Washington Blade, Volume 54, Issue 52, December 29, 2023

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Top 10 local news stories for 2023

Hate crimes continue, new queer bars open, and much more

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

It was another busy year in queer news.

Here are the Blade staff picks for the top 10 local news stories of 2023.

#10: FLORIDA PROSECUTOR DROPS SEX WITH MINOR CHARGES AGAINST BRETT PARSON

BRETT PARSON

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

A prosecutor with the Broward County, Fla., State Attorney’s Office on March 13 dropped two charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor filed against gay former D.C. police lieutenant Brett Parson by Boca Raton, Fla. police in February 2022.

Parson’s arrest came shortly after he retired from the police force after 26 years of service, including his role as supervisor of the D.C. police LGBT Liaison Unit.

A memorandum released by the State Attorney’s Office disclosed that prosecutors decided to drop the charges after it became clear that the then 16-year-old boy, who told authorities that his sexual encounter with Parson was consensual, did not want to participate in the prosecution against Parson.

Court records show the youth met Parson after he posted a message on the gay hookup site Growlr and claimed he was 19 years old. The age of sexual consent in Florida is 18, although in several other states, including D.C., the age of consent is 16 and the sexual encounter between Parson and the youth would have been legal in those other states and D.C.

#9: FOUR NEW D.C. LGBTQ BARS OPEN IN 2023

LGBTQ identified bars in the nation’s capital to 19. The first of the four new ones to open was Little Gay Pub at 1100 P St., N.W. near Logan Circle. Its owners and business partners, Dito Sevilla, Dusty Martinez, and Benjamin Gander, have years of experience working at other nearby bars and restaurants, with Martinez and Gander having worked at other gay bars.

The gay nightclub and dance bar Bunker opened a short time later in a large basement space at 2001 14th St., N.W., steps away from the bustling nightlife intersection at 14th and U streets, N.W. Co-owners Zach Renovates and Jesus Quispe for many years produced LGBTQ entertainment events through their company KINETIC Presents. Next to open was Shakers at 2014 9th St., N.W. in the busy 9th and U Street entertainment corridor, which bills itself as a “full spectrum bar, with everything from family nights to ANC meet-and-greets to drag shows.”

And in December Thurst Lounge opened at 2204 14th St., N.W. Owners Brandon Burke and Shaun Mykals describe it as a “space that represents and honors the unique and culturally rich Black gay experience.”

#8: D.C. GOV’T HOLDS ‘LGBTQIA EMERGENCY TRAINING’ EVENT

About 25 representatives of local LGBTQ organizations turned out on April 5 for the first in what was expected to be a series of LGBTQIA+ Emergency Preparedness Training sessions offered by the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.

Japer Bowles, director of the Office of LGBTQ Affairs, said the initial training session was for nonprofit LGBTQ organizations aimed at helping them take steps to minimize potential threats of violence and to recognize behaviors by individuals who may pose a threat. He said among those attending the April 5 training session were representatives of the D.C. Center for the LGBTQ Community, one of the city’s largest local LGBTQ organizations that is about to move into a new, larger space in a building in the city’s Shaw neighborhood.

#7: PROUD BOYS TARGET LOCAL DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR EVENTS

Bunker was one of four new queer bars to open in 2023. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Four new LGBTQ bars opened in D.C. in 2023, bringing the total number of

The far-right group Proud Boys targeted bookstores in Silver Spring, Md. and D.C. in February for protests against the reading of children’s stories by drag performers in an event known as Drag Queen Story Hour. But the group only showed up at the Loyalty Bookstore in Silver Spring.

Silver Spring police dispersed the Proud

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Boys members and counter protesters who supported the drag event after the two groups shouted at each other and reports surfaced that a Proud Boy member assaulted one of the supporters.

Rainbow Defense Coalition defended Drag Queen Story Hour events.

(Washington Blade photo by Linus Berggren)

One week later, after news surfaced that the Proud Boys planned to hold a protest targeting a Drag Story Hour event at the gay-owned Crazy Aunt Hellen’s restaurant in the Barracks Row section of Capitol Hill in D.C., dozens of supporters turned out in anticipation of the Proud Boys protest.

D.C. police, who closed the one-block section of 8th Street, S.E. in anticipation of the protest, said the Proud Boys never showed up.

#6: D.C. MOURNS LOSS OF TWO COMMUNITY LEADERS AND A BELOVED BARTENDER

JOCKO FAJARDO

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

TARIK PIERCE

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Many in D.C.’s LGBTQ community in July mourned the unexpected deaths of two gay longtime supporters of LGBTQ causes, Jocko Fajardo and Tarik Pierce, and a beloved bartender, Brooks Davis.

Fajardo, a skilled chief, florist, and event planner, and Pierce, an official with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, each died in their homes at the age of 45 in D.C. within one week of each other of undisclosed causes. About 300 people turned out in D.C. ‘s Logan Circle for a candlelight vigil in remembrance of the two men.

Also mourned by a large circle of friends in July was gay bartender Brooks Davis, 29, who died on July 17. Family members asked that the cause of death remain private. Davis worked at the D.C. gay nightclub Bunker after having worked for the luxury retail outlet Louis Vuitton and later operated his own exotic plant business before beginning work as a bartender.

#5: PARTNER SAYS POLICE BOTCHED PROBE INTO DEATH OF WASHINGTON WIZARDS CHEF

The longtime domestic partner of Ernest Terrell Newkirk, 55, who worked as chef at D.C.’s Capital One Arena for the Washington Wizards basketball team, expressed strong concern that D.C. police failed to adequately investigate Newkirk’s initially unexplained death.

The partner, Roger Turpin, pointed out that Newkirk was found deceased on a residential street in the 1100 block of 46th Place, S.E., shortly after 3 a.m. on May 28, with his wallet, watch, jewelry, and his car all missing. There were no signs of injury on Newkirk’s body, and it took the D.C. medical examiner four months to complete toxicology tests to finally determine the cause of death, which was acute alcohol intoxication.

D.C. police have said they investigated the case. But Turpin says investigators appear to have declined to follow up on information Turpin provided them to track down someone who may have stolen Newkirk’s car, phone, and credit cards. Turpin says he gave police phone numbers that someone used on Newkirk’s stolen phone to make calls that Turpin obtained from the phone records.

#4: TWO AREA TRANS LAWMAKERS MAKE HISTORY

DANICA ROEM

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Two transgender elected officials in the greater D.C. region made history in 2023.

Virginia state Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) won a decisive victory for a seat in the Virginia state Senate in the state’s Nov. 7 election, becoming the second openly transgender person to win election to a state Senate in the country.

And earlier in the year, Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, who became the first transgender person to win a seat in a state Senate in 2020, declared her candidacy for the single Delaware seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Recent polling data show McBride is far ahead of her closest rival in the 2024 Democratic primary. If she wins the primary, as expected, and wins in the November 2024 general election in the solidly Democratic state of Delaware, McBride would become the first transgender person in the U.S. Congress.

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Top 10 national news stories of 2023 Pride stunt gone wrong, state houses attack, and more

It was an alarming year for queer Americans as state legislatures took aim at everything from gender-affirming care for transgender people to banning books with queer themes. Here are the Blade’s staff picks for the top 10 stories of 2023.

#10 PRIDE AT THE WHITE HOUSE

The Biden-Harris administration in June hosted the largest Pride celebration ever held on White House grounds.

Thousands gathered on the South Lawn to hear the presiPresident BIDEN dent reaffirm his commitment celebrates Pride month. to the LGBTQ community, de(Washington Blade photo by cry the introduction and pasChristopher Kane) sage of legislation targeting queer people, and outline new actions the administration would take to tackle issues from bias-motivated threats and violence to youth homelessness. After the event, right-wing activists drew attention to a trans activist attendee’s topless TikTok video, which prompted a rebuke from the White House. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the “influencer” would not be invited back.

#9 OFF-YEAR ELECTIONS SPELL VICTORY FOR DEMS, POOR SHOWING FOR MOMS FOR LIBERTY

Polls show that Democrats largely over-performed in offyear elections that were held in November 2023, with Democratic hopefuls in competitive races securing decisive Moms for Liberty victories up and down the suffered electoral losses ballot – from the gubernatoriin November. al race in Kentucky to school (Screen capture via Fox 4 Now/ YouTube) board contests in states across the country. Moms for Liberty, an anti-LGBTQ right-wing organization considered an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, backed 139 candidates in school board races who vowed to oppose books, materials, and classroom discussion or instruction on LGBTQ matters or those concerning racial justice. Just over a third of those candidates – 50 – won.

#8 FDA FINALIZES NEW, INCLUSIVE BLOOD DONATION GUIDELINES

Gay and bisexual men who have sex with men have been prohibited from donating blood for decades since the discovery of AIDS, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration narrowing its restrictions only twice since the 1980s. Revisiting blood donation guidelines has been a major priority for the Biden-Harris administration, and the FDA’s decision this year to take a major step away from the discriminatory ban was lauded by LGBTQ groups – some of which vowed that they would continue, in the words of GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis, “advocating for the FDA to lift all restrictions against qualified LGBTQ blood donor candidates.”

#7 BATTLE OVER THE REPUBLICAN SPEAKERSHIP

U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) narrowly secured the votes to become speaker in January and only after a historic 15 ballots were cast. He was summarily ousted by a small group of ultraconservative members before the end of the year, throwing the House into turmoil as the

By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com

House Speaker MIKE JOHNSON. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

the religious right.

Republican conference flailed for weeks without a speaker until they united around U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.).

Johnson is an anti-LGBTQ farright Christian fundamentalist who has advocated for the reinstatement of sodomy laws and nurtured close ties with the most extreme figures on

#6 PELOSI STEPS DOWN FROM LEADERSHIP AND IS INTERVIEWED BY THE BLADE

In January, just after the end of her tenure as one of the most celebrated and accomplished House speakers, U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sat down with the Washington Blade in her office for an interview about her work adReps. JERRY NADLER and NANCY PELOSI at vancing the social, legal, and signing of the Respect political equality of LGBTQ for Marriage Act. people in America. From her (Photo courtesy Pelosi campaign) first speech on the House floor in 1987 demanding congressional action on AIDS to her leadership in 2022 passing the Respect for Marriage Act, the California Democrat has been at the forefront of the battle for LGBTQ rights while also blazing a trail for women to serve in the highest levels of American politics and government.

#5 GEORGE SANTOS DRAMA

Before his time in Washington had even begun, the first out gay Republican elected to Congress was revealed to be a total fraud with respect to matters that ranged from the frivolous (claims of collegiate Critics launched a athletic prowess) to the legalballoon lampooning ly actionable (pilfering camformer Rep. George paign donations to buy FerSantos. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key) ragamo loafers and content on OnlyFans). At first, House Republican leadership stood by Santos through the torrent of unflattering news coverage, mindful of the party’s narrow majority control of the lower chamber. Eventually, however, lawmakers were handed a damning report by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee and made the unprecedented move of booting him out of office.

#4 303 CREATIVE V. ELENIS

The Alliance Defending Freedom, which is deemed an anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, represented a Colorado website designer who, though she had never been asked to provide services in connection with a same-sex wedding, feared that she would be prohibited from refusing such a request because of the state’s LGBTQ inclusive nondiscrimination statute. The U.S. Supreme Court not only agreed to review the case, concluding that the business owner had standing to sue, but ruled in her favor – delivering a blow to LGBTQ rights in a decision weakening the court’s precedent on marriage equality.

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#3 ANTI-TRANS POLICIES TO FIGURE PROMINENTLY IN TRUMP V. BIDEN REMATCH

Former President Trump has maintained a decisive lead over the rest of the Republican presidential primary field since the start of 2023, which has widened considerably since the summer. Announcing his plans to run again in January, Trump outlined a plan of attack against transgender Americans, including policy proposals targeting access to gender affirming care and appeals for congressional Republicans to define gender as immutable and assigned at birth. President Biden, meanwhile, has no meaningful competition from other Democrats leading into 2024, and has vowed to protect and defend transgender Americans while taking steps to shore up protections for the community during his time in office.

#2 MAJOR COMPANIES FEND OFF RIGHT-WING ATTACKS

The year 2023 saw publicly traded corporations like Target and Anheuser-Busch InBev take financial hits after their outreach to LGBTQ communities inspired reactionary right-wing backlash. The companies’ responses, in turn, ignited criticism from LGBTQ customers who felt abandoned by their decisions to, for instance, scale back on next year’s Pride collections. Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney partnered with Bud Light for a social media promotion in April – consisting of a single video posted on her Instagram page – and it was only in December that right-wing activist and musician Kid Rock dropped his boycott against the company, having made headlines months earlier by mowing down cases of the product with an assault rifle.

#1 STATE OF EMERGENCY FOR LGBTQ PEOPLE IN AMERICA

State legislatures across the country introduced more than 500 bills targeting the LGBTQ community in 2023, passing 75 in 23 states. Most are restrictions on medically necessary healthcare interventions for transgender minors, treatments that are backed Protesters demand rights by every scientific and for trans youth.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key) medical society with relevant clinical expertise. Others target trans student athletes, restrict bathroom and locker room access, or prohibit schools from any discussion or instruction on matters of sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBTQ people and their families have become refugees in their own country. And the Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for the first time ever.

HONORABLE MENTION: BLADE UNCOVERS TREVOR PROJECT SCANDALS

In July, the Washington Blade broke an explosive exposé concerning one of the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organizations, the Trevor Project, which provides crisis intervention services to LGBTQ youth. The story revealed financial woes, raised questions about the possible mismanagement of millions of dollars in funds, and pointed to staff dissension — including over management’s alleged union-busting efforts.

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Top 10 international news stories of 2023

Wars in Ukraine, Israel continue; India rules against marriage equality War, continued anti-LGBTQ crackdowns and the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations are among the issues that made headlines around the world over the past year. Here are the top international stories of 2023.

#10 MAURITIUS AND THE COOK ISLANDS DECRIMINALIZE HOMOSEXUALITY

The Mauritius Supreme Court on Oct. 4 issued a ruling that decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations in the country.

Abdool Ridwan Firaas (Ryan) Ah Seek, a gay man and prominent LGBTQ activist, in 2019 filed a lawsuit that sought to strike down the colonial-era penal code. The court issued its ruling roughly two months after Mauritius hosted the Pan Africa ILGA Conference.

Lawmakers in the Cook Islands in April voted to repeal a provision of a 1969 law that criminalized homosexuality in the country.

#9 BRITISH PRIME MINISTER SUNAK FIRES ANTI-LGBTQ HOME SECRETARY

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Nov. 13 fired Suella Braverman, his government’s controversial home secretary who was a vocal opponent of LGBTQ rights.

Braverman, among other things, opposed transgender rights.

“Trans women have no place in RISHI SUNAK women’s wards or, indeed, any safe (Screen capture via Guardian) space relating to biological women,” she told Sky News a few weeks before Sunak fired her.

Braverman in a speech to the American Enterprise Institute in September said the country “will not be able to sustain an asylum system if, in effect, simply being gay or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin, is sufficient to qualify for protection.”

#8 EDGARS RINKĒVIČS BECOMES LATVIA’S FIRST OPENLY GAY PRESIDENT

EDGARS RINKĒVIČS (Screen capture via LTV Zinu dienests YouTube)

Edgars Rinkēvičs on July 8 became Latvia’s first openly gay president.

Rinkēvičs had been the country’s foreign minister since 2011.

He is the first openly gay head of state of a European Union country or a nation that was once part of the Soviet Union.

#7 ANTI-LGBTQ CRACKDOWNS CONTINUE IN RUSSIA, EASTERN EUROPE

The Russian government in 2023 continued its crackdown on LGBTQ rights.

The country’s Supreme Court on Nov. 30 ruled the global LGBTQ rights movement is an “extremist organization.” Police within days of the ruling raided gay bars and clubs in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

President Vladimir Putin in July signed a bill that bans transition-related therapy and surgery in the country.

U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman, who is gay, on June 16 criticized the crackdown on LGBTQ rights in the country during a speech he gave at a Budapest Pride reception. Gay Polish MEP (European Parliament member) Robert Biedroń during an interview with the Washington Blade in

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS | mlavers@washblade.com

Brussels over the summer described Poland as “the most homophobic country on the map of Europe in the EU.”

#6 THAILAND POISED TO BECOME NEXT ASIAN COUNTRY TO EXTEND MARRIAGE RIGHTS

Thailand could become the next country in Asia to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

The country’s Cabinet on Nov. 21 approved a marriage equality bill. Lawmakers are expected to debate it this month.

Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Taiwan since 2019.

The Nepalese Supreme Court on June 28 issued a ruling that opened the door to marriage equality in the country.

Maya Ram Bahadur Gurung and Surendra Pandey on Nov. 29 legally registered their marriage.

#5 LATIN AMERICA’S FIRST NONBINARY JUDGE KILLED BY PARTNER

Authorities in Mexico’s Aguascalientes state on Nov. 13 found Jesús Ociel Baena, Latin America’s first nonbinary judge, dead in their home.

Baena in October 2022 became a magistrate on Aguascalientes’ electoral court. Baena in June was one of the first people in Mexico to receive a passport with a nonbinary gender marker.

Baena had previously received death threats. Prosecutors said Baena’s partner killed them before dying by suicide.

#4 BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LULA DA SILVA SWORN BEFORE BOLSONARO SUPPORTERS STORM CAPITAL

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Jan. 1 took office in his country’s capital of Brasília.

Da Silva, a member of the leftist Worker’s Party, was Brazil’s president from 2003-2010. He defeated Jair Bolsonaro, a former Brazilian Army captain and Brazilian President LUIZ congressman who sparked outINÁCIO LULA DA SILVA rage over his comments LGBTQ (Photo via public domain) people and other groups and his anti-democratic rhetoric, in the country’s presidential election that took place in October 2022.

Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters on Jan. 8 stormed Brazil’s Congress, Presidential Palace and Supreme Court.

#3 UGANDA’S ANTI-HOMOSEXUALITY ACT SIGNED INTO LAW. ANTI-LGBTQ CRACKDOWN IN NIGERIA. NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES SEEK TO IMPLEMENT SIMILAR STATUTES. NAMIBIAN SUPREME COURT RULES COUNTRY MUST RECOGNIZE SAME-SEX MARRIAGES

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on May 29 signed his country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.”

The U.S. in reProtesters at the Ugandan embassy sponse imposed visa (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key) restrictions against Ugandan officials and removed the country from a sub-Sa-

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haran Africa free trade agreement. The World Bank Group also suspended new loans to Uganda.

Lawmakers in Kenya, Tanzania and other African countries have sought to introduce bills that are similar to the Anti-Homosexuality Act. Officials in Nigeria and other African countries over the last year continued to crack down on LGBTQ people.

The Namibia Supreme Court on May 16 ruled the country’s government must recognize same-sex marriages that were legally performed abroad.

#2 INDIAN SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST MARRIAGE EQUALITY

The Indian Supreme Court on Oct. 17 issued its long-anticipated ruling that did not extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

The justices earlier in the year heard oral arguments in the landmark case. The Supreme Court of India ruled Supreme Court in its rulagainst marriage equality.

(Photo by TK Kurikawa via Bigstock) ing said lawmakers must decide whether to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

The Supreme Court on Nov. 23 agreed to consider an appeal of the ruling, although observers with whom the Blade has spoken say they don’t expect it to succeed. The Supreme Court in 2018 struck down India’s colonial-era sodomy law.

#1 WAR IN ISRAEL AND UKRAINE

Rockets from Gaza target Israel (Photo via 11alive YouTube)

Hamas on Oct. 7 launched a surprise attack against southern Israel.

The attack killed more than 1,000 Israelis, and militants from Hamas and other Muslim extremist groups kidnapped more than 200 people. The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli airstrikes have killed upwards of 20,000 people in the Gaza Strip.

LGBTQ activists in Israel since Oct. 7 have worked to help people in the country whom the war has displaced.

Meanwhile, Russia’s war against Ukraine continues.

Oksana Markarova, the country’s ambassador to the U.S., on Jan. 26 during an event in Washington that highlighted LGBTQ Ukrainian servicemembers thanked activists for their work in support of equal rights.

“Thank you for everything you do in Kyiv, and thank you for everything that you do in order to fight the discrimination that still is somewhere in Ukraine,” said Markarova.

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DE C E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 2 3 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 1 1

The year in photos Top news photos of 2023 (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

#1

#6

#2

#7

#3

#8

1.) DAN BEAR wins the title of Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather on Jan. 15 at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill.

2.) President JOE BIDEN gives his State of the Union Address on Feb. 7 at the U.S. Capitol.

3.) Cupid’s Undie Run, an annual fundraiser for neurofibromatosis (NF) research, is held at Union Stage at The Wharf DC on Feb. 11.

4.) The 50th anniversary Scarlet’s Bake Sale is held at The Crucible on Feb. 12. Participants bid on baked goods and bottles of liquor to raise money for HIPS. 5.) Drag personalities and local bar scene workers pay their respects for the legendary drag queen Ba’Naka, a.k.a. Dustin Michael Schaad, at a celebration of life event on Feb. 25 at Pitchers.

6.) ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ season three contestant MARIAH PARIS BALENCIAGA performs at Kiki on March 5.

7.) Hundreds of activists participated in the March for Trans Youth Autonomy from Union Station to the U.S. Capitol on March 31.

8.) Television personality CARSON KRESSLEY emcees the RuPaul’s Drag Race Finale Viewing Party at Bunker on April 14.

9.) SASHA COLBY, winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15, performs at Pitchers on April 19.

#4

#9

10.) Annie’s Paramount Steak House holds a 75th anniversary party complete with a block party, games and entertainment on April 29.

#5 1 2 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • DECEMBER 2 9 , 2 0 2 3

#10

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11.) The annual Gay Day at Zoo is held at the Smithsonian National Zoo on May 7.

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12.) Us Helping Us holds the annual Black Pride in the Park at Fort Dupont Park on May 29.

13.) Gay D.C. Councilmember ZACHARY PARKER speaks at a ceremony raising the Progress Flag over the D.C. Government’s Wilson Building at the beginning of Pride month on June 1.

14.) Speaker Emerita NANCY PELOSI throws out the first pitch at Nationals Park for Night Out at the Nationals on June 6.

15.) EVRY PLEASURE leads a Barbie party at Red Bear Brewing on July 14.

16.) Students, educators and advocates march against the anti-trans policies of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin in Falls Church, Va. on Aug. 15.

#12

17.) Thousands participate in the 60th Anniversary March on Washington on Aug. 26.

18.) U.S. Sen. LAPHONZA BUTLER (D-Calif.) is sworn into office on Oct. 3. She is the first openly gay Black U.S. Senator to hold office.

19.) Gay actors JONATHAN BAILEY and MATT BOMER attend the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Oct. 14.

#15

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20.) D.C. Safe Haven organizes a Transgender Day of Remembrance rally at Freedom Plaza on Nov. 17.

#18

#20 DE C E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 2 3 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 1 3

Remembering those we lost in 2023

World’s oldest drag performer, PR guru to the stars among those who died

By KATHI WOLFE

The many acclaimed LGBTQ people and allies who died in 2023 include: Frank Galati, an internationally acclaimed writer, director, and actor, known for directing “Ragtime” on Broadway and his Chicago theater work, which included his adaptation of “The Grapes of Wrath,” died on Jan. 2 in Sarasota, Fla. at 79 from complications of cancer.

Lily Chavez, a beloved D.C. nightlife figure, died on Jan. 8 at age 35 from complications of Lupus. Chavez was the box office cashier at D.C.’s Town Danceboutique, a bartender at Annie’s and Level 1 restaurants and the gay bar Cobalt, the Blade reported.

Sal Piro, a fan of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” who saw the camp classic some 1,300 times and founded “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” fan club, died at 72 on Jan. 22 at his Manhattan home from an aneurysm in his esophagus.

Everett Quinton, an actor, director, and leader of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company after his partner Charles Ludlam’s death in 1987, died on Jan. 23 in Brooklyn, Ny. at 71 from glioblastoma, a fast-moving cancer.

Albert Russell, an acclaimed organist and music director from 1966 to 1984 of St. John’s Episcopal Church on Lafayette Square in D.C. (often called the “Church of the Presidents”), died at 91 from complications of a fall on Jan. 23 at his Washington home.

Dr. Charles Silverstein, a psychologist, whose presentation as a graduate student helped to persuade the American Psychiatric Association to stop pathologizing being queer, died on Jan. 30 at age 87 at his Manhattan home from lung cancer. He founded the Institute for Human Identity, which provides mental health service to LGBTQ clients.

Shinta Ratri, an Indonesian transgender activist, who founded an Islamic boarding school that provides a safe space for trans women, died on Feb. 1 at 60 from a heart attack in Yogyakarta, a city on the Indonesian island of Java.

Adrian Hall, the founding artistic director of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, R.I., who revitalized regional theater in Dallas and other cities, died at 95 on Feb. 4 in a hospital in Tyler, Texas.

Donald Spoto, a biographer whose more than two-dozen subjects included Joan of Arc, Jesus, Alfred Hitchcock and Grace Kelly, died at 81 on Feb. 11 in Koege, Denmark from a brain hemorrhage.

Howard Bragman, a publicist who advised celebrities involved in scandals and queer clients who were coming out, died at 66 on Feb. 11 from leukemia in Los Angeles.

John E. Woods, an award-winning translator of Thomas Mann, died on Feb. 15 in Berlin at 80 from a lung ailment and skin cancer.

Royston Ellis, a British Beat poet whose spoken word performances accompanied

the Beatles, Jimmy Page and other performers before they became rock stars, died on Feb. 26 at 82 from heart failure in Induruwa, Sri Lanka.

Georgina Beyer, believed to be the first transgender member of Parliament in New Zealand, died on March 6 at 65 in a Wellington, New Zealand hospice.

Ian Falconer, whose popular children’s books featuring Olivia, an endearing, charming pig, delighted kids and adults, died on March 7 at 63 in Norwalk, Conn., from kidney failure.

Julie Anne Peters, author of “Luna,” whose books were widely banned, died on March 21 at 71 at her Wheat Ridge, Colo. home. “Luna,” released in 2004, is believed to be the first young-adult novel with a transgender character to come out from a mainstream publisher.

Walter Cole, the world’s oldest drag performer known as Darcelle XV died March 23 at 92 at a Portland, Ore. hospital.

James Bowman, a British countertenor known for his performance as Oberon in Benjamin Britten’s opera “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Apollo in Britten’s opera “Death in Venice,” died at 81 on March 27 at his home in Redhill, south of London.

Raghavan Iyer, an American-born chef and author who introduced Americans to Indian cuisine, died on March 31 at 61 in San Francisco from pneumonia complicated by colorectal cancer that had metastasized to his lungs and brain.

Rachel Pollack, a transgender activist and authority on tarot, who created the first trans DC Comics superheroine, died at 77 on April 7 from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Rhinebeck, N.Y. Gail Christian, a trailblazing, acclaimed Black NBC News and PBS correspondent, died on April 12 at 83 in Los Angeles from complications of intestinal surgery.

Helen Thorington, a trailblazer in radio and internet art, died at 94 on April 13 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease in Lincoln, Mass.

Koko Da Doll, 35, a Black transgender woman, who was featured in “Kokomo City,” an award-winning documentary about four Black transgender sex workers, was killed in Atlanta on April 18.

Barry Humphries, the Australian-born actor and comic, who created the divine and beloved Dame Edna, died on April 22 in Sydney at 89 several days after having hip surgery.

Robert Patrick, a playwright whose 1964 play “The Haunted Host,” The New York Times has called “a touchstone of early gay theater,” died at 85 on April 23 from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at his Los Angeles home.

Harry Belafonte, a barrier-breaking singer, actor, civil rights activist and LGBTQ ally, known as the “King of Calypso,” died on April 25 at 96 from congestive heart failure

at his Manhattan home.

David Miranda, an ally of Edward J. Snowden and an advocate for LGBTQ rights in Brazil’s Congress, who was born in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, died at 37 on May 9. He died in a Rio de Janeiro hospital intensive care unit after battling an abdominal infection for nine months.

Renowned queer, avant-garde artist Kenneth Anger, known for his surreal films, died at 96 on May 11 in a care facility in Yucca Valley, Calif. Anger wrote two “Hollywood Babylon” books, which were filled with gossip.

These works were thought to be based on rumors, not facts.

Helmut Berger, an Austrian actor who was known for his work in films directed by the acclaimed filmmaker Luchino Visconti, died at 78 on May 18 at his Salzburg home.

Tina Turner, the legendary singer, who performed at the first Gay Games in 1982, died on May 24 at 83 at her home in Kusnacht, Switzerland after a long illness.

George Maharis, an actor who was a star in the iconic TV show “Route 66,” died at 94 on May 24 at his Beverly Hills, Calif. home.

Jon Haggins, a fashion designer, who was acclaimed for, what The New York Times called his “sinuous, sensuous” 1960s and early 70s designs, died on June 15 at 79 at his Queens, N.Y. home.

The drummer for the Texas acid-punk band Butthole Surfers, Teresa Taylor, died at 60 on June 18 from lung cancer. She was beloved by Gen-Xers for her appearance in the 1990 movie “Slacker.”

Robert Black, an acclaimed bassist and a founding member of the renowned Bang on a Can All-Stars ensemble, died at 67 on June 22 from colon cancer at his Hartford, Conn. home.

David Richards, a theater critic, who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work for the The Washington Post, and, briefly, chief drama critic for The New York Times, died at 82 on June 24 in a Warrenton, Va. hospital. The cause of death was complications from Parkinson’s disease.

Michele Judith Ballotta, a.k.a. Mickie, a beloved advocate for the fight against breast cancer and other causes, died on June 24 at age 67 in Seaford, Md. Lilli Vincenz, a groundbreaking LGBTQ rights activist, psychotherapist and documentary filmmaker, died at 85 on June 27 of natural causes at her residence at an Oakton, Va. assisted living center.

Dr. Susan Love, a surgeon, public health advocate, author, researcher and founder of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, died at 75 on July 2 from a recurrence of leukemia at her Los Angeles home. At the time of her death, she was chief visionary office of the Dr. Susan Love Foundation.

Minnie Bruce Pratt, an acclaimed lesbian poet, essayist and LGBTQ activist, died at 76 from an aggressive brain tumor on July 2 at a hospice in Syracuse, N.Y.

1 4 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • DECEMBER 2 9 , 2 0 2 3 • M E M O R I A M NE WS

Publicist HOWARD BRAGMAN died at 66 on Feb. 11. (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

TINA TURNER, who performed at the first Gay Games in 1982, died in 2023.

(YouTube screenshot/Tina Turner)

Cheri Pies, author of the landmark 1985 book “Considering Parenthood: A Workbook for Lesbians,” died at 73 from cancer on July 4 at her Berkeley, Calif. home.

The Rev. A. Stephen Pieters, a gay minister, who had AIDS and spoke about being gay and having the disease to church congregations in the 1980s when homophobia was the norm, died at 70 on July 8 from a sepsis infection at a Glendale, Calif. hospital.

His memoir “Love Is Greater Than AIDS: A Memoir of Survival, Healing, and Hope” will be released in 2024.

Amos Badertscher, a photographer whose empathetic portraits of hustlers, sex workers and drag queens in Baltimore are in institutions devoted to queer art from the Leslie-Loman Museum of Art in New York to the ONE Archives in Los Angeles, died on July 24. He died in Baltimore at age 86 from complications from a fall.

Sinead O’Connor, the pop singer, who was acclaimed, but reviled for denouncing pedophilia in the Catholic Church, and, in 1992, tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live,” died at 56 on July 26.

James “Hawk” Crutchfield, a U.S. Air Force veteran and U.S. Federal Communications Commission career program analyst, died at 77 of natural causes in his D.C. home on July 29. For more than four decades, Crutchfield was “devoted” to volunteer leadership to at least eight D.C.-area LGBTQ D.C. organizations, the Blade reported.

Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian who created and portrayed the iconic and beloved character Pee-Wee Herman, died at 70 on July 30 from cancer in a Los Angeles hospital.

Jess Search, a gender nonconforming producer of documentaries focusing on marginalized groups, died at 54 on July 31 in a London hospital from brain cancer.

Search helped to start-up the Doc Society, a group that supports documentarians.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 16

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Revisiting the top 10 local news stories for 2023 #3: SPATE OF ASSAULTS TARGETS LGBT PEOPLE FOR POSSIBLE HATE CRIMES

Two gay bar customers were stabbed in the neck with nonfatal wounds on Aug. 18 outside the Dupont Circle gay bar Fireplace by a woman who D.C. police arrested on a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon and a judge ordered to undergo a mental health examination. That incident followed the arrest by D.C. police in January of three juveniles for four separate armed robberies in the Dupont Circle area near gay bars.

And in August, the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C. continued to decline to prosecute two male suspects identified

by D.C. police who robbed and pistol whipped a D.C. gay couple in January 2022 after the couple appealed to prosecutors to move ahead with a prosecution.

A spokesperson for the U.S. The Attorney’s office said there was insufficient evidence to charge the suspects. Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Vincent Slatt, who heads the ANC’s Rainbow Caucus, expressed concern that police were not disclosing sufficient information on whether the growing number of crimes in Dupont Circle and other city neighborhoods are LGBTQ related and whether the assaults against them may be hate crimes.

With this as a backdrop, D.C.’s new police chief, Pamela Smith, told the Blade in an interview she pledges “fair and equal treatment” for the LGBTQ community.

#2: VIOLENCE CONTINUES AGAINST D.C.-AREA TRANS WOMEN

At least three transgender women were murdered in the D.C. region and a fourth was found dead under suspicious circum-

stances in 2023, prompting transgender activists to continue their ongoing efforts to address what they consider a nationwide epidemic of anti-trans violence.

The first of the incidents took place Jan. 7 when Jasmine “Star” Mack, 36, was found stabbed to death on the 2000 block of Gallaudet St., N.E. D.C. police say they are actively investigating the case. On March 24, Tasiyah Woodland, 18, was shot to death outside the Paradise bar and grill in Lexington Park, Md. With the help of D.C. police, St. Mary’s County police charged D.C. resident Darryl Parks Jr., 29, with first-degree murder and additional gun related charges in connection with the murder.

Police said the shooting followed a dispute between Parks and Mack, but Mack’s family members believe it was a hate crime.

On Oct. 2, 30-year-old trans woman Skylar Harrison Reeves’s partially naked body was found on a park bench in D.C.’s Marvin Gaye Park. Police say there were no obvious injuries found and they are waiting for the medical examiner’s office to determine the cause of death upon completion of toxicology tests. Reeves’s aunt says she believes foul play led to the death. And on Oct. 18, D.C. resident A’nee Roberson, 30,was fatally struck by a car on the 900 block of U Street, N.W., after witnesses say she was assaulted by one or more unidentified suspects and chased into the street in the path of an oncoming car. D.C. police have listed the incident as a homicide, saying the person or persons who assaulted her and forced her into the street committed second-degree murder.

#1: GAY COLLEGE PARK MAYOR PATRICK WOJAHN PLEADS GUILTY TO CHILD PORN CHARGES

ZACHARY PARKER

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Former College Park Mayor PATRICK WOJAHN (Photo courtesy Prince Georges County Police Department)

A Prince George’s County Circuit Court judge on Nov. 20 sentenced gay former College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn to 30 years in jail just over three months after Wojahn pleaded guilty to 140 counts of possession or distribution of child pornography.

The sentencing followed news that surfaced in March, which shocked Wojahn’s friends and longtime political supporters, including LGBTQ activists, that he had been arrested after police raided his College Park house and confiscated multiple devices, including computers and cell phones, containing hundreds of images or videos of child pornography depicting pre-pubescent boys.

At the sentencing hearing over a dozen of Wojahn’s friends and family members, including his husband, urged the judge to consider Wojahn’s own statements saying mental health issues were at play in his actions and that he cooperated with the police investigation and deeply apologized for what he did. Under Maryland sentencing rules, Wojahn will be eligible to apply for release on parole after serving 12 and a half years of incarceration.

HONORABLE MENTION: ZACHARY PARKER SWORN IN AS NEW D.C. COUNCIL MEMBER

Former D.C. school board member Zachary Parker was sworn in on Jan. 2 as the first openly gay member of the D.C. Council since 2015 at an inaugural ceremony in which other elected officials, including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and six other Council members were also sworn in.

Parker, a Democrat, won election in November 2022 to the Ward 5 Council seat by a wide margin after winning a hotly contested Democratic primary for the Ward 5 seat.

In his inaugural speech after being sworn in as a Council member, Parker said he ran on a vision that “all District residents deserve good and accountable government” and pledged to work to help serve the needs of the city’s diverse residents, including LGBTQ residents.

“With this honor comes the responsibility to address the ridiculously high rates of queer youth homelessness” and “ensure that we’re investing in the people and organizations that are fighting every day for our LGBTQIA plus neighbors,” he said in his speech.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

Remembering prominent LGBTQ figures we lost in 2023

Carmen Xtravaganza, a ballroom legend and transgender activist, who was featured in the documentary “Paris Is Burning,” died at 62 on Aug. 4. Before her death, she had been struggling with stage 4 lung cancer.

Sarah Wunsch, a civil liberties lawyer known for her work on race, gender ,and free speech issues, died at 75 on Aug. 17 at her Brookline, Mass. home from complications of a stroke.

Janne Marie Harrelson, who had a 32year career at Gallaudet University, died at 70 on Aug. 23 from Ovarian cancer while in hospice care in Rockville, Md. She held multiple leadership positions at Gallaudet, including director, National Mission Planning and director, Gallaudet University Regional Centers.

Michael Leva, an acclaimed 1980s fashion designer, who was on the cover of the (now defunct) weekly “7 Days” for its “Designers on the Verge” feature, and later a prominent fashion executive, died at 62 on

Sept. 14 in Providence, R.I. from heart failure.

Erwin Olaf, a Dutch photographer acclaimed for his portraits of counterculture celebs and Dutch royalty died at 64 on Sept.

20 in Groningen, the Netherlands from complications of a lung transplant.

John F. Benton, 72, who worked in management at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum and other government agencies for more than four decades, died on Sept 20 after a short illness at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington the Blade reported.

Pat Arrowsmith, 93, a British author, anti-war activist and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament co-founder, who worked with Amnesty International, died on Sept. 27 at her North London home.

Rudy Perez, a choreographer and postmodern dance pioneer died at 93 on Sept.

29 from complications of asthma at his Los Angeles home.

1 6 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • DECEMBER 2 9 , 2 0 2 3 • LO CA L NE WS

Beverly Willis, a trailblazing, acclaimed architect, who advocated for omen striving to break through in the profession, died at 95 on Oct. 1 from complications of Parkinson’s disease at her Branford, Conn., home.

James Jorden, a writer and creator of the high culture, yet punk opera zine-turnedwebsite Parterre Box, died at 69 on Oct. 2. He was found dead at his Sunnyside, Queens home, The New York Times reported.

Terence Davies, 77, a British director whose acclaimed films included “The House of Mirth,” “A Quiet Passion” and “Benediction,” died on Oct. 7, after what his manager said was “a short illness,” at his home in Mistley, Essex in England.

Margot Polivy, a lawyer, champion of women in college sports and a tireless advocate for Title IX, died at 85 on Oct. 7 at her Washington home.

Steven Lutvak, 64, a composer and lyricist whose show “A Gentleman’s Guide to

Love & Murder” won the Tony Award for best musical, died on Oct. 9 from a pulmonary embolism at his Manhattan work studio.

Eva Kollisch, 98, in her teens, fled Nazi-occupied Austria. Kollisch, who grew up to be a prominent lesbian rights advocate, feminist studies scholar and memoirist, died from a chest infection on Oct. 10 at her Manhattan home.

Jack Anderson, a dance critic for The New York Times for five decades, died at 88 in a New York City hospital from sepsis on Oct. 20.

Amber Hollibaugh,77, an activist, organizer, author of “My Dangerous Desires: A Queer Girl Dreaming Her Way Home” and self-educated public intellectual in the LGBTQ+, feminist, sexual liberation and economic justice movements, died from complications of diabetes on Oct. 20, the Blade reported.

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Daring to dream: New Year’s 2024

Keep our dreams flying with pride “...if dreams die/ Life is a broken-winged bird/ that cannot fly.”

Dreams by Langston Hughes As the ball drops in Times Square to bring the New Year in, another teen trembles, shakes from bullying, is enraged when no one calls them by their name. Haters hiss at drag storytellers, toast the holidays with dictators.

How can anyone sing Auld lang syne?

Clarence, the angel in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” nearly stops caring about getting his wings.

Can even an Old Hollywood angel help this world amuck in hate and war? You almost want to write the obit for dreams.

To toss them in the dust bin with dead batteries, texts from vexed exes, take-out containers. Yet hope persists. Like a dog that lives to be 20, though it eats chocolate

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daily and is never walked. A dad embraces his queer son. A trans rabbi conducts a Passover seder, a queer imam holds lesbian lovers in prayer. A gay elder marries his high school sweetheart.

Not much to go on in this time, a frayed security blanket that barely covers us. But enough to keep our dreams flying with pride. Happy New Year!

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Revisiting 10 of our favorite A&E stories of 2023 Hollywood strikes, celebrity interviews, and more

By ROB WATSON most of the western world, we grieved the loss of the icon. So did our readers, in By any estimation, 2023 was a chaotic year in the world of pop culture, from strikes the hundreds of thousands. “For the non-conforming male personas amongst us, by the various acting and screenwriting unions to an attack on LGBTQ material both in and for the female personas among us, she was our phoenix rising from the ashbook form and in drag performances. es of toxic masculinity, overcoming it, and becoming the epitome of the queen, The Washington Blade and Los Angeles Blade staff worked hard all year to highlight the warrior, the triumphant.” the heartfelt, the talented, and the creatives that exuded queer power. Now as this turbulent year ends, it’s time to look back on the entertainment milestones and the best #5 “How a talented punk rocking hellion became a ‘Bottom for God.’” Music proconversations we had in 2023. The list was compiled based on the exclusivity of the ducer Barb Morrison gave us an exclusive about her career, life and adventures story to the Blades and the stories’ popularity with readers. into recovery. Readers loved it as much as they did her Blondie and Rufus WainFirst, the honorable mentions that could easily have been in this top 10 list: wright hits. “Morrison’s writing is much Jamie Lee Curtis spoke out as the mom like the artistic spirit of their music: very of a trans daughter in our article “If your rhythmic, sometimes chaotic, folding kids are trans.” Her bottom line: Love is in on itself, exhilarating, big, pushing love. While getting an interview with him boundaries, peaceful and then bomwas not difficult (we know where he lives), bastically back in your face again.”

Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff gave us exclusive insight into his new book #4 “Angelica Ross becomes latest trans “How We Won the War for LGBTQ Equaltalent to choose advocacy over Hollyity — And How Our Enemies Could Take wood bullshit.” Trans representation is It All Away.” The article, “Lessons learned a strong theme throughout Blade cov& how to win the coming equality rights erage and this article epitomized it. Anbattles” featured an interview with Naff gelica Ross’s assertion on the treatment and contained lots of entertainment “tea.” of transgender talent resonated strongKaren Carpenter, an iconic voice of the ly with our readers. past, rocked our entertainment section this year as well. We talked about her legacy 40 #3 “Oscar Stembridge’s music reveals years after her death with author and docuhis optimism and emotional truth.” The mentary filmmaker Randy L. Schmidt in our Blades were pleased to introduce the article “Starving for perfection.” The last young Swedish indie musician to Amer“honorable mention” is the Blade article on ica, highlighting his Los Angeles debut a Los Angeles-area musical discovery, Kyle concert. Clearly, our readers welcomed Rising. Kyle is unique and powerful, and Our interview with DAVID ARCHULETA proved one of the most popular Blade stories of 2023. him with open arms. “His music is an Blade readers were fascinated pushing our (Photo by Zach Schmitt) anthem for Generation Z, a suspended article “New sound ‘Rising’ echoes past yet cry of hope and disparity amid a larger escapes predictable genres” to the top of global socio-political struggle.” our charts.

Celebrating the best of 2023, here are 10 of our favorite arts & entertainment stories: #2 “Sophie B. Hawkins’s new anthems are exactly what LGBTQ youth need.” In our exclusive interview with the musical LGBTQ icon, Sophie B. Hawkins spoke about #10 “Real Friends of WeHo proves to be the epicenter of … something.” The standing up for uniqueness and fluidity. “Sophie self-identified as an ‘omni-sexushow crashed and burned as the Daily Beast labelled it “a colossal gay nightal’ in the ‘90s. While others scratched their heads at the term, she embraced conmare.” Our readers were fascinated by our coverage of its impending doom. cepts that are just now being understood and lived. Her new album, ‘Free Myself,’ underscores the theme of authenticity and taking the freedom to be yourself as #9 “Amazon Prime Video flirts with a regressive LGBTQ-erasure image.” A League you are, and want to be seen.” of Their Own was a show that did not deserve to be shelved after one season.

Readers were enthralled at our scathing criticism of Amazon and the “bullshit At No. 1, our exclusive with the beautiful and vulnerable David Archuleta took and cowardly” cancellation. place just after he came in second (again) on the popular Masked Singer. It is only fitting that we, and our readers’ love, make him our No. 1 of the year. #8 “Drag Isn’t Dangerous Telethon overflows with emotion, cash.” Drag performers received unprecedented amounts of vitriol this year across the country. When #1 “David Archuleta may have lost Masked Singer, but he’s winning life.” In our exthey put together a telethon to fight back, our readers showed up. clusive interview, David spoke candidly about coming out and his internal and external fights with the Mormon Church. “Now he is singing a new song, literally. The #7 “Queer Eyeing for the Dead Guy” featured a group of LGBTQ ghost hunters song is an anthem that can speak to every trans, LGBTQ+ kid or adult in the comwho were seeking to give afterlife make-overs. munity. More, it is a declaration of who David Archuleta is, and what we can expect from him. Yes. Archuleta is back, winning, and this time, he is taking us with him.” #6 “We don’t need another hero — there will only ever be one Tina Turner.” Like

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CALENDAR |

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

A roundup of New Year’s Eve parties in D.C.

Xavier Entertainment LLC will host the seventh annual Times Square NYE Celebration at 10 p.m. at Ivy City Smokehouse. Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

New Year’s Eve 2024 at Lost Society will be at 7 p.m. at Lost Society. There will be unique entertainment all night along with a journey of the senses through captivating light shows and LED displays, music, and bottle service presentations throughout the evening. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Busboys and Poets will host New Year’s Eve Open Mic and Party at 10 p.m. at 2021 14th St., N.W. This will be an evening of poetry, live DJ, dancing, food, and good company in a vibrant atmosphere where local artists take the stage, showcasing their talents in various genres. The night will be hosted by the talented Charity Blackwell and will feature award-winning poet Black Chakra. Dyanna Monet will deejay. Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

QueerTalk DC will host Sapphic New Year’s Celebration at 8 p.m. at FigLeaf Bar & Lounge. The event will celebrate Sapphic, trans, and non-binary communities and feature complimentary hors D’oeuvres, a Champagne toast and DJ sets by DJ Clamazon and DJ Q. For more details, visit Eventbrite.

The Queers Upstairs will host Heels & Ties: A Queer New Years Eve Surprise at 9 p.m. at Aliceanna Social Club.

This evening will be an unforgettable LGBTQ New Year’s Eve party where you can sip your favorite cocktails and en-

joy small bites while dancing the night away with music from DJ Rosie & DJ Missy. Tickets start at $30 and can purchased on Eventbrite.

BuffBoyzz Gay-Friendly Male Strip Clubs will host a male revue that caters to men and women at 8 p.m. at Buff-

boyzz Male Strippers. The event will be an exciting, entertaining and sexy show of exotic male dancers in that will entertain your pants off. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

International Events Washington DC will host the 2024 Black Tie New Year’s Eve Gala at 7:30 p.m. at the Willard nter ontinental as ington . . ere will be free flow ing Champagne, an open bar, a spectacular balloon drop in the Euro Discotheque Ballroom and live bands and DJs. For dinner, guests can choose from an elegant sit-down, threecourse dinner with Champagne or a dinner buffet of international cuisine. Tickets start at $189 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Social Architects will host the 12th Annual New Year’s Eve Casino Night at 8 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Arlington, Va. There will be six rooms of entertainment spread across t ree floors. e s will spin ip op salsa Afrobeats and old school music. Tickets start at $60 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Pitchers and A League of Her Own will host a NYE party with complimentary Champagne toast at midnight, party favors, and a DJ all night long.

Shaker’s plans a drag extravaganza with Tatianna and Crystal Edge among others starting at 10:30 p.m.; the $10 cover includes a glass of Champagne.

Bunker hosts a 12-hour masquerade ball with several DJs, including Joe Gauthreaux. The party starts at 9 p.m. and goes until 9 a.m. on Jan. 1. Tickets start at $45 and are available at bunkerdc.com.

DJ Alex Love spins NYE at Dirty Goose with drink specials at midnight.

A Whole New Perspective on Well-Being

It’s easy to spot the distinctive, elegant silhouette of The Mather, a Life Plan Community for those 62+ opening this spring in Tysons, Virginia. What is not apparent to the naked eye is The Mather’s unique wellness philosophy, which is literally built into the community.

The Mather is incorporating biophilic design—a design approach to facilitate access to nature or things that replicate natural patterns.

The Mather’s team recognizes that everyone’s wellness journey is completely unique to their life experiences and influences.

Nature is one of the important factors that contribute to well-being. So The Mather is incorporating biophilic

design—a design approach to facilitate access to nature or things that replicate natural patterns. This can include interior spaces with sightlines to a garden, choosing natural wood and stone as interior materials, or incorporating fragrant flowers and plants indoors to spark memories and provide tactile opportunities such as gardening.

“Providing biophilic design within interior settings connects residents to the natural world,” says Mary Leary, CEO and President of Mather, the organization behind The Mather. “Research shows that a connection to nature provides positive benefits to mental states and overall well-being. At The Mather, biophilic design is the intersection of buildings and programs with nature in an urban setting.”

“The Mather is attracting a diverse group of older adults,” says Mary. “As a result, we aim to incorporate wellness practices from around the world, including Wyda movement theory of the Celtic Druids, which helps people achieve harmony with nature and contentment through mindfulness.” This holistic regenerative approach is similar to Qi Gong and yoga, while born in a different part of the world. Mather Institute has a special focus on mindfulness to support older adults’ practice of present moment awareness, which can lead to increased overall well-being, compassion, and joy.

A very different example of a wellness offering at The Mather is the Gharieni Welnamis spa wave bed, which uses computer-controlled vibrational therapy and audio

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frequencies to train the brain to relax. “The bed increases mindfulness, concentration, and creativity—all of which support our mission of creating Ways to Age Well,SM” says Mary.

Residents of The Mather will be able to select from plentiful amenities, programs, and other offerings to target their personal wellness goals and preferences.

These and other personalized ways to wellness will ensure that residents of The Mather can choose from seemingly countless ways to focus on their well-being. In other words, the sky’s the limit!

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THEATER

Remembering the best in D.C. theater in 2023 ‘King Lear,’ ‘kylie Jenner,’ and more won acclaim

By PATRICK FOLLIARD In early 2023, Woolly Mammoth Theatre served up the provocatively titled “seven methods of killing kylie jenner,” a lively 90-minute, two-hander about white privilege, queerness, body shaming, and friendship penned by Black British playwright Jasmine Lee-Jones.

For me, Woolly’s winter production kicked off a year of unexpected and fulfilling theater. Here’s just a sampling of many memorable instances.

In April, Mosaic Theater Company gave theatergoers a compelling production of lesbian playwright Mona Mansour’s “Unseen,” a beautifully written play about same sex romance and geopolitical conflict.

Imbued with heartbreak and humor, “Unseen” focuses on Mia, an American conflict photographer who wakes up in her off-and-on girlfriend Derya’s apartment in Istanbul with no idea of how she got there. In a cross-cultural, time-shifting journey, Mia, neither sanctimonious nor self-congratulatory about her work, wends through Istanbul, Gaza, Syria, and an art gallery in Philadelphia, confronting personal and professional challenges.

MONA MANSOUR at first rehearsal for Mosaic’s production of ‘Unseen.’ (Photo by Chris Banks)

When asked about her subtle approach to big questions, Mansour replied, “That’s my hope. I want them to come to that same psychic space without literally leading them there and plopping them down in a chair. You know, even when I agree with someone, I don’t like to be lectured.”

Patrick Page as the titular aging monarch in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of “King Lear” was a moment. Page’s uniformly heralded performance (reactions leaned toward “the greatest performance of Lear I’ve ever seen”) was a tour

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de force of hubris and humanity.

Inspired by playwright Morgan Gould’s rambunctious gay grandfather and his dedicated caretakers, “Jennifer Who is Leaving” is a feminist and unfettered dark comedy set in a Dunkin’ Donuts off a Massachusetts highway on a stormy winter’s night. Round House Theatre’s 2023 premiere production brought to life by a quartet of gifted actors – Kimberly Gilbert, Nancy Robinette, Floyd King, and Annie Fang — isn’t easily forgotten.

Studio Theatre’s summer offering was “Fun Home,” a musical adapted for stage

by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron from lesbian cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir. With its nod to domestic turmoil and the pangs of youth, it’s the kind of tragicomic musical that elicits both laughs and sighs of recognition, especially if you’re queer.

Intimately staged by David Muse, Studio’s terrific production featured a marvelous cast including out actors Andrea Prestinario as adult Alison and the wildly talented Bobby Smith as her complicated, closeted father.

In 2023, some queer folks realized theater dreams.

Broadway actor Nick Westrate hit a professional milestone in playing Prior Walter in Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches” at Arena Stage. The part of Prior, a young gay New Yorker besieged by AIDS and abandonment, is a role Westrate had always wanted to do, and almost did several times, but somehow it never worked out until he was hired for Arena’s staged-in-the-round innovative production helmed by Hungarian director János Szász.

For handsome out actor Caeser Samayoa playing the iconic part of President Perón in director Sammi Cannold’s rethought revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Evita” at Shakespeare Theatre Company proved seminal.

In a Blade interview, Samayoa recalled “It’s the first cast album I remember really hearing and understanding. I longed to be in the show.”

As a Guatemalan-American kid, the out actor lived and went to school in suburban Emerson, N.J. But he spent evenings working at his parents’ store in Spanish Harlem.

During the drives back and forth in the family station wagon, he remembers listening to “Evita” on his cassette player.

At Signature Theatre in Arlington, versatile out actor Jake Loewenthal is garnering terrific reviews as Mother’s Younger Brother in “Ragtime” (closing Jan. 7, 2024), a show he’d been smitten with since the eighth grade when he saw his first production of the musical and subsequently became obsessed with the cast recording.

For writer-director Shayok Misha Chowdhury, the pandemic served as a time of artistic expansion and 2023 offered him an opportunity to share what he’d achieved.

His first naturalistic play is “Public Obscenities” (at Woolly Mammoth through Dec. 23), a story of autobiographical circumstances about an Indian-born writer who sees his ancestral home through the eyes of his Black American videographer boyfriend.

In spring, Karoline, the non-binary, mononymously named, Asian actor was thrilled to play optimistic Katie in Ken Lin’s comedy “Exclusion” at Arena Stage.

“The workshop changed my life. I got into the room and it was majority Asian.

And seeing Ken [Lin] talk about coming back to theater and about being able to write about Asian people with a play that’s ostensibly a comedy and obviously super personal was something very new.”

DINING

Top 5 developments in D.C. nightlife, dining in 2023

Food halls, Union Market, and gay bars flourishing

By EVAN CAPLAN

Jaramillo and Gus May’s flour tortilla-wrapped packages.

Yellow is a bakery helmed by Michael Rafidi, who brings his Middle Eastern background to his sweet-and-savory offerings like a za’atar #5 GAY BAR egg croissant. His sit-down RENAISSANCE restaurant Albi won a Michelin star. Meanwhile, celebratAs the dual losses of Town ed D.C. chefs Scott Drewno Danceboutique and Cobalt and Danny Lee’s pop-up I fade, LGBTQ nightlife is exEgg You selling sandwiches periencing an exciting exand tots (and eggs) opened pansion. The city celebrated a brick-and-mortar spot in the opening of several new Capitol Hill, with a bigger gay bars this year. Back in menu, all-day hours, and a February, co-owner Zach liquor license. Finally, longRenovates (of KINETIC parThe Square opened in September on K Street. (Photo by Scott Suchman) time LGBTQ community ally ties) kicked off 2023 with Perry’s, famous for its drag a high-energy bang in his brunch (more than 30 years old!), kicked off Japanese breakfast fallout shelter-themed subterranean club space, Bunker. Not far service from its new chef, Masako Morishita. behind, longtime gay bar industry fixtures Dito Sevilla, Dusty Martinez, and Ben Gander partnered to open Little Gay Pub. This up#2 UNION MARKET CONTINUES TO EXPAND scale indoor/outdoor cocktail lounge in Logan Circle is now infamous for its glitter-bedecked cocktails and a visit by Nancy Pelosi.

While H Street grapples with closings, Union Market is hotter Over the summer, owners Justin Parker and Daniel Honeycutt than ever. Retail, hotels, galleries, bars, and restaurants are openof Dirty Goose opened Shakers, a relaxed bar located near the ing at a dizzying pace, and the mixed-use area hosts everything 9:30 Club and known for its indoor/outdoor patio and bright-red from fitness classes to drive-in movies. Most recently, atop the Imperial Shaker to make cocktails. Finally, in December, owners new Union Market Hotel is Treehouse, a bar/restaurant/club with Brandon Burke and Shaun Mykals opened Thurst just off U Street, inspiration provided by Tulum’s nightlife. Philly-based restauraN.W., that centers Black LGBTQ experiences; they say that this bar teur Stephen Starr (Le Diplomate) opened buzzy El Presidente, a will help fill a gap for Black-owned-and-operated business for the Mexican restaurant spread over several lushly decorated rooms. gay community. As D.C. gets ready to host World Pride in 2025 Starr’s French restaurant Pastis is set to open nearby next year. (a mere 18 months away), these openings point to optimism and Plus, FreshFarm, one of the bigger farmers’ market programs creativity for the local LGBTQ community and signs of preparedin the city, began operations in September on Sundays 9 a.m.ness for the crowds that will arrive.

1 p.m. New vendors in and around Union Market itself continue to sprout; this year includes ice cream import Van Leeuwen and #4 H STREET HARDSHIPS bakery Maman, among many others. The area is not losing steam: several big-name openings are in the works for 2024.

The H Street Corridor suffered in 2023. Lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have taken a toll across the industry and #1 FOOD HALLS FLOURISH city, but have been especially hard on this strip. In addition, business owners and residents have reported an increase in crime.

Perhaps with Union Market as the driving force (and historic Restaurateurs also mentioned unsustainable cost increases and Eastern Market going strong), 2023 was the Year of the Food Hall inflationary pressures as reasons for closure. Just in the past couin D.C. Food halls offer benefits to the small-biz restaurateur (sharple months, Pursuit Wine Bar & Kitchen and Brine Oyster and Seaing resources and utilities) and to the customer (diverse options, food House both closed. Earlier this year, mainstay and H Street one roof). Food halls are casual, well-priced, and social spaces. classic H Street Country Club also shut it doors; it opened in 2009 This year, we saw a bounty of new openings. One of the splashand was one of the first of a new wave of bars and restaurants to ier ones was The Square, run by local hospitality veterans Richie open on the rapidly changing strip. Nevertheless, H Street is still Brandenburg and Rubén García, which opened in September on a cradle of innovative restaurants, like the Afrofuturist Bronze and K Street. More than 25,000 square feet, the Square is an indoor/ the combo retail-restaurant-cafe Maketto. outdoor Spanish-inspired collection with more than 15 vendors and a sit-down restaurant. The long-awaited Love, Makoto also #3 BREAKFAST BONANZA opened this year. The 20,000-square-foot “culinary love letter” to Japan offers a sushi spot, steakhouse, bar, and fast-casual café.

Breakfast meetings may have taken a hit with the increase in Most recently, The Heights Food Hall, slightly smaller at 10,000 remote work, but trendy breakfasts are having a moment. Both square feet in Chevy Chase, started serving in December. At least of the city’s new Michelin Bib Gourmand nods, which highlight 10 vendors and a sit-down restaurant share space here. Finally, “good quality, good value restaurants” went to La Tejana (Mount out in Vienna, The Kitchen Collective straddles the food hall as Pleasant) and Yellow (Georgetown and Navy Yard). La Tejana, a patrons can pick up from a window or order delivery from the tiny Tex-Mex taqueria, was already making headlines with its several vendors. long lines by early birds eager to get their hands on Ana-Maria D.C.’s nightlife and dining scene continued its postCOVID rebound in 2023.

Here are our picks for the top five developments in dining and nightlife for the year.

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FILM

The top 10 queer-centric movies of 2023 From ‘Rustin’ to ‘Barbie,’ it was a banner year in cinema

By JOHN PAUL KING It’s been a great year for movies, we’re glad to say, but that’s made it harder than usual for us to compile our annual list of the 10 best queer-centric films. Still, we’ve made the hard calls necessary, and come up with our picks for the most outstanding of all the movies we’ve covered over the last 12 months.

You all know how these things work, so we won’t waste space with unnecessary explanations. Here, listed in reverse order, are the Blade’s Top Ten Films of 2023:

10. RUSTIN (Dir: George C. Wolfe)

Biopics face a difficult challenge when it comes to presenting an authentic portrayal of their subject: How do you encapsulate a person’s life into a two-hour story without relying on broad strokes? This frank and inspiring look at Civil Rights hero Bayard Rustin, whose monumental contribution to the movement was all-but-unsung for decades thanks to his open homosexuality, skirts the usual pitfalls by focusing on a specific episode in his career-orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington where MLK delivered his culture-shifting “I Have a Dream” speech – and delivering a behind-the-scenes snapshot of a seminal moment in American history at a time when stories about the triumph of activism feel more urgent than ever. Even so, it makes it onto our list mainly on the strength of star Colman Domingo, whose unapologetically thorny interpretation of the late queer icon is an engrossing – and refreshingly un-romanticized - powerhouse from start to finish.

9. OF AN AGE (Dir: Goran Stolevski)

What yearly “Best of” list would be complete without one or two under-the-radar gems? This Australian import (made in 2022, but released in the U.S. early this year) qualifies on both counts, but more importantly it’s a reminder that – despite frequent complaints to the contrary – there are great queer romance movies being made. This one is about two teens (Elias Anton and Thom Green) who spend a day together and fall hard for each other, but time and circumstance are not on their side; years later, reunited at a wedding, they find the connection between them has endured, but it may be too late to do anything about it. It’s a simple premise, and not much happens in terms of plot, but the winning authenticity of the love story it tells – and the way it captures unresolvable longing – is infinitely and universally relatable. It’s not a gay love story, it’s a love story between two people who happen to be gay, and that makes all the difference.

8. ROTTING IN THE SUN (Dir: Sebastian Silva)

Even more under-the-radar, perhaps, is this out-of-left-field contender from out Chilean-born filmmaker Silva, who casts himself and real-life social media star Jordan Firstman as fictional versions of themselves in an outrageous, interwoven stream-of-events narrative that savagely satirizes the perpetually distracted state of self-obsessed modern culture while offering a darkly humorous commentary on cultural classism.

It’s a lot to juggle in a single movie, but Silva pulls it off audaciously in a movie that does not go where you expect it to go and defies easy categorization by blending absurd farce with heartrending tragedy without missing a single beat. It also features un-simulated queer sex, and the fact that bold move is not the main attraction is itself testament to the power of this film’s unique vision. An MVP performance by veteran Chilean actress Catalina Saavedra is the richly satisfying icing

on the cake.

7. ASTEROID CITY (Dir: Wes Anderson)

with enough humanity and compassion – even for its most ethically challenging characters – that we can walk away from it with something that feels almost like hope.

This might be a controversial choice for us, given that critical response for this quintessentially Wes-Anderson-y think piece has been sharply divided and that the “queer factor” involved is relatively low; nevertheless, we stand by it, and only partly because the existential summer of “Barbenheimer” (more on that later) began with the quirky cult filmmaker’s visually stunning fantasia about a gathering of disparate characters in a kitschy New Mexican town for a government-sponsored “young inventors” competition during the height of 1950s-era “nuclear panic.” True to form, Anderson places meta-layers upon meta-layers by framing his narrative as a real-life theatrical play – penned by a queer playwright (Edward Norton) having a love affair with his leading man (Jason Schwartzman) – being memorialized in a TV documentary. And while this might make it hard for some to keep track of the story or identify with the characters, it also makes this movie into an almost perfect meditation on the way a cultural “zeitgeist” – in this case, the percolating dread that dominated world consciousness in the aftermath of the atomic bomb – manifests itself in our shared public imagination. An all-star cast of players (including Scarlett Johannson, Tom Hanks, Tilda Swinton and a host of others) only sweetens the pot.

Invading our list from the UK is the latest film from the writer/director who raised the bar for queer romance movies with 2011’s “Weekend,” a haunted (literally) love story in which a lonely London screenwriter (Andrew Scott) communes with the ghosts of his long-deceased parents (Claire Foy, Jaime Bell) while beginning a tentative relationship with a handsome but palpably sad neighbor (Paul Mescal). Based on a novel by Japanese author Taichi Yamada, it’s a ghostly tale more esoteric than supernatural, driven by mood, draped in primary colors, and infused with life through the tenderness between its two fragile lovers, less interested in the details of a hypothetical afterlife than it is in the bonds of love – in all its forms – which connect us to each other beyond time and mortality. Sure, it’s gloomy on the surface, and it brushes up against sorrows that are mercifully unfathomable to many of us, but it somehow manages to leave us uplifted rather than unsettled – and almost as a bonus, the sweet-and-sexy chemistry between its leading men will stick with you long after the final credits roll.

6. MAY DECEMBER (Dir: Todd Haynes)

3. SALTBURN (Dir: Emerald Fennell)

It may be no surprise to see the latest film by “new queer cinema” icon Haynes on our list, but rest assured we’re not the only ones to recognize the brilliance of this uncomfortable character study in which a Hollywood actress (Natalie Portman), hired to star in a docudrama about a real-life tabloid sex scandal involving the inappropriate relationship and subsequent marriage between an adult woman (Julianne Moore) and an underage boy, descends on the couple’s household, stirring up long-unaddressed feelings for each of them as she loses herself in the persona of her role. Steeped in the tranquilizing suburban blandness that has always been a hallmark of Haynes’ melancholy, subversively divergent milieu, it’s the kind of movie that feels like a fever dream and leaves you grappling with issues you thought you’d worked out for yourself years ago – and while Portman and longtime Haynes muse Moore both deliver their usual stellar performances, it’s Charles Melton’s unexpectedly nuanced turn as the now-adult object of Moore’s transgressive desires that provides its troubled heart.

5. OPPENHEIMER (Dir: Christopher Nolan)

OK, there’s not really a specific queer angle to this introspective, epic-length film about the man who built the atom bomb, but the themes and questions it forces us to confront – all tied to the looming specter of effectively instant worldwide annihilation we’ve been living with ever since the nuclear blasts that brought WWII to an abrupt and sobering end – make it essential viewing anyway. Centered on the white-knuckle intensity of Cillian Murphy’s performance in the title role and bolstered by equally invested work from an all-star ensemble of supporting players (Emily Blunt, Robert Downey, Jr., Matt Damon, and more), Nolan’s finely wrought biopic becomes a meditation on responsibility, blame, the madness of mutually assured destruction, and – most significantly of all – living with an omnipresent sense of inevitable doom. Yet as depressing as all that sounds, the film resonates

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4. ALL OF US STRANGERS (Dir: Andrew Haigh)

BARRY KEOGHAN in ‘Saltburn.’ (courtesy Amazon Studios Prime Video)

We’re not going to lie: part of what earns this gnarly, aggressively twisted movie a high place on our list is its audaciousness. In its tale of Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), a working class lad on scholarship to Oxford whose infatuation with a charismatic and wealthy classmate (Jacob Elordi) leads to a debauched and treacherous summer at the elegantly dilapidated country estate of the title, it turns a vaguely Dickensian story of fate, irony, and social commentary into an escalating wild ride that takes us places we don’t expect to go and never wanted to see, and it makes us love every guilty second of it. Yes, it’s dark and depraved, an over-the-top, starkly satirical look into the casually cruel world of the “ruling class” that forces us to ask just how far we would be willing to go to become a part of it, and it uses our own expectations against us to deliver a bombshell ending that might feel like a slap in the face for those who aren’t paying close attention (and possibly for those who are, too) – but all of that gives us even more reason to laud this second effort from the daring writer/director of “Promising Young Woman” as one of the most thrilling and unforgettable cinematic experiences of the year.

FILM 2. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (Dir: Martin Scorsese)

Like “Oppenheimer,” there’s no direct queer thread to be found in this late-career masterpiece from one of America’s most accomplished cinema artists, but its exploration of the deeply embedded racism that has been woven throughout our nation’s history has obvious resonance for anyone whose status as an “other” places them at risk of exploitation, oppression, and worse in a culture that is stacked against them.

Based on the non-fiction book by David Gann, it chronicles a conspiracy in 1920s Oklahoma in which the indigenous Osage community, made rich by the oil fields under its tribal land, was robbed of its wealth by local white business leaders through a systematic campaign of marriage and murder, and the efforts of the then-fledgling FBI to bring the perpetrators to some kind of justice. With career-highlight performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro, as well as a revelatory turn from indigenous actor Lily Gladstone, there’s more than enough great acting to keep us mesmerized throughout its three-and-a-half-hour runtime – and the same understanding of the pathology of corruption that Scorsese deployed in his classic sagas about organized crime breathes powerful insight into a story that has just as much to say about the America we live in today as the one in which it takes place.

1. BARBIE (Dir: Greta Gerwig)

When we first predicted this would be the movie of the year, our tongue may have been firmly planted in our cheek – but we’re not sorry to be able to say we were right. Not just a campy fantasy about a doll, it’s a truth bomb delivered in a candy-colored Trojan Horse, in which an unexpected existential crisis (do we detect a running theme in this year’s movies?) sends Barbie (Margot Robbie) into the human world looking for answers and ends up turning her own world upside down as Ken (Ryan Gosling), having seen the glories of “the patriarchy”, tries to remake Barbieland in his own image. It’s a premise that gives Gerwig (and partner Noah Baumbach, with whom she co-wrote the screenplay) plenty of fodder to skewer contemporary culture, and she takes aim at all the usual targets as she gleefully spreads the kind of progressive, humanitarian, pro-feminist, socially ethical messaging that conservative pundits like to fall over themselves dismissing as “woke” propaganda. But that’s not the endgame in this transcendent wonder of a movie, because Gerwig and company take things beyond the dualistic dogmas that stymie us in our quest for a more equitable world to ask some much deeper questions, creating a piece of absurdist cinema with as much intellectual weight as any film you’re ever likely to see. Of course, viewers hung up on the “culture war” talking points

RYAN GOSLING and MARGOT ROBBIE in ‘Barbie’ (Image courtesy of Warner Bros)

being batted around from every direction might not notice, any more than they are likely to notice the comprehensive array of nods and tributes she pays along the way to the iconic movies that inspired her, but one of the many joys of “Barbie” is that it reveals more with each repeat viewing – so there’s always hope they’ll catch on, eventually.

Oh, and even if the only queer content it contains comes in the form of deliciously unsubtle innuendo, there’s something quintessentially queer about it – and we’re not just talking about the color palette.

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