Washington Blade, Volume 54, Issue 17, April 28, 2023

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Trans woman sues officials over abusive treatment in Baltimore jails Lawsuit says sexual assault occurred after she was placed in all-male dorm

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

A lawsuit filed in federal court in Baltimore on April 18 charges the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and seven of its high-level officials with subjecting a transgender woman to “cruel and unusual punishment” during the six months she was held in two Baltimore jails.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Chelsea Gilliam, 33, says Gilliam was arrested in December 2021 on an assault charge and was being held while awaiting trial at the Baltimore City Correctional Center and the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center.

“Both facilities refused to accept Ms. Gilliam’s legally changed name and her gender identity,” according to a statement by the Baltimore law firm Brown, Goldstein & Levy, which is representing Gilliam. “While at the Baltimore jail, Ms. Gilliam was placed in a dormitory of all men for three months, from December 2021 to early February 2022,” the statement says.

“Despite her femininity and gender identity as a woman, Ms. Gilliam was forced to live and shower with male inmates,” the statement continues. “During this time, she was harassed by both officers and inmates and ultimately sexually assaulted by another inmate,” it says.

“The jail took no action when Ms. Gilliam reported the assault. She was also denied her hormone treatment,” the statement says.

The statement, which provides a summary of the 35page lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, says that in February 2022, Gilliam was moved to the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center in Baltimore, which serves as an intake prison for male inmates, according to its website.

It says that during her entire time there Gilliam was placed in segregation, which is a form of solitary confinement, solely because she is transgender.

“Officer shackled Ms. Gilliam by the hands, waist and ankles each time she left her cell, even though she never

Comings & Goings

violated the facility’s rules,” the statement says. “Ms. Gilliam suffered a great deal of anxiety and distress from these experiences,” it says.

The lawsuit alleges that Gilliam was subjected to “cruel and unusual” treatment in violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act based on her status as a transgender person with the condition of gender dysphoria.

“Ms. Gilliam received hormone treatments for her gender dysphoria for 18 years prior to her incarceration and has continued to receive hormone treatments since her release,” the lawsuit says. Among other things, it cites reports from experts in the field of medicine and mental health stating that hormone treatment is needed for most people with gender dysphoria and the denial of such treatment is harmful to individuals receiving it.

The lawsuit also states that in their action or lack of action that placed Gilliam in danger while she was incarcerated, corrections officials failed to comply with existing regulations that specifically call for taking steps to protect transgender inmates from potential harm.

Court records show that Gilliam pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree assault on May 12, 2022, and was sentenced to supervised probation and released.

Eve Hill, the attorney representing Gilliam, told the Washington Blade that Carolyn Scruggs, the current Secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (MDPSCS), who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, was appointed to her position in January by the state’s newly elected governor, Wes Moore. Moore has been a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ community.

“We would hope that such a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights would want to resolve this matter and make the state’s correctional facilities safe for transgender people, but we have received no response from our overture,” Hill told the Blade.

Hill said that under the federal court system, it is up to the judge to determine the extent of mediation or negotiation that may be required to potentially resolve a lawsuit through a settlement before it goes to trial.

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the MDPSCS released a statement saying it could not comment specifically on a pending lawsuit but said it “takes very seriously – and treats with urgency – the protection of every single incarcerated person’s dignity and safety.”

The statement adds, “The Department has met with advocacy groups and has tirelessly worked on the complex issues related to the transgender incarcerated population and is committed to updating its policies as necessary based on correctional and medical professionals’ recommendations to ensure safety of everyone in our facilities.”

The statement concludes by saying MDPSCS is audited by Department of Justice certified auditors that audit one-third of the state’s correctional facilities each year. It says the department “is not aware of any facility that has ever received a corrective action for a transgender related issue.”

Toledo named deputy director of Democrats for Education Reform DC

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.

reform agenda that justly and equitably serves all students, especially students of color.”

CESAR TOLEDO

Congratulations to Cesar Toledo on being named deputy director of Democrats for Education Reform DC (DFER DC) and its affiliate nonpartisan, nonprofit organization Education Reform Now DC (ERN DC). Toledo said, “Being raised by immigrant parents, I understand firsthand how crucial a high-quality public education is in breaking the cycle of poverty and enabling upward social mobility. After years of spearheading political and social impact campaigns, I’m excited to utilize those skills to build a pipeline of education champions in the District. I look forward to advancing an education

Cesar’s career has involved championing college and career pathways. He has served as a Peace Corps Volunteer at a primary school in East Africa, which marked the beginning of his career in education advocacy. He has a decade of experience centered on advancing equity and social justice. Most recently he served as the political director for the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, where he designed and spearheaded the organization’s most successful and historic electoral programs. He is recognized as a national LGBTQ advocate, having trained and helped elect hundreds of candidates up and down the ballot across the country. He got his start in politics canvassing for local candidates in California and interning for then-Lieutenant Gov. Gavin Newsom.

His previous positions include being an associate account executive with BerlinRosen; working for Kipp Mueller for California State Senate, as campaign manager; and as a project manager with Capitol Impact, LLC.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in Global Studies, University of California, Riverside, Calif.

Attorney EVE HILL (standing at podium), representing CHELSEA GILLIAM (seated on left), speaks at a news conference last week announcing a lawsuit.

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D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition urges city to boost funding for queer programs

Most requests not included in mayor’s proposed 2024 budget

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

The D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition, which consists of at least 10 prominent local LGBTQ organizations and another nine LGBTQ supportive allied groups, is calling on Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council to include about a dozen specific programs in the city’s fiscal year 2024 budget that add up to about $13.5 million in funding.

agencies budgets related to the [coalition’s] request at this time.”

Before his appointment by Bowser to become director of the LGBTQ Affairs Office, Bowles served as coordinator of the LGBTQ Budget Coalition after playing a role in creating the coalition as an elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner.

Local advocates are calling on Mayor MURIEL BOWSER and the D.C. Council to include about a dozen specific programs in the city’s fiscal year 2024 budget.

According to information provided to the Washington Blade by one of the coalition officials, which the official said was subject to change, the mayor’s proposed budget does not include the requested funding for at least 10 of the coalition’s 12 specific requests coming to a total of about $13 million.

Coalition coordinator Heidi Ellis said that among the coalition’s proposals not included in the mayor’s budget is a request for $10.5 million to fund two harm reduction and services centers to address the opioid and fentanyl drug overdose crisis impacting communities, including the LGBTQ community, across the city.

The mayor’s budget calls for $9.5 million to fund a single “stabilization & sobering center” to address the overdose crisis. But Ellis said the coalition does not consider that proposal an acceptable alternative to the coalition’s proposal for two harm reduction centers.

With the mayor’s $9.5 million “stabilization and sobering center” proposal not included as part of the coalition’s budget requests, that means the coalition believes the mayor’s budget only includes about $500,000 out of the coalition’s $13.5 million overall request.

Ellis said that in addition to not including much of the funding the coalition is asking for, the mayor’s budget includes some cuts in funding for LGBTQ-related programs that were included in the existing 2023 budget and previous year budgets. Among the cuts, Ellis said, are for a workforce program that assists transgender and gender nonconforming residents in finding gainful employment and for programs assisting LGBTQ people experiencing intimate partner violence.

One of the the coalition’s proposals that Bowser’s proposed budget does include is a request to continue to allocate at least $500,000 in funds for the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs for LGBTQ community development grants.

“We share detailed budget requests that provide crucial services to the LGBTQ+ community of Washington, D.C.,” the coalition states in a nine-page letter sent to the mayor and each of the 13 members of the D.C. Council in February that outlines its specific funding proposals.

“We are a mission-driven group working to advocate for dedicated funding to support LGBTQ+ residents with a focus on trans people of color and low-income residents,” the letter says. “The Coalition has worked tirelessly for several months with the Mayor’s office, the Council, various D.C. agencies, and most importantly, the community to identify these needs,” according to the letter.

“Our recommendations reflect that work in addition to our extensive research around these issues and the broader District landscape,” it says. “We ask that the Mayor and the Council adopt our recommendations as they specifically address some of the chronic and immediate issues facing the District.”

At the time she submitted her proposed $19.7 billion F.Y. 2024 budget to the Council last month, the mayor said the city faces a projected drop in revenue of more than $390 million due, among other things, to reduced tax revenue from commercial real estate along with the end of pandemic-era federal aid to D.C. and other cities.

The projected reduction in revenue will force her and the Council to make difficult decisions on funding reductions, including at least $373 million in proposed reductions in her budget, the mayor said. Among the reductions is the proposed elimination of 749 vacant D.C. government positions.

In response to a request by the Blade for comment on the coalition’s claim that the mayor’s budget does not include most of the requests by the LGBTQ Budget Coalition, Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, provided a written statement.

“We appreciate the community and advocacy groups identifying areas of improvement and putting forward their requests,” Bowles told the Blade in his statement. “We are proud to continue all formerly funded LGBTQIA+ programs, albeit at new levels, and our agencies are dedicated to continuing to work with our many LGBTQIA+ community-based organizations and our innovative programs to add resilience and capacity in the long term,” he said.

His statement did not specifically address the coalition’s claims that most of their requests were not included in the mayor’s budget other than to say, “our budget is still feeling the impacts of the pandemic,” a reference to Mayor Bowser’s assertion that the city faces a revenue shortfall and budget cuts would be needed in the fiscal year 2024 budget.

Bowles added that the Office of LGBTQ Affairs “will be providing more training funding for LGBTQIA+ cultural competency,” as requested by the coalition. He said the mayor’s office would also be sending the D.C. Council a letter identifying “corrections and amendments” to the proposed budget, but those changes will not bring about “significant adjustments to

Among the LGBTQ and LGBTQ supportive organizations that are members of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition are Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, Capital Stonewall Democrats, the Wanda Alston Foundation, the LGBTQ youth advocacy group SMYAL, the sex worker advocacy group HIPS, the Washington AIDS Partnership, Us Helping Us, the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (GLAA), the ANC Rainbow Caucus, Damien Ministries, and the Latin American Youth Center.

In its nine-page letter to the mayor and the Council, the coalition included these funding requests for the 2024 budget:

• An LGBTQ+ reentry ‘Housing for All’ Pilot Program at the city’s Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants for citizens returning from incarceration — $750,000.

• Additional housing vouchers for LGBTQ+ residents for the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs to help support those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness — $500,000.

• Harm Reduction Services & Centers — $10.5 million. To address the “alarming” and growing number of fentanyl and opioid related drug overdose deaths in the city, this calls for funding two Harm Reduction Centers on each side of the Anacostia River that will be open 24 hours each day to “aid in eliminating the stigma around substance usage, to avoid the burden on our criminal justice system, and to, most importantly, save lives.”

• Employment & Workforce Development Programs for the Department of Human Services — $500,000. A request for an “enhancement for the Transgender & Gender-nonconforming workforce program to ensure a long-term approach to closing the employment and wage gap for T/TNC residents in the District.”

• Employment Coordinator/Employment Case Management Advocate for the Office of LGBTQ Affairs — $75,000. This position would “help LGBTQ+ residents navigate these workforce programs by serving as point of contact for community members seeking employment and those trying to access the aforementioned workforce programs.”

• Health Initiatives — no specific funding request. A call for the city’s HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STI, and TB Administration (HAHSTA) to take steps to reverse a trend brought about by COVID in which the number of people seeking HIV testing across the city fell by 20 percent. The city should also address “the disparity of testing in marginalized communities, specifically Black and brown women, TGNC, etc.” communities.

• Safety & Inclusive Emergency Services — $860,000. Out of this total, $60,000 for the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs to improve and expand its cultural competency training for D.C. police and D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department first responders; a total of $600,000 for the Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants to expand its services and outreach to the LGBTQ+ community for intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and hate crimes; and $200,000 to establish a Violence Prevention and Response Team (VPART) coordinator at the Office of LGBTQ Affairs to focus on anti-LGBTQ hate crimes.

• Improving Language Access & Immigration Services — $250,000 for the Department of Human Services and $100,000 for Office of LGBTQ Affairs. An increase in migrants sent to D.C. from other states, including LGBTQ+ immigrants, has created a need for more language interpretation services for those who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) or Non-English Proficient (NEP)

• Supporting the Newly Established DC LGBTQ+ Community Center — $200,000. The mayor’s office has already awarded a $1 million grant to help pay for the renovation of the section of a new building the LGBT Center will be moving into later this year. Those funds have been “exhausted,” the coalition says, for the building renovation. “The DC Center and Capital Pride Alliance, in partnership with the Coalition, are requesting $200,000 in recurring dollars to support the operating costs associated with the Center.”

In a separate letter to the D.C. Council, GLAA expressed concern that the mayor’s proposed budget calls for eliminating at least six staff positions at the D.C. Office of Human Rights (OHR). The OHR, among other things, enforces the D.C. Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination against LGBTQ people.

The GLAA letter, signed by GLAA President Tyrone Hanley, calls for the budget to fund one additional OHR staff person to support the enforcement of a city law protecting tenants from unfair evictions, another new OHR staff person to address OHR’s “outdated case management system,” and one or more additional staff to help enforce the D.C. Domestic Workers Act, which supports the rights of domestic workers.

Several D.C. Council committees that oversee various D.C. government agencies were scheduled to make final recommendations to the full Council this week in a process known as a “markup” for the budget. The Council is expected to vote on its final version of the D.C. budget in May.

Full details of the coalition’s budget requests and the names of the organizations that make up the coalition can be viewed at the DC LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition website.

(Blade file photo by Parker Purifoy)

Nelson ready to make history as Mississippi’s first LGBTQ

state lawmaker

Must first face Democratic opponents in Aug. 8 primary

By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com

During the LGBTQ Victory Fund’s National Champagne Brunch Sunday morning in Washington, D.C., the Washington Blade spoke with Fabian Nelson, a Black and gay Democratic candidate who could become the fi rst out LGBTQ lawmaker ever to serve in the Mississippi Legislature.

Nelson will square off against two opponents from his party in the Aug. 8 primary. If successful, he would face a general election on Nov. 7, an easier gambit provided the seat to represent Mississippi’s 66th House District is solidly Democratic, Nelson said.

Notwithstanding his electoral prospects, Nelson acknowledged the challenges with racism and homophobia that he has continued to contend with as a candidate, along with the hostile political environment in which he would serve if elected. Still, he is optimistic about the trajectory of his campaign and for the potential to move Mississippi in a better direction.

“I come from a family of a lot of ‘fi rsts,’” Nelson said. His grandfather opened a bank in the early 1900s for Black residents of his hometown, while his grandmother was the fi rst Black nurse to integrate the hospital in Yazoo City and his father was the fi rst Black graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s dental school.

“They keep raising the bar, so I have to raise it a little bit higher,” he said.

Mississippi has a Republican trifecta as well as a Republican triplex, which means the party exerts tremendous political power with control over both chambers of the state’s legislature and the governorship, along with the offi ces of the secretary of state and attorney general.

If elected, Nelson would represent residents of Mississippi’s majority-Black state capital, Jackson – which has long suffered with issues like high poverty rates and rising crime, including gun violence.

Years of poor governance have exacerbated these problems, while the state’s conservative legislators have used the city’s condition as a pretext to strip residents of the right to choose their elected leaders.

Nelson has an expansive range of policy areas that he said will be major priorities should he win the House seat, from expanding Mississippi’s Medicaid program to fi ghting back against the conservatives’ disenfranchisement of his constituents in Jackson and their harmful anti-LGBTQ legislative proposals.

During Mississippi’s fi rst legislative session of 2023, lawmakers considered 31 anti-LGBTQ bills, more than were introduced anywhere else in the country.

Nelson, who was involved in advocacy against these legislative proposals as a member of the Human Rights Campaign, noted the importance of mobilizing the public’s opposition to anti-equality bills in helping to defeat 30 of those 31 proposals that failed to pass in the last session.

Unfortunately, Nelson said, the lone bill that survived was perhaps the most harmful of those under consideration in the chamber – a measure barring access to guideline directed gender affi rming health care inter-

ventions for youth in Mississippi with gender dysphoria, which the governor signed into law in late February.

It was a major blow, Nelson acknowledged. At the same time, he said, pushing back more effectively against Republican messaging on the healthcare ban, such as by framing its proponents as politicians who are trying to “play doctor,” may have yielded a different outcome.

Nelson is not just encountering anti-LGBTQ bigotry in the legislative context, but also that which has been directed at him personally as a gay candidate for public offi ce in a deep-red state in the Deep South. Especially in Mississippi and among older folks in the state, homophobia can come from voters and elected officials even from his own party, Nelson said.

“I think [my] being LGBTQ may pose a problem with some of the Democratic lawmakers” in the chamber, he said.

chamber, which was widely denounced as racially motivated.

Meanwhile, over the Mississippi border into Alabama, the state’s Republican Gov. Kay Ivey last week ousted the Black director of early childhood education, Barbara Cooper, for including teaching on concepts like inclusion and structural racism.

Asked how he expects to contend with racism in the chamber if elected, Nelson said confl ict can be minimized and discussions made more productive in many cases by practicing active listening so those with different views feel heard.

“You don’t have to be the loudest one in the room to make an impact” he said, so long as you are “standing your ground when it comes to bad legislation and, you know, standing my ground and fi ghting for what I believe in, not backing down.”

Engaging members of the public and bringing them into the fold is another crucial tool, Nelson said. He pointed to the public outcry in Tennessee and across the country that led voters to return state Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones to their democratically elected seats in the legislature.

Residents in Jackson were not only deprived by their government of garbage collection services, but also suffered the near collapse of the city’s water system, prompting the U.S. Department of Justice to step in with a lawsuit last year on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Offi ce of Civil Rights.

Nelson told the Blade one of his supporters, an 80-year-old Jackson resident whom he affectionately calls “Miss Emma,” was approached by a Democratic opponent who asked her, “How do you feel about [Nelson] being gay with his [LGBTQ] agenda?”

“All these years, I’ve voted for straight people,” Nelson said she told him. “None of them came and picked my garbage up or cleaned my fl owerbed out.”

Following the city government’s shutdown of trash hauling services earlier this month, Nelson said he had personally been picking up and disposing of garbage for Miss Emma along with Jackson’s other elderly or disabled residents.

Nelson said effectuating real change is possible when pro-equality candidates run for offi ce, fi ght for their constituents, establish relationships with colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and communicate effectively with the public about what is (and is not) happening in the Capitol building to encourage more active civic engagement and strengthen political organizing efforts.

Entrenched issues of racial justice

Nelson’s campaign comes amid the scandal over the GOP-led Tennessee House of Representatives’ expulsion of two Black Democratic lawmakers from the

Meanwhile, rising crime in Jackson and calls for an increased police presence created the pretext for Mississippi’s Republican lawmakers to pass H.B. 1020, legislation that will allow conservative state offi cials to appoint, rather than allowing constituents to elect, judges and prosecutors in the city’s sprawling Capitol Complex Improvement District.

They will serve alongside a Capitol Police force whose jurisdiction was expanded despite the department’s offi cers having shot four citizens since last August with little explanation or accountability.

News that the governor signed H.B. 1020 into law last week had instigated protests, by which point Nelson said it was already too late. He said the time to rally opposition among voters, which would have fi rst required effectively reaching them with information about how the law would strip them of political power and autonomy to pick their elected offi cials, was immediately after Republican lawmakers had introduced it.

“If you have the citizens, the people, in your corner,” he said, “you cannot lose when you start exposing this bad stuff that’s happening.”

“And one more thing,” Nelson said, pointing to a pin on the lapel of his jacket, “this is our new state fl ag.”

Four years ago, amid considerable pressure from the public, the GOP-controlled legislature made the extraordinary decision to replace Mississippi’s state fl ag that had fl own since 1894, which depicted the Confederate battle fl ag in its upper left canton.

The new banner features a white magnolia blossom befi tting of the state’s offi cial nickname.

FABIAN NELSON (D), candidate for Mississippi state Rep. for the 66th House District. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

Biden announces 2024 bid with LGBTQ-inclusive video

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris formally announced plans to run for reelection on Tuesday, sharing a video on Twitter along with a press release naming members of the campaign leadership team.

As the video displayed images from the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol, Biden warned that “MAGA extremists” are “dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books, and telling people who they can love.”

“That’s why I’m running for reelection,” the president said.

“Because I know America. I know we are good and decent people. And I know we are still a country that believes in honesty and respect, and treating each other with dignity. That we’re a nation where we give hate no safe harbor. And we believe that everyone is equal, and that everyone should be given a fair shot to succeed in this country.”

Senior Biden adviser Julie Chávez Rodríguez was tapped to run the campaign. She was previously White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and deputy campaign manager for Biden and Harris in the 2020 race.

A granddaughter of labor rights icon Cesar Chávez and longtime Democratic aide, Chávez is the highest-ranking Latina serving in the White House.

Quentin Fulks, who just ran the first successful Democratic Senatorial reelection bid in Georgia in more than 30 years with U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)’s 2022 midterm victory, will serve as principal deputy campaign manager for the 2024 Biden-Harris ticket.

Formerly deputy campaign manager and senior political adviser to Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Fulks has worked for organizations like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and EMILY’s List.

Former Assistant White House Press Secretary Kevin Muñoz, who oversaw the administration’s messaging for key public health issues like COVID-19, will lead media relations for the campaign. He previously served on Biden’s transition team and 2020 campaign.

National co-chairs for the campaign include U.S. Reps.

Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D-Del.), Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), along with U.S. Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and producer/media mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, a top Democratic donor.

GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis issued a statement in response to the announcement: “LGBTQ Americans’ safety is under attack in statehouses across the country, as extremists on the U.S. Supreme Court, federal judiciary and gerrymandered states continue to strip human rights vital to everyone’s future,” she said.

“Essential health care, book bans, and access to society as our authentic selves should never be up for debate but they are on the ballot in 2024. GLAAD will once again be tracking the records and rhetoric of candidates in order to educate LGBTQ people and our allies as they head to the polls.”

On Monday, Biden criticized elected Republican officials for the increasingly widespread practice of banning books from America’s schools and libraries in prepared remarks delivered from the White House.

Addressing an audience gathered in the Rose Garden for the Council of Chief State School Officers’ Teachers of

the Year event, the president said, “Empty shelves don’t help kids learn very much,” adding, “I’ve never met a parent who wants a politician dictating what their kid can learn, and what they can think, or who they can be.”

By framing these policies as government overreach, Biden co-opted and repurposed the “parental rights” language commonly used by conservatives advocating for book bans.

For example, right-wing activists often argue that requiring schools and libraries to allow interested parties to review the materials made available to minors and lodge complaints with anything they may find objectionable rightfully restores the rights of parents to exercise more control over how their children are educated.

According to PEN America, however, the first half of the 2022-2023 school year has seen at least 1,477 attempts to ban 874 individual book titles, disproportionately targeting materials that include LGBTQ characters or themes or those that address issues of racial justice.

Explicitly targeting these materials for censorship are elected officials like Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and his conservative allies in the state legislature, who last week expanded the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law (officially known as the Parental Rights in Education Act), which Biden has called “hateful.”

Critics have long argued the law, which will now cover all grade levels in Florida’s public schools, uses overly broad language with the specter of many different enforcement mechanisms to create a chilling effect designed to discourage teachers and staff from offering affirming messages to LGBTQ students or from serving openly if they themselves are LGBTQ.

“By opening the door to arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement against speech that favors or promotes the inclusion and acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals,” the American Bar Association wrote, “the law arguably runs afoul of the First Amendment’s stringent prohibition on viewpoint discrimination and imposes an unconstitutional chilling effect on disfavored speech.”

CHRISTOPHER KANE

White House welcomes ‘L Word’ cast

Flanked by four guests from Showtime’s “The L Word,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre began Tuesday’s briefing with comments commemorating Lesbian Visibility Week and addressing issues related to LGBTQ representation.

The first out LGBTQ press secretary expressed how important it is for “so many people in the community” to “see diverse narratives that reflect their lives,” recalling how she had “felt alone and often invisible” when growing up as “a young queer woman of color” in New York.

Jean-Pierre underlined the importance of this work in the current moment “as the LGBTQIA+ community continues to face relentless attacks.”

From “book bans to ‘Don’t Say Gay’ laws, MAGA extremists want to roll back the visibility and progress we fought so hard to achieve,” she said.

Hours earlier, in his long awaited video announcing plans to run for re-election in 2024, President Joe Biden used similar language — warning voters that “MAGA extremists” are “dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books and telling people who they can

love.”

After addressing LGBTQ Americans to repeat the promise that the Biden-Harris administration “has their back,” Jean-Pierre thanked the guests for their work on “The L Word” and turned the podium over for remarks by the show’s co-creator, writer and executive producer, Ilene Chaiken.

“We learned by the beautiful response to our show how profoundly important it is for people, particularly young people, to see themselves reflected in our entertainment culture and to know that they’re embraced, valued and not alone,” Chaiken said.

“We’re galvanized by President Biden’s leadership, from strengthening non-discrimination protections for our communities to signing the Respect for Marriage Act into law to supporting LGBTQI kids and their parents,” she said.

Calling Biden “the most pro-LGBTQI president in our history,” Chaiken concluded her comments by thanking him “for giving us the first out lesbian press secretary, who represents hope and possibility for so many people.”

CHRISTOPHER KANE

White House Press Secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRe with actresses from Showtime’s ‘The L Word,’ along with the show’s co-creator, ILENE CHAIKEN (Blade photo by Christopher Kane)

President JOE BIDEN announcing plans to run for re-election in 2024. (Screenshot via YouTube)

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Activists protest Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act outside embassy

Dozens of LGBTQ and intersex rights activists gathered outside the Ugandan embassy in Northwest D.C. on Tuesday and demanded President Yoweri Museveni not sign his country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.

The protesters chanted “Museveni, hear us now, we are queer and trans and proud” and “human rights, not hate. Museveni kill the bill” as they stood in front of the embassy on 16th Street, N.W., near Military Road.

Health GAP (Global Access Project) Executive Director Asia Russell, Prevention Access Campaign Global Policy Advocacy Director Michael Ighodaro, Treatment Action Group Government Relations and Policy Associate Kendall Martinez-Wright and Green Leadership Trust Executive Director Emira Woods spoke. Human Rights Campaign Senior International Policy Associate Andrea Gillespie and RFK Human Rights Senior Vice President of Programs and Legal Strategy Wade McMullen, Council for Global Equality Policy Advocate Ian Lekus and Planned Parenthood Federation of America Senior Director of Global Communications Crister DelaCruz are among those who attended the protest.

“We are here today because there is a rising tide of hate that has come from the U.S., exported by religious fundamentalists to countries like Uganda and beyond,” said Russell. “On March 21, Uganda’s Parliament passed a hateful bill that was co-authored with fundamentalist evangelicals in the United States.”

Russell specifically mentioned Family Watch International, an Arizona-based group the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as a hate group.

“That hatred, which is profoundly un-Ugandan, profoundly un-African, is now threatening the lives of millions of people in Uganda and beyond: People who are queer, trans, people who are defending basic freedoms and liberties, the people who queer people love, their families and essentially everybody who loves freedom in the country of Uganda,” said Russell.

“LGBTQ, trans individuals in Uganda and various parts of Africa and also here in the United States of America are experiencing flat out hate. We come here today to take a stand

and to denounce this death sentence. We take a stand for all African LGBTQIA+ individuals in Uganda, from the small villages to the big city of Kampala to tell President Museveni enough is enough.”

Martinez-Wright noted the Anti-Homosexuality Act “will hamper the already struggling efforts in terms of eradicating HIV.” Martinez-Wright also said “LGBTQ, trans individuals in Uganda and various parts of Africa and also here in the United States of America are experiencing flat out hate.”

“We come here today to take a stand and to denounce this death sentence,” said Martinez-Wright. “We take a stand for all African LGBTQIA+ individuals in Uganda, from the small villages to the big city of Kampala to tell President Museveni enough is enough.”

Ighodaro and Woods echoed Martinez-Wright.

“We’re here to say no to Uganda and Museveni,” said Woods, who is from Liberia. “We’re here today to say no to the forces that are running for office at local and national levels in the United States.”

“We are here to say no to the U.K. and the U.S. foreign aid that has also propped up the very anti-homophobic groups that are behind and pushing this legislation in Uganda, in Kenya, in Liberia, in the United States,” added Woods. “We say no to this global fight to turn back the clock.”

Protests also took place in New York, London, New Delhi and other cities around the world as part of an “Emergency Day of Action” against the Anti-Homosexuality Act that, among other things, would impose the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and require Ugandans to report LGBTQ-specific activities to authorities.

“As an organization committed to strengthening and advancing sexual and reproductive health care rights and access around the world, Planned Parenthood Global stands in solidarity with the LGBTQI+ community in Uganda and human rights for all,” said Lori Adelman, vice president of Planned Parenthood Global’s Global Connect program, on Tuesday in a press release. “For over 50 years we have backed brave partners in the advancement of bold and courageous social justice movements and leaders, includ-

ing Uganda.”

Museveni on April 20 sent the Anti-Homosexuality Act back to Parliament for additional consideration before he signs it.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the independent U.N. expert on LGBTQ and intersex issues, are among those who have sharply criticized the measure. Jessica Stern, the special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad, earlier this month during a panel with four Ugandan activists the Center for Strategic and International Studies hosted said the Biden-Harris administration is “investing the potential impact of the Anti-Homosexuality Act on U.S. foreign assistance.”

“If this bill is signed into law, it will be an action-forcing event,” said Stern.

State Department Vedant Patel on Tuesday during a press briefing declined to comment on whether the U.S. will cut aid to Uganda if Museveni signs the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Patel, however, did note to the Blade the State Department has “spoken quite clearly about the legislation broadly.”

“We have been clear that we believe that any legislation that reduces or retracts the basic human rights for those of the LGBTQI+ community is something that we certainly would take issue on,” said Patel.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Hungarian president vetoes ‘snitch on your gay neighbor’ law

Hungarian President Katalin Novak vetoed legislation that included a provision for citizens to anonymously report on same-sex couples who are raising children. In a rare departure from the policies of Hungary’s nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán whom she generally supports, Novak returned the bill to the parliament telling lawmakers to strike that provision.

While lawmakers can still override her veto, the president’s veto letter to lawmakers of the National Assembly of Hungary contained unusually sharp critique from a member of Orbán’s inner circle.

The wording of the provision specifies that Hungarians may report those who contest the “constitutionally recognizged role of marriage and the family” and those who contest children’s rights “to an identity appropriate to their sex at birth.” The latter wording specifically aimed at acknowledging transgender youth.

The country’s constitution states that the institution of

marriage is “between one man and one woman,” and notes that “the mother is a woman, the father a man.”

This law’s passage last week comes after the country’s Constitutional Court issued a ruling in February that will continue to block new applications from trans people for legal gender recognition. The judgment effectively creates two categories of trans people in Hungary: Those who applied early enough to pursue gender recognition and those who did not.

Earlier this month according to a spokesperson for the German government, Germany and France joined with other EU member states in the European Commission lawsuit over a Hungarian law which discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.

The 14 EU member states now joined the lawsuit’s proceedings: Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Malta, Austria, Sweden, Slovenia, Finland and now France and Germany.

Orbán has publicly proclaimed he is a “defender of traditional family Catholic values.” Orbán has been criticized by international human rights groups as discriminating against LGBTQ people with this law which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called a “disgrace.”

On June 15, 2021, the Hungarian Law purportedly aiming at taking stricter action against pedophile offenders and amending certain laws to protect children was adopted. Some of the new provisions target and limit the access of minors to content and advertisements that “promotes or portrays” the so-called “divergence from self-identity corresponding to sex at birth, sex change or homosexuality.”

Prior to its passage, more than 5,000 people, LGBTQ activists and supporters along with human rights activists demonstrated in front of the Parliament in Budapest, angered by legislation banning any content portraying or promoting homosexuality or sex-reassignment surgery to anyone under 18.

It was sponsored by Fidesz, Orbán’s ruling conservative party and essentially equates sexual and gender diversity people to pedophilia.

Hungarian President KATALIN NOVAK (Screen capture via U.N.YouTube)

LGBTQ activists protested in front of the Ugandan Embassy in D.C. on April 25. (Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

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

Compassion for Sen. Feinstein

shouldn’t override nation’s interests Illness must not be allowed to impede Judiciary Committee’s work

I have real compassion for anyone in Sen. Diane Feinstein’s situation, and for her family. As an older American myself, I pray if I reach her state of mind, I will realize it is time to let go of commitments I have made while I still have the capacity to make that decision. Suffering from dementia is a terrible fate for the individual and their family.

Feinstein is a loved family member and a beloved public servant; she has a Senate career to be proud of. Now, however, she is not able to fulfill that role anymore. In determining what to do in Feinstein’s case, the interests of the nation must come first. I know I will be attacked for this column. I will be called an ageist and a sexist. But fact is my position would be the same if this were a younger person and a man.

I applaud Democrats in the Senate for trying to work around her in a compassionate way, and deplore the Republicans who are making that impossible. But if she cannot be temporarily replaced on the Judiciary Committee because of heartless Republicans, the time has come for Democrats to take whatever action is needed to allow the work of the Judiciary Committee to move forward.

We see what happens when Republicans nominate and confirm their judges. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and now Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee, is trying to overturn the work of the FDA, replacing science with his social views. If we want to confirm judges who will protect the rights of women, the LGBTQ community, the environment, and voting rights, the Senate must have the votes on the Judiciary Committee to advance Biden’s judicial nominations.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s comment was sympathetic to Feinstein. “It’s interesting to me, I don’t know what political agendas are at work that are going after Sen. Feinstein in that way. I’ve never seen them go after a man who was sick in the Senate in that way.” With great respect I would ask her: Was there a man who was in the same situation of having dementia, and an illness, keeping a crucial committee from functioning?

Feinstein knew she was ill enough to give up a leadership role on the committee. Her health has only deteriorated since then. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said about Feinstein, “She’s a team player, and she’s an extraordinary member of the Senate. It’s her right. She’s been voted by her state to be senator for six years. She has the right, in my opinion, to decide when she steps down.” Where was that view when she hounded Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) out of the Senate?

We see what happens when people don’t recognize it is time to move on, when families can’t convince them to do so. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg should have stepped down when she was ill. Maybe if she had, Roe v. Wade would still be law of the land. Again, this is not about gender. It is about health, and knowing when it is time to move on. If Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who I have great respect and compassion for, were to be absent for longer periods of time for critical Senate votes, I would suggest the same thing.

I have never had to deal with a family member who had dementia or other longterm debilitating health issue. I consider myself fortunate in some ways, but unfortunate as my parents passed at too young an age. I just read Stephanie Mencimer’s column in Mother Jones — “Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Saga Is a Very Public Example of a National Crisis.” It brought home so many issues families face when a loved one begins to lose their mind to dementia. I only feel total compassion for the individuals and families she describes in her column. Those are heartbreaking stories. She correctly writes our nation doesn’t do nearly enough to help either individuals or their families through those difficult times.

Again, it is one thing to have to deal with this as a private citizen, and another when your illness impacts the entire nation. Perhaps generations will have to live with the consequences of Feinstein’s decision for decades to come. When you run for public office, or are appointed to public office, you implicitly lose some of your privacy. In this case Feinstein’s illness is impacting the nation. For the good of the nation, she, or the Senate, must act to move forward.

JOHANNA SILVER

is a Digital Producer at the American Civil Liberties Union.

highlights ACLU’s defense of trans rights

Activating supporters to push back against anti-LGBTQ legislation

The highly anticipated finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race will feature incredible ensembles, sensational lip sync performances, and of course, the revelation of the season 15 winner. Alongside the competition, the finale will also highlight a joint effort with the ACLU to help defend constitutional rights and creative expression in the LGBTQ community.

With our nationwide network of affiliates, supporters, and advocates, we’re showing up to fight back against hate, and holding politicians accountable for their anti-trans agenda — and you can join us.

ACLU employees represented the ACLU on the red carpet during the April 1 taping of the finale, which featured drag queens from past and present seasons. During the airing of the finale, the ACLU’s Drag Defense Fund will also get a special shoutout as a way to mobilize against mounting legal attacks against drag performers.

What is the Drag Defense Fund?

In partnership with production company World of Wonder, MTV, and RuPaul’s Drag Race, the ACLU’s Drag Defense Fund will support the ACLU’s work defending LGBTQ rights, including censorship of drag performers themselves. The ACLU is committed to the importance of drag as a First Amendment right and an important form of artistic expression. It will also fuel the ACLU’s expansive advocacy work in support of the LGBTQ community, which includes everything from courtroom battles, to guidance on state-level legislation, to challenging LGBTQ censorship in classrooms.

What’s at Stake in the Drag Community?

Drag performance has always been a hallmark of the queer community, allowing members to express themselves openly and joyously. Due in large part to the explosive success of RuPaul’s Drag Race over the years, drag performers have received widespread fanfare and support. But in the past few months, dozens of bills have also been introduced in states around the country that restrict how and where drag queens can perform. One recently-passed Tennessee bill bans drags shows in public spaces around the state, effectively criminalizing them.

These bills censor a fundamental human right to freedom of expression and attempt to remove LGBTQ people from public life — a strategy that ACLU Ambassador for Transgender Justice and former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Peppermint recently explained.

“It is sort of a catch all that allows them to attack a word or a notion or an idea, drag, when really what they’re talking about is transgender folks,” she said on a recent episode of our At Liberty podcast. “Trans issues, trans rights, you know, anything having to do with gender and sexuality, they’re trying to dismantle that — dismantle any of the progress that we’ve had on that, and turn us into the boogeyman.”

One Part of a Larger Battle for LGBTQ Rights

These legislative attacks against drag performers, coupled with the anti-trans legislation across the country, underscore an unsettling trend. These bills are bald attempts to prevent people from expressing themselves authentically and restrict their right to bodily autonomy and self-determination. The majority of this legislation specifically targets trans youth and aims to obstruct their ability to find support and access health care. These attacks not only undermine drag queens and trans youth, but the broader LGBTQ community, and the very foundations of gender justice.

How We’re Fighting Back Against Anti-LGBTQ Attacks

Many Drag Race alumni — and RuPaul — have come forward to promote the fund, speak out against the targeted legal attacks, and uplift drag queens as champions for equal rights.

“Drag has influenced everything about my queer identity — as a performer, as a trans individual, drag has just blurred all of the things I love and am into getting to be this kind of walking art installation that is also a protest,” drag queen and season 15 finalist Sasha Colby said of the art form.

The ACLU will always show up to defend our LGBTQ community, especially amid these ongoing legislative attacks. Along with mobilizing our Drag Defense Fund, we will continue to push back against censorship, hold legislators accountable for their anti-LGBTQ agendas, and take legal action to protect our communities. With your help, we’ll be stronger than ever. Join us as we work to preserve our right to freedom of expression, inclusive communities, safe schools, and the right to be who we are without fear.

“RuPaul’s Drag Race,” MTV, and World of Wonder are proud to donate to “The Drag Defense Fund” in support of the ACLU’s LGBTQ rights work. You can make a donation at aclu. org.

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ finale

Longtime Annie’s employees reflect on 75th

anniversary Staffers on their best tips, favorite menu items, and fondest memories

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Local institution Annie’s Paramount Steak House, founded in 1948, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. There will be a special event on April 29 from 12-6 p.m. commemorating the amazing milestone for the beloved local restaurant featuring music, games, and, of course, award-winning food.

The Blade and Annie’s have had a long relationship.

“It was as if Annie’s and the Washington Blade grew up together, almost like coming out together,” owner Paul Katinas told us in 2019. He’s the son of founder George Katinas, and nephew of namesake Annie.

Father George opened the Paramount Steakhouse in 1948, at the corner of 17th and Church Streets, N.W. He and his five sisters transformed what started out as a relaxed beer joint into a more formal restaurant. George Katinas began to cut all the steak in-house, and his sister Annie moved to front-of-house and bartender duties. She became a hit, “vivacious, fun and known to entertain,” Paul Katinas told us.

It was Annie Kaylor who helped create the community space for which restaurant has become celebrated. The nascent gay community in the Dupont Circle area in the early ’60s saw the steakhouse as a warm, liberating, open place.

In honor of Annie and her spirit, George Katinas renamed the restaurant for her.

To mark the occasion of the 75th anniversary, the Blade asked several longtime employees to answer a few questions about their time working at Annie’s.

How long have you worked at Annie’s? 20 years

What’s your happiest memory working at Annie’s?

My happiest memory is a met my partner Brett here! That was a good day!

Most memorable customer? And/or best tip?

I’ve had lots of good tips! Jackie Kelly, who was 91, just passed away. She was a wonderful person. What makes Annie’s so special?

It’s a family, and the customers are part of that family too.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?  Mac and cheese bites!

DAN, bartender (he/him)

AOC, when she came upstairs for happy hour.  She had just been elected and she couldn’t have been more gracious. The whole room was electric that night.

What makes Annie’s so special?

What makes it so special is its inclusiveness. We say that everyone is welcome here, and I try to live up to that. I’ve seen lives change from when someone comes in for the first time, to becoming regulars. I hear stories about how this place has changed my life; I came here after the riots, it was the first gay place I ever went to, I met my now husband here. So many good things have happened here and I’m happy to be a part of it.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

I think our burgers are great! When someone asks for a recommendation, I say get the bull in the pan, it’s been on the menu since 1948 so you might as well be part of history.

How long have you worked at Annie’s?

23 years

What’s your happiest memory working at Annie’s?

Working with Annie behind the bar

Most memorable customer? And/or best tip?

Once on my birthday, a regular left me a $1,000 tip. New customer-wise, Kidd O’Shea and Kyle have become new favorites!

What makes Annie’s so special?

The sense of community. It’s like your second home.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

The ribeye steak

How long have you worked at Annie’s? 13 years

What’s your happiest memory working at Annie’s?

My happiest memory at Annie’s was the Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. Everyone was just so happy. People were crying. Lots of older customers were saying that they never thought they would live to see that day happen.

Most memorable customer? And/or best tip?

My most memorable customer would have to be

How long have you worked at Annie’s?

Since 1998

What’s your happiest memory working at Annie’s?

My favorite memories are working with Annie because she was so positive, upbeat, and friendly. Late night/overnights were always very exciting to work.

Most memorable customer? And/or best tip?

Most memorable customers are Carson Kresley, Patti LuPone, and many of the drag queens from “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” My most memorable tip was 300%!

What makes Annie’s so special?

The camaraderie with my coworkers, many have been here since I started. I love where I work.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

The Bull in the Pan. It’s a classic. No one does it like we do!

SCOTT, bartender (he/him)

AL, server (he/him)

FARGO, server (he/him)

ANNE KAYLOR (Blade archive photo by Doug Hinckle)

SCOTT

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

AL (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

DAN

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

FARGO

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

MANO, server (he/him)

How long have you worked at Annie’s?

Since 1975

What’s your happiest memory working at Annie’s?

Every day seeing the customers. Annie always said every person who walks through the door is family. Most memorable customer? And/or best tip?

Every customer is special to me

What makes Annie’s so special?

The care we take with each and every customer and employee

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?  Bull in the Pan

KIRCHE & BLAGO, servers (he/him)

How long have you worked at Annie’s?

Kirche: I have been working at Annie’s for over 10 years. Blago: I have been working at Annie’s for over five years now

What’s your happiest memory working at Annie’s?

Kirche: Some of the happiest memories are representing Annie’s at the Pride parade with our own unique float, it was just a lot of fun. Another great moment was when we received the prestigious James Beard Award,

there are a lot more happy memories but unfortunately I can’t list them all. Blago: Representing Annie’s at the Pride parade event, it was such a blast.

Most memorable customer? And/or best tip?

Kirche: I have met a lot of memorable customers working at Annie’s through the years, and have made some really good friends and it will be hard to point out someone in particular. I definitely remember one of my biggest tips was $1,000. Blago: Working here I have met some wonderful people and made lots of great friendships so I wouldn’t name anyone in particular, I just appreciate all the customers dining here.

What makes Annie’s so special?

Kirche: Annie’s is a great workplace with a unique culture that is our own, often described as fun, congenial, collaborative, positive, passionate, and creative. Our work environment, people, and workplace practices all help create a vibrant, positive, magnetic, and infectious culture that everyone loves as soon as they

walk through the door, just the sense of being welcomed, accepted and loved, for me.  Annie’s is my second home, my family. Blago: It’s just the atmosphere of the place. There’s something special here, something in the air, as they say, it’s very welcoming to everyone, I can be myself and it resonates with me strongly. I consider Annie’s as my second home and I feel good working here.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu?

Kirche: This is a really tough one but if I really have to choose one it would be the Southern Fried Chicken platter, very filling and delicious, and our key lime pie is to die for! Blago: This is a tough question, since we have so many delicious choices on our menu, but I think our pesto pasta with grilled shrimp is my fave, and I will finish that with a slice of our delicious chocolate cheesecake. If you haven’t tried it you need to get yourself to Annie’s and try it now! Seriously, it is that good.

(Evan Caplan contributed to this article.)

MANO

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key) KIRCHE & BLAGO (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Nonbinary poet unmasks society’s gender expectations in new collection

Karen Poppy’s ‘Diving At The Lip Of The Water’ debuts next week

By KATHI WOLFE

“I started to compose poetry around the age of three – before I could even write,” poet Karen Poppy, 47, told the Blade in a telephone interview. “My Mom would write my poems down.”

“I had the good fortune,” added Poppy, whose first, full-length poetry collection “Diving At The Lip Of The Water” will be out from Beltway Editions, a Washington, D.C. area press, on May 1, “My Mom read poetry to me. The first poem was about a nightingale. Maybe she read Keats to me.” (John Keats was the 19th century Romantic poet who wrote “Ode to a Nightingale.”)

Poppy has written a book “that will rough a reader up and then wrap their scraps in silk,” poet Francesca Bell has said of “Diving At The Lip of The Water.”

For Poppy, who identifies as queer, nonbinary, lesbian and an artist, coming out has been a lifelong process. “I’ve come out many times in many ways,” Poppy, who grew up in Foster City, Calif., and now lives in the San Francisco Bay area, said.

April is National Poetry Month. In every month, Poppy thinks often of Walt Whitman, one of the United States’ greatest poets. Thought by many to be queer, Whitman, a nurse in Washington, D.C. during the Civil War, is best known for his groundbreaking work “Leaves of Grass.”

Whitman comes to mind to Poppy when she talks about her identity. “As an artist,” Poppy said in reference to how she identifies, “I’m everyone and everything.”

When Whitman talks about the self containing “multitudes,” “He’s not just speaking of individuals,” Poppy said, “he’s saying that poets-artists enter into everything.”

“As an artist – a poet,” Poppy said, “I don’t like to be put into boxes.”

Poppy celebrates Whitman’s creative spirit, refusal to have limitations placed on him and, what she called, “his joyous experience of limitlessness and connectivity with everything.”

As a young child, Poppy sensed that she was different. “I knew very early on,” she said, “I wanted to be like my mother and my father.”

She wanted to be glam like her mom. “My Mom’s nickname for me was Miss America,” Poppy said.

She wore her Dad’s leather jacket, cowboy hat and cowboy boots. “Early on, I got in trouble for trying to smoke a cigarette,” Poppy said, “I put it in the wrong way. I was lucky I didn’t burn my mouth off!”

“I cut my mouth, trying to shave as a toddler,” she added, “I was already creating my own gender identity.”

At a time, when people were far less out and proud than now, Poppy crushed on her girl babysitters. “In kindergarten, I got in trouble with my best friend at the time,” she said, “because I told her that I was interested in her physically.”

“I think she was very kind about it,” Poppy added.

That same year, Poppy was reprimanded by her teacher for kissing a boy. “The boy and I were in line waiting to go back to the classroom,” she said, “he kissed me back.”

During that era, Poppy didn’t have the words to name or describe her feelings. “I have a gay cousin who’s older than me,” she said, “and a lesbian aunt. But because they weren’t exactly the way I am, I didn’t realize I was queer, too.”

In Foster City, when she was growing up, people didn’t talk openly about being queer. “We talked about it in euphemisms and negatively,” Poppy said.

A poem is never just the story of what happened or the recitation of fact, poet Sheila Black, a 2012 Witter Bynner Fellow, said in an email to the Blade.

Poppy’s poetry, like that of many poets, at times, channels her life. Though, it’s not autobiographical in a literal or linear way. Like Whitman’s work, it contains multitudes from individual and collective experience.

Her searing, moving collection “Diving At The Lip Of The Water,” unmasks society’s gender expectations and family systems. Poppy’s poem, “No One was Gay Back Then,” draws us into what it’s like to have to hide your sexuality. “We used to make fun of you/You, making out with Michael/in the grass. 5th grade recess,” the poem begins.

“Michael liked Matt. So in 5th grade,” Poppy writes in the poem, “already seeking cover-ups/Trying to convince everyone and ourselves./Our small town. No one was gay back then.”

As a tween, Poppy not only realized she was queer (though she didn’t have the word for it); she knew where she wanted to go to college. Poppy was determined to go to Smith College because Sylvia Plath went there.

“When I was 12, I started to read Sylvia Plath,” Poppy said. “Plath has been a profound influence on me throughout my life.”

“Because of her fearlessness in speaking her truth,” Poppy added, “and her high level of poetic virtuosity.”

Poppy’s dream came true. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Smith College in Comparative Literature and Spanish in 1998.

At Smith, Poppy began to come out about her identity. But, there were pressures. “I was pressured into cutting my hair short,” she said, “the feeling was if I kept my hair long, I wasn’t a dyke.”

Poppy cut her hair. “I did cry,” she said, “there was a pressure to conform to a certain aesthetic. You had to be super femme or butch.”

It was another box that she had a hard time escaping from. “I realized boxes are not for me,” Poppy said.

She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do after she graduated from Smith. After a short stint as a chef apprentice, Poppy could tell that being a chef for the long term wasn’t for her.

Like most poets, Poppy knew being a bard rarely brings financial stability. “I wanted to have security and I wanted to help people,” Poppy said.

“I went to law school and studied international law,” she

said, “A lot of my early focus was on immigration and helping refugees.”

Poppy graduated from UC Hastings College of the Law (now known as UC College of the Law, San Francisco) in 2003 with a J.D. degree in international law.

Today, Poppy works for The Hartford in the area of workers’ compensation.

Poppy kept writing from her childhood into her 20s. “But then, somebody said something really cruel about my writing,” she said. “The ridicule chilled my creativity.”

For 17 years, because of this cruelty, she didn’t write. “I was in a creative silence,” Poppy said.

A traumatic event compelled her to go back to writing.

Since 2017, when her creativity was restarted, Poppy’s poetry has been published in literary journals, anthologies as well as the chapbooks “Crack Open/Emergency,” “Our Own Beautiful Brutality” and “Every Possible Thing.” She’s written three unpublished novels and short stories.

One of her writing projects is Whitmanesque in its intersections of identities.

Poppy is working on an opera libretto. “It takes place when Handel [the German-British Baroque composer] was alive,” she said.

It’s about a merboy who’s washed to shore. He’s young, Black and queer.

“A family takes him in,” Poppy said, “they want to make him a form of income.”

The family forces the merboy to become a castrato, Poppy said, “they make him wear a mask to hide his dark skin. When he’s older and has a relationship with a man, he has to be closeted.”

Poppy is looking for a composer to work with her on her libretto. If you’re interested, contact her through her website karenpoppy.com.

Poppy’s interest in immigrants is personal as well as professional. Poppy is Jewish. Some of her family were murdered in the Holocaust. “Others in my family left Europe before the Holocaust because of pogroms and poverty,” she said.

When her family came to the United States in the early 1900s, they were “very poor,” Poppy said.

Her paternal grandmother, Poppy said, told her to make sure her son always had food, “because hunger would make his stomach hurt.”

We’ve come to see that the American dream is in many ways an illusion, Poppy said. It’s not accessible to all, and it’s slipping away.

“Elizabeth/The fifth of ten children/Who crossed the border, then/Still a child/,” Poppy writes in her poem “Elizabeth,” “Only sixteen and wanting to stay alive/To be the breath that survived.”

Poppy worries about the rise of anti-Semitism. “It comes in waves,” she said. “We have to remind each other to make sure it never happens again.”

It’s important for artists to take care of themselves, Poppy said. To get enough rest between creative projects. To be an athlete. So their minds and spirits can be in top form.

Poppy does yoga and loves to run. “A poem is a short lap,” she said, “writing a novel is like long distance open water swimming.”

“We write out of our humanity,” Poppy added.

CALENDAR

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Friday, April 28

Center Aging Monthly Yoga & Lunch will be at 12 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. Lunch will be held in the climate-controlled atrium at the Reeves Center. To RSVP for this event, visit the DC Center’s website.

Women in Their Twenties and Thirties will be at 8 p.m. on Zoom. This event is a social discussion group for queer women in the Washington, D.C. area and a great way to make new friends and meet other queer women in a fun and friendly setting. For more details, join WiTT’s closed Facebook group.

Trans Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This group is intended to provide emotionally and physically safe space for trans* people and those who may be questioning their gender identity/expression to join together in community and learn from one another. For more information, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

Saturday, April 29

Virtual Yoga Class with Charles M. 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.

Benefit Shows will host “Laugh and Tracks” at 8 p.m. at Capitol Cider House. This event will feature a lineup of female and nonbinary comics, a drag performance by drag king Dickolas Cage and a vogue dance performance by nene pesos. The night will cap with performances from queer femme DJs LaSokko and Ergo. Tickets cost $10 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Sunday, April 30

GoGay DC will host “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.

GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Dinner & Conversation” at 6 p.m. at Federico Ristorante Italiano. This event is an opportunity to mingle with fabulous LGBTQ folk and allies and meet people from all over the world. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

OUT & ABOUT

Taste of Point DC returns May 3

Point Foundation welcomes supporters and friends to Taste of Point DC 2023, a celebration of Point Scholars and alumni from the D.C. area. The event will feature a selection of craft cocktails and tasting plates, along with stories about scholars studying at local colleges and universities. The event will be held on Wednesday, May 3, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Room & Board (1840 14th St., N.W.). Tickets are $125 or $50 for young professionals. Visit pointfoundation.org/taste-of-point-dc for more information.

Sex-positive film festival coming to D.C.

The 18th Annual Hump! Film Festival will take place on Saturday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m. at Black Cat.

Monday, May 01

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. This event is an “integrated service” respectfully demonstrating the breadth, depth, and sincerity of faith, exposing the lie that anti-gay fundamentalists have a monopoly on faith and religion. For more details, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

Tuesday, May 02

“LGBTQ+ Social Mixer-Pride on the Patio” will be at 5:30 p.m. at Showroom. Dress is casual, fancy, or comfortable. Guests are encouraged to bring their most authentic selves to chat, laugh, and get a little crazy. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Wednesday, May 03

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

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.

Thursday, May 04

API Queer Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This support group for the Asian and Pacific Islander Queer Community is co-sponsored by Asian Pacific Islander Queer Society DC and Asian Queers United for Action. For more details, email supportdesk@ thedccenter.org.

This festival is a celebration of creative sexual expression and a showcase of sex-positive short films, all curated by sex columnist Dan Savage. The movies are created by people who aren’t porn stars but want to be one just for the festival. The films run the gamut of body sizes, shapes, ages, colors, sexualities, genders, kinks, and fetishes. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased on the festival’s website.

PFLAG to host discussion about queerness and faith

PFLAG Howard County will host “Faith Communities in Conversation” on Tuesday, May 2 at 6:30 p.m.

This event will be a discussion about the impact of affirming congregations in the fight for equal rights and recognition. Panelists will include leaders from the Beth Shalom Congregation, Channing memorial Church Uni-

tarian Universalist, Christ United Methodist Church, Columbia Center of Spiritual Living, the Community of St. Dysmas, Kittamaqunidi Community, Temple Isaiah and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia. This event is free to attend and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Point Foundation Scholar WARREN SMALL speaks to the crowd at the ‘Taste of Point: Spring Garden Party last year. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

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Local gay couple’s theater success leads to popular podcast

Stephen Gregory Smith, Matt Conner are prolific creatives by nature

By PATRICK FOLLIARD

Each July, Stephen Gregory Smith celebrates his birthday with a retro-party, turning the basement of his Fairlington, Va., home into an ‘80s arcade with Nintendo, Atari, and PlayStation. There are neon lights shining, early Madonna albums spinning, and sometimes even projected footage of zombie arms reaching into the room. “It’s a great time,” he says.

Like Smith’s annual get-together, his new podcast “Longshot” is rooted in nostalgia for the actor/writer’s Pennsylvania tweenhood. But Smith takes it further. By combining LGBTQ young adult fiction and sci-fi set against malls and a zombie apocalypse with a dose of dinosaurs and interstellar travel, he creates the ultimate adventure.

In doing the podcast, Smith strives to capture how he felt meeting his husband, celebrated composer Matt Conner, on the first day of college at Shenandoah University in Winchester in Virginia, in 1996. “It was like I’d known him forever,” says Smith. “I’ve wanted to tell that story as souls traveling through time and space and finding each other again and again.”

“It was a time without smart phones when we collected emails two times a week at the computer lab,” he recalls. “We spent a LOT of time talking and listening to music.”

At the suggestion of younger friends, Smith has avoided the gay slurs he heard as a kid, and he’s steered clear of gun culture too. “In the podcast, characters can use brooms or skee balls, anything but guns, to dispatch zombies,” he says with a chuckle. “Longshot” (available on Spotify) is just one of many projects happening for Smith.

He explains that he and husband Matt are prolific creatives by nature. Prior to COVID, their house had always been a hub of creativity and friends. So, during the pandemic, they went crazy with projects and ventured into digital space. In search of people and an outlet, they launched The Conner & Smith Show, a lively podcast nearing 10,000 listeners that features guests from the worlds of theater, film, and music. Also on the docket are two short documentaries: “Inside kaleidoscope,” based on making of their 2017 musical about Alzheimer’s disease starring Florence Lacey, and “#ShareLove: The Conner & Smith Wedding Documentary.”

What’s more, Smith has a new album about to drop. Remastered from recovered raw audio recorded at Signature Theatre, “Mix Tape: 1998” consists of Smith’s gorgeous acoustic interpretations of 80s and 90s music (Indigo Girls, Def Leppard, 10,000 Maniacs, etc.), great stuff that was very meaningful throughout his courtship with Conner.

The couple, who’ve been married almost 10 years and together for 25, have both won Helen Hayes Awards: Smith for supporting actor in Signature’s 2004 production of “110 in the Shade,” and Conner for directing “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” at Creative Cauldron in 2020. They’re currently nominated for Helen Hayes’ Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical Adaptation for “Ichabod: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” at Creative Cauldron. (Winners to be announced at the Helen Hayes ceremony at Anthem on May 22.)

“Lately, it’s been an incredibly busy time with a lot happening,” says Smith, “and it’s really important for us to get it all out there”

Until a few years ago, Smith was best known as a busy actor in local musical theater. His last parts were Fleet in Signature’s “Titanic” in January 2017, and Edgar Allan Poe in Conner’s “Nevermore” at Cauldon the following year. But a full-time job as program director for the Columbia Pike Partnership, a position that involves promoting diversity and connecting people to the arts, prompted him to seek other creative endeavors that didn’t require so much rehearsal time and eight performances a week.

Would Smith reconsider treading the boards? Well, there are a few parts that might lure him back to the stage including reprising Poe, Harold Hill in “The Music Man,” and as he “gravitates toward dad-dom,” he’d like to play the father in “Fun Home” or Captain von Trapp in “The Sound of Music.”

In the meantime, you can catch him on Spotify.

Learn more about STEPHEN GREGORY SMITH at connersmithmusicals.com.

(Photo by Marvin Joseph)

Weisz shines twice in gender-swapped ‘Dead Ringers’ A tour de force dual performance from under appreciated actress

By JOHN PAUL KING

Fans of Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg’s 1988 film “Dead Ringers” – starring Jeremy Irons in the dual role of Elliot and Beverly Mantle, identical twin gynecologists with a fondness for drugs, a willingness to manipulate their patients into having sex with them, and a radical vision for the future of women’s reproductive medicine – are doubtless already aware of Amazon Prime’s new limited series adaptation, which dropped on April 21. Many of them, if not most, have probably already seen all six episodes. For anyone else, however, it might feel like a perfectly reasonable question to ask why anyone might be drawn to a story with a premise as twisted, dark, and deeply disquieting as this one – but of course, those are the very things that make it irresistible.

In Amazon’s updated reimagining of the story, the central narrative takes advantage of its long-form presentation to explore the twisted psychology of its twin protagonists – though that doesn’t feel like quite the right word, all things considered - and the fascination with body horror remains, but show developer and head writer Alice Birch changes almost everything else – starting with the gender of her two leading characters, though they still bear the same ambiguously androgynous names. It’s a bold transformation that might seem like a gimmick, at first, but quickly brushes past any skepticism to illuminate the story in a provocative new light – and we’re not just talking about the obvious lesbian implications inherent in the premise of female gynecologists seducing their own patients.

which a dinner party with potential donors becomes an almost Fellini-esque display of disconnected self-indulgence among the privileged elite, but on a more subtle level they help ally our sympathies with Beverly and Elliot. The world they move in is full of boldfaced arrogance, craven hypocrisy, tone-deaf pretension, and unapologetic greed; how can we not take their side, when it’s clear the medical establishment which they seek to upend deserves everything they can do to it and more.

Of course, their own motives are murky, too. Much is kept mysterious about the Mantles, with secrets doled out in small, sometimes cryptic revelations, and we are kept off balance by an unreliable narrative structure that isn’t always linear and frequently jumps from reality to imagination without making it quite clear which is which. We’re never sure if what we’re seeing is really happening – or when it’s happening, for that matter.

All of that goes a long way toward keeping us hooked into “Dead Ringers” as it goes further and further down its crooked path, and a few heavily-portioned moments of gore – much of it related to childbirth and the medical procedures that take place around it – certainly keep us on edge. Likewise, the gender-swapped reframing introduces a layer of feminism by challenging us with a depiction of women exploiting other women – almost all the characters who hold power are female – to facilitate what ultimately descends into a whirlpool of self-serving hedonism.

Yet as intriguing as all those ideas might be, they’re never as compelling as we think they are going to be. Even the queer aspects of the story feel a bit rote, though perhaps it’s refreshing that lesbian lead characters and depictions of lesbian sex are handled as if their queerness is “no big deal.” Nor does “Dead Ringers” ever really scare, though it does unsettle.

The original “Dead Ringers” – which Cronenberg and screenwriter Norman Snider adapted from a novel (“Twins”) by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland – is considered a masterpiece of “body horror,” a sub-genre that plays on our instinctive fear of mutilation, deformity, or other such intrusive desecrations of our physical beings. It’s a brooding story of co-dependence and isolation, with Irons delivering two distinctively different but equally disturbing flavors of narcissistic amorality as the two brothers spiral away from the outside world into the private reality they’ve built around their obsessions and the unique advantages that come with being identical twins. At its essence, its biggest horrors are more psychological than visceral, and watching the slow-but-inevitable self-destruction that unspools from the Mantles’ insular and distorted perceptions is a painful but gripping journey that sticks with you in ways you wish it wouldn’t; still, there is a definite “gross-out” factor involved (the pair’s baroquely sinister, custom-designed gynecological tools are enough to make us cringe by the power of imagination alone) that lingers even longer, and makes the movie difficult to watch even for less squeamish viewers.

Now portrayed by Rachel Weisz, the Mantles are not merely successful, they are renowned, running their own clinic and pursuing their dream of opening a birthing center and research facility where they can help more women while developing new innovations in female fertility. Beverly, sweet-tempered and idealistic, is often at odds with the more aggressive and cynical Elliot, particularly over the ethics involved in achieving their various goals (such as accepting funding for their project from a Big Pharma billionaire or impersonating one another to trick a sexual conquest into bed), but they are nevertheless the center of each other’s lives. As in the film, it’s this closed-off interpersonal dynamic that leads them astray, severing them from the rest of the world and fueling their secretive, transgressive behavior.

Where the original’s observational focus was placed squarely on the twins, however, Birch and her creative crew open things up to take a wider view, and they waste no time in turning a critical and sometimes outrageously satirical eye toward the outside world.

These moments occasionally veer a little over the top, such as with an extended second-episode sequence in

That’s because at its core, it’s a tale about identity, about two sides of a single personality caught in a never-ending struggle for domination. It would be simplistic to equate Bev and Elliot to “good” and “evil” sides of our nature, though there are definite echoes of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in their interlocked personas, but the conflict between them is primal, nonetheless, and that’s where the meat of the story lies. All the rest is seasoning.

Fortunately, Rachel Weisz – a criminally underrated actress, and we say this knowing she is an Oscar-winner – takes charge from the start, delivering a tour de force dual performance that is every bit the equal of Irons’ acclaimed turn in Cronenberg’s film while making both roles uniquely her own. Compelling, layered, likeable, monstrous, fragile, fierce, and always authentic, she holds our interest even when the story flags – as it occasionally does – and keeps us watching all the way.

Thanks to her, Amazon’s “Dead Ringers” confidently carves a place of its own. Is it scary? Maybe not as much so as Cronenberg’s original, but it has an appeal of its own and enough clinical gore to provide at least a few enjoyable jump scares.

In any case, neither version is as scary as the fact that the novel which was the basis for them both was itself based on the story of the Marcus twins, a pair of real-life twin gynecologists who died in an apparent suicide pact.

It’s enough to make you never trust a doctor again.

RACHEL WEISZ in ‘Dead Ringers’

National Cannabis Festival

Annual event draws large crowd despite thunderstorm

The National Cannabis Festival was held near RFK Stadium on Saturday, April 22.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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Legal protections for LGBTQ homebuyers

Understanding your rights when it comes to discrimination

By JEFF HAMMERBERG

The LGBTQ community has faced discrimination and marginalization for decades, particularly in the area of housing.

Discrimination in the housing market can take many forms, including refusal to rent or sell to LGBTQ individuals or couples, discriminatory loan practices, and harassment from landlords or neighbors.

Fortunately, in recent years, there has been progress in enacting laws and policies to protect the LGBTQ community from housing discrimination.

Here are some of the most important laws that protect the LGBTQ community in home buying:

Fair Housing Act

The Fair Housing Act is a federal law that prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability.

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it would interpret the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity as well.

Equal Credit Opportunity Act

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act is a federal law that prohibits lenders from discriminating against borrowers based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or whether they receive public assistance.

In 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an interpretive rule stating that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act also prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

State and local laws

In addition to federal laws, many states and localities have passed their own laws protecting the LGBTQ community from housing discrimination.

As one example, D.C. has been a leader in enacting laws to protect the LGBTQ community from housing discrimination. Here are some of the most important laws in D.C. that protect LGBTQ homebuyers and renters:

Human Rights Act

The D.C. Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, genetic information, disability, matriculation, or political affiliation.

Housing Regulations

D.C. housing regulations prohibit landlords from discriminating against tenants based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. This includes discrimination in advertising, leasing, terms and conditions, and termination of tenancy.

Domestic Partnership Equality Amendment Act

The Domestic Partnership Equality Amendment Act grants same-sex couples in D.C. the same rights and responsibilities as married couples, including the ability to jointly own property and make decisions related to property ownership.

LGBTQ Cultural Competency Training

The D.C. Office of Human Rights provides cultural competency training to housing providers and real estate professionals to help them better understand the needs and concerns of LGBTQ individuals and families.

LGBTQ+ Affairs Office

The Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs in D.C. provides resources and support to LGBTQ individuals and families in the District, including assistance with housing discrimination complaints.

In addition to these laws and programs, the D.C. government has also established a Human Rights Commission to investigate and enforce discrimination complaints. The commission can impose fines, order damages, and require changes in discriminatory policies and practices.

Similar laws are in place in many of the major cities across the United States.

Department of Veterans Affairs policies

The Department of Veterans Affairs has implemented policies to ensure that LGBTQ veterans and their families have equal access to VA benefits and services.

The VA prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in its programs and activities, and it has implemented training programs to educate staff on LGBTQ issues.

While these laws and policies are important steps toward protecting the LGBTQ community from discrimination in home buying, more work needs to be done to ensure that all members of the community are treated fairly and with respect.

For more than 25 years GayRealEstate.com has been fighting for equality in housing and all areas affecting our LGBTQ community with its continued monthly financial support of more than 21 national LGBTQ non-profits.

It is important for homebuyers to know their rights and to report any instances of discrimination to the appropriate authorities – a great way to prevent discrimination is to work with a trusted LGBTQ+ real estate professional at GayRealEstate.com.

(For more than 25 years, Jeff Hammerberg has been a prolific writer, coach, and author who has helped advance the cause of fair, honest, and equitable representation for all members of the LGBTQ community in real estate matters. GayRealEstate.com, which he established, is the largest and longest-running gay real estate agent referral service in the nation, boasting more than 3,500 LGBTQ Realtors who operate in cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico.)

JEFF HAMMERBERG

is

founding CEO of Hammerberg & Associates, Inc.

Reach him at 303-378-5526 or jeffhammerberg@gmail.com.

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