Washington Blade, Volume 53, Issue 48, December 02, 2022

Respect for Marriage Act passes with bipartisan support, PAGE 12

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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Ruby Corado withdrew $400,000 of Casa Ruby funds: D.C. att’y gen’l

Complaint says she transferred money to banks in El Salvador

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

The Office of the D.C. Attorney General on Monday filed an amended civil complaint in D.C. Superior Court against Casa Ruby and its founder and former executive director Ruby Corado that includes new allegations, in cluding claims that Corado withdrew more than $400,000 of Casa Ruby funds for unauthorized use in El Salvador.

The 25-page amended complaint adds multiple new allegations to the Attorney General office’s original com plaint against Casa Ruby filed on July 29. That complaint, among other things, charged the nonprofit LGBTQ com munity services organization and Corado with violating the D.C. Nonprofit Corporations Act in connection with its financial dealings.

review the new allegations in the AG office’s amended complaint.

Among other things, the AG office’s amended com plaint adds three new defendants to what legal observers say is the equivalent of a lawsuit by the D.C. government against Corado and Casa Ruby. The new defendants named in the complaint are limited liability companies created and controlled by Corado to purportedly perform services in support of Casa Ruby.

They include a new version of Casa Ruby called Casa Ruby LLC doing business as Moxie Health; Pneuma Be havioral Health LLC; and Tigloballogistics LLC doing busi ness as Casa Ruby Pharmacy.

ed complaint says, Corado transferred over $400,000 from two Casa Ruby related accounts “to accounts she held un der her birth name in two El Salvador banks.” It says the Casa Ruby board “never authorized any of these transfers.”

In addition to the financial related allegations, the amended complaint charges Casa Ruby and Corado with violating D.C.’s Wage Payment and Collection Law and the D.C. Minimum Wage Revision Act by failing to pay Casa Ruby employees all the wages they earned for their work several months before Casa Ruby closed its operations in July 2022.

“At various times between July 2021 and July 2022, while Corado was freely supplementing her $260,000 salary with additional funds drawn from Casa Ruby’s bank accounts, many of Casa Ruby’s employees were paid only $15.00 per hour, less than the minimum wage in the Dis trict of Columbia as of July 1, 2021,” the amended com plaint says. “None of these employees received the full wages they earned,” it says.

One of the former employees told the Washington Blade most of the remaining employees during Casa Ruby’s final months before its shutdown were paid late or not paid at all. Under the two labor related laws the amended complaint has charged Casa Ruby and Corado with violating, an employer could be required to pay the employees any lost or missing wages.

But the Receiver’s Second Interim Report filed in Octo ber by the Alston Foundation says among other improper financial dealings, Casa Ruby failed to pay the U.S. Inter nal Revenue Service payroll taxes withheld from its em ployees. The AG office’s amended complaint says that as of June of this year, Casa Ruby owed the IRS $127,435 in employment taxes, not including interest and penalties.

The receiver’s report points out that under federal law, employers that owe back taxes to the IRS must pay those claims first. “Thus, after all outstanding payroll taxes have been paid off, there is little chance that there will be any thing left for any other debts or obligations like past rent or wages,” the report says.

The amended complaint also follows the approval by D.C. Superior Court Judge Danya Dayson of a request in August by the Attorney General’s office to place Casa Ruby under receivership and to appoint the Wanda Alston Foundation as the receiver. The D.C.-based Alston Foun dation provides housing services for homeless LGBTQ youth.

On Oct. 28, the Alston Foundation released its Receiv er’s Second Interim Report on its findings related to Casa Ruby’s finances. The report points to some of the same unexplained and unauthorized expenditures and trans fers of Casa Ruby’s funds by Corado that are included in the AG office’s amended complaint.

The Alston Foundation had been scheduled to release its Receiver’s Third Interim Report also on Monday, Nov. 28. But Alston Foundation Executive Director June Cren shaw told the Washington Blade the foundation request ed an extension of that deadline to give it a chance to

The amended complaint notes that Corado, who claimed the new companies, especially the pharmacy, were part of Casa Ruby’s mission, never received approv al to create the companies from the Casa Ruby board of directors, which the AG’s office has said rarely met and failed to provide any oversight of Corado’s actions.

According to the amended complaint, Corado trans ferred large sums of money from the original Casa Ruby to these companies and at some point, transferred funds from the new companies to her own personal bank ac count.

Both the earlier complaint filed in July and the amend ed complaint allege that Corado transferred as much as $500,000 of Casa Ruby’s funds to create what she said was a new Casa Ruby in El Salvador approved by the Casa Ruby board. But the earlier and amended complaints allege that the board never authorized the El Salvador operation.

Between April 2021 and September 2022, the amend

The amended complaint filed by the AG’s office says a copy of the amended complaint was sent to Corado through an email address, which has been the only known way of reaching Corado. Former Casa Ruby employees have said she had been spending most of her time over the past year or longer in El Salvador. The complaint says that as of October, Corado still had not retained an attor ney to represent her and was representing herself in a process known as pro se representation.

The Blade couldn’t immediately reach Corado for com ment on the amended complaint through the same email address.

During a virtual court hearing in September, Corado denied any improper or illegal financial practices and blamed the D.C. government for Casa Ruby’s collapse, saying city agencies cut off funding for Casa Ruby with out a legitimate reason. However, the D.C. Department of Human Services, which provided much of Casa Ruby’s funding through grants, has said the funding was stopped after Casa Ruby failed to submit financial reports required for all grant recipients that account for how the grant mon ey is spent.

RUBY CORADO faces new allegations after her organization collapsed earlier this year.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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Club Q ‘family’ gathers at city hall in Colorado Springs

‘Honored to share symbol of hope, love, and unity’

By BRODY LEVESQUE

In a show of solidarity, support, and love for its LGBTQ community devastated by the mass shooting at Club Q, several thousand people gathered in front of city hall in downtown Colorado Springs on Nov. 23.

The rally of support featured the unfurling of a 25-foot segment of the larger LGBTQ Pride flag that was created and displayed to mark the 25th anniversary of the first Pride flag created by Gilbert Baker, which was also displayed in Orlando after the Pulse mass shooting.

Addressing the massive gathering, City Council Representative Nancy Henjum whose district includes Club Q, said:

“This morning I am honored to serve as manager this ceremony and to represent our City Council, our Mayor, and other City Leaders. Standing with us today are( Mayor John Suthers, Police Chief Adrian Vasquez, Fire Chief Randy Royal, District Attorney Michael Allen and Jessie Pocock, the Executive Director of Inside Out and the many folks she has gathered to help make today happen.

support by unfurling this flag on our historic 1904 building.

“In hearing the story of the journey of this sacred cloth from its custodian Mark Ebenhoch, we learned of its incredible healing power. Flags are important sym bols that express identity, community, and solidarity. SO NOW – Let’s call this flag down from the top of our City Hall. All together let’s say: LOVE BEATS HATE! LOVE WINS!”

Jessie Pocock, the executive director and CEO of Inside Out Youth Services LGBTQ noted, “As Colorado Springs mourns, we are heartened that this historic flag has been offered for display. We are grateful for this incredible demonstration of compassion.”

The flag, measuring 14 by 25 feet, is one section of the historic Rainbow25 flag sewn together by Gilbert Baker in Key West, Fla., in 2003 to create a 1.25-mile long flag in the original eight colors (versus the six colors that became more common). That flag marked the 25th anniversary of the 1978 flag originally created by Baker. The Sea to Sea Flag was later cut into sections, and Section 93 is preserved as the Sa cred Cloth. It has traveled the globe to be displayed at celebrations, occasions of mourning, and historic moments.

“We are honored to share this symbol of hope, love and unity with the people of Colorado Springs in their time of sorrow,” said Mark Ebenhoch, Sacred Cloth Project director.

The alleged shooter had a video “Advisement Hearing” last week. In response to the court documents filed last week in which defense lawyers alleged that the suspect is non-binary, GLAAD responded in an emailed statement:

“GLAAD stands in full solidarity with the Club Q family devastated by the heinous and horrific acts of a mass murderer. As our com munity has said from the beginning, regardless of the motive, the LGBTQ community has been, and continues to be, under attack. As we wait for evidence and information to emerge, what we do know is that this violent and unspeakable crime, which clearly targeted LGBTQ people, illustrates two facts:

“One, the epidemic of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, especially anti-trans gender rhetoric, is infecting every part of America, created by pol iticians in their crass drive for power, parroted by right-wing media outlets, and amplified by social media platforms who prioritize prof its over public safety. And two: assault weapons continue to sense lessly end American lives and we need common-sense gun safety reform now.”

In fact, newly released GLAAD polling now shows a worsening cli mate for LGBTQ people: 72% of transgender people and 48% of the LGBTQ community overall say that the current political environment makes them fear for their personal safety.”

“This flag which we are about to unfurl was designed and created by Gilbert Bak er. He was the designer of the original rainbow flag. 25 years later to commemorate its anniversary Mr. Baker then worked with over 2000 volunteers to create a 1.25-milelong rainbow flag. The flag was later cut into 25- foot sections for display and use around the world. The section we will unfurl today – section 93 — has been in dozens of ceremonies across the world. To name just a few: It appeared at The Supreme Court for the announcement of the 2015 decision for marriage equality. And as it was leaving the White House from an LGBT Presidential Reception on June 9, 2016, it was diverted from a preplanned display in New Orleans to arrive in Orlando, Florida where it was offered as a gesture of love support and healing in response to the Pulse nightclub massacre. It hung in downtown Orlando and graced a memorial ceremony for those 49 lives lost. It returns each June on the anniversary of that massacre. We re ceive this flag with the same gratitude that the City of Orlando did those 6 years ago.

“What does the future look like for Colorado Springs and especially for the LGBTQ+ community? There is so much love and support for you here today. We MUST contin ue that for the days, weeks, years, and lifetimes to come – especially for queer people of color and for transgender people. We heard from many of you yesterday in this very building that you don’t feel safe, you don’t feel respected – that we must do bet ter. Yes – we MUST do better. We WILL do better. And we will start with our display of

President Joe Biden, spending the Thanksgiving holiday with the first lady and family members in Nantucket, Mass., called Club Q co-owners Nic Grzecka and Matthew Haynes.

The president and the first lady offered condolences and reiterated their support for the community as well as their commitment to fighting back against hate and gun violence. They also thanked the two men for the ‘incredible contributions they have made and will continue to make to Colorado Springs.’

The president told reporters en route to Nantucket, reflecting on the mass shooting at the LGBTQ club and then another mass shooting Tuesday, at a Walmart store when a night manager opened fire in Chesapeake, Va., killing six, and wounding at least half a dozen more, said he has plans to support a bill banning assault rifles during the lame-duck session before the next Congress is seated in January.

“I’m going to do it whenever — I got to make that assessment as I get in and start counting the votes,” Biden said

As the memorial outside Club Q grows, more attention is now being focused on the needs of the survivors and others in the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs affected by the mass shooting.

An annual ‘Friendsgiving’ feast for the members of the LGBTQ community unable to spend time with relatives because of their being LGBTQ and which was normally held by the owners and staff of Club Q was shifted to a community dinner at the Col orado Springs MCC Church.

Club Q ‘family’ gathers on the steps of City Hall in Colorado Springs on Nov. 23. (Photo courtesy of GLAAD)

Forging relationships that build financial opportunity

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) share a goal of expanding economic opportunity in low-income communities by providing access to financial products and services for local residents and businesses. At TD Bank, we’re proud of our support for and relationships with CDFIs that are playing a vital role in bringing capital resources to distressed or underserved communities. Our dedication to our collaborations runs deep:

Brooklyn Alliance Capital

Brooklyn Alliance Capital, Inc. provides financing to minority and immigrant entrepreneurs and low-income small business owners to increase financial stability and foster economic growth that create jobs in Brooklyn. The group offers micro-loans of $500 - $10,000 to small- and medium-sized businesses.

Through TD Bank’s recent Equity Equivalent (EQ2) commitment to support black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) businesses, we were able to provide Brooklyn Capital Alliance an EQ2 investment as well as a working capital line of credit to help them bring more capital to business owners. Through their partner organization, The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, we provide Financial Empowerment seminars that help entrepreneurs access the resources needed to run and grow their businesses.

According to Stevenson Joseph, Director, Brooklyn Alliance Capital Lending Programs, TD Bank’s support is “critical.”

“It enables [Brooklyn Alliance Capital, Inc.] to leverage the funding to increase our lending to businesses in Brooklyn’s underserved neighborhoods,” Joseph says. “TD’s EQ2 investment to Brooklyn Alliance Capital (BAC) is beneficial as it functions like equity, which we need to increase our lending capacity. Due to the valuable role this transaction plays in BAC’s balance sheet, we can attract additional debt capital and thereby increase our lending portfolio and business assistance. We look forward to putting this capital to work throughout the borough’s communities in need.”

Pursuit

Pursuit works with banks, economic development organizations and more to provide small-businesses lending programs that create transformation and growth. Organizations that partner with Pursuit expand their ability to meet business customers’ financing needs — whether it’s $10,000 or $5,500,000 — and help access the right financing option from a suite of more than 15 loan programs. TD Bank has worked with Pursuit for many years, providing support with capital, collaborations on financial literacy programs, and other initiatives. As with Brooklyn Capital Alliance, our EQ2 commitment to support BIPOC businesses enabled us to provide Pursuit an EQ2 In-

vestment and to help them bring more capital to business owners. Our bank also maintains multiple facilities with Pursuit, including one specifically to fund NYC MWBE contracts, which TD Bank backed with $5M in assistance.

We also work with Pursuit to help our customers who are not bank-ready in the traditional sense, helping them get capital then working together to help get them back to traditional bank lending. We also co-facilitate Small Business Empowerment classes, which help our customers gain access to a range of resources.

“Partnerships between Community Development Financial Institutions and banks are critical to avoiding predatory lenders and building credit,” says Steve Cohen, president of Pursuit Community Finance. “For example, TD Bank provides Pursuit with lowcost capital for our small business loans so we can offer favorable products and help businesses avoid high-cost loans from the online lenders. Together with Pursuit’s intensive advisory services, this assistance helps businesses stabilize, grow and get on a path to traditional bank lending, a major goal for mission-based lenders like Pursuit.”

Helping CDFIs build stronger communities

Getting capital on the ground is key to helping businesses in underserved communities grow and thrive. TD Bank’s work with Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) is an important link in the chain connecting more business owners in more place with more opportunity — building more sustainable financial ecosystems.

“TD Bank is in an invaluable sponsor of nglccNY’s work throughout New York State, as well as the nationwide community of LGBTQ2+ entrepreneurs that the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) serves throughout the United States and around the world,” says Jonathan Lovitz, Special Advisor to NGLCC & Interim Director of nglccNY. “Simply put: TD helps NGLCC and nglccNY ensure the a future where being out and being successful in business never need to be mutually exclusive. By helping connect our business owners and community leaders to essential financial and leadership resources, TD Bank is helping our network discover unprecedented opportunity to thrive in business as role models for future generations. Additionally, TD team members generously contribute their time and expertise as mentors, program facilitators, and site visitors for new LGBT-owned Business Enterprises.”

“Our collaboration with CDFIs is essential and a reflection of TD’s commitment to financial security, better health and connected communities,” says Steven Garibell, Vice President of Business Development LGBTQ2+. “Our investment in CDFIs is more than a financial commitment; it reflects our even deeper commitment to the well-being of the people and the places we serve.”

We’re here to listen and to help. Contact a Community Business Development Officer today at [CommunityBusinessDevelopment@TDBank.com].

The powerful gay man behind Tucker Carlson’s show

NEW YORK – On his first Fox News broadcast following the November 19th mass shooting at Club Q, the LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs in which five people were murdered and at least 17 were injured, Tucker Carlson was undaunted, continuing his relentless smearing of LGBTQ people as “groomers” who are dangerous to children.

After a perfunctory condemnation of the violence, Carlson pivoted back to railing against “drag time story hour for fifth graders” and “genital mutilation of minors” while a graphic image behind him blared, “STOP SEXUALIZING KIDS.”

The following night, Carlson promoted the grotesque view that the staff and patrons of Club Q — where a drag performance was scheduled on that Saturday night of the attack — had it all coming to them. He brought on a guest who said the shooting was “expected and predictable,” and that “it won’t stop until we end this evil agenda that is attacking children.”

Twisted enough. But even more shocking is the little-known fact that a gay man helped craft, mold and disseminate these bloodcurdling distortions and the horren dous demonization against his own community.

A gay man supercharges Carlson’s promotion of Florida’s odious “don’t say gay” law, which stigmatizes queer kids, teachers and parents — a brutal campaign in which Carlson at one point said teachers who don’t comply “should get beaten up.” And a gay man empowers Carlson’s crusade against trans teens and and their parents, a crusade in which Carlson stated that hospitals should expect violent threats for providing gender-affirming care.

That gay man, Justin Wells, helped promulgate the kind of hate that leads to violence. A mass shooting that happened in the same kind of nightclub at which Wells, in years past, danced the night away in Miami Beach and elsewhere, liberating himself from the world outside and surely never imagining he’d be shot dead.

Now he’s aided the extremists who deny that sense of safety and liberation to every future generation of queer people.

Wells runs the entire Tucker Carlson operation, and

is responsible for imprinting the Tucker Carlson brand, which is all about emboldening white heterosexual male grievance, furthering the racist conspiracy of  “replacement theory” and pushing an increasingly virulent anti-LGBTQ agenda. Wells is Senior Executive Producer of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and also holds the title of Vice President of Tucker Carlson Digital Products.

out on remotes with Carlson, helping to craft the story; Wells, shoulder-to-shoulder with military Special Forces in front of their Airbus chopper; and Wells, meeting with former President Donald Trump. The site describes Wells as “leading the Tucker Carlson Team across multiple platforms at Fox News Media,” and lays out the Carlson Fox empire he oversees.

Angelo Carusone, President and CEO of Media Matters, the media watchdog group that is laser-focused on Fox News and Carlson, observed, “It’s unlikely that any narrative would get broadcast by Tucker without significant buy-in from Justin.” In a clip highlighted by Media Matters in which Wells was interviewed by Carlson on Carlson’s show last year as Carlson’s Fox Nation documentaries began launching, Wells brags about the lati tude Fox News executives give him: “They believe in what we’re doing and have since we launched ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.’”

“He’s been promoted to a level that no other produc er has been since, maybe, David Tabocoff at O’Reilly,” a former Fox employee told me, describing how Tabocoff, who was at Fox with Bill O’Reilly for 16 years, produced O’Reilly’s shows, all of his various specials and interviews, and oversaw his entire brand, including his merchandis ing.

“I think that Justin has more power than Tabby [Tabacoff] ever had,” another Fox employee, a former producer, countered. “And there’s not another show that out-rates it. Influence-wise, everyone who’s conservative wants to be on Tucker.” Indeed, Wells has his own website, independent of Fox News’s site, JustinWells.com, something that surprised the former Fox News producer.

On the site, Wells touts his accomplishments: “Television Creator & Journalist. Senior Executive Producer & Vice President at Fox News Media.” It brims with photos meant to convey his power and importance: Wells,

It’s beyond horrific to think a gay man has helped to shape and widely disseminate a message of hate against LGBTQ people. This story is not, however, about a warped closet case, tormented by self-loathing, hiding his true self while bashing those like him. And thus, this story is not an outing, which involves exposing someone who covers up their sexual orientation while publicly presenting as heterosexual — though it certainly may be a startling revelation to a great many. It is, rather, about connecting the dots regarding a reality that seems to have been hiding in plain sight.

Wells has been married to another man for almost 10 years, and they openly celebrated their wedding among family and friends. They live together in a residence they purchased in New York shortly after they married. And they also own a country home together, with both names on the deed.

I have reviewed the relevant marriage and property data, and have viewed evidence of their publicly sharing their wedding day with friends. (I’m not referencing this information, nor reporting Wells’ spouse’s name, to pro tect the spouse’s privacy.)

MICHELANGELO SIGNORILE

U.S. diplomat says negotiations to release Griner stalled

In remarks published Monday, Elizabeth Rood, the U.S. chargée d’affaires in Moscow, told Russia’s state-owned RIA news agency that talks to free jailed Americans Brittney Gri ner and Paul Whelan were continuing through the “desig nated channel.”

During the long ranging interview covering a variety of subjects, Rood was asked if she intended to visit the impris oned WNBA star who is serving time in a Mordovian prison.

“Of course, we are going to do this as soon as the Rus sian authorities give us permission to visit Brittney Griner in the new colony where she was recently transferred,” the American diplomat responded and in answer to a fol low-up question regarding Griner’s status, “As far as we understood from talking to her, she is healthy and doing as well as can be expected in her difficult circumstances.”

RIA then focused on the negotiations asking for some of the details including the possibility of convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout being included in the “exchange list” in the potential prisoner swap deal between the Russian and American authorities.

“I can say that the United States continues to discuss with the Russian authorities through special channels the issue

of the release of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.  As we have already said, the United States has submitted a seri ous proposal for consideration. We finalized this proposal and offered alternatives. Unfortunately, the Russian Feder ation has so far received no serious response to these pro posals, ” the U.S. chargée d’affaires answered.

“However, I would like to emphasize that the main con

cern and the first priority of the U.S. Embassy is to ensure the well-being of the American citizens who are here. And the situation is not limited to the names of those who are mentioned in the media headlines — a number of American citizens are kept in Russian prisons. We are extremely con cerned about the condition of each of them, and we con tinue to follow their affairs very closely and support them in every possible way,” she added.

RIA then asked: “What did you mean by ‘serious re sponse’ from Russia? Moscow has repeatedly stressed that the negotiations are being conducted through profession al channels … What does the American side mean by “se rious response”?

Rood answered telling RIA; “I mean, we have made a se rious proposal that reflects our intention to take action to free American prisoners. We did not see a serious response from the Russian side to our proposal.”

“By ‘serious answer’ do you mean consent?” RIA asked in a follow-up question.

“I mean an answer that would help us come to an agree ment,” she answered.

BRODY LEVESQUE

JUSTIN WELLS is a senior executive at Fox News. (Screenshot/YouTube Fox News)

(Blade photo by Michael Key)

HISTORIC: Senate approves Respect for Marriage Act Bill enhances protections for same-sex nuptials

By CHRISTOPHER KANE

The U.S. Senate voted 61-36 on Tuesday to officially pass the Respect for Marriage Act, a historic piece of leg islation that is expected to soon become law after mem bers in the U.S. House of Representatives sign off on a bi partisan amendment added by their Senate colleagues.

Designed as a vehicle to mitigate the fallout if the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority guts the constitutional protections for marriage equality, the bill was narrowly construed — in part to help guarantee that it withstands potential challenges from conservative legal actors.

Nevertheless, the Respect for Marriage Act is a land mark bill that has been backed by virtually every LGBTQ advocacy organization in the country. The legislation repeals the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act while enshrining into law substantive protections for same-sex couples.

Regardless of whether or how the high court might decide to revisit the marriage question, the Respect for Marriage Act will protect the federally ordained rights and benefits that have been enjoyed by married gay and lesbian couples. And should the court pave the way for conservative states like Texas to renew their bans on same-sex marriage, the law will require them to officially recognize and honor those that are performed in jurisdic tions where they remain legal.

Despite earning broad bipartisan support from law makers in the House, which passed its version of the bill this summer with an overwhelming majority — including votes from 47 Republican members — the Respect for Marriage Act faced an uncertain future in the Senate.

Conservative members in the chamber’s Republican caucus argued the bill would jeopardize religious free doms, concerns that a group of five bipartisan senators sought to allay with an amendment that, among other provisions, clarifies the right of religious nonprofit orga nizations to refuse “any services, facilities, or goods for the solemnization or celebration of a marriage.”

Writing the amendment were Sens. Susan Col lins (R-Maine), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Kyrsten Sine ma (D-Ariz.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who was considered the driving force behind the bill’s passage through the Senate.

Several Republican senators proposed additional amendments that — per a narrow procedural vote before and another shortly after the Thanksgiving break — were not put up for debate, thereby allowing the Respect for Marriage Act to clear the Senate with Tuesday’s vote.

Barely surpassing the 60-vote filibuster-proof majority with one extra “yea,” the Senate’s passage of the bill came despite the best efforts of conservative opponents who had run coordinated campaigns to erode support among GOP members.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris each issued statements shortly after Tuesday’s vote.

The president celebrated the “bipartisan achievement” by Congress, writing: “For millions of Americans, this leg islation will safeguard the rights and protections to which LGBTQI+ and interracial couples and their children are entitled. It will also ensure that, for generations to follow, LGBTQI+ youth will grow up knowing that they, too, can lead full, happy lives and build families of their own.”

Harris wrote, “The Respect for Marriage Act ultimately stands for a simple principle: all Americans are equal and their government should treat them that way. Today, we are one step closer to achieving that ideal with pride.”

The Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus also praised the victory.

“Today, a bipartisan group of 61 Senators made clear that this country will not roll back the clock on marriage equality,” said Congressman David Cicilline (D-R.I.), chair of the Equality Caucus. “The Respect for Marriage Act is a crucial safeguard for LGBTQ+ people whose lives have been forever changed by Obergefell v. Hodges and Americans who are in interracial marriages thanks to Lov ing v. Virginia. On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court de clared marriage equality as the law of the land. Today, the Senate ensured those marriages will continue to be protected.”

“Diverse faith traditions across the nation came togeth er to demand respect for LGBTQ+ Americans – we staked our ground and refused to let this opportunity slip away, ” said Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, president of the Interfaith Alliance, in a statement Tuesday.

“The LGBTQ+ community has faced ongoing deadly vi olence, legislative assaults and constant threats — includ

ing the deadly shooting in Colorado Springs barely one week ago,” said Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in a statement from the organization.

“Today, with the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act in the Senate — a historic moment that marks the first federal legislative win for LGBTQ+ equality in over 10 years, since the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell — the 568,000 same-sex married couples in this country can breathe a sigh of relief that their marriages will be pro tected from future attacks,” said Robinson, who yesterday began her tenure as the first Black queer woman to lead America’s largest LGBTQ organization.

GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis responded on Twitter and in a statement, writing: “As so many LGBTQ people face uncertainty and harm on the state level and extrem ists on the Supreme Court vow to reconsider the land mark Obergefell decision, this victory will provide com fort and security to millions of people and their families.”

“Today’s bipartisan vote in the Senate to pass the Re spect for Marriage Act is a proud moment for our country and an affirmation that, notwithstanding our differenc es, we share a profound commitment to the principle of equality and justice for all,” reads a statement from Na tional Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon.

Nonbinary Dept. of Energy official faces theft charge

The Department of Energy replaced a nonbinary senior official who had served as the agency’s deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition after they were charged with a felony over an incident at Minneapo lis-St. Paul International Airport on Sept. 16.

Sam Brinton, whose departure from the Energy De partment was confirmed by a spokesperson to the New York Post, did not immediately respond to the Washington Blade’s request for comment via Facebook Messenger.

Brinton, who has dual degrees from MIT and years of experience in nuclear waste management and climate change work, is also an LGBTQ activist who made history this year with their appointment as the first openly gen der-fluid person to serve in a senior government post.

A 2018 column in the Los Angeles Times argued there was a cultural shift afoot towards greater acceptance of transgender and gender fluid people — using, as an intro ductory anecdote, Brinton’s appearance at the Academy

Awards. According to the author, Brinton spoke passion ately about their suicide prevention work for the Trevor

Project and was embraced by Hollywood icons like Jane Fonda.

They also encountered some hateful backlash from anti-LGBTQ figures on the right, which was renewed on Monday with the news about Brinton’s dismissal pursuant to the felony charges filed against them, which conserva tive-leaning outlets were among the first to report.

According to reporting in the New York Post, during an initial conversation with police, Brinton allegedly de nied that they had stolen another passenger’s suitcase. Subsequently, Brinton told investigators they accidentally grabbed the wrong bag at the luggage carousel by mis take out of exhaustion.

Court filings indicate that Brinton, upon realizing they had mistakenly taken someone else’s bag, emptied its contents into dresser drawers in their hotel room, anxious about the prospect of facing accusations of property theft.

CHRISTOPHER KANE

Sen. TAMMY BALDWIN is credited with shepherding the Respect for Marriage Act through the Senate.

(Photo by Chris Schmitt Photography)

SAM BRINTON faces a felony charge after an alleged theft at an airport.

LGBTQ rights overshadow World Cup

Same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death in Qatar

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Qatar’s LGBTQI rights record continues to overshadow the 2022 World Cup that is taking place in the country.

Qatar is one of the handful of countries in the world in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain pun ishable by death.

A report that Human Rights Watch released in Octo ber notes Qatari officials between 2019 and September 2022 “arbitrarily arrested lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans gender (LGBT) people and subjected them to ill-treat ment in detention.” The Human Rights Watch report also documents six cases of “severe and repeated beatings” and five cases of “sexual harassment in police custody” during the same period.

“Security forces arrested people in public places based solely on their gender expression and unlawfully searched their phones,” said Human Rights Watch in a press release that announced the report. “As a require ment for their release, security forces mandated that transgender women detainees attend conversion thera py sessions at a government-sponsored ‘behavioral sup port center.’”

penalty” for homosexuality.

“I’m a man and I love men. I do — please don’t be shocked — have sex with other men. This is normal,” Minden told Al Thani. “So, please get used to it, or stay out of foot ball. Because the most important rule in football is, football is for ev eryone. It doesn’t matter if you’re lesbian, if you’re gay. It’s for every one. For the boys. For the girls. And for everyone in between. So, abol ish the death penalty. Abolish all of the penalties regarding sexual and gender identity.”

Peter Tatchell, a British activist, on Oct. 25 protested the country’s LGBTQ and intersex rights record while standing outside the Nation al Museum of Qatar in Doha, the country’s capital. British comedian Joe Harry Lycett has challenged David Beckham to walk away from a £10 million ($11.84 million) deal to be a World Cup ambassador.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Nov. 21 attended the U.S. men’s soccer team’s match against Wales. Dep uty Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Daniel Benaim told the Washington Blade the U.S. raised LGBTQ and intersex rights with the Qatari government “at depth” before the World Cup. (President Joe Biden in 2021 signed a memo that committed the U.S. to pro moting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administration’s overall foreign policy.)

Blinken during a Nov. 22 press conference in Doha with Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrah man Al Thani noted his statement that “all are welcome here for the World Cup is an important message for an event that brings together people from all walks of life, nations, faiths, sexual orientations, races, and other forms of diversity.”

but a destination. We hope to see the 2026 Men’s World Cup finally realizing that promise.”

The press release notes Athlete Ally is one of 16 LGBTQ and in tersex rights organization that is a member of the LGBTIQ Human Rights Sports Coalition, which seeks “to address the human rights violations and lack of protections for LGBTIQ+ people by FIFA and the Supreme Committee ahead of the event.” Pride House Inter national, ILGA Asia, the Federation of Gay Games and Hidayah are among the group’s other mem bers.

Players announced they would publicly support LGBTQ and inter sex rights during the World Cup.

The U.S. men’s soccer team re designed its team logo with a Pride flag in its badge that will be visible at the team’s hotel, media areas and events during the World Cup. (The U.S. on Tuesday defeated Iran, another country in which ho mosexuality remains punishable by death, 1-0.)

Belgium, Denmark, England, Germany, the Nether lands, Switzerland and Wales on Nov. 21 announced their team captains will not wear “one love” armbands during the World Cup after FIFA threatened to sanction them.

German players on Nov. 23 covered their mouths during a team photo to protest FIFA before they played Japan.

“It was a sign from the team, from us, that FIFA is muz zling us,” Germany coach Hansi Flick told reporters after the match.

Blinken during the Nov. 21 press conference in Doha also criticized FIFA.

The State Department’s 2021 human rights report notes LGBTQ and intersex people in Qatar “faced dis crimination under the law and in practice.” People with HIV/AIDS in the country also face discrimination.

“Authorities deported foreigners found to be HIV-pos itive upon arrival. Mandatory medical examinations were required for residents,” notes the State Department re port. “Since health screenings are required for nonresi dents to obtain work visas, some HIV-positive persons were denied work permits prior to arrival. The govern ment quarantined HIV-positive citizens and provided treatment for them.”

FIFA in 2010 named Qatar the host of the 2022 World Cup. The tournament began on Nov. 20.Activists ahead of the World Cup publicly challenged Qatar’s LGBTQ and intersex rights record.

Dario Minden on Sept. 19 during a human rights conference the German Football Association hosted in Frankfurt told Qatari Ambassador to Germany Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani to “abolish the death

World Cup Ambassador Khalid Salman earlier in the month during an interview with a German television sta tion described homosexuality as “damage in the mind.” The former Qatari soccer player also noted homosexu ality is “haram” or “forbidden” under Sharia law. A mem ber of the World Cup organizing committee abruptly stopped the interview after Salman made his comments.

“Every World Cup brings with it a tremendous opportu nity for a positive legacy, and with that legacy comes a re sponsibility,” said Athlete Ally Executive Director Hudson Taylor in a press release his organization issued on Nov. 18. “The failure to address and uphold critical standards of safety and nondiscrimination for people traveling to participate in and attend the World Cup, and for those who live in the host country, sets a dangerous precedent for future events.”

“FIFA has a responsibility to do their due diligence around LGBTIQ+ and other human rights protections or lack thereof, and to consistently monitor and respond to violations as they happen in real time during the Men’s World Cup,” he added in his statement. “We know that protecting, respecting and upholding human rights in and around mega-sporting events is not an aspiration

“It’s always concerning from my perspective when we see any restrictions on freedom of expression. It’s espe cially so when the expression is for diversity and for in clusion,” he said. “And in my judgment, at least, no one on a football pitch should be forced to choose between supporting these values and playing for their team.”

A man who identified himself as Mario Ferri on Monday ran onto the field with a Pride flag during the match be tween Portugal and Uruguay. Ferri was wearing a T-shirt with a Superman logo with “Save Ukraine” on the front and “Respect for Iranian Woman” on the back.

The Qatari government’s Supreme Committee for De livery and Legacy, which oversees World Cup planning, in a statement to CNN said authorities released Ferri, who is Italian, “shortly after being removed from the pitch.”

“As a consequence of his actions, and as is standard practice, his Hayya Card has been cancelled and he has been banned from attending future matches at this tour nament,” said the committee.

Reports that indicate security personnel have asked fans, American journalist Grant Wahl and others to re move rainbow-colored clothing and other items in order to attend matches have also emerged.

Brody Levesque and Dawn Ennis contributed to this story.

A lone protester waving a Pride flag disrupts a match at the World Cup earlier this week. (Screenshot via Al Jazeera)

(Screenshot via Al Jazeera)

BISHOP ALLYSON NELSON ABRAMS

, Ph.D.,

Fight for marriage equality continues

Since DOMA was struck down and we received marriage equality in the LGBTQIA+ community, I have performed numerous same-sex weddings (more than 25). Talking with a member of my congregation recently it came to my attention that many persons, including those in the LGBTQ community, have never had the wonderful privilege to attend a same-sex wedding, especially one in the church.

I remember the day DOMA was struck down and how excited I was about the freedom in the country for ALL persons to have the legal right to marry who they loved. I wrote an article years ago entitled “She deserves to be called my wife” before DOMA was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. I still feel very strongly about marriage today, and I don’t take our progress in marriage equality for granted.

It has taken blood, sweat, and a lot of tears by campaigning grassroots nonprofits and legislative pushback to attain the human right to wed the person we love and want to spend the rest of our days loving in the DMV area. Same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia has been legal for over a decade now, since 2010, with Maryland and Virginia following in 2013 and 2014 respectively. I am happy to say that many other states were progressive on this issue also and my wife and I were blessed to marry in the State of Iowa before federal marriage equality.

The fight is not over. Many viewed the overturning of Roe vs. Wade as a gateway to further setbacks while far right conservatives continue to deny that LGBTQ rights are not still in jeopardy, but I know otherwise.

There are 13 states that still have not legalized same-sex marriage; therefore, it is imperative that federal laws protect those that are unjustly affected by not overturning what has already been recognized as legal and binding. And like many outdated laws, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that allows slavery as a form of penal punishment, so too does the marriage act passed by 12 Republicans and all 50 Democratic senators to protect legalization of interracial marriages, another outdated law.

Does it make any sense for a couple to be turned down by 31 churches before they are allowed to marry with their family and friends present to witness their vow exchange? Well, such was the case with two men in the United Kingdom until finally they were able to marry last month in London.

Those who believe in the humanity of ALL people MUST continue to advocate for LGBTQ rights and laws. We would be best served if we would support our present administration as they continue to make advances with policies that protect LGBTQ persons and those who are marginalized. We too are America!

is pastor and founder of Empowerment Liberation Cathedral in Bowie, Md.

Those who believe in the humanity of all must advocate for LGBTQ rights

Bishop ALLYSON NELSON ABRAMS presiding over a same-sex marriage. (Photo courtesy Empowerment Liberation Cathedral)

never

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

Trump

Donald Trump and his friends are scary, but I will not sit back and let them win. My parents escaped Hitler, coming to the United States for a better life. My father’s parents were killed in Auschwitz. Until Trump became president, I never believed anything like that could happen here. While I still don’t, I now know it will take everyone speaking out and not acquiescing to him and his acolytes.

It is not only Jews and the LGBTQ community who are threatened. In the United States today all minorities and women are coming under fire. Our response must be not to only speak out, refuting hate every day, but working to see it doesn’t continue to threaten our lives. We must vote to ensure those who threaten our way of life never gain control.

Trump is a sexist, homophobic, racist pig. For four years he held a megaphone as president spreading hatred and enabling his followers to spread theirs in the public square. He capped four years with an attempted coup. He was stopped, but today he is trying to once again regain that megaphone. We cannot let him or anyone who supports him have it.

We must call out Trump and every one of his acolytes every time they do something like sit down to dinner with anti-Semites like Kanye West and his friend Nick Fuentes. Fuentes, a white supremacist and Holocaust denier, is a political commentator and live streamer banned from YouTube for his views. We cannot accept any excuses for such behavior. We must also call out those with the power to reach people like that, who don’t speak out. Those like Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. They are Jews, bringing their children up in the Jewish faith. Where are their voices? They must realize they and their children will not be spared if the likes of West and Fuentes take over our country.

There needs to be the outcry like there was when West first iterated his diatribe against the Jews forcing Adidas and others to cut their business ties with him.

Today we see movies and plays opening that speak to the horrors of racism and anti-Semitism. Movies like “Till,” about racism, and “Fabelmans,” the Steven Spielberg autobiographical movie about him facing anti-Semitism and bullying and the new Tom Stoppard play on Broadway, “Leopoldstadt.” Every day, and in every way, decent Americans must speak out and fight back; not with guns but with words, actions, and votes.

We are seeing gun violence climb in the United States, often based on hate. We shouldn’t be surprised with the easy access to guns, nearly 440 million in the hands of Americans, when someone’s hatred results in violent attacks on churches, synagogues, schools, movie theaters, or just on the streets in our neighborhoods. We see anger much too easily escalate into violence.

Again, whereas sexism, racism, homophobia are not new to American society, we worked for many years, and until Trump, managed to keep them somewhat under control. It was getting to a point where they were not acceptable to be spoken in the public square. Trump changed that. While we can fight the policies he proposed, like lowering taxes on the rich, or refusing to recognize climate change, the cultural changes he wrought will take decades to change. Putting the genie of hate back in the bottle will not be easy as we see in our country today. From his announcement for president to his comments on Charlottesville, where he said he could see good on both sides; one side being white supremacists and neo-Nazis, the other being those who opposed them, he allowed hatred to become acceptable.

Today we have not only Trump but the mini-Trumps who want to take over from him like Ron DeSantis in Florida and Glenn Youngkin in Virginia — those who cover their disgusting thoughts in a more acceptable public veneer, but who nonetheless end up working to advance the same goals as Trump, namely to marginalize every minority and allow them to be continuously threatened into submission.

But they will learn we will not be threatened without a response. We will not sit idly by while they ruin the country my parents, and so many others, came to seeking asylum and safety. We will fight for the country whose Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” We will continue to fight to include women in those beautiful words.

As a gay Jewish man, I will

let

win My parents escaped Hitler for an America that we must save

It hit me one morning this fall as I woke up: I’ve turned 70.

As I’ve been celebrating this milestone, I’ve marveled at the changes that have occurred for our LGBTQ community during my lifetime.

Marriage equality, Pete Buttigieg (or any LGBTQ person) running for president and/or the fab queer rom-com “Bros” would have been unimaginable when I began coming out 50 years ago.

Then, just three years after the Stonewall uprising, I and many other LGBTQ folk felt far more shame than pride about our queerness.

Most of us in that era wouldn’t have dreamed that, decades later, not only LGBTQ teens, but queer people our age would have marched, out and proud, in Pride parades. We’d never have thought that in the 21st century any of us would ever proudly say, shout or chant “we’re queer!”

Nothing is more emblematic to me of the progress made in LGBTQ rights from Stonewall to today than the evolution of the word “queer” from a hateful epithet to an expression of pride.

Today, the term “queer” can be found everywhere from news outlets (including NPR, the Blade, the New York Times and the Washington Post) to museum exhibits such as “Queering the Crip, Cripping the Queer” at the Schwules Museum Berlin through the end of January and “Queer Creativity Through the Ages: Artwork from the Center on Colfax Open Art Studio” at the Denver Art Museum through Dec. 31.

I can’t think of any of my under 60 friends, hetero or LGBTQ who don’t use the word “queer.” Sometimes they’re proudly writing it on Pride parade signs. Often, they use it as a neutral adjective. The way you’d say “they’re from Boston” or “he’s about six-feet tall.”

Many of my over-60 pals are beginning to use the word “queer.” If they’re not comfortable using it about themselves, they’re increasingly comfortable with others using it. My 70-something hetero cousins, who are LGBTQ allies, no longer feel I’m putting myself down when I say I’m queer.

Given that “queer” is so often used as an affirmation of identity or neutral descriptor, I was surprised when New York Times columnist Pamela Paul recently lamented the popularity of the “q-word.”

I’m an avid reader of Paul’s column. Paul, a former editor of the New York Times Book Review, is, like many writers, obsessed about language. She’s an astute observer of the culture and of how we use words.

Yet, I can’t help but wonder what Paul was thinking. “Language is always changing – but it shouldn’t become inflexible,” she wrote, “especially when new terminologies, in the name of inclusion, sometimes wind up making others feel excluded.”

Paul, who is hetero, worried that the widespread use of “queer” excludes LGBTQ people who don’t identify as queer. She was upset that so many Gen-Zers identify as queer, and annoyed that “gays and lesbians can feel crowded out” under the LGBTQ umbrella.

Paul chided new Human Rights Campaign president Kelley Robinson for using the word “queer,” and not saying the words “gay,” “lesbian” or “bisexual” in a video where she introduced herself.

People at HRC do say “gay,” “lesbian” “bisexual” “transgender” and “nonbinary,” Robinson wrote in response to Paul’s column in a letter to the Times.

“I identify as a Black queer woman,” Robinson wrote, “and when I say ‘queer,’ it’s to be as inclusive as possible, to re-center those at the margins, to embrace our differences and to embrace our power, too.”

Robinson nailed what attracts so many of us to the word “queer.”

Of course, many LGBTQ boomers and Gen-Xers vividly recall when “queer” was a homophobic slur.

A hetero friend remembers when she was seven riding on a school bus. “I was mad at a kid,” she told me, “I wanted to call him something mean. So I said he was ‘queer.’”

“My sister told me not to say that again,” my pal added, “She said it was too horrible to tell me what it meant.”

But in recent decades (starting with AIDS activists), we’ve reclaimed the word “queer.” We’ve taken away its sting: transformed it from a hate-mongering, othering slur to a source of power.

It’s hard to think of a more inclusive word than queer. It includes and values all LGBTQ folk. In the wake of the Colorado Springs LGBTQ club shooting, it’s more important than ever to be proudly queer.

The ultimate guide to queer holiday gift giving Something for everyone,

By MIKEY ROX

Drawing a blank on what to gift the queer loved ones on your holiday shopping list? Consider these thoughtful presents picked exclusively for your LGBTQ friends and family.

Mr. & Mr. Claus Mugs

from charcuterie to an e-moped

America the Beautiful Annual Pass

One of your nice-listers resolving to travel more in the new year? Set them up for success with the National Parks & Federal Recreational Lands’ America the Beautiful annual pass, providing access for the holder (plus guests) to more than 2,000 federal sites in the United States, including parks, monuments, battlefields, protected wildlife refuges, stunning seashores, and more. Recreation.gov, $80

Yves Durif Grooming Set

Yves Durif didn’t reinvent the Italian-made, natural rubber resin petite brush and comb that bears his synonymous-with-style name, but he did make these luxury tools sexy AF so you can feel like a million bucks. YvesDurif.com, $105

Dough Bowl Candles

Two glazed-ceramic Santas are better than one when you cop Sunny & Ted’s hand-painted Mr. and/or Mrs. cocoa mugs available in three blush-faced skin tones and two genders to accurately rep your festive-queer holiday cheer. SunnyAndTed.com, $27.50 each

Whiskey a Go Go

Lift holiday spirits (in handsome drinkware, like Baccarat’s Harmonie Double Old-Fashioned Tumblers) by offering party guests a sampling of your home bar’s topshelf reserves, like Blade & Bow’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Glendalough Pot Still Irish Whiskey, and Westward American Single Malt Stout Cask – a holy trinity all its own. ReserveBar.com, $48, $57, $91

Happy Hanukkah Tea Gift Set + Subarzsweets

VAHDAM India’s Hannukah-special assortment of luscious herbal, chai and black teas – paired with Subarzsweets’ handmade, smallbatch biscotti-cookie hybrids (the lemon-thyme flavor is what the chef’s kiss emoji was meant for) –is the treat-yourself pick-me-up you’ll crave after eight crazy nights.  Vahdam. com, $24;  Subarzsweets.com , $45

Boarderie Charcuterie

A far cry from the shelf-stable meat-andcheese gifts mom loaded up on at your local mall’s pop-up shop, Oprah-approved Boarderie charcuterie boards are chefmade daily and feature hand-selected artisan cheeses, meats, dried fruits, nuts and chocolates on keepsake Acacia platters. Hickory Farms could  never Boarderie.com,  $129$239

Wagged Tails Custom ‘A-paw-rel’

Memorialize your loved ones’ recently passed pets with Wagged Tails’ custom-printed apparel and accessories, including T-shirts, tumblers, totes and mugs, emblazoned with their favorite heaven-sent smush-faces. Keep the Kleenex close.  WaggedTails. com, $18-$67

Drop a needle on Aunt Dolly’s holiday vinyl before lighting the wicks on Stroud’s Simply Southern dough bowl candles and you’ve got yourself an instant country Christmas. StroudSimplySouthernCo.com, $24-$79

Cantilever Toolbox

Utilitarianism is a hallmark of Japanese design, and Toyo’s handcrafted cantilever steel storage and tool boxes are no exception with two handy adjustable upper trays and eight removable dividers housed in a handsome, spacious shell deserving of double-takes.  Placewares.com, $129

Habibi Santal Journey

Can’t go wrong with a fresh scent tucked under the tree or inside a stocking, and it doesn’t get any fresher (or spicier) than Habibi’s Santal Journey with notes of dry cedar wood, oud and sandalwood overtop wisps of crisp pear and precious orris. ForHabibi.com, $119

NQi GTS E-Moped

In sport mode, the NQi GTS e-moped’s top speed is a hair-straightening 50 mph thanks to a 60V26Ah Bosch motor, 4th-gen lithium battery tech, and a few body-shop elves who’ve watched “2 Fast 2 Furious” 2 many times.  Niu. com, $TBD

Rotate Watchmaking Kit

Challenge your better-half gadget geek over holiday break with customizable Rotate watchmaking kits – available in easy, medium, and hard configurations – that come complete with parts, tools, and a user-friendly guide to keep the cursing at a Christian minimum. RotateWatches. com, $195-$225

Coravin x Keith Haring Wine Opener

Art and wine go to together like Saint Nick and snickerdoodles, which is why the Coravin x Keith Haring Timeless Six+ Artist Edition bottle opener –featuring the late artist’s iconic dancing figures in black and white – will look just as good on your dinner party tablescape as it will on display.  Coravin.com, $350

Limited Edition Don Q Rum X Coquito NYC Drink Kit

Add a little Latin flavor to your living room Christmas film fest with a screening of Alfredo De Villa’s “Nothing Like the Holidays” and a traditional coquito with a Don Q kick in hand. The limited-edition collaboration kit between the rum maker and Latina-owned Coquito NYC comes with everything you need to mix it up, including coconut milk, spices, and a bottle of Reserva 7.  DonQ. com, $75

Nuzzie Weighted Blanket

Dasher and Dancer will have to pull double duty delivering hefty, chunky Nuzzies, one-of-a-kind breathable, thermo regulating and sustainable weighted blankets (in holiday hues like rich rose and emerald green) for all your snowy-season snuggles. ShopNuzzie.com, $169-$329

(Mikey Rox is an award-winning journalist and LGBTQ lifestyle expert whose work has been published in more than 100 outlets across the world. Connect on Instagram @mikeyroxtravels.)

CALENDAR |

Friday, December 02

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Center Aging Friday Tea Time will be at 2 p.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, contact Adam (adamheller@thedccenter.org).

GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Social” at 7 p.m. at The Commentary. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea sharing, and community building. Admission to the event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Saturday, December 03

Virtual Yoga Class with Jesse Z. will be at 12 p.m. online. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breath work, and meditation. Guests are encouraged to RSVP on the DC Center’s website, providing their name, email address, and zip code, along with any questions they may have. The link to the class will be sent out at 6 p.m. the day before the event.

LGBTQ People of Color Support Group will be at 1 p.m. on Zoom and in-person at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. This peer support group is an outlet for LGBTQ people of color to come together and talk about anything affecting them in a space that strives to be safe and judgment-free. For more information and events for LGBTQ People of Color, visit thedccenter.org/poc or facebook.com/centerpoc.

Sunday, December 04

GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Coffee + Conversation” at 12 p.m. at As You Are. This event is for those looking to make more friends in the LGBTQ community and trying to meet some new faces after two years of the pandemic. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

AfroCode DC will be at 3 p.m. at Decades DC. This event is an experience of non-stop music, dancing, and good vibes, and a crossover of genres and a fusion of cultures. Tickets cost $40 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Monday, December 05

Center Aging Monday Coffee and Conversation will be at 10 a.m. 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.

Center Aging Advocacy Meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. Participants are welcome to provide guidance and feedback on programs and services for LGBT older adults here at The DC Center for the LGBT Community. Second, this group will focus on advocating for LGBT older adults in the District of Columbia. For more information, email adamheller@thedccenter.org.

Tuesday, December 06

Center Aging Women’s Social & Discussion Group will be at 6 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. This group is a place where older LGBTQ+ women can meet and socialize with one another. To register for this event, visit the DC Center’s website.

Gay Men’s Chorus will be at 7:30 p.m. at Washington DC Temple Visitors’ Center. The Gay Men’s Chorus will perform at the Washington DC Temple Visitors’ Center for Festival of Lights. Tickets are free and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Wednesday, December 07

Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This 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” toward being “candidates.” For more information, email centercareers@thedccenter.org or visit www.thedccenter.org/careers.

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

Thursday, December 08

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.

Comedy and Cocktails will be at 6 p.m. at Pure Lounge. Guests are encouraged to come out for laughs, libations and drinking games with the best DMV comics. There will be a comedy show, live DJ, dancing, 2 for 1 drinks and drinking games. Tickets cost $15 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

OUT & ABOUT

A new queer party is in town

“A Safer Space: An unhinged production” will be held on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 9:30 p.m. at Black Cat. This event is an immersive intergalactic space experience, and many guests will show up in fabulous space-inspired looks.

There will be performances by JJ202, Baronhawk and Babes. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased on Safe Space’s website.

JPride Baltimore to host film

screening

JPride Baltimore will host a screening of “Spoiler Alert” on Monday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. at Cinemark Egyptian 24 and XD.

The LGBTQ-themed film is based on Michael Ausiello’s best-selling memoir “Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies.” It is a heartwarming, funny and life-affirming story of how Michael and Kit’s relationship is transformed and deepened when one of them falls ill.

This event is free and more information is available on Eventbrite.

JIM PARSONS and BEN ALDRIDGE star in ‘Spoiler Alert.’ (Photo courtesy of Focus Features)

New Studio Theatre production explores misery of addiction

By PATRICK FOLLIARD

Meet Emma, working actor and addict.

After a lot of hard partying and an onstage collapse, the relapsing heroine of Duncan Macmillan’s “People, Places & Things” devises a sort of strategy. She’ll do a short stint in rehab and get back to work as soon as possible, sort of breeze in and breeze out. But things don’t quite pan out as planned.

In Macmillan’s superbly written and aptly named work (the title references a recovery slogan about triggers and relapse), the English playwright takes a lucid and, at turns, funny and mordantly perceptive look into the misery of addiction and the vicissitudes of recovery. At the center of his work is Emma — dishonest, witty, very toxic, but in spite of everything, likeable.

At Studio Theatre, director David Muse succeeds in leading an inventive design team and strong cast, particularly Kristen Bush as wily Emma, in bringing this not unfamiliar but compellingly told tale to life.

After a major professional screw up, (a wasted Emma implodes during a performance of Chekhov’s “The Seagull”), she voluntarily checks into a British clinic. At intake she’s still high and in an uncharacteristically honest moment, readily admits to having recently indulged in a panoply of pills, weed, coke, speed, and ibuprofen washed down with gin and a good bottle of Rioja.

Unsold on the 12 steps, she’s resistant. Still the show must go on – loads of therapy (one-on-one and group) and role-playing sessions ensue. The medical professionals, staff, and patients are played effectively by Nathan Whitmer, Lise Bruneau, Tessa Klein, Maboud Ebrahimzadeh, Emily Erickson, Derek Garza, Lynette R. Freeman, and the excellent David Manis.

Jeanne Paulsen plays Emma’s helpful doctor and later and more startling, her mother. Jahi Kearse adds an inspiring presence as a fellow addict.

Watching an addict slog through the yeoman work of recovery, and in this case an unenthusiastic patient’s passage from detox to therapy to departure, isn’t anything new; but here, the unfolding journey feels fresh despite or maybe due to the protagonist’s dearth of pink cloud elation. There’s also a real true-to-lifeness about it.

Studio’s new Victor Shargai Theatre has been configured as alley staging (it’s like a catwalk with banked seating on either side), making for an intimate experience. Debra Booth’s institutional grey set changes fairly seamlessly and entertainingly to different spaces, all interconnected in Emma’s recovery – a stage, an after-hours club evoking both allure and dread, offices, therapy rooms, and bedrooms.

Lighting by Andrew Cessna and Lindsay Jones’s music contribute to a sometimes-unsettling mood.

Macmillan wrote “People, Places & Things” with a meaty female role in mind. It premiered at London’s National Theatre in 2015 and moved to New York a couple of years later. The production proved a great success for everyone involved, including Denise

As the action moves steadily toward an ending, contributing factors regarding Emma’s dysfunction are revealed – cold family, a brother’s death. Some definite headway is made. Still, there’s no denying that over turbulent years, she’s left some very hurt and disappointed colleagues and family in her frenzied drug fueled wake.

The actor/addict leaves rehab markedly less messy. Reentering the world as a different Emma, she lands at the home of her unsympathetic parents, not the most cushiony place for a sober re-launch.

Her future is unclear, and like her sobriety, can’t be taken for granted.

Gough who created the role of Emma. Bush is garnering a similar reaction at Studio.

KRISTEN BUSH in ‘People, Places & Things.’ (Photo by Margot Schulman)

The ‘Spoiler’ is you’re going to cry

By JOHN PAUL KING

It’s been a refreshing year for LGBTQ love stories on the screen. From “Fire Island” to “Bros,” from “Crush” to “Anything’s Possible,” we’ve seen narratives that offer up hope ful and endearing alternatives to those presented on our screens in the past. Instead of stories that reinforce the tired trope of doomed queer romance, we’re finally seeing ourselves get the same chance at a happily-ever-after ending as everybody else.

It’s been a nice change to be told that our relationships don’t always have to end in tragedy – but now, “Spoiler Alert” is here to remind us that sometimes they still do.

allowed to fill in the spaces (and the faces) in a way that rings true for us. On film (this film, at least), such communally identifiable experiences feel a bit manipulative: a little too perfect, a little too pat, a little too “meet cute“, and a little too… well, precious.

The dissonance between formulaic fantasy and genuine lived experience is some times made even more obtrusive by occasional flashbacks to Michael’s childhood, framed as excerpts from an imagined ‘90s sitcom, which distance us further from the story – a stylistic ploy that seems intended to keep the tone of the narrative as far from tragic as possible.

When it’s time to get real, however, things land on more solid ground. Once the blissful “happy-ever-after” couplehood of the two men is established, the movie takes us into deeper, more mature – and therefore, less predictable – territory. Things don’t end up being perfect in Michael and Kit’s ostensible lover’s paradise: jealousies, self-esteem issues, and the inevitable individual growth that sometimes drives wedg es between us in our coupling take their toll. As most successful long-term couples have discovered, queer and otherwise, relationships take a lot of work, and seeing the two protagonists confront that seldom-told part of the story goes a long way toward making their relationship more relatable for those who are looking for more than mere aspirational fantasy.

So, too, does the acting from the two leads. Parsons, who struggles against the obvious artificiality of playing against being two-decades-too-old in the film’s earlier scenes, blossoms once the story moves ahead in time to deliver an emotionally brave and affectingly authentic portrait of a man who has overcome the baggage of a de cidedly non-conforming youth – even by queer standards (there’s a Smurf addiction involved, need we say more?) – to find the necessary resilience to weather a battle for his lover’s life; Aldridge, a Brit flawlessly playing American, is perhaps even better – not that it needs to be a competition – as Kit, whose easy-going self-esteem masks a world of unresolved insecurities, making an almost-too-good-to-be-true character endearingly real; perhaps more importantly, the emotional journey he’s tasked with portraying requires an absolute dedication to unornamented truth, and he delivers it impeccably.

Based on the best-selling memoir by Michael Ausiello (“Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies”) and directed by Michael Showalter from a screenplay by David Marshall Grant and gay blogger/author/pundit Dan Savage, it’s the true story of a couple (Ausiello and his eventual husband, photographer Kit Cowan) who find love and build a rela tionship over the course of more than a decade, only to face the heartbreak of Kit’s diagnosis of – and his (SPOILER ALERT, hence the title) premature passing from – a rare form of terminal cancer. Though It’s not exactly a rom-com, it tries to keep things light-hearted; foregone tragic conclusion aside, it aims to be uplifting and joyful any way.

That’s a tough tightrope to walk. The book, penned by veteran television and en tertainment journalist Ausiello, succeeded in pulling it off; it became a bestseller –and not just among queer readers – with its warts-and-all celebration of what it truly means to commit to love. Even in a best-case scenario, which only some of us get the privilege of experiencing, a bittersweet ending is the best one can hope to achieve; Ausiello’s first-person experience, however, gets the point across that it’s all worth it, in the end.

Sometimes, though, a literary device that works on the page doesn’t translate easily to the screen, and on film, Ausiello’s “we-already-know-the-outcome” premise faces a more resistant challenge.

In the first act of the film, which details the meeting and early romance of its two lead characters (Jim Parsons and Ben Aldridge as Michael and Kit, respectively), our knowledge of the ending becomes an obstacle. This may be particularly true for more jaded viewers, who are apt to be keenly aware of the emotional payoffs being set up in advance. “Precious” moments feel a little too self-consciously precious, and all the standard tropes about new gay relationships – even the ones that were tired before gay relationships were openly portrayed on the screen – are deployed, often coming across as obvious bids to elicit our identification with the characters. In reading, it’s easy to personalize such universal moments through our own imagination, which is

It helps that the two actors, who carry most of the movie’s running time, have a convincingly natural chemistry together that gradually persuades us to invest in these characters even if we had resisted becoming invested in them before. Bolstering the emotional solidity even further is the presence of seasoned pros Sally Field and Bill Irwin as Kit’s parents, who deepen this not-as-clueless-as-they-seem pair beyond the familiar stereotype they represent and raise them above the easy sentimentality they might otherwise have carried into the story’s already-poignant mix.

These considerable advantages are enough to help us forgive the movie’s contrived expository beginnings, though its ongoing sitcom conceit for childhood flashbacks –as well as its occasional fourth-wall-breaking interruptions from Michael’s TV obsessed imagination – continue to feel a little gimmicky, especially after the plot has passed the point where such amusements are welcome or even necessary.

Still, the movie’s fortunate choice to play against its tearjerker underpinnings – such as when it undercuts a particularly histrionic scene of hospital drama by calling itself out on a shameless reference to an iconic moment from a cinema classic, a nod any gay movie buff will have surely already recognized – keeps the tears that finally come from feeling as though they’ve been shamelessly manipulated out of us. It’s this quality that marks the best entries in the tearjerker genre; the thing that movies like “Terms of Endearment” and “Steel Magnolias” have in common (besides Shirley MacLaine) is their ability to lean fully into the artifice of their own weepy, sentimental style without sacrificing the sincerity of their emotional payoffs. Films like these don’t play their big moments for drama, or even for laughs, to keep us involved – they play for truth. “Spoiler Alert” clearly aspires to the same standard.

It mostly succeeds, after an awkward start; and though some viewers might find its quirkier narrative conceits to be an overcompensation, its characters are real enough to get past all that and win us over. And though it’s hard to deny that it’s ultimately another tragic gay love story, it manages to remind us that love is worth it even when you know it’s going to end badly.

After all, just because a romance is doomed doesn’t mean it has to be a downer.

Love is worth it even when you know it’s going to end badly

JIM PARSONS and BEN ALDRIDGE star in ‘Spoiler Alert.’

New book reveals that some secrets last a lifetime

‘All the Broken Places’ should be on your must-read list

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

It shall not pass your lips.

No, That Thing You Do Not Talk About is off-limits in all conversation, a non-topic when the subject surfaces. Truly, there are just certain things that are nobody’s business and in the new novel, “All the Broken Places” by John Boyne, some secrets must last a lifetime.

She hated the idea that she would have to adjust to new neighbors.

Ninety-one-year-old Gretel Fernsby wasn’t so much bothered by new people, as she was by new noise. She hated the thought of inuring herself to new sounds, and what if the new tenants had children? That was the worst of all. Gretel never was much for children, not her own and certainly not any living below her.

Once, there was a time when Gretel could imagine herself with many children. That was nearly 80 years ago, when she was in love with her father’s driver, Kurt. She thought about Kurt through the years – he had fallen out of favor with her father, and was sent elsewhere – and she wondered if he survived the war.

Her father didn’t, nor did her younger brother but Gretel didn’t think about those things. What happened at the “other place” was not her fault.

She hadn’t known. She was innocent.

That was what she told herself as she and her mother fl ed to Paris. Gretel was 15 then, and she worked hard to get rid of her German accent but not everyone was fooled by her bad French or her story. She was

accosted, hated. As soon as her mother died, she sailed to Australia, where she lived with a woman who loved other women, until it became dangerous there, too. She practiced her English and moved to London where she was married, widowed, and now she had to get used to new neighbors and new sounds and new ways for old secrets to sneak into a conversation.

OK, clear your calendar. Get “All the Broken Places” and just don’t make any plans, other than to read and read and read.

The very fi rst impression you get of author John Boyne’s main character, Gretel, is that she’s grumpy, awful, and nasty. With the many bon mots she drops, however, the feeling passes and it’s sometimes easy to almost like her – although it’s clear that she’s done some vile things

in her lifetime, things that emerge slowly as the horror of her story dawns. Then again, she professes to dislike children, but (no spoilers here!) she doesn’t, not really, and that makes her seem like someone’s sweet old grandmother. ‘Tis a conundrum.

Don’t let that fool you, though. Boyne has a number of Gretel-sized roadside bombs planted along the journey that is this book. Each ka-boom will hit your heart a little harder.

This is a somewhat-sequel to “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” but you can read it alone. Do, and when you fi nish, you’ll want to immediately read it again, to savor anew.

‘All the Broken Places’

By John Boyne

c.2022, Pamela Dorman Books $28 | 400 pages

Streisand’s

‘Live at the Bon

Birth of a diva Album finally released

By KATHI WOLFE

Happy days are here again!

Sixty years ago, for three nights in November 1962, Columbia Records recorded a young (20-year-old) singer as she performed at the Bon Soir, a small nightclub in Greenwich Village. The singer’s name was Barbra Streisand, and the recording was slated to be her debut album. Streisand wasn’t that widely known then. But as (the character) Miss Marmelstein, Streisand was stopping the show nightly in the Broadway production “I Can Get It for You Wholesale.” After the show’s curtain call, she took a cab to perform at the Bon Soir club, according to the website barbra-archives.info.

Soir’:

50 years after being recorded

But though the recording of Streisand live at the Village club was talked about the way you’d chat about an awesome legend, the album was shelved for more than half a century. Instead of releasing the “Live at the Bon Soir,” Columbia in 1963 released “The Barbra Streisand Album” (which was recorded in a studio) as Streisand’s debut album.

If you’re queer, you know Streisand rules! To the delight of critics, fans and mid-century history aficionados, on Nov. 4, six decades after it was recorded, “Live at the Bon Soir,” wonderfully remastered, was released on vinyl and SACD. It is also available on streaming services.

If you’ve fantasized about spending an intimate evening with Streisand (Barbra singing and engaging in witty repartee for just you and your intimates), “Live at the Bon Soir” is a dream come true. When Streisand says, “I wish there were another word for thank you...I mean, like, anything, you know” and introduces the club audience to her “boyfriend’s suit,” you feel that she’s talking directly to you.

Streisand’s voice is at its youthful, gorgeous best and her one-of-a-spectacular-kind personality comes through in her banter between songs. Listening to the album is an immersive experience. You’re witnessing the birth of a diva.

The album’s 24 tracks range from an indelible version of the torch song “Cry Me a River” to a playful rendition of “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”

One of the best things about “Live at the Bon Soir” is its comprehensive, illuminating liner notes. Produced by Streisand, Martin Erlichman and Jay Landers, the CD of the album is packaged in a hardcover book with 32 pages of historical notes, photos and a message from Streisand. The vinyl version comes with a 12-page booklet. The notes provide insight into not only the making of the album, but of most interest to Streisand devotees, what it was like to perform live at the beginning of her career.

“I had never even been in a nightclub until I sang in one,” Streisand writes in the album’s liner notes about performing at and recording “Live at the Bon Soir.”

“I sang two songs in a talent contest at a little club called the Lion and won,” Streisand adds, “which led to being hired at a more sophisticated supper club around the corner called the Bon Soir, with an actual stage and a spotlight.”

The sound on the restored version of “Live at the Bon Soir” is much better than it was on the original recording.

“The science of recording has made quantum leaps since 1962,” writes Landers on the album’s liner notes, “Grammy Award winning engineer, Jochem van der Saag, has subtly solved audio issues in ways his predecessors could hardly have fathomed.”

Streisand has recorded albums with political and contemporary songs. These recordings are often superb. (Is anything by Streisand ever remotely bad?)

But “Live at the Bon Soir” is a gift to anyone who loves standards from the American song-book – from “I Hate Music” (Leonard Bernstein) to “Right as the Rain” (Harold Arlen/E.Y. Harburg) to “Come To The Supermarket (in Old Peking)” (Cole Porter) to “Happy Days Are Here Again” (Jack Yellen/Milton Ager).

Even if you’re allergic to show tunes, you’ll be entranced by “Live at the Bon Soir.”

Superstar Drag Revue

Bombalicious Eklaver leads the show at Selina Rooftop

Bombalicious Eklaver held a Superstar Drag Revue at the Selina Hotel Rooftop on Friday, Nov. 25. DJ Juba provided the music.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Good news if you’re selling your home at the holidays In D.C.,

the house will move

By JUSTIN NOBLE

Historically in the real estate industry this is one of the worst times to sell your home. You will receive fewer guests at open houses, fewer showings, and more months on the market. However, like with most things in the world today, this is no longer the industry standard. During the pandemic we saw homes selling in 1-2 days with 15 offers well above asking price and throwing in your fi rst-born and Gucci boots. While those days might be gone for a while, the inventory we usually see at this time of year is also gone.

Typically I only talk about numbers when they have dollar signs in front, however I feel they are necessary to illustrate my point. Bear with me. If we look at numbers from last year - new listing inventory is down nearly 18%. While we know that home sales have also decreased, there is still a decline year over year for new inventory to hit the market, which is continuing the trend we have seen during the pandemic years of a substantial lack of inventory here in the DC Metro.

W HATDOESTHISMEANFORSELLERS ?

If you are hoping to sell your home and receive several offers and the price escalates well over asking, unfortunately you missed that boat. However, properties in D.C. are still selling for list price at nearly a 98% rate. This means as long as your real estate agent prices your property properly then it is likely to still sell for that very list price. The average day on market has only increased by four days, which means again, if the home is properly priced and marketed it will likely sell for list price within an average window. Furthermore, the median sold price has increased almost 5% since last month. If you are worried that buyers might be affected by high interest rates, they are, however in D.C. we are hyper insulated from other trends throughout the U.S., with a consistent trend of shortage in inventory.

W HATDOESTHISMEANFORBUYERS ?

I know what you’re thinking. “Wow Justin, we thought you had our back but clearly all you care about is ensuring sellers get the most money for their listing.” Although that may be true if I am working for a seller, I shift my mindset of value for my buyer clients too. You might not get a steal of a deal this holiday season on your home, but you will have protections that buyers before you could only dream of. I am talking about — contingencies, baby!

Regardless if you are a fi rst-time homebuyer or you’ve been around the block a few times, you know who you are. Real estate is an investment and as such should be vetted properly to ensure its valued and sound. Homebuyers can expect to have home inspections, termite inspections, appraisals and the list goes on. If you want small credits here and there with an extended closing period you can likely receive those items. While interest rates have increased, your protection (which I would say is more important) has hugely increased.

If your goal is to “new year new home” now is truly a wonderful time to start the process and plan for a fresh start as we head into 2023.

JUSTIN NOBLE

is a Realtor with Sotheby’s international Realty licensed in D.C., Maryland, and Delaware for your DMV and Delaware Beach needs. Specializing in first-time homebuyers, development and new construction as well as estate sales, Justin is a well-versed agent, highly regarded, and provides white glove service at every price point. Reach him at 202-503-4243, Justin.Noble@SothebysRealty.com or BurnsandNoble.com.

Selling this Christmas? Don’t worry if you’re in the D.C. market.

LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION 2014 ADM 000439

Estate of: EDWARD CHESTER WILLIAMS

NOTICE OF STANDARD PROBATE

Notice is hereby given that a petition has been filed in this Court by Loretta Cammon for standard probate, including the appointment of one or more personal representatives. Unless a responsive pleading in the form of a complaint or an objection in accordance with Superior Court Probate Division Rule 407 is filed in this Court within 30 days from the date of first publication of this notice, the Court may take the action hereinafter set forth. In the absence of a will or proof satisfactory to the Court of due execution, enter an order determining that the decedent died intestate appoint an unsupervised personal representative.

Date of first Publication: 11/18/2022 Loretta Cammon, Signature of Petitioner 7214 Kempton Road, Lanham, MD 20706 - 201-539-8022. Nicole Stevens, Register of Wills, Clerk of the Probate Division

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We are the Washington Blade newspaper, serving the LGBTQ+ community for 53 years. We have a weekly print edition, a website, a digital subscriber base who receive email products from us regularly. We host events. We engage with foundations and businesses in partnership and sponsorship capacity. YOU HAVE excellent written and verbal skills. Some kind of Sales and Marketing experience preferably in media. Must be a self starter. Most successful staffers are well organized. You either identify or are an ally to the LGBTQ community. Please respond to Stephen Rutgers SRutgers@washblade.com

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