Washington Blade, Volume 55, Issue 04, January 26, 2024

FIGHTING FENTANYL Overdose deaths of two beloved D.C. gay men trigger ‘powerful response,’ PAGE 08

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Longtime LGBTQ advocate ABilly S. Jones-Hennin dies at 81 Credited with advancing bisexual presence in the movement

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

ABilly S. Jones-Hennin, a longtime D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate who co-founded the National Coalition of Black Gays in 1978 and helped organize the first March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1979, died Jan. 19 at his and his husband’s winter home in Chetumal, Mexico.

His partner and husband of 45 years, Christopher Hennin, said the cause of death was complications associated with Parkinson’s Disease and advance stage spinal stenosis. He was 81.

Jones-Hennin, who identified as bisexual, is credited with advancing the presence of the bisexual community within the LGBTQ rights movement while working through several organizations he helped to form to advance of the overall cause of LGBTQ and African-American civil rights.

He was born in St. Johns, Antigua in 1942 and was adopted at the age of 3 by an American civil rights activist couple. According to biographical information on Jones-Hennin released by organizations he worked with, he grew up in South Carolina and Virginia. He served in the U.S. Marines after graduating from high school in Richmond before graduating from Virginia State University in 1967. He later received a master’s degree in social work at Howard University in D.C. A biographical write-up on Jones-Hennin by the National Black Justice Coalition, an LGBTQ organization, says he was married to a woman for seven years and had three children before he and his wife separated. In a 2022 interview published by the AARP, Jones-Hennin said the separation came after he came out as gay before coming to the self-realization that he was in fact bisexual. He said he remained on good terms with his children and even took them to LGBTQ events.

Christopher Hennin said he and Jones-Hennin met in 1978 in D.C. while Jones-Hennin worked in accounting and management for different consulting firms, including the firm Macro International. At one point in the 1980s Jones-Hennin worked for D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Clinic where he became involved with providing services to people with HIV/AIDS in the early years of the epidemic.

A write-up on Jones-Hennin by D.C.’s Rainbow Histo-

From left, ABILLY S. JONES-HENNIN and fellow bi activist CLIFF ARNESEN. Jones-Hennin served as logistics coordinator for the first March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights in 1979. Longtime bi activist Arnesen became the first known openly bisexual military veteran to testify before a committee of the U.S. Congress in 1989 on behalf of LGBTQ veterans.

(Photo by Christine M. Hurley Photography; used with permission)

ry Project, which named him a Community Pioneer, its highest honor, said Jones-Hennin managed several federal and state HIV/AIDS research and evaluation projects while working for a national management consulting firm.

Jones-Hennin is credited with breaking ground in the then gay and lesbian movement in 1978 when he co-founded the National Coalition of Black Gays, which became the first national advocacy group for gay and lesbian African Americans. One year later in 1979, he served as logistics coordinator for the first ever National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

During the March on Washington weekend Jones-Hennin helped to organize a National Third World LGBT Conference at Howard University, which led to the creation by students of the Howard University Lambda Student Alliance, the first known LGBT organization at a historically Black college or university in the U.S. Among his other activities, Jones-Hennin worked as minority affairs director of the National AIDS Network, was a founding member of the Gay Married Men’s Asso-

William Troy dies at 69

Longtime D.C. resident worked on the Hill and in antiques

FROM STAFF REPORTS graduated in 1978 with a bachelor’s deWilliam Joseph “Bill” Troy passed away gree in history. He continued working at peacefully on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024, at the university and living in Rochester until Cayuga Medical Center with his family at he accepted an internship in the federal ofhis bedside, from recent medical issues affices of Congressman Matt McHugh of the ter living an active and robust life, accordNY 28th District from 1978-1983. ing to a statement released by family. He Troy was a life-long collector of various was 69. things, starting with coins and comics as a Troy was born April 15, 1955, in Elmiyoungster, but in the 1980s he moved on ra, N.Y. to William and Shirley Troy. He atto Art Deco lamps, disco records, antique tended school in Ithaca and left to attend furnishings, Arts & Crafts pottery, and a college at the University of Rochester. He multitude of similar objects. He followed worked at the university at various posihis passion of seeking antiques and used tions to help pay his way through, and he 0 6 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2 0 2 4 • LO CA L NE WS

ciation, and helped co-found the National Association of Black & White Men Together. During the administration of President Jimmy Carter, Jones-Hennin participated in the first delegation of gay people of color to meet with officials working for a U.S. president, according to the National Black Justice Coalition write-up on Jones-Hennin.

Christopher Hennin said he and Jones-Hennin were married in 2014 and began spending winters in Mexico around 1998, in part, because the cold weather had a negative effect on Jones-Hennin’s spinal stenosis condition, which at one point, required that he undergo surgery to treat the condition, which sometimes caused intense pain.

“He was a person totally dedicated to turning adversity into hope,” Christopher Hennin said of his husband. “His passion was definitely social change and improving people’s well-being,” said Hennin, describing Jones-Hennin as a “very impressive 21st century renaissance thinker.”

Hennin said a memorial service and celebration of Jones-Hennin’s life was being planned sometime later this year at D.C.’s Metropolitan Community Church, where Jones-Hennin’s ashes will be placed in a crypt.

Lesbian activist Susan Silber, one of Jones-Hennin’s longtime friends, said she viewed him as the LGBTQ community’s Bayard Rustin in his role as the “amazing organizer” of the first national Lesbian and Gay March on Washington and as lead organizer of the Third World LGBT Conference.

“ABilly lit up the room with his warmth and charisma,” Silber said.

Jones-Hennin is survived by his husband Christopher Hennin; his sister Pat Jones; his children Valerie Jones, Anthony ‘TJ’ Jones, Forrest ‘Peaches’ Taylor, Danielle Silber, and Avi Silber; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great grandchildren.

Family members have invited those who knew Jones-Hennin to share their memories of him online, which they plan to compile and share with his friends and family members: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeBiRDTlZFi4U8s7j26bEH5UChj5fgfpeklL5Km2q34eS3V3A/viewform

furnishings in Washington where he met many like-minded people and formed friendships with collectors and dealers.

Troy lived with his friend and partner Kirk Palmatier in Washington until December 2022 when he moved to Newark, N.Y., Palmatier’s hometown. He also wanted to enjoy his Ithaca family more by living nearer to them.

Troy is survived by five loving sisters and two loving brothers and several nieces and nephews. His death was preceded by that of his parents, William and Shirley Troy. Troy is also survived by his friend and partner Kirk Palmatier of Newark, N.Y., and a number of D.C.-area friends and business associates from over the past years.

Arrangements to memorialize Troy will be with his family at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to your favorite cancer or hospice organization.

WILLIAM TROY (Photo courtesy family)

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Overdose deaths of two beloved D.C. gay men trigger ‘powerful response’ LGBTQ bars to offer training, distribution of Narcan, fentanyl testing kits

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

Sources familiar with D.C.’s LGBTQ nightlife scene say widespread reports on social media of the sudden and unexpected deaths of two widely known and beloved gay men from an apparent drug overdose on Dec. 27 at one of the men’s homes has triggered an outcry for the city and the community to become more aggressive in addressing the opioid overdose problem and how it is impacting the LGBTQ community.

D.C. police and Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department reports show that prominent D.C. attorney and LGBTQ rights supporter Brandon Roman, 38, and historic preservation expert and home renovation business owner Robert ‘Robbie’ Barletta, 28, were found unconscious when police and emergency medical personnel arrived at Barletta’s house at 3525 Warder St., N.W. on the afternoon of Dec. 27.

The reports show that Roman was declared deceased at the scene shortly after D.C. police and an ambulance arrived at the house in response to a 911 call. According to one of the reports, Barletta was taken to Washington Hospital Center where he died on Dec. 29.

Both men were regular patrons at popular D.C. gay bars, including the gay nightclub and dance bar Bunker and the recently opened gay bar and lounge Shakers.

“Come to Honor their Lives in Your Best Sparkles and Shimmers – Saturday, February 3rd 5-8pm at Shakers,” according to an announcement by Shakers posted on Instagram of a celebration of life for Roman and Barletta.

Johnny Bailey, community outreach director for the LGBTQ supportive community services organization HIPS, said the widespread news of Roman Shakers posted this Instagram and Barletta’s passing message about a celebration of life for BRANDON ROMAN and has prompted more inROBBIE BARLETTA. terest and support for the overdose training sessions that HIPS and other groups have been organizing at D.C. nightlife venues, including bars and nightclubs.

Bailey noted that one of the training sessions is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 27 at the D.C. gay bar Trade. He said the next one was scheduled for Monday, Jan. 29 at the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers. Among other things, facilitators at the trainings will be distributing the life-saving overdose antidote Narcan and testing kits for fentanyl, which experts say is the leading cause of drug overdose deaths when it appears in other drugs such as cocaine without the knowledge of users of those other drugs.

According to Bailey, the gay bar JR.’s on 17th Street near Dupont Circle has hosted a table set up by HIPS to distribute Narcan, fentanyl test strips, and condoms on nights when the bar holds its popular drag shows.

Bailey said he did not know Roman and Barletta personally but people he works with at HIPS knew them and, according to his sources in the community, people who knew

the two men believe their overdose was caused by taking some other drug contaminated with fentanyl.

“It’s horrible when it takes a tragedy for things to come together,” Bailey told the Washington Blade. “But this tragedy has truly triggered a powerful response. It was a real wakeup call to a lot of people,” he said. “So, this happening to them really triggered something.”

Among other things, Bailey said, it has heightened interest in the training sessions at bars and other nightlife venues and prompted HIPS and other organizations to increase the number of the trainings.

David Perruzza, owner of Pitchers, said he was happy to host the training session at his bar on Jan. 29. He said he was among the business owners and community members to urge D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs to become involved in boosting overdose prevention efforts “because I was sick of people dying.”

Bailey and Jennifer Loken, interim director of Therapy and Substance Use Treatment at D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health, each said it was difficult to determine exactly how many LGBTQ people in the city have survived or died from a drug overdose because the city doesn’t specifically count or keep track of overdose cases based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which investigates and gathers data on D.C. drug overdose cases, breaks down its demographic data by race-ethnicity, gender, age, and jurisdiction of residence by city ward. In its most recent report, the medical examiner’s office says it has investigated 2,134 deaths due to the use of opioids from Jan. 1, 2017, through Feb. 28, 2023. In those years, the number of overdose deaths increased each year except for 2018, when there was a small decrease, followed by an increase in 2019 with a sharp increase in 2022 and 2023.

In 2022, the most recent year in which the full year data was tabulated, the report says there were 458 overdose deaths, with an average of 38 deaths per month.

“Overall, 1,807 or 84 percent of all deaths due to opioid use were among Blacks” from January 2017 through May 2023, the report says. “Approximately 72 percent of all fatal opioid overdoses occur among adults between the ages of 40-69 years old,” with 30 percent of those deaths due to opioid use among people ages 50 to 59, the report states. And the report shows that fatal opioid overdoses are far more common among males than females. In 2023, 76 percent of the overdose deaths were among men and 24 percent among women, the report shows.

Asked if Whitman-Walker has a sense or estimate of whether LGBTQ overdose cases are increasing like they are in the overall D.C. population, Loken said, “I would say yes from what I hear anecdotally. Any overdose death is a significant loss.” She added, “So, I think in general, yes, the risk is increasing. Exactly to what degree I don’t know.”

Rodney Adams, general counsel and spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said it would be difficult for the office to attempt to keep track of overdose deaths based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity for transgender people. Among other things, the sexual orientation or gender identity of a deceased person taken to the medical examiner’s facility for an autopsy and toxicology tests to determine the cause and manner of death would be difficult to determine, Adams said.

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“I don’t think we can go out and question the next of kin of what they think their loved one identified as,” Adams told the Blade. “We have a difficult enough conversation with families when we tell them that their loved one is deceased.”

Loken of Whitman-Walker said Whitman-Walker has several programs and services for those who use drugs, including providing medication to help people who may want to stop using an opioid drug as well as harm reduction programs to help someone who wishes to continue using a drug to do so in the safest possible way.

“Sometimes there’s a lot of stigma around substance use in general,” Loken said. “And we definitely don’t want anyone to feel shameful or that they can’t ask for what they need.” All of Whitman-Walker’s substance use treatment or support programs are nonjudgmental toward those who are substance users, Loken told the Blade.

Bailey said one potential problem HIPS has encountered in organizing overdose training sessions at bars and other nightlife businesses is some of the businesses declined to host a training session because they were concerned the city’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA), which regulates the sale of alcoholic beverages in the city, might penalize them for appearing to encourage drug use. Bailey said owners at some bars said they were afraid ABCA might take steps to revoke their liquor license if they hosted an overdose training session in which Narcan and drug testing kits were distributed Jarred Powell, ABCA’s chief of staff, in response to an inquiry from the Blade, said ABCA would not penalize businesses for hosting such a training.

“ABCA is strongly supportive of alcohol licensed businesses encouraging their staff to become trained in opioid overdose prevention and naloxone administration and for businesses to have naloxone on hand to administer if any opioid overdose occurs,” Powell said in a statement to the Blade. Naloxone is the generic name for the overdose treatment medication Narcan.

“Additionally, ABCA supports businesses posting and distributing overdose prevention and treatment resources such as posters and brochures,” Powell said. “All are critically important components to D.C.’s harm reduction approach to substance abuse.”

Powell said ABCA is also collaborating with the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health, which oversees the city’s overdose prevention programs, and the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife and Culture and Office of LGBTQ Affairs to increase the city’s overdose prevention initiatives and to co-host Narcan administration trainings.

Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, issued an announcement on Dec. 31 praising HIPS, the city’s Department of Behavioral Health, and the LGBTQ supportive Capital Ballroom Council for making sure “every LGBTQIA nightlife establishment in D.C.” had Narcan in time for their New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Bailey, meanwhile, said he and other HIPS staff members will continue the work they started in the recent past to organize overdose prevention trainings.

“We go anywhere in the community,” he said. “I’ve done libraries, bars. I did a church one day and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence the next day,” he said, referring to the group that performs in drag dressed as nuns. “Any and all sorts of places we do these Narcan trainings.”

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JA NUA RY 2 6 , 2 0 2 4 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 0 9

Oscar nominations: The good, the bad, and the predictable

Last year was a very queer year at the movies, but you might not be able to tell that from looking at the nominations for the 96th Annual Academy Awards (aka the Oscars), which were announced early on Tuesday morning at the Motion Picture Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The nominations for the 96th annual Academy Awards were announced by ZAZIE BEETZ and JACK QUAID. The Oscars will be held on March 10. (Screenshot/YouTube NBC News)

It’s true there were a few significant nods included for queer actors and/or actors in queer roles, as well as for films which included queer characters or subject matter and/or the creatives behind them, and we don’t want to seem unappreciative of that progress, even if we suspect it might be due to the Academy’s new guideline that a film must meet at least two out of four standards of representation and inclusion to qualify for nomination, implemented this year for the first time; even so, it’s hard not to feel a bit like an afterthought when so many queer movies, performers and creators that stood out among the year’s crop of releases — many of which scored recognition from multiple other awards bodies — have been left out of the lineup.

Indeed, it can almost be said that this year’s Oscar ballot is more notable for its snubs than for its inclusions, and that doesn’t just apply to the LGBTQ community.

The most egregious omission, in fact, is also the most predictable: The failure of Academy voters to nominate Greta Gerwig as Best Director for her industry-shaking efforts at the helm of “Barbie,” a film which managed to jump start the big screen’s box office by bringing audiences back to theaters in droves and sent more shock waves resonating through our culture than all the year’s other movies combined.

Though the movie — which earned eight nominations

in total, including acting nods for supporting players Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera — made the cut for Best Picture, and Gerwig was nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay category (alongside partner and now-husband Noah Baumbach), her name is glaringly absent from a list of contenders that, as has been the case at almost every Oscar ceremony in history, is made up entirely of men.

Add to this the equally perplexing snub of Margot Robbie — who was also an executive producer of the film — as Best Leading Actress, and it’s difficult not to see an unspoken reprimand being delivered to two strong women for daring to shake up the industry’s status quo by building a blockbuster movie hit around an unapologetically feminist core.

Still, with its eight nods, “Barbie” — which topped our list of the Best Queer-centric Films of 2023 — made a strong showing, though other of the year’s biggest titles received more. “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s existential epic about the creator of the atomic bomb, unsurprisingly led the pack with 13, followed by Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” with 11 and Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” with 10. Each of these four films are competing as Best Picture — and all have a strong chance at the trophy, though “Oppenheimer” is shaping up to be a sweeping juggernaut for the season.

Also nominated in the category are Bradley Cooper’s Bernstein biopic “Maestro” and Cord Jefferson’s late-season under-the-radar satire “American Fiction,” both of which include significant queer narratives in their storylines.

Expanding on the “good news” from the Oscars announcement, the Best Actor category includes a nomination for out gay actor Colman Domingo for his star turn as the titular out gay civil rights hero in “Rustin,” as well as for Cooper’s performance as the bisexual Bernstein in “Maestro.” The rest of the field is made up of Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”), Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”) and Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”).

Notably absent from the race is out Irish actor Andrew Scott, who was considered a strong front runner for his leading turn in out British filmmaker Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers.”

For Best Leading Actress, a nomination went to queer ally Annette Benning for playing the title role in “Nyad,” as well as to Carey Mulligan for her portrayal of Bernstein’s loyal wife in “Maestro.”

Additionally, Lily Gladstone made history by becoming the first Indigenous American to be nominated in the category for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” though she has stated in interviews that she identifies as “middle-gender.”

Rounding out the race are Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”) and Emma Stone (“Poor Things”); at this point, it’s

probably too early to predict the winners — there are a lot of politics involved in the final stretch before the big night — but, in this category, it’s hard to imagine anyone but Stone taking the prize.

In the supporting categories, iconic out actress Jodie Foster scored for her role as the title character’s trainer and BFF in “Nyad,” and Danielle Brooks made the cut for her show-stealing performance in the queer-inclusive musical “The Color Purple”). Their competition comes from Ferrera, Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”) and Joyce Da’Vine Randolph (“The Holdovers”).

On the Supporting Actor side, Sterling K. Brown was nominated for playing the lead character’s recently-out gay brother in “American Fiction,” while Gosling’s masculinity-skewing performance was “Kenough” to score him a nod for “Barbie.”

The other contenders are Robert DeNiro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Robert Downey, Jr. (“Oppenheimer”), and Mark Ruffalo (“Poor Thiings”); look to Downey as the probable winner, but Ruffalo’s against-type turn could pull off an upset.

It would be easy to go down the list and point out all the films and people that were unexpectedly passed over for this finals round in Hollywood’s Awards Sweepstakes — the most obvious, apart from Gerwig and Robbie, are Leonardo DiCaprio’s lead performance in “Killers of the Flower Moon”), but we can’t avoid mentioning the shutout of overtly queer standout movies like “All of Us Strangers” or “Saltburn” (from filmmaker Emerald Fennell, also part of the cadre of female power players behind “Barbie”), which failed to score nods in any category despite multiple nominations and wins from other awards bodies.

Yet, looking to the positive, despite the disappointment of so many surprise omissions, there are some strong steps forward represented for the queer community in this year’s nominations, with both Domingo and Foster standing within reach of becoming the first openly queer actor to win an Oscar for playing an openly queer character.

As noted above, Gladstone could also become the first Indigenous American to win a Leading Actress trophy, and though it wouldn’t be a first, a win for either “Maestro” or “American Fiction” would add another film with strong queer storylines to the list of Oscar’s Best Pictures.

Another milestone worth mentioning: with his nomination as Best Director for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Martin Scorcese has become the living filmmaker with the most Oscar nominations (10) and second only to William Wyler (12) for the most of all time.

That may not be a “queer” record, but it’s definitely a cool one.

JOHN PAUL KING

GLAAD, HRC presidents attend World Economic Forum

The presidents of GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign attended the World Economic Forum that took place last week in the Swiss resort town of Davos.

GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis and HRC President Kelley Robinson were among those who participated in the “Corporate Allyship in a Fractured World” panel that Axios Chief Technology Editor Ina Fried moderated. Open for Business CEO Dominic Arnall, Gilead Sciences Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Alex Kalomparis and Ac-

centure Senior Managing Director Marco Ziegler were the other panelists.

HRC, GLAAD, Accenture, Deutsche Bank, Edelman, Open for Business and the Partnership for Global LGBTIQ+ Equality hosted the panel.

Ellis in her opening remarks noted more than 20 venues and corporations participated in the “Pride on the Promenade” in Davos that took place the night before the panel.

She pointed out “Pride on the Promenade” coincided

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with the introduction of a bill in Florida that would ban Pride flags on public buildings. Ellis also noted an activist from Uganda was among those who attended the World Economic Forum.

“Allyship is not just about values; it’s about growing the bottom line,” said Ellis. “We know inclusion is a business-forward idea and need in order to grow your business.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

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Trump beats Haley in N.H. after DeSantis drops out

Former President Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday against his lone remaining rival for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

His victory was called by the Associated Press just after 8 p.m., though Dave Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst of the Cook Political Report, called the race for Trump in a post on X at 7:20 p.m., before all polling locations in the state had closed.

The contest presented the final opportunity for a challenger to Trump, who has long been the party’s frontrunner, to demonstrate his or her viability as a national candidate who could successfully challenge President Joe Biden for the White House.

Leading up to Tuesday, however, Haley’s prospects of overtaking him looked like a long shot, with voters favored to pick Trump over her by 60 to 38 percent in a Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was originally positioned as the greatest threat to Trump, but he led an anemic campaign and lost what little foothold he had early last year in

national polls of likely Republican primary voters. DeSantis withdrew from the race last week.

RON DESANTIS dropped out of the GOP primary race leaving NIKKI HALEY as Donald Trump’s last competitor.

(Screen capture: Politico/YouTube)

Averages of major national polls over the past year by FiveThirtyEight never saw Trump’s support dip below 40 percent, while Haley’s never cracked 13 percent.

Julie Chávez Rodríguez, manager of the Biden-Harris reelection campaign, released a statement Tuesday night: “Tonight’s results confirm Donald Trump has all but locked up the GOP nomination, and the election denying, anti-freedom MAGA movement has completed its takeover of the Republican Party.

“Trump is offering Americans the same extreme agenda that has cost Republicans election after election: promising to undermine American democracy, reward the wealthy on the backs of the middle class and ban abortion nationwide.

“Joe Biden sees things differently. He’s fighting to grow our economy for the middle-class, strengthen our democracy, and protect the rights of every single American.

“While we work toward November 2024, one thing is increasingly clear today: Donald Trump is headed straight into a general election matchup where he’ll face the only person to have ever beaten him at the ballot box: Joe Biden.”

CHRISTOPHER KANE

Florida bans all DEI programs at state universities

The Florida State Board of Education last week implemented strict regulations to limit the use of public funds for diversity, equity and inclusion programs, activities and policies in the Florida College System.

Florida Education Commissioner MANNY DIAZ, JR. (WFLA YouTube screenshot)

The rule adopted by the board defined, for the first time, DEI and affirmatively prohibits FCS institutions from using state or federal funds to administer programs that categorize individuals based on race or sex for the pur-

pose of differential or preferential treatment.

In a statement the board noted that its decision “will ensure that taxpayer funds can no longer be used to promote DEI on Florida’s 28 state college campuses.”

“The State Board of Education also replaced the course ‘Principles of Sociology’ with a comprehensive general education core course in American history. The aim is to provide students with an accurate and factual account of the nation’s past, rather than exposing them to radical woke ideologies, which had become commonplace in the now replaced course,” the statement continued.

“Higher education must return to its essential foundations of academic integrity and the pursuit of knowledge instead of being corrupted by destructive ideologies,” said Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. “These actions today ensure that we will not spend taxpayers’ money supporting DEI and radical indoctrination that promotes division in our society.”

Joe Saunders, senior political director for Equality Florida, responded.

“There’s no surprise today that the State Board of Education, a board that has been a rubber stamp for Gov. Ron DeSantis’s agenda of censorship and surveillance, moved forward with another sweepingly broad rule that abolishes diversity and inclusion programs in the Florida College System,” Saunders said.

“The board’s rules go well beyond what’s required by Gov. DeSantis’s already extreme SB 266, handcuffing state colleges from using any state-funded resources on diversity programs that help recruit talented faculty, support students with unique needs, and help Florida’s colleges compete for national research and funding. This is a brazenly political attack on Florida’s colleges, and all minorities in Florida, and is one more way state agencies have been weaponized to support Gov. DeSantis’s failing political ambitions. Shame on the State Board of Education for passing rules that weaken and threaten Florida’s colleges in service to one more manufactured culture war,” Saunders added.

The Human Rights Campaign reacted to the news, noting: “The State Board of Education’s rule is the latest in right wing attacks on programs that make college campuses inclusive, welcoming, and ensure all students and faculty have the chance to thrive. In his quest for power, Gov. DeSantis has weaponized state agencies, wielding them against the people they are there to serve, and used education as his political punching bag. This is a shameful assault on Florida’s college students and staff of all backgrounds,” National Press Secretary Brandon Wolf said in an emailed statement.

BRODY LEVESQUE

Groups write to UN over ‘deteriorating human rights’ for LGBTQ Texans

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Equality Texas, GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign and the University of Texas at Austin School of Law Human Rights Clinic wrote to the United Nations on Monday “to raise alarm about the deteriorating human rights situation for LGBTQIA+ persons in the state of Texas.”

Citing hostile rhetoric from and policy by state actors, the groups urged recipients to make inquiries into what they called the backsliding of rights for LGBTQ people in Texas.

They also laid blame at the hands of the federal government which, they argued, “has not adopted a proper response” notwithstanding some injunctions from federal courts.

The authors identified seven bills, writing that they, to-

gether, constitute “a systemic attack on the fundamental rights, dignities and identities of LGBTQIA+ persons that opens the gates for discrimination by both public and private actors.”

Among these are three that the petitioners argue constitute direct discrimination as proscribed in international law — an anti-transgender sports ban, a healthcare ban for minors and a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion offices on the campuses of public colleges and universities.

Others, the authors argued, will likely be discriminatory in effect, such as, for instance, a bill that would introduce religious chaplains in schools “who may engage in conversion therapy,

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may shame students for their sexual or gender identities, or may out students without their consent.”

Moreover, the groups wrote, rhetoric by Texas officials “stigmatizing and labeling LGBTQIA+ persons as unwanted members of the society may amount to public incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence, prohibited under article 20, paragraph 2” of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights “because promoting harmful stereotypes about gender and sexuality risks creating wider repercussions such as persecution, violence and discrimination against LGBTQIA+ persons.”

CHRISTOPHER KANE

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National LGBTQ Task Force calls for Gaza ceasefire

The National LGBTQ Task Force last week called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

“The genocide in Gaza and violent attacks in Israel and Palestine must end,” said the group in a series of posts to its Instagram page ahead of its annual Creating Change Conference that is taking place this week in New Orleans.

“As we start Creating Change Conference 2024, we pause to join in solidarity in calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Israel/Palestine,” added the Task Force. “Collectively, #WeAreCreatingChange is a community of folks with shared values and a continued thirst for liberation.”

The Task Force stated its “mission is to build power, take action and create change to achieve freedom, justice and equity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people by organizing people and money in pursuit of liberation for all.”

Thousands march for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in Freedom Plaza in D.C. on Jan. 13, 2024. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

“The roots of this conflict are based in fascism, white supremacy and colonialism,” it added. “The collective trauma experienced by these oppressive measures keeps us from moving toward liberation for all.”

Hamas, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization, launched a surprise attack against communities in southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli government has said roughly 1,200 people have been killed, including at least 260 people who Hamas militants murdered at an all-night music festival in a kibbutz near the border between Israel and Gaza.

The Israeli government also says more than 5,000 people have been injured in the country since the war began and Hamas militants kidnapped more than 200 others.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says more than 24,000 people have died in the enclave since the war began. Israel after Oct. 7 cut electricity and water to Gaza and stopped most food and fuel shipments.

The International Court of Justice last week heard legal arguments in South Africa’s case that accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has strongly denied the accusations.

“Witnessing reports of Israel and Palestine are weighing on my soul,” said Task Force Executive Director Kierra Johnson on Oct. 14 during a speech at her organization’s 50th anniversary gala that took place in Miami Beach, Fla. “My heart is with communities in the region who have suffered the pain of terrorism and violence and may continue to do so.”

Johnson said the Task Force “condemns terrorism, violence and harm against civilians.” She also led a moment of silence for the “lives shattered and lost in the terror attack by Hamas in Israel and for all those impacted who continue to suffer.”

A Wider Bridge — a U.S.-based organization that seeks to build “a movement of LGBTQ people and allies with a strong interest in and commitment to supporting Israel and its LGBTQ communities” — in 2016 organized a reception at the Creating Change conference in Chicago with two Israeli activists who worked for Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance. Hundreds of protesters with signs that expressed opposition to “pinkwashing,” which they described as the promotion of Israel’s LGBTQ rights record in an attempt to deflect attention away from its policies toward the Palestinians, and “no pride in apartheid” disrupted the event and forced its cancellation.

“I want to make this crystal clear: The National LGBTQ Task Force wholeheartedly condemns anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic statements made at any Task Force event, including our Creating Change conference,” said then-Executive Director Rea Carey in a statement after the protest. “It is unacceptable.”

A Wider Bridge on Wednesday sharply criticized the Task Force over its ceasefire statement.

“Reducing the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict to caricatures of right and wrong advances neither justice nor peace, and yet that is precisely what the National

LGBTQ Task Force has done in an outrageous statement issued before the curtain opens on their annual Creating Change conference,” said A Wider Bridge in a statement to the Washington Blade.

“The Task Force should know better,” it adds.

A Wider Bridge in its statement said there is “an unfortunate history of allowing the Creating Change conference to become an unsafe space for some members of the LGBTQ community who are Jewish or who feel a connection to Israel.”

“The same is true today,” it added. “By using the harshest language to describe Israeli actions, such as genocide, the Task Force essentially disallows this segment to participate in constructive conversations about what is happening in Gaza today. A more helpful statement might have also noted that the Hamas charter calls for genocide of the Jewish people, and even mentioned the massacre of civilians and rape of Israeli women and men that Hamas militants committed just a few months ago.”

“The Task Force inappropriately applies a Western intersectional lens and declares that this Middle Eastern conflict is grounded in white supremacy,” the statement continues. “This demonstrates a distorted understanding of Israelis, a majority of whom are non-white, or the reality that both parties have long-standing indigenous roots in the land.”

A Wider Bridge in its statement acknowledged Johnson “made a positive statement three months ago, leading a moment of silence at their national gala (in Miami Beach) for the ‘lives shattered and lost in the terror attack

by Hamas in Israel and for all those impacted who continue to suffer’” and “said her heart is with the communities in the region who have suffered the pain of terrorism and violence and may continue to do so.”

“We hope this recent misstep can be corrected, and that the Task Force will take measures to make Creating Change a safe space for diverse viewpoints on a contentious and complex issue — and not reduce it to simplistic binaries that incite rather than inform,” said A Wider Bridge.

Johnson on Wednesday during her speech at the conference’s opening plenary said “white supremacy will have us believe that we cannot simultaneously grieve the loss of Israeli lives and call for the end of genocide and demand for Palestinian liberation.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Violence against LGBTQ Ecuadorians increases

The current crisis in Ecuador has exacerbated the vulnerability of the LGBTQ community, which was already facing high levels of violence and discrimination.

A report that Runa Sipiy published notes 27 LGBTQ people were reported murdered in the country in 2023, and government authorities did not adequately respond to them. This situation has intensified during the armed conflict in the country.

Two LGBTQ people have already been reported killed in 2024. Diane Rodríguez, national director of the Ecuadorian Federation of LGBTI Organizations, described the Ecuadorian government’s measures in response of ensuring LGBTQ people remain safe as insufficient and inattentive.

Ecuador in 2019 extended marriage rights to same-sex

couples. They can also adopt children, while transgender people can change their legal documentation. The country’s constitution includes sexual orientation and gender identity within the protected categories against discrimination.

Challenges nevertheless persist: Awareness and full implementation of laws and the continued need for efforts to ensure Ecuadorian society is more respectful of sexual and gender diversity.

Rodríguez told the Washington Blade “the current security crisis in Ecuador has had a direct impact on the LGBTQ community.”

“LGBTQ people were already more prone to violence and discrimination before the crisis, and this situation has worsened even more in recent months,” she said.

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The activist added that “we believed that, with the new government of Daniel Noboa, things would improve, but we are finding that they will not, since his own human rights institutions, such as the Ministry of Women and Human Rights, omit our situation or hold cosmetic LGBT+ meetings, in the manner of pinkwashing of the current government.”

According to Asociación Silueta X, an organization that works for the rights of LGBTQ people in Ecuador, an increase in incidents of violence and discrimination towards LGBTQ people has been observed during this period of crisis. These incidents include physical attacks, verbal harassment and discrimination in accessing public services.

ESTEBAN RIOSECO

Apply for 2024

JOURNALISM FELLOWSHIP Are you interested in LGBTQ+ Journalism?

The Blade Foundation is excited to open the application process for a spring reporting fellowship. We are looking for an aspiring D.C. based college-age journalist interested in covering D.C.-area LGBTQ+ students. The fellowship runs for 12 weeks starting March 2024 with a $2,500 stipend.

FELLOWS WILL BE PAIRED WITH A BLADE EDITOR FOR MENTORING AND REPORTING ASSIGNMENTS. This reporting fellowship is focused on D.C.-area LGBTQ+ students in the District and what programs and opportunities are available to help them succeed.

It is funded by a generous grant from the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.

TO APPLY, send a letter of interest, resume, and links to three writing samples (preferably published clips) to Kevin Naff, knaff@washblade.com. No phone calls.

Application deadline Feb 9, 2024

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KEVIN NAFF

is editor of the Washington Blade.

Reach him at knaff@washblade.com

Right-wing Sinclair owner buys Baltimore Sun I worked there for years — and just canceled my subscription

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1 6 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2 0 2 4 • V I E WP O I NT

Amid all the excitement in Baltimore these days over the Ravens playoff run and another MVP season from star quarterback Lamar Jackson, some grim news arrived for Charm City last week.

The Baltimore Sun, which was founded in 1837 and has won 16 Pulitzer Prizes, was sold to David D. Smith, chair of Sinclair Inc., the rightwing television station owner.

Smith purchased the Sun independent of Sinclair using his own funds, but envisions various “synergies” between the newspaper and his Baltimore TV station, WBFF, according to a Sun report on the sale. A purchase price was not disclosed and the deal includes other local papers — the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Carroll County Times, Towson Times, and several small weeklies.

Sinclair, which owns more than 200 TV stations around the country, has been criticized for requiring local stations to air pro-Trump conservative programs and editorials.

What’s worse, Smith has a business partner in the deal: Armstrong Williams, a conservative commentator who hosts a syndicated show on Sinclair affiliates. Williams has attacked Georgia officials who are prosecuting Donald Trump; the New York Times reported that Williams paid for Justice Clarence Thomas’s wedding reception. His Twitter feed is filled with paranoid screeds against mainstream media. He has accused schools of “sexualizing” children by teaching LGBTQ topics. Williams once served as an adviser to GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson, who famously compared homosexuality to beastiality.

As reported by the Washington Post in 2016: “Williams was named in a sexual harassment suit filed in a D.C. federal court by Charlton Woodyard, a former employee of Jos. A. Bank whom Williams had befriended in spring 2013 — and, according to the suit, went on to mentor, manipulate and harass over the next couple of years. The low point of the complaint describes a November 2015 incident at Williams’s house. As the suit tells it, Williams made some unconventional sexual advances toward Woodyard.

Specifically: The complaint says that Williams grabbed Woodyard’s penis through his pants and said, ‘You got small feet, small hands … and an oversized weapon. How does that work? How is that possible?’”

Williams later settled the case in a confidential agreement. And that wasn’t the only sexual harassment case that Williams has settled. In 1997, Williams was sued by a former producer who alleged Williams had “repeatedly kissed and fondled him for almost two years,” according to the Washington Post.

This is the guy who now co-owns the Baltimore Sun. “As if being owned by Alden wasn’t enough of an insult to what was once a great Baltimore journalistic institution, now comes an even deeper moment of degradation with David Smith, of the family that owns the right-wing Sinclair station group, buying the newspaper,” said David Zurawik, the Sun’s esteemed media critic for many years.

The Sun has been on a slow decline for years. I worked there from 1996-2000 launching the paper’s website. It was an exciting time and I was grateful to work with Pulitzer-winning editors, accomplished business executives, and creative entrepreneurs.

But those days are sadly gone and while some are spinning this news as a positive development that returns the paper to local ownership, we know this means the Sun will become a vessel for MAGA conspiracy theories and unfounded attacks on Maryland’s Democratic politicians. I have subscribed to the Sun my entire adult life. Until today. My subscription is now canceled. Thankfully, the people of Maryland have an alternative news outlet doing great work — the Baltimore Banner. I encourage Marylanders to subscribe to the Banner and to keep a wary eye on the once-great Sun that has sadly now set. At least we have the Ravens.

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2024 will be a crazy political year Democrats have many chances to pick up House seats

While the focus is on the Republican presidential primaries, there are some Democratic ones. No real challenge to President Biden, but Super Tuesday is March 5 and in Virginia early voting began last Friday.

There are important Senate races and it’s crucial for Democrats to hold the Senate.

There’s a race in Wisconsin where Tammy Baldwin is working hard to keep her seat. Important for many reasons, not the least is she is a member of, and voice for, the LGBTQ community. Then we need to reelect Sharrod Brown in Ohio, Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, Jon Tester in Montana and Jacky Rosen in Nevada. Then there is the race in Arizona. Kyrsten Sinema will not win reelection as an independent, but we need to see current Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), win this seat. In Michigan the best candidate to keep the seat for Democrats is current congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).

The presidential election will be determined by seven states: Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and I add North Carolina. But in all states, there are important congressional races that will make a difference. With George Santos (R-N.Y.) out, there will likely be another Democrat soon. New York is looking at redrawing congressional lines based on a judicial ruling, so there could be up to five additional Democrats. Then there is a potential for a new Democratic seat in Alabama, and other chances as well.

I live in D.C. We have no member of Congress, only a non-voting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton. But we aren’t saved from political commercials and get inundated from candidates running in Virginia and Maryland. Currently the race in Maryland drawing the most attention is the Democratic primary for United States Senate between Angela Alsobrooks, PG County Executive, and Congressman David Trone. As before, Trone is trying to buy the seat, pouring millions of his own money into the race. His commercials are constant.

I assume he has even bought some endorsements based on the commercials, but who knows?

I have yet to see an Alsobrooks commercial, but she does have the endorsement of the governor, and many of the elected officials in Maryland. Her election would make a difference in the United States Senate. There has been no African-American woman elected to the Senate since Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.), elected in 1992. She served only one term.

This year there is a real chance to elect two. Alsobrooks, and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), who is running in Delaware. That opened the way in Delaware for Sarah McBride to run for Congress. McBride has a primary, but if she wins that, and the general election, she would be the first transgender person to serve in Congress.

An interesting local race in Maryland is the one to fill Trone’s seat, Maryland 6th. That race has attracted a huge group of candidates, both Republican and Democratic. It is one of the very few Districts in Maryland where a Republican has a chance. According to Ballotpedia there are 10 Democrats, and seven Republicans, running in their primaries. There are many good things about a lot of the candidates on the Democratic side. A couple of them are currently in the House of Delegates. One of them is also a member of the LGBTQ community.

One, Joel Rubin, has a really broad set of experiences having served as a Peace Corps volunteer; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, in the Obama administration; and as a member of the Chevy Chase Town Council. It will be a hard-fought primary.

Virginia will see some hard-fought congressional races. Jennifer Wexton, congressperson from Virginia’s 10th District, is retiring for health reasons. There have already been 10 people announcing for that seat. Abigail Spanberger representing Virginia’s 7th district has said she will not run again and instead announced she is running for governor in 2025. One of the people announcing for that seat is Eugene Vindman, the twin brother of retired U.S. Army Col. Alexander Vindman, one of the high-profile witnesses during former President Trump’s first impeachment. There will be other interesting races in both Maryland and Virginia.

So, we move forward in 2024, with a lot of chances for Democrats to win races across the board. We know the country is divided but we also know that local races are won by one-toone connections people make with voters. We have known for years even when people say they hate Congress, they often add, “except for my congressperson.” And when the race is for state legislature, county council, or school board, that personal connection becomes even more important.

So everyone, listen to the candidates, then go out and VOTE!

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NICKOLAUS HAYES

is a healthcare professional in the field of substance use and addiction recovery and is part of the editorial team at DRS. His primary focus is spreading awareness by educating individuals on the topics surrounding substance use.

Start the New Year alcohol-free A chance to reset mentally and physically

The holiday season is a complex time for many, especially within the LGBTQ community.

Excessive drinking is widely accepted as a means of managing holiday stressors. People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning do face stigma, discrimination, and other challenges, which can often occur during the holidays amid family gatherings.

Even casual and social drinkers may find themselves drinking more alcohol than usual, which makes Dry January or taking a month abstaining from alcohol beneficial. It gives you a chance to reset mentally and physically. There are health and social benefits, and it gives you an opportunity to re-evaluate your drinking habits.

Fortunately, there are practical approaches you can use to achieve this goal, succeed, and reap the benefits.

Members of the LGBTQ community are at a higher risk of developing alcoholism, and the festive season can further this along for many. The health benefits associated with abstaining from alcohol are significant.

You will find yourself sleeping better, having more energy, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and more money. You’ll notice you may lose weight, have clearer skin, and feel less depressed, anxious, and stressed. Overall, your mental and physical well-being will significantly improve.

Moreover, it helps you re-evaluate your drinking habits if you feel it got out of hand over the holidays. Consider asking yourself if alcohol is used as a tool to cope with stressful situations. Do you find yourself feeling stressed without alcohol, or have your drinking habits impacted your relationships or your professional life? If the answer is yes, consider a month of not drinking alcohol.

Finally, and most importantly, you remove any chance of driving while impaired. Abstaining from alcohol is the backbone of effective drunk driving prevention. Impairment by drugs and alcohol is involved in more than half of fatal crashes.

It can be challenging to know how to approach a month of abstinence from alcohol, but there are practical tips you can use to help.

Create a supporting environment where you know you will succeed. Thoroughly purge all the booze around you; either dump it, hide it, or give it away. Moreover, find a suitable non-alcoholic drink for social situations.

Recruit a friend or family member to participate and help avoid temptations. Not only will you support one another, but you can also plan activities that do not involve alcohol, and you can speak about the successes and challenges of abstaining from alcohol.

Stay busy and active and take this time to focus on your mental and physical well-being; take advantage of having more energy and sleeping better. Utilize Dry January or sobriety apps that will help you track your progress and find practical ways to hold yourself accountable.

If the benefits make you feel great physically and mentally, consider continuing for another 30 days. Embrace your new attitude to alcohol use.

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ANDREA ‘ANDY’ HONG MARRA (she/her) is executive director of Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.

RODRIGO HENG-LEHTINEN (he/him) is executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

Rising voices, unifying forces Two trans-led organizations merge to confront a new era of attacks

In human rights movements, there are moments when the world seems to turn upside down, and advocates find themselves staring at a reality far harsher and more threatening than they seem equipped to combat.

For us, leaders of two organizations focused on protecting and advancing the rights of transgender people, one of those moments occurred on Feb. 21, 2022, when Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a non-binding legal opinion that allowing transgender children to receive medically necessary care was tantamount to child abuse under state law. Governor Greg Abbott piled on, urging citizens to report their suspicions of minors receiving this essential healthcare.

Attacks on the rights of trans people — and especially trans children — were, of course, not new. Since 2016, we have seen a steadily increasing wave of anti-trans bills in state legislatures around the country, fueling a barrage of anti-trans rhetoric and misinformation, as well as rising violence against trans people.

But this was next level: An undemocratic and draconian assault on trans families. Our families.

It was also, we realized, a moment of deep reckoning for the trans rights movement. Our opponents were outgunning us, outspending us, and essentially doing everything in their power to dehumanize trans people — along with all LGBTQ+ people — in the eyes of the American public.

It was a moment that demanded a bold response.

Within days, the two of us met in person to articulate that response. Our organizations have a long history of working together and informing and strengthening each other’s work. The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is the leading voice for trans rights in Washington, D.C. The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) is the preeminent legal advocacy group for trans people facing discrimination.

Both our organizations had grown tremendously over the years. Both, in fact, were the strongest they’d ever been and were doing great work.

Yet we did not have an immediate answer to the level of escalation in Texas.

We realized we could do much, much more together than we could separately.

With unanimous consent from both of our boards, we decided to merge our two organizations into a single powerful force on behalf of trans people in America. The merger, which becomes official this summer, will create Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE), a trans-led national organization with double

the resources, double the brilliance and experience, and double the fierce commitment to justice for all trans people.

With this merger, we will have the power to take bigger, bolder steps to secure trans equality, which is what this is all about. It is not about saving money or eliminating redundancies. Everyone is keeping their job, and we will continue providing — and strengthening — the life-saving work that NCTE and TLDEF have led these past two decades. We will build upon each other’s strengths to advance human rights for all trans people.

We are the first generation to wrestle with trans rights as part of the public discourse.

This was simply not happening 20 years ago, even while gay rights were moving ahead.

But here we are, and we have a window of perhaps five to 10 years, while public opinion is still flexible, to win the hearts and minds of the American people.

And that’s where A4TE comes in. Together, we will be twice as loud. This merger is about galvanizing our advocacy power on behalf of trans people, marshaling our diverse strengths, and ensuring trans people have a real opportunity to participate and succeed in American life. Right now we have a unique opportunity to turn the tide of anti-trans propaganda and legislation.

It’s also about solidifying leadership by trans people for trans people. The need for trans leadership has never been greater. The two of us will work together with each other and a senior leadership team to oversee this new organization. Notably, we are both trans leaders of color, which matters because trans people of color experience greater discrimination and violence. We stand ready to pick up the mantles of our founding mothers, Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, Miss Major, Monica Roberts and so many more and build on the efforts of the many LGBTQ+ and trans advocacy organizations working across the country. We will show up for the trans community by leading a modern-day movement to protect and advance the rights of all trans people.

Paxton’s legal opinion turned out to be a political ploy to help him win re-election amid allegations of bribery and corruption. But that’s not to say we won’t see a repeat of what happened in Texas, there or somewhere else, with potentially greater repercussions.

The difference is that now we are prepared.

We are Advocates for Trans Equality. We are ready to lead the fight against trans oppression. We believe in a future where trans people are no less than equal and we won’t stop fighting until that future is here.

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SMYAL celebrates its 40th year

Local youth advocacy group reflecting while looking to the future in 2024 SMYAL, a local advocacy and services organization for LGBTQ youth, is turning 40 this year. The nonprofit has various services, including workshops, clinical services and housing, for youth ages six to 24.

“It’s really profound and breathtaking, right? To know that over the course of the 40 years, we’ve been able to thrive and evolve to continue to meet the needs of queer and trans youth in our community,” said Erin Whelan, the executive director of SMYAL. Whelan moved across the country to come on as SMYAL’s executive director a year and a half ago. She was drawn to the nonprofit for many reasons, one being its reputation, and the broad age range that SMYAL serves.

“SMYAL has been and continues to see youth as young as six as a part of this community,” Whelan said. “And understands that the needs might be different but the want and desire to feel seen, heard, celebrated and affirmed is there regardless of our age.”

She was also drawn to the organization’s housing program, which started in 2017. SMYAL serves more than 45 LGBTQ youth in the region through its housing program, which includes case management, social support and skills development, including job training.

In 2024, Whelan said she hopes to grow SMYAL’s reach and make services more accessible. This includes expanding the housing program, expanding language accessibility and reaching the most marginalized people under the LGBTQ umbrella, including Black people and trans people.

While SMYAL is a youth services organization, Whelan said she also wants to reach more adults in programming.

“I do think that there’s a broader reach that we can have for families who are uncertain, worried, fearful, scared,” Whelan said. “How can we connect with those families for them to have the questions they need answered in order to feel comfortable starting to think about how to support the youth

By KAELA ROEDER in their home?”

As part of its 40th anniversary, there are plans to focus on SMYAL’s archive. A few years ago, the Rainbow History Project, a local organization working to preserve LGBTQ history in the D.C. area, archived photos and information about SMYAL’s history. There are plans to highlight these archives to share where the nonprofit has been and its history, and focus on alumni of SMYAL’s programming and their stories.

The organization was “born out of advocacy,” Whelan said.

When LGBTQ youth were involuntarily hospitalized in D.C., local leaders joined together to advocate and provide safe spaces for LGBTQ people in the region.

SMYAL began as a once-a-week support group in 1984.

It was a safe space for people to feel seen and connected, Whelan said, especially in the ‘80s when LGBTQ people were so ostracized.

For Rebecca York, who originally came to SMYAL when they were in high school, then as an intern in college, and now as the director of youth development and community engagement, it’s been amazing to see the organization grow and evolve.

York oversees all of the non-clinical and non-housing youth programming, including the Little SMYALs program for kids six to 12 and SMYAL’s scholarship program.

The Little SMYAL’s program sticks out to York. Offering accessible resources for queer youth from such a young age is amazing, they said.

“I didn’t have that, it’s amazing to see,” York said. “It’s incredibly important work and I’m really, really proud to be back and doing it again.”

SMYAL has many events scheduled for this year, all focused on providing a safe space for LGBTQ youth to be themselves.

These safe spaces, which SMYAL has valued since its founding, are key to positively affecting youth mental health — especially during a time when LGBTQ youth are being targeted,

York said.

Reagan Peters-Roussell, a youth fellow at SMYAL helping run drop-in programs, agrees.

“There is an attack on queer and trans youth, not even all across the country, all around the world, with legislation but even outside of legislation,” Peters-Roussell said, who uses she and they pronouns. “There are a lot of people who are getting over that stigma of what it means to be queer and trans. They have their own preconceived notions, and there aren’t a lot of spaces where we can say, ‘Hey, being queer and trans can be all these wonderful, beautiful things,’ and SMYAL is a living example of that.”

Peters-Roussell, a junior at Howard University, is most excited about the Youth Pride Prom and Youth Pride this year.

Their favorite part about those events is seeing people unapologetically be themselves and explore their identities in a safe, comfortable space.

Peters-Roussell wants to thank the founders of SMYAL, she said, for advocating and fighting for an organization despite the stigma.

“I 100% believe that the world would be a worse place without SMYAL in it,” they said.

Here are the events planned so far for SMYAL’s 40th anniversary year. Specific dates will be available later on in the year.

Events for youth:

Feb. 7: Drag-Tastic Dress Up at the Kennedy Center LGBTQ+ youth under 18 are invited for a night of learning the history of drag, featuring a drag story hour and performances. Costumes are encouraged. Go to smyal.org/dragtastic to RSVP. May: Youth Pride Prom Dance the night away at SMYAL’s alternative prom, specifically for LGBTQ+ youth.

June: Youth Pride A day of pride for youth ages six to 20, the day-long event will feature performances, a resource fair and workshops.

July: Rise Up! Rise Up!, SMYAL’s annual conference brings LGBTQ youth activists together for multiple days to learn more about what it means to be a youth organizer.

July: Camp Free2Be Camp Free2Be is a week-long summer day camp for transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse youth ages six to 14.

It includes games, crafts, LGBTQ+ history lessons and more.

October 31: Halloween Party December 7: Winter Holiday Party

Events for adults:

Jan. 25: SMYAL for the New Year SMYAL is kicking off its 40th anniversary at Red Bear Brewing Co. Come out to learn more about the organization and how to get more involved. To learn more, visit smyal.org/ events.

Youth at the SMYAL center. (Photo courtesy of SMYAL)

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September 21: 26th Annual Fall Brunch SMYAL’s largest program of the year, its annual fundraiser, includes a silent auction and is a chance to hear from local LGBTQ leaders.

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Friday, January 26

CALENDAR |

Center Aging Friday Tea Time will be at 2 p.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ adults. For more details, email adam@thedccenter.org.

Women in Their Twenties and Thirties will meet at 8 p.m. in person at the DC Center for the LGBT Community and also on Zoom. This is a social discussion group for queer women in the D.C. area. For meeting updates, 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 details, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Sunday, January 28

Wednesday, January 31

AfroCode DC will be at 4 p.m. at Decades DC. This event will be an experience of non-stop music, dancing, and good vibes and a crossover of genres and a fusion of cultures. Tickets cost $40 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

The Mindful Creative Workshop Series will be at 1:30 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library. Mindful creativity employs creative media and art-making in combination with mindful practices, to help express emotions, gain self awareness, unlock skills and memories, and create intentional actions. The purpose is to expose the transformative and intersectional power that mindfulness has, while creating a safe and accessible creative environment for people to explore new things. Admission is free and more details are on Eventbrite.

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.

Alexandria Council of Human Services Organization will have a meeting at 9 a.m. at City of Alexandria Department of Community and Human Services. Guests will hear from various nonprofits about Building Inclusive Services with LGBTQ people and learning conversations around disability. Admission is free and more details are on Eventbrite.

Monday, January 29 Center Aging: Monday Coffee & Conversation will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of their choice. For more details, email justin@thedccenter. org.

“Women Uncorked: Let’s talk about Sex” will be at 7 p.m. at Sense Salon. This event is for woman who like to talk about sex, but are worried about friends saying it’s TMI. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Trans Support Group will be Friday at 7 p.m.

Saturday, January 27 Black Lesbian Support Group will be at 11 a.m. on Zoom. This is a peer-led support group devoted to the joys and challenges of being a Black Lesbian.For more details, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ community, including allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Tuesday, January 30 Pride on the Patio Events will host “LGBTQ Social Mixer” at 5:30 p.m. at Showroom. Dress is casual, fancy, or comfortable. Guests are encouraged to bring their most authentic self to chat, laugh, and get a little crazy. Admission is free and more details are on Eventbrite.

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Thursday, February 01 The DC Center’s Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org or call 202682-2245.

Virtual Yoga with Charles M. will be at on Zoom. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breath work, and meditation. For more details, visit the DC Center for the LGBT Community’s website.

OUT & ABOUT Want new clothes at no cost?

AnaMarieKing will host “Just Another Clothes Swap” on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 12 p.m. at Femme Fatale DC. This event is a clothing swap for all ages, genders and sizes. It also encourages low-waste knowledge-sharing, community and collaboration. For those who can’t attend, donations are welcomed.

More details are on Eventbrite.

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THEATER

Grey Henson explores the gay ‘90s in ‘tick, tick … BOOM!’ A departure in tone for Tony-nominated actor

By PATRICK FOLLIARD HENSON: Yes, actually. Being an artist is tricky because Out actor Grey Henson, 33, leads a charmed career. it’s not concrete, success isn’t finished ever. It’s a nebuWhile still a student at Carnegie Mellon University, the lous thing that evolves with life and emotions and it’s pergenuine triple threat with impeccable comic timing was sonal. Hard to separate life from the work and people get plucked from oblivion to play closeted missionary Elder burned out by that. And that’s a lot of what the show’s McKinley, a part he’s been described as born to play, in about.

“The Book of Mormon” (two years touring, and two years BLADE: How do you tap into New York City 1990? on Broadway).

HENSON: I feel a magical connection to 1990…it’s Next, he created the musical iteration of confidentthe year I was born. Beyond that, I read Rebecca Makkai’s ly queer high schooler Damian Hubbard in Broadway’s “The Great Believers,” a novel set against the AIDS epi“Mean Girls,” scoring a 2018 Tony nod for Best Actor for demic, and watched documentaries like David France’s a Featured Role in a Musical; and until very recently he seminal “How to Survive a Plague.” starred as gay Storyteller 2 in the exuberant hit Broadway The thing about Michael’s queerness is that a big part musical comedy “Shucked.” of the show is his positive HIV status. He’s joined the “That’s what acting is. Timing, luck, being prepared, workforce in a way that isn’t supportive to people like him and being good,” the punctual and polite New Yorkduring the AIDS crisis. I’ve been thinking a lot about what based actor recently shared via phone. it was to be a gay man and have HIV in the ‘90s, to be a And now, just weeks later, he’s changing gears with leper, to feel like an outcast.

Jonathan Larson’s “tick, tick… Boom!” at the Kennedy That part of Michael — who is based on Larson’s real life Center’s Eisenhower Theater. The hotly anticipated probest friend — is a really hard journey. duction staged by Neil Patrick Harris also stars BroadBLADE: What about your journey? way’s Brandon Uranowitz and Denée Benton.

HENSON: Growing up in Macon, Ga., I was as gay as Before his smash hit musical “Rent,” brilliant playwright you could be without saying it. I started ballet at three. and composer Jonathan Larson created “tick, tick…

I wasn’t hiding who I was, but I couldn’t give myself the BOOM!” a semi-autobiographical story about Jon, a title. There’s something so difficult about saying it when composer struggling to break into New York City’s theyou’re young. Damian in “Mean Girls” is confident and ater scene. Henson plays Jon’s best friend Michael. settled in to who he is as a teenager, which is so rare. I Like Henson’s other parts, Michael is gay but not as think that’s why audiences respond so strongly to him. comfortably so, and the material is heavier than what the BLADE: Are young theatergoers especially inspired? actor is accustomed to playing.

HENSON: Yes, I get it a lot, especially now that “Mean WASHINGTON BLADE: Michael is a little different Girls Junior” is being done across the globe. I’ve met so than what you’ve been known for. may young Damian fans (lovingly nicknamed “the DamiGREY HENSON: Oh yeah, Michael is a departure from anettes”) who look up to me and like seeing someone on everything I’ve ever done. There’s a lot of code switching stage and in person who is like them without apologies. that comes with him. That’s something different for me.

Never set out to make that my legacy, but I’m happy with But I do, to a degree, share the character’s level headit. edness.

BLADE: You’re young to talk about legacy.

BLADE: Michael has forsaken his passion for the arts HENSON: I’m not that young. Yeah, playing Michael is for stability at an advertising agency. Relatable?

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GREY HENSON (Photo by Susan Shacter)

definitely different for me; it requires flexing some different muscles, singing a dramatic part and diving deep into scenes.

I’ve been very lucky in my career to play roles that are very much an extension of who I am day to day like Damian and Storyteller 2 in “Shucked.” It’s a compliment to be asked to pretty much play yourself on stage. But I have a BFA in acting and I know how to transform and play something that isn’t myself. That’s why I fell in love with all of this in the first place.

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FILM

Miyazaki caps career with masterful ‘Boy and the Heron’ A treatise on the need for harmony between man and nature

By JOHN PAUL KING If anyone can be said to rival the impact of Walt Disney on the field of animated films, it’s Hayao Miyazaki.

Co-founder of Studio Ghibli, his work in Japan’s anime genre is legendary, with films like “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “Howl’s Moving Castle,” and the Oscar-winning “Spirited Away” – which held the record as the highest-grossing film in Japanese history for 19 years – expanding his popularity and helping to build a global entertainment empire that, like Disney’s, includes merchandise, licensing, and even a theme park.

Millions of fans worldwide – many of them queer – have grown up loving his movies not just for their unique blend of the fanciful, the poignant, and the profound but for the sublime visual artistry and masterful storytelling with which they are rendered.

Now 83, the revered animator announced his retirement from making feature films in 2013 - only to start work, three years later, on another one. Seven years afterward, that project reached fruition with “The Boy and the Heron,” released in its native Japan last summer. And if any proof is needed to stand as testament to Miyazaki’s popularity, it can be found in the fact that, in spite of a deliberately minimal promotion strategy (the film was released with no teasers, trailers, or fanfare besides a single poster image), it had the biggest opening weekend of any Studio Ghibli film to date, going on to become the first original anime film (and the first film by Miyazaki) to achieve number one status at the box office in both Canada and the U.S. Initially released in the latter country on Dec. 8, and still in theaters in the wake of its Golden Globe win as Best Animated Film of 2023, “Heron” - written and directed

by Miyazaki and inspired by (though otherwise unrelated to) Genzaburō Yoshino’s 1937 novel “How Do You Live?” - is an autobiographically leaning story centered on young Mahito (Soma Santoki / Luca Padovan in the English dubbed version), a boy growing up in Tokyo during World War II. Following the death of his mother in a hospital fire, his industrialist father (Takuya Kimura / Christian Bale) soon remarries, with his late wife’s younger sister (Yoshino Kimura / Gemma Chan) as his new bride, and Mahito finds himself living at her family’s estate in the rural countryside. There, a mysterious – and persistent – heron (Masaki Suda / Robert Pattinson) seems to take interest in him, and he begins to feel taunted by its attentions - but when his new stepmother disappears into the surrounding forest, the bird leads him into an overgrown tower, where a seemingly all-powerful lord (Shōhei Hino

‘The Boy and the Heron.’

/ Mark Hamill) rules over a hidden underworld, and he embarks on an epic quest through its mystical landscape to rescue her, helped along the way by a swashbuckling fisherwoman (Ko Shibasaki / Florence Pugh) and a guardian fire spirit (Aimyon / Karen Fukuhara) – discovering the secrets of a magical family history stretching back across generations as he goes.

Considering its unmistakable parallels to Miyazaki’s real-life childhood (his father, like Mahito’s, was an industrialist working for a company that manufactured war planes, allowing him an affluent and somewhat sheltered upbringing in a devastated Japan), it’s impossible not to see his latest movie as a “swan song.” Indeed, it was widely branded as such by journalists ahead of its release, and the director himself declared it his “last,” though that has since been recanted by Studio Ghibli with the announcement that he is working on another. Still, while it may not be his final manifesto, it would certainly be a worthy one.

Infused with the filmmaker’s signature recurring themes – the need for harmony between man and nature, the paradoxical absurdities of technology, the value of traditional lifestyles and the importance of craft and artistry, the conflict between pacifist ideals and violence that dominates human affairs – and weaving a mythic tale that postulates a deeper reality where life and death are forever intertwined in a realm of impermanent permanence, “Heron” feels as much like a statement of belief as it does a fantasy. One might even sense that there’s an insistence that it can be both, and that life itself is a sort of fantasy, capable of being shaped by things that exist only within our imaginations, and that, of course, is the source of its power.

Such cosmic speculations aside, however, Miyazaki’s movie hooks us not with its esoteric metaphysics, but with its meditations on loss, grief, and the challenge of finding peace in a world that often seems dominated by chaos and indiscriminate destruction. Artfully framed to suggest that the “fantasy” elements of its plot either might or might not exist only within its youthful protagonist’s delirious, wounded mind, it touches us to the heart with the harsh realities of Mahito’s young life; the open-

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ing sequence, depicting the fire that kills his mother, is horrific, leaving its shadow on the rest of the film even as it does on Mahito’s soul, and his grief, compounded and left unreconciled by his loving-but-ham-handed father’s seeming refusal to address or even acknowledge it, resonates on a universal wavelength simply because it is so fundamentally human. It’s in grappling with these elements of life - the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” to which Shakespeare refers in “Hamlet,” a play which is, perhaps not coincidentally, echoed in an inverted form within the structure of Miyazaki’s narrative - that the movie brings a sense of truth to the magical realism it embraces. The comforts it offers do not feel like hollow platitudes; rather, they point us toward wisdom, much in the way of a riddle told by a Zen Master, and a way of looking at the world that is comfort enough in itself.

Yet “The Boy and the Heron” is not made of the kind of late-career introspection that robs it of its sense of fun.

Full of adventure, action, and the blend of gorgeously animated realism with adorable absurdity inspired by Kawaii (Japanese “cute culture”), it offers as much spirited adventure and comedic flair as expected from a Miyazaki film – and populated with just as many whimsically grotesque creatures and characters, to boot.

Needless to say, perhaps, it’s also a film that is stunning to behold, evoking a classic Japanese woodcut brought to life and infused with a powerful spirit of its own; though enhanced and aided by modern technology, the animation – as with all of Miyazaki’s work – is hand-drawn, making its visual perfection even more breathtaking. Add to all this the beautiful score by longtime friend and collaborator Joe Hisaishi, and the result is irresistible.

Given that “The Boy in the Heron” is likely a top contender for nomination at this year’s Oscars, it’s likely to be accessible on the big screen - in some markets, at least - for a while before it becomes available for streaming.

Whether or not you can see it now, keep it on your radar - we don’t use the word “masterpiece” lightly, but we suggest this one might qualify, and you owe it to yourself to watch it so that you can decide for yourself.

We’re pretty sure you’ll agree.

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BOOKS

‘Seek’ shows how one tiny action can open big doors New book could ‘transform your life and change the world’

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER Curiosity killed the cat.

That’s what Grandma said when you were a nosy little kid but hey, you needed to learn about your world. Asking questions, that’s what kids do – and so do savvy grown-ups. Curiosity may have plagued Grandma’s cat but as you’ll see in “Seek” by Scott Shigeoka, a lack of it could do you harm.

His friends worried about him.

When Scott Shigeoka quit his job to travel around America for a year, they figured he’d be the target of all kinds of bad things. As a queer Asian-American man, Shigeoka wasn’t searching for himself, and he surely wasn’t looking for trouble. No, he was looking for strangers, to see what we have in common with one another.

“I wanted to feel less scared and angry all the time,” he says.

Shigeoka’s interpretation of studies is that our general lack of curiosity about one another “is literally killing us.” With that in mind, he left his home and his job and headed out to small towns in the South, a reservation in Minnesota, a Trump rally, and a retreat center with nuns and millennials. He squashed his inner negativity, bravely swallowed his reluctance, approached people, and cultivated his curiosity by speaking with religious leaders, zealots, and everyday folks. In doing so, he learned to D.I.V.E. into his outward curiosity.

Detach, he says, and let go of “the ABCs”: assumptions, biases, and certainty. Even if you think you’re against racism, homophobia, or any other intolerance, you “still have unconscious biases that need to be... interrupted and challenged.”

Learn to act with Intent. Know what questions to ask so that you can best learn about others and their thoughts. Show someone their Value by remembering that their political leaning, for instance, “is only one piece of a person’s life and personality.” And finally, learn to Embrace what’s in front of you. This will “open the doors” to “more fulfillment and happiness to your life.”

Does it sometimes seem as though today’s world is filled with awkward moments? Like you want to communicate with people you meet, but the rules have changed? Or maybe you have and if that’s the case, then author Scott Shigeoka has a fix. In “Seek,” he shows how one tiny action can open great big doors.

It seems kind of fun, actually: you meet someone new, show a gentle bit of interest and pay attention, ask a few open-ended questions, and voila! New friend or client. New, healthy lines of communication. New or enhanced working relationship. Big yay.

And yet – while this book is very useful, easy to grasp, and enthusiastic, Shigeoka has very few cautionary words to offer readers who may be too eager. Some of the ideas here, in the wrong hands, may be perceived as obnoxious or threatening. Understanding when to back off might have been good advice here, too.

Keep that in mind, know your target, open your heart, and have fun. If your curiosity needs fluffing up, “Seek” may be the purrfect book for you.

ES

‘Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World’

By Scott Shigeoka

c.2023, Balance | $30 | 243 pages

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES HAMID RAHMANIAN’S SONG OF THE NORTH Saturday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m.

Featuring more than 500 handmade puppets—a thrilling multimedia adventure!

VIRGINIA OPERA

SANCTUARY ROAD Saturday, Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 4 at 2 p.m.

Experience stories from the Underground Railroad in this new gripping opera

ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Vasily Petrenko, Conductor Isata Kanneh-Mason, Piano Sunday, Jan. 28 at 2 p.m.

LES GRANDS BALLETS CANADIENS Dancing Beethoven Saturday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m.

Witness this rising star pianist in an

This acclaimed ensemble pays tribute

exhilarating program

to monumental works by Beethoven

SANCTUARY ROAD

ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA WITH ISATA KANNEH-MASON, PIANO

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TICKETS:

CFA.GMU.EDU

703-993-2787

Located on the Fairfax Campus of George Mason University

Freddie’s Follies

Weekly drag show draws crowd to Arlington bar (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Destiny B. Childs hosted Freddie’s Follies drag show was held at Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, Va. on Saturday. Performers included Alvion Davenport, Monet Dupree, Sasha Adams Sanchez and Candi Fuentes.

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LEFT PAGE

527 N Boardwalk #420, Rehoboth Beach, DE | MLS: DESU2049970

23084 Narrows Lane, Lewes, DE | MLS: DESU2052868 | $965,000

PRICE CHANGE - NOW $1,099,900

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Renovated throughout the years, this unit features an open floor plan, new flooring, fresh paint, multiple balconies, and ocean views. Perfect to use as your summer home or rent it out! Walk to all the Rehoboth Beach attractions and the beach!

A private wooded backyard accentuated by the tranquil community pond just beyond the tree line delivers the "WOW" factor and takes this stunning custom-built 5 bedroom home to the next level. Enjoy the benefits of neighborhood living and amenities without compromising privacy and breathtaking natural beauty! Complete with multi-level screened porches, extensive hardscaping, gorgeous landscaping with koi pond, irrigation system and more! A must-see in a beautiful amenity-rich waterfront community that’s within a short drive to downtown Lewes & the beaches!

315 Chestnut Street, Lewes, DE | MLS: DESU2053532 | $2,395,000

16803 Ketch Court, Lewes, DE | MLS: DESU2047280 | $1,299,900

HAVE IT ALL: HISTORIC LOCATION & BRAND NEW CONSTRUCTION!

Get swept up in the charm and grandeur of Historic Lewes with Schell Brothers' Waterford Model that's yours to build from the ground up! Offering an array of standard options and upgrades, enjoy a fantastic 3,642+ sqft floor plan that can be customized and expanded upon to suit your needs and desires. Standard features include engineered hardwood, plush carpeting, & ceramic tile flooring throughout, granite countertops in the kitchen, expansive owner’s suite with 2 walk-in closets & private en-suite bath, spacious 2nd level with loft & 2 additional bedrooms & storage space, attached 2-car garage, and so much more. Located in the heart of Historic Lewes, within steps of multiple public parks, boutiques & restaurants! ***NOTE: Photo is a rendering and is for illustrative purposes only.

ELEVATE YOUR LIFESTYLE!

Nestled in the established Lewes community of Wolfe Runne, this expansive 4-bedroom, 3-bath masterpiece boasts 3,865 sq. ft. of elegance. From its grandeur corner lot placement with private well irrigation, to its welcoming floor plan, every detail of this custom-built home was considered. Situated just across the street from the community tennis courts and outdoor pool, this property offers convenience, style and space as well as easy access to both Downtown Historic Lewes and Junction-Breakwater Trail.

RIGHT PAGE

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REAL ESTATE

Help your tenants navigate D.C.’s winter months Maintenance for rental properties requires proactive planning

By SCOTT BLOOM

Typically in our area if we have multiple nights with low temperatures below 25 degrees the risks start to climb, depending on the nature of your home and whether winterization has occurred. When the high temperatures fail to get over 35 degrees during those same days is when you should take extra measures.

Show your tenants how to turn off the water to the outside hose spigots or faucets. Hoses should also be removed. If you do not have a separate valve inside to shut off the outdoor pipes, then consider installing one.

During nights with extreme cold temperatures (in the teens) encourage tenEnsure a Reliable Heating System ants to let faucets drip water to keep the water moving through them and to One of the top priorities during the prevent pipes from freezing. This is parwinter season is to guarantee that your ticularly important in homes where you rental property has an efficient and relihave had troubles before with the water able heating system. D.C. Housing Code freezing inside the pipes or even past requires a minimum temperature be propipe leaks or bursts. vided inside the living space and heating Keeping cabinet doors open to allow sources need to be permanent installaBe sure to communicate whether snow shoveling is the responsibility of the tenant or the landlord. warm air to reach pipes can also help tions, not just a plug-in heater. Here are with his. And make sure that the rental some steps to consider: property maintains a minimum temperature when they leave for winter holiday trips to HVAC inspection: Have a licensed technician inspect and service your heating system warmer climes. before the winter season begins. This will help identify and address any issues before they escalate.

Tenant-Friendly Winter Improvement Projects Change air filters: Encourage tenants to regularly change the air filters, as dirty filters can reduce heating system efficiency and air quality.

Property owners may need to undertake maintenance and improvement projects Consider a programmable thermostat: Installing programmable thermostats can during the winter season, which can inconvenience tenants. However, with careful planhelp optimize energy usage and keep utility costs in check. They also allow tenants to ning and communication, you can simplify the process for your tenants. set comfortable temperatures according to their preferences.

Notify tenants in advance: Provide tenants with ample notice about upcoming projects, explaining the purpose, expected duration, and any disruptions they may experiProper Insulation Matters ence. D.C. regulations require at least a 48-hour notice for non-emergency entering of rental units.

Proper insulation is crucial for maintaining a comfortable indoor environment and Offer accommodations: If necessary, offer temporary accommodations or discounts reducing energy costs. Inspect your rental property for any insulation gaps. on rent to tenants who may need to temporarily vacate the property during extensive Seal cracks: Check for gaps and cracks in doors, windows, and walls, and seal them renovations. If it is not habitable, you cannot charge rent for those days. to prevent cold drafts.

Communicate regularly: Keep the lines of communication open with your tenants Provide weatherstripping: Ensure that exterior doors have weatherstripping to prethroughout the project, addressing any concerns or issues promptly. vent cold air from entering and warm air from escaping.

Provide winter safety guidelines: Share winter safety tips with your tenants, includInsulate attics, extensions, and crawl spaces: Proper insulation in these areas helps ing instructions on what to do in case of a power outage, frozen pipes, or severe weather prevent heat loss and helps to reduce the risk of frozen pipes. conditions.

Work With Tenants to Prevent Frozen Pipes Snow and ice removal: Clearly define responsibilities for snow and ice removal, whether it’s the tenant’s responsibility or yours, to prevent slip-and-fall accidents.

Frozen pipes can unleash significant damage and turmoil, especially on unsuspecting Winter maintenance for rental properties requires proactive planning and regular tenants who could have been shielded from this ordeal. You as a landlord can work with maintenance to ensure the safety, comfort, and satisfaction of your tenants and to reyour tenants ahead of a cold snap. In addition to educating tenants about turning off the duce your liability. By following these winter maintenance tips, property owners can water to outside hoses, landlords can take some simple steps to further prevent frozen navigate the challenges of the season with confidence. And if you are thinking, “Oh pipes and ensure a comfortable winter for their tenant. that’s far too much work!” consider hiring a professional management company to do Schedule periodic inspections of the property’s plumbing and insulation to identify this for you. and address potential issues before they become major problems. Share a winterization checklist with tenants, including instructions on and setting the thermostat to a minimum temperature if the property will be vacant.

Ensure that tenants have access to emergency plumbing and heating professionals in case of frozen pipes or other winter-related issues and if they cannot reach you. They is owner and senior property manager at Columbia Property Management. may also need contact information for a remediation company. And finally, of course, CPM’s goal is to provide a powerful, personal level of service to clients. For more consider investing in proper insulation for the property, especially in areas exposed to information and resources, go to www.ColumbiaPM.com. frigid temperatures.

As winter descends upon us, property owners find themselves facing a unique set of challenges in ensuring the safety and comfort of their rental properties.

The harsh winter weather can take a toll on your property if not properly managed, potentially leading to costly repairs and disgruntled tenants.

To help you navigate the winter season successfully, we’ve put together a guide of winter tips for property owners like you. These tips cover everything from heating systems and insulation to preventing frozen pipes and accommodating residents during improvement projects.

SCOTT BLOOM

3 6 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • JANUARY 26, 2 0 2 4 • B US I NE S S

BETSY TWIGG

Associate Broker | Licensed in Virginia 703.967.4391 (CELL) McEnearney Associates, Inc. REALTORS 3033 Wilson Blvd. #250, Arlington, VA 22201 betsytwigg.com Equal Housing Opportunity

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PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

MOVERS

PROBATE DIVISION 2024 ADM 23 Estate of David Joe Lewis, deceased NOTICE OF STANDARD PROBATE

(For estates of decedents dying on or after July 1, 1995)

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

Date of first publication: January 26, 2024 Name of newspaper and/or periodical: Daily Washington Law Reporter, Washington Blade /s/ Alaina Wright, Signature of Petitioner Erica Gloger, Attorney Griffin & Griffin LLP, 1320 19th Street, NW, #800, Washington, DC 20036 (202) 530-7161 A True Test Copy Nicole Stevens, Register of Wills Clerk of the Probate Division

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Thank you for reading

The Blade!

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Dr. Conor Grey, DO is now with

650 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Ste 310 (202) 350-5000