Washington Blade, Volume 54, Issue 09, March 03, 2023

Vermont’s first out congresswoman on standing up to GOP attacks, page 12

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Community celebrates life of beloved drag performer Ba’Naka

Members of the community gathered at the gay bar Pitchers in D.C. last Saturday to celebrate the life of late drag performer Dustin Michael Schaad.

Schaad, who performed for many years in the D.C. metro area as the drag personality Ba’Naka, died on Jan. 11 due to complications associated with a longstanding illness. Friends and family of Schaad joined with dozens of mourners, many of whom were dressed in black and some in drag.

Associate Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Tyler Edge presented a letter of appreciation from Mayor Muriel Bowser to Schaad’s family.

“He was a dynamic performer and a really vital part of D.C. LGBTQ nightlife,” Edge said as he handed the framed letter to Schaad’s mother.

Schaad, as Ba’Naka, performed in several venues throughout the city, but is perhaps best known in his leading role among the Ladies of Town at Town Danceboutique for many years. The popular female illusionist was voted “DC’s Best Drag Queen” in the Washington Blade’s Best of

LGBTQ D.C. Readers’ Poll for more years than any other recipient to date.

Schaad continued to make appearances as Ba’Naka all the way to near the end of his life, including entertaining at Pitchers. Despite mobility issues in the last few years, Ba’Naka continued to be a crowd-pleaser.

Several participants shared stories of the drag performer, including businessman Ed Bailey, the former owner of the now-shuttered Town Danceboutique.

“She just had this thing that attracted you to her — whether it was good or bad,” Bailey shared with the crowd. “Everyone in this room knows that you were somehow mesmerized by this person who would not leave you alone. I just totally loved her.”

A drag show featuring some of Schaad’s favorite numbers followed the remarks. The show was hosted by Schaad’s drag mother Kristina Kelly and Schaad’s longtime co-worker from Town Danceboutique Tatianna.

New documentary revisits murder of Robert Wone

A new documentary airing on Peacock takes another look at the unsolved murder of Robert Wone, a D.C. attorney found stabbed to death in the home of his gay friend in 2006. “Who Killed Robert Wone” begins airing on March 7 in two parts.

Wone’s murder made sensational headlines in August 2006 after bizarre details about the stabbing began to emerge. Wone, who was married to a woman, was spending the night in the upscale townhome of

Comings & Goings

By PETER ROSENSTEIN

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: comingsandgoings@washblade.com.

The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.

Congratulations to Glenn D. Magpantay, Esq. on his appointment to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The commission is an independent, bipartisan federal agency, to advise Congress and the White House on the enforcement of federal civil rights laws and development of national civil rights policy. Magpantay will be the third Asian American, third openly LGBTQ, and first LGBTQ Asian American to serve on the commission. On his appointment Magpantay said, “It’s an enormous honor to serve my country and represent my community. We’ve been overlooked too long. This would not have happened without Sen. Schumer, Rep. Meng, and my community’s support. I hope to make you all proud.”

Magpantay is a longtime civil rights attorney, professor of

his friends Joe Price and Victor Zaborsky and their roommate Dylan Ward. All three are gay. Wone was found stabbed in the chest lying in bed; later, syringe marks were found on his neck suggesting he’d been drugged or incapacitated before being stabbed. Police noted a surprising lack of blood at the scene, which led many to speculate the crime scene had been cleaned. Adding to the spectacle, police released details of a collection of S&M devices found in the

home, prompting speculation Wone had been sexually assaulted.

The three men were never charged with the murder and a D.C. Superior Court judge later found them not guilty of obstructing justice in the case, even though the court rejected a defense theory that an intruder killed Wone. The three gay men were later named as defendants in a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit and agreed to an out-ofcourt settlement in the case with Wone’s widow.

Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr., who covered the Wone murder for years, was interviewed extensively for the Peacock documentary and is featured in the series. Visit washingtonblade.com for extensive coverage of the case and its aftermath.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

law and Asian American Studies, and LGBTQ rights activist. He has been organizing in the community for more than 30 years. He is currently a principal at Magpantay & Associates, a nonprofit consulting and legal services firm. He was selected for a prestigious George Soros Equality Fellowship from the Open Society Foundations.

Magpantay co-founded and served as the executive director of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA), a national federation of Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander LGBTQ organizations for nearly a decade. His efforts were recognized by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) with its Trailblazer Lifetime Achievement Award and Walter & Evelyn Haas, Jr. Fund Outstanding LGBTQ Leadership Award for Immigrants’ Rights.

Magpantay was a nationally recognized civil rights attorney at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) for nearly 20 years. Instinct magazine showcased Magpantay as one of the nation’s “25 Leading Men” in 2004. He organized the first-ever LGBTQ testimony before The White House Initiative on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders in 2000 and spoke at the National March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation in 1993.

Magpantay has brought 15 briefs to the United States Su-

preme Court; testified before the United States Congress; published 20 scholarly legal and academic articles; authored impactful public reports; and has given commentary to The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Associated Press, MSNBC-TV, NBC Asian America, and others. He served as a trustee to the Boehm Family Foundation, and currently serves on the Gold Futures Challenge Selection Committee of Asian American Futures Fund. He chairs the LGBT Committee of the Asian American Bar Association of New York.

MICHAEL KEY

The mysterious murder of ROBERT WONE is the subject of a new Peacock documentary.

GLENN MAGPANTAY

Associate Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs TYLER EDGE presents a letter of appreciation from Mayor Muriel Bowser honoring Dustin Michael Schaad.

(Blade photo by Michael Key)

Proud Boys missing from D.C. drag story hour protest

Police closed street; supporters showed up at Barracks Row restaurant

Dozens of supporters turned out last Saturday morning outside the Crazy Aunt Helen’s restaurant on 8th Street, S.E., in the Barracks Row section of Capitol Hill in anticipation of a planned protest by the far-right group Proud Boys against a reading of children’s stories by D.C. drag performer Tara Hoot to children and their parents at the restaurant.

But D.C. police, who closed the one-block section of 8th Street in anticipation of the protest, said the Proud Boys never showed up, and the street closing evolved into a makeshift block party celebrating an event known as a Drag Story Hour.

The Barracks Row Drag Story Hour event took place one week after a similar event at the Loyalty Bookstore in Silver Spring, Md., became the target of a protest by Proud Boys members.

Silver Spring police said they dispersed the Proud Boys members and supporters of the Drag Story Hour event after the two groups shouted at each other and reports surfaced that at least one Proud Boys member assaulted one of the supporters. No arrests were made, and no injuries were reported, the police said.

“We’ve been doing the Story Hour for six months,” said Shane Mayson, owner and operator of Crazy Aunt Hellen’s, which is located at 713 8th St., S.E., across the street from the U.S. Marine Barracks.

Mayson told the Washington Blade an organization called the Parasol Patrol, which provides support for Drag Story Hour events across the country and which attended the Silver Spring event, informed him that Proud Boys had placed his restaurant on a protest list that called on

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

opponents of the Drag Story Hour events to show up at the event, which began 10 a.m. Saturday.

He then contacted the D.C. police LGBTQ Liaison Unit, which immediately arranged for the police presence at the time of the event, Mayson said. Among those who came to the location were members of the police LGBT Liaison Unit along with a contingent of 20 or more police officers led by Assistant D.C. Police Chief Jeff Carrol.

“Overall, I think everything went well,” Carrol told the Blade. “The business was able to have their story time, and everyone was able to come out here and peacefully support the business,” Carrol said. “And we didn’t have any incidents. So, I think overall everything went very well.”

Mayson said the children and their parents, who turned out in sizable numbers for the event, enjoyed the story readings by drag performer Hoot.

“It was fabulously fun and gorgeous and filled with fun and love,” Hoot told the Blade after the event. “And having all these supporters out here means the world to me,” Hoot said. “I was saying to other people that I wish LGBTQIA people across the country were feeling this love and support.

Hoot was referring to the protests against drag shows in general and against Drag Story Hour events that have taken place in recent months across the country, including some protests led by the Proud Boys group.

Asked if she had any message for the Proud Boys and others who have attempted to disrupt the Drag Story Hour events, Hoot said, “At the end of the day love is going to win. And the joy, that’s what I focus on at all my

events,”

Among those standing outside the restaurant as Hoot finished reading stories to the children and parents inside was Salah Czapary, the recently appointed director of the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife and Culture. Czapary, who ran unsuccessfully last year as an openly gay candidate for the Ward 1 D.C. Council seat, said he turned out for the event to show support from the city.

“Any time our community and our constituent who is a business owner here and members of the LGBTQ community ask for government support, we’re out here,” he said. “So, we’re happy to see a robust security presence and an even more robust community presence,” he told the Blade. “And we’re here just to assure people that we’re here to support the community and to have a good time at this drag story time.”

Ashanti Martínez takes office in Md. House

Maryland state Del. Ashanti Martínez (D-Prince George’s County) took office on Feb. 24.

The Prince George’s County Democratic Central Committee earlier this month voted unanimously to select Martinez to represent District 22 in the Maryland House of Delegates.

Martínez, a Howard University alum, succeeds now-state Sen. Alonzo Washington (D-Prince George’s County), who the committee nominated to finish Maryland Energy Administration Director Paul Pinsky’s term in the House after he joined Gov. Wes Moore’s administration.

Martínez, who is Afro-Latino, is the first openly gay man to represent Prince George’s County in the House of Delegates. He is also the first person of Latino descent to represent District 22.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

All 12 anti-LGBTQ bills die in Virginia

The Virginia General Assembly’s 2023 legislative session ended on Saturday without any of the 12 anti-LGBTQ bills that lawmakers introduced becoming law.

Republican lawmakers introduced measures that would have, among other things, banned transgender athletes from school teams that correspond with their gender identity and would have required school personnel to out trans students to their parents. Other bills sought to ban transition-related health care for minors in the state.

All of the measures died in the Democrat-controlled Virginia Senate.

“This session, 12 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the Virginia legis-

lature targeted young people — specifically trans and nonbinary youth — further stigmatizing them at home, at school and in their communities. Schools should be safe spaces for all youth, and especially those who may face discrimination or feel singled out because of who they are. But, we saw a groundswell of opposition to these bills. We saw everyday Virginians show up in fierce opposition to all twelve bills and send a message that hate is not a Virginia value,” Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa S. Rahaman told the Washington Blade on Monday in a statement. “To the trans youth in the commonwealth, I want to say: You are loved, you are perfect just the way you are, you are beautiful and

you are worthy. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. While we have a long way to go to make our schools more equitable places for all youth, defeating these bills is a big deal.”

The Virginia House Amendment and Other Matters Subcommittee on Feb. 17 tabled state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria)’s resolution that sought to repeal the state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. The gay Alexandria Democrat’s bill that would have made affirmed marriage equality in Virginia did not advance in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Maryland state Del. ASHANTI MARTÍNEZ (Photo courtesy of Ashanti Martínez)

Parasol Patrol members gather in front of Crazy Aunt Hellen’s restaurant in Barracks Row on Feb. 25, during a Drag Story Hour event. (Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

UDC law school hit with bias complaint from nonbinary student

Alleged victim sought protections from stalker on campus

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

A third-year student at the University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clarke School of Law who self-identifies as a “non-binary, Black Femme” filed a discrimination complaint on Jan. 9 alleging that the school violated federal law by refusing to take action on campus to protect the student from domestic violence and stalking from a former boyfriend.

The student, D.C. resident Loreal Hawk, filed the complaint through their attorney before the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. Among other things, it alleges that the law school refused over a period of close to three years to provide accommodations such as allowing virtual attendance of classes to help safeguard Hawk from repeated stalking and threats of domestic violence from the ex-boyfriend, who’s referred to in the complaint as the “respondent” and is not identified by name.

The complaint says Hawk is philosophically opposed to police involvement in this type of domestic situation and that under federal law, colleges are required to provide a reasonable accommodation to protect students from domestic violence and stalking without requiring them to report the threats to campus police or a municipal police department.

Council Committee of the Whole oversight hearing on UDC-related matters when both Hawk and Hawk’s attorney, Megan Challender, brought up the complaint and Hawk’s allegations against UDC in testimony during the virtual hearing.

D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), who presided over the hearing, asked UDC President Ronald Mason, who also testified, to respond to the allegations made in Hawk’s complaint at a later time, but did not ask Mason to respond to the allegations at the Feb. 27 hearing.

The complaint says the respondent, who allegedly assaulted and continues to stalk Loreal Hawk, has no affiliation with the law school or UDC. It says he had been dating Hawk until Hawk attempted to end their relationship in October 2020, which it says prompted the respondent to physically assault Hawk, forcibly take Hawk’s car keys and drive Hawk against their will to Hawk’s apartment in D.C.

Once there, the complaint states, the respondent held Hawk as a prisoner in Hawk’s own apartment for a period of time until the law student persuaded the respondent to leave the apartment after being subjected to physical violence.

“When Mx. Hawk demanded that Respondent leave, Respondent lunged at Mx. Hawk, knocking Mx. Hawk to the ground,” according to the complaint. “Mx. Hawk was able to get free and lock themselves in the bathroom. Respondent tried to beat down the door, but eventually left,” the complaint says.

“After leaving, Respondent began repeatedly calling Mx. Hawk,” the complaint continues. “Between October 2020 and March 2021, Respondent directed a persistent course of conduct at Mx. Hawk that caused Mx. Hawk to reasonably fear for their own safety,” it says. “This included as many as 30 unwanted calls a day, text messages, and emails.” It says Hawk received many of the calls and text messages while on the UDC campus taking classes.

crime victims and is called upon by other police units to assist in investigating crimes targeting LGBTQ people. Police officials have said many LGBTQ people also now serve openly as officers on the D.C. police force.

When asked if Hawk considered obtaining a D.C. Superior Court stay-away order to prohibit the respondent from engaging in stalking or harassing phone calls or contact with Hawk of any kind, which can be obtained without filing a police report, Challender said she could not provide that information because it would violate attorney-client privilege.

“Of course, we talked about options,” Challender told the Blade. “And to be clear, we wouldn’t expect an educational institution to act as a policing authority,” she said. “But there is a lot of stuff that could have been taken that was not offered and they were not really engaged with us on,” she said in referring to UDC law school officials.

Among the actions the university could have taken but did not, Challender said, is to allow Hawk to take some or all their classes virtually, which was the case for all students in 2020 during the peak of the COVID pandemic. Challender notes that the respondent in his phone calls and email and text messages to Hawk has made it clear he was surveilling the UDC campus and knew Hawk’s whereabouts, including the classrooms and building where Hawk’s classes were being held.

Another option UDC did not undertake was to issue its own no-contact order to the respondent, something most other schools routinely do for students being harassed, Challender said. She said her law office issued such a stay away order to the respondent, which the respondent ignored.

The complaint charges that the UDC law school’s intentional refusal to act in support of Hawk violates Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments Act of 1972, which bans discrimination at schools based on sex and gender identity. It charges that the school’s lack of action also violates another federal statute known as the Clery Act, which requires schools and colleges to take reasonable steps to safeguard students from threats of sexual harassment and stalking, among other hostile actions.

The 37-page complaint further calls on the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to investigate and impose civil penalties against UDC for violating the two laws and to order the school to take emergency action to protect Hawk from further threats by the respondent between now and the time Hawk is scheduled to graduate in May of this year.

The UDC Clarke School of Law did not immediately respond to a request by the Washington Blade for comment on the complaint and whether it disputes the allegations included in the complaint.

Jim Bradshaw, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, said the department’s Office of Civil Rights “does not acknowledge specific complaints until they have been evaluated and accepted for investigation.” Bradshaw added, “We’ll be in touch,” implying his office would respond to press inquiries about the Hawk complaint at the appropriate time.

Hawk’s complaint, which was little noticed at the time it was filed in early January, surfaced on Monday at a D.C.

The complaint adds that, “Following over a year of relative respite from Respondent, Respondent’s course of conduct resumed on October 6, 2022, and continues to this day.”

It says UDC further violated the law by at one point informing Hawk that it could only take protective action if Hawk reported the threats to campus police or filed a report with D.C. police.

“Mx. Hawk does not feel comfortable reporting to the police,” the complaint states. “Mx. Hawk organizes in the police violence space and thus does not feel police will handle their situation in a way that would be adequate and best for their unique situation,” it says. “Further, Mx. Hawk is Black and nonbinary, two identities that experience high rates of disbelief by law enforcement and brutality at the hands of law enforcement,” the complaint says.

“Finally, Mx. Hawk fears possible escalation from Respondent if police were to become involved,” it says.

Hawk’s attorney, Megan Challender, an official with the legal services organization Network for Victim Recovery of DC, said she understands that some in the LGBTQ community might raise questions about her client’s concerns about dealing with D.C. police without knowing Hawk’s specific situation.

LGBTQ activists in D.C., including longtime transgender rights advocate Earline Budd, have pointed out that after many years of advocacy work by the LGBTQ community, D.C. police have put in place safeguards and police training programs to ensure supportive behavior and support for LGBTQ crime victims.

Activists, including Budd, point to the longstanding D.C. Police LGBT Liaison Unit, which provides services for LGBTQ

“Another option to consider would be providing Loreal with a parking spot in the garage underneath the building so that Loreal doesn’t have to park on the street and walk and experience harm on the street and instead can go directly into a secure building,” she said.

In their testimony before Monday’s D.C. Council hearing Hawk told how Hawk had high hopes and expectations of their role as law student at UDC

“Further, I was thrilled by the opportunity to attend my first Historically Black College or University, where I hoped to be nurtured and in community with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) attorneys and advocates,” Hawk stated in their written testimony submitted to the D.C. Council. But all that changed after Hawk attempted to seek support and accommodations from the school in response to the domestic violence and stalking Hawk encountered from the respondent, Hawk says in their testimony.

“UDC Law’s response to my request for accommodations has been inadequate, endangering, or altogether absent,” Hawk told the D.C. Council hearing. “In the first iteration of this issue, UDC Law enacted a punitive measure, refused to notify me of Title IX and Clery Act accommodations, rescinded my scholarship, and failed to reinstate my scholarship once I performed the terms of our agreement,” their testimony states.

“I was repeatedly misgendered throughout the entire process and their actions indicated that I was being excluded, punished and ignored because of my intersectional identities as a non-binary, Black femme, and survivor of domestic violence,” Hawk told the Council hearing.

The Washington Blade will report the UDC School of Law’s official response and answer to the complaint as soon as it either decides to publicly release it or the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, where the complaint was filed, makes it part of the public record.

Rep. Balint: Dems should highlight GOP attacks on personal freedoms

Vermont’s first out congresswoman optimistic amid challenges

By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com

On issues from the curriculum taught in schools to trans Americans’ access to healthcare, Democrats should focus their messaging on how their opponents’ policy proposals would threaten personal freedoms, U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (DVt.) told the Washington Blade.

The Democratic Party’s tendency to get into the minutiae “doesn’t always serve us well,” as it is generally more effective to relay broader ideas about “this fundamental American concept of freedom” that elected Republicans are working to undermine, Balint said during an exclusive interview with the Washington Blade from her office on Tuesday.

“We don’t like being told what to do as Americans,” she said, adding that the message resonates regardless of whether folks identify as liberals or conservatives, or whether they live in rural or urban areas: “We don’t want to be told what we can and can’t learn about; what we can and can’t talk about.”

Government intrusion and overreach into otherwise private matters concerning healthcare and education has been a hallmark of policies enacted by GOP leaders like Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a presumptive but still undeclared candidate for the 2024 presidential race.

Examples have included banning books with LGBTQ characters and themes, last month’s rejection of an advanced African-American studies course, and the Florida Board of Medicine’s adoption of a policy threatening the licenses of medical providers who administer guideline-directed interventions for trans and gender nonconforming youth.

In a video shared on Rumble last month, former president and declared 2024 Republican candidate Donald Trump pledged to weaponize the federal government against trans Americans if elected, such as by terminating the Medicare and Medicaid eligibility of hospitals and facilities that perform gender affirming care for minor patients.

“Ideas around equity and justice are things that we go to as Democrats,” Balint said. “But those aren’t necessarily the words that folks who identify as independents or Republicans use for the same kinds of ideas.”

The congresswoman said it is more effective to frame these debates as matters of “freedom and fairness as opposed to justice or equity or equality,” which is why she will “continue to say, ‘do you want more government intrusion?’”

So, with the presidential primaries looming, it will be important for Democrats to use this paradigm to discuss Republicans like DeSantis interfering with their healthcare, “picking on queer and trans kids and people who support them,” or targeting teachers who are living and working in their communities, Balint said.

The congresswoman, herself a former history teacher, noted that educators are among those figures who are “holding civic society together.”

FIGHTING EXTREMISM IN CONGRESS

Balint, who made history as Vermont’s first openly LGBTQ U.S. representative, said Democratic leaders including members of Congress must “be much more open about who we are.”

“If my colleagues across the aisle took a few minutes to talk to families who are raising trans kids right now,” Balint said, “they would understand…that their rhetoric is increasing levels of anxiety, and depression, and disconnection – and that’s not the role of a public official.”

The efficacy of this strategy is underscored by the fact that anti-trans policies are based on lies. “Nothing about the rhetoric around trans Americans is based in reality,” Balint said. “It’s not based in the facts or the experiences of young people in this country.”

“When I talk about my life as a queer person, as a queer

parent, as someone who is very open about my own mental health struggles, that gives other people permission to feel like they have a sense of place – in government, in their communities,” Balint said.

LGBTQ staffers on Capitol Hill have thanked Balint for speaking so openly about her identity, she told the Blade.

She said engaging in these discussions on personal terms can also be an effective way of reaching colleagues who, because they “have never had to deal with these issues,” have “learning curves.”

For example, Balint said, during the new Congress’s Jan. 7 swearing-in ceremony, she gently but firmly corrected another member for assuming her spouse in attendance was a man. After their exchange, the congressman found Balint again to apologize, promising that he will be sure never to repeat the mistake.

Balint hedged that other interactions have gone less smoothly. She said one of her main takeaways since arriving in Washington as a newly elected first-term member has been “the extent to which there are extremists within [the GOP],” which “is deeply disturbing to me as an American and certainly as somebody who’s a member of the LGBTQ community.”

Last week, House Republicans introduced a bill that would designate as America’s “national gun” the AR-15 style firearms used in deadly mass shootings, including the 2016 massacre at the former gay Orlando nightclub Pulse. Embattled gay GOP Rep. George Santos (N.Y.) is a co-sponsor of the legislation, which Balint characterized as “a political stunt” and an example of the kind of extreme rhetoric that makes violence more likely.

The congresswoman said moves like this messaging bill take “our focus away from helping people,” adding that helping people is “why I ran for office – to make life better, to alleviate suffering,” not to use rhetoric and talking points “to raise money.”

Given the high rate of suicide in Vermont, Balint said her work in Congress, including for the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, will be focused on matters like probing the relationships between gun violence, gun policy, and suicide, including among vulnerable populations like “people within the LGBTQ community who don’t feel like they have the support” they need.

A co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Balint has been appointed to serve on the powerful House Budget and Oversight & Accountability Committees.

Priorities for Balint will include the Equality Act, a landmark bill that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in areas from employment and housing to jury service. A leading champion of the legislation, gay Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), announced plans to retire in May, so Balint said she was talking with him last night “about how we make sure that work continues.”

“We have to continue to fight these battles and these issues, regardless of whether we think they’re going to be able to pass this session,” she said, “because we have to queue it up for when [Democrats] are back in the majority.”

Other focus areas, she said, will be addressing the interrelated and ongoing housing and mental health crises in this country, as well as reproductive justice.

From 2015 to her swearing-in last month, Balint served as a Vermont state senator, including as majority leader and president pro-tempore. Unlike the U.S. House, Balint said, the Vermont Legislature “is pretty high functioning” with “a strong ability to work across the aisle.”

However challenging the calcified and polarized politics

of Washington are by comparison, Balint noted there are moderate Republicans in the House. “We know because they were reaching out to members on our side saying, ‘we are not approving of what our leadership is doing around abortion issues.’”

For House Democrats, “it will be impossible for us in this moment to do anything” without the support of a few GOP members, which is a challenge because there are so few moderates in the party as a result of primary challenges from the far-right, Balint said.

Particularly in recent years and especially among Republicans, members of Congress have become bomb-throwers – prone to making outlandish and extreme statements, instigating and engaging in online spats with political opponents, and dehumanizing others.

Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) has accused elected Democrats of “grooming” children for sexual abuse, compared COVID-19 mask mandates to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust, and, before her election to Congress, supported calls to assassinate Democratic Party leaders.

Despite – or perhaps in some ways because – of this record, Greene is widely considered a rising star within her party, becoming a top ally of newly elected Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and, according to data from Open Secrets, raising more money during the 2022 election cycle than any other House Republican member except for McCarthy, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (La.), Dan Crenshaw (Texas), and Jim Jordan (Ohio).

In this environment, amid the ceaseless attacks against them, Balint acknowledged the difficulty for LGBTQ people and their allies to refrain from responding in kind. At the same time, she said, “I’m not somebody who’s going to continue to keep a fight going for the sake of the fight.”

From “how I post [on social media] to the way I deliver my floor speeches [in the House],” Balint said, “it is this signal even to people within my own party, that I’m not going to be a conflict entrepreneur.”

Disagreements are bound to happen, and confrontation can be productive, the congresswoman said, but one must find the right approach and be mindful of the broader context.

Balint remains optimistic in the face of these challenges. She told the Blade she never imagined she would be able to marry the woman she loves, or raise two children, or be elected to serve as Vermont’s first openly LGBTQ member of Congress.

Nor, Balint said, did the framers envision “the child of an immigrant working class mom,” a queer woman, would have the privilege of serving in this role. But “now that I’m here, I’m going to make the most of it, and I’m going to fight on behalf of all of our freedoms.”

Rep. BECCA BALINT (D-Vt.) (Blade photo by Michael Key)

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Griner makes surprise appearance at NAACP Image Awards

A standing ovation greeted the WNBA’s Brittney Griner over the weekend when the basketball star and her wife, Cherelle, stunned the audience by walking out onto the stage at the NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, Calif.

As Deadline reported, Queen Latifah was speaking about the resilience of Black people Saturday night, when she said, “We stay overcoming because that’s what we do!” Then, she introduced the Griners: “As we gather here tonight, In the spirit of overcoming adversity, I want to take this moment to recognize someone who has done just that.”

The crowd roared as they appeared on stage with broad smiles, holding hands. Brittney wore an elegant black tuxedo and unbuttoned button-down white shirt, with Cherelle decked out in a regal purple pantsuit.

“It feels so good to be here,” said Griner, “especially with my beautiful, amazing wife and with all of y’all here today.”

“Thank you for that beautiful applause,” Cherelle Griner said. “We are just truly so thankful to all the people, many of whom are Black women and Black-led organizations who fought so hard to bring BG home tonight.”

The Phoenix Mercury player, who just re-signed with the team this month, regained her freedom in December 2022 in a prisoner swap between Russia and the U.S.

The 32-year-old missed the entire 2022 season following her arrest in Moscow one year ago. Russian authorities said she broke their law by packing vape canisters with cabbabis oil in her luggage. In August, Griner was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony for drug smuggling, and that sentence was upheld upon appeal in October.

Griner was finally exchanged in the United Arab Emirates for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. He had served

10 years of a 25-year-sentence for conspiring to sell weapons to a terrorist group. Russia balked at the Biden administration’s request to secure the release of businessman and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who is still serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia for spying.

“Let’s keep fighting to bring home every American still detained overseas,” Griner told the audience at the award ceremony.

As NPR reported, almost three dozen Americans are wrongfully detained by foreign governments each year, a rate nearly seven times greater than the average compared to just ten years ago, according to a study by the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. That group advocates for the release of Americans who are held hostage or wrongfully detained.

According to the foundation, right now there are at least 60 Americans who are currently being held hostage or wrongfully detained in foreign countries. Iran, China, Venezuela, Syria and Russia are holding the vast majority of those Americans prisoner.

Griner and the Phoenix Mercury open their 2023 season against the Los Angeles Sparks at the Crypto. com Arena on May 19. The team’s first home game is May 21 when Phoenix hosts the Chicago Sky.

Miss. bans gender-affirming health care for trans youth

Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Tuesday signed House Bill 1125, a bill banning health care treatments for gender dysphoria for transgender youth, prohibiting doctors from providing such care and stripping parents of the right to guide medical decisions for their own children.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi issued the following statement:

“This is a devastating development for transgender youth in Mississippi and heartbreaking for all of us who love and support them. This care was already difficult to access across the state for transgender people of any age, but this law shuts the door on best-practice medical care and puts politics between parents, their children and their doctors. But this fight is far from over — we are determined to build a future where Mississippi is a safe place to raise every child. Our politicians continue to

fail trans youth, so it is up to each and every one of us to rise against their fear and ignorance and surround these young people with strength, safety and love.”

Mississippi is the fifth state in the country and the third state in the past month to ban gender-affirming care for trans youth after Utah and South Dakota passed similar bans. Similar laws in Alabama and Arkansas are currently enjoined by federal courts.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Equality Caucus seeks to honor Black LGBTQ leaders

(Calif.), a founding member and current vice chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus.

Co-sponsors included the Caucus’s Chair, Rep. Mark Pocan (Wis.), and fellow Vice Chair, Rep. Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), along with 29 other House Democrats. In addition to the Caucus, the resolution has been endorsed by Equality California, America’s largest statewide LGBTQ organization.

“For generations, we have seen the erasure of Black LGBTQI+ Americans from our history, despite all of the rich and impactful contributions these individuals have made to our culture, society, and the advancement of civil rights,” Lee said in a press release announcing the move.

“As we celebrate Black History Month, we must pay homage to remarkable Black LGBTQI+ figures like Marsha P. Johnson, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Bayard Rustin, and many more,” Lee said. “I’m proud to reintroduce this resolution with my Equality Caucus colleagues to honor their legacies and ensure our history is told in full.”

first Black woman mayor in 2019; and Karine Jean-Pierre, who in 2022 became the first Black woman and the first LGBTQ person to serve as White House press secretary.

Black advocates who are now leading LGBTQ advocacy groups were also spotlighted in the bill: Kelley Robinson at the Human Rights Campaign; Imani Rupert-Gordon at National Center for Lesbian Rights; Kierra Johnson at National LGBTQ Task Force; David Johns at National Black Justice Coalition; Gabriel Foster at Trans Justice Funding Project; Carter Brown at Black TransMen Inc.; Melanie Willingham-Jaggers at GLSEN; and Stacey Stevenson at Family Equality Council.

“I’m honored to be included on this list of trailblazing Black LGBTQ+ leaders. I love Black History Month, because it’s a time when people in our country come together not just to honor the Black past but also to build Black futures and celebrate Black joy,” Robinson said in an exclusive statement to The Washington Blade.

The proposal “Recognizing Black History Month as an important time to celebrate the remarkable and unique contributions of all LGBTQI+ Black Americans in United States history” was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee

The bill also recognizes more recent achievements by Black LGBTQ leaders, including: Minneapolis City Councilmember Andrea Jenkins, who became the country’s first transgender woman to serve in public office in 2018; Lori Lightfoot, who became Chicago’s first LGBTQ and

“Right now, with attacks on Black and LGBTQ+ lives on the rise, it is more important than ever that we hold onto that Black, queer joy and I’m proud that Rep. Barbara Lee and the other resolution sponsors have taken this moment to make that clear,” she said.

CHRISTOPHER KANE

DAWN ENNIS

U.S. House Democrats reintroduced a resolution on Friday that would recognize the contributions of Black LGBTQI+ leaders.

U.S. Rep. BARBARA LEE (D-Calif.). (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

BRITTNEY GRINER (right) and her wife, CHERELLE GRINER, at the NAACP Image Awards in Pasadena, Calif., on Feb. 25. (Screenshot from CBS 2/YouTube)

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Australian PM marches in Pride parade for first time

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made history Saturday at Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade, becoming his nation’s first sitting prime minister to take part in the parade, one of the biggest LGBTQ Pride events in the world.

The prime minister in a simple open-necked shirt and jeans joined senior Labor figures — including the New South Wales opposition leader, Chris Minns, and the federal MP for Sydney, Tanya Plibersek, drawing cheers from the huge crowds lining the city’s Oxford Street as more than 12,000 participants and 200 floats made their way along the parade route.

Penny Wong, the first openly lesbian member of Australia’s parliament, also took part in the celebrations.

On Twitter Albanese noted: “When the first Mardi Gras march was held in 1978, you could still be arrested for being gay. In the decades since, people dedicated their

lives toward the campaign for equality.” Continuing in the thread the prime minister added: “To be accepted as equal and recognized for who they are and who they love. I’ve been proudly marching in Mardi Gras since the 80s. This year I’m honored to be the first prime minister to join the march.”

This was Sydney’s first Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras since the coronavirus pandemic, the last one was held in 2019.

Speaking to reporters Albanese said “This is a celebration of modern Australia,” adding that it was “unfortunate” that he was the country’s first leader to march in the parade while in office.

“People want to see that their government is inclusive and represents everyone no matter who they love, no matter what their identity, no matter where they live.”

BRODY LEVESQUE

Pakistan’s first trans TV anchor escapes assassination

The first transgender female anchor on the independently owned and operated Kohenoor News Network in Pakistan escaped serious injury after two gunmen opened fire as she was returning to her residence after a trip to a local pharmacy.

Marvia Malik, who had made history in the conservative Muslim-majority nation as the first openly trans person on a television channel in 2018, told police investigators that she believed her LGBTQ and intersex rights activism was a “major factor” behind the assassination attempt, citing several threatening calls prior to Feb. 24’s attempt on her life.

Malik, who had moved out of Lahore, fearing for her safety based on previous threats, had returned for a surgery only days before the attempt on her life happened.

LGBTQ and intersex rights in Pakistan are still severely restricted with homosexuality being outlawed, punishable by prison sentences and conversion therapy is often a prescribed treatment.

The community, however, continues to face many challenges in Pakistan. They experience discrimination and violence both from individuals and the government.

In 2018, for example, the Pakistani government passed a law under Section 377 of the country’s colonial-era penal code that made same-sex marriage punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Homosexuality remains criminalized in Pakistan.

In addition to the criminalization of LGBTQ and intersex Pakistanis, the community also continues to face discrimination and violence that family members often perpetuate. Many LGBTQ and intersex people face verbal, emotional and even physical abuse from their families due to socie-

tal and religious pressures. This can lead to them dropping out of school or foregoing higher education altogether.

against trans Pakistanis remains pervasive in spite of these advances.

In an interview with fashion magazine Elle, Malik, then 21, who had previously worked as a model noted that she moved in with a trans friend and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and civics from Lahore’s Punjab University, while studying make-up and working at a local salon to support herself.

Upon graduation, she began looking for jobs — and landed her first and current one with Kohinoor News, a small Lahore-based TV channel, after passing her screen test with flying colours. “At my interview, they asked, ‘Why are you interested in working here? Don’t transgender people just beg and dance for money?’”

After three months of training, she began her career on March 23, 2018, and news of her employment went viral she told the worldwide women’s magazine.

Discrimination in the workplace and education system forces many LGBTQ and intersex Pakistanis to remain in the closet, and those who are out often cannot find work or continue their education. Access to health care — including testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and infection — is an ongoing challenge.

A law that permits trans people to legally change the gender on their national ID cards and other official documents, allows them to vote and bans discrimination based on gender identity in employment, health care, education and on public transportation took effect in 2021. Pakistan’s Supreme Court in 2009 ruled in favor of recognizing trans people as a third gender on identity cards. Discrimination

“Like other trans people, I did not get any support from my family. On my own, I did some menial jobs and continued my studies. I had always wanted to be a news anchor, and my dream came true when I got selected,” she said to Voice of America in a interview.

Speaking with the BBC she said: “Our community should be treated equally and there must not be any gender discrimination. We should be given equal rights and be considered ordinary citizens, instead of third-gender.”

She added: “My family knows I have modelled and they know that I work as a newscaster. It’s the age of social media and there’s nothing that my family doesn’t know. But they have still disowned me.”

BRODY LEVESQUE

South Korean court rules gay couples eligible for health insurance

A South Korean high court ruled this week that partners in a same-sex relationship are eligible for national health insurance coverage overturning a ruling last year by a lower court that denied the benefits.

The Korea Herald reported the Seoul High Court’s ruling is the first that recognizes the status of a same-sex partner as a dependent eligible for national health insurance, but noted that this did not mean that it recognizes the “legal status” of a same-sex marriage.

The lower court had ruled that “the union of a man and woman is still considered the fundamental element of marriage, according to civil law, precedents of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court and the gener-

al perception of society.”

The lower court had also added: “Under the current legal system, it is difficult to evaluate the relationship between two people of the same sex as a common-law relationship.”

The case was brought about by a lawsuit, filed last year by So Seong-wook, which challenged South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service after it took away his ability to receive spousal benefits from the employer of his partner Kim Yong-min.

According to the Korea Herald, the NHIS allowed Kim to register So as his dependent in early 2020 — later reversing the decision citing their same-sex marriage. It was

believed to be the first such case in the country.

In the lawsuit, So claimed he and his partner were discriminated against because the NHIS grants spousal coverage to common-law partners, often used by opposite-sex couples who are not married.

In this week’s ruling by the high court it stated “The plaintiff and his partner are both male, but they agreed to recognize each other as loving partners who take care of each other. One financially relies on the other. They declared their partnership before their families and friends. This makes their relationship no different in essence from that of a married couple.”

MARVIA MALIK (Photo courtesy of Twitter)

Australian Prime Minister ANTHONY ALBANESE marches in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade on Feb. 25. (Photo courtesy of Albanese’s office/Twitter)

The

Kennedy Center Millennium Stage | Washington DC | March 4, 2023 | 6pm

Featuring Rebekah Lau’ren, Spirit McIntyre and Like Water Curated by Be Steadwell

Powerful Black, queer musicians from the DMV share their take on love songs in this round-robin style show. In alignment with Roadwork’s 45-year long mission of nurturing coalition building, SISTERFIRE LOVE SONGS honors the DMV’s enduring Black arts activists who center love across movements and generations. In a world consumed with politics, what does it mean for Black queer artists to invite us to talk about love?

Roadwork is multiracial coalition of LGBTQ, social justice, and anti racist arts activists in Washington DC. From its inception in 1982, Roadwork’s Sisterfire Festival showcased an array of artists with an emphasis on women of color, performers like Sweet Honey in the Rock and other musical activists who tackled social justice issues both local and global. The Sisterfire Festival remains a cross generational celebration of resistance, coalition, and emancipatory imagination, creativity, and performance in the arts.

BASEL TOUCHAN

is a Syrian American immigrant and human rights advocate. A doctor by training, he works as a DEIB leader and consultant. Follow him  @Basel_Touchan.

Our

truth

Growing up in Syria, life was relatively stable — until it wasn’t. My world turned upside-down in 2011 when civil war ravaged the country, separating families, destroying buildings, schools and parks and displacing millions of innocent people who were forced to begin life anew in strange lands with virtually no supportive services.

I remember seeing videos of queer people being thrown from the top of buildings in areas controlled by ISIS and similar groups. Life was never easy for queer people in Syria to start with, but threats to one’s life grew exponentially amid the chaos and rise of religious extremists. I was closeted at the time; a young doctor eager to start a career in saving lives. I remember hearing the sounds of sirens, gunshots and blood-curdling screams echoing from a distance, and realizing that I had no choice but to flee.

This is the reality for many LGBTQ+ people seeking asylum in the United States who are escaping countries where homosexuality is criminalized, but what many Americans don’t realize is that seeking asylum isn’t as easy as filling out paperwork. The current asylum process is a tangled web of bureaucracy, politics, and legal barriers that traps asylum seekers in limbo for years.

In the U.S. today, there are 1.6 million people with pending asylum cases. Among them are doctors, students and other professionals who fled war, violence and persecution in search of safety. Now that they have found it, they face up to a 6-year waiting period before learning their fate. Asylum is a notoriously complex and discretionary system. Each case is determined on its merit by the subjective opinion of the presiding judge or immigration officer. Unfortunately, many applicants lack adequate representation, and more than half of asylum cases are denied each year. Tens of thousands struggle with coming out and living their truth against the threat of potential deportation, should their case be denied years later.

While a process to vet cases has to exist, there is no reason it should take this long. The system wasn’t always like this. In fact, over the course of a decade, the backlog in asylum applications increased seven fold — from 100,000 in 2012 to nearly 788,000 by the end of 2022.

At best, the current system is a careless abdication of responsibility by our government. At worst, it is intentionally weaponized to discourage asylum seekers from coming to the United States. This is unacceptable in a country that prides itself on being a beacon of hope and opportunity, which I know firsthand. I credit my ability to freely live life as my authentic self to the ideals this country is built upon. It is our duty to ensure all asylum seekers have the same opportunity.

Last week, I celebrated my 10-year anniversary of moving to the U.S. Five years ago, I became an American citizen. It wasn’t until that point that I felt I could finally embrace my true identity. I was fortunate to have pre-existing familial ties to the U.S., which helped me bypass the complicated asylum system, but many of my queer siblings don’t have that luxury.

Since moving to the U.S., I’ve been plagued by survivor’s guilt. Three of my medical school classmates lost their lives, and some are still missing to this day. Why them, and not me? I’ve often wondered. The news of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey earlier this month, killing over 46,000 people to date, triggered many memories I thought I had long buried deep. It has also reminded me that, despite the hell I’ve been through, I made it to the other side whole. I never had the chance to be whole before calling the United States my home. Other people who were forcibly displaced, like me, deserve the same.

I want the images of destroyed buildings and the sounds of falling bombs to be replaced in their minds by those of Pride parades and drag shows — as it was for me. I want them to experience the excitement of holding another person’s hand without looking over their shoulders in angst. I want them to know what it’s like to celebrate their first Valentine’s Day with the person they love, a milestone I recently achieved this year for the first time.

This is what I fight for, and what every American should fight for.

I am unrecognizable from the person who stretched his shaky hands to give his Syrian passport to the CBP agent at Boston’s Logan Airport a decade ago. I am now an openly gay DEIB professional, human rights and LGBTQ+ advocate who is in a loving relationship. I am now a proud American citizen and a living testament to the power of compassion. It is our responsibility to ensure that the same opportunity is afforded to all those seeking asylum in the United States. The time for change and to fix our broken asylum system is now.

asylum system prevents thousands from living their

I fled Syria and came out after receiving refuge in U.S.

takomawellnesscenter

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

to Washington to work in the Carter administration

Celebrating a decent and honorable president

I had the honor of working in the Carter administration. It was not something I even thought about when he won the presidency in 1976.

Sen. Henry ‘Scoop’ Jackson (D-Wash.) won the New York Democratic primary, but his campaign was faltering. Then-Mayor Abe Beame endorsed Jimmy Carter. Beame was the fourth big city mayor to do so, but his being Jewish made his endorsement all the more important. The year 1976 was also when Rep. Bella Abzug (D-N.Y.) was running in a Senate primary and I volunteered in her campaign. At the time, I was Citywide Coordinator Local Government in the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services. It was an interesting time. I attended the Democratic National Convention, held in New York, and saw Carter nominated. Abzug then lost her primary, in a close race, to Patrick Moynihan.

As the general election began, I was asked to be one of the liaisons to the Carter campaign from the mayor’s office. I spent many evenings, on my own time, in Carter’s New York campaign office. Even after he won, I never thought about serving in his administration and was very happy working in New York. But as anyone in politics can tell you, things often change quickly.

In 1977, Abzug decided to run for mayor. I ended up leaving the Beame administration to become her deputy campaign manager. It was the title she offered me to leave Beame, who was running for re-election. Bella and Beame both lost in the first round of the primary. The run-off was between Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch. My first and only mention on the front page of the New York Times, above the fold left hand column, was when I went to work as field director for Cuomo. When Koch won, he let me know through an intermediary I was persona non grata in city government as long as he was mayor.

Abzug invited me to go with her to the White House when she presented the final report from the Houston Women’s Conference to the president. Being unemployed, I walked around the White House handing out my resume; we still used paper in those days. Abzug kept whispering in my ear, “don’t you dare give it to the president.” Well not the president, but one of the people I gave it to, did respond. Six weeks later I was hired to be executive director of the White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals Implementation Unit. So I moved to Washington to begin an exciting two years. Turned out it was the beginning of a whole new life for me, including coming out. I never looked back.

During his campaign, Carter had promised to implement the recommendations of the White House Conference on the Handicapped held during the Ford administration. Carter, above all else, was a decent man. In so many ways his presidency is underrated and he doesn’t get the credit he should.

Kai Bird wrote in the New York Times about a host of Carter’s successes. “He delivered the Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel, the SALT II arms control agreement, normalization of diplomatic and trade relations with China and immigration reform. He made the principle of human rights a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, planting the seeds for the unraveling of the Cold War in Eastern Europe and Russia.” In addition, “He deregulated the airline industry, paving the way for middle-class Americans to fly for the first time in large numbers, and he deregulated natural gas, laying the groundwork for our current energy independence. He worked to require seatbelts or airbags, which would go on to save 9,000 American lives each year. He inaugurated the nation’s investment in research on solar energy and was one of the first presidents to warn us about the dangers of climate change. He rammed through the Alaska Land Act, tripling the size of the nation’s protected wilderness areas. He appointed more African Americans, Hispanics and women to the federal bench, substantially increasing their numbers.”

Jimmy Carter was only a one-term president. Today, he is known for having the most relevant post-presidency. He lost his reelection campaign for many reasons. One, Ted Kennedy ran against him in a primary and though losing, hurt Carter’s chances for reelection. Then the Iranian hostage crisis, which lasted for 444 days and Carter’s Rose Garden strategy, not going out and campaigning until the hostages were released. The Iranians didn’t release them until 12:01 on the day Ronald Reagan was inaugurated.

Again, above all, Jimmy Carter will be remembered as a decent and honorable man.

I came

It’s been a few years since queer comedian, actor, and activist Margaret Cho has done a stand-up comedy tour. In the interim, she’s been acting in a variety of well-received movies (including “Fire Island”) and TV shows (such as “Hacks” and “The Flight Attendant”). In other words, she’s never far from our sight. That’s a good thing! For 2023, Cho embarked on a multi-city comedy tour, “Live and Livid,” and it promises to be the live performance event of the year (sorry Madonna). Margaret was kind enough to answer a few questions before heading out on the road.

BLADE: Margaret, I interviewed you last spring just before the movie “Fire Island” premiered. Since that time, the movie won the Gotham Awards’ Ensemble Tribute, and was named on several end-of-the-year “best of” lists. Additionally, “Fire Island” is Certified Fresh on RottenTomatoes.com with a 94% rating. What does it mean to you to have been associated with such a well-received project?

MARGARET CHO: I love it! I loved making it. I love the cast. I love Joel’s (Kim Booster) vision. I love Andrew’s (Ahn) directing. We are a family, and we’ve got to make sequels, prequels, a whole cinematic universe. I think that would be so valuable. Hopefully, we’ll get to see that. I love them, they’re my babies. I knew that everybody would love this movie. I loved this movie so much. I’m very proud of it and proud of everybody that worked on it.

BLADE: The Lifetime sitcom “Drop Dead Diva,” on which you played Terri Lee, has been brought back and is airing on the Hallmark Channel. How do you feel about the possibility of a whole new generation of viewers getting to see the show?

CHO: I’m very proud of the work that I got to do on that show. It’s really exciting that everybody gets to discover it again. I love that we get to show everybody what we did. It’s so fun and it’s a triumph.

BLADE: Do you have any favorite memories to share from “Drop Dead Diva”?

CHO: I loved working with Liza Minnelli. My very favorite episode was all the stuff I got to do with Patty Duke. She was a legend. I kept trying to get her to come to a screening of “Valley of the Dolls” where we would interview her. She was like, “Oh, nobody wants to see that movie!” I’m like, “What? Are you crazy [laughs]? Everybody loves that movie.” She was such a person to get to know and to work with. What an incredible actor and a lovely woman.

BLADE: You play Nurse Nina in the Apple TV+ educational children’s series “Helpsters.” What do you like best about that?

CHO: The creatures. All of the puppets are so cute. I love working with puppeteers because they’re actually very animated people. They’re so charming and beautiful and fun, and fun to be with. I love (out actor) Rebecca Henderson (who plays Farmer Flynn). We played girlfriends, and now we’re married on the show, we’re married on “Helpsters.” When I see her, I’m like, “We’re doing so good in our relationship!” She was my girlfriend in the (2022) movie “Sex Appeal” on Hulu, and she and I are married on “Helpsters.” She’s my most successful relationship.

BLADE: “Helpsters” is from the makers of “Sesame Street,” and being someone who was in her formative years when “Sesame Street” first started airing, would you say that it was a show that had an impact on you?

CHO: Absolutely! In the ‘90s, I got to work with Kermit the Frog. I mean, talk about an NDA! If you work with a Muppet, like Kermit the Frog, in particular, you have to sign so many NDAs. I’m probably breaking an NDA right now. We had gone to this thing, and Kermit was my partner. We were doing shots with Gorbachev, Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev were in the United States and they were being hosted by Jane Fonda and Ted Turner, to whom she was married at the time. I

had not drunk alcohol in a long time, and they forced us to do shots. Kermit was like (in Kermit’s voice), “Drink it! Drink it!” I couldn’t not do a shot if Kermit’s right there telling me to drink it. I’ve worked with a lot of Muppets, and I’ve had a lot of Muppet drama [laughs].

BLADE: Your 2023 North American tour is titled “Live & Livid.” We certainly have a lot to be livid about, especially in the years following the 45th president, as well as the events of Jan. 6, and the deadly rise of white nationalism. Were these sources of inspiration, and what else are you livid about?

CHO: Yes! Also the attacks on drag queens, the attacks on queerness, the attacks on trans folks, the continual attacking of different parts of our community who are so important to us. Whether it’s our athletes, like Brittney Griner. Whether it’s trans kids. Drag queens, to me, who are front and center, the heart and joy of our community. It’s where we celebrate, with drag. That’s the most heartbreaking part of this is. They’re taking down the really important part of community. The cheerful ones, the ones that we need. Well, not Bianca Del Rio [laughs]. Bianca’s my favorite! They should be scared of drag queens! They will get read to filth. They should be afraid! Children are way safer at a drag show than they are in church!

BLADE: As of now, when we’re talking, “Live & Livid” is scheduled to run through September with stops in 20 cities, including San Francisco. What does it mean to you when you get to perform for the hometown crowd?

CHO: Oh, I love it. It’s sort of still my hometown in a lot of ways. I have deep roots there. I spent so much time there, so it’s still home in a lot of ways. It’s meaningful and a cherished thing. But, also, I think I’m a citizen of everywhere. I’ve been everywhere, so it’s all my home.

BLADE: It’s been six years since you launched your previous tour, “Fresh Off the Bloat.” What are you most looking forward to about returning to performing live again?

CHO: I think we had a really difficult time throughout the pandemic and through this resetting of this idea of what the world is. It’ll be great to greet people again in this new space. The gratitude that I have for live performance, and going to live shows and performances as it is, is a really special thing. I’m very excited.

BLADE: Are there any upcoming projects about which

you’re excited that you’d like to mention?

CHO: Nothing that I can mention, as yet. But I’m really looking forward to this year. I have things that I’m working on that I’m really thrilled about. Things that are starting to come up that I’ll be able to talk about soon. I’m working a lot, so I’m really happy about that.

BLADE: This interview is taking place on Friday the 13th. Are you superstitious, and if so, what superstitions do you observe?

CHO: I love Friday the 13th! I love black cats. I love this whole notion of the cursed film or cursed TV show. There’s something about it. Whether it’s “The Exorcist” or “Poltergeist.” Any of these ideas of things being ill-willed or bad omens. “The Omen!” I love horror, so to me it’s a very special day.  It’s my happy day, my holiday.

MARGARET CHO performs March 10 at the Warner Theater.

(Photo by Sergio Garcia)

(Photo by Sergio Garcia)

CALENDAR

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Friday, March 03

Center Aging: Friday Tea Time will be at 2 p.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ adults. Guests can bring a beverage of choice. For more information, contact Adam at adamheller@thedccenter.org.

Saturday, March 04

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

LGBT People of Color Support Group will be at 1 p.m. on Zoom. 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, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

Sunday,

March 05

GoGay DC will be hosting “LGBTQ+ Coffee & Conversation” at 12 p.m. at As You Are. This event is for those looking to meet new faces in the LGBTQ community. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

“Speaking Out with Editor Esther Sxhwartz-McKinzie” will be at 2 p.m. at One More Page Books. “Speaking Out: Families of LGBTQ+ Advance the Dialogue” is an interview project inspired by the author’s daughter in the spirit of pushing back against current hateful anti-LGBTQ politics and trends. Admission is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Monday, March 06

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.

Capital Pride Interfaith Service Planning Meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. The  Capital Pride Interfaith Service is an “integrated service” respectfully demonstrating the breadth, depth, and sincerity of our faith, exposing the lie that anti-gay fundamentalists have a monopoly on faith and religion. For more details, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

Tuesday, March 07

“LGBTQ+ Social Mixer- Pride on the Patio” will be at 7:30 p.m. at Showroom. Guests are encouraged to bring their most authentic selves to chat, laugh, and get a little crazy. There will be happy hour pricing for cocktails, wine and beer. Admission is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

“Golden Night of Greatness” will be at 7:30 p.m. at Capital Turnaround. This black-tie event will honor notable figures and businesses for their talent, services, and gifts to the DMV community and abroad. There will be special tributes and performances by some of the creative industry’s best. Tickets start at $55.20 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Wednesday, March 08

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.

“DC Karaoke Happy Hour” will be at 7 p.m. at Artemis DC. There will be more than 30,000 songs to choose from plus food, drinks, and hookah. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Thursday, March 09

The DC Center’s Fresh Produce 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.

“Wasted and Gay Thursdays” will be at 9 p.m. at Wasted Lounge. This LGBTQ-friendly event will by hosted by Nelly Nelz and there will be music by DJ Ro. There will also be food, drink specials, and hookah. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

OUT & ABOUT

DRAG IS BACK at Dupont Underground

“Drag Underground Spring 2023” will be on Friday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m. at DuPont Underground.  This event, co-hosted by the Washington Blade and Drag Underground, will feature performances from some of D.C.’s best drag queens such as Cake Pop, Major Tom, Rico Pico and Shiqueeta-Lee.

Tickets for this event start at $16.55 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Lesbian artist to explore trauma, triumph in exhibition

“The Cost of Living” will premiere on Friday, March 3 at 7 p.m. at Dupont Underground.

This art exhibition will feature the work of Lavette Ballard, LaToya Hobbs and many other Black women and femme artists as they explore the cost of living for Black women. The show will present 2D, 3D, audio, and visual works to examine how Black women persevere despite the systems that are in place to limit their prosperity.

Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Gavin Creel relishing goofy fun of ‘Into the Woods’

Tony-winning gay actor plays two roles in touring production

By PATRICK FOLLIARD

For months, Gavin Creel has been making audiences laugh in director Lear deBessonet’s pared-down take on Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s deliciously dark musical fairytale “Into the Woods.”

Before moving to Broadway’s St. James Theatre in the summer of 2022, the production enjoyed a short run as part of New York City Center’s “Encores!” series. And now the hit show has embarked on a 10-city national tour currently kicking off at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

“It’s been a joy,” says Creel who plays both the lascivious Wolf and Cinderella’s Prince, two terrific scene-stealing roles that allow him to show off his gorgeous voice and considerable comedic muscle. The out actor adds, “This version puts Sondheim and Lapine’s work front and center without a lot of fuss and lets you bathe in the masterful storytelling.”

Among so many things he’s enjoying about the gig, Creel, 46, is particularly grateful that he’s been given the freedom to explore both parts, especially Cinderella’s Prince. A big challenge, he says, is to keep his comedy rooted in the real world without forgetting that the spoiled prince’s reality hovers above normalcy. After all, he is the canary yellow coat wearing, self-absorbed character known for saying ‘I was raised to be charming, not sincere.’”

By his own admission, the native of Findlay, Ohio turned New York-based Broadway star sometimes goes for laughs harder than planned: “Yeah, I’m having a little too much goofy fun in the first half of the play. I’m really enjoying the audience loving how funny it is.”

Twenty years ago, Creel made his Broadway debut as Jimmy in “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” a star turn that garnered him a Tony Award nomination. Subsequent musical successes include — among many — Clyde in the Broadway revival of “Hair,” comedic roles in “She Loves Me” and “The Book of Mormon,” and a Tony Award-winning performance as Cornelius Hackl in Broadway’s “Hello, Dolly!” starring Bette Midler in 2017.

“I do a lot of revivals and I always try to read them like they’re new scripts,” he says, explaining his knack for making familiar parts his own.

Typically busy, Creel recently finished an original theatrical

piece entitled “Walk on Through: Confessions of a Museum Novice,” based on a commission from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“It started as an assignment from a friend,” he explains. “Artists from various genres were invited to explore the museum and come up with something. My thing is I’d never been to the Met before, and as embarrassing and odd as that might sound, it’s true.”

The pandemic was not a joyful time for Creel. Grief caused him to literally lose his singing voice for a while, so he spent a lot time observing art instead. The Met became a safe haven. His new piece features 40 pieces of art projected throughout the show including Creel’s personal favorite “Smashed Strokes Hope” (1971), a dynamic contemporary painting by lesbian feminist artist Joan Snyder.

He’s excited to share a chunk of his new work in a concert at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater on Monday, March 13, a night off from playing in Sondheim’s fairytale, and looks forward to a possible full production in New York in the fall. That would give him time to schedule a quick Hawaiian respite after the tour ends in Los Angeles in late July.

Offstage, the University of Michigan grad strives to make a difference when he can. Creel is passionate about teaching. He was also a co-founder of Broadway Impact, the first and only grassroots organization to mobilize the nationwide theater community in support of marriage equality. But describing him as an activist makes Creel “a little itchy.” Cleve Jones and David Mixner are activists, not him, he says,

“When I was in my 30s doing ‘Hair’ on Broadway, I realized that I was enjoying a world built and paid for by people who came before me,” he says. “I wanted to be a part of that, so in an attempt to feel useful and involved, some of us organized rallies and encouraged others to write letters and taught them what state legislature is about. I think it helped.”

But politics is not where Creel’s greatest powers lie, he says. Instead, he mostly uses his energy to effect change in other ways, mostly through his work: “If we can laugh together and all agree that the prince in the yellow coat is pretty much an idiot, let’s see what else we agree on.”

GAVIN CREEL stars in ‘Into the Woods.’

(Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)

Kennedy Center Opera House $45 - $179 | kennedy-center.org

‘Everything’ lands queer endorsement as movie of the year

Dorian Awards add to momentum for breakout film as Oscars near

By JOHN PAUL KING

For Oscar handicappers – or anyone else who loves movies and enjoys playing the yearly game of picking favorites and predicting winners during Hollywood’s glitzy awards season – last weekend’s presentation of the Screen Actors Guild Awards was a crucial event.

As the last “big” awards ceremony before Academy Award night (which takes place this year on March 12), the SAG Awards’ film category winners are often seen as a clear indicator of which films and performers have the momentum to win there, too. It’s not surprising they should be seen as significant, but this year, thanks to some history-making wins (including firsts for Asian-American talent and a single movie’s sweep of all but two of the film categories), there was even more reason to pay attention.

SAG was not the only organization to bestow its film awards last week, however. Though they received less fanfare, the 14th Annual Dorian Awards – announced on Feb. 23 by GALECA, the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics – offered a slate of winners that reflected a queer eye on the films of 2022; and while they might not be as much a barometer for the tastes and attitudes of the industry insiders who vote for the big film awards, it should be noted that its choices align surprisingly often with those of SAG and the rest of mainstream Hollywood.

That’s partly because, although they do include a handful of LGBTQ-specific categories, the Dorians don’t just honor queer films. GALECA’s voters – a group of more than 400 professional queer entertainment critics, journalists, and media icons – look at the same movies as their straight colleagues; they present the Dorians (named as a nod to iconic queer writer Oscar Wilde and his most famous literary creation) as a way “to remind bigots, bullies and our own communities that the world often looks to the Q+ eye for unique and powerful entertainment,” and to ensure that a queer perspective is represented amid Hollywood’s yearly bestowal of honors. While there have been notable divergences, such as the occasional queer title like “Carol” or “Call Me By Your Name” supplanting their more hetero-friendly competitors for Film of the Year, recent Dorian honors have tended more to mirror the mainstream consensus than defy it.

This year is no exception. “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” the genre-splicing serio-comic sci-fi sleeper whose jaw-dropping sweep at the SAG show has made a similar triumph at the Oscars feel all but inevitable, also scored a lion’s share of honors from the Dorians, winning in seven of its nine nominated categories – even achieving the triple feat of being chosen as Best Film, Best LGBTQ Film and Most Visually Striking Film. For Lead Film Performance – all nominees, regardless of gender, vie for a single award in the each of the two acting categories – Yeoh, long embraced by queer fans, edged out not only Blanchett but favored male competitors like SAG winner Brendan Fraser and Golden Globe winners Colin Farrell and Austin Butler, while co-star Ke Huy Quan continued his inspiring victory lap by being chosen for Supporting Film Performance. Rounding out their movie’s tally, filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert won in both the Director and Screenplay categories. As a bonus, while technically awarded for “EEAAO,” Yeoh was also the winner of the Wilde Artist Award, a special Dorian given yearly “to a truly groundbreaking force in film, theater and/ or television,” and fellow cast member Stephanie Hsu was named as Rising Star of the Year – honors almost certainly fueled by their work in “EEAAO.”

In other categories:

The UK import “Aftersun,” Charlotte Wells’ thoughtful fa-

ther-daughter tearjerker starring Paul Mescal, which also is also nominated for Best Picture and Best Actor Oscars, was awarded the Dorian for Best “Unsung” Film.

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” director Laura Poitras’ searing documentary about famed bisexual photographer Nan Goldin and her mission to shame the Sackler Big Pharma dynasty for profiteering on America’s opioid crisis, took both Best Documentary and Best LGBTQ Documentary; it’s also Oscar-nominated as Best Feature Documentary, the only queer-related doc to have made the cut there.

In the Best Animated Film category, the Dorians went against the tide by choosing “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” the charming and deceptively absurd stop-motion “mockumentary” adapted from a widely popular series of YouTube shorts, over “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio.” Both films are competing at the Oscars, as well.

For Best Non-English Language Film, the Dorians did what the Oscars cannot by picking “RRR” – the epic Telugu-language musical adventure fantasy about two South Indian rebels fighting to push British colonials from their homeland in the 1920s, rendered ineligible for the Academy’s equivalent category by India’s failure to submit it as the country’s official entry for consideration as Best International Feature. The film, a worldwide box office sensation from S.S. Rajamouli (India’s most commercially successful director), did snag an Oscar nomination in the Best Song category for “Naatu Naatu.”

Though “Tár” – a critically acclaimed but divisive cinematic portrait of a fictional lesbian symphony conductor accused of serial sexual misconduct in the workplace – ended up as an also-ran in most of its nominated categories, it didn’t go away empty-handed; composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, also nominated for her work on “Women Talking,” took home the award for Best Score. A former Oscar winner (for 2019’s “Joker”), she failed to earn an Academy nomination this year for either film.

In a category unique to the Dorians, the cheeky horror prequel “Pearl,” which starred co-writer Mia Goth as an ax-wielding wannabe in 1918 Texas, took the double-edged honor of Campiest Film of the Year. Other nominees included “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” as well as the aforementioned “RRR.”

Finally, a relatively new special Dorian honor, the GALECA LGBTQIA+ Film Trailblazer Award, went to nonbinary actor-singer Janelle Monáe (also a nominee for Best Supporting Performance for “Glass Onion”), whose win puts her in the company of groundbreaking LGBTQ directors Isabel Sandoval and Pedro Almodóvar, both former winners, as a queer pioneer in the ever-evolving cinematic medium.

As for how much influence the Dorians might have on Oscar voters, even most of the GALECA membership would likely say “not much.” That’s not the point, however; indeed, the increasingly frequent parallel between their picks and those of their mainstream compatriots might well be better interpreted as a reminder of the LGBTQ community’s role as “tastemakers” for the wider world. We’ve always been there, even when we were kept out of sight, helping to shape the aesthetic that dominates popular culture, and the fact that our tastes – as filtered through the representative cross-section of GALECA’s members, at least – are now so often represented in the content that achieves the industry’s highest honors is cause enough to celebrate.

As GALECA Executive Director John Griffiths puts it, “No matter what’s going on in the mind of a certain Florida governor and his ilk, the best movies, and TV too, will only continue to reflect what’s going on in the real world—and paral-

lel ones too. Looking at our nominees and winners, you can let out a nice, deep breath.”

The complete list of Dorian winners and nominees is below.

Film of the Year

Aftersun (A24)

The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight)

Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24) - WINNER

The Fabelmans (Universal)

Tár (Focus Features)

LGBTQ Film of the Year

Benediction (Roadside Attractions)

Bros (Universal)

Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24) - WINNER

The Inspection (A24)

Tár (Focus Features)

Director of the Year

Todd Field, Tár (Focus Features)

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere

All at Once (A24) - WINNER

Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight)

Sarah Polley, Women Talking (United Artists)

Charlotte Wells, Aftersun (A24)

Screenplay of the Year

Todd Field, Tár (Focus Features)

* Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere

All at Once (A24) - WINNER

Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight)

Sarah Polley, Women Talking (United Artists)

Charlotte Wells, Aftersun (A24)

Non-English Language Film of the Year

All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix, Amusement Park)

Close (A24)

Decision to Leave (Mubi, CJ Entertainment)

EO (Sideshow, Janus Films)

RRR (DVV Entertainment, Variance Films) – WINNER

Unsung Film of the Year (To an exceptional movie worthy of greater attention)

Aftersun (A24) - WINNER

After Yang (A24)

Benediction (Roadside Attractions)

JAMIE LEE CURTIS and MICHELLE YEOH in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’

Author wrestles with the nature of lies in ‘Girl I Am’

Gibney

imagines her life as a series of struggles with her birth mother

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

It’s OK. You’ll just make it up.

Not the right toys when you were a kid? No problem, you had your imagination. No impressive friends to brag on? You can always pretend to know the rich, famous, or infamous. Boring job, cheap house, hoopty car? It’s fine, you can conjure whatever you want and who cares? As in the new book, “The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be” by Shannon Gibney, it’s all a fantasy anyhow. There are facts. Provable, honest facts.

Shannon Gibney was born Jan. 30, 1975, in Ann Arbor, Mich. So was Erin Powers. Both were daughters of a Black petty criminal, and a white lesbian mother who struggled to give them up.

Another fact: Shannon was Erin, before she was adopted.

Shannon grew up in a middle-class white family with two brothers, a good education, toys, vacations, and stability. She had a “short relationship” with her birth father when she was an adult, and a longer (but shaky) one with her birth mother, which made her wonder what life might have been like, had she been raised as Erin.

When Erin was 19, she learned that her mother was dying of breast cancer, and wasting what life she had left. At 10, Erin had to learn to get along with her mother’s latest girlfriend; and she had to listen to racism from the white side of her family. Also at 10, she saw a spiraled portal and another girl who looked like her, but she didn’t en-

tirely understand it.

Every year on her birthday, her mother mourned an adoption she never wanted to happen.

When Shannon was 10 years old, she was cruel to a boy who liked her, and she wasn’t sure why. When she was 19, her parents loaned her their car so she could visit her birth mother and her birth mother’s partner. And at 35, she was reminded of the legacy her mother left her, one she must be “diligent” about for the rest of her life.

A dozen pages or so into “The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be,” author Shannon Gibney wrestles with the nature of lies, explaining that her book does, and does not, use “manufactured literary devices.” In other words, get ready for one really weird read.

And it remains as such, until you understand what’s going on: the story here is fiction mixed with fact, an imaginary life framed by a real one. “Erin” is the fiction, as Gibney imagines her life as a series of struggles, personal and otherwise, living with her birth mother. “Shannon” is Gibney’s story of finding out who she is and where she came from. The tales merge and diverge, neither with a lot of sense until you’re well past the halfway mark of this book.

Can you stick with it that long? Readers ages 15 and up might at least try; you’ll lose a little time adjusting to “The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be,” but don’t worry. You’ll make it up.

By Shannon Gibney

‘The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be’

c.2023, Dutton | $18.99 | 245 pages

Bunker’s opening Friday

Drag show and dance party held at new LGBTQ club

new LGBTQ dance club Bunker held a drag show and dance party on Friday night. The night began with a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” viewing party followed by a drag show hosted by Bombalicious Eklaver and featuring Chanel

The

Janae and Erotica Cliché.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

How

does offer strength factor into a real estate transaction?

Buyers consider price, contingencies, timeline

By JOSEPH HUDSON

As we enter the spring market, it might be a good time to review what makes someone’s offer to buy another’s home competitive or not.

At various times in the housing market, we have seen where the need for a buyer to write a very competitive offer has been crucial to “win” the offer and to purchase the desired home. If a seller receives six offers for their home, they will usually pick one that makes it easier for themselves in the transaction. At other times, and in other scenarios, a buyer can ask for more agreeable terms from their perspective.

Usually there are about three categories that buyers and sellers focus on when they are crafting and reviewing an offer. These categories are PRICE, CONTINGENCIES, and TIMELINE. There are various ways to address each of these factors:

PRICE

• Above the asking price

• At the full asking price

• Below the asking price

CONTINGENCIES

• NO financing contingency vs. Conventional or FHA financing contingency

• NO inspection contingency vs. home inspection and seller credits or repairs

• NO appraisal contingency vs a home appraisal contingency

TIMELINE

• 2-3 week closing period

• 4 week or 30-day closing period

• 45-60-day closing period

There are ways to structure your offer where you may have a combination of the three factors above. I have written offers where the buyer waives the home inspection contingency, but keeps the financing contingency, and agrees to close in 21 days or 30 days. Some offers have been written with the most competitive of all three terms, and some offers for less competitive terms in all three categories.

How does one decide how to structure their offer? Well, that’s where the agents come into play, and find out from each other what the seller and buyer are both aiming to gain out of the situation. Does the seller want the full price, but doesn’t mind if the closing happens in 45-60 days? Does the seller want a quick close but doesn’t necessarily need the full asking price? Maybe the seller is under contract to buy another home and needs to access their equity in a few weeks. Maybe the buyer wants some repairs done but will just take a credit from the seller or a reduction in sales price.

It’s usually a good rule of thumb to work toward a “win-win” situation for the buyer and the seller, to keep things moving smoothly. Have more questions? Shoot me an email and let’s talk.

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

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Massage for active adults. Private studio near Rosslyn. Fri-Mon, 12-8. text 301-704-1158 or visit http://www.mymassagebygary.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS

WASHINGTON LATIN

PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL (“WL”) REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (“RFP”)

WL solicits expressions of interest in the form of proposals from qualified vendors to provide security, housekeeping, facility management, transportation engineering and planning services, or commissioning agent for our new campus.

Please contact Tom Porter at porter9979618@gmail.com with a copy to gizurieta@latinpcs.org to request the response requirements. Please reference which role you are interested in. Deadline for submission is March 3, 2023. No phone calls please.

ACADEMY OF HOPE

Adult Public Charter School REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS HVAC

The Academy of Hope Adult Public Charter School located in Washington, DC requests proposals for HVAC. Proposals are due March 31st, 2023. You can find the detailed request for proposal and submission information at https://aohdc.org/jobs/

ACADEMY OF HOPE

Adult Public Charter School REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS PLUMBING

The Academy of Hope Adult Public Charter School located in Washington, DC requests proposals for plumbing. Proposals are due March 31st, 2023. You can find the detailed request for proposal and submission information at https://aohdc.org/jobs/

ART / FRAMED

60+ ASSORTED OILS, ACRYLICS, COLOR PRINTS, ETCHINGS, WATERCOLORS, from private collection. And some household decorative items, mantle clocks. Sat. Mar 4, Sun. Mar 5, Sat. Mar 11 & Sun Mar 12 only. 11am-3pm. 1714 Q St, NW.  $5 to $500. Cash, Paypal, Credit Cards.

BUY / SELL

Get this new book, DON’T SEND YOURSELF TO HELL by Betty Wooley. It explains there are two places to spend your eternity and how to get to each place either heaven or hell. It’s available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and EBay.

CLEANING FERNANDO’S CLEANING

Residential & Commercial Cleaning, Reasonable Rates, Free Estimates, Routine, 1-Time, Move-In/Move-Out

202-234-7050 / 202-486-6183

LIMOUSINES

KASPER’S LIVERY SERVICE

Since 1987. Gay & Veteran Owner/Operator. Lincoln Continental Sedan! Proper DC License & Livery Insured. www.KasperLivery.com. 202-554-2471

MOVERS

PROFESSIONAL MOVING & STORAGE

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Rivalry and revenge. Whispered accusations. And a true heart driven to madness.

OTELLO

MDLO returns to Strathmore with the fourth production in its 2022–2023 Season of Verdi, Otello. A passionate retelling of Shakespeare’s great tragedy of jealousy, deception, and murder, Verdi’s fiery score penetrates the darkest reaches of the soul, from the heart-stopping crash of the storm at the opera’s opening to Otello’s tortured descent into murderous madness. Bravura singing, tremendous scenes for the MDLO Chorus, and a brilliant, thriller-paced adaptation of Shakesepeare’s text make Otello an edge-of-your-seat must-see.

GREGORY KUNDE

Otello

“Passionate, beautiful... clear, strong, focused tone...genuine nobility” (The New York Times)

MARK DELAVAN Iago

“Half-divine, halfhuman voice” (Wall Street Journal)

ELENI CALENOS

Desdemona

“A performance for the ages” (Opera News)

PHILIPPE AUGUIN

Conductor

“A strong, ardent and often meltingly beautiful reading of the score”

(The Washington Post)

Pre-performance discussion with legendary star SHERRILL MILNES

Friday, March 3 at 6:15 pm

Sunday, March 5 at 12:45 pm

Friday, March 3 at 7:30 pm | Sunday, March 5 at 2:00 pm

THE MUSIC CENTER AT STRATHMORE TICKETS & INFORMATION AT www.MDLO.org