’d seek to pack courts with liberals upon his election as president.

The climax of the debate was the topic of mail-in voting, which prompted Biden to issue an urgent plea to voters to oust Trump from the White House.

“And this is all about trying to dissuade people from voting because he’s trying to scare people into thinking that it’s not going to be legitimate,” Biden said. “Show up and vote. You will determine the outcome of this election. Vote, vote, vote.”

Trump, when asked if he was hoping his pick for the Supreme Court Amy Coney Barrett and other justices were watching the tabulations, gave a nebulous answer.

“I think I’m counting on them to look at the ballot, definitely,” Trump said. “I hope we don’t need in terms of election itself, but for the ballots I think so because what’s happening is incredible.”

There were no questions on LGBTQ issues raised during the debate.

Elizabeth Wydra, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center, said in a statement Trump’s words were damaging to the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.

“As part of a breathtakingly horrible display tonight, President Trump again admitted that he is counting on a Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court to help ‘counting the ballots’ in this election,” Wydra said. “This motivation for pushing through a replacement for Justice Ginsburg while people are voting is incredibly damaging to the legitimacy of the Court, which no senator of either party should support.”

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ERIC TRUMP said LGBTQ people have ‘come out in full force’ for his father.

(Blade photo by Michael Key)

In curious language that sounded as though one of President Trump’s sons was coming out, Eric Trump said Tuesday members of the LGBTQ community are behind his father in the presidential election, despite Trump’s anti-LGBTQ record and polling numbers suggesting the contrary.

“The LGBT community, they are incredible,” Eric Trump said on Fox News. “And you should see how they come out in full force for my father every single day, I’m part of that community, and we love the man, and thank you for protecting our neighborhoods, and thank you for protecting our cities.’”

Eric Trump made the comment after a Fox News host read from a recent New York Times op-ed on the “secret Trump voter” a quote from a gay woman in New York City who identifies who plans to vote to re-elect Trump for economic reasons, but doesn’t want to say so publicly.

Although Eric Trump said the writer represents strong support for Trump within the LGBTQ community, polling data suggests otherwise. In a Morning Consult poll in June of 30,000 registered voters who identify as LGBTQ, Biden led Trump by 64 percent to 19 percent. (A survey on the gay dating app Hornet found 45 percent of LGBTQ men support Trump, but polling experts told the Blade the numbers aren’t reliable and media coverage on it was “sloppy, clickbaity journalism.”)

It’s not the first time Eric Trump has attempted to tie his father to the LGBTQ community.

In the 2016 election, Eric Trump called his father’s mention of LGBTQ people during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention — a first for a GOP nominee — “revolutionary.”

Eric Trump, however, ignores the anti-LGBTQ record Trump has built during his administration, including the transgender military ban, administrative actions allowing anti-LGBTQ discrimination in the name of religious freedom and arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court federal civil rights law doesn’t cover LGBTQ people.

Later, Eric Trump walked back his remarks in a statement to the New York Post.

“To clarify, many of our close friends are part of the LGBT community, which was the intent of my statement — the left has taken that vote for granted for a long time and support from the gay community for my father is incredible,” Eric Trump said.

“As to me personally, as I think you know, I am a happily married man to my wife, Lara,” said Trump. The couple have two children. He further clarified that he is not bisexual.

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Carey to step down at the Task Force

The National LGBTQ Task Force last week announced long-time executive director Rea Carey will step down in early 2021.

“From overturning discriminatory policies and passing LGBTQ inclusive laws to celebrating marriage at the Supreme Court, to being arrested alongside immigration activists, to the energy of our Creating Change conferences, it has been a remarkable ride,” said Carey in a press release. “Just to be alive during a time of such progress over the last many years has been astounding, and to serve the LGBTQ community in my 17 years at the National LGBTQ Task Force has been the joy and honor of a lifetime.”

“We have faced down many obstacles together and made tangible progress for LGBTQ people and our families,” she added. “I have worked to ensure that we can be all of who we are in our multiple identities as immigrants, as people of color, as parents, as people experiencing

National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director REA CAREY is stepping down.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

homelessness, as voters, as people of faith, as trans and bi, as workers. Together, we have fought to love who we want to love, for sexual freedom, to be free of violence and oppression in all its forms, to be seen, valued, and celebrated as fully human.”

Carey has been with the Task Force since 2003.

The press release notes the organization’s board of directors has unanimously chosen Deputy Executive Director Kierra Johnson to succeed Carey.

Johnson will be the Task Force’s first Black executive director.

“I am thrilled to join the long, proud legacy of the many powerful activists that have led this amazing organization,” said Johnson in the press release.

News of Carey’s decision to step down comes against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and associated recession that has left many LGBTQ advocacy groups struggling.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

U.S. broadcasting agency official ignores subpoena In a bipartisan agreement, House members on Sept. 24 held an oversight hearing focused on the actions of the newly appointed executive director of the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee subpoenaed Michael Pack to explain his actions since June that include withholding congressionally approved funds, mass firings and other questionable activities.

Pack ignored the subpoena, and didn’t show. The agency also did not respond to the Washington Blade’s request for comment.

In July, the Blade reported LGBTQ internet freedoms may be at risk on a global scale due to the new leadership. Two weeks after his appointment, Pack fired the heads of Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting.

“We have always tried to be a safe harbor for people,” said Open Technology Fund President Laura Cunningham in an interview. “To feel like we are not able to be there for those communities who we have served and have been honored to do so for the last decade is devastating.”

In early June, Pack attempted to remove Cunningham as the fund’s president and dismiss

its board of directors, including Karen Kornbluh, a witness at the hearing. The fund immediately filed suit challenging the agency, Cunningham said.

In a unanimous ruling on Aug. 20, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the fund’s motion of a preliminary injunction restricting the agency from removing or replacing employees at the fund, Cunningham said. In addition, the members of the fund who held roles in June will remain on staff.

The agency, which operates independently from the U.S. government, oversees five different entities that include Voice of America, broadcasting platforms and the Open Technology Fund. This fund is an independent non-profit organization that focuses on advancing global internet freedom by providing internet access, digital privacy tutorials, apps like Signal and Tor, privacy enhancement and security tools like encryption.

Witnesses called to the hearing include Amanda Bennett, the former director of the Voice of America; Jamie Fly, the former president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Ryan Crocker, an Open Technology Fund board member.

STEPH PURIFOY

Judge orders Trump admin to turn over docs on trans ban

A federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration in litigation challenging the transgender military ban, ordering the Defense Department to turn over documents it had previously withheld on the policy on the basis they were predecisional and deliberative before the restriction went into effect.

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Washington State, a Clinton appointee, issued an order Friday requiring the Trump administration to hand over documents requested as part of the discovery process for the lawsuit by Oct. 5.

“This matter comes before the court upon defendants’ recent submission of documents for in camera review, filed in response to the court’s recent orders on defendants’ assertion of the deliberative process privilege,” Pechman writes. “After careful examination of each document submitted for in camera review, the court finds that the documents do not fall within the proper scope of the deliberative process privilege and orders defendants to produce the documents by October 5.”

The lawsuit, Karnowski v. Trump, was filed in 2017 by the LGBTQ group Lambda Legal and the group now known as the Modern Military Association of America on behalf of various plaintiffs, including transgender military service members and the Human Rights Campaign, against the ban.

Peter Perkowski, legal and policy director for the Modern Military Association of America, said via email to the Washington Blade the order is a victory in the ongoing lawsuit.

“The Trump-Pence administration has once again lost to legal scrutiny and can no

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longer hide critical documents related to Trump’s unconstitutional transgender military ban,” Perkowski said. “From the moment Trump recklessly tweeted his ban to the day the Department of Defense implemented it, it has always been crystal clear that this transgender military ban is based on nothing more than blatant discrimination.”

The lawsuit before Pechman in Washington State was filed after President Trump tweeted in 2017 he’d ban transgender people from the military “in any capacity,” but before the Pentagon under former Defense Secretary James Mattis completed his six-month policy review and implemented restrictions based on his recommendations.

The case has been percolating through the Ninth Circuit for years. Although Pechman initially issued a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the transgender military ban, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that order, allowing the policy to go into effect as litigation proceeds.

At issue in the order Pechman granted Friday are documents related to the discovery process in the lawsuit, which compels the U.S. government to produce materials relevant to the transgender military ban. Those documents are expected to demonstrate whether the Defense Department implemented the policy against transgender people as a result of Trump’s tweet, or whether the military determined it needed to exclude them as a result of an independent review former Defense Secretary James Mattis was conducting at the time.

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For those living with HIV, U=U is helping break the stigma.

Here’s how.

By: Ryan Carey-Mahoney

A

t first glance, U=U may look to some like a complex math equation.

But it’s meaning isn’t complicated in the slightest, especially for people living with HIV. U=U is shorthand for “Undetectable = Untransmittable.” That means if someone living with HIV is on the appropriate medications and has a consistently undetectable level of the virus in their blood when tested, they cannot transmit HIV to their sexual partner(s).

“[Being undetectable] freed me,” says Murray Penner, 59, a D.C.-based HIV advocate and U.S. Executive Director at the Prevention Access Campaign. “...even when I was being ‘safe with sex’ before U=U, I always had this fear that I was going to transmit HIV to my partners. And now I no longer have to worry about that.”

His initial worry comes from a place of truth: sexual activity has long been the leading method of HIV transmission, particularly among gay and bisexual men. Yet, the relief that he felt when he became undetectable also speaks to the truth and importance of campaigns like U=U and the need for more thoughtful, holistic approaches to educating others.

“A lot of people don't understand [HIV],” Penner says. “They don't understand that people living with HIV can live a long and normal life.”

“It has so much potential to change not only the way people live with HIV, but change the face of HIV and what it looks like to society.”

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Penner, who tested positive for HIV in 1986, has seen and felt firsthand the stigma that comes with living with the virus. But he’s hopeful U=U (often stylized as #UequalsU) can free others as it did himself. “[U=U] is a real game-changer,” Penner says. “It has so much potential to change not only the way people live with HIV, but change the face of HIV and what it looks like to society.”

In the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, medical and societal knowledge around the virus was severely limited, and, at times, it was nothing more than fear-mongering, painful homophobia and biphobia and harmful misinformation.

While some of those feelings still exist today, science is getting better.

Prevention methods like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) are more prevalent than ever, and treatment has transformed through advancements in antiretroviral drugs. In D.C. alone, the number of new HIV cases in D.C. has decreased by roughly 49 percent from 2011 to 2018 … and a remarkable 73 percent since 2007.

For Derrick “Strawberry” Cox, 31, this all starts in one place: the doctor’s office.

“I express and encourage people to really have that strong relationship with a doctor,” Cox, a lifelong D.C. resident who is heavily involved in D.C.’s health advocacy spaces. “If you don't feel comfortable with [your] doctor … get someone that you can talk to literally about anything.”

An open relationship with a healthcare provider, as Cox mentions, is crucial for those living with HIV. Consistent treatment and testing are integral parts of both becoming and maintaining one’s undetectable status -- and, in turn, preventing transmission between partners.

Cox, who himself is undetectable, speaks with those who are newly diagnosed at a support group through Whitman-Walker Health. More than anything, he says he encounters people who are still coming to terms with their new reality. “[Many] don't want to accept the fact that they are HIV-positive,” Cox adds. “Most of them don't want to take the pills, and most of them feel, you know, disgusting or dirty. [Stigma] is still a huge thing even though we've come a long way.”

Both Cox and Penner are rightfully adamant in saying there is nothing “dirty” about having HIV and look ahead to a future where people living with HIV — undetectable or not — are seen simply for who they are: human beings.

“HIV doesn't define a person,” Penner says. “I'm a person just like you're a person and just like somebody else next to me as a person. Don't let HIV define you [or others].”

FOR MORE IMPORTANT INFORMATION on U=U or if you’re looking for HIV-related testing (some are available at home due to COVID-19) and treatment options in D.C., visit sexualbeing.org. A number of critical resources are available at no cost that can help you find a doctor, support group, or the treatment you need.

“If you don't feel comfortable with [your] doctor … get someone that you can talk to literally about anything.”

DERRICK “STRAWBERRY” COX

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BROOKE PINTO

is a D.C. Council member from Ward 2.

D.C. must ban gay and trans panic defense

City laws don’t go far enough in protecting LGBTQ community In 2003, Bella Evangelista, a respected performer and transgender woman was shot to death on a D.C. street. Five years later, Tony Hunter, an openly gay man, was on his way to a bar when he was assaulted and ultimately died due to a sustained head injury from the attack. Both perpetrators argued that the reason they murdered Bella and Tony was because they “panicked” when they realized their respective sexual orientation and identity. They claimed the murders were justified self-defense due to this panic. That was a legitimate argument made in court. And it was legal.

The root causes of these hate crimes were transphobia and homophobia, and despite having the highest LGBTQ community per capita, the District of Columbia’s legal code does not go far enough in protecting everyone in our community. This rationalization of harmful actions based on fear or concern of one’s sexual identity or orientation is called the “panic defense.” To sweep these cases under the rug were judicial missteps that further fostered a culture of fear and dissent in the District.

The panic defense must be banned and removed from the legal toolkit for bigots, harassers, and abusers. It is the right thing to do for the victims, past and present, their families, and our broader community. Moreover, it will send a clear message to all that this type of hate will not be tolerated by our society and will not be accepted by a court of law.

Thanks to community leaders such as ANC 2B Commissioner Mike Silverstein persistently advocating for this to change, we are seeing movement. Both Chairman Mendelson and Council member David Grosso have introduced versions of a bill that prohibit the so-called “gay panic” defense. Additionally, I have spoken to my colleague, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee Chairman Charles Allen, who has assured me that this bill will move out of the Judiciary Committee and be ready for a vote by the full Council before the end of this year.

Over the last decade, the District has seen a rise in hate crimes, specifically against the LGBTQ community. However, the rise in crime was not immediately met with increased prosecution rates for the perpetrators. In fact, in 2018, only 59 of 204 potentially bias-related incidents flagged by the Metropolitan Police Department resulted in arrests that were presented for prosecution. In 2017, those figures were just 55 of 178. That is why we are working to empower the D.C. Office of the Attorney General to prosecute these crimes, so that our own elected prosecutor can pursue our values as a city. We will not stand for individuals or groups being discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation or identity.

If there is any lesson that we should learn from 2020, it is that the status quo will no longer stand. Our community is safer, stronger, and more just when we work together to identify our failings and collectively aim to remedy them. Not only will I work with my Council colleagues to ensure that this legislation is passed, I will also support efforts that provide opportunities for community engagement, anti-bias training and education, and other efforts that will help us to change the culture that perpetuates feelings of trans and homophobia.

In the spirit of the late and great Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who championed the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex, we must continue fighting for protections from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and identity.

Equality does not end with what is written in the law. Without clarity from us, our lawmakers, that each person has a right to be and feel safe from harassment and abuse, we cannot expect it to permeate into our society. I am eager to continue working with my colleagues to ensure that these steps are taken quickly and that we continue seeking proactive ways to support our entire community.

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CAPITAL PRIDE ALLIANCE

The Capital Pride Alliance organizes D.C.’s annual Pride celebrations.

Time for a new chapter of Capital Pride Join our team and be part of the change

Pride encompasses a movement that for over 50 years has sought equality for the LGBTQ+ community.

In the National Capital Region, we have celebrated Pride for 45 years and that celebration has grown and changed during that time. Our Pride started as a small gathering near Dupont Circle, at a time when that area was the center of our city’s LGBTQ+ community. That gathering has grown into a 10-day celebration in June, with a large parade through some of our historic LGBTQ+ neighborhoods and a festival on Pennsylvania Avenue with the U.S. Capitol as our backdrop. We now #HavePride365 with multiple events and programs held throughout the year to emphasize that our movement does not just happen in June, but that we must work for equality and celebrate our diversity 365 days a year.

The Capital Pride Alliance was founded in 2008 by a group of Pride volunteers in order to assume stewardship of the annual Pride Parade and Festival. The role of traditional Pride events has provided a large platform that allows the LGBTQ+ community to be visible. These types of events are the primary funding sources for CPA and our partner Pride organizations. Therefore, cancellation of the Pride events due to the pandemic has created a difficult and unique challenge, while providing unconventional opportunities and new possibilities. The passion, determination, and talent held by members of the CPA team have allowed us to rethink the role we play within the LGBTQ+ community. It has reshaped how our organizations function and requires us to adapt so that we may survive these challenging times.

This past June, the LGBTQ+ community and the entire world collectively joined with Black Lives Matter to focus on ending the ongoing systemic discrimination that continues to exist. In recognition of the intersectionality that exists within our community and our movement, CPA is working with leaders, organizations, businesses, partners, and sponsors to support movements that facilitate sustainable change and address systemic issues facing members of our LGBTQ+ community. As first steps, we joined in the movement to proclaim that #BlackLivesMatter and especially #BlackTransLivesMatter. We also testified before the D.C. City Council during budget hearings in support of defunding police programs and reallocating funds to social services.

We are dedicated to creating sustainable and effective change, while recognizing that we must also identify internally how we participate in systems of oppression. We heard concerns from members of our organization, in particular Black and transgender members, about how we can do better, and calls for us to rise to the occasion. We want to thank these individuals for holding us accountable to ensure that we do better to value and listen to everyone’s voice, and to use the platform of Pride to its fullest to advocate for our diverse LGBTQ+ community.

To meet the evolving needs of our organization in an ever-changing landscape, we have committed to: Reviewing our governing structure and making necessary improvements, in addition to exploring potential consolidation of services and programming with other groups.

Ensuring that CPA is inclusive and accessible through governance, planning, and execution of programming.

Remaining fiscally responsible and transparent to ensure that CPA is able to fulfill its core responsibility of organizing and supporting future Pride events.

Developing new programming to bring visibility to our LGBTQ+ community. This includes continuing our Pride Talk conversations in partnership with The DC Center, producing more episodes of our Pride In The City web series, which highlights our diverse local community, partnering with the National Trans Visibility March on Oct. 3 with our Trans Visibility Capital Pridemobile, participation in the first-ever nationwide Pride Stride 5K/10K, announcement of the inaugural Out Brigade on Oct. 10 in recognition of LGBTQ+ History Month and National Coming Out Day, and launching our #StillWeVote campaign to encourage all of us to exercise our civic responsibility in this upcoming election.

It’s time for a new chapter of Pride. These are our first steps. If you are interested in being a part of the change, please apply to join the Capital Pride Alliance team. We want and need new perspectives to help our movement grow. We are currently recruiting a few individuals to join our board of directors, which engages in fundraising and provides oversight to the organization.

We are also looking for some volunteers to join our Production Team, which leads the production and development of new and existing programs. Please consider joining our team and visit www.CapitalPride.org/join for more information. Thank you for your support through the years and know we will march and celebrate again. #StillWeGrow&Celebrate

KEVIN D. ANDERSON

Esq., is president and CEO of Standard Title Group.

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

Pepco plan will support jobs, When they go low we kick generate $390 million in their asses Time for a new Democratic Party slogan economic activity Multi-year rate review proposal to boost small businesses

When reading about any proposal that will benefit the city’s economy, those of us in the business community want to see the bottom line. How is it going to affect our professions, our businesses, our employees and, frankly, our own families and loved ones?

The success of any business — large or small — hinges on its ability to plan for the future. Without the ability to strategize for imminent growth or accurately predict our staffing needs, a company simply cannot meet the needs of our customers and compete effectively.

With this in mind, if you take a closer look at the Pepco multi-year rate review proposal, currently before the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia, you will see it includes some impressive numbers, not the least of which, over the next three years it will support hundreds of full-time jobs and generate $390 million in economic activity to the District.

But these numbers only tell part of the story. My business, Standard Title Group and Standard Legal Group, a real estate services and title company and law firm, employs seven full-time employees and manages 15 contractors/vendors.

Pepco’s plan has the power to change the way all of us do business in the District of Columbia. Certainly, their plan to modernize the power grid and secure the city’s electricity supply against the effects of climate change come as great news for real estate developers, bankers, construction owners, and contracting crews.

Being aware of the areas in which Pepco plans to invest — and the projected costs of such investments — is crucial for small businesses. We should be optimistic that the plan will create 800 full-time jobs in a variety of fields and pump $390 million of economic activity into the District.

Further, the opportunities for local businesses will not be limited to partnerships with Pepco. Meeting the District’s ambitious clean-energy goals will require a citywide effort.

Companies large and small will have the opportunity to assist in decades-long projects like roof top solar, green building, electrifying the public transportation system, and renovating existing buildings to reduce our carbon footprint.

What kind of companies are going to benefit from Pepco’s and the District’s longrange plans? This plan will allow for our clients, many of the city’s leading real estate developers and apartment owners, to more accurately forecast energy costs. Also, technology companies, energy solutions providers, and renewable energy developers will benefit as well; and, this is just the beginning.

Most importantly and regardless of our business, we will all benefit from an infrastructure that will be able to accommodate the growing demand for electricity, while taking advantage of all the technological advances that are out there to build greater resilience and reliability for District residents and small businesses.

Democrats must start to fight back. No more ‘When they go low we go high.’ Our slogan should be ‘When they go low we kick their asses.’ To start and have any real success making needed changes we must win the White House and both Houses of Congress by big margins on Nov. 3. That means from now until Election Day every Democrat, Democratic leaning independent, and decent Republican must stop nitpicking Joe Biden and our other candidates and rather vote and get everyone you know to vote for Democrats up and down the ballot. To make real change and work on all the issues Americans care about we must get rid of as many Republicans as possible at all levels of government.

The list of issues we need to deal with is long. It includes using both legislative fixes and Executive Orders. First we need legislation ensuring affordable healthcare for every American with a guarantee of coverage for pre-existing conditions. Legislation to make community college free; raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour; and immigration reform including making permanent the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

We must pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, including automatic voter registration and making Election Day a national holiday. We need to pass the Equality Act to ensure equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community.

Then we must look at every government agency and see what needs to be changed and what can be changed by Executive Order. We know many orders Trump signed regarding the environment and education need to be changed immediately. We need to look at what can be done by EO with regard to rooting out systemic racism. The administration can immediately rejoin the Paris Climate Accords and the Iran Nuclear Agreement.

Then with the White House and Congress we can begin to tackle what may be harder issues but nonetheless important if we are to ensure fairness and equality for all Americans in the future. This includes getting rid of the Electoral College; making D.C. and Puerto Rico states; and expanding the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, to represent the growth and diversity of the country. Clearly not an easy list to accomplish even with Democrats in control. A Biden/Harris administration will not be able to just wave a magic wand and see them happen. But we need to work on them and bring the American people along with us. As Ruth Bader Ginsburg said “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”

The road ahead in the next 30 to 40 days won’t be easy. While Joe Biden will likely win the popular vote by millions winning the Electoral College won’t be as easy. We saw that in 2016 when Hillary won the popular vote by three million and still lost the election. So we need to keep working hard every day with a particular focus on about eight states that will make the difference in the Electoral College vote. States like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, and Ohio. Biden doesn’t need to win them all but needs three of them and I think we will succeed in winning them.

Then the next step is governing for success. A Joe Biden/Kamala Harris administration will look like America — diverse and smart. The fights the administration must be prepared for are the ones that will occur within the party in Congress. The focus will be on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) who will need to hold their caucuses together. To do this they will need to work with the administration to craft legislation that can actually pass. We have legislators with diverse views ranging from those of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to those of Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y). Crafting legislation that can appeal to both and getting them each to moderate their views enough to get it passed will not be an easy task. I believe it can be done.

So let us move forward with the overriding premise that ‘when they go low we will kick their asses.’ Trump and his sycophants in Congress lie, call people names, and are willing to destroy our institutions and our democracy to get what they want. We must fight back and fight to win.

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Celebrating queer icons during LGBT History Month Politicians, clergy, activists and more honored by Equality Forum

By KATHI WOLFE

“Our first and second commandment for ourselves as we ministered with people with AIDS,” Fr. Bernard Lynch, an openly gay, Irish Catholic priest, author, activist and founder of the first AIDS ministry in New York City in 1982, said in a FaceTime interview, “was thou shalt not bullshit anyone!”

Lynch, who holds a doctorate in counseling psychology and theology from Fordham University and New York Theological Seminary, recalled what it was like to live during the height of the AIDS epidemic. “It’s hard to even begin to imagine what it was like if you weren’t there,” he said. “Gay men were queer-bashed. The Pink Panthers protected them. People with AIDS would be in the hospital, and the staff wouldn’t feed them – they were so homophobic and afraid they would get AIDS.” Lynch is one of 31 icons being celebrated this October during LGBT History Month. The other icons being honored (national, international, living and dead) are from many walks of life – from politicians to clergy to writers – and time periods – from ancient Greece to 19th century in the United States to present day Russia.

The icons range from poets (Sappho) to activists (Moscow Pride founder Nikolay Alexeyev and transgender rights activist Felicia Elizondo) to elected officials (Lori Lightfoot, Chicago’s first openly gay, first Black, female mayor). (For a complete list and bios of all 31 of this year’s icons as well as resources for educators, go to: www.lgbthistorymonth.com.)

Beginning on Oct. 1, a different icon will be featured on the site. A 30-second video featuring a different LGBT icon will appear on the site daily. Before Oct. 1 and after Oct. 31, a two-and-a-half-minute overview video of all 31 icons will be on display.

Fr. BERNARD LYNCH, a gay, Irish Catholic priest, author, activist and founder of the first AIDS ministry in New York City is among this year’s 31 LGBT icons.

Chicago Mayor LORI LIGHTFOOT received the Equality Forum’s 25th Annual International Role Model Award.

History helps us to learn from the past. Stories from history inspire and encourage us to act in the present.

Yet, many of us who are queer have only recently started to become informed about the history of our community.

Since 2006, the Equality Forum has spearheaded LGBT History Month in October. “In 1994, Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, believed a month should be dedicated to the celebration and teaching of gay and lesbian history, and gathered other teachers and community leaders,” according to Equality Forum’s website.

The idea was endorsed by GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Education Association and other organizations. In 2006, Equality Forum, according to its website, “assumed responsibility for content, promotion and resources for LGBT History Month.” The Equality Forum is a national and international LGBT civil rights organization with an educational focus.

“I grew up in Central Pennsylvania,” Malcolm Lazin, 76, Equality Forum executive director, said in a phone interview. “There was a very negative view of anyone who was gay when I was growing up. Everybody was deep in the closet.”

As was the case with others interviewed for this article, Lazin learned nothing about LGBT history when he was growing up. “In 2006, when we launched Gay and Lesbian History Month [later renamed LGBT History Month], our minority was the only group in the world not taught its history at home, in schools or religious institutions,” Lazin said.

Over the past 15 years, more than 400 “icons” (31 per year) have been celebrated during LGBT History Month. Icons honored previously during LGBT History Month range from James Baldwin to Tallulah Bankhead to Barbara Gittings, widely regarded as the mother of the LGBT civil rights movement, to Alexander the Great to Billie Holiday to economist John Maynard Keynes to Billie Jean King to trailblazing transgender, gay rights and AIDS activist Marsha P. Johnson. The Blade’s Lou Chibbaro Jr. was honored as an icon in 2019.

The LGBT History Month 2020 and 15th Anniversary

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launch was held on Sept. 30. At the event, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Jess O’Connell, one of this year’s 31 LGBT History Month icons, who was the first openly LGBT Democratic National Committee CEO, received awards. Lightfoot received the Equality Forum’s 25th Annual International Role Model Award. O’Connell received the 6th Annual Frank Kameny Award.

“It was conservative in all the ways you would expect when I was growing up in Arizona,” O’Connell said in a phone interview.

O’Connell didn’t learn about gay history as a high school student in the 1980s. But, from early on, she was exposed to all kinds of diversity. “I was raised by a Black father and white mother,” O’Connell said, “I had an aunt in California who was gay.”

One of the first times that she grieved was when a family friend died from AIDS. “I learned that love comes in many different forms,” O’Connell said.

LGBT rights along with issues of racial and economic inequality were part of her everyday life. Her first job was in AIDS activism. In 2000, she was the first female director of AIDS Walk Colorado, a Colorado AIDS Project program. “The COVID-19 pandemic is triggering to me,” said O’Connell, who served as a senior adviser to Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. “With AIDS, I saw the devastation that occurs when the government pretends a disease doesn’t exist.”

There are some similarities between COVID-19 and AIDS, Lynch said. In the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, people didn’t know how it was spread and people died from it. As with COVID, there was fear of contagion and of death. “But, no other disease has the stigma of AIDS,” Lynch said. “The stigma is still there today. It’s rooted in the unease that so many have with sexuality.”

Young queer men were trying to face the fact that they would die from AIDS before they had any idea of the meaning of their lives, he said. One lesson in dealing with COVID-19 that can be learned from the history of the AIDS epidemic is “compassion,” Lynch said. “During the epidemic, friends and lovers fed, visited, and cared for people with AIDS. Even when no one

JESS O’CONNELL is the first openly LGBT Democratic National Committee CEO. She was honored as an ‘icon’ by the Equality Forum.

else would. You didn’t think about it – it was the thing to do.”

Theater can help us to connect to our LGBTQ history.

“The great thing about theater,” Moisés Kaufman, an award-winning theater director and playwright, emailed the Blade, “is that it allows audiences to have several types of intimacy with the LGBTQ characters in history.”

They can see the play, and be in the room with the living actors as they encounter our ancestry, said Kaufman, one of this year’s 31 LGBT History Month icons.

“Our history is made by other LGBTQ people who had to survive in perilous and forbidding times,” he added.

“I’ve been fortunate to be able to learn from them.”

His groundbreaking play “The Laramie Project,” inspired by the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard has generated worldwide empathy and dialogue around LGBTQ hate crimes. Actors “get to experience our ancestors first hand,” Kaufman said, “They get to inhabit their humanity.”

History tells the stories of LGBTQ pioneers and helps us tell our own stories. Rabbi Deborah Waxman, one of this year’s 31 LGBT History Month icons, is herself a pioneer.

Waxman is the first woman and the first lesbian to lead a Jewish seminary and national congregational union. She serves as president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) and of Reconstructing Judaism, the leading organization of the Reconstructionist movement.

There were no role models for being lesbian or being a woman, let alone an openly lesbian rabbi when Waxman was growing up. “I just knew I didn’t want to kiss boys,” Waxman said in a telephone interview.

Waxman didn’t come out until she was into her 20s.

When she said she wanted to be a rabbi, her mother was worried. Because, at that time, there were so few women rabbis. “When I came out to my Mom, she was really worried. She said, ‘It was hard enough being a woman,’” Waxman said. “How would I ever be a rabbi as not only a woman but a lesbian?”

Years later, when she was installed in her leadership positions, Waxman told her Mom, “It worked out OK.” Her parents were immensely proud, she said.

Waxman is keenly aware that she’s often a pioneer.

Frequently, she’s the only woman and only queer person during national conversations among leaders about religious matters. “I try to do it with humility,” she said.

“Storytelling helps us make our way through the world, she added.

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CALENDAR

By Steph Purifoy

This year’s second annual Trans Visibility March will be mostly virtual.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

TODAY

Friday Tea Time is a virtual social gathering at 2 p.m. for older LGBTQ adults via Zoom.

Participants are encouraged to bring their beverage of choice while socializing with friends. For more information, visit thedccenter.org/events

Saturday, October 03

The LGBTQ People of Color Support Group will meet at 1 p.m. to provide an outlet for LGBTQ people of color to talk about anything affecting them. For the Zoom link to the meeting, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

Gay District meets at 8 p.m. today via Zoom. Gay District is a community-based organization focused on building understanding of gay culture and personal identity for LGBTQ+ men between the ages of 18 and 35. To ask for the Zoom URL, email supportdesk@dccenter.org Center Global has its monthly business meeting for volunteers and program participants on the first Saturday of each month via Zoom at 12 p.m. To learn more about volunteering, please contact Michael Airhart at mairhart@ thedccenter.org Online Yoga at the Garden is hosted by the U.S. Botanical Gardens today at 10:30 a.m. An instructor from WithLoveDC will guide participants through a one-hour meditation and yoga practice via Zoom. There will only be enough room in the Zoom for 100 participants. The sessions are free but registration is required. More information can be found on The U.S Botanic Garden’s Facebook page.

Monday, October 05

LGBT Older Adults and friends are invited to join the DC Center at 10 a.m. for a Center Aging Coffee Drop-In. For more information visit thedccenter.org and Center Aging on social media.

Tuesday, October 06

KushDC is hosting a virtual happy hour at 7 p.m.

KhushDC is a social, educational, and advocacy community organization for South Asian LGBTQ people in the DC metro area. For more information, visit thedccenter.org/events Politics and Prose Bookstore holds a talk at 7 p.m. with Patrisse Khan-Cullors, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. The conversation will center around Khan-Cullors’ new book “When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir.” Khan-Cullors is an artist and organizer from Los Angeles. She is a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network and founder of the Los Angeles-based grassroots organization Dignity and Power Now. She is also a performance artist, Fulbright scholar, and a Sydney Peace Prize recipient. She will discuss her book with Marley Dias, the 15-year-old founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks, an international movement to collect and donate children’s books that feature Black girls as the leading character. Tickets can be found on Eventbrite or on the bookstore’s Facebook page.

Wednesday, October 07 BookMen DC holds a meeting today at 7:30 p.m.

The meeting will be an informal group of men who are interested in both fiction and nonfiction gay literature.

According to their policy, new members do not have to commit to reading every book or coming to every meeting.

Visit thedccenter.org/events for more details.

Virtual Job Club meets today at 6 p.m. via Zoom. This weekly support program helps job seekers improve their self-confidence, resilience and motivation needed for effective job searching and networking. Discussions include strategies, techniques and goal plans needed to find meaningful and satisfying employment. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Thursday, October 08

The Smithsonian American Art Museum hosts an online discussion with media conservator Dan Finn centering around the link between video and performance art and the complications associated with conserving this type of art.

The conversation starts at 5:30 p.m. and while it is free, the event requires registration. More information can be found at americanart.si.edu

OUT&ABOUT Trans Visibility March returns this weekend The National Trans Visibility March hosts its second annual march this year but due to COVID-19, the events will be mostly virtual. Festivities for the week also include the Torch Awards on Friday at 7 p.m. The Torch Awards recognize achievements and honor individuals whose work has impacted the lives of transgender and gender nonconforming people across the nation. This work includes areas related to activism, practice and policy, journalism, education, as well as programs and service.

The awards ceremony can be livestreamed on NTVM’s Facebook page.

This year, the Capital Pride Alliance brings the Pridemobile out on Saturday to kick off the virtual march.

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The Pridemobile will travel through the city to entertain and encourage citizens to vote in November. The mobile’s journey will be livestreamed on the Facebook pages of Capital Pride Alliance and the National Trans Visibility March.

Holocaust history museums hold free livestream event Washington, D.C. History & Culture will stream a tour-type program of three separate museums—the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C., the Virginia Holocaust Museum, and The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. It will detail the history of the Holocaust and the story of Anne Frank, going through the museums and allowing the audience to see the artifacts from that period. The program runs from 10:30 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. on Sunday.

The free livestreamed event will be hosted by Robert Kelleman, the founder and director of Washington, D.C. History & Culture. Kelleman got his art history degree from the University of Michigan and has made numerous trips to the museums involved in the event.

Those who wish to participate should register on Eventbrite or the organization’s Facebook page. They will receive an email with the Zoom information approximately eight hours before the event.

Buttigieg talks new book with Politics and Prose Politics and Prose Bookstore hosts a virtual conversation with Pete Buttigieg, former presidential candidate and South Bend mayor. Buttigieg, who made history in the Democratic presidential primary as a gay candidate, is presenting his book “Trust: America’s Best Chance.” With history, political philosophy, and passages of his memoir, Buttigieg writes about the relationship between the nation’s well-being and citizens’ trust in the government and other institutions of power. The conversation is on Monday starting at 8 p.m. Tickets can be found on Eventbrite or on Politics and Prose’s Facebook page.

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Chronicling the ‘new normal’ amid pandemic ‘How We Live Now’ a lively, bracing read for our time

By KATHI WOLFE

“Your silence will not protect you.”

– Audre Lorde 1 in 5 LGBTQ people are not registered to vote.

Please REGISTER and

VOTE.

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One day in March, I went to the movies with a friend. I don’t remember what we saw. It was a lovely afternoon but it didn’t seem that meaningful.

The next day, the Washington, D.C. area went into pandemic mode. Since then, my outing with my buddy seems momentous.

Everyone, I bet, has a memory from the Before Times etched in their DNA. As I write, a Washington Post news alert comes on my screen. The coronavirus has killed at least 1 million people worldwide, it says, “there is no end in sight.”

Yet, despite being sucker-punched by the pandemic, we keep going. “How We Live Now,” released on Aug. 25, by Bill Hayes, a New York City-based gay writer and street photographer, captures how we are going about our lives in the midst of our “new normal.” The slim volume is a time capsule and a memoir (in real time) of Hayes’ life during the pandemic.

Don’t be fooled by this book’s slimness. Its short chapters, interspersed with interludes of ‘How We Live Now: Scenes photos, pack a wallop of poignancy, beauty, from the Pandemic’ love – even joy.

By Bill Hayes I don’t, thankfully, mean joy like a Hallmark c.2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Christmas movie. You know from the get-go $20/144 pages that this won’t be a sappy book! It begins with an epigraph from “The Way We Live Now,” a 1986 short story by Susan Sontag. (Sontag, author of “Notes on Camp,” was the least sappy of writers.) Sontag wrote it at the height of the AIDS epidemic. The story doesn’t mention the word AIDS. Yet, it’s clear that it’s about how a group of friends feel about living in the midst of the epidemic (when no one is sure what causes AIDS).

“Of course, it was hard not to worry, everyone was worried,” Sontag writes, “but it wouldn’t do to panic...there wasn’t anything one could do except wait and hope, wait and start being careful, be careful and hope.”

Like many of us in the queer community, Hayes, 59, has been impacted by AIDS. Steve, his partner for 16 years, had AIDS. Ironically, he died from a heart attack.

After Steve’s death, Hayes rebuilt his life. He continued to write and to take photographs.

When you’re as good a non-fiction writer and as evocative a photographer as Hayes, what else would you do? He moved from San Francisco, where he’d lived with Steve, to New York City. There, some years later, he met, became friends with, then fell in love with renowned gay author and neurosurgeon Oliver Sacks, who died in 2015 at age 82.

Hayes, a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a frequent contributor to The New York Times, wrote “Insomniac City,” a moving memoir of his life with Sacks, his grief when Sacks dies and his transformation from an out-of-towner into a New York City denizen.

As was the case during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, people are having crushes, dating, having drinks with friends – during our COVID-19 era. Even in the face of loss, despair and death.

Hayes falls in love on the Christmas before the pandemic began with Jesse, a young guy he met playing pool in a bar. “He was tall and muscular, but it was the Santa hat he wore with exactly the right amount of irony that caught my eyes,” Hayes writes.

The two text and see each other a few times after the pandemic begins. Yet one of the last times they kissed was New Year’s Eve. Hayes writes evocatively about everyday pandemic moments from having a drink (far apart from other patrons) at a bar to shouting your order to a clerk from outside a bookstore. His photographs vividly illustrate the difference between life in New York City before and after COVID. One eerie photo shows Eighth Avenue with no traffic.

One of the most trenchant chapters in the book is deceptively simple. It’s a list of the last time Hayes did everything from going to a movie to laughing before the pandemic.

You might think, I could write this! But, you’d be wrong.

“How We Live Now” is a lively, bracing read for our time.

‘This is the time when artists go to work’ Activist, costume designer Qween Andy Jean on COVID, role of theater

By PATRICK FOLLIARD

For many Washington-area theatergoers, Shakespeare Theatre Company’s “The Amen Corner,” was the last live theater they saw before the pandemic shut things down in mid-March. A marvelous production of James Baldwin’s powerful 1950s Harlemset play about the role of church in the Black community, the unwitting season closer received resoundingly positive reviews and attracted enthusiastic audiences.

In bringing famed gay playwright Baldwin’s work to life, STC assembled a stellar team including Qween Andy Jean, a New Yorkbased Black, trans costume designer. Jean says she “felt a great deal of responsibility to dress the characters authentically. We weren’t just creating characters. We were creating our history.”

And while Jean didn’t know the production ‘I was so glad that we were able to tell a story would be STC’s last non-virtual offering until centered on Black women, Black joy, and further notice, she’s pleased that it was: “I Black richness,’ said QWEEN ANDY JEAN. was so glad that we were able to tell a story centered on Black women, Black joy, and Black richness. And the audience was part of an experience that was deeply rooted in faith and love. Baldwin’s people are resilient. And that’s what will get us through the COVID-19 crisis.

And to me that’s what this piece is about.”

Jean was born in Haiti and moved with her family to Miami where she spent a lot of time struggling with gender identity. “It became clear to me early that I’d need to find support. Those around me didn’t understand me.” She found solace in reading, and spent many hours at the library eschewing homework for queer lit, including Baldwin. “I learned he’d been more than a guy on the scene – he was a philosopher, artist, thinker, writer, unapologetically open in his fullness as a Black queer man. That was and remains profound.”

Long before earning an MFA in design from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Jean learned to sew at the side of her grandmother who was a dressmaker. “My father thought I should be outside playing football instead of doing embroidery stitches,” she adds with a low chuckle.

“You try so hard to cultivate happy places, generate joy and for some reason it brings other people so much anguish and despair. It feels like you’re disappointing them.”

Instinctively, Jean made her way to New York City. There, she found opportunities to learn and flourish creatively, as well as community and safe space to be a Black trans woman.

After theater was abruptly disrupted, Jean made masks and worked with The Homebound Project, a new independent theater initiative focused on connecting sheltering artists and helping to feed children affected by COVID-19 in NYC and beyond. The three-month online series of performances featured theater works, written by homebound playwrights and recorded by sheltering actors.

She’s also political. “Political by necessity,” she says.

The COVID-19 timeline has been very complex, she says. “During this time, American people reflected on the importance of lives — their own and others. I think the resistance movement was born out of that. And seeing a police officer kneel on George Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes and hearing how he called for his mother, that drove people into the streets. And it’s kept many of us in the streets.”

In recent months, Jean has emerged as a leader in Black Lives Matter and Black Trans Liberation in New York City. Organizing is a full-time commitment, and through the work she has created a family of artists, speakers, a community that believes Black lives matter, that Black trans, queer, and nonbinary lives matter. Increasingly, Jean says, she has stepped more into her role as Qween, embracing her power as a Black trans woman.

“We’re excited for the future of Black lives in this country, but it must include Black trans lives. We’re no longer interested in pacification or being sidelined.”

Quoting the late great writer Toni Morrison, Jean says “This is the time when artists go to work. There’s not time for despair or self-pity, silence, and no room for fear.”

“I keep her message in my heart,” she adds.

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‘The Boys’ are back New Netflix film reunites stellar Broadway cast

By JOHN PAUL KING

A month out from the highest-stakes election of our lifetimes and with no end in sight to an ongoing global pandemic, now seems like a good time to ask ourselves (with apologies to the late Mart Crowley for the paraphrase), “Who are we?”, “Who were we?”, and “Who do we hope to be?”

LGBTQ+ viewers have a chance to do exactly that, thanks to a hotly anticipated Netflix offering that revisits a cultural touchstone from our past.

Reasserting once more its position as a heavy-hitter in the effort to bring LGBTQ stories to mainstream screens, the streaming giant’s Ryan Murphy-produced remake/reinterpretation of “The Boys in the Band” is guaranteed buzz by pedigree alone. Slick and star-studded, it brings the aforementioned Mr. Crowley’s groundbreaking 1968 play – by way of director Joe Mantello’s Tony-winning 2018 Broadway production, with cast intact – from stage to screen with an eye toward conveying the historical context in which this once-maligned sliceof-gay-life drama was written and takes place. For those who need a recap, “Boys” takes place in the apartment of Michael, a young-ish gay man in New York, as he throws a birthday party for his friend Harold.

As the guests gather and the alcohol flows, their witty banter begins to M-TH 11:30AM-10PM • F-SAT 11:30AM-11PM turn bitter, with secrets, resentments, and fears bubbling to the surface SUN. BRUNCH 11AM-3PM / DINNER 3-10PM – along with the deep self-loathing that comes from living as a gay man in a world that hates gay men simply for daring to exist.

In 1968, it was a bold but bleak expression of queerness, coming on the cusp of a historical breakthrough that would happen a year later at Stonewall. In 2020, it’s still pretty bleak, depicting a subculture full of damaged men tormented by a culturally induced dysfunction for which most of them still had no language to describe, but which we can now easily recognize as internalized homophobia. Borrowing from the then-and-still-influential palette of dramatists like Tennessee Williams and Edward Albee (both gay men, incidentally), its acidic humor and near-tragic psychodrama emerge from the memories and experiences shared by nine such men over the course of their evening, revealing the trauma that dominates all of their lives just beneath the brittle psychic armor with which they both shield and conceal themselves.

Inevitably, as the march toward Equality progressed through the 1970s and ‘80s, the characters of Crowley’s gay opus came to be seen as inconvenient, at best, and insulting, at worst. Derided as stereotypes reflecting straight expectations of normalcy, they were viewed by many within the movement as dated relics best swept aside and relegated to the dustbin of history, along with the play they inhabited. Looking back, it’s perhaps easy to see why. Forged in the middle of the fire, it’s a piece devoid of sentimentality, a kitchen sink slice of realism that lays bare the ugliness of its characters’ attitudes and behaviors and leaves it up to the audience to see through the unpleasant surfaces they present. Viewed that allowed A D today, V E R Tdespite I S I N the G critical P R O reassessment OF it to reclaim its rightful place as an important piece of LGBTQ+ history SALES REPRESENTATIVE and ultimately led to Mantello’s hit remount, it’s still an undeniably W AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the dateharsh of trip down a memory lane that most of us would rather forget. roof will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of e of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts dia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is Thanks to historical hindsight, though, the new film manages to find ible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal lawsthe or perspective necessary to make it not only possible to give “Boys” ts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any ht, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair another look, but to make it worth the effort. Driven by Mantello’s tion, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the ADVERTISER SIGNATURE ton blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless from any andsensitive all By signing this proof you are agreeing to your contract obligations direction, the script reveals layerswithofthesubtext that may have loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred washington blade newspaper. This includes but is not limited to placement, n naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the foregoing representations payment and insertion schedule. been previously obscured for many viewers. Mantello steers his gifted ranties. dream cast with an eye toward illuminating the lines between cause and effect that make these characters tick, and while purists may quibble over efforts to cast a rosier tint over the play’s message, his spot-on instincts walk the delicate line between apologist gloss and humanistic compassion without significant missteps.

In this vision of the play, for instance, it’s possible to recognize the deep hurt that is behind Michael’s devolution into viciousness; a man

CALL FOR RESERVATIONS

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JIM PARSONS and MATT BOMER in ‘Boys in the Band.’

(Photo courtesy of Netflix)

for whom anxiety is such a constant companion that he’s given it a nickname (“Ix”) and who clings to the cold comfort of his Catholic faith in the hope of being redeemed for the sin of simply being who he is, it’s hard to lose sympathy for him – even at his cruelest – when the pain that fuels both these things and more is laid so bare before us. In the same way, the other problematic behaviors on display throughout – almost all of which can now be understood as symptoms of a disease in which those within a community stigmatized for its “otherness” turn against themselves and each other because they are powerless to strike back against their oppressors – evoke our empathy more than our distaste.

The talent of the players bolsters this effect immeasurably. Jim Parsons may be a bit of an acquired taste, for some, but the quirks of his persona and delivery fit like a glove on Michael, whose efforts to conceal his pain only reveal it at a level beyond words. Andrew Rannells and Tuc Watkins (as Larry and Hank) cut through the passive-aggressive vagueness of their characters to make them instantly recognizable and understandable as a couple grappling with the difficulties of an open relationship; Matt Bomer (Donald) once more proves he has much more to offer than his beauty, as does Charlie Carver as the fresh-offmeat-rack hustler hired as a birthday present. The authenticity of Robin de Jesus and Michael Benjamin Washington (Emory and Bernard) breathes thrilling life into roles that have sometimes been criticized for “tokenism,” and even the somewhat thankless character of Alan comes off honorably through Brian Hutchinson’s performance. It’s Zachary Quinto, though, as “ugly, pockmarked, Jew fairy” Harold, who claims his place as the “heart” of the piece; in his magisterial performance, he manages to find not just the hard-earned wisdom of Harold, but also the kindness that lies beneath his surgically precise knack for finding the weaknesses of whichever sparring partner he happens to be up against at the time.

With Ryan Murphy as the force behind the new film, it should go without saying that it’s a matter of taste. Like all of Murphy’s productions, it is heavy on the style and glitz; the costuming and scenic designs have that too-perfect aptness to them that often undermines the authenticity of big-budget period pieces, and there’s the predictable but questionable inclusion of “flashbacks” and full-frontal nudity that make for a more visually stimulating experience but seem gratuitous in a piece that is otherwise so true to its theatrical origins. These are all fair points.

In the end, however, these surface trappings are irrelevant to the strength and dignity of the play; that, in the hands of Mantello and his talented cast, are preserved in full. Their efforts remind us that these characters are not stereotypes, but archetypes, emblematic representations arising from a life lived in permanent fight-or-flight mode – and it’s sobering to recognize that, even 50 years later, we can all look at our circle of friends and recognize each and every one of them.

That alone makes it clear that “Boys” has still not outlived the importance of the message it carries.

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Working to stay smart amid changing times From fighting discrimination to thinking creatively about climate change

‘Down to Earth with Zac Efron’ explores how different countries and cities are addressing environmental issues in a novel or creative way.

By JOSEPH HUDSON

I recently completed some continuing education classes that I initially thought were going to be boring but as I was taking the online classes, I found that they were more interesting than I initially thought they would be. Topics covered were “Smart Growth,” “Fair Housing,” as well as reminders of the basic aspects of agency and ethics.

Some of the examples given were fascinating – such as housing developments that were sued for exclusionary tactics in renting, not wanting people with children to move into them, or people of certain ethnic backgrounds being told that no housing was available when in fact there was.

I usually come upon these classes with a sense of, “I have so much else to do, this really seems like a burden on my time that I have to sit down and go through this.” But given the political climate and social situations we find ourselves in today, it’s good to have a gentle reminder to make sure that ALL people are included in our business and practices. Also with climate change being the new normal, how do we grow our society in a sustainable

way? Do we need miles and miles of subdivisions and yards and streets with low density or is it better to build metro systems and high density buildings and walkable neighborhoods where carbon emissions are lower and walk scores are higher? What is the smartest way for us to provide housing for our society as we go forward, knowing what we know now?

A few years ago one of the elective classes I took was on “green construction.” I recently watched a Netflix special where they were discussing buildings that have beekeeping stations on the roofs of large residential buildings and green walls to help offset the pollution in the dense city environment. The documentary was called “Down to Earth with Zac Efron.” I highly recommend it, not only because watching Zac Efron for a chunk of time is not that painful, but they go to certain areas of the world where they are tackling different environmental issues in a novel or creative way.

I will be hosting a virtual homebuyer seminar next month, and if you are interested in finding out how to turn your rent check into an investment, please feel free to reach out!

JOSEPH HUDSON

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COUNSELING

COUNSELING FOR LGBTQ People. Individual/couple counseling with a volunteer peer counselor. GMCC, servicing since 1973. 202-5808661. gaymenscounseling.org. No fees, donation requested.

Safe Space Our Place ® In a world full of judgment, you need to trust that your therapist is affirming and ready to hear your “deep, dark secrets.” The journey tends to be complex, layered and somewhat unpredictable. I focus on my clients’ regaining control and strive to help them actualize their goals through a supportive, positive, unconditional environment. W. “Allen” Pittinger-Dunham, MSW, LICSW, CAC-II, NCC AP-MAC 240-339-4196 / allen@ssop.lgbt / www.ssop.lgbt.

CLEANING

FERNANDO’S CLEANING: Residential & Commercial Cleaning, Reasonable Rates, Free Estimates, Routine, 1-Time, Move-In/Move-Out. (202) 234-7050, 202-486-6183.

EMPLOYMENT

WHOLISTIC SERVICES, INC. Seeking Full Time Direct Support Professionals to assist intellectually disabled adults with behavioral health complexities in group homes & day services throughout D.C. Requirements: Valid Driver’s License, able to lift 50-75 lbs., complete training program, become Med Certified within 6 months of hire, pass security background check. (Associates degree preferred) For more information please contact Human Resources @ 301-392-2500.

LEGAL SERVICES

TELL ‘EM YOU saw their ad in the Blade classifieds!

LIMOUSINES

BRITISH REMODELING HANDYMAN Local licensed company with over 25 years of experience. Specializing in bathrooms, kitchens & all interior/exterior repairs. Drywall, paint, electric & wallpaper. Trevor 703-303-8699.

HANDYMAN

ADOPTION, DONOR, SURROGACY legal services. Jennifer represents LGBTQ clients in DC, MD & VA interested in adoption or ART matters. 240-863- 2441, JFairfax@jenniferfairfax.com.

KASPER’S LIVERY SERVICE Since 1987. Gay & Veteran Owner/ Operator. 2016 Luxury BMW 750Li Sedan. Properly Licensed & Livery Insured in DC. www.KasperLivery.com. Phone 202-554-2471.

MOVERS

AROUND TOWN MOVERS. Professional Moving & Storage. Let Our Movers Do The Heavy Lifting. Mention the ‘Blade’ for 5% off of our regular rates. Call today 202.734.3080. www.aroundtownmovers.com.

RENT / DC

1 MO FREE Rent - Capital Hill 1BR, 1BA. Updated. Washer/dryer.

Pet-friendly. $1700 mo includes water/sewer. Showing appt contact Realtor Brenda, bsmall@kw.com. Equal Opportunity Housing.

BODYWORK

THE MAGIC TOUCH: Swedish, Massage or Deep Tissue.

Appts 202-486-6183, Low Rates, 24/7, In-Calls.

PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIEDS ONLINE

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY DAVE LLOYD & ASSOCIATES

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Top 1% Nationwide NVAR Life Member Top Producder

703-593-3204

Results-Oriented • Affordable

WWW.DAVELLOYD.NET

Larry Cohen, LICSW

ENTHUSIASTICALLY SERVING DC & VIRGINIA

32 years serving the LGBT community

202-244-0903 socialanxietyhelp.com

See website for NPR story on my work

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