Washington Blade, Volume 53, Issue 28, July 15, 2022

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Put Vaccines On Your Back-to-School List

Vaccines are the best protection against vaccine-preventable diseases.

All DC students must have their immunizations up-to-date before the next school year begins.

COVID-19 vaccines are strongly recommended for eligible age groups.

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VOLUME 53 ISSUE 28 ADDRESS PO Box 53352 Washington DC 20009 PHONE 202-747-2077 E-MAIL news@washblade.com INTERNET washingtonblade.com PUBLISHED BY Brown Naff Pitts Omnimedia, Inc. PUBLISHER LYNNE J. BROWN lbrown@washblade.com ext. 8075 EDITORIAL EDITOR KEVIN NAFF knaff@washblade.com ext. 8088 SR. NEWS REPORTER LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com ext. 8079 NEWS REPORTER CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com ext. 8083 REPORTER & INTERNATIONAL NEWS EDITOR MICHAEL K. LAVERS mlavers@washblade.com POP CULTURE REPORTER JOHN PAUL KING PHOTO EDITOR MICHAEL KEY mkey@washblade.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS TINASHE CHINGARANDE, DUNIA ORELLANA, REPORTAR SIN MIEDO, PARKER PURIFOY, PETER ROSENSTEIN, MARK LEE, LATEEFAH WILLIAMS, KATE CLINTON, KATHI WOLFE, ERNESTO VALLE, YARIEL VALDÉS GONZÁLEZ, LYNARE ROBBINS, PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN, KATLEGO K. KOLANYANE-KESUPILE, KAELA ROEDER, TREMENDA NOTA, ALBERTO J. VALENTÍN, MAYKEL GONZÁLEZ VIVERO, ORGULLO LGBT. CO, ESTEBAN GUZMAN CREATIVE DESIGN/PRODUCTION AZERCREATIVE.COM SALES & ADMINISTRATION DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING STEPHEN RUTGERS srutgers@washblade.com ext. 8077 SR. ACCT. EXECUTIVE BRIAN PITTS bpitts@washblade.com ext. 8089 ACCT. EXECUTIVE JOE HICKLING jhickling@washblade.com ext. 8094 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION PHILLIP G. ROCKSTROH prockstroh@washblade.com ext. 8092 NATIONAL ADVERTISING RIVENDELL MEDIA 212-242-6863; sales@rivendellmedia.com For distribution, contact Lynne Brown ext. 8075. Distributed by MediaPoint, LLC

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Summer Maintenance and Cleaning As the weather heats up, it’s important to ensure your home is equipped to handle the heat. I’ve provided some tips and tricks on maintaining your home.

1

Remove and clean window treatments. Shake off dust or put them in the dryer for a couple of minutes. This will help freshen up your curtains and drapes and remove any allergens such as dust or pollen.

3 Keep your kitchen free of bad odors. With excess heat and humidity comes stronger odors. Be sure to rinse your garbage and recycling bins with cleaning solutions and water to prevent any lingering and unwanted smells.

2

Check your A/C system. Before cranking the A/C on a hot summer day, ensure your A/C is working properly. Vacuuming and dusting vents will help keep your air fresh. If your A/C is still not blowing cold, consult a licensed technician.

4 Sweep and clean outdoor areas. Sweep off dirt, pollen, and leaves from your outdoor living space. Power washing can be a great way to deep clean your deck or patio. Pro Tip: Apply vinegar to cracks and crevices to prevent mold or mildew growth.

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D.C. man convicted in gay love triangle murders seeks new trial Argues previous attorneys failed to provide adequate defense

A D.C. man who was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder while armed in 2017 for allegedly using a hammer to bludgeon to death his two roommates that witnesses said he had sexual relations with is asking a judge for a new trial.

A D.C. Superior Court jury found Jeffrey Bernard Neal, who was 24 at the time of the trial, guilty of murdering Leon Young, 22, and Delano Winfield, 23, who witnesses said were at one time his closest friends and roommates. The murders took place in June of 2014 inside a house in the city’s Shaw neighborhood that the three men shared, according to police and prosecutors.

Prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C. argued that the motive for the murders appeared to be related to a dispute between the three men over money needed to pay expenses for the house. Prosecutors said witnesses and physical evidence showed that Neal killed one of his two roommates over an argument and killed the other because he witnessed the first murder.

Neal’s lawyers argued during the trial that Neal killed Young in self-defense after Young confessed to having

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

killed Winfield and lunged at Neal with a knife in a jealous rage. The lawyers argued that the murders were the result of a love triangle gone badly among the three men. According to the defense lawyers, Young, who had been romantically involved with Neal, believed Neal was switching his romantic interests toward Winfield.

In arguments that appeared to have swayed the jury, prosecutors said the evidence disproved Neal’s claim of self-defense and showed that Neal killed both men following a dispute over money.

Neal’s current attorney filed a motion in May of this year in D.C. Superior Court requesting the new trial on grounds that Neal’s defense attorneys at his 2017 trial failed to present evidence that could have changed the outcome of the verdict to not guilty.

“Mr. Neal’s Trial Counsel failed to either meaningfully consult or secure an expert to testify regarding records critical to Mr. Neal’s claim of self-defense, without providing any tactical or strategic justification, in violation of Mr. Neal’s fundamental right to effective assistance of counsel,” his current attorney, Jeffrey Green, stated in a May 5, 2022, motion

DELANO WINFIELD (left) and LEON YOUNG were bludgeoned to death in 2014. (Photos courtesy U.S. Attorney’s Office)

requesting an evidentiary hearing seeking a new trial.

Court records show that Superior Court Chief Judge Anita Josey-Herring on May 9 issued an order requiring prosecutors to file a response to Green’s motion by Aug. 8, 2022.

Fla. judge allows Brett Parson to return to D.C. while awaiting trial

A Broward County, Fla., Circuit Court judge has approved a request by former D.C. police lieutenant Brett Parson allowing him to return to his D.C. home and to spend the summer at his Provincetown, Mass. residence while he awaits the start of his trial on two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

In a June 9 order, Circuit Court Judge Tim Bailey reversed an earlier order handed down by another judge requiring Parson to remain in Florida at the home of his parents in Boca Raton until further notice from the court.

The earlier order came shortly after Parson’s arrest on Feb. 12 on charges that he allegedly had sex with a consenting 16-year-old boy in violation of Florida’s age of consent law, which is 18, according to an arrest affidavit filed in court by a detective with the Coconut Creek Police Department.

The affidavit says the 16-year-old told police he and Parson met on the gay online dating app called Growlr and agreed to meet for a sexual encounter after exchanging “explicit” photos of each other. Court records show that the 16-year-old falsely listed his age as 18 on the Growlr

site, which requires anyone using the site to be at least 18.

Under Florida law, a claim of not knowing the true age of a minor with whom someone has a sexual encounter is not grounds for a legal defense. Also under Florida law, a minor under the age of 18 cannot legally consent to a sexual encounter with someone older than 24. Parson, who retired from the D.C. police force in 2020, was 56 at the BRETT PARSON was arrested in February.

(Blade file photo by Michael Key)

time of his arrest.

Court records show that a motion Parson’s lawyer filed in court requesting that Parson be allowed to return to D.C. and spend time at his Provincetown home was unopposed by prosecutors with the Broward County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Judge Bailey states in his order that Parson’s “Pretrial Release shall be modified in that Defendant shall be permitted to immediately relocate to his primary residence at [street address] Washington, D.C.” The order adds, “Further, beginning July 2, 2022, and until September 2, 2022, Defendant shall be permitted to reside at his other home located at [street address], Provincetown, MA…and thereafter, on September 3, 2022, Defendant shall be permitted to return to his previously listed residence in Washington, D.C.” The online court docket for Parson’s case shows that his next court appearance at the Broward County Courthouse was scheduled for Sept. 23. No date on the court records has been listed for the start of the trial.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Gay Libertarian Party activist wins D.C. primary as write-in

BRUCE MAJORS

(Photo courtesy Majors)

D.C. gay Libertarian Party activist Bruce Majors appears to have won his party’s nomination for the city’s congressional delegate seat and for the position of chair of the Libertarian Party as a write-in candidate in the city’s June 21 primary.

“I organized a write-in campaign for two offices in the primary, Chair of the Libertarian Party and Delegate to Congress, and won both,” Majors told the Washington Blade.

Majors provided the Blade with an email message he received from Marissa Corrente, the D.C. Board of Elections’ Registrar of Voters, confirming he was eligible for placement on the ballot in November for both the Congressional Delegate seat and Libertarian Party chair position. Corrente stated in her message that the Board of Elections would soon issue its official certification confirming he won the write-in vote for both offices.

Majors’ write-in victory came a little over a month after a local gay Democratic Party activist successfully challenged

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the ballot petition signatures Majors filed with the Board of Elections to be placed on the ballot for both of the two offices as a Libertarian Party candidate. No other Libertarian candidate came forward to run for the two positions.

Majors acknowledged he fell short in obtaining the required number of petition signatures and did not contest the challenge against his petition signatures.

Assuming the Board of Elections certifies Majors’ writein victory for the Congressional Delegate and Libertarian Party chair positions, he will be one of just two known gay candidates on the ballot in D.C.’s November general election for offices other than Advisory Neighborhood Commission positions. The other candidate for a non-ANC post, gay D.C. Board of Education member Zachary Parker, won the primary for the Ward 5 D.C. Council seat in a seven-candidate race.

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California guv pardons Md. man for 1967 gay sex conviction Newsom says Pachnowski subjected to ‘stigma, bias, ignorance’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 1 granted a pardon for an 82-year-old gay Maryland man for his conviction in Orange County, Calif. in 1967 on a charge of lewd conduct after he was caught having sex with another man in a car parked in a secluded area in Long Beach.

Newsom’s decision to approve a pardon for Henry Pachnowski, who currently lives in Silver Spring, Md., came after Pachnowski, with the help of his lawyer, submitted an application for the pardon last fall in which he explained the circumstances of his arrest more than 54 years ago.

“I engaged with consensual intimacy with a male partner in a deserted industrial area in his car and was caught by a security guard who said we had gone against ‘God and nature,’” Pachnowski stated in his pardon application form sent to the governor’s office.

“He turned us into the police, and I pleaded guilty to a lewdness charge in exchange for the dropping of a ‘sex perversion’ charge,” Pachnowski states in the application.

“A pardon would not only recognize and remedy the injustice that I suffered from being targeted and convicted because of my sexuality, it would also ensure that I do not face any future obstacles, such as employment and housing-related ones, stemming from this conviction.”

The pardon granted by Newsom for Pachnowski was one of 17 gubernatorial executive pardons he issued on July 1, according to a statement released by his office. In his official declaration pardoning Pachnowski, Newsom explains the circumstances surrounding Pachnowski’s arrest and conviction and his reason for granting the pardon.

“On August 24, 1967, the Superior Court of California, County of Orange, sentenced Mr. Pachnowski to three years of probation and 10 days in jail for misdemeanor solicit lewd act,” Newsom states.

“Mr. Pachnowski was convicted and sentenced pursuant

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

to a charge commonly used, and used in this case, to punish men for engaging in consensual adult sexual conduct with other men, criminalizing them based on stigma, bias, and ignorance,” he states in the pardon declaration. “With this act of executive clemency, I acknowledge the inherent injustice of the conviction,” Newsom states.

“By the laws of this state it is proper that I, as Governor of the State of California, give testimony that Mr. Pachnowski merits this pardon,” Newsom wrote in his declaration, adding that under California’s constitution and statutes he grants to Henry Pachnowski “a full and unconditional pardon for the above case.”

Pachnowski, who along with his parents, is a Nazi Holocaust survivor, said he applied for the pardon at the advice of his attorney, who had been helping him renew his permanent U.S. residence status after decades of uncertainty as a “stateless” person.

He told the Blade in an interview on Wednesday that he was born in Germany in 1940 after his parents, who are from Poland, were taken against their will to Germany following the Nazi takeover of Poland, where they were placed in a forced labor camp. After surviving the dangers in Nazi Germany during World War II, Pachnowski said he and his family remained in Germany until 1951 when they immigrated to the U.S. But because he couldn’t claim citizenship legally from Poland or Germany, his decades of living in the U.S. have been marked with uncertainty, he said, from an immigration standpoint.

Jayesh Rathod, a professor with the Immigrant Justice Clinic at American University’s Washington College of Law, has been serving as Pachnowski’s attorney. Rathod told the Blade that after several years of interactions with U.S. immigration officials, Pachnowski was in the final stages of

HENRY PACHNOWSKI was arrested in California in 1967.

(Blade photo by Michael Key)

having his permanent U.S. residence status renewed and should be receiving his long sought Green Card.

Although a misdemeanor arrest like the one Pachnowski faced back in 1967 would not likely prompt immigration officials to deny his request for permanent residency, Rathod said he and others working on Pachnowski’s immigration case thought it would be best to seek a pardon for the conviction.

“We just wanted to get it off the record, both because of the immigration reason but also because we felt morally and legally it was an improper and unjust prosecution,” Rathod said.

“And I think it’s just great that the governor did this,” said Rathod. “It’s so important to kind of correct all these wrongs against the LGBTQ community,” he said. “Although it’s a relatively minor conviction, obviously it’s really significant for him and it’s important for the community.”

Comings & Goings

Houdart launches consulting firm

By PETER ROSENSTEIN LGBTQ+ standards of conduct for Business, the largest The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the corporate social responsibility initiative on LGBTQ+ isprofessional successes of our community. We want to sues in the World. recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their Prior to that, Houdart was Senior Country Officer at the business, joining boards of organizations and other World Bank where he authored economic development achievements. Please share your successes with us at: analyses on Yemen, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Tunisia comingsandgoings@washblade.com. and contributed to the 2012 Gender World DevelopCongratulations to Fabrice Houdart on starting his ment Report (WDR) and the 2011 Conflict, Security, and own consulting firm, Houdart Consulting. On starting the Development WDR. firm Houdart said, “my firm will focus on providing techHe is on the boards of Outright Action International; nical assistance to corporations on bringing an LGBTQ+ Housing Works; Foundation Emergence (Governor); lens to DEI initiatives, marketing, philanthropy, commuTransNewYork; and Witness to Mass Incarceration where nication, CSR and government affairs. I will also continue he is president. He is a fellow of the Royal Society for the placing LGBTQ+ people on corporate boards.”

Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce Most recently he was with Out Leadership. He is a (FRSA) and a member of the Impact Guild. Houdart has member of L’Oreal Global Diversity and Inclusion Advisoreceived many awards, including the Golden Gate Busiry Board. He is also an adviser to the National Association ness Association Award; the IGLTA Pioneer Award and of Corporate Directors (NACD) Center for Inclusive Govthe Alan Turing LGTBIQ Award for his work on LGBTI ernance and serves on the Editorial Board of the Womrights. en’s Forum.

Fabrice has his bachelor’s in economics and manageHoudart previously was the Human Rights Officer at ment from Dauphine University, Paris; and his MBA from the United Nations in New York where he worked on Free American University. He lives in New York City with his & Equal, a United Nations campaign for LGBTQ equaltwin sons, 9-year-old Maxime and Eitan. ity. He co-authored and led the United Nations Global FABRICE HOUDART

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Give your A/C a break. On Peak Savings Days — and all summer long — save energy and money by bumping up the thermostat a few degrees.

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J.K. Rowling, Matt Walsh trade transphobic tweets

Walsh’s post against Gray, “Endless death and rape threats, threats of loss of livelihood, employers targeted, physical harassment, family address posted online with picture of bomb-making manual aren’t ‘mean comments’. If you don’t yet understand what happens to women who stand up on this issue, back off.”

Walsh praised Rowling’s “courage” in speaking out, and said “many people have simply caved to the demands of trans activists and completely surrendered truth and reality to them. The cowards are also villains in this story.

They need to be held accountable.”

Rowling tweeted back and praised Walsh’s latest film What is a Woman?, which was largely condemned due to its transphobic content.

“And your film did a good job exposing the incoherence of gender identity theory and some of the harms it’s done. Many institutions I used to admire have uncritically embraced this dogma, but I reserve my ire for them rather than shouting ‘coward’ at individual women,” Rowling wrote.

These interactions between Rowling and Walsh were blasted online. Numerous Twitter users criticized Rowling for her positive feedback toward Walsh’s anti-trans work.

TIANRUI HUANG

J.K. Rowling continues getting involved in gender-related debates.

Her recent interactions with right-wing commentator Matt Walsh were condemned by Twitter users.

Last week, American singer Macy Gray appeared on British TV show “Piers Morgan Uncensored’” and made controversial comments about transgender women. She first defined women as “a human being with boobs” and “a vagina,” and further stated, “and I will say this, and everybody’s gonna hate me, but as a woman, just because you go change your parts doesn’t make you a woman.

Sorry.”

J.K. ROWLING continued her Gray afterwards apologized for her comments on anti-trans NBC’s Today Show. “I said some things that didn’t go rhetoric last over well, but my intention was never to hurt anybody. week.

I feel bad that I did hurt some people,” she said.

Conservative commentator Matt Walsh described Gray’s latest statement as “gutless cowardice.”

Walsh posted a tweet on July 9 and wrote, “Sorry but women who publicly renounce the definition of “woman” for fear of mean comments from trans activists deserve all the scorn they get. That kind of gutless cowardice is exactly what got us into this position in the first place.”

The next day, Rowling chimed in on the discussion and criticized

Video to prevent bullying removed from Florida schools

In another circumstance of Florida’s newly minted ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law’s negative impact, a 12-minute training video aimed at teaching middle and high school students how to prevent bullying and support their LGBTQ peers in Duval County Public Schools has been removed from student access.

Jacksonville Today journalist Claire Heddles reported that besides the video, the district is planning to dramatically reduce a LGBTQ support guide.

The video is now inaccessible and, in response to questions from Jacksonville Today, Duval Schools District spokesperson Tracy Pierce said, “The materials

you referenced have been removed for legal review to ensure the content complies with recent state legislation.”

A Gay Straight Alliance faculty sponsor, Scott Sowell, said the now-removed video, specifically created for students, was developed using funds from a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant.

“The video was co-written by some students, and so it had very student-appropriate and student-specific language that was, you know, teenagers talking to other teenagers,” Sowell told Jacksonville Today. “It’s one critical resource that is now no longer available to

teachers to help support students.”

In addition to the disappearing training materials, Duval School Board members are also set to vote Monday on a policy change requiring schools to send emails to parents if there’s a change in student services, which would include if students want to change their name or pronouns in unofficial school records, like ID cards and yearbooks, according to proposed district guidance. According to the draft policy, schools would send the email to parents, unless there’s a risk of “abuse, abandonment or neglect.”

FROM STAFF REPORTS

HRC, Calif. lawmakers call for equitable monkeypox vaccine rollout

As monkeypox cases rise across the U.S, public health officials are rushing to make vaccines available.

The White House last Thursday announced it would make 144,000 additional doses of the JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine available to the states, with does starting to ship on July 11.

“We are using every tool we have to increase and accelerate JYNNEOS vaccine availability in jurisdictions that need them the most,” Strategic National Stockpile Director Steve Adams said in the White House statement.

“In less than 10 days, we’ve made available 200,000 JYNNEOS vaccine doses in communities where transmission has been the highest and with high-risk populations.”

However, the monkeypox vaccination rollout has had its share of hiccups.

California state Sen. Weiner and state Assemblymember Matt Haney on Friday issued a press release criticizing the federal government’s vaccination effort and calling for more doses.

“We have very little time to contain this outbreak and prevent it from getting out of control and potentially becoming endemic,” the press release read. “The federal government needs to dramatically increase the supply of the vaccine and distribute it to impacted local communities as quickly as possible. We have no time to spare.

(Public domain photo)

It’s completely unacceptable that the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and other community clinics are receiving so few doses. We need a sufficient quantity of vaccines so that everyone who is at risk has access.”

Experts have cautioned against stigmatizing the virus as a “gay disease,” because while current cases in the U.S. — numbered at 700 — are concentrated among men who

1 0 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • JULY 15, 202 2 • NAT I O NA L NE WS

have sex with men, the disease can spread to anyone who has close physical contact with an infected person.

Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President of Programs, Research and Training Jay Brown last week in a statement called for an equitable vaccine rollout that prioritizes at-risk communities while avoiding past mistakes.

“Public health and other government officials must act quickly to ramp up testing capacity and vaccine distribution. They also need to be intentional with vaccine distribution and testing, prioritizing how to reach Black and Brown gay and bi+ men and transgender women, especially those individuals living with HIV,” Brown’s statement read. “We’ve seen historical and systemic discrimination when it comes to delivering effective prevention and treatment to these members of our community. As we have learned many times, a public health response that does not center equitable care and treatment is a failed response.”

Monkeypox is rarely fatal and usually presents with flulike symptoms and a rash.

“Over the past several weeks, we’ve seen the LGBTQ+ community doing what we’re best at: Caring for each other, raising awareness and acting on sound public health guidance,” Brown said.

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Biden gets lackluster reviews on response to monkeypox outbreak Comparisons made to inaction during coronavirus, HIV/AIDS

By CHRIS JOHNSON | cjohnson@washblade.com

For a population still suffering through the coronavirus pandemic and with lasting memories of HIV/AIDS, the monkeypox outbreak is triggering memories of a U.S. government unable to respond quickly to the emergence of a new disease — and many who see mistakes being repeated are giving lackluster and even negative reviews of the Biden administration’s handling of the issue.

Criticism has emerged from voices in the LGBTQ community, where monkeypox has primarily spread, especially among gay and bisexual men, as well as among public health experts amid the perception the Biden administration has fallen short in vaccine distribution as only two cities — New York and D.C. — are offering vaccines on a pre-emptive basis and immediate distribution is halted despite reports that 1 million vaccines are in reserve overseas.

PRESIDENT BIDEN is facing criticism his administration is moving too slowly on monkeypox.

Lindsey Dawson, associate director of HIV Policy and director of LGBTQ Health Policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation, acknowledged Monday in an interview with the Blade there’s “certainly been criticism the administration was slow to act” in the past six weeks, although she tempered her remarks in hopes the Biden administration would ramp up efforts in time to curb the virus.

“The amount of vaccinations available right now, it’s really quite limited,” Dawson said. “As of last week, about 40,000 vaccines have either been shipped out or are being processed for allocation to jurisdictions. That isn’t nationwide; that was for about 15 jurisdictions, and the supplies that we’re getting are fairly limited. And so, that means that only in certain places, will there be vaccinations available.”

Dawson added the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has promoted vaccines as a kind of post-exposure prophylactic for those who think they may have been exposed to monkeypox, stopping short of guidance making vaccines more generally recommended for populations that may be at risk, such as gay and bisexual men. New York City and D.C. are two jurisdictions that are giving vaccines out on a more general basis.

The Biden administration late last month unveiled a multi-step plan to take on monkeypox, which included the distribution of 296,000 vaccine doses with plans to distribute at total of 1.6 million in the coming months, which is enough to vaccinate 800,000 people because they are a two-dose series. Although HHS announced the purchase of an additional 2.5 million vaccines, the timeline completing the distribution isn’t until 2023 — which critics say is far too late for a disease already beginning to spread.

One prominent point of contention is the failure to distribute 1 million doses of monkeypox vaccine owned by the United States and in freezer storage at a Bavarian Nordic facility in Denmark, according to a June 28 letter to the White House from PrEP4All and Partners in Health.

The medication has yet to be deployed fully despite concerns about the spread of monkeypox, which is transferred by skin-to-skin contact. The reason for the delay is the Food & Drug Administration dropped the ball and failed to conduct a timely review of vaccines and refuses to distribute the agency’s counterpart the European Union has approved, the letter says.

Josh Barro, a gay political commentator and journalist, called the failure of the U.S. government to distribute the vaccines “absolute insanity” and more evidence of failure by the FDA to meet speedy deadlines in approvals.

“Literally we have bought these doses already and they’re sitting in a freezer in Denmark until some bureaucrats decide to allow them into the US,” Barro wrote.

The FDA, CDC and FDA didn’t respond Wednesday to the Blade’s request to comment on the slow rollout of vaccines and the 1 million doses reportedly in storage in Denmark.

Evidence of the Biden administration falling short on monkeypox is already leading observers to make comparisons to HIV/AIDS and the coronavirus, when the U.S. government was criticized for inaction. President Trump was accused of dropping the ball on coronavirus with delays in testing and erratic messaging — as well as even lying to the American public about its seriousness — as President Biden faced early criticism for a vaccine-only approach and failing to make good on campaign promises to shut down the virus. During the HIV epidemic in 1980s, activists with the grassroots group ACT UP held die-in protests at government offices and the Food & Drug Administration because the U.S. government was too slow in approving and distributing potential treatments.

Dawson said COVID is different from monkeypox for many reasons, but lessons could be applied to the new outbreak in terms of messaging, testing, and vaccine distribution based on COVID demonstrating “how challenges with mounting a quick response and COVID likely impacted transmissions.”

“And certainly it took a while for vaccinations to be widely available at COVID,” Dawson said, “And so, I think the important lesson there with all infectious diseases be that COVID or monkeypox is that getting out in front of an outbreak and preventing future transmission is essential.”

To be sure, the monkeypox outbreak isn’t nearly on the scale of the HIV/AIDS or COVID-19 pandemic, which have spread far and wide and claimed millions of lives.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the total number of recorded monkeypox infections in the United States as of two days ago is 767. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, told the Blade in a conference call with reporters last month the risk of gay and bisexual men contracting monkeypox is not high, but the numbers could increase.

Monkeypox generally isn’t a fatal disease.

The LGBTQ watchdog group GLAAD, which has strong connections to both media and entertainment, has teamed up with the White House in its messaging on monkeypox, with a heavy emphasis on LGBTQ influencers and a closed press meeting on Wednesday. The White House didn’t respond to the Blade’s request to

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comment for additional information.

Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of GLAAD, said in a statement to the Blade the initiative would supplement ongoing efforts to combat monkeypox taken by the Biden administration and public health officials.

“Getting accurate information out about monkeypox virus (MPV) is critically important to the LGBTQ community and all communities, and we need to continue to hear from public health leaders about what’s being done to combat the virus and inform the public,” Ellis said.

“GLAAD is helping convene those who can help get the word out about this threat to public health and to ensure accurate and respectful reporting to keep everyone safe.

Media must continue to hold public health officials accountable to accurate data gathering, testing, treatment, and vaccine distribution to stop the spread of MPV.” Elsewhere, localities are stepping up efforts to implore the Biden administration to do more on monkeypox as vaccines remain in limited supply for reserved for distribution in certain jurisdictions.

In San Francisco, District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman announced Tuesday his introduction of a resolution urging the Department of Health & Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to accelerate efforts on monkeypox vaccines, calling for a vaccine prioritization plan and streamlined testing as well as enough vaccine doses for high-risk populations, including gay and bisexual men, transgender people, and sex workers.

“This should be a preventable public health crisis – unlike COVID-19, we did not have to wait for new vaccines to be developed,” Mandelman wrote on Twitter. “It begs the question: would monkeypox have received a better response if it wasn’t primarily affecting queer people?”

Equity concerns for a population sensitive to racial disparities are also at the top of list among observers and public health experts with experience in health outreach to LGBTQ patients, especially in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic having a disproportionate impact on Black people.

Dawson expressed concern about the Biden administration focusing its messaging on monkeypox through social media, which she said may not be visible to workers unable to access it during the day.

“To the extent that vaccination and testing are difficult and burdensome to people, they’re going to be less likely to take it up,” Dawson said. “And people who do take it up are probably people who have more privilege, right?

They can take time off work, or they are aware of these slots opening up because they’ve seen that on social media and they’re on social media in the middle of their workday, and so it does raise potential equity challenges there.”

In New York City, despite being a locality deemed a priority spot for monkeypox vaccines, officials are also demanding a better response. Lynn Schulman, a city council member, spearheaded a letter to the CDC with the LGBTQIA+ caucus declaring efforts on monkeypox to have fallen short.

“The biggest concern is the lack of vaccines,” the letter says. “New York City has recently received additional doses of vaccine from the federal government, but vaccine supplies remain low. Currently, if an individual would like to get vaccinated, DOHMH has no appointments available. At a time when we are still dealing with COVID infections, this is unacceptable.”

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D.C. drag show raises money for abortion providers

people to have a voice that is a little bit larger One D.C. business chose to show its supthan then just any other member of the comport for abortion providers after the U.S. Sumunity sometimes.” preme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with a Drag shows have recently spawned condrag show. troversies online, specifically outrage about Drag queen Mari Con Carne headlined a children attending performances. benefit concert at Trade on June 30 to sup“It’s just a system, a made-up thing to be port the National Network of Abortion Funds. afraid of, to somehow motivate your base Trade within a week of the June 24 Suof voters and this is just the most recent verpreme Court ruling the bar scheduled persion of that,” Bailey said. “You know, it falls in formers and organized a promotional effort line with somehow, we need to be afraid of through social media. The June 30 event intrans people and trans people competing in cluded performances from Jane Saw, Dirty sports. It’s all just part of the same strategy to Sanchez, Bombshell, Entropy, and Derrick divide people and create some fear among Star. certain people.”

“We were stunned like everyone else at the Entertainer Drew Gaver, known as “Bev” Supreme Court ruling and kind of left lookwhen performing in drag, discussed pering at each other like I think a lot of people forming in front of children. were, which was like, ‘What can I do to help?’”

“I have adopted the opinion of other drag Trade owner Ed Bailey told the Blade. “We all queens where it’s like I didn’t sign up to do felt kind of that helpless moment of, we have Trade hosted a recent drag show that raised more than $4,000 for the National Network this to be around children and read them the energy of wanting to do something, and of Abortion Funds. (Photo courtesy of Ed Bailey) storybooks, I’m predominantly a nightlife where do we put that energy?” performer,” Gaver said. “You’re making the Performers earned $2,328 in tips, and decision as an informed parent to put your child around a drag performer and all that through Trade’s promise to match the donations, the total doubled to $4,656 in support that entails. This feigned outrage about children being around sexual deviance and all of the National Network of Abortion Funds. this narrative that has come out recently is hysterical.”

“It was remarkable how much money was raised in in one evening, just by getting the Gaver also emphasized the importance of using the platform of drag performances word out quickly in a few days and saying, ‘Hey, come by Trade and try to let’s see what for activism. we can do here,’” Bailey said. “And it was it was very heartwarming to see people sup“Drag is on a much larger platform than I think that it used to be, and it is important port it, and to hopefully put together some funds that will end up helping women and for those of us that have that platform to use our voices for the greater good and to their families. Kind of a weird time that we are embarking upon.” bring attention to causes that need that attention,” Gaver said. “If we’re not using that Bailey added that despite the drag platform becoming more mainstream, its societalplatform, then it’s a missed opportunity. Drag started out as activism and over time, I ly subversive acts provide an opportunity for activism. feel has gotten very commercialized and it is important that we remember that being a “Drag queens and kings have been at the forefront of fighting and standing up and drag performer and being given that opportunity does still need to remain in the vein of saying, ‘No, you know, this isn’t this is who I am, so stop telling me who to be or how activism and using your voice for the greater good.” to act,’” Bailey said. “It is seen outside of our community in a more political way, either ESTHER FRANCES positively or negatively. And there’s something about the platform that drag creates for

Biden signs executive order to protect abortion access

President Biden last week signed an executive order protecting access to reproductive health care services.

The president is under pressure from Democrats to step up actions in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Biden made it clear that Congress needs to codify reproductive healthcare choices, however he also stated that he would continue to take actions on his own to to defend reproductive rights and protect access to safe and legal abortion.

PRESIDENT BIDEN last week called the court’s Roe Flanked by Vice President ruling ‘wrong headed.’ (Screenshot via White House) Kamala Harris and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in the Roosevelt Room, the president spoke about the order and the circumstances leading to the need for the executive order.

Biden, referring to the Supreme Court ruling as “the wrong headed decision,” castigated the court for “playing fast and loose with the facts,” using the argument that abortion wasn’t rooted in historical precedent.

“The Supreme Court in Dobbs made a terrible, extreme, and I think totally wrong-head-

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ed decision to overturn Roe v. Wade … This was not a decision driven by the Constitution […or] by history,” he said.

Biden then criticized the majority for reading the Constitution as frozen in the mindset of the 1800s, when women didn’t even have the right to vote.

Quoting the justices in dissent he then noted that the court decision marked the use of raw political power, saying that the court finally had a conservative majority to roll back the decision.

Biden urged that voters push out the Republicans in the upcoming mid-term elections labeling the Republicans as “extremist.” He then angrily cited the recent example of the 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio who was forced to travel to neighboring Indiana to have an abortion.

“Ten years old! … A 10-year-old girl should be forced to give birth to a rapist’s child?

What could be more extreme,” Biden said.

He warned that extremist Republicans even want to impose a national ban on abortion. As long as he’s president such a bill would be vetoed, he said.

The president also specified the need to have the Federal Trade Commission regulate data brokers and others to enforce privacy for people using apps that expose them to the transfer and sales of sensitive health-related data.

Biden then outlined that the Executive Order included: • Safeguarding access to reproductive health care services, including abortion and contraception; • Protecting the privacy of patients and their access to accurate information; • Promoting the safety and security of patients, providers, and clinics; and • Coordinating the implementation of federal efforts to protect reproductive rights and access to health care.

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Tom Daley honored at Windsor Castle

British Olympic gold medalist Tom Daley was honored at Windsor Castle Tuesday, as Prince Charles, standing in for Queen Elizabeth, bestowed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on the 28 year-old champion diver.

In the citation, Daley was lauded for his services to British diving, as well as in recognition of his charity work and his global advocacy of LGBTQ rights.

Daley was accompanied to the ceremony by his 48-year-old American husband, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black.

As an Olympian diver Daley first represented Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing as a young teenager of 14. A participant and a long time presence on the British diving team, Daley won his first gold medal at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the men’s synchronized 10m platform event.

In his speech accepting the 2021 Attitude Magazine Foundation’s Virgin Atlantic Attitude Sport Award, Daley took aim at 10 countries that have death penalties for people who are LGBTQ. Daley told the audience at the Roundhouse Theatre in

TOM DALEY and DUSTIN LANCE BLACK (Photo via Daley’s Instagram)

London that the Olympic Games should ban those nations.

“These past Olympic Games there were more out LGBT

athletes than at any of the previous Olympics combined, which is a great step forward,” Daley said. “Yet there are still 10 countries that punish being gay with death that were still allowed to compete at the Olympic Games.”

He went on to tell those in the audience at the Jaguar Motorcars co-sponsored event he was going to make it his mission to effect change.

“I want to make it my mission before the Paris Olympics in 2024 to make it so that the countries that criminalize and make it punishable by death for LGBT people are not allowed to compete at the Olympic Games,” Daley said.

He then pointed out that those same countries shouldn’t be able to host Olympic games either — then he called out the homophobic atmosphere in Qatar.

“The World Cup in Qatar had extreme rules against LGBT people and women and I think it should not be allowed for a sporting event to host in a country that criminalizes against basic human rights,” he said.

He and his husband are parents to son Robbie, who they welcomed via a surrogate in 2018 and the couple resides in London.

BRODY LEVESQUE

Iraqi lawmakers seek to ban homosexuality

An Iraqi lawmaker has said parliamentarians plan to introduce a bill that would ban homosexuality in the country.

Middle East Eye, a website that covers the Middle East and North Africa, reported MP Aref al-Hamami on July 8 told an official Iraqi news agency that members of his Parliamentary Legal Committee have agreed “to collect signatures after returning to session to legislate a law prohibiting homosexuality in Iraq.” “[The] legislation of such a law will be reinforced by legal provisions that prevent homosexuality and the perversions associated with it,” said al-Hamami.

Homosexuality has been legal in Iraq since 2003, but violence against LGBTQ and intersex Iraqis remains commonplace.

“Despite repeated threats and violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+)

individuals, specifically gay men, the government failed to identify, arrest, or prosecute attackers or to protect targeted individuals,” notes the State Department in its 2021 human rights report. “Some political parties sought to justify these attacks, and investigators often refused to employ proper investigation procedures. LGBTQI+ individuals also faced intimidation, threats, violence and discrimination, and LGBTQI+ individuals reported they could not live openly without fear of violence at the hands of family members, acquaintances, or strangers.”

The U.S. earlier this year condemned the so-called honor killing of Doski Azad, a transgender woman in Iraqi Kurdistan.

A source in the semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq has previously told the Blade that militant groups regularly target gay men in the country. The Islamic State pub-

licly executed men accused of engaging in sodomy in the parts of Iraq it once controlled.

“With an unstable economy and crimes taking place every day without any accountability or follow-up, the Iraqi Parliament’s Legal Committee has considered that putting an end to the LGBTQ community is a priority that must be achieved as soon as possible,” tweeted an activist in Iraq who calls themselves Anas Gilgamesh.

Amir Ashour, executive director of IraQueer, an organization that advocates on behalf of LGBTQ and intersex Iraqis, on Tuesday told the Blade that it won’t be “that long” until lawmakers approve the bill because “they claim to have what they need to pass it.” Ashour added his organization is “working behind the scenes to try and stop the law from passing.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

British Triathlon bans trans women from competing

Organizers of Great Britain’s version of the combined sports of swimming, biking, and running — the Triathlon — have made a landmark decision to resolve the question of whether transgender women athletes can compete with other women.

On July 6, they issued a new policy that creates a new, separate category, in which transgender and nonbinary athletes can compete alongside men, women and anyone who wishes to race.

But starting Jan. 1, 2023, trans female athletes can no longer compete with cisgender women. They will be banned from entering the new female category according to the new policy, which says, “Only people who are the female sex at birth will be eligible to compete in the female category.”

British trans advocates at the Trans Legal Project said British Triathlon made the change because they believe, “all trans women are appropriately classed as men not women.”

While admitting that scientific research regarding trans athletes is “somewhat limited,” officials point to findings that mirror talking points argued by opponents of trans-

Hamburg Relay 2022 (Courtesy of British Triathlon)

gender inclusion, even citing two of the most notorious critics: Drs. Emma Hilton and Tommy Lundberg.

“The science that does currently exist strongly challenges the idea that testosterone suppression alone sufficiently removes the retained sporting performance advantage of trans women (when compared with pre-transition and/ or cis women),” say the Triathlon officials.

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However, they also cite research by Joanna Harper, a trans woman working at Loughborough University in the U.K. who also happens to be a trans athlete. The study she conducted concludes that the strength of trans women remains “above that observed in cisgender women, even after 36 months” of hormonal therapy. But Harper told the Blade back in March that there’s more to it than that.

“Although trans women do maintain athletic advantages after hormone therapy, there is no indication that these advantages have led to an overrepresentation of trans women at any level of sports,” she wrote in an email to the Blade. “We allow advantages in sport but not overwhelming advantage of one group over another when we divide sports into categories. It appears that hormone therapy reduces the advantages held by trans women to the point where we can have meaningful competition between trans and cis women in most sports.”

Harper has several more studies into trans athletes underway. But British Triathlon isn’t waiting, and plans to put this new solution into effect come the new year.

DAWN ENNIS

Celebrating diversity, supporting the community, and sharing our pride.

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Gay CEO on navigating business challenges during pandemic

Embracing diversity, resisting ‘Old World’ thinking are keys to success for Chicago’s Skolnik Industries

By PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN

Walking his sparky chihuahua-mix Finnegan with his husband through downtown Chicago is one way Skolnik Industries President Dean Ricker relaxes while successfully guiding a multimillion-dollar corporation through a pandemic.

Ricker told the Blade that diversity was their key to success: diverse products and diverse perspectives.

Chicago-based Skolnik manufactures carbon and stainless steel drums for containing critical contents from hazardous materials to California wines.

While businesses across the United States and the world are experiencing inflation and other pandemic economic impacts, American manufacturing has also been on the decline for decades.

But Ricker finds it important to resist “old world” thinking when confronting current challenges. He explained to the Blade how listening to a variety of perspectives was Skolnik’s not-so-secret ingredient to surviving the pandemic crisis.

“We don’t have to think and operate like it’s 1950,” Ricker said. “As someone who is gay and a leader of a company, I bring a unique perspective to a table where people of all backgrounds are supported.”

National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Co-founder and President Justin Nelson also told the Blade a commitment to diversity can be critical to economic recovery.

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

Ricker added that what set Skolnik apart was “we’re quirky.”

The upbeat executive who describes Finnegan as “the cutest dog in the whole world” is proud that his company strives for a culture where “people of all backgrounds are supported.”

And this inclusive atmosphere proved critical during the COVID-19 crisis.

‘Supplies are down, prices are up’ According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, the “Rust Belt” — industrial manufacturing centers located primarily in the Midwest — began its long, downward spiral after 1950 and experienced a steep decline into the 1980s.

Across this 30-year period, Rust Belt employment fell around 28 percent while manufacturing jobs fell nearly 34 percent.

The Atlanta Fed notes this decline sharply impacted industrial centers across the country, such as in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit, and Chicago, as well as across the U.S. economy as a whole.

While the current pandemic economic pressures such as labor shortages and supply chain issues were initially focused in the hospitality and food industries, Skolnik noted how challenges spread to the manufacturing sector as well.

In March they tweeted: “Historic trucker shortages, port logjams and labor strikes are just some of the elements that are bringing the wine industry to its knees this year. Supplies are down, and prices are up, across the board.”

And yet, while the pandemic forced many businesses to make tough decisions, Skolnik persevered and thrived.

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Zoominfo reports more than $30 million in revenue for Skolnik and more than 200 employees, while Glassdoor, a website where current and former employees anonymously review their employers, states 64 percent of respondents would recommend Skolnik to a friend.

“What is important is the role that diversity plays in the organization,” Ricker said. “You’re not myopic in your thinking.”

(Editor’s note: This is the first in a multi-part summer series of stories taking a closer look at how a group of diverse LGBTQ entrepreneurs survived and thrived during the pandemic. The series is sponsored by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. All installments in the series are available at our website.)

Skolnik Industries President DEAN RICKER (Photo courtesy Skolnick Industries)

LGBTQ inclusivity helps the economy Ricker, a Crain’s Chicago Business Notable LGBTQ Executive for 2019, said having a “rainbow” of people at the table from different backgrounds and with diverse experiences helped diversify their thinking and their markets — a tactic critical to their survival in an otherwise challenging industry.

“When one industry goes down, like automotive,” he explained. “We saw a pick up in the pharmaceutical industry.

During the pandemic we did a lot of packaging related to vaccines and hand sanitizer.”

And research indicates when businesses are LGBTQ inclusive, for example, it has a positive impact on the economy as a whole.

University of Massachusetts Economics Professor M.V. Lee Badgett, a Williams Institute Distinguished Scholar and author of “The Economic Case for LGBT Equality: Why Fair and Equal Treatment Benefits Us All” told the Blade that for an economy to perform well it needs everyone to contribute as much as they have to offer.

“The problem with exclusion is it holds LGBTQI people back,” explained Badgett, who was named one of the 20 most powerful lesbians in academia by Curve Magazine in 2008. “If they aren’t able to develop their knowledge, skills and creativity, then they are not able to contribute as much as they could potentially to the overall economy.”

Badgett said challenges faced by LGBTQ youth, such as bullying and discrimination in housing, employment, and health care, are barriers that keep them from full economic participation over time and can ultimately harm the economy as a whole.

She pointed to the current labor shortage cited by many businesses as a significant pandemic challenge, and explained how bullying in schools can lead to workforce exclusion.

“If LGBT students face bullying in schools, they have lower GPAs, drop out, and are less likely to go to college. A bullying environment is not a good learning environment, and that’s a key tie to employment,” Badgett said. “They will not have the necessary skills and knowledge to take into the world.”

This, in turn, reduces the pool of available workers, a problem further exacerbated by pandemic pressures on disparities already faced particularly by LGBTQ people of color.

“When we can [instead] reduce the level of exclusion, we make it possible for people to put their whole selves into their job and that has a positive impact on everyone,” Badgett said.

“It’s good for LGBT people to be more included economically for their health and long-term economic status,” she added. “We think that will pay dividends over time as the economy prospers.”

A group of Skolnik Industries employees (Photo courtesy Skolnick Industries)

NGLCC provided sense of community in a crisis As a gay business executive, Ricker also noted the important role the NGLCC played in helping Skolnik weather the COVID-19 crisis.

It provided a space where other queer business leaders could gather and problem-solve on a national level. It was also a chance to gain support and learn from each other.

“Just watching other companies going through the same thing we were and hearing their stories served as an inspiration,” he said. “One challenge right now is hiring people.

Highlighting that we’re an NGLCC member and an LGBTQowned business helps.”

NGLCC’s 2017 economic report found companies that engaged in Pride activities saw an increase in diverse job applicants, new diverse supply chain applicants, and a deeper LGBTQ consumer loyalty.

Ricker added highlighting that membership lets LGBTQ job seekers know Skolnik is a queer-supportive place to work.

“There are a lot of businesses out there where you can’t be yourself,” he said. “I saw our company as an oasis for talented people where they can be themselves. In manufacturing there are unfortunately a lot of ‘old world’ attitudes out there.”

But despite the pandemic and historical challenges his industry faces, Ricker is still excited about the future and a possible resurgence in American manufacturing.

“Supply challenges have highlighted the importance of American manufacturing,” Ricker said. “We still need to make things here in the U.S. And it’s exciting that an LGBTQ-owned business can be a part of that.”

The idea of a recovering economy and the future opportunities it brings for his industry really “jazzes him up,” along with enjoying a nice glass of a California Cabernet aged in one of Skolnik’s barrels — the flavor sweetened from “knowing that we had something to do with its production.”

Lesbian entrepreneur uses crime scene TikTok to educate ‘You can change people’s lives by returning things to pre-incident condition’

By PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN

Spaulding Decon’s 4.2 million followers probably tune into the company’s popular crime scene cleaning TikTok to watch technicians scrub away blood or dismantle drug labs, but sometimes Founder and CEO Laura Spaulding slips in a little more.

“Today we’re going to be talking about the affordable housing crisis,” Spaulding, a former Kansas City police officer, tells viewers in an April teaser; later a young woman shares how difficult it has been surviving outside the benefits threshold.

Spaulding founded her multimillion-dollar business specializing in biohazard clean up in 2005, and in 2016 it became the first nationally franchised decontamination service.

However, the onset of the global pandemic threatened to derail the success of this lesbian entrepreneur.

When states were going into lockdowns in 2020, in a desperate effort to slow the pandemic’s death toll and contain the spread of the disease, many businesses struggled. According to Commerce Department data, real GDP across industry sectors fell sharply in the second quarter of 2020 as the world plunged into an economic recession.

Spaulding said surviving the crisis meant being able to navigate quickly in a new environment. Her business survived, in part, by reaching out via social media to the millions who unexpectedly found themselves locked down.

“We actually grew our business during the pandemic,” Spaulding told the Blade. “Other brands possibly didn’t do that because they were in crisis mode. But we showed viewers an insight into what disinfecting for COVID looks like. We gained a ton of followers because of that.”

In 2021, Spaulding Decon made the Inc. Magazine list of the 5,000 fastest growing private companies, an honor that gave Under Armor, Patagonia and Microsoft their first national recognition.

Inc. noted the “unprecedented challenges” this group of honorees faced in 2020, to not only survive but thrive with an average median three-year growth rate of 543 percent and combined median revenue nearing $11 million.

This was an achievement Spaulding said she never dreamed was possible. When she started her company, she did so with little outside investment and sheer determination.

“I’m just a regular person trying to build a business,” Spaulding said about her challenges. “[Being a lesbian business owner] hasn’t hindered me or benefitted me either. I’ve never gotten a contract because of it. But it will only hinder you if you let it.”

And she said the struggle for labor is real. Turnover among technicians is high.

Working long hours in protective equipment can be physically demanding, and cleaning up after violent deaths can take an emotional toll, but Spaulding enjoys working alongside those who tough it out with her.

“The people that I work with are amazing,” she said.

“Since COVID, we’re operating with fewer staff members than we’ve ever had, but I enjoy being with them, side-byside. We’re mission based.”

(Editor’s note: This is the second in a multi-part summer series of stories taking a closer look at how a group of diverse LGBTQ entrepreneurs survived and thrived during the pandemic. The series is sponsored by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. All installments in the series are available at our website.)

‘You can change people’s lives’

Today, Spaulding lives with her partner of four years and co-parents a 4-year-old, a 3-year-old, and a rescue dog named Sammy, a retriever mix. But back in 2005, she was a police officer facing a distraught homicide victim’s mom who wanted to know when they were returning to clean up the crime scene.

Spaulding told the Story Exchange in February she felt bad for the mother who had just been through so much, but the only answer she had for her was “We don’t do that.”

So, Spaulding left police work and went into the crime scene cleaning business. The work has been challenging, but years later she has no regrets.

“You can change people’s lives by returning things to pre-incident condition,” she told the Blade. “Especially the suicide clean ups because they don’t have to see it. You can’t get rid of the memory of [seeing the person like that], but we can put that room back together.”

Even before the pandemic created a captive audience, there was interest from the media in Spaulding Decon’s work due to the inherent drama involved.

“We were getting approached with reality show producers. But they could never get it sold because they thought it would be too graphic,” Spaulding explained.

“So, I was like let’s do it ourselves and post it to YouTube, and that’s how the social media series was born.”

Currently, Spaulding Decon’s Crime Scene Cleaning YouTube channel has more than 800,000 subscribers, and while much of the content can be graphic, some can be off-beat and unexpected, such as the 1980s E.T. Atari game unearthed during a hoarding clean up.

As the pandemic moves into its long-term and less acute stage, Spaulding Decon’s social media presence and popularity continue to hold strong. Its Crime Scene Cleaning series now has a spin-off focusing on in-depth interviews with people dealing with a variety of subjects.

“We get DMs [direct messages] on our social channels about how do I clean this particular thing?” Spaulding explained. “And we’ll do videos on that to make sure people are educated.”

This desire to educate pushed Spaulding to grow her franchise in a new direction.

“We have a spin off called ‘Talking Decon,’” she said.

“Where we do more investigative-type interviews. The last one was with a victim of human trafficking.”

This new series provides a chance for the former cop to engage the community in a meaningful way.

“We take an educational approach to social media. So we have a cult-like following,” Spaulding said. “And we stay in communication with followers and fans.”

NGLCC: It’s a ‘community thing’

Spaulding has worked hard to make her business a success and she credits her staff and technicians for working just as hard in their “labor of love.”

However, her biggest tip for new entrepreneurs and LGBTQ business owners is to find a mentor to learn from early on.

LAURA SPAULDING (center) is founder and CEO of Spaulding Decon. (Photo courtesy Spaulding Decon)

“You will get to where you need to be faster than by learning from your mistakes,” she added.

Spaulding also pointed out the support she found as a member of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). She found it nice to be able to bounce ideas off “our own people” in a safe and comfortable environment.

“It was more of a community thing,” she said. “And it’s important for all minorities to stay at the top of your game – it’s not an even playing field. It’s constant education. It’s constantly finding things that you can do better to overcome the competition.”

Economics professor M.V. Lee Badgett, a distinguished scholar at UCLA’s Williams Institute, has researched the benefits of LGBTQ equality on the economy. Her books have debunked the myth of gay affluence and instead highlight the economic challenges LGBTQ people face due to discrimination.

“The bottom line,” Badgett told the Blade. “Is that for an economy to perform as well as it could, it needs everyone to contribute as much as they have to offer.”

Justin Nelson, the NGLCC co-founder and president, also explained that resilience and community are important.

“Our community is sustained by our resilience and commitment to helping one another through the good times and the challenging ones,” Nelson said. “It has never been easier to go online or check with your local affiliate LGBT Chamber of Commerce to make sure you support the brands that have our community’s back.”

And Spaulding is committed to continuing to grow her company. An avid reader, she just finished Dan Sullivan’s “Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork” and enjoyed its insights.

“You can’t do everything alone,” she said. “I came up thinking I had to do everything and pay for everything myself, but sometimes you need to find the ‘who’ – that person who can help you do something, instead of just figuring out how to do it yourself.”

Her new goal is to grow her business from 56 locations to 100.

“I think it’s challenging,” she said. “But doable.”

J ULY 1 5 , 2 0 2 2 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 1 9

DR. CHRISTOPHER HALL

Millie’s Story: A Beautiful Heart

By WASHINGTON REGIONAL TRANSPLANT COMMUNITY

In September 2015, Melanie Lilliston and Becky Williams fulfilled a lifelong dream: they became parents to a beautiful baby girl named Miller “Millie” Williams Lilliston.

Millie was a charismatic baby who made a notable first impression. As Millie and her moms were settling into their routine, the unthinkable happened. In April 2016, Millie was rushed from daycare to the hospital after she was severely abused by her daycare provider.

“We were shocked to learn of the abuse and hear that Millie likely wouldn’t survive her inBECKY WILLIAMS and MELANIE juries, and if she did, she would never be the LILLISTON with their daughter MILLIE. (Photo courtesy of Washington Regional Transplant Community) same,” said Melanie.

The next 72 hours were a blur and eventually, Millie was declared brain dead so close friends and family came to the hospital to say their goodbyes. One friend encouraged Melanie and Becky to consider donating Millie’s organs.

Melanie met with representatives from Washington Regional Transplant Community (WRTC), the local organ procurement organization (OPO) to learn more. That’s when she heard Millie was a good candidate for donation because miraculously her organs were still in great condition. Amid their unimaginable grief, they made the selfless decision to donate her organs.

“We made the decision and at that point, we walk away, and then another family gets a phone call and they rush to the hospital because an opportunity that wasn’t there is there. The process starts a whole chain of events for someone else,” said Becky.

Ollie’s Story: A New Beginning 400 miles away in Charlotte, North Carolina, Alice and Evan Marleaux were waiting for a miracle. Their seven-week-old son Oliver, who they call “Ollie,” was fighting for his life. Ollie’s heart was 1.5 times bigger than it should be and he was on the national transplant waiting list for a new heart. Alice never thought someone she loved would need a transplant “I realized that there was only so much I could do. I had to have a donor family say yes. It was out of my control.”

After only 25 days on the list, a heart was donated that was a match for Ollie. The heart en route from DC was Millie’s heart. Alice was elated her son was receiving a transplant, but remembers feeling grief for a family she didn’t know. “The fact that another child had to die for At the time of her death, MILLIE WILLIAMS my son to get his heart is the hardest part. As a LILLISTON donated her heart which saved mother, I still have my child and someone else the life of OLLIE MARLEAUX. doesn’t.”

(Photo courtesy of Washington Regional Transplant Community) The surgery was a success and afterward, doctors told Ollie’s parents that his new heart was “beautiful.” Today, he is a healthy boy who just finished Kindergarten. He loves playing “Just Dance,” going on bike rides, drinking slushies and sword fighting.

Alice and Evan are in communication with Melanie and Becky, and in one of the first letters they exchanged Ollie’s parents learned that Millie had what they characterized as the best laugh. Coincidentally, Ollie too has the best laugh, and is inquisitive like Millie was. To this day, Alice struggles with how to express her appreciation to Melanie and Becky.

“How do you say thank you for saving my son’s life? It’s hard to find the words. More than anything, I want them to meet Ollie someday and that way they’ll have a sense of our gratitude.”

Millie’s moms say if she would have grown up, they would have instilled in her that you give to others what you can when you can. As much as they’d rather have her here, they are glad her spirit is remembered and that her gift is honored by Ollie and his family.

“It’s Millie’s heart, but it’s his now. It’s a piece of her that lives on. It’s peaceful to know there is a part of her still in this world,” says Melanie.

Everyone can register to be an organ donor. Get the facts at BeADonor.org.

2 0 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • JULY 15, 202 2 • V I E WP O I NT

serves as the Medical Director of Clinical Affairs at Molecular Testing Labs, pioneering self-collected STI testing. He began his 30-year career in HIV/STI policy, research, care and prevention working with the National AIDS Network in D.C. and later the National Coalition of STD Directors and the California Department of Public Health.

COVID isn’t the only epidemic — STIs are at a record high Home testing may provide a solution The latest CDC numbers show that Washington, D.C. ranks 30th of all U.S. metropolitan areas in HIV transmissions and the same study showed 2.4 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) across the U.S., with some STIs like syphilis increasing by 254 percent! And while COVID-19 has garnered the lion’s share of media attention, the new CDC report indicates it is just one of many public health crises facing the U.S. Over the course of the pandemic, we’ve learned that COVID-19 and STIs share a common weapon in decreasing transmission rates — increased access to testing. With COVID-19, health professionals understood the need for at-home testing and as a result they have mailed out millions of free, at-home tests to Americans and we’ve seen a rapid decline of transmissions as a result. The same is not true for STIs. Patients have always been required to go into a lab or clinical setting in person for STI testing and as a result, access to testing has long been a primary barrier to reducing STI transmission rates.

But all of that is changing.

The combination of scientific breakthroughs and modern platform integration technology have made it possible for self-collected specimens to provide validated test results to be followed up by clinical care.

These developments are eliminating barriers like access to in-person testing and discomfort due to discrimination or stigma, which often accompanies in-person STI testing. Many point to these barriers as the primary reason for America’s high transmission rates. While it is possible for D.C. residents to forego in-person visits to a lab, we still have a long way to go to get medical practices and insurance companies to amend processes to support self-collected, at-home STI testing.

We know that more testing is needed if we are to reverse rapidly escalating rates of STI transmission. We must creatively overcome every barrier to testing access if we are to be successful. As an infectious disease physician and after 35 years working in the HIV and STI space, I have joined a movement committed to eliminating barriers to testing and care; in fact, a silver lining of the COVID pandemic has been the expansion of policy, the science, and the patient embrace of at-home testing. COVID has demonstrated that at-home tests unlock access to testing and thus facilitates reduction of disease transmission. For instance, a recent analysis by Molecular Testing Labs and Q Care Plus demonstrated that among more than 5,000 patients, 84% preferred undertaking PrEP-related STI and HIV testing at home. This is authentic patient-centered testing and care.

COVID-19 has taught us many lessons, top among them that increased testing is among the most effective ways to address otherwise uncontrolled spread of infectious diseases. I can say without a doubt that laws encouraging and requiring coverage of innovative and proven testing approaches will interrupt forward transmission of infections and save lives, particularly among those with limited access to care and who are otherwise disenfranchised by our healthcare system.

Federal agencies should follow the lead of state and local governments who set aside money to promote the availability of and access to at-home STI testing and attendant treatment. Insurance companies and payors also should rapidly implement streamlined reimbursement practices to ensure these tests are covered and that patients are not being charged in error, which inhibits access to testing and care.

My career was informed by lessons in epic public health crises like HIV and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our data demonstrate that expanded, affordable access to at-home self-collected testing can overcome stigma and reduce infection spread. We have the tools to identify and eliminate STIs in our communities. We should use them.

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

Republican officials are frightening, soulless

KATHI WOLFE

a writer and a poet, is a regular contributor to the Blade.

Voting is the essential weapon in fight for justice

New gun bill is much ado about nothing

GOP is focused on taking away our rights

Republican elected officials must have no soul or conscience, which is why they feel no remorse or responsibility for all those victims of gun violence.

That can be the only explanation for doing nothing about guns. The minimal bill some of them made a big deal of supporting recently is next to nothing.

I wonder if it would change if one of their kids, or family, were killed by a shooter with an AK-15? What will it take for them to conclude weapons of war should not be on our streets and to accept that the Founding Fathers were referring to muskets when they referenced a standing militia? That was the weapon they wanted people to be able to have. Those men must be turning over in their graves at what the Republican Party is doing to our country. If Republicans had an ounce of compassion or conscience, they wouldn’t sleep at night. Clearly, they don’t give a damn.

But it’s not only the elected officials, as disgusting as they are. It is those who vote for them. Recent polling suggests fewer than 50 percent of Republicans support a ban on assault weapons. What is wrong with them?

Those American voters who want to move forward on real gun control have the chance to hold the Republican Party responsible for the deaths by guns in this country in November.

We will never stop every death by a gun. We saw the assassination of Shinzo Abe in Japan by a deranged gunman. He did this with a homemade gun shooting one man, not spraying the crowd with an AK-15 or AK-47.

In the recent mall shooting in Copenhagen the gunman used a rifle and a knife, the rifle from someone else in the same house who was a member of a sports shooting club. Again, like in Japan, this kind of thing is very rare.

Compare that to what is happening in our country where 18-year-olds are targeting masses of people, not one specific individual, with assault weapons.

In the United States we have 331 million people and over 81 million own guns, with a combined total of over 400 million guns. In the first half of 2022 alone there have been 27 school shootings and according to the Gun Violence Archive, at least 308 mass shootings. There is only one word to describe this: insanity. After all this Republican politicians only offer thoughts and prayers to the victims.

So again, I wonder how those Republicans sleep at night. But then looking at the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), perhaps I shouldn’t wonder. It is clear from all his public statements he is devoid of any emotion or real empathy for anyone. Remember he took a Mexican vacation when his constituents were suffering during a major blackout. So while I feel disgust every time I see and hear him, it is those who keep voting for him who must also be questioned. Where are their heads and hearts? Where is their real compassion for the children of Uvalde who were killed?

When we see and hear Republican candidates today it is frightening.

“Experts who study language, rhetoric and communication see a disturbing pattern between a string of violent incidents across the country and an increase in “dangerous” language from Republican candidates and sitting GOP members of Congress in ads, social media posts and speeches.”

I truly fear for the young people growing up in the United States today.

But the young people old enough to vote have the power to act — not with guns but with their vote. They can say “enough is enough,” we don’t want to live in a country that thinks the wild west mentality is OK. Whether young people agree to live in a country in which Republicans take the right of control over their own body from all women, and give everyone the right to own an assault weapon, remains to be seen. Will they want to live in a country where a 10-year-old girl raped by her father is forced to have that child?

The answer will come in November as to what kind of country they want to live in. They will answer the question by voting or not voting. I hope they will vote and say a resounding ‘NO’ to the current Republican Party.

(Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part column. Visit washingtonblade.com for the first installment.)

Recently, a 10-year-old girl traveled from Ohio to Indiana. The trip wasn’t fun for this child.

She wasn’t going to camp. A victim of rape, she’d been pregnant for six weeks and three days.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Ohio banned any abortion after six weeks, the Indianapolis Star reported. Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist agreed to terminate the child’s pregnancy.

But women, non-binary, and trans people shouldn’t count (for much longer) on getting reproductive health care in Indiana. The Hoosier state will likely “further restrict or ban abortion,” the Indianapolis Star reported. The Indiana General Assembly will take up abortion in a July 25 special legislative session.

Welcome to the world after Roe! A vital right of reproductive freedom that we’ve had for nearly half a century has been taken away.

Many of us from disabled people to people of color to queer people wonder: what other rights will be taken from us next?

As a disabled lesbian and daughter of a mom who had an abortion to preserve her life, the Dobbs decision is frightening on so many levels. If I were overly worried or alone in my fright, I’d feel far less scared. But unfortunately, it’s not just me. To be free it’s vital to have choices about your body.

Historically, disabled people haven’t had autonomy over their bodies. Like immigrants and people of color, we’ve been sterilized — prevented from having children — without our consent.

With Dobbs, our right to choose whether or not to give birth is threatened. The Supreme Court ruling will cause bodily harm to “far too many disabled people,” Maria Town, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, said in a statement. Dobbs will be especially harmful to “low-income disabled people, disabled people of color and disabled LGBTQIA+ people,” Town said. “We must do all we can to preserve bodily autonomy and prevent further harm,” Town added.

Discomfort, fear, hostility, scorn and disgust with our bodies are the foundation of homophobia and transphobia.

Sometimes, it’s subtle (not a hate crime or even a gay slur, but still there). Decades ago, after my Mom died, my Dad dated a woman who was freaked out by how I dressed. “You look like a man in those jeans,” she said as if I were outfitted like a serial killer.

If you’re LGBTQ, whether you’re eight or 80, you know that homophobia and transphobia are often blatant. Until, Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court decision that invalidated sodomy laws, gay sex was illegal even among consenting adults.

Before the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, we didn’t have marriage equality.

Many queer people fear that our right to bodily autonomy – from the right for reproductive health care to the right to have sex with or marry who we love – are now potentially in jeopardy.

If only our fears were overblown and paranoid.

But, it would be naive to believe this to be true.

The court should reconsider all of its “substantive due process precedents,” Clarence Thomas wrote in his concurring opinion in Dobbs, “including Griswold [the decision that legalized contraceptives], Lawrence and Obergefell.”

Hope dies hard. But if you think Thomas is an outlier in this, you’re being far too hopeful.

In the majority opinion, Samuel Alito said that Dobbs only applied to abortion. But in a 2020 speech to the Federalist Society, Alito criticized same-sex marriage. “You can’t say that marriage is a union between one man and one woman,” he said, “it’s considered bigotry.”

It’s important that we not give into despair. We have fought for our rights before. We know change is possible. If we want action to be taken to restore the right to abortion (and to protect our freedom to love and marry), we must vote for a Democratic Congress and Democratic state legislatures in the mid-terms. Protests galvanize us and change hearts and minds.

But this Supreme Court cares little for public opinion. The Republican Party is itching to decrease our freedom – from enacting a federal ban on abortion to erasing us with “Don’t Say Gay” laws.

It’s not sexy. You have to read your ballot carefully. You might end up in long lines. But voting is the essential weapon in our fight for justice.

V I E WP O I NT • J ULY 1 5 , 2 0 2 2 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 2 1

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2 2 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • JULY 15, 2022

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Bollywood increasingly explores LGBTQ issues Indian cinema key to educating millions of viewers

By ANKUSH KUMAR “Filmmakers hold supreme responsibility in being sensitive, empathetic, and rational Music, dance, color, compelling stories and drama: Welcome to the world of the Indian while attempting to make films on the said theme,” said Jaitly. “And as complex, as it may film industry. seem, the underlying principles of treating people respectfully and equally is a no-brainer With the production of more than 1,500 films each year, the industry is the largest in the and requires no special education. Cinema like literature is the reflection of society and not world. Movies like “Dangal,” a 2016 film about wresting, impacted Indian society’s views toonly does it influence the society but has great impact on successive generations.” ward girls. In a country with limited awareness of Tourette’s syndrome, the 2018 film “Hichki,” In 2008, the star-studded romantic comedy film “Dostana,” which means “friendship” in which means “hiccup” in Hindi, successfully sensitized audiences.

Hindi, also attracted criticism and praise for depicting a gay couple.

But the Indian film industry before 2015 failed to highlight an integral part of Indian culHollywood sensation Priyanka Chopra played a central role, with megastars like John ture: The LGBTQ and intersex community.

Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan. The film explores the world of two men living in Miami The 1971 movie “Badnam Basti,” which means “Infamous Neighborhood” in Hindi was who pretend to be a gay couple so they can live with a charming girl (Chopra), and they dubbed as India’s first gay film. The movie disappeared into oblivion soon after its release, both eventually fall in love with her. Many critics argued that the film mocked LGBTQ and and the 35 mm film print was only recently discovered in a Berlin archive. The Central Board intersex people. But some critics also said that the presence of megastars like Chopra helps of Film Certification, a film certification body under the Indian government’s control, in 1971 make audiences feel comfortable about the issue. certified the film as A-rated, meaning for adults only. According to Hari Om Kapoor, the son The Blade reached out to Chopra of “Badnam Basti” director Prem Kafor a comment, but the actress did not poor, the film never explicitly showed Actress CELINA JAITLY has fought respond. homosexuality but implied it. for LGBTQ and With the advent of cheaper mobile When India was going through a intersex rights in data in India after 2015, more peotumultuous time in 2004, and the poIndia for years.

(Photo courtesy of Jaitly) ple are aware of LGBTQ and intersex litical landscape was changing, “Girl people, and the Indian film industry Friend” appeared on large screens. is making LGBTQ and intersex-based Although it was not the first lesbifilms more than ever. an feature film, it portrayed a lesbian Maanvi Gagroo, a prominent Indicharacter as evil and stereotypical. an actress, in an email to the Blade The film explored a love triangle besaid that there was hardly if any, tween two girls’ best friends and a LGBTQ and intersex representation in man. One girl — Tanya, played by one Bollywood for the longest time. And Bollywood’s biggest stars, Isha Kopwhatever little there was, was almost pikhar, soon realizes she is in love with always comedic. Gagroo believes her best friend, Sapna, who Amrita comedy can be a great tool for social Arora plays. But Sapna is in love with a change. man, Rahul, played by Ashish Chaud“It was always the manner or the nahary. When Rahul realizes that Tanya ture of the humor that was problematis too close to Sapna, making him ic for me. Often the jokes were at the uncomfortable, he vindicates Tanya cost of the gay/queer characters, and for the troubled relationship. The film audiences were meant to laugh AT then ends with the gruesome murder them rather than WITH them. These of Tanya by Rahul and Sapna, portraycharacters never had any sort of reing Tanya and Rahul as heroes, and a demption, no arc and often created and/or perpetuated outlandish, garish stereotypes!” lesbian character, Tanya, ends up becoming evil. This film received poor reviews from critics. said Gagroo. “There is hope though. I see makers becoming much more sensitive toward “Indian cinema has played an important role in conditioning the mindsets of Indians of the community. And this change is parallel in society as well. I mean we only decriminalized all backgrounds, and while recently it has made great leaps in the types of cinema being homosexuality a few years ago. Now whether Bollywood is mirroring society or vice versa, I attempted, most Hindi films still thrive on the offensive and stereotypical portrayal of the can’t comment but the change is positive for sure.” non-binary gender characters,” said Celina Jaitly, a former Miss India and one of the most Gagroo’s first LGBTQ and intersex film, “377 AbNormal,” is based on the Indian Supreme popular Indian actresses.

Court ruling in 2018 that decriminalized homosexuality. The film explored the five people Jaitly, through her performances in various big films, won millions of hearts in India and who challenged Section 377, a colonial-era law that criminalized consensual same-sex sexglobally. Her activism in India for LGBTQ and intersex equal rights attracted the endorseual relations. ment of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, which in 2013 made her an Equality “‘377 AbNormal’ was actually very educational for me. While I pride myself as an ally, I was Champion. Jaitly has supported the U.N. Free and Equal campaign to counter homophobia completely ignorant about the journey of the movement and what led to the monumental and transphobia. verdict of 2018. I knew I had to be a part of the film from the time I first heard the concept,” “I have always wondered as an actor, why a gay or a trans person is constantly seen as said Gagroo. “Again, that was another film where the director, Faruk Kabir, was extremely outside the bounds of ‘normal.’ Ironically, despite the rampant transphobia, one particular cautious of not only getting the film factually right but also portraying the entire process trope is extremely popular in Bollywood, even after so many years, and that is cross-dresssensitively. We would often choke up and would have to stop shooting because all of us ing men,” she told the Washington Blade. “Trans people are abnormal but cis men in drag would get so emotional.” are applauded. Every time a ‘hero’ dresses in drag it is considered to be iconic piece of “In terms of preparation, I didn’t need to work on sensitizing myself on the topic,” added performance, it’s always been difficult to wrap my head around that one. Casting trans and Gagroo “I was there. I was ready to tell that story and I felt I had to do it well without minimizgay people in trans roles is still a challenge as cisgender actors consider it as a loss of oping anyone or anything related to the film.” portunity to win awards, and producers/directors would rather cast cis actors who pull in an Although “377 AbNormal” was the first LGBTQ and intersex film for Gagroo, it was not audience rather than a trans or a gay actor who pulls in the character.” the last.

Jaitly, who has worked in the Indian film industry for more than a decade, appeared Gagroo in 2020 appeared in “Subh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan,” a film that Hitesh Kewalya in “Seasons Greeting” last year in which a trans person is the lead actress. directed.

Jaitly said she has fought for LGBTQ and intersex rights in India for years, and the reason The film explores the story of a gay couple that has trouble convincing their parents to for which she agreed to work in “Seasons Greeting” is that the director Ramkamal Mukheraccept their relationship. The film generated buzz at the box office. While talking about the jee cast a trans woman for the first time in a trans lead film. Jaitly told the Blade that she film, Gagroo, who also starred in it alongside megastars like Ayushmann Khurrana, Jitendra believes in the importance of trans/gay cast in a trans/gay role, and only they can and should Kumar, veteran actress Nina Gupta, and Gajraj Rao, said that the film came portray and become the beacons of reflections of the agonies and ecstasies of their jourwith empathy and a respect and that the intent of the film is clear. neys no matter what the script.

2 4 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • JULY 15, 202 2

Bollywood finally embracing queer themes

“Our director, Hitesh Kewalya, was very clear right from the start, that he didn’t wish to delve into the gruesome hardships that the gay community is subjected to, but aim to normalize a lot of the conversation around it,” said Gagroo. “It dealt with so many different social issues even beyond LGBTQ. Even while shooting you could see the cast and crew evolving and their growing comfort with the topic was palpable.”

While talking with the Blade, Kewalya said that things changed, and people became more aware of the issue, which led to the making of “Subh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan.”

He argued that Section 377’s abolition made it possible to make such films. Kewalya also noted that Indian society was already talking about the issue, so making such a film became easy.

“It was challenging because there was no precedent to it. In a commercial film like this, where a top star is headlining the film, and a top production house is backing it, and all the great actors backing it,” said Kewalya. “It was also challenging because it is a sensitive topic in our society. Even the LGBTQ community was never happy with the kind of representation that was happening in the cinema.”

According to Variety, India produces films in a staggering 41 languages, mostly regional. In 2017, Lokesh Kumar released “My Son is Gay,” a Tamil language film. The story revolves around a school principal and her only son. The mother-son duo share a strong bond, and the mother soon finds out the truth that her only son is gay, which leads to a drastic change in her life.

“I am glad many people supported and showered a lotta love for our little indie feature film ‘My Son is Gay.’ I have attended an LGBTQ film festival once, where I have seen many queer films across the world and also got to meet many community members. That’s when I realized there are only very few Tamil films which showcased queer characters and there are no full-length gay-themed films as such,” said Kumar. “I really felt the need to tell the stories like ‘My Son is Gay.’ So, I have decided to meet LGBTQ members and their parents and did my research, wrote the story, which is based on many real incidents.”

While LGBTQ and intersex films are doing well in India and globally, in 2022, another film, Junglee Pictures’ “Badhaai Do,” generated a buzz among the masses. Star-studded films with casts like Rajkummar Rao, actress Bhumi Pednekar, Sheeba Chaddha and Chuma Darang helped the film highlight LGBTQ and intersex issues in India. The film tells the story of a gay cop who enters into a sham marriage with a lesbian teacher to convince

their family that they are living a “normal” life.

“The films that came before us had already placed the LGBTQIA+ issues and concerns in the mainstream space. Not having the burden of explaining an ‘issue’ was liberating for us as we could focus on aspects of representation while negotiating with our own heteronormative conditioning without worrying about having articulate and politically correct sounding characters,” said “Badhaai Do” director Harshavardhan Kulkarni. “It helped us locate the film in familiar realities of caste, class, and patriarchal family units. I feel that too often, we tend to gloss over the fact that sexuality is only one aspect of our being, and it exists within the many other aspects which govern daily life in large parts of our country.”

In recent years, the Indian film industry has released some critical films that show real-world issues of the Indian LGBTQ and intersex community. Films like “Badhaai Do,” “Subh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan” and many more have not only created an impact on Indian society but also started the discussion.

Samantha Ruth Prabhu, an Indian film star who won millions of hearts across India and numerous awards for her contribution to Indian cinema, told the Blade that Indian movies and the film industry are constantly evolving.

“I do believe we have a long way to go before mainstream films refrain from crudity, insensitive humor and homophobia completely,” said Prabhu. “I am extremely proud of having been a part of a path breaking and ambitious film like ‘Super Deluxe.’ The film tied many intricate stories to an overarching philosophy, so I wouldn’t say it was only about a transgender person. The characters portrayed by me and Mr. Vijay Sethupathy (an actor who appeared in ‘Super Deluxe’ with Prabhu) were similar in that they both exhibited their own brand of bravery.”

Prabhu has joined the cast for her next LGBTQ and intersex film, “Arrangements of Love.” Wales-based BAFTA-winning director Philip John is also joining the team as director. The film will revolve around an Indian man in Wales who visits his homeland to find his estranged father. Prabhu will play a bisexual detective who becomes part of the search.

“The industry is evolving slowly but surely. There was a time when people were forced to tuck away a very real part of themselves in the way they told their stories, in a bid to conform. That thankfully has changed,” said Prabhu. “Directors and scriptwriters are being more real, and the audience is here and ready for it!”

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CALENDAR |

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Friday, July 15

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 at (justin@thedccenter.org).

SaintFridays DC will be at 10 p.m. at Saint Yves. Guests are encouraged to come and enjoy the night with music from Js featuring R’n’B, soca, hip-hop and dancehall. Tickets are $50 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Saturday, July 16 The DC center for the LGBTQ Community will host a facilitator training at 11 a.m. virtually. This event is for group leaders and facilitators that operate support groups within the DC Center, as well as those interested in becoming a facilitator. All are encouraged to come to learn, share challenges, and solutions. For more information, email justin@thedccenter. org.

Virtual Yoga Class with Charles M. will be at 12 p.m. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breath work, and meditation. Registration is available on the DC Center’s website.

Howard County Pride hosts a picnic on July 16. Executive CALVIN BALL recently announced formation of a new LGBTQ Commission in the county.

Sunday, July 17 LGBTQ Coffee and Conversation will be at 12 p.m. at As You Are. This event is for people trying to make friends in the LGBTQ community after two years of the pandemic. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Kiki Sundays will be at 6 p.m. at Wuntergarten. This event is a monthly drag party featuring hosts Crystal Edge and Katrina Colby. There will be drag bingo, games, music provided by a live DJ and a giveaway provided by Deep Eddy Vodka. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Monday, July 18 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 with. For more information, visit the Center Aging’s Facebook or Twitter.

Genderqueer DC will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a support group on Zoom for people who identify outside of the gender binary. For more details, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

Tuesday, July 19 Bi Roundtable Discussion will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This event is an opportunity for people to gather to discuss issues related to bisexuality or as bi individuals in a private setting. For more details, visit Facebook or Meetup.

Transmasculine and Nonbinary Social Hour will be at 6 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing Co. Friends and partners are welcome when accompanied by someone who is transmasculine. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Wednesday, July 20 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-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely “applicants.”

BookMen DC will be at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom. Book Men DC is an informal group of men who are interested in fiction and non-fiction gay literature. For more information, visit BookMen’s website.

Thursday, July 21 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 supportdesk@thedccenter.org or call 202-682-2245.

Poly Group Discussion will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This group is designed to be a forum for people at all different stages to discuss polyamory and other consensual non-monogamous relationships. For more details, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

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(Photo courtesy of Howard County government)

OUT & ABOUT BONBON fundraiser to benefit SMYAL New York and Washington D.C.-based production company FRNX-WRLD will host a fundraiser on Sunday, July 24 at 5 p.m. at 540 Penn St., N.E. The fundraiser, titled “BONBON,” will be a mini-festival with proceeds benefitting LGBTQ organization Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders, which supports and empowers LGBTQ youth in the D.C. area.

The festival will feature performances from DJs Dvonne, Tommy C and Kristy La Rata, among many others.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased on the festival’s website.

Howard County to host annual LGBTQ picnic Howard County Pride will host its annual “PFLAG HOCO Annual Picnic” on Saturday, July 16 at 4 p.m. at 5453 Harpers Farm Rd. Guests are encouraged to join the county’s LGBTQ community, family, and allies for a day of food, games and fun for the entire family.

PFLAG HoCo picnics are traditionally potluck. However, this year, Howard County Pride will provide food and also welcome families to bring any store-bought side, dessert or snack.

More details are available on the event’s official website.

Fiesta Asia to host street fair Fiesta Asia will host the 17th edition of its annual street fair on Saturday, July 16 at 11 a.m. at 400 Pennsylvania Ave., in front of Capitol Hill.

This event, a National Asian Heritage Festival signature event, will feature more than 1,000 performers, artisans, entrepreneurs, food vendors, and organizations on multiple stages representing more than 20 cultures.

This event is free and more details are available on Fiesta Asia’s website.

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‘Hot Wing King’ celebrates love between Black men Playwright pays tribute to her brother’s romance

By PATRICK FOLLIARD they attempt to transform 280 pounds of raw chicken and a multitude of spices into the Katori Hall’s Pulitzer Prize-winning dramedy “The Hot Wing King” now playing at Stubest bites in town. Well, that’s the intention, anyway. dio Theatre is inspired by her gay brother’s life experience.

In the kitchen, laughs and ribbing ensue. It’s after the frivolity culminates with a “Boys Studio’s program explains, Hall had mentioned to friend and colleague director Steve in the Band-esque” dance line that the play really comes to life. As the group breaks H. Broadnax III that her brother and his partner, two Black men in midlife, were starting off into pairs in other rooms and on the driveway basketball court, vulnerabilities and a life together in Memphis and it wasn’t an easy process. Broadnax encouraged Hall to tensions come to the fore. The playwright and director give each man his moment, and make them her next play. the talented cast runs with it.

Fast-forward to Broadnax staging the 2020 New York premiere. COVID closes the As Cordell, Marable gives an especially affecting performance, suggesting unshow. But now it’s in Washington with a new production and a different cast, again dicertainties beneath a strong rected by Broadnax. presence. And we’ve all met Like “The Mountaintop,” Morris’s Dwayne, a successful Hall’s fictionalized last night hotel manager who keeps his of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, emotions in check behind an “The Hot Wing King” is also set upbeat, always busy façade. in her hometown Memphis, The piece’s two straight Tenn., a city known for its histocharacters complicate matters ry of racial strife and more hapbelieveably. Dwayne’s nephpily for rhythm and blues, Elvis, ew EJ (Derrick Sanders III) is BBQ and hot wings. a good kid struggling to sucThe action unfolds over an ceed against the odds. Dwayne often fun but sometimes tense would like the son of his trag24 hours that begins on the eve ically killed sister to live with of the annual World Champihim, but EJ’s father, TJ (JaBen onship Hot Wing Contest and Early), a fundamentally decent Festival. guy who earns a precarious Cordell (Brian Marable) a forliving outside of the law, isn’t mer college baller turned fooddown with the plan. Though he ie, has recently left his wife and respects Dwayne and his detwo college-aged sons in St. signer lounge wear, he’s conLouis to be with his boyfriend cerned that living with gay men Dwayne (Blake Morris) in Memwill make 16-year-old EJ soft. phis. Living in Dwayne’s house, Set designer Michael Carlooking for work, and newly nahan’s realist three-room cutout, Cordell feels uneasy, so away (kitchen, living room, and when met with the opportunity a guestroom with a Diana Ross to again immerse himself in the poster above the bed) creates annual Hot Wing Festival and a comfortable refuge for pals, possibly win a much-needed BLAKE MORRIS and JABEN EARLY in The Hot Wing King. (Photo by Jati Lindsay) relations, and lovers. It’s ideal $5,000 cash prize, he’s more since ultimately, “The Hot Wing than eager to compete.

King” — the playwright’s fine tribute to her brother’s romance — celebrates loud laughAfter transforming the tidy home’s kitchen into a wing factory, Cordell gathers a duter, chosen family, and love shared between Black men. biously competent team of helpers nicknamed the New Wing Order including Dwayne The production inaugurates the newly designed Victor Shargai Theatre, an intimate and queer friends Big Charles (Bjorn DuPaty), a level headed barber who initially versatile black box named for the much-missed, out champion of Washington area thebrought Dwayne and Cordell together, and Big Charles’ sometimes love interest Isom ater.

(Kevin Michael Darnall), a witty dedicated player and New Orleans transplant. Together

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In ‘Neptune Frost,’ the future is nonbinary Praise for an ‘Afrofuturist sci-fi punk musical’

By JOHN PAUL KING scending those boundaries. Other characters, too, tend With all the big queer movies that came our way for this toward the nonbinary in presentation; in the enlightened year’s Pride month, it’s inevitable that a few would be lost collective, gender is just one of the many irrelevant differin the mix – an unfortunate fate, because it’s often the unences exploited by the powerful to maintain control over der-the-radar titles that most deserve to stand out from the society. Yet the ignorance that persists around such matters crowd. in our world cannot be disregarded, as we are reminded Fortunately, it’s never too late to discover (or to recomwhen repercussions from a gender trauma in Neptune’s mend) a hidden gem, and the upcoming digital release past become a threat to the security of the entire commune. of “Neptune Frost,” which premiered at last year’s Cannes The gender binary, prominent as it is in Williams’s screenFestival and enjoyed a brief but critically acclaimed theatplay, is not the only “illusion of duality” that “Neptune Frost” rical release in June, is a perfect opportunity to do both. endeavors to shatter, something it effects by taking us on a Created by Saul Williams – an acclaimed American poet, wild ride in which thematic threads intertwine and conflate screenwriter, musician, and actor – and co-directed by Wiluntil they all blend together like a fun house mirror maze liams and Rwandan-born artist and cinematographer Anibuilt of metaphors. Does that get a little confusing somesia Uzeyman, it’s described in its publicity material as “an times? Yes, it does, and gloriously so. It’s precisely because Afrofuturist sci-fi punk musical,” but while that label may it confounds our efforts to make linear sense of what we are convey something close to the movie’s general “flavor,” it seeing that the movie has the power to break our programfalls far short of capturing the multi-layered essence of the ming – and appropriately enough for a movie so heavily film itself. laden with the language, imagery, and conceptual building Set in the African hilltops of Burundi, the film intertwines blocks of computers, programming is what it’s all about. the separate flights of two refugees – Matalusa (Bertrand Williams and Uzeyman don’t just rely on short-circuiting Ninteretse “Kaya Free”), who is fleeing a life of enforced laour rational brains to get their points across, however; they bor as a coltan miner, and an intersex runaway named Nepdraw generously from the ability of cinema – and theater, tune (Elvis Ngabo/Cheryl Isheja) – as they journey across where both directors have spent considerable time honing the countryside; led by dreams and visions, their paths contheir sensibilities – to guide us into the heightened “meverge at a mysterious outpost in the wilderness, where a ta-reality” in which their story lives. Bathed in an exquisite would-be hackers’ collective dreams of disrupting “The Aucolor palette, laden with bold visual strokes and striking thority” by exposing its lies and corruption. The newcomers imagery, interwoven with symbolism as potent as it is deliquickly fall in love, and their connection provides the fuel cate, their movie mesmerizes us; indeed, one could watch the group needs to enact its plan for elevating the world’s “Neptune Frost” with the sound turned off and still absorb consciousness – but even with the help of a mystical power the full gist of its messaging. grid and guidance from higher dimensions, will their efforts To do so, however, would be to miss out on one of its be enough to make a difference? highlights: the music. It might be tempting to be skepIf the plotline seems vague, that’s because “Neptune tical about a science fiction musical, but the song score Frost” is not a movie that follows strict narrative rules. In(composed by Williams) quickly dispels any concerns of stead, it uses its setting and characters to transcend those gimmickry. There are no showy, glitzy Broadway-style earexpectations and take us into a frame of mind more conworms here; visceral yet erudite, observational yet fierce, ducive to an unrestricted flow of ideas. Equal parts primal the musical numbers bear more resemblance to the intermyth and dystopian techno-drama, it exists in a state of plujections of a classical Greek chorus, filtered through a rich ralities, where past and present, dream and reality, freedom musical legacy that stretches from traditional tribal chants and enslavement, and all of the other “binaries” whose inand rhythms to soulful laments and fiery rap. They are fully terplays define (and limit) our existence can be revealed as realized set pieces, each crucial to telling the story, and they spectrums in states of constant flux. deliver some of the film’s most potent imagery and ideas.

Key among the rigid constructs that the film challenges, On that subject, its tempting to delve into compariof course, is the idea of gender. Neptune, the film’s eponsons with great films and filmmakers evoked by “Neptune ymous intersex narrator, whose escape from a repressive Frost” — the near-psychedelic dream cinema of Alejandro tribal village is just as much an escape from repressive stricJodorowsky, for example, or the reggae-fueled rebellion of tures about gender and sexuality, is empowered by tran-

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CHERYL ISHEJA stars in ‘Neptune Frost.’

(Photo courtesy Kino Lorber)

Perry Henzell’s anti-heroic masterpiece “The Harder They Come.” Such observations seem moot, however, in relation to a movie whose uniqueness is part of its very essence; after all, Williams – who conceived the story as a graphic novel, explored it through three musical albums, and finally brought it to life on film – always intended it to be unlike anything else you’ve ever seen, because the stakes in our world are too high to retread old ideas.

“Maya Angelou once said that anything an artist writes should be written with the urgency of what they would write if someone were holding a gun in their mouth,” Williams writes in his director’s notes for the film. “The state of this country and the world has my mouth propped open enough to swallow whole timelines. We need art that is unafraid to challenge the narrative structure of our programming. Computational propaganda circulates at the speed of colonial diseases through indigenous populations. Music is a time-machine.”

That quote tells you everything you need to know going into “Neptune Frost.” It helps to be reassured that the cast of unknown (in America, at least) performers is stellar, each giving an impassioned and luminous performance, and that the film’s whirlwind of heady sociopolitical deprogramming is balanced by moments of sheer, incandescent humanity – and it’s undeniable that, without such elements, none of Williams’s and Uzeyman’s conceits would work.

Ultimately, though, the purpose of “Neptune Frost” is not to make you comfortable, or to reassure you with hope for the future, or to reinforce your faith in whatever spiritual center to which you like to anchor yourself; and though it reverberates with a proud and defiant Black voice, crying out against centuries of colonization, subjugation, exploitation, and genocide, it’s not even trying to raise awareness about Black issues, because the issues it thrusts into your consciousness go far deeper than race.

This movie is a call to action, no less urgent for being a musical, and it wants us to hack the world. “Neptune Frost” releases on all major VOD platforms July 26.

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New queer biographies make for ideal summer reading

Array of options, from somber to outlandish

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER Another Pride month is in the can.

Family Building through: All that planning, preparation and execution of • Adoption events is done, and now you find yourself with lots • Donor Agreements of time on your hands. So • Surrogacy why not reach for one of these great memoirs to read?

A little bit of memoir, a little bit of sympathy, advice, and several biographies are at the heart of “Here and Queer: A Queer Girl’s Guide to Life”

by Rowan Ellis, illustrated

by Jacky Sheridan (Quarto, $14.99). This book SERVING THE LGBT COMMUNITY FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS. NOW IN DC, MD & VA! leans mostly on the seri827 Woodside Parkway • Silver Spring, MD 20910 ous-but-lighter side, with plenty of colorful artwork p: 240.863.2441 • f: 240.491.9551 and suggestions for teen jfairfax@jenniferfairfax.com • www.jenniferfairfax girls on figuring out who they are and what it means.

There are fun activities, quizzes, essays, and tips inside; readers will find plenty of one-liners to take away, a comprehensive timeline of LGBTQ history, and biographies that reflect women of ‘How You Get Famous’ by Nicole Pasulka is a fun read many ages and races. That about drag in Brooklyn. all makes this a book that even adult women and, perhaps, some questioning boys will appreciate.

Speaking of lighthearted, try “Start Without Me (I’ll Be There in a Minute)” by Gary Janetti (Holt, $27.99). TV producer, writer, social media star, and sometimes curmudgeon Janetti is annoyed. Mighty annoyed in several essays here, but his aggravation is not meant to bring readers down. It’s meant to make you laugh and – with very funny, wry takes on finding the perfect tan and the perfect man, friendship with a nun, hotel rooms, mothers-in-law, “The Wizard of Oz,” vacations, weddings, and more – you will.

For something a little more somber, reach for “Side Affects: On Being Trans and Feeling Bad” by Hil Malatino (University of Minnesota Press, $21.95). Honesty is at the + Largest LGBT Founded Title Company root of this semi-biographical look at being trans: if you are trans, says Malatino, you may struggle with several righteously negative feelings you have — disconnect, anger, + Over 20 Years of Local Experience numbness, exhaustion — feelings that exist, in part, because of the times A D V E R T fear, I SI N G P R O burnout, OF + Top Washington Business Journal Ranked Title Company in which we live now and the transphobia that seems to be everywhere. Counteracting ISSUE DATE: 171208 SALES REPRESENTATIVE: these feelings – or, at least being able to survive and thrive despite them – may be as + Residential & Commercial Transactions REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of simple as some type of activism, and Malatino explains the details as he shares his own proof. Proof will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of the date of proof. will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday,Settlements the week of publication.Brown naff pitts + In-Home &Revisions In-Office Refinance story as well as many case studies. omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or And finally, if you love watching or participating in drag, then you’ll absolutely IONS any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair love “How You Get Famous” by Nicole Pasulka (Simon & Schuster, $27.99). This book GO REVISIONS competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the ADVERTISER SIGNATURE NS tells the story of with a the coat-check boy who loved performing in drag and who talked her washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless from any and all By signing this proof you are agreeing to your contract obligations Locations liability, 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, by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the foregoing representations payment and insertion schedule. bar-owning boss into letting her host a drag show in Brooklyn. But this was no oneand warranties.

Washington, D.C. Bethesda, MD Columbia, MD McLean, VA night stand and soon, the event had a lot of fans – among them, dozens of “kids” who sneaked into the club to practice their acts next to experienced performers. But when you’re on the edge of what’s about to be a popular kind of entertainment, amateur stadistricttitle.com tus doesn’t last long enough – and neither does this upbeat, wonderful book.

Licensed in DC, DE, MD, NJ, VA & WV And if these don’t fit the bill, be sure to ask your favorite booksellers or librarians for help. They’ve got your next best read in the can.

3 2 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • JULY 15, 202 2

Westminster Pride

Fourth annual LGBTQ celebration held in Maryland town (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

The fourth annual Westminster Pride Festival was held in downtown Westminster, Md. on Saturday, July 9.

Hagerstown Pride

‘Drag Race’ contestants Ongina and Coco Montrese headline festival (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

The 10th year of Hagerstown Hopes and Hagerstown Pride was celebrated at Doubs Woods Park in Hagerstown, Md. on Saturday, July 9. Ongina and Coco Montrese of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” were the headliners of the festival.

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Fab full-sized sedans

Jaguar XF, Mercedes S 500 offer great rides at very different price points

By JOE PHILLIPS As drivers flock to SUVs and crossovers, it’s as if the ubiquitous four-door sedan—poof!—has suddenly disappeared. Yet some steadfast sedans remain, including two absolutely fabulous rides below.

JAGUAR XF $47,000 Mpg: 23 city/32 highway 0 to 60 mph: 6.5 seconds Known for its super-luxe sedans, JAGUAR XF coupes and convertibles, even Jaguar has jumped on the sport-ute bandwagon. But though there are various Jag crossovers these days, at least one swanky sedan is still in the fleet: the XF mid-sizer. With streamlined looks—including a miles-long hood and swaybacked rear—this fetching chariot doesn’t disappoint.

Handling is more lithe than lively, with supple suspension and snug braking. While neither of the two available four-cylinder turbo engines are Formula 1 material, the XF is plenty powerful for everyday driving. And the inviting interior is both refined and spacious, with cushy seats and lots of breathing room for backseat passengers. Along with a classy mix of rich wood trim and sleek aluminum accents, the updated cabin boasts a wireless charger, decent storage and curved glass on the 11.4-inch infotainment touchscreen.

Thankfully, a gearshift lever is back to replace the previous (and decidedly boring) rotary-dial shifter. I test drove the upscale R-Dynamic model, with special badging, snazzy splitspoked wheels and optional British Racing Green paint — a nice touch. Other ritzy add-ons included soft-close doors, power rear-window shade, power headlight washers and premium 12-speaker Meridian stereo. Note to self: The trunk, though adequate, is smaller than the competition. And because the XF no longer comes with a punchy V6 or V8 engine, rivals like the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class are speedier. But those sport-tuned rides also cost more — often a lot more. Considering how expensive gas has become these days, I’d say saving money on a stately but less expensive sedan makes a lot of sense.

MERCEDES S 500 $112,000 Mpg: 21 city/30 highway 0 to 60 mph: 4.5 seconds At twice the price of a Jaguar XF, the MERCEDES S 500 Mercedes S 500 is almost twice as nice.

It’s certainly bigger, measuring 13 inches longer and weighing 1,000 pounds more than the Jaguar. And for the first time, power for the S 500 comes from an eco-friendly six-cylinder turbo versus the typical V8, which is still available on pricier models. With impressive horsepower and a 48-volt hybrid system for added oomph, the S 500 rockets from 0-to-60 mph in just 4.5 seconds — amazing for such a beefy sedan. Adaptive dampers and agile air-spring suspension eliminate any land-yacht body roll.

Instead, handling is more akin to a Porsche, while the cabin in this Benz beauty easily channels a Rolls-Royce. This includes a plethora of sumptuous upholstery and lacquer wood trim, as well as firewall insulation and other acoustic-absorbing materials to keep things eerily quiet.

Each front seat has 19 massage motors and 10 individual programs. Among the more than 120 recycled components are tony floor mats made from recycled fish nets and carpet remnants. A tasteful 12.8-inch central touchscreen has a sparkling OLED display. If the standard 15-speaker Burmester stereo doesn’t rock your world, a thunderous 30-speaker system with 4D surround sound is available.

Still not sufficiently impressed? Along with an optional refrigerator, there are heated and cooled cup holders. Reach over toward an empty seat or other area at night and an overhead pin light immediately shines down, then douses itself when you remove your hand. And there are 250 interior LEDs, including red ambient door lights that flash when a dangerous traffic situation is detected. Outside, the futuristic door handles—aerodynamically flush and hidden in the side panels—tastefully emerge and begin glowing as you approach the car. Bucking the trend to reduce or completely eliminate sedans from its lineup, Mercedes offers seven of them. These range from the affordable A Class to the fancy S Class flagship that is reviewed here. Sure, at first glance the $112,000 MSRP on an S 500 looks steep. But that sticker price is a bargain when a similarly tricked-out Rolls can easily set you back $500,000.

3 4 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • JULY 15, 202 2 • B US I NE S S

There are good reasons to buy, despite higher interest rates.

Should I buy a house even with higher interest rates?

Remember, you never get rent money back

By JOSEPH HUDSON

Should you buy a house despite higher interest rates?

Well, that depends on where you want to put your money.

If you are paying rent, let’s say even $2,000 a month, that comes out to be about $24,000 for an entire year. If you live in that apartment for three years and the rent doesn’t go up each year, that is $72,000. If there is a $350,000 condo for sale that you have your eye on, but the interest rate is higher, like 6%, yes, your monthly payment will be higher than it was had you locked in a 2.9% interest rate like some people did last year or the year before. But at the end of the day, do you ever get that rent check back?

No, you don’t. Even with a higher interest rate, if you live somewhere for three or four years and then sell it, you are going to get some of that money you are paying toward your mortgage back. It’s what we call “equity.” Yes, most of your payment at first goes toward interest, but you can also get tax deductions from your mortgage payment. I have a client right now who is closing on a condo this week because he was tired of paying high rent and having nothing to show for it at the end of the day.

If you go back to research interest rates, you will see that rates have been even higher than they are now in the past 20-30 years. Sometimes at 10%, or 12% or even higher. Rent prices seem like they are increasing too. I have helped several people find houses to rent recently and they have had to compete to get the unit and have had to sign multi-year leases to “win” the competition.

If you have questions about home ownership, mortgages, or how to write winning offers please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask.

Joseph Hudson

is a Realtor with The Rutstein Group of Compass.

Reach him at joseph@dcrealestate.com or 703-587-0597.

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3 6 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • JULY 15, 2022

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3 8 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • JULY 15, 2022 • C L A S S I F I E D S

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J ULY 1 5 , 2 0 2 2 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 3 9