(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
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Anti-trans bill in Delaware expected to die in committee GOP measure would ban trans girls from competing on women’s teams By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com
the online news site Delaware Live quoted him as
A Republican-backed bill introduced in the Delaware Senate earlier this year that calls for banning female transgender students from competing on women’s sports teams in the state’s The hearing by the state Senate’s Health and Social Services
dozens of similar bills introduced in state legislatures across the country, said the Delaware bill was “part of a national strategy” aimed curtailing the rights of transgender people, including
trict, charter school, member school, or higher education institution may not allow a student to compete for an athletic team or in a sport designated for the biological sex opposite to the student’s biological sex as correctly stated on one of the following…” It goes on to list two criteria to determine a student’s bio-
trans kids, to make them feel so alone, that some never grow up to be adults,” she told the committee and the bill’s lead sponsor, Political observers familiar with Delaware politics believe the six-member committee, which consists of four Democrats and the bill by letting it die in committee without voting to send it to
The bill allows cisgender female students, who it says are girls who were born as girls, to compete on boys’ sports teams
aware Senate’s seven Republican members did not sign on as
by Michael Key)
purpose of this bill is not to undermine that privilege,” the site
The online site reports that Richardson referred to transgender girls as “male-bodied,” and said they have an unfair advantage over biological girls because on average they are bigger “The inclusion of male-bodied athletes in women’s sports inevitably means that more females lost out,” he said, according
“The bill was introduced by the most right-wing homophothat trans female athletes in school sports have prevented cisgender women athletes from successfully competing in competitive sports have been shown to be wrong in the cities and
Even in the unlikely development that it was to be released by tee, said the Democratic-controlled state Senate and House of
‘You are loved and you are worthy,’ said Delaware State Sen. SARAH MCBRIDE. ‘Trans people are here to stay.’
Gerald Hocker, and Dave Lawson and House Republicans TimRichardson, the state senator who introduced the bill, stated “You can be anything you want to be in this great country,”
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“I want to say, as a senator, as the chair of this committee, and as a trans person, to the trans kids and their families watching
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Comings & Goings
Sherise Bright takes over communications at HRC By PETER ROSENSTEIN
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: comingsandgoings@washblade.com. Congratulations to Andres Bonell on being a Five Star award winner and appearing in a Wealth Managers Under 40 special section in the February/March 2022 issue of Fortune magazine. Bonell is a Senior Investment Advisor, Bell Rock Capital, LLC, in Rehoboth Beach, Del. The Five Star Wealth Manager award is based on objective research criteria. Five Star Professional’s research team evaluates candidates from across major markets annually. Upon receiving the award, Bonell said, “I am grateful to my peers in ANDRES BONELL
by LGBTQ women, I am honored to serve clients from a diverse cross-section of our my industry.” Bonell has owned or co-owned a number of businesses, including Aqua Grill in Rehoboth Beach, and was a franchisee of a Banna Strow’s in Miami. He is actively involved with a number of organizations impacting the daily lives and future of members of the local and global community, including Help2Haiti, Global Dreams USA, and NSU Art Museum. Bonell earned his bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Florida. Congratulations also to Sherise Bright, named Senior Vice President for Communications and Marketing at the Human Rights Campaign. Bright will lead HRC’s multi-faceted communications and marketing efforts that highlight the ongoing work of the organization to build a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society. Interim HRC President Joni Madison said, “I could not be more thrilled to bring Sherise Bright on board as the new leader of the Human Rights Campaign’s communications
SHERISE BRIGHT
and marketing work. Sherise brings a wealth of experience from the worlds of LGBTQ+ advocacy, education, law, impact litigation, public policy and entertainment, and comes ented and dynamic communications and marketing professionals whose impact, under her leadership, can only grow. With the LGBTQ+ community – particularly transgender youth – facing an onslaught of attacks in states across the country, Sherise’s talents will be put to good use communicating and advocating for the most marginalized among us.” Upon accepting the position Sherise said “I am thrilled to join the Human Rights Campaign at a pivotal time in our movement. With the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, attacks on trans youth, and the disproportionate deaths of Black trans women-there’s so much work to do. I’m honored and ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work with my brilliant colleagues at HRC.” to that, she was chief communications and brand strategist with SB Communications. She earned her bachelor’s degree in communications/ ethnic studies from California State University in Fullerton.
Trans health care bill passes Md. committee By TINASHE CHINGARANDE A bill that would require Maryland’s Medicaid program transgender people passed in a Maryland House of Delegates committee late last week. The House Health and Government Operations Comweek for consideration. Legislators who sponsored the bill include state Sen. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City), who believes that the committee vote is “a promising step in the right direction.” “It’s been eight years since we passed legal protections outlawing discrimination against trans people in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations and credit,” she said in an email statement to the Washington Blade. “We are one step closer to enhancing these basic economic civil rights with the passage of a bill that protects the public health and safety of all LGBTQ people.” Washington also added that the bill will remove barriers within the Medicaid program to cover the full range -
of Medicaid enrollees seeking treatment to 25 people a Prior to the vote, the Blade spoke to activists who attended a rally on Thursday in Annapolis in support of the Trans Maryland, Annapolis Pride and Baltimore Safe Haven, among other advocacy groups, organized the rally. “It was a beautiful expression of trans resilience and pride at a time when so many states are attacking trans rights,” said Sam Williamson, a Skadden Fellow for Homeless Persons Representation Project, which provides free legal services for low-income persons who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. “This bill will save lives and bring Maryland Medicaid up-to-date with the leading medical standards for genOther activists also expressed faith in the bill’s future, “I feel good about it having passed the Senate, which said CP Hoffman, policy director at FreeState Justice, an organization that provides legal services and policy advo-
Medicaid would be required to cover individual procedures that range from less than $800 for voice therapy to more than $25,000 for facial feminization or masculiniza-
Hoffman is also a practicing lawyer and member of the
This would increase Medicaid expenditures by $52,743 for individuals who are transitioning from male to female and $52,493 for individuals who are transitioning from
Optimism among advocacy groups in the state isn’t
“Usually, I try to stay cautiously optimistic with all bills
Legal action will be imminent if Republican Gov. Larry
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MARY WASHINGTON (D-Baltimore City) sponsored the trans health care bill. (Photo courtesy of Walter Ludwig)
Hogan doesn’t sign the bill into law.
partment of Health and Human Services and bringing a federal discrimination action under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act,” said Hoffman. FreeState Justice in the past has helped pass comprehensive non-discrimination state laws in favor of LGBTQ healthcare provisions. In 2020, it helped overturn an archaic state law that prohibited nursing homes and hospitals from discriminating on the basis of race or national identity, but not sexuality. It also had health insurance non-discrimination rules, under the Affordable Care Act, written into state law so health insurers can’t discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, race, national origin and sex, among other identity markers.
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DeSantis says Disney ‘crossed a line’ denouncing ‘Don’t Say Gay’ By BRODY LEVESQUE Speaking with reporters Tuesday, Florida’s Republican Gov. tion,” colloquially known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, DeSantis signed into law Monday.
should never have passed and should never have been
or protect our youth by signing this bill into law, and has only
run this state, they do not control this state.”
propriate.”
-
-
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Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS signed the anti-LGBTQ bill this week. (Screenshot/Florida Channel)
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repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and icons.
not less.
and across the country.” The governor in response to Disney told reporters:
-
the bill should have never passed and that they are going to honest, but two, I think that crossed the line.”
teachers’ rights to equal protection under the law. All young
longer allowed to be visible in their schools. Florida schools appropriate to teach kids to be kind, generous, loving, and signing it into law.”
-
cerns about rising gas prices.
-
-
en’s sports,” Greene said.
-
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they’re going to keep tripling down on anything that can di-
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transgender people.
attention.”
CHRIS JOHNSON
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BRODY LEVESQUE
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BRODY LEVESQUE
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By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com Despite being hit with an unprecedented 300 or more anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in U.S. state legislatures over the past two years, the nation’s LGBTQ community at the same time has seen some important advances and there is reason for optimism, according to a March 19 LGBTQ State of the Movement address delivered by two key movement leaders. Kierra Johnson and Mayra Hidalgo Salazar, executive director and deputy executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, offered a detailed assessment of where things stand today for LGBTQ people in the Unit-
“Together with you, we have successfully backed more White House than ever before,” Johnson told conference participants.
miral Dr. Rachel Levine, who is serving as director of the U.S. Public Health Service at the Department of Health Reggie Greer, a Black gay man serving as White House
20.
MAYRA HIDALGO SALAZAR helped deliver the National LGBTQ Task Force’s annual State of the Movement address.
movement’s preeminent organizing, skills-building, and Johnson and Salazar said the political attacks on LGBTQ rights and other progressive causes coming in leaders and activists to adopt new strategies for responding to the attacks. “We are doing this in the face of storms that have kept been relentless attacks to gut voting rights, the right to protest, abortion access, and trans youth health and two women. “There have been 100 anti-trans bills and over 300 anti-LGBTQ bills considered in state legislatures across the nation,” she continued, adding that a record number of in the U.S. and abroad, and new and ongoing wars and ed, and powerless.” Johnson continued those thoughts by saying, “We know that you are tired. Many of you are afraid and rightwho know that these events, these feelings, they’re no reason to stop the work – anything but,” Johnson said. “These are the reasons we do the work. This is why what we do is so important, why you are showing up today, and tomorrow and it is the difference between the light at the end of the tunnel going out entirely and growing brighter and nearer for us and for generations to come.” Salazar cited what she called optimistic data showing that more people are coming out as LGBTQ than ever before at an earlier age, with young people identifying in greater numbers as bisexual and nonbinary. “Now some of you may be wondering, is there somein how they identify has everything to do with the work you and we have done and do every single day to build a world where people can embrace themselves – and be embraced – in every aspect of their lives.” litical climate for LGBTQ people coming from the White House has changed for the better since January 2021. rights, the Biden-Harris administration has brought more Trump’s anti-LGBTQ policies – from protecting the civil ernment,” Johnson said.
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of color with the rank of ambassador in U.S. history; and Mehgan Maury, a former National LGBTQ Task Force of-
moving the work forward, getting our kids to school, taking care of elders, navigating other health crises and have a deep impact on our health and well-being and
the Biden administration. have also made progress in the states,” Johnson stated in her remarks. She and Salazar pointed to bills providing various types of LGBTQ supportive services or protecWashington State, and New Mexico in the past two years. Michigan – thank you for your tireless work and non-stop efforts to stop the devastating bills ravaging their way through your state legislatures and making their way to the desks of your governors,” Johnson said. kids matter, that Black Lives Matter, that saying Trans and Bi and Lesbian and Gay matters,” added Johnson. “While we’ve had some setbacks in these sessions, the work building long-term sustainable power,” Johnson said. “Together we will use all the tools in our toolbox – from the streets to the courts to the pews and pulpits, to the media to the ballot box – to overturn and overcome these wretched attacks and take back our democracy from extremists who will do anything to sustain the status quo or worse, roll back the gains we’ve won,” according to Johnson. Following is the text of the full remarks delivered by Kierra Johnson and Mayra Hidalgo Salazar in their LGBTQ al LGBTQ Task Force:
-
Johnson: Welcome to the State of the Movement hopeful that we would soon turn a corner and leave our a dose of reality that was more devastating than we thought possible. We saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and then swiftly the tunnel got longer, until the light was all but impossible to see. Johnson: We are now beginning our third year under the cloud of a global pandemic. While we’ve necessarily become pros at adapting to these changing conditions:
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also hold the tension of trying to stay focused on how we show up in our work to build a different world, while acknowledging the challenges of shouldering sickness, the passing of friends and family, and the frustration of dreams deferred. sourceful, we also found new and beautiful ways of building and being in community - like virtual events with magical moments we only dreamed possible, became reality. Salazar: We are doing this in the face of storms that relentless attacks to gut voting rights, the right to protest, abortion access, and trans youth health and rights. There have been 100 anti-trans bills and over 300 anti LGBTQ bills considered in state legislatures across the nation. deportations of immigrants under the Biden adminisleft many of us feeling afraid, disconnected, and powermoving at an unbearable pace. Johnson: We know that you are tired. Many of you are afraid and rightfully so. Be tired. Be angry. Be frustrated, talking to a group of people who know that these events, these feelings; they’re not a reason to stop the work — anything but. These are the reasons we do the work. This is why what we do is so important, why you are showing up today, and tomorrow and it is the difference between the light at the end of the tunnel going out entirely, and growing brighter and nearer for us and for generations minded us that a resigned cynical working class that has given up is exactly what our opponents want. But she also reminds us that things are changing and that it is up to mind each other that we are having success and we are winning.
CONTINUED AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Bolsonaro launches re-election campaign the same trip to D.C. met with Pat Robertson and other evangelical Christians. Activists in Rio, São Paulo and Salvador da Bahia with whom the Washington Blade recently spoke noted Bolsonaro has also sought to link COVID-19 vaccines to AIDS. Rio Municipal Councilwoman Mônica Benício, who is the widow of the late-Rio Municipal Councilwoman Marielle Franco, who was murdered along with her driver, Anderson Gomes, in 2018, during an interview with the Washington Blade on March
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Anti-LGBTQ Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday formally launched his re-election campaign. Bolsonaro, a member of the right-wing Liberal Party, spoke to thousands of his supporters at an event in Brasília, the country’s capital. He dismissed polls that indicate he trails former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the leftist Workers Party ahead of the Oct. Brazil’s electronic voting system has made him vulnerable to fraud. “What we want is to deliver a country in the future, well into the future, that is much better than the one I received in 2019,” -
JAIR BOLSONARO addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 21, 2021.
Bolsonaro is a former Brazilian Army captain who represented Rio de Janeiro in the country’s Congress for decades until he became the country’s president in 2019. Bolsonaro’s comments against LGBTQ Brazilians, women, indigenous people and other underrepresented groups have sparked widespread outrage in the country and around the world. Bolsonaro in March 2019 during a press conference alongside then-Pres-
is “the worst thing that’s happened in the aro’s rhetoric has caused an increase in the number of reported cases of discrimination, harassment and violence based on race, sexual orientation, gender identity,
class and other factors. “It is an absolutely despicable posture and incompatible with a posture of the president of the republic,” Benício told the Blade. “It does, however, resonates with sectors of society.” A gay man who was on Rio’s Ipanema Beach with his husband on March 20 told the Blade they support Bolsonaro, in part, because they feel he has fought political corruption in Brazil. They did, however, acknowledge that Bolsonaro should “keep his mouth shut.” MICHAEL K. LAVERS
Last major independent Russia news outlet shuts down ta, announced Monday that it was shutting down after receiving a new notice from Roskomnadzor, the Russian media telecommunications regulator threatening to shut it down or revoke its license. The Russian federal agency stated that the news outlet was in violation of Russia’s new wartime censorship law over the coverage of the war being conducted in Ukraine. Novaya Gazeta’s Nobel Prize winning editor-in-chief Dmitri A. Muratov posted online that he “has decided to suspend publicaof the special operation on the territory of Ukraine.” Muratov’s decision is leaving Russia without any major media outlets critical of the Kremlin as it wages war in Ukraine.
Novaya Gazeta in the post-Soviet Putin-era Russia has fearlessly covered issues, publishing its investigations into corruption within the Russian Federation’s government, the Wagner mercenaries, ies, or a de facto private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the persecution of LGBTQ people, in particular gay men, in Chechnya. There are numerous journalists from Novaya Gazeta who have been murdered since 2000 following their investigations including Anastasia Baburova, Yuri Shchekochikhin and Anna Politkovskaja, known mainly for her reports on the Second Chechen War and for her harsh criticism against the Russian federal government. MICHAEL K. LAVERS
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Ukraine LGBTQ activist details harrowing escape from Kyiv suburb ‘Third World War has started’ By MICHAEL K. LAVERS | mlavers@washblade.com
Helen Globa, co-founder of Tergo, a support group for parents and friends of LGBTQ Ukrainians, was in her apartment in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha on Feb. 24 when Russia invaded her country. Globa and her neighbors sought refuge in a makeshift bomb shelter in their apartment building’s basement. Globa’s son, Bogdan Globa, who lives in New York with his husband, Harmilee Cousin, told her to leave on March 2 because her diabetes had caused her health to deteriorate. Helen Globa rode her bicycle to a bridge that Ukrainian soldiers had blown up in order to stop Russian tanks from using it. Her son’s friend met her on the other side. “I was afraid of sliding down into the river,” Helen Globa told the Washington Blade on Monday during a telephone interview. “The stress empowered me, and I managed to cross the bridge.” Helen Globa said Ukrainian soldiers greeted her on the other side of the bridge. “I was very happy to meet them,” she said. “They were men who you could rely on, who you could trust. I was crying when they instructed me how to behave in case if I because when I was hiding in my basement, I wasn’t able to eat or to think about anything, or cry.” Her son’s friend drove her to the Hungary-Ukraine border the next day. A man from Munich drove her and two other people to Budapest. Helen Globa spent the night at a hotel near the Hungarian capital’s main train station. She told the Blade that she was afraid to leave her room, even to get something to eat. “During those bombing days in Bucha, I guess I acquired some nervous disorder,” said Helen Globa.” Even in Budapest when I was in a safe place, when I was in a quiet place, in the evening I had a strong feeling of fear, unreasonable fear.”
for LGBTQ Ukrainians. Other Tergo members have sought refuge in other parts of Ukraine or have left the country.
and reunited with her son and Cousin. “I said to them, ‘Guys, you saved my life,’” said Helen Globa.
enskyy.
“I wish to go [back to Ukraine] tomorrow if I could,” she told the Blade. “My heart is with Ukraine.” “I have a kind of guilt that I am not with them, that I do not have a gun, that I am not
The Biden administration last week announced it would welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the U.S. The White House has indicated it will prioritize LGBTQ people and other vulnerable Ukrainians. Jessica Stern, the special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ rights abroad,
HELEN GLOBA, co-founder of Tergo, escaped to New York to be with her gay son.
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White House. Letters that Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality and Ukraine Caucuses sent to Secretary of State Antony Blinken before the war began note that Ukraine in recent years “has made great strides towards securing equality for LGBTQ people within its borders and is a regional leader in LGBTQ rights” that include a ban on workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and efHelen Globa told the Blade that she is among the Ukrainians who had previously
spokesperson on Tuesday noted to the Blade in response to a request for comment
he said to people, how often he talked to Ukrainians, what he said and how brave he is.” “He’s a very courageous president,” said Helen Globa. “The whole country is around him.”
the country that “our international organization partners are surging staff to focus
praised the speech that Biden gave in Warsaw on March 26 in which he said Russian
“The United States supports Ukrainian organizations that work in Ukraine with vulnerable populations, and where necessary, is supporting efforts to facilitate the ability for many of these vulnerable groups to safely exit Ukraine,” said the spokesperson. A Russian airstrike in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that is less than 30
“Biden is pretty sincere and he vocalized his position,” said Helen Globa. “He was
also categorized the war as World War III. “The administration and Biden should understand and they shouldn’t be like I was at the beginning of the war,” she said. “I didn’t believe the war could start. Biden shouldn’t also lie to himself. The administration shouldn’t also lie to themselves. The Third World War has started.”
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713 7th St NW April 7-10 The #1 Art Fair for Independent Artists Art by: Megan Elizabeth
superfinedc2022.eventbrite.com A P R I L 0 1 , 2 0 2 2 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 1 5
PETER ROSENSTEIN
is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.
Muriel Bowser for mayor
After so many successes, she has earned a third term
The mayor has always been clear about her goals: to guarantee every person in the District a decent home, a good education, a good job, all leading to a fair and equal shot at success, while living in a safe community. To that end, Bowser has made good on many of her commitments. She has built more affordable housing in the District, including both rental housing and giving residents more opportunity to buy their own home. The District now has
during the pandemic, while education was virtual, our children, particularly those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, suffered greatly. The mayor has now reopened our schools and added millions of dollars to the school budget to bring our children back to where they were prior to the pandemic and allow them to move forward. She has invested in early childhood education knowing the crucial time in a child’s life is from birth to 3 when synapses connect. The mayor added more than 1,240 infant and toddler child care seats in the District. There will be new pre-K classrooms and a child development center opening in the Old Randle school this year. For our older children there are now 50 technical education programs across DCPS and the budget includes millions more to re-imagine work-based learning. The 2023 budget proposes a new middle school in Shaw and new high school in Palisades to relieve overcrowding at Woodrow Wilson High School. In addition to children suffering from the pandemic our business community took a huge hit, as did businesses across the nation. To help restaurants and their employees the mayor worked to allow more than 300 eateries to open across D.C. and they have changed the restaurant dynamic in the District, likely forever. Money for main streets and grants to invest in recurring outdoor activations such as markets, co-working spaces, festivals, cultural events and seasonal activities all helped to keep our city open and now moving forward. Added to that are new bike lanes and re-imagined pedestrian-friendly open streets, new bike share stations, and outdoor trails including the Metropolitan Branch Trail. D.C. continues to win awards as a healthy, greener, resilient city. Then there are the bigger projects either completed or underway. The beautiful new Frederick Douglas Bridge opened early. The advances at St. Elizabeth’s East include the new soccer stadium and the groundbreaking for the long planned and desperately needed new hospital, named the Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center. Mayor Bowser has overseen the groundbreaking of the long-promised innovations at Skyland Town Center in Ward 7 including a new grocery store, restaurants, and residences, and the completion of phase one of the Wharf in Ward 6, now a showplace and destination for both D.C. residents and tourists. This is just part of Bowser’s record of success and one any mayor should be proud of. But Mayor Bowser understands there is more to be done, which is why she is running for a third term. No announced competitor can realistically compare their promises to all the real accomplishments of Mayor Muriel Bowser. The District has come through the pandemic in a healthy state. But the past two years have highlighted some issues that need to be worked on and the mayor is ready to do that. One crucial area is technology and the District must upgrade its capabilities. There were issues that became clear, such as lagging unemployment checks and other grant checks. While people did get what they were promised and needed, we know it can be done better. We have seen other tech issues recently such as when the Health Department’s program to let people get information on their vaccination history didn’t initially work. There are other longstanding issues. The mayor is committed to undertaking a large and needed reengineering of the District’s technology. Bowser is committed to making the District a leader in this area and based on her successes in so many
are more than 50 different resources available to current and future homeowners. The success of the Bowser administration is clear. Overall homelessness is down 38%, family homelessness down 73% and veterans’ homelessness down 47%. These statistics mean something real to the people of the District. When it comes to education, Mayor Bowser has invested heavily. We know
What is clear is we don’t need to change our mayor; we need to join with her and together keep moving our city forward. Muriel Bowser has proven what so many of us have always known — that women make great leaders. She has proven herself a visionary and a successful leader. Muriel Bowser has earned my vote for a third term.
(Editor’s note
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Endorsing Muriel Bowser for a third term is an easy call. There is no logical reason I have heard from anyone that would lead the good people of the District of Columbia to not reelect a strong, smart, savvy, African-American woman who has led us effectively for the past seven years. She worked tirelessly, 24/7, to keep us safe during the pandemic. Bowser has stood strong for every resident in our city. Be they LGBTQ, Latino, African American, Asian, white or immigrant, they are heard and represented in the diverse administration she has led effectively. those who questioned her ability and readiness to lead and manage the government. Those questions were quickly put to rest when it became evident she was more than prepared to do so, and has done so with grace. has the respect of Joe Biden whom she now works with. She won the respect of or before her. For seven years she has balanced D.C.’s budgets, maintained our high bond ratings, and helped D.C. thrive in so many ways. Is everything perfect? Of course not. Are there areas for improvement? The answer in any government is yes. The District, like the rest of the country, is seeing increasingly higher rates of crime. Homicides are up as are car jackings, and people are afraid. But rational thinking tells us this is not a situation we can lay at the feet of the mayor, though that is sometimes the easy answer, especially for someone who is running against her. Like other mayors, Bowser is working hard to try everything possible to make our city safer for all of us. She is working with Police Chief Contee and forming coalitions with neighboring governments trying every possible way to keep residents safer. It is my hope the Council, rather than attack her, will support the mayor’s 2023 budget, which has earmarked $1.7 billion of the proposed $19.5 billion budget for public safety and justice. Many will remember instead of supporting her last budget, the Council, including her current challengers, thought the thing to do was vote to cut the police budget. Even then, the mayor understood cutting the budget wasn’t the way to go. Rather, she proposed adding every other tactic to increase public safety to a strong MPD was the right thing to do. Bowser has funded initiatives, including violence disrupters, gun violence prevention initiatives and Family Success Centers to help empower communities must have a strong MPD, never calling to defund it, rather calling for better and enhancing the MPD cadet program with 150 more cadets in 2022. In addi-
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to the LGBTQ community
Ending its funding programs will harm many grassroots groups In state legislatures across the nation, LGBTQ people are under attack as never before. Hundreds of bills have been introduced to sanction anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, hurt trans kids and athletes, ban books with LGBTQ content, and even prohibit the discussion of LGBTQ people in public schools, like Gov. Ron DeSantis. In the midst of this carnage, what did the Evelyn & Walter gram!
-
acting marriage equality (a big chunk of which went to work here in California), pushing litigation leading to groundbreaking Supreme Court decisions, and more recently, state-based efforts to win federal nondiscrimination protections. years, I’m dismayed and angry over its decision to pull out now, for which it offered no explanation. This is wrong and must be
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LGBTQ people is far from over. Beyond the staggering number of hateful bills now under consideration, murders of trans basic civil right protections, health and economic disparities for LGBTQ people of color remain shockingly high. very different message to other foundations: the LGBTQ+ com-
port more than ever to push back against attacks by well-funded right-wing forces. They are all understaffed, operating on shoestring budgets, or more. Given the lack of foundation funding I just described, Haas, Jr.’s place over the next year. So why did Haas, Jr. pull out now when its help is needed the most? It can’t be money concerns. Its most recent tax return I hope they do so, immediately.
1 8 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • APRIL 01, 202 2 • V I E WP O I NT
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KATHI WOLFE
a writer and a poet, is a regular contributor to the Blade.
Historic Oscar moment wasn’t the slap The 94th Academy Awards ceremony on March 27 wasn’t just entertaining. It was historic! Especially for queer people and Deaf/disabled people. We’ve seldom seen ourselves portrayed authentically on the silver screen, and queer and/or Deaf/disabled actors have rarely been honored by Tinsel Town. At this year’s Academy Awards we saw ourselves among the Oscar winners. That’s a high greater than sex or booze. First, let’s get past The Slap. Unless you’ve exited this planet, you’ll know that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after the comedian told an ableist joke about his wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair. Her head is shaved. She has alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss. It’s ironic that Smith hit Rock on the same night when Jane Campion won the best director Oscar for “The Power of the Dog,” a movie about toxic masculinity, based on a 1967 novel of the same name by Thomas Savage, a closeted gay author. Campion is only the third woman to win the best director Oscar. Despite all the social media buzz, here’s what’s historic about this year’s Oscars. supporting actress Oscar for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s version of an acting Oscar. I’m a queer white woman. I can’t begin to imagine how much DeBose’s Oscar win people feel more seen. Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement about DeBose, “heard her speak and recognize that they too should dream big.” “Imagine this little girl at the back seat of a white Ford Focus. When you look into her in life through art,” DeBose said as she accepted her Oscar, “So to anybody who’s ever promise you this: There is indeed a place for us.” there would be no place for our community. ic moment at this year’s Oscars. He won the Academy Award for best supporting actor. are disabled! (I’m low vision.) abled actors have won Oscars for their often inauthentic portrayals of disabled/Deaf characters. This is known as “disability mimicry” in the disabled community. “I can’t believe I’m here,” Kotsur signed in his acceptance speech. Kotsur dedicated his Oscar to “the Deaf community, the CODA community and the disabled community.” “This is our moment,” he added. Here’s why this matters: When I was a child, I thought I’d only live until I was nine or 10. Because the only disabled people I saw in the movies were either blind beggars or blind singers. These weren’t career options for me. I couldn’t sing and my parents would have frowned on my panhandling. As a teen who liked girls, I saw no girls like me on screen. (The girls in movies liked boys.) Thankfully, things are better than they were when I was young, though there’s a long resented authentically on the silver screen. We need to keep working for change. But let’s enjoy our moment! 2 0 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • APRIL 01, 202 2 • V I E WP O I NT
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Rehoboth Women’s FEST: We’ve come a long way, baby Annual beach celebration features dances, speakers, yoga, and much more
By FAY JACOBS It’s taken more than two decades for an idea born of fear, frustration, and tragic stories to turn into a joyous four-day festival celebrating more than 20 years of bringing women together at the beach. When CAMP Rehoboth’s Women’s FEST kicks off on Thursday, April 7, the event celebrates more than 20 years and the societal changes in attitude and legislation achieved for the LGBTQ community during these past two decades. The FEST, mirroring society, has grown and changed with the times. For 2022, it’s a time for camaraderie, nationally known entertainBut back in 2000, prior to marriage equality laws, there were too many horror stories. Area women could lose everything they owned because they lacked the proper legal paperwork to claim their rights to homes or bank accounts after
Too often, a grieving, long-time partner would be left homeless and helpless as parents or siblings of the deceased swept into town, claimed the home, and evicted the partner. This happened more than most people realize. Likewise, in 2000 there were far fewer LGBTQ-welcoming medical practices. Many women avoided doctors or screenings for fear of coming out as lesbian to providers. Sadly, this To try and help halt these horrors, at the turn of the millennium a handful of women worked with CAMP Rehoboth, the in Rehoboth Beach, to get something started.
“We started by looking to see which entertainers were booked
By 2003, the event became Women’s Weekend, headlined by comic Suzanne Westenhoefer and Olivia Records legend Teresa Trull. In addition to educational seminars, some fun sessions included Mixology and Two-Stepping. By 2004, the word was out. Women converged from Virginia, D.C., New Jersey, and Pennsylvania to hear women’s music pioneer Cris Williamson, with the event drawing the largest
gay-friendly resources for women whose fear kept them from taking actions they needed for wellness and security. Now-retired attorney Ellen Feinberg says, “At that time, in Delaware, there were absolutely no legal protections for lesbians, and many women did not know what legal paperwork they needed to protect themselves, their relationships, and brary, saw 75 local women packed into the small space, eager so the family of a deceased partner could not claim the couple’s home; they learned of medical practices that treated gays and lesbians with respect; they learned from medical needed. From those original planners — Andrea Andrus, Ellen Feinberg, Joan Glass, Maggie Ottato, Leslie Rogan, Maggie Shaw, Libby Stiff, Bea Wagner, and me—came a second conference a year later. Added volunteers helped produce a full-day event at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, complete with Her speech was about women in politics, without a single mention of the word ‘lesbian’ or the LGBTQ community. “But Leslie Rogan recalls more than 200 women attending that second year, which, along with Gov. Minner, included nationally known 1970s activist and musical icon Margie Adam. “AcFollowing that weekend, Feinberg and Rogan, and friends Barb Fischel and Wendy Grooms, formed an entertainment 2 2 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • APRIL 01, 202 2
Author FAY JACOBS is one of the founders of Rehoboth’s Women’s FEST. (Photo courtesy of Fay Jacobs)
As news spread, agents and entertainer reps reached out to CAMP Rehoboth with inquiries from their clients. Over the next few years, well-known lesbian comics Kate Clinton, Vickie Shaw, and Karen Williams appeared, along with songwriter
their dogs, also in pink, and some supportive guys in pink
When the iconic women’s travel company Olivia came onboard as a sponsor, many, many local women learned about the company and signed up for their all-women Caribbean cruises, where they could mingle with gay women from all over the country. On one cruise, as a swarm of women posed for photos in their Rehoboth T-shirts, a bystander asked “What’s Re-Ho-
me, the Broadwalk is a way of showing gratitude for my sister’s
Linda Kemp, Olivia’s director of strategic sales and marketing, answered, “Rehoboth is a gay-friendly beach town in Del-
What Did These Gals Do?
In April 2001, nine women volunteers, this author among them, put together a half-day event hosting speakers on
A decade in the making, the 2011 FEST was now the largest women’s event in the mid-Atlantic. A partnership with the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition (DBCC) added the Broadwalk on the Boardwalk, a walk
Volunteer Kathy Wiz, whose sister had the disease, helped
Since 2011, Broadwalk on the Boardwalk has raised over Coalition. Of course, over the years dozens and dozens of volunteers
library, hearing the presenters, and thinking this was new, long-time CAMP Rehoboth Board Member Jane Blue. “Boy,
Not only was Women’s Weekend promoted, but women from all over the country learned about the resort town of ReSometime in those early years, artist Geri Dibiase offered up a vibrant photo design for a Women’s Weekend T-shirt to be sold at the event and she’s been donating new designs each year since. In addition, Geri donates the original artwork
In conjunction with national advances in LGBTQ rights, spebers, the 2012 FEST welcomed special guest Col. Grethe Cammermeyer. Instrumental in overturning the military’s
“I’m so grateful for the opportunity to produce the T-shirts and proud to have my art featured in this nationally recog-
Musician Tret Fure recalls sitting with her hero, Col. Cammermeyer, in the front row at comic Suzanne Westenheofer’s show. “When my friend Suzanne looked down and saw us to-
ed into a Community Center, it provided a welcoming hub for all the women converging downtown each April. And there was a new intimate performance space for musicians plus the-
But 2013 brought drama. Out and proud country singer Chely Wright, pregnant with twins, was to be the headliner. Unfortunately, her doctor put her on bed rest a week before the show. She sent her apologies and the committee freaked
and a one-woman show about journalist Molly Ivins. Women’s Weekend now had nine years under its belt, and included events like golf, craft fairs, and more to make it a beloved spring custom.
And Then Came FEST
For the 10th anniversary in 2010, the weekend became New partnerships saw Olivia as presenting sponsor and a collaboration with Ladies 2000, the famed Philly dance promoters, bringing a fantastic Tea Dance to the mix. Wednesday was now Locals Night with a big Welcome Party (now funded by an endowment from the late Georgette Krenkel), plus added events like a bike ride, Rehoboth walking tour, juried photo/art show featuring women artists, and singles speed dating. “My now-spouse Diane and I started dating right before stein, “and it was very odd going to speed dating, where we did the round robin with a bunch of other singles but kept a
“We sold 700 tickets and had no entertainer. We were hystee members hit their phones and by the end of the day, comIt was another huge success and Chely Wright’s twins were born happy and healthy. Making good on her earlier promise, Chely performed to a packed house the next year and the Broadwalk was bigger than ever—honoring not only survivors and sisters lost to breast cancer, but adding women and men touched by all By 2015, with stunning LGBTQ victories like marriage equality and protections for transgender rights, the FEST’s original workshop concept morphed into invited guest speakers sharing their stories. Guests have included Feminist Majority leader Eleanor Smeal, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, transgender activist Sarah McBride, and the brave D.C. law shooting at a congressional softball game. Two-time headliner comic Poppy Champlin
Singer CHELY WRIGHT plays Women’s FEST in Rehoboth on April 9.
performed and offered a stand-up comedy workshop. “I’ve loved my times at FEST, the spirit of
of the original Women’s Project goals.
pecially important for lesbian and transgender women, the FEST had become popular with a diverse group of attendees. Rehoboth resident Deb Ward said, “My mother-in-law started visiting us on Women’s Weekend and loved it—and as a breast cancer survivor walked in the Broadwalk. Next thing I knew, her sister started coming, then my own sister joined us. It’s a spectacular event for all women, and it’s become a family tradition.” It was different, 22 years later, far from when women had no idea how to protect themselves ling Women’s Project Committee launched the event, then they and so many other hard-working volunteers took the idea and ran with it—with no plans to stop celebrating anytime soon.
Then Came 2020
dark days.
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are back on track. FEST Passes are now on sale, as are individual event tickets—visit camprehoboth.com. to purchase yours.
• Thursday, April 7, 7 p.m., Georgette Krenkel Welcome Dance Party – free, Rehoboth • Friday, April 8, 12-1 p.m., Concert: Singer Regina Sayles—$20. CAMP Rehoboth Community Center. • Friday, April 8, 8 p.m., Chely Wright concert— FEST Pass or $40 individual ticket. Rehoboth Beach Convention Center. • Saturday, April 9, 9 a.m-3 p.m. Women’s FEST EXPO - free. Rehoboth Beach Convention Center
is seeking more trans, non-binary, and people to serve on our Board--including as treasurer or webmaster. We can’t properly document LGBTQ history without all voices at the table. Please contact info@rainbowhistory.org for details.
Beach Sands Hotel Ball Room 1 Hotel Ballroom
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(This story was originally published in Letters from CAMP Rehoboth. Fay Jacobs is the auGracelessly. Her reports on Rehoboth’s LGBTQ history can be heard on Radio23
CALENDAR |
By TINASHE CHINGARANDE
Friday, April 01
Friday Tea Time and social hour for Older LGBTQ+ adults will be at 2 p.m. on Zoom. Feel free to bring your beverage of choice. For the Zoom link or more information, contact Justin (justin@thedccenter.org). Go Gay DC will host “First Friday LGBTQ+ Social” at 7 p.m. at The Commentary. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea-sharing, and community building. It is free and more details are available on
Saturday, April 02 Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Brunch” at 10 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. This event is ideal for those who want a good brunch and conversation with other LGBTQ+ folk. The event is free and details are available Day in the District Events will be hosting “Aries Arena Day Edition at 5:00p.m. at Sax Theater & Lounge. There will be drink specials, hookah, and bottle service. The event will also feature entertainment from two DJs. Tickets start at $15
Sunday, April 03 AfroCode DC will be at 3 p.m. at Decades DC. This event is an experience of non-stop music, dancing, and good vibes. The music will be a crossover of genres such as hip-hop, Afrobeats and soca. Tickets cost $60 and can be pur-
Monday, April 04 Center Aging Coffee Drop-In will be at 10 a.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community and online on Zoom. LGBT Older Adults — and friends — are invited to enjoy friendly conversations and to discuss any issues you might be dealing The Georgetown University Gender + Justice Initiative, Women’s and Gender Studies Program, French Department, often conjured of the stereotypical Parisian woman — cisgender, white, clad in high-end fashion, upper-class and thin.
Tuesday, April 05
OUT & ABOUT Md. charity to host fundraiser for LGBTQ Ukrainian refugees host a fundraising event for LGBTQ refugees from LGBTQ+ Refugee Fund meant to help LGBTQ+ people ern Europe and North America. All donations will go directly to NGOs that are actively relocating LGBTQ+ America. There will be appearances by KC B Yoncé, Banaka, Tickets are $25 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
DCPL to host discussion about displacement of Black residents The D.C. Public Library will host “From ‘Slum ClearThis panel will address how new development and The presentation will begin with an overview of the elists will discuss the role of alley clearance in dispersing longstanding Black communities and the repeated eviction of Black residents from one square block on For more information, visit the library’s website.
Center Aging: Women’s Social & Discussion Group will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This group is a place where older LGBTQ+ women can meet and socialize with each other. For more information, reach out to Alida at alidaa@thedccen“Create Your Own Adventure: Starting Out with Polyamory/ENM” will be at 7 p.m. at The Pincus Center for Inclusive
Wednesday, April 06 Job Club will be at 6 p.m. in-person at the DC Center for the LGBT Community and online on Zoom. The Job Club is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-conmove away from being merely “applicants.” BookMen DC
Thursday, April 07 The DC Center’s Food Pantry Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. To be fair with who is receiving boxes, the program is moving to a lottery system. People will be informed on Wednesday at 5 p.m. if they are picked to receive a produce box. No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email API Queer Support Group Action). For more information, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org. 2 4 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • APRIL 01, 202 2
A fundraiser for LGBTQ Ukrainian refugees is planned for April 2 at Number Nine.
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For better and for worse, Oscar makes history again We’ve come a long way, but we’re not there yet
By JOHN PAUL KING reer-boosting acclaim along with their Oscars for playing queer characters, there are By the time you read this, the biggest moment from this year’s Oscars will already be no equivalent success stories for queer actors playing straight roles – indeed, only eight old news – but no matter how tempting a distraction it might be to discuss Will Smith’s openly queer performers have gotten a nomination for ANY role, queer or otherwise, polarizing display of toxic masculinity, the more important story for us, here, is about the and no transgender performers have ever received one at all – and while one might believe statistics like this are at least beginning to change, bear in mind that both of BenGranted, things have improved, at least in terms of allowing queerness to be on disThe topic of whether straight actors should be playing queer characters at all is a hotly debated one, with reasonable arguments – and
Best Actress nominee Kristen Stewart attendlic kiss on the red carpet as they arrived for the festivities; the trio of female hosts – which included out woman of color Wanda Sykes alongside fellow comedians Amy Schumer
We won’t attempt an in-depth examination of that issue here, but what is obvious even without the above statistics is that the Academy – or rather, looking at it from a wider scope, udice against queerness, regardless of how
Jessica Chastain – who won Best Actress vocate Tammy Faye Bakker in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” – made an emotional speech decrying anti-LGBTQ legislation and advocating for all people to be “accepted for who we are, accepted for who we love, and to live a
Yes, progress has undeniably been achieved, especially within the last few years; Rhapsody” on recent Oscar nights has gone
Numerous participants in the evening, whether male or female, queer or straight, took the opportunity to push gender boundaries with their couture (thanks for that, Tim-
Academy – as well as the industry it represents – has a pattern of responding to criticism in
Garner and JK Simmons for a “Juno” reunion,
on the screen during an awards show, and it takes more than a token nomination every few years to give an underrepresented popu-
end sexual harassment of women in the work-
queer icons shared the stage for the evening’s The biggest queer moment of the night, of -
This year’s ceremony was not without its missteps, most of which had already blemished the show before “the slap heard ‘round Oscar show felt more authentic than many in able quality to it, perhaps rooted in the Academy’s controversial choice to relegate several “lesser” awards to a pre-show presentation, that manifested itself in the uncomfortable response of the audience to the often sharp humor of hostesses Sykes, Schuman, and Hall – who mercilessly skewered Hollywood’s say-one-thing-do-another approach to sexism, racism, homophobia, and more sy, along with the willingness of the celebrities in the house to laugh about it, lifted the
ARIANA DEBOSE won Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘West Side Story.’
lighted her queerness alongside her other intersecting identities, saying, “You see an openly queer woman of color, an Afro-Latina, who found her strength and life through mentary about a gay Afghan refugee, made history by scoring triple nominations as
for their awards show – and all the others, for that matter – to serve as a kind of celebrity Of course, the Oscar, like any other award, should be bestowed upon the most de-
-
Even so, nobody has a chance to win if they’re not even nominated, and that’s where
misogyny, racism, and homophobia, it gets a pass to continue ignoring the growing de-
Berkeley Law’s Center on Race, Sexuality & Culture, out of 68 nominations in Oscar his-
line dominance, will prompt some soul-searching within the entertainment community
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2 6 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • APRIL 01, 202 2
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Would you take a dream job if it meant nonstop surveillance? By PATRICK FOLLIARD
‘Private’
Through April 17
Mosaic Theater Atlas Performing Arts Center 1333 H St., N.E. | $20-$68 “Private” also streams from April 6 to 17. $40 for individuals and $70 for groups
as Georgia
In “Private,” a provocative new work now in production at Mosaic Theater, playwright Mona Pirnot portrays a not-too-distant future where privacy is no longer a right but a commodity – so much so that folks are buying privacy insurance to cover data leaks.
Whether displaying affection or battling, there’s a palpable chemistry between
(Eric Berryman), a mid-level product engineer, is tapped for a life-changing pro-
Girls Play,” uses their rangy frame to convey seductive elegance and coiled resentment without entirely forsaking their delightfully quirky brand of humor.
quires that he submit to nonstop surveillance at work and at home. job. Incrementally, he reveals the advantages of what’s in store, leaving the lack of privacy bit until last. Georgia is initially pleased, then incredulous, and on hearing more, appalled. The savvier and seemingly more decisive of the two, Georgia insists her husband negotiate the privacy aspects of the deal, making it clear that there are deal-breakers. For instance, the apartment cannot be monitored. The idea that technology allow strangers to know the intimacies of the couple’s sex life, or that she experiences dark days when she’s unable to drag herself out of bed is understandably unendurable to her.
apartment (where the bedroom has its own door) and the luxury to exclusively upbringing, and usually assumes he’ll do as she suggests. joys an intimate friendship with likeable Jordan (Ben Katz), a freewheeling musician. When they meet up, she proffers unsolicited dating advice and increasingly
plays, the production gracefully melds naturalistic acting with more stylized intermission, unstilted conversations, meaningful lengthy pauses, and penetrating monologues are delivered on a beautifully spare Tuscan yellow space lit by and lighting designer Masha Tsimring).
2 8 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • APRIL 01, 202 2
promotion, change the couple’s dynamic. Without spoiling anything, let’s say the play makes a sharp turn from unemotional surveillance to intensely personal communication.
Two W O R L D P R E M I E R E S • Developmental play readings • Panel discussions • and more!
M AY 8 – 6 R AP WITTY
& HE
RMING A R T WA
A DV E N
TURE
June needs a journey. Like, now. So, she convinces her friends to ditch New York City (and their cellphones) for an impromptu road trip to the Grand Canyon. As the four wildly different friends travel through the wondrous and not-so-wondrous sights of the United States, they must come together to contend with being Black, femme, and American…all at the same time.
D
SON N SIMP Y E VO L R A H BY C AT S O N E A. W L O C I D BY N IRECTE
NAIL
A POLITIC -BITING
L L THRIL
ER
Moscow, 2002: halfway through Putin’s first official term as president. After he brutally crushes a rebellion in the territory of Chechnya, a group of Chechen insurgents hijack a blockbuster musical and take the entire audience of nearly 800 people—including the playwright—hostage. Based on the real events of the Dubrovka Theater hostage crisis, “We declare you a terrorist…” follows the playwright as he comes to terms with that tragic night at the theatre.
R YA N
D J. LOR BY TIM ED BY CCHI DIRECT MEZZO D E R A E & J RILETT
TICKETS ON SALE NOW 240.644.1100 | RoundHouseTheatre.org
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By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER
You love Bette Davis. Always have, always will. Ever since Madonna vowed that
you’re not.
“And the Category Is” By Ricky Tucker
c.2021, Beacon Press | $25.95 | 248 pages
FEATURING Camille A. Brown & Dancers Saturday, Apr. 2 at 8 p.m. Award-winning contemporary dance
The Marriage of Figaro Saturday, Apr. 9 at 8 p.m. Sunday, Apr. 10 at 2 p.m. Mozart’s beloved comic opera!
Your seats are waiting. TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Mason Artist-in-Residence
Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra
Featuring Maria Schneider, conductor Saturday, Apr. 16 at 8 p.m. A GRAMMY Award-winning composer & conductor
Lila Downs
Sunday, Apr. 24 at 7 p.m. One of the most influential artists in Latin America
Tickets for Kristin Chenoweth and more on sale now!
TICKETS | cfa.gmu.edu or 703-993-2787 Located on the Fairfax campus of George Mason University. For information on health and safety protocols, visit cfa.gmu.edu/vaccination.
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As You Are
New Capitol Hill LGBTQ venue open for business (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key) As You Are, D.C.’s newest LGBTQ venue,
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