Washington Blade, Volume 55, Issue 44, November 01, 2024 by Washington Blade

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Judge closes hearing for D.C. gym owner charged in child porn case

Everts was expected to disclose decision on plea deal

By LOU CHIBBARO JR.

In a surprise development, a U.S. District Court Judge on Oct. 23 agreed to a request by a defense attorney to close to the public and the press a court hearing in which gay D.C. gym owner Michael Everts was expected to disclose whether he would accept an offer by prosecutors to plead guilty to a lesser charge than the charge of distribution of child pornography initially filed against him.

Everts has been held in jail since the time of his arrest on Nov. 29, 2023, on a single charge of distributing child porn. Prosecutors disclosed in court documents shortly after Everts’s arrest that they extended a plea bargain offer to him, but did not publicly disclose the details of the offer.

In three separate status hearings before Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, Everts requested through his attorney and was granted additional time to consider whether to accept the plea offer.

At the hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 23, before Judge Chutkan ordered it closed, a written notice of the hearing posted on the wall next to the courtroom door stated, “U.S. v. Everts – change of plea.”

That notice, which a court clerk removed immediately after the hearing was ordered closed, suggests that Everts may have accepted the offer to plead guilty. But no public court records had been released as of the end of the business day to confirm whether Everts accepted the plea offer or why his attorney requested, and the judge agreed to close the hearing.

Cheryl

Minutes before the hearing was ordered closed, the lead prosecutor in the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Bond, expressed opposition to the request by the defense to close the hearing. That was when Chutkan agreed to the defense request and ordered the hearing closed, requiring a Washington Blade reporter and one other spectator to leave the courtroom.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office has not responded to a request by the Blade for an explanation of why the defense requested the hearing be closed and whether Everts accepted the plea offer.

In yet another unexplained development, the federal court online docket site PACER.gov had not been updated as of the close of business on Oct. 23 for the Everts case to show what happened during the closed hearing, which began at 10 a.m. That raised speculation that the judge, at the request of the defense, may have ordered the case sealed.

Court observers, however, have said the public court records almost always state that a case has been sealed. In the Everts case, as of early evening on Oct. 23, no information about what happened at the Oct. 23 hearing, including whether the case has been sealed, was posted on the court’s online site.

Everts pleaded not guilty to the child porn distribution charge at an April 4 arraignment hearing. At that hearing Judge Chutkan agreed to the first request by Everts’s attorney, David Benowitz, to give Everts more time to consider the

Jennings dies at 77 Passages founder and advocate for lesbian visibility FROM STAFF REPORTS

Cheryl Jennings died peacefully on Oct. 11 after a brief illness in hospice care in Rockville, Md., with friends at her side. She was 77. Cheryl grew up in Tennessee, West Virginia, and Florida, according to a statement released by friends. She served in the U.S. Navy, where she used her eagle eyes as a photo intel specialist. After leaving the Navy, she majored in art at San Diego State University and had a career as a graphic designer and production coordinator. She moved to the Washington, D.C. area in the early 1980s. In 2002, she moved to Harper’s Ferry, W.Va. She returned to Rockville, Md. in 2024.

A beautiful paradox of Cheryl’s life was being both a leader in many areas and an avowed introvert. Her gifts for bringing women together in the lesbian community and for sharing her love of the natural world with others shone through her, according to friends. But she also reveled in solitude while us-

ing her extensive artistic talent to capture natural beauty and whimsy, often by experimenting with new techniques.

In the 1980s, when many lesbians were socially isolated, Cheryl provided a forum for connection and community as co-founder of a lesbian “rap” (discussion) group. The Rap Group met weekly to discuss issues relevant to lesbians at the time. Cheryl loosely based the group on the Parisian salons of the early 20th century. Many women formed lifelong friendships with Cheryl and other Rap Group attendees. Cheryl provided a safe, warm and welcoming space for lesbians at a time when being a lesbian could cost one a job, housing, or loss of family and friends. During her time as the host, she realized aging lesbians were nearly invisible and very vulnerable to mistreatment and were often silenced by mainstream society. So, Cheryl co-founded Passages, a groundbreaking organization that hosted annual conferences about lesbians and aging for over a decade in the D.C. area.

Another way Cheryl combined serving others and communing with nature was as a pioneer in letterboxing in Maryland and West Virginia. In this hobby, where art, nature, and outdoor adventure come together, Cheryl provided clues that others could follow through a natural area to find a box which she had hidden. She added her own artistic flair to this activity by carving her own rubber stamps for participants to use to register when they had found these boxes. Cheryl was interviewed about letterboxing and quoted under her hobby name “Squirrel” in several local publications.

Along with her love of nature, Cheryl had a green thumb. Through study and volunteering, she became both a Master Gardener and a Master Naturalist. An active member of the Potomac Valley Audubon Society, she co-founded

plea offer by prosecutors.

Everts is the owner and until the time of his arrest was the lead operator of the FIT Personal Training gym located at 1633 Q St., N.W. near Dupont Circle.

Court records show that Everts’s arrest last November came after a joint D.C. police and FBI investigation determined, among other things, that Everts allegedly distributed images of underage boys engaging in sexual acts to an undercover D.C. police detective posing in an online gay hookup site as someone interested in underage boys for sex.

Court observers familiar with this type of criminal case have said one possible reason for closing the hearing and sealing the case could be that the defendant is cooperating with police and prosecutors in a related investigation into other people believed to have engaged in similar criminal conduct.

Another potential reason, court observers say, is the defense wants to discuss mental health issues impacting a defendant that court rules say should remain confidential.

the Potomac Valley Master Naturalist program in 2006. She happily shared her knowledge by teaching classes and leading walks on subjects ranging from mushrooms to insects to vernal pools.

Cheryl traveled across West Virginia conducting dragonfly and butterfly studies as a volunteer for the state Division of Natural Resources. She was recognized in the spring 2006 West Virginia Odonate Atlas Newsletter for collecting the largest number of species of dragonflies in a statewide study.

A gifted artist, Cheryl’s mediums included jewelry, ceramics, stained glass, leather, wood, watercolors, pencil and ink, acrylic, collage, assemblage, and photography.

After retiring at age 65, Cheryl took off in her camper van for her solo cross-country “Big Adventure.” She delighted in visiting and photographing parks and monuments from West Virginia to California and back.

Cheryl believed in her friends and their ability to grow and create. “She lifted our spirits through her steadfast encouragement and by cracking us up,” according to the statement. “She mercilessly beat us at board and card games. She loved Tony Bennett’s singing and Mary Oliver’s poetry. A spiritual woman, she drew on goddess energy from many cultures and studied Hinduism in her last year of life.”

She is predeceased by her parents, Von Jennings and Dorothy Jennings Blackwell and survived by her brother Todd Jennings and cousins. She is also survived by her friends: Catherine Small Stephens (and Dale, her husband), Jan DeRoche Kretz (and Lisa, her wife), and Mariann Seriff; her Potomac Valley naturalist crew in West Virginia; and many other friends in Maryland, West Virginia, and throughout the United States.

A celebration of Cheryl’s life will be held in January 2025. Please email cherylmemorial7@gmail.com to be notified when the date is set.

Charitable contributions may be made to Potomac Valley Audubon Society and SAGE.

MICHAEL EVERTS (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

CHERYL JENNINGS died peacefully on Oct. 11. (Photo courtesy of friends)

Support for book bans varies in Md. school board races

New state law fails to protect majority of targeted titles

By ADAM HUDACEK & TOLU TALABI

Colt Black is many things: a mortician, an emergency medical technician, a firefighter, a father, a husband and a candidate for the Frederick County Public School Board. He’s also a self-professed First Amendment absolutist.

So, when Black was asked about what material should be available to Frederick County students in their school libraries, his response followed suit.

“I don’t support book bans,” he said.

Yet like many Maryland school board candidates, Black’s detailed views on the book issue are nuanced. In his vision for Frederick County Public Schools, any book, whether it be instructional or recreational, would be reviewed in committee and public hearings before making its way onto school shelves.

“Books which contain extreme violence or are sexually explicit, which glorify these things with no academic value, should be removed,” Black said in response to a University of Maryland Local News Network questionnaire sent to all 109 school board candidates in the state. “All books, both instructional and library resources, should be reviewed by a committee and public comment accepted before allowing them or disallowing them in the educational setting.”

Black’s support for such a process isn’t unique in his county, or Maryland at large. Asked in a Local News Network survey if they favored book bans, 38 of the 74 candidates who responded to the LNN questionnaire said they favor a policy in which professionals are involved in making sure books are age-appropriate. Another 19 strongly opposed book bans without citing policies for reviewing books.

“I will vote against book bans and the editing of curriculum based on personal beliefs,” said Sarah J. McDermott, who is running for the school board in Anne Arundel County’s District 4. “No topic should be banned from curriculum or libraries, provided that they are age appropriate, and I really trust our librarians and educators to determine that for their students.”

However, 17 candidates were open to banning books that parents find objectionable.

“I am running for the Board of Education because I would like to review our curriculum and establish age-appropriate educational materials for K-12 and eliminate any materials that sexualize children and are not appropriate for minors,” said Elena Brewer, a school board candidate from St. Mary’s County. Brewer is one of 19 candidates in the state that won an endorsement from the 1776 Project PAC, a conservative group whose founder, Ryan James Girdusky, says on the group website that he created the PAC after objecting to books on race issues that a teacher read to his godson’s class.

A patchwork of policies

Amid parents, activists and school boards challenging books across the state, Gov. Wes Moore signed the Freedom to Read Act into law earlier this year in an attempt to put an end to book bans in Maryland public schools.

The law prohibits public schools from excluding or removing materials from their school libraries because of the origin, background or views of the author. It also states that material cannot be removed because of partisan, ideological or religious disapproval. School systems must adopt book review

policies where challenged books remain on the shelves until the review process concludes.

However, the legislation fails to affect the majority of books banned throughout the state. According to Steve Wernick, the director of curriculum and instruction for Carroll County Public Schools, the bill only mandates that counties have adequate processes in place for the removal of library content –and because Carroll County already had a committee in place that had banned books, its decisions stand.

A unanimous school board vote removed more than 60 books in Carroll County – 21 permanently. The banned titles include:

• “And They Lived,” a gay-themed young adult novel by Steven Salvatore.

• “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins, a novel about a young woman sexually abused by her father.

• “Kingdom of Ash,” “House of Earth and Blood,” and “A Court of Frost and Starlight” – popular fantasy novels by Sarah J. Maas.

Meanwhile, Wicomico County banned “All Boys Are Blue,” George M. Johnson’s coming-of-age novel about a young queer boy. Frederick County banned Hopkins’ “Triangles,” which publisher Simon & Schuster described as a “surprisingly erotic” novel that includes adultery about three women’s intersecting friendships

And Queen Anne’s County banned “Harbor Me,” Jacqueline Woodson’s novel about multicultural kids navigating their way through a multitude of problems, which was a New York Times Book Review’s “Kids Notables” selection for 2018.

With November’s school board elections approaching, the issue of book bans will once again appear on the ballot in the form of races between conservative candidates and their opponents. Candidates endorsed by the conservative 1776 Project PAC are running in nine Maryland counties.

The Carroll County precedent

In Maryland’s largely liberal central corridor, Carroll County has always been an outlier. Jutting southward from the Mason-Dixon line, it’s surrounded by liberal enclaves and Frederick County, a former Republican stronghold that flipped blue in the 2020 presidential election for the first time since 1964.

As demographics shift and the Democratic party strengthens its regional claim, Carroll County remains stubbornly independent. While it isn’t uncommon to have a couple of books challenged over the course of a year, Carroll County’s 21 permanent removals drew headlines earlier this year.

One of the county’s board of education candidates, Amanda Jozkowski, said she opposes such actions.

“While there may be rare instances where a book is deemed unsuitable for the school library, these decisions should be based on clear, consistent criteria focused on educational value, not on censorship or ideological preferences,” she said in responding to the candidate questionnaire.

Jozkowski said Carroll County is a proving ground for conservative policies – especially within schools. She noted that the county has a large and active Moms for Liberty chapter that is helping chapters in other counties. Moms for Liberty, a conservative group that stresses parents’ rights, burst onto the scene in 2021 and has led the fight for book bans in many school districts.

To offer a different future for Carroll County educators and students, Jozkowski is collaborating with fellow board candidate Muri Lynn Dueppen on the Slate for Student Success, a joint candidacy that highlights the pair’s shared values and encourages voters to mark their names at the top of November’s ballot. On its website, opposition to book banning is listed as one of the pair’s core values.

Jozkowski hopes that voters see her as an alternative to the conservative candidates she opposes. She said she believes that many Carroll County residents are tired of the “politically motivated orientation” of the current school board.

But, in a county that hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 60 years, her success is far from guaranteed. Among her challengers is Kristen Zihmer, a 38-year-old small business owner who called herself a “conservative lifelong resident” of Carroll County and who, according to the Baltimore Sun, has been endorsed by Moms for Liberty.

Zihmer listed Ronald Reagan as the political figure she admired most and said: “My goal is to uphold the family and community values that make our county exceptional.” Asked about book bans, she said: “When materials are open to question, I default to parental consent…I would state unequivocally that I do not condone materials that are sexually gratuitous in nature or feature extreme sexual content.”

A debate in Howard County

In March, the Howard County chapter of Moms For Liberty laid out plans for its latest initiative: the elimination of 46 books from Howard County Public Schools’ shelves, following in Carroll County’s footsteps.

While the chapter’s measures have failed thus far, one of its founders is now running for a spot on the county’s board of education. Trent Kittleman, a former state delegate who lost re-election in 2022, requested to be taken off the Moms for Liberty rolls when she began her school board campaign, Baltimore Fishbowl reported in March.

But her views on the issue remain staunchly conservative. She decried a 2021 ban on six Dr. Seuss books with harmful stereotypes, but she remains concerned about other kinds of books.

“The misnomer ‘book banning’ being criticized these days is an effort by many parents to have certain books removed from school libraries due to what they consider explicitly sexual content,” Kittleman said in response to a Local News Network questionnaire. “It is not unreasonable to have explicitly sexual content ‘that serves no redeeming social purpose,’ removed from the schools.”

Kittleman offers the Democratic stronghold a new vision for its public schools, one in line with the Republican values she touted during her eight years in the Maryland House of Delegates. One of her opponents, incumbent Jen Mallo, offers the opposite.

“A diverse and inclusive set of library books are critical to have in our schools,” said Mallo, who chairs the Howard County Board of Education. “We need to actively work to include these materials despite extremist fear mongering and demands for removal.”

The issue goes to court

Montgomery County’s battle between conservative parents and school board members looks a little different than those in the rest of the state. In September, a group of parents filed a petition asking that the Supreme Court review the school board’s refusal to allow parents to opt their elementary children out of classes using LGBTQ+ books, citing a violation of their First Amendment rights.

The books are part of the district’s effort to be more inclusive by adding titles with LGBTQ characters in their kindergarten through 12th-grade curriculum.

Brenda M. Diaz, one of the county’s school board candidates, is siding with those parents.

(Courtesy the Capital News Service)

D.C. voters’ guide: Council, school board, Initiative 83 on ballot

Harris poised to win city’s three electoral votes next week

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

In a city whose voters, including LGBTQ voters, are overwhelmingly Democratic, D.C. Democratic elected officials – including four members of the D.C. Council and D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton – are considered the strong favorites to win re-election in the city’s Nov. 5 election.

Also expected to win is gay Ward 2 D.C. State Board of Education member Allister Chang, who is running unopposed on the ballot for re-election to a second four-year term in office.

Chang is one of two out gay members serving in a D.C. elective office other than Advisory Neighborhood Commission position. The other gay non-ANC elected official is D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), who won election to the Council in 2022.

Like all D.C. elections over the past 30 years or longer, nearly all candidates with any chance of winning have either a strong record of support for LGBTQ rights or have expressed support for the LGBTQ community.

The only exception to the city’s history of electing to office pro-LGBTQ candidates is the U.S. presidential candidates who are on the D.C. ballot every four years, including this year. Republican presidential candidates with a less than supportive record on LGBTQ issues, including Donald Trump, have won election as president, while losing by a wide margin in D.C

D.C. voters on Nov. 5 are expected to vote in overwhelming numbers for Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris and her vice-presidential running mate Tim Walz, providing the Harris-Walz ticket with D.C.’s three electoral votes.

Also on the D.C. election ballot on Nov. 5 is Initiative 83, a controversial proposal calling for creating a ranked choice voting system in D.C. and open primaries, which would allow independents to vote in the city’s primary elections that are currently open to only registered Democrats, Republicans, and Statehood-Green Party members.

LGBTQ activists, similar to voters in general, appear to be divided over whether to support or oppose the initiative. Among its strongest supporters is longtime local gay Democratic activist Philip Pannell, who is serving as treasurer of the committee leading the campaign in support of the measure called Make All Votes Count DC.

Among the D.C. Council seats up for election on Nov. 5 are the two At-Large seats held by Democrat Robert White and independent Christina Henderson. Under the D.C. Home Rule Charter, one of the two At-Large Council seats, cannot be held by a member of the city’s majority party, which is the Democratic Party.

Robert White and Henderson have been longtime LGBTQ rights supporters. Both were endorsed this year by the Capital Stonewall Democrats, the city’s largest local LGBTQ political group. The two are being challenged by Republican Rob Simmons and Statehood-Green Party candidate Darryl Moch. Under D.C. election law, voters can vote for two candidates on the ballot for the two At-Large seats, with the highest two vote getters declared the winners.

Council members Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) and Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), who have also been strong LGBTQ community supporters, are running unopposed for re-election.

In Ward 7, Democrat Wendel Felder is running against Republican Noah Montgomery for the seat being vacated by incumbent Council member and former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (D), who LGBTQ activists consider one of the strongest LGBTQ supporters among city elected officials.

Similar to many city voters, LGBTQ Democrats have struggled over who to support in the Ward 8 D.C. Council race in which incumbent Trayon White (D) was indicted earlier this year on federal bribery charges. White’s indictment came after he won the Democratic primary by a wide margin. His only opponent on the Nov. 5 election ballot is Republican Nate Derenge, although five others are running against him as write-in candidates.

At an LGBTQ community candidates forum in September organized by Team Rayceen Productions and the Washington Blade, Derenge told the Blade he is generally supportive of efforts to ban discrimination against all minorities, but he opposes city government offices that he said are catering to “special interest groups.”

Among the offices he would call for disbanding, he said, were the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and the other mayoral constituent offices such as the Latino, African American, Asian American, and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Affairs offices.

The Capital Stonewall Democrats decided against making an endorsement in the Ward 8 race, with Trayon White becoming the only Democrat on the D.C. election ballot that the group has not endorsed, even though White has a record of support for the LGBTQ community. Political observers, noting White is a beloved figure in Ward 8, are predicting that White will likely win re-election, although by a smaller margin than his past election wins. Chang, meanwhile, is among six candidates running for re-election or election to the

Home Rule Charter.

The others running include the board’s president and Ward 7 member Eboni-Rose Thompson, who is being challenged by candidate Toni Criner; the board’s vice president and at-large member Jacque Paterson, who is also running unopposed; and Ward 4 member Frazier O’Leary, who is being challenged by candidate T. Michelle Colson.

“I will say every single one of the current members has been supportive of my efforts to push forward more inclusive LGBTQ standards, our educational standards,” Chang told the Washington Blade, referring to the incumbent members, including those running for re-election. He said Ward 8 candidate LaJoy Johnson-Law has also been a strong supporter of LGBTQ school related issues.

In the race for D.C. Congressional Delegate, longtime incumbent Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) is being challenged by Republican Myrtle Patricia Alexander, Statehood Green Party candidate Kymore Freeman, and independent candidate Michael A. Brown.

Brown, a former D.C. Council member and LGBTQ rights supporter, has said he has been a longtime admirer of Norton, and he believes she has done an excellent job representing D.C. in Congress on a wide range of issues, including LGBTQ issues. But he told the Blade he thinks a change is needed after Norton’s 33 years in office. Among other things, he said he would be more aggressive in representing D.C. interests before Congress.

Members of the Capital Stonewall Democrats, like many D.C. residents, have said Norton’s long record as a champion for D.C., including the LGBTQ community, merits that she be re-elected as D.C. Congressional Delegate.

Democrat Ankit Jain and longtime D.C. Republican candidate Nelson Rimensnyder are competing to replace Democrat Michael D. Brown as D.C. U.S. Senator, a position known as the city’s Shadow Senate seat. Incumbent U.S. Rep. Oye Owolewa, who holds the office known as the D.C. Shadow U.S. House seat, is being challenged by Republican Ciprian Ivanof.

Jain and Owolewa, who have been endorsed by Capital Stonewall Democrats, are expected to win their races with the city’s “deep blue” Democratic electorate.

GLAA D.C, formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, has issued ratings this year for just four of the 10 D.C. Council candidates running in the Nov. 5 election. Under a recently adopted policy, GLAA limits its ratings to candidates that complete and return a GLAA questionnaire, which asks candidates to respond to mostly non-LGBTQ specific issues that GLAA says have an impact on LGBTQ residents like all other D.C. residents.

But unlike GLAA, Team Rayceen Productions has conducted video interviews of nearly all the candidates on the D.C. election ballot, including D.C. Council, school board, Congressional Delegate, and shadow House and Senate candidates.

The video interviews can be accessed at Team Rayceen’s YouTube channel. The GLAA questionnaire and candidate ratings can be accessed at glaa.org.

D.C. State Board of Education, which is a nonpartisan body under the city’s

Longtime LGBTQ ally VINCENT GRAY is not seeking re-election to the Council. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Alsobrooks leads Hogan in Md. Senate race: polls

Previewing regional races in Md. Va., Del.

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS | mlavers@washblade.com

Polls indicate Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks is comfortably ahead of former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan in the race to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll conducted between Oct. 17-22 found Alsobrooks ahead of Hogan by a 52-40 percent margin. Alsobrooks, a Democrat, was ahead of her Republican rival by a 48-39 percent margin in a poll the University of Maryland Baltimore County conducted between Sept. 23-28.

Alsobrooks during an interview with the Washington Blade before she defeated Congressman David Trone in the May 14 primary said she supports the Equality Act. Alsobrooks also highlighted her support for Maryland’s marriage equality law that voters upheld in a 2012 referendum.

Hogan in 2018 signed a bill that banned so-called conversion therapy in Maryland. He criticized Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law during a 2023 interview with CNN’s “State of the Union.”

A bill that created the Commission on LGBTQ Affairs in the Governor’s Community Initiatives Office took effect in 2021 without Hogan’s signature. Hogan also did not sign a bill that banned the so-called LGBTQ panic defense in Maryland.

Hogan marched in this year’s Annapolis Pride parade.

Campaign spokesperson Blake Kernan on Wednesday referred the Blade to the campaign’s final ad it released earlier in the day.

“I’m not just another Republican,” says Hogan. “I’ll make your life more affordable, and support a woman’s right to choose.”

Kernan defended Hogan’s record on LGBTQ rights in an article the Blade published on Aug. 7. Kernan in a May 22 statement criticized Alsobrooks over her comments about Hogan’s abortion rights record.

The Alsobrooks campaign on Tuesday told the Blade it is

By LOU CHIBBARO JR.

At least 46 known LGBTQ candidates are running for seats on the city’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in the Nov. 5 D.C. election, with a half dozen or more LGBTQ candidates running in each of the city’s wards except for Ward 3, where just two known LGBTQ candidates are running.

Among the 46 known LGBTQ candidates, 22 are incumbent ANC commissioners seeking re-election to another four-year term. The ANC Rainbow Caucus, which consists of LGBTQ ANC members, shows on its website it currently has 27 incumbent commissioners, most of whom are running for re-election.

That appears to indicate the percentage of LGBTQ ANC members seeking to run for re-election is greater than the percentage of the overall number of ANC members running for another term. According to reports by the Washington Post and other media outlets, many ANC members have chosen not to run for re-election this year, based in part on the stress that goes with the job

Under the D.C. Home Rule Charter, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners serve as unpaid elected officials charged with making recommendations to the city government on a wide range of neighborhood issues, including the approval of liquor licenses for bars and restaurants and zoning regulations. City officials are required

“ready to defend our Democratic Senate Majority, protect our freedoms, and fight for our families.”

“Angela continues to travel across the state and can feel the enthusiasm and energy from all voters — from young people concerned about the cost of living, women concerned about access to reproductive freedoms, seniors concerned about the cost of prescription drugs, and all Marylanders who want a future where their families can thrive,” said the campaign in a statement. “Angela is in this fight for every one of them, for every Marylander.”

Democrat April McClain Delaney is running against former Maryland state Del. Neil Parrott (R-Washington County) in the race to succeed Trone in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District.

A Gonzales Research and Marketing Strategies poll con-

ducted between Aug. 24-31 found Parrott ahead of Delaney by a 41-39 percent margin. A Public Opinion Strategies poll conducted between Aug. 6-11 found Delaney ahead of Parrott by a 42-40 percent margin.

Delaney, a former Commerce Department official who is married to former Maryland Congressman John Delaney, in her campaign ads has noted Parrott in 2005 said people who test positive for HIV should be tattooed. Parrott in 2014 led an unsuccessful effort to prompt a referendum on Maryland’s transgender rights law that then-Gov. Martin O’Malley signed.

In Virginia, state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Loudoun County) is running against Republican Mike Clancy in the state’s 10th Congressional District. The winner will succeed Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, who announced last September she would not seek re-election after doctors diagnosed her with an aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease.

“When I think about who will best continue my legacy and deliver real results for us in Congress, I can think of no one better than state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam,” said Wexton in an Oct. 16 press release in which she and former U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) endorsed Subramanyam’s campaign.

Democrat Eugene Vindman is running against Republican Derrick Anderson for outgoing Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger’s seat in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. Spanberger is running for governor in 2025.

In Delaware, state Sen. Sarah McBride is poised to become the first transgender person elected to Congress. Democratic Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester is also likely to become the first Black person to represent Delaware in the U.S. Senate.

“There’s no one better to represent us in Washington, D.C., and in the United States Senate than Lisa Blunt Rochester,” said President Joe Biden in a recent endorsement.

to give “great weight” to the ANC recommendations, but government officials are not required to accept the recommendations.

The official list of ANC candidates on the D.C. election ballot released by the D.C. Board of Elections

shows that 51 of the 345 ANC Single Member Districts, or SMDs, do not have a candidate running on the Nov. 5 election ballot. The Board of Elections has released a separate list of registered write-in candidates that includes several ANC candidates.

The Board of Elections list shows there are a far larger number of ANC single member districts in which a single candidate is running unopposed. Among the 46 LGBTQ ANC candidates, 32 have no opponent on the election ballot.

Gay ANC commissioner Vincent Slatt, who represents

the Dupont Circle ANC district 2B03, and who serves as chair of the ANC Rainbow Caucus, said ANC members face a considerable amount of stress.

“ANCs are volunteer, uncompensated positions that we do in addition to our day jobs,” Slatt told the Washington Blade. “There is an extremely high turnover rate due to the lack of support we receive from the executive agencies, and the perception of our neighbors that we provide constituent services that our Council members provide,” he said.

Slatt added that residents sometimes lack full understanding of the role of ANC members, which “has created a large amount of turnover, and the problem is getting worse.”

The Blade obtained its list of known LGBTQ ANC candidates in part from the ANC Rainbow Caucus, which compiled its own list of LGBTQ candidates, and from the LGBTQ Victory Fund, the national group that supports LGBTQ candidates for elective office, which released a list of 13 Victory Fund “approved” ANC candidates. The Blade obtained a few additional names of LGBTQ ANC candidates not on the Rainbow Caucus or Victory Fund lists from people who knew the candidates.

ANGELA ALSOBROOKS is comfortably ahead of former Maryland Gov. LARRY HOGAN in new polls. (Photos courtesy of the Baltimore Banner)

KENT BOESE continues in his role as director of the D.C. Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. (Photo courtesy of Boese)

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

WORKED WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND LABOR UNIONS & ADVOCACY GROUPS

CHAIRED THE STATEHOOD SELF DETERMINATION COMMITTEE

BROADENED THE ELIGIBILITY (INDIVIDUALS & FAMILIES) FOR SNAP BENEFITS (FOOD STAMPS)

PROTECTED THE HOUSING PRODUCTION TRUST (AFFORDABLE HOUSING)

CO-SPONSORED THE MARRIAGE EQUALITY ACT

HELPED BRING UBER & LYFT TO DC

SPEARHEADED "FIRST SOURCE" THE LARGEST PRO-JOBS BILL/LAW IN THE CITY'S HISTORY

CO-SPONSORED LEGISLATION CREATING THE UDC COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM

INITIATED DISCUSSION RESULTING IN THE SENIOR PROPERTY TAX RELIEF PROGRAM

Trump, Harris make final pitch to voters with days until election

More than 60,000 turn out for vice president’s Ellipse

By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com

speech

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are making their final pitches in the week before Election Day, delivering closing arguments while their campaigns work to get out the vote.

On Friday, the candidates will make competing appearances in the swing state of Wisconsin, where polls show their race in a dead heat, as is the case in the other six battlegrounds. Experts expect 2024 might be the closest presidential race in modern American history.

On Monday, the Republican nominee’s campaign was beset with a scandal of its own making after a comic attacked Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage” during his set at Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden.

The event also featured anti-Semitic and anti-Arab language, sexism directed at Harris, and other offensive remarks — a display that The New York Times dubbed “a closing carnival of grievances, misogyny, and racism.”

At the same time, the trans community is in the crosshairs of negative advertising by the Trump team and Republican allies, commercials that aired during NFL games on Sunday in a last-minute push to get men into the voting booth.

As the Republican nominee said himself during his rally in New York on Monday, “Get your husband off the couch. The football game doesn’t mean a damn thing. You got to get out and vote.”

Trump’s ads show the vice president with Rachel Levine, the highest ranking openly trans official, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Sam Brinton, a genderfluid former official at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Brinton was arrested for allegedly stealing luggage from airport baggage carousels.

“Kamala is for they/them,” the ads proclaim, while “President Trump is for you.”

As the Times wrote, the intention was clearly for “viewers to recoil from images of Ms. Harris alongside those of people who plainly do not conform to traditional gender norms, to try to portray Ms. Harris herself as out of the ordinary.”

For her part, in a speech Tuesday night that drew more than 60,000 supporters, Harris highlighted the differences between her candidacy and her opponent’s, between her record of service and her opponent’s, and between her vision for America and her opponent’s.

The vice president spoke from the Ellipse, the park south of the White House where Trump rallied his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021 before they ransacked the U.S. Capitol.

“It’s really a reminder of the gravity of the job, how much a president can do for good and for bad, to shape the country and impact people’s lives,” Harris campaign chair

Jennifer O’Malley Dillon said on Tuesday.

“But it’s also a stark visualization of probably the most infamous example of Donald Trump and how he’s used his power for bad, really focusing on himself and spreading division and chaos and inciting a mob to try to maintain his own power and put himself over the country,” she said.

From the outset, the vice president’s campaign sought to convey joy, along with the idea that the career prosecutor has always worked on behalf of the American people throughout her several decades of public service.

By contrast, Trump has earned criticism for calling Democrats and political opponents “the enemy from within,” language that recalls some of the world’s most notorious autocrats.

LGBTQ advocacy groups like the Human Rights Campaign have lined up behind Harris’s bid for the White House, touting her record of supporting the community well before it was politically expedient to endorse rights like same-sex marriage.

HRC President Kelley Robinson said, “ Vice President Kamala Harris is a trailblazer and has been a champion for LGBTQ+ equality for decades: from leading the fight in San Francisco against hate crimes and her work in California to end the so-called gay and transgender ‘panic defense’ to her early support for marriage equality and her leadership serving as our vice president.”

“Convicted felon Donald Trump has already shown that he aims to destroy democracy and divide the country in his quest for power,” Robinson said.

HRC has chronicled Trump’s anti-LGBTQ record, noting that he “Banned openly transgender military service, discriminated against LGBTQ+ students, argued businesses can post signs refusing service to LGBTQ+ customers, and more.”

The former president also appointed three U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the reproductive freedoms in place since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973 and to allow businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ customers, the group wrote.

Harris cites Stonewall in closing message

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her closing message on Tuesday night, contrasting her campaign’s message of hope, as well as her policy plans on behalf of the people, with her opponent’s focus on grievance, division, and the needs of wealthy donors and moneyed special interests.

Speaking from the Ellipse, south of the White House — the site where former President Donald Trump fomented a violent insurrection into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — Harris addressed an audience that is reported to exceed 75,000, shattering records.

The vice president repeated a pledge she has made often on the campaign trail, that she will be president for all Americans regardless of whom they voted for or what they believe. Trump wants to put those who

disagree with him in jail, she said. “I’ll give them a seat at the table.”

Harris made a direct reference to the LGBTQ community by invoking the Stonewall rebellion, birthplace of the modern struggle for LGBTQ civil rights.

Earlier, she said, “For as long as I can remember, I have always had an instinct to protect. There’s something about people being treated unfairly or overlooked that, frankly, just gets to me. I don’t like it.”

Harris continued, “It’s what my mother instilled in me — a drive to hold accountable those who use their wealth or power to take advantage of other people, the drive to protect hard working Americans who aren’t always seen or heard and deserve a voice. And I will tell you that is the kind of president I will be.”

CHRISTOPHER KANE

Former President DONALD TRUMP and Vice President KAMALA HARRIS (Blade photos by Michael Key)

Vice President KAMALA HARRIS at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. (Screen capture: YouTube)

NOVEMBER 5

2024 DC GENERAL ELECTION EARLY VOTING

Monday, October 28 to Sunday, November 3 Vote

Meet the LGBTQ candidates running in key races from U.S. Senate to state houses

Baldwin in tight contest; McBride poised to make history in Delaware

By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) became the first openly LGBTQ senator with her election in 2012, having previously served as U.S. representative from Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District as the first non-incumbent LGBTQ member elected to the chamber. She is running against Republican mega-millionaire Eric Hovde, whose campaign has targeted her sexual orientation with negative advertising, in a race that Cook Political Report considers a toss-up.

Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride (D) became the first openly trans state senator and the highest-ranking trans official in U.S. history with her election in 2020, having previously worked in LGBTQ advocacy and authored a memoir. She is running for Delaware’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she would be the first transgender Member of Congress. She is favored to win her race.

Mondaire Jones served as U.S. representative for New York’s 17th Congressional District from 2021 to 2023, during which time he was often described as a rising star in the progressive wing of the Democratic Par-

ty, serving on the Progressive, Black, and Equality Caucuses. Jones was one of the first two openly gay Black members of Congress. He is running to reclaim his seat representing NY-17.

Gay Democratic U.S. attorney Will Rollins is gunning for U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert’s (R-Calif.) seat after narrowly losing to the GOP incumbent in 2022. His victory is key for Democrats to retake control of the House, with Cook Political Report characterizing their race as a toss-up and POLITICO writing it will be one of the most “closely watched and expensive battleground slugfests in the country.”

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (D) is the first LGBTQ member of Congress from Minnesota and the first lesbian mother to serve in either chamber. In the House, Craig has opposed Republican-led efforts to implement anti-LGBTQ policies, especially in schools. She is facing off against Republican Joe Teirab in a race that, according to Cook Political Report, is shaping up in her favor/lean Democratic.

U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen (D) is a former meteorologist and the first openly gay member of Congress from Illinois. While he is the first Democrat to represent portions of the state’s 17th Congressional District in decades, particularly the towns of Rockford and Peoria, Sorensen’s race is “likely” Democratic, per Cook Political Report. He is running against Republican Joe McGraw, a judge and former prosecutor.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids is a former mixed martial artist and attorney serving as the first Democrat to represent a Kansas congressional district in Congress in more than a decade. She is also the first LGBTQ Native American and one of the first two Native American women (along with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland) elected to the chamber. Her race is “likely” Democratic according to Cook Political Report.

U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D) is the first openly gay man from New Hampshire to serve in Congress following his

election in 2018 and reelection in 2020 and 2022. He is running against Republican Russell Prescott in a race that Cook Political Report expects will be “likely” Democratic. New Hampshire Public Radio called Pappas the 1st Congressional District’s most successful Democrat in more than four decades.

There are four other openly LGBTQ members of Congress, all serving as co-chairs of the Equality Caucus under chair Mark Pocan, Democratic U.S. representative from Wisconsin: U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia and Mark Takano, Democrats from California, Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), and Becca Balint (D-Vt.). They are all expected to win their bids for reelection.

Gay Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D) is running for auditor general of the Keystone State, squaring off next week against incumbent Republican Tim DeFoor and three third-party candidates. Appointed by President Joe Biden to chair the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans, Kenyatta is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party.

Tampa native and mother of two teen boys, Ashley Brundage has built programs to help educate people and facilitate economic empowerment for entrepreneurs, earning a “Spirit of the Community Award” for her work from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. And if she wins her race next week to serve in the Florida House of Representatives, Brundage would be the state’s first out transgender elected official.

Aime Wichtendahl is the first transgender official elected in the state of Iowa, serving on the city council of Hiawatha, a suburb northwest of Cedar Rapids, since 2015. Her work has focused on expanding infrastructure, reducing property taxes, and helping small businesses. If elected to the Iowa House of Representatives next week, Wichtendahl would be Iowa’s first openly trans state legislator.

Trans Honduran woman canvasses for Harris in Pa.

A transgender woman from Honduras has traveled to Pennsylvania several times in recent weeks to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic candidates.

Monserrath Aleman traveled to York on Aug. 31 and Lancaster on Sept. 21 with a group of other volunteers from CASA in Action. They doorknocked in areas where large numbers of African Americans, Black, and Latino voters live. Aleman and the other CASA in Action volunteers urged them to support Harris,

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and other down ballot Democratic candidates.

Aleman will be in Harrisburg on Nov. 2, and in York on Election Day.

“We achieved the goal that we had in mind and that we wanted to achieve,” she told the Washington Blade on Oct. 22 during a Zoom interview from Baltimore. “We knocked on doors, passed out flyers.”

Aleman cited Project 2025 — which the Congressional Equality Caucus on Thursday sharply criticized — when she spoke with the Blade.

“We know that there is a Project 2025 plan that would affect us: The entire immigrant Latino community, the LGBTI community, everyone,” said Aleman. “So that’s why I’m more motivated to go knocking on doors, to ask for help, for support from everyone who can vote, who can exercise their vote.”

She told the Blade that she and her fellow volunteers “did not have any bad response.”

Aleman grew up in Yoro, a city that is roughly 130 miles north of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa.

She left Honduras on Nov. 25, 2021.

Aleman entered Mexico in Palenque, a city in the country’s Chiapas state that is close to the border with Guatemala. The Mexican government granted her a humanitarian visa that allowed her to legally travel through the country.

Aleman told the Blade she walked and took buses to Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican border city that is across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

She scheduled her appointment with U.S. Customs and Border Protection while living at a shelter in Ciudad Juárez. Aleman now lives in Baltimore.

“Discrimination against the LGBTI community exists everywhere, but in Honduras it is more critical,” said Aleman.

Aleman added she feels “more free to express herself, to speak with someone” in the U.S. She also said she remains optimistic that Harris will defeat former President Donald Trump on Election Day.

“There is no other option,” said Aleman.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Sen. TAMMY BALDWIN’s race is considered a toss-up. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

MONSERRATH ALEMAN, a transgender woman from Honduras, has canvassed in Pennsylvania for Vice President Kamala Harris.

(Photo by Phil Laubner/CASA in Action)

Kamala Harris ‘is the hope we seek for this world’ International LGBTQ activists watching U.S. election closely

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS | mlavers@washblade.com

Activists around the world with whom the Washington Blade spoke this week say a Kamala Harris presidency would ensure U.S. foreign policy will continue to champion LGBTQ and intersex rights.

“A Kamala win would ensure the continuation of U.S. protection and support of global LGBTQ human rights,” said Sexual Minorities Uganda Executive Director Frank Mugisha. “I worry about a Trump win and Project 2025 in particular, as it not only undermines LGBTQ human rights but also rolls back the gains we have made so far.”

Uganda is among the countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized.

The Biden-Harris administration in 2023 imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials and removed the country from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. after President Yoweri Museveni signed the Anti-Homosexuality Act.

“I directed the administration to promote human rights for LGBTQ [people] everywhere, particularly, for example, Uganda — they want help from us; they’ve got to change their policy, in terms of the discrimination,” President Joe Biden told the Washington Blade during an exclusive interview in the Oval Office on Sept. 12.

South African MP Steve Letsike, a lesbian who founded Access Chapter 2, an LGBTQ advocacy group, told the Blade the U.S. government during the Biden-Harris administration “has been instrumental in extending its policy agenda for its own citizens and lending a hand and support to queer communities in hard criminalized settings such as Uganda and many other countries.”

“Kamala Harris will continue to champion the rights-based approach that raises intersectional issues,” she said. “She is the hope we seek for this world.”

Esteban Paulón, a longtime LGBTQ activist in Argentina who won a seat in the country’s Congress in 2022, agreed.

“The support for the agenda of promoting LGBTIQ rights more globally by the United States government without a doubt depends centrally on Kamala Harris’s victory,” he told the Blade.

Biden in 2021 signed a memo that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administration’s overall foreign policy. The White House in the same year named Jessica Stern, who was previously the executive director of Outright International, as the next special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad.

Then-State Department spokesperson Ned Price during a 2021 interview with the Blade noted the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations was one of the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities in its efforts to promote LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad. Stern in 2022 told the Blade that support of marriage equality in countries where activists say such a thing is possible through legislation or the judicial process is “among a wider set of priorities.”

Former President Donald Trump tapped then-U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to lead an initiative that encouraged countries to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations. Activists with whom the Blade has previously spoken questioned whether this effort had any tangible results.

“We hope for continued support for the defense of Ukraine, which is critical to the survival of LGBTQI people in Ukraine,” Olena Shevchenko, chair of Insight, an LGBTQ rights group in Ukraine, told the Blade. “With Trump it’s definitely a backlash on the rights of LGBTI and women.”

Mugisha also expressed concern about a Trump victory — and Project 2025 “in particular.”

“It not only undermines LGBTQ human rights but also rolls back the gains we have made so far,” he said.

“What worries me is that Trump has proven his hate, his anti-policies and laws that consistently denies LGBTI people their fundamental rights,” Letsike told the Blade. “American LGBTI people’s rights must be guaranteed, respected and protected and not be threatened by any president that assumes office.”

Dindi Tan, national president of LGBT Pilipinas in the Philippines, agreed.

“The proposed policies of (Vice President) Harris align with our advocacy and policy direction on LGBTQIA+ rights in the Philippines and beyond,” Tan told the Blade. “Considering also that there are many LGBTQIA+ Filipinos living in the U.S., I believe that Harris winning the presidency would advance our ongoing fight for equality.”

“On the other hand, a Trump victory promises to undo the hard-fought victories we have had over the years,” added Tan.

The presidential election will take place against the backdrop of widespread global criticism of the war in the Gaza Strip, and the Biden-Harris administration’s continued support of Israel.

Hasan Kilani, a Jordanian Palestinian queer activist, told the Blade he supports Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.

“We do not want the queer rights movement associated with a government that has supported the atrocities witnessed in Gaza,” said Kilani.

He added he rejects “a binary view that frames the choice solely between Trump and Harris.”

“I believe that real progress lies in moving toward voting Green,” said Kilani. “If Trump were to win, it could prompt the Democratic Party to reassess its policies and return to the core of progressive values, a space where the queer community once found alignment. Right now, however, I see little practical difference between Kamala Harris and Trump when it comes to the impact on queer people in the Middle East.”

Outright International is among the LGBTQ rights groups that has called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Maria Sjödin, the group’s executive director, in a statement to the Blade did not specifically mention the war. Sjödin, however, defended the U.N. and other “multilateral systems” that “play a vital role for LGBTIQ communities — especially when domestic governments fail to protect their rights.” (The Israeli Knesset on Monday approved a bill that will ban the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, from conducting “any activity” in the country. UNRWA is the largest aid provider in Gaza.)

“Any retreat by the U.S. from these international institutions would weaken essential platforms where marginalized voices are heard,” said Sjödin. “Additionally, funding for global human rights initiatives is a lifeline for many organizations working in countries where LGBTIQ people face severe oppression.”

“A U.S. administration that de-prioritizes international solidarity and human rights funding would deeply harm efforts to ensure dignity, freedom, and equality for LGBTIQ people worldwide,” added Sjödin.

Sjödin also expressed concern about the election’s impact on LGBTQ Americans.

“No matter who wins the upcoming presidential election, there is a significant risk if an “America First” ideology — focused on isolationism — prevails,” said Sjödin. “Such a posture undermines the role the U.S. has played in promoting human rights globally. We have witnessed devastating attacks on the rights of trans people at the state level, and the spread of this rhetoric to the federal level would not only hurt the LGBTQ community in the U.S. but also severely damage the U.S.’ credibility as a leader in promoting equality and dignity for LGBTIQ people around the world.”

Caleb Orozco, a prominent activist in Belize, told the Blade the global LGBTQ rights movement will continue, regardless of who wins the U.S. presidential election.

“While freedoms and rights demand vigilance that remains fragile in the US and around the world, voters will determine if they want allyship or exclusion,” said Orozco. “Either way LGBTQ resilience continues.”

The Progress Pride flag flies in front of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin on July 22, 2022. (Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

is editor of the Washington Blade. Reach him at knaff@washblade.com

Wash Post can’t recover from endorsement debacle —

Bezos must sell it

The Blade proudly reminds you to vote Kamala Harris for president

I have worked in media and newspapers for most of my career, including at large metropolitan dailies like the Baltimore Sun. I’ve had the immense privilege of working alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters and editors like John Carroll of the Los Angeles Times and Bill Marimow of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The most important lesson I took from the early days of my career from those colleagues is that newspapers have only one commodity: credibility. When that’s gone, there’s nothing. That’s the reason plagiarism is considered the cardinal sin of the profession; it casts doubt on everything a writer has produced before.

The same principal holds true today for the Washington Post in the wake of owner Jeff Bezos’s decision last week to kill an editorial endorsing Kamala Harris for president. His meddling in such a high-profile decision of what should be an independent board of thoughtful editors committed to telling the truth casts a shadow over all future editorials. Just how many times has Bezos done this? And why? To curry favor with Donald Trump who could again retaliate against his business interests if elected president? Are Bezos’s vast business interests — including his aerospace company that depends on lucrative government contracts — the guiding principal of the Post editorial page?

It’s outrageous that the Washington Post would capitulate to Trump, who just last week referred to journalists as the “enemy of the people,” dark rhetoric that endangers the lives of reporters as we saw in the attack on the Annapolis Capital Gazette that killed five. The Post has melodramatically claimed for years that “Democracy Dies in Darkness” — clearly their deeds don’t match their words. This is what happens when wealthy corporate owners take over once independent newsrooms. It’s unconscionable that the Post would decline to endorse a capable and honest sitting vice president over a convicted felon who idolizes Adolf Hitler.

Sadly, this is not an isolated event, as the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times also spiked an editorial endorsing Harris. One encouraging sign in LA is that ethical staffers there have resigned, including the editorial page editor and two editorial board members. At the Post, just two columnists have resigned in protest of Bezos’s decision.

In stark contrast to those brave and ethical writers who have resigned is the embattled Washington Post publisher Will Lewis, who cravenly tried to explain away the Bezos decision.

“We recognize that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility. That is inevitable. We don’t see it that way. We see it as consistent with the values The Post has always stood for,” Lewis wrote.

In response to that nonsense, I would refer Lewis to the words of his iconic predecessor, Katherine Graham, who once said, “News is what someone wants suppressed. Everything else is advertising. … What we print and what we don’t print matter a lot.”

Things certainly have changed at the Post. The only sensible course now is for Bezos to sell the Washington Post, not to another tech billionaire, but to a nonprofit entity that can continue the Post’s long and esteemed traditions without interference from egomaniacal owners who do not understand the role of a newspaper. Newspapers should not serve an owner but a community. They should fearlessly hold the powerful to account. A cowardly newspaper publisher should be a contraction in terms. Bezos lacks the courage and backbone to serve as steward of such an important journalistic institution.

So allow me to say what Bezos and Lewis won’t: Vote for Kamala Harris for president. She is all that stands between our nearly 250-year-old democracy and the implementation of Trump’s Project 2025. The nearly 80-year-old fascist and racist Trump, who is clearly in steep mental decline, would have unchecked power with the Supreme Court’s blanket immunity ruling, a submissive House Speaker Mike Johnson, and a Cabinet filled with dangerous sycophants. Harris, in contrast, has the support of everyone from AOC to Dick Cheney.

KYLIE MADHAV is Senior Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion of SAGE.

Project 2025: A threat to LGBTQ elders and inclusive America

We must ﬁght for a diverse country that protects all its citizens

In recent months, Project 2025, a conservative roadmap for a potential second Trump administration, has gained signiﬁcant attention. While its proponents claim it will bring efﬁciency and reform to governmental operations, a more in-depth read of the document reveals a disturbing agenda that threatens the progress made across various sectors in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, with particularly harmful implications for LGBTQ+ elders.

Project 2025 proposes a radical overhaul of federal agencies, with a specific focus on dismantling DEI programs. The plan views these initiatives as forms of “affirmative discrimination” and seeks to replace them with what it perceives as merit-based practices. This stance ignores the real-world benefits of DEI programs in creating more inclusive and equitable workplaces, particularly for marginalized communities like LGBTQ+ elders

The proposal goes beyond merely eliminating DEI initiatives. It advocates for stripping workplace protections related to sexual orientation and gender identity from federal rules. This regressive move would leave LGBTQ+ individuals, especially older adults, vulnerable to discrimination in employment, healthcare, and housing – areas where they already face signiﬁcant challenges

LGBTQ+ older adults are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of proposed changes in Project 2025’s anti-DEI stance. This population already faces unique challenges, including higher rates of social isolation, poverty, and health disparities compared to their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts. The removal of protections and DEI initiatives could exacerbate these issues signiﬁcantly, leading to increased discrimination in healthcare settings and potentially poorer health outcomes. Furthermore, the elimination of programs promoting inclusivity and social interaction could deepen the isolation experienced by LGBTQ+ elders, who are more likely to live alone and have fewer avenues of family support.

The economic and housing implications of Project 2025’s stance are equally concerning for LGBTQ+ older adults. With fewer workplace protections, they may face increased employment discrimination, potentially worsening their already precarious economic situations. This reduction in economic security could have far-reaching effects on their quality of life and ability to access necessary resources. Additionally, the potential reduction in support for LGBTQ+-inclusive housing initiatives could make it substantially more difﬁcult for elders to ﬁnd safe, affordable, and LGBTQ+-friendly housing options, further compounding the challenges they face in their daily lives.

The potential negative impact of Project 2025 extends far beyond LGBTQ+ elders, threatening to create a less tolerant and less inclusive society overall. By attempting to erase the progress made in recognizing and addressing structural inequalities, Project 2025 risks turning back the clock on civil rights and social justice initiatives. This regression could have profound implications for marginalized communities across the board, undoing decades of hard-fought progress in creating a more equitable society.

As we face this looming threat to LGBTQ+ elders and DEI initiatives, it’s crucial that we take decisive action. This includes raising awareness by educating others about the potential impacts of Project 2025 on vulnerable populations, advocating by supporting organizations ﬁghting to defend LGBTQ+ rights and DEI initiatives, and exercising our right to vote to ensure that our elected ofﬁcials support policies that protect marginalized communities. Additionally, we must continue to promote inclusivity in our workplaces and communities by championing DEI efforts and creating welcoming spaces for all. By taking these steps, we can work together to counteract the potential harm of Project 2025 and maintain the progress we’ve made toward a more just and equitable society.

Project 2025 represents a signiﬁcant threat to the progress we’ve made in creating a more conscientious society. Its anti-DEI stance would disproportionately harm LGBTQ+ elders, a group already facing numerous challenges. We must stand against these regressive proposals and continue to ﬁght for a diverse, inclusive America that values and protects all its citizens, regardless of age, sexual orientation or gender identity.

B ez os ’ & T he P os t’ s No n- En do rsem en t

NicholasF. Benton

FALLSCHURCH NEWS-PRESS

Thefollowingismy co mmen t postedon the occasion thisweekof Was hi ng ton Postbillionaire owner

Jeff Bezos’non-endorsementdecision that I madeinmyFallsChurch News-Press,whichI can now claim is “The BestNewspaper Insidethe DC Beltway:”

“FormerWashington Postexecutive editor Marty Baron delivered ascathingdenunciationof thedecision byThe Post nottoendorsein thepresidential race Referencing the Post’s now famous slogan,‘DemocracyDiesinDarkness,’ Baron wrote of thedecision, ‘Thisiscowardice, a moment of darkness that willleave democracy as a casualty.’

“Another commentatornoted on X, ‘Thisisthebeginningof the end of ThePost. Washington needs areal newspaper runby people of principleand courage.’

“Exactly,Isay. One of themost importantthings areal newspaper can do isto guidereaders toward the best choices in their government. This marks amonumental failure for The Post that won’t blow over.”

Thiscommentreceiveda public“thumbsup” onsocialmedia by Arlington-FallsChurchCommonwealthAttorney ParisaDehghaniTafti andby City ofFallsChurch Mayor Letty Hardi, among many others

Asof thisweek,thereportwas that over 200,000 readers had canceledtheir subscriptions tothedigital versionofThe Post.

Comingonthe eve ofone of the most consequentialelections in U.S history,the last-minute decision by Post owner Bezos to kill theeditorial endorsing Harristhat hadbeen meticulously prepared by thepaper’seditorial staff foroveraweek sparked an outragethat hassent shockwavesnationwide, notjustin D.C. and notjustinternally at The Post.

lionsinfederal dollars andpresidentialcandidate Trump. Thejuxtapositionof thetwo incidentshas notbeen lost on anyone,despite the ferocity of Bezos’ denials.

Nor couldthefact that The Post’s non-endorsement mirroredanidenticalcase atCalifornia’s largest newspaper, the LosAngelesTimes, alsoowned by amulti-billionaire who inveritablyidentical fashion torpedoed anexpectedendorsement of Harris.

Thecrieshave not subsided for a profound reform ofour nation’s journalistic sector. In the D.C. area, myappeal wasjoined by others callingon some big pocketstostepup andformaviablealternativetoThe Postthat could hireanynumberof thescores ofprofessional journalists who haveeither been laidoffinthe recentperiodof newspapercontraction, or resignedbecause of this last week’s egregious affront.

Onsocialmedia,I called for the likes of David M. Rubenstein or Ted Leonsistostepup, and others added thename ofMark Cubantoa listof those whocouldgenerate the capital for aserious challengeto Bezos and The Post.It wouldbemoreideal if some kind of collective of persons of moremodest means could form that wouldbe up forthe taskof challenging The Post. In the manysocial media postingson this subject,even myweekly FallsChurchnewspaper came upfor consideration(notby me)asarespectedexisting institutionthat could work asthe center of an orchestrationofsuchamove. Why not?

eduptheNews-Pressin1991,I didnotendorsecandidatesinlocal electionsbecause,Ithought,Iwas determinedtoforgeanewspaper thatservedtheentirecommunity anddidn’twanttocreatetheimpressionoftakingsides(Bezos’ argument forThe Post now).

The public hasnot been fooled cationof the decisionthisTuesday, either.Yes, therewasa meeting by top Bezos lieutenants of his Blue Origin space program seeking bil-

by Bezos’ subsequent op-ed justifi-

However, itbecameclearto me soon enoughthatmy readers reallywanted, countedon, and were disappointed whentheytorialcounselintheheat of elections. Since I beganendorsingcandidatesand ballotmeasuresin elections, over thecourseof more than30years, onlyoncehasa candidate or measureI endorsed not won. Oneof thepublic’s “assignments”foratruenewspaper is todothehomework and craft cogentandpersuasive arguments for itsreaders on such matters

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

Vote NO on Initiative 83 in D.C.

If you want a say in primaries, then register and join a party

There are two parts to Initiative 83 and many agree they should never have been put together in one initiative.

One part was designed to create an open primary system allowing voters who are unafﬁliated with a political party to vote in any party’s primary election. If this passes those who call themselves ‘independent’ voters, could vote in a Democratic primary to help choose the candidate who would represent the party in the general election. If you look at current national polling for president, you see close to 50% of so-called ‘independent’ voters are planning to vote for Trump. I don’t want any of those voters helping to select a Democratic nominee. Just imagine the games they could, and would, play.

I urge those who claim to be independent to speak out and get involved in the political process. Not everyone is going to be as involved as I am, having worked for a progressive congressperson, Bella S. Abzug (D-N.Y.); as coordinator of Local Government for the City of New York; written campaign speeches and helped write candidate platforms; and raised money for many Democratic candidates. But nothing stops any independent from doing all those things. If you choose not to, but still ﬁnd one of the candidates running in a Democratic primary, or for that matter in the Green Party, or Republican Party primaries, and want to support them, D.C. makes that really easy. You can register for that party up to 21 days before the primary. You can do it online. If you are not even motivated enough to do that, you shouldn’t get to vote in the primary.

The initiative also establishes ranked-choice voting (RCV) for elections in Washington, D.C., beginning in 2026. A ranked-choice voting system is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. If a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, he or she is declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. First-preference votes cast for the failed candidate are eliminated, and counting the next-preference choice indicated on those ballots. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of the adjusted votes. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority.

The person who initially proposed this initiative in D.C. is Lisa D.T. Rice, a Ward 7 ANC commissioner, who claims independent voters are currently disenfranchised. Lisa, you have disenfranchised yourselves when it comes to a primary. It is your choice to not register for a party. We know from history that ‘independents’ lean either Republican or Democratic. They have no independent platform. Generally, initiatives like this are brought to you by one of two groups. One thinks they are being “progressive;” the other simply deems getting involved in party politics not worth their time, or beneath them.

I have spoken to several people who support this initiative, and they think it’s ﬁne to let others ﬁght over the party principles and platform, and then step in and tell the party who should represent them in the general election. Others, including some Republicans, have told me they think open primaries would be a great way for them to have a voice in choosing the Democratic candidate. They recognize in D.C., which is overwhelmingly Democratic, the winner of the Democratic nomination nearly always wins the general election. My response to them is, if they want to help choose the Democratic candidate, just register as a Democrat. You can still vote Republican in a general election. Also remember, D.C.’s Home Rule charter ensures two members of the Council be non-Democrats.

People usually choose a political party when they register to vote based on the general philosophy of that party. Then they work within it to bring to the fore issues they care about. Today there is a huge difference between political parties on issues. So, I question what makes the decision so difﬁcult for some.

The reason you have party primaries is not everyone in the party agrees on a candidate. I support the idea we should not have candidates representing us in the general election who can’t get 50% of the primary vote. The answer to that is simple. Hold a run-off election between the top two candidates, if no one reaches 50%. These run-offs can be held two weeks after the initial primary. This has been done successfully in many cities and states. Some question the cost of this. But that is irrelevant in D.C. where the City Council passed legislation to spend millions on public ﬁnancing of candidates, making it so easy to access that money, we end up with seven, eight, and even nine candidates for each ofﬁce. Most of them having no chance in hell of winning.

ALEX BITTERMAN is a professor in the Department of Architecture & Design at Alfred State University. DANIEL B. HESS is a professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo.

LGBTQ voters eager to head to the

polls

Here’s why that matters

A September 2024 poll by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation found that 95 percent of LGBTQ+ adults in the U.S. are registered to vote. This startling statistic is in sharp contrast to the general population, where only 69 percent of U.S. citizens over 18 years of age are registered to vote, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Further, the Human Rights Campaign poll found that 93 percent of LGBTQ+ adults are motivated to vote in the November 2024 election. This poll suggests that sexual minorities, as members of the LGBTQ+ community, represent a significant and powerful voting bloc. A 2022 Gallup poll found that 7.1 percent of the U.S. population identifies with the LGBTQ+ community, with higher shares among younger generations. Voter registration, perhaps in part, stems from social activism. Queer people are no strangers to the fight for human and civil rights. Hard-fought advances have been made by supporting elected officials who recognize and protect the queer community and the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals. Based on our decades of research on cities and culture and LGBTQ+ studies, we suggest three reasons that the LGBTQ+ community is registered to vote at record levels and motivated to vote.

• The LGBTQ+ community is motivated to participate, engage, and act. Through a long track record of ﬁghting for rights through protest, strategic lobbying and grassroots action, members of the LGBTQ+ community have fought many hard-won battles. Victories for LGBTQ+ people include federal legislation and U.S. Supreme Court actions that have expanded the legal rights of LGBTQ+ citizens in marriage equality, military service, and hate crime protection.

Though many rights have been gained by LGBTQ+ people, the status of these rights remains tenuous and under assault. Still elusive, for example, is equitable access to employer healthcare for same-sex couples and spouses and equal protections in workplaces; distressingly, it still remains legal for businesses to choose not to provide services to members of the LGBTQ+ population, which was re-afﬁrmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024. This license to discriminate perpetuates oppression against sexual minorities by setting up social boundaries.

• LGBTQ+ rights are threatened with assault, making the 2024 November elections urgent. Project 2025 threatens the societal well-being of individuals who identify as LGBTQ. Many members of the LGBTQ+ community are worried by the bellicose insinuations made in the Project 2025 policy platform published by the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation. Project 2025 would undoubtedly constitute an unofﬁcial policy agenda if he is re-elected. Project 2025 threatens to strip away equal rights for many minority groups, including the LGBTQ+ population. The plan views sexual minorities and same-sex relationships as inconsistent with conservative family values, and it would seek to abolish, if not overturn, same-sex marriage.

Project 2025 is not only dangerous to those who lean left politically, it is dangerous for everyone as it undermines well-established law, practice, and precedent in our country. It is authored by a group seeking to circumvent the legal structure to set policy in a way that has never been done before in America. To further its radical agenda, Project 2025 proposes constitutional amendments and a revision of the way our government conducts business. Surprisingly, aside from serving as a talking point, Project 2025 remains largely unaddressed by the left, with the current administration taking no concrete action to address it.

• The LGBTQ+ community is motivated to vote in any election because LGBTQ rights are constantly under threat. With Project 2025, the upcoming November election becomes increasingly important to LGBTQ people, because Project 2025 squarely places LGBTQ+ rights under direct attack with the immediate threat of being rescinded or retrenched. The LGBTQ+ community possesses meaningful experience ﬁghting for equal treatment. For centuries gay, lesbian, transgender, and queer individuals have been scrutinized, harassed, and treated differently by heteronormative society. LGBTQ+ people have learned how to organize, how to band together for safety, and how to motivate communities into action.

If LGBTQ people formed their own political party, it would surely be a successful one. If the LGBTQ+ voting bloc were its own party, it would count an endless string of ﬁrsts among the elections of governors, senators, mayors, and scores of others. Democrats love LGBTQ people, because LGBTQ people vote for Democratic candidates more frequently. While some Democratic politicians have helped in the ongoing ﬁght for LGBTQ rights, far too many have stood by silently while rights came under assault.

‘The Loves of My Life’ is not for prudes

Edmund White’s thoughtful read about pursuing pleasure

By CHARLES GREEN

Celebrated author Edmund White is just as proliﬁc with men as he is with books. “The Loves of My Life” is a steamy memoir about his decades-long sex life. Now in his 80s, he’s had, in his own words, “thousands of sex partners” and this book recounts many of them, including some many amusing, some poignant, stories.

A warning: this book is not for prudish readers. White describes his encounters in lovingly explicit detail, fondly recalling his partners’ equipment and their skills. Some were shockingly creative: one partner belonged to a “ﬁsting colony” where another member once inserted a football into a man, requiring surgery.

White began early, as a teenager sleeping with other boys at his boarding school, neighbors, and the son of his mother’s lover. Later, working for his father’s business, he picked up male hustlers. He would take these predominately “straight” men to cheap hotels for one-sided, quick affairs; many kept their socks on during. Some threatened violence afterwards, demanding more money or that White spend more time with them.

As an adult, a sex worker he took to a country home to help get clean spent nearly all his time alone in the bedroom, leaving only to pick up meals.

White lingers on his experience with Stan, “my ﬁrst husband.” They met in college, at a play Stan starred in. Moving to New York, they lived together off and on as Stan found acting work. He became involved with a group led by a former Marine, who kept the party going with drugs and orgies. Thankfully, he would later leave and get clean.

White had many memorable adventures abroad. Visiting Puerto Rico, he and his partner went home with two men they met on the beach; the natives laughed during, speaking mostly Spanish. In a park in Spain, he encountered a man who robbed him after propositioning him. Because homosexuality was illegal, he couldn’t go to the authorities, although they had a quickie afterwards. Years later, he rented a house in Madrid with a younger, Spanish lover, who took him to “geezer” clubs, but who threw tantrums if White spoke to any men there. He felt like a housewife, keeping the home spotless and prepared to satisfy his partner anytime, only once visiting a museum.

The book’s tone is generally humorous, although White recounts how, when he was a young man, many gay men saw themselves. Most only wanted to sleep with straight “trade,” which carried the threat of violence. Even successful professionals thought they were “sick.” White saw a therapist hoping to become straight. While the community’s self-image has improved considerably, there are still plenty of hang-ups. White’s younger friend Rory, for instance, Asian, athletic, and intelligent, only loves white men and feels depressed if one doesn’t return his affections.

He surprisingly doesn’t talk much about his husband, Michael, apart from him walking in on White with a lover and an airplane encounter. It might be useful to hear how they met, and their arrangements with other partners. Perhaps their relationship was off limits.

Mixing self-deprecating anecdotes with insights into writing and literature, “The Loves of My Life” makes for a fun, yet thoughtful read about pursuing pleasure.

‘The

A Sex Memoir’

By Edmund White

c.2025, Bloomsbury Publishing | $27.99 | 256 pages

Loves of My Life:

Friday, November 01

CALENDAR |

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

GoGayDC will host “First Friday LGBTQ+ Community Social” at 7 p.m. at P.F. Chang’s. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea-sharing, and community building. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Saturday, November 02

GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community 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.

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

Sunday, November 03

GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Dinner” at 6:30 p.m. at Federico Ristorante Italiano Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. Guests are encouraged to come enjoy an evening of Italian-style dining and conversation with other LGBTQ folk. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

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.

Monday, November 04

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.

OUT & ABOUT

DC Center to host queer market

The DC Center for the LGBT Community will host “Metro Queer Market” on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 11 a.m. at its ofﬁces at 2000 14th St., N.W., Suite 105.

Guests will have the opportunity to check out the center’s closet. Clothes, shoes, accessories and other items will be available.

For more details, visit the DC Center’s website.

Are you a senior who likes to cook?

The DC Center for the LGBT Community will host “Seniors and Safety with the USDA” on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m on Zoom. This lecture will cover a variety of topics including food safety tips, leftover safety and more. To RSVP, visit the DC Center’s website.

The DC Center for the LGBT Community will host ‘Seniors and Safety with the USDA’ on Thursday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m on Zoom.

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Tuesday, November 05

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 Facebook.

Universal Pride Meeting will be at 7:00p.m. on Zoom. This group seeks to support, educate, empower and create opportunities for people with disabilities. For more details, email andyarias09@gmail.com.

Wednesday, November 06

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.

Virtual Training on LGBTQIA protections in D.C. will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Guests will learn about LGBTQIA rights and protections against discrimination and the ability to fail claims with the DC Human Rights Ofﬁce. For more details, visit the DC Center’s website.

Thursday, November 07

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 202-682-2245.

Virtual Yoga with Sarah M. will be at 7 p.m. 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.

FALL SALE Save 25% o all trees, shrubs & perennials in November.

SAVE 20% o all pottery (terra cotta excluded)

M-F 8am-7pm Sat 9am-6pm Sun 10am-5pm

Signature’s fresh take on classic ‘Forum’

Actor

For out actor Mike Millan, Signature Theatre’s production of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” couldn’t feel fresher.

Set in ancient Rome, the 62-year-old Tony-winning hit (music with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart) borrows from Roman comedy, farce, and a dash of bawdy vaudeville to the tales of slaves, soldiers, courtesans, and a lovesick young man.

Millan plays Hysterium, a nervous slave in the House of Senex, whose tagline reads “I live to grovel.”

“I’ve never done ‘Forum,’ so to me it’s like a new work in many ways,” he says. “And because it’s older and has a classic musical point of view and we’re doing it now, it’s as if we’ve been given a lovely opportunity to make it our own.”

And indeed, they are doing just that. Directed and choreographed by Matthew Gardiner, the Signature production is introducing new bits and playing with gender: the central character Pseudolus, a sly slave role created by Zero Mostel, is played by Erin Weaver; Erronius is played by Sherri Edelen in drag; and two male actors and one nonbinary actor play courtesans.

Though Millan, 35, is based with his partner in Los Angeles, he regularly travels to New York and is pleased to make Signature in Shirlington an additional destination on his bicoastal work journey. Recently, the affable actor took time to talk about Signature and “Forum.”

WASHINGTON BLADE: A little about the brilliantly named Hysterium, please.

By PATRICK FOLLIARD

MIKE MILLAN: As a gay actor, I can say that Hysterium is one of the gayer characters I’ve ever played. He’s a sort of fop and he’s in drag most of the second act. How can you not see him as a queer character?”

When the part was written it was sort of gay coded and now it’s just abundantly clear, you don’t think twice about it.

BLADE: “Forum” is unapologetically fun. Is now the right time for a romp?

MILLAN: The show comes with a level of escapism that is really infectious. During these tense times, it feels great to be doing a silly musical. We’re doing fart jokes in tunics, and the material and jokes really hold up. You’ll feel better leaving than when you came in.

BLADE: All that and a Sondheim score too?

MILLAN: He’s the reason I’m here. In high school, I discovered his “Into the Woods” and remember locking myself in my room until I knew every word to “Giants in the Sky.”

“Passion,” “Follies,” I love it all. He’s so singular because he writes from a perspective of acting and storytelling; Sondheim touches me in a way that feels quasi-religious. When I think about the number of times I sang “Last Midnight” alone in my car, it ﬁlls me with a joy that I’ve never gotten from any other composer or jukebox musical.

BLADE: In 2022, you played Idina Menzel super fan Jeff in “Which Way to the Stage” at Signature. Are you glad to be back?

MILLAN: Yes, I’m happy to be employed. It’s a tough business. Not only are we asked to be great singers, dancers, actors, and performers but we’re asked to have a social media presence and to be the most popular kid in school.

Signature provides a safe environment to try something new and different, to experiment with a community that respects doing that. Also at Signature, it never feels like any audience members are being dragged by their partners to see a show. It’s a supportive community.

BLADE: Speaking of partners, do you miss being away from home?

MILLAN: Sometime it’s nice to have that time away from each other; it builds a little mystery.

BLADE: Will your performance change between now and January?

MILLAN: In recent years, I’ve changed my acting approach from cracking the code on how to play a character to inviting the audience on a journey and making them part of the process.

I was raised in musical theater, but by doing comedy, standup, and improv, I’ve come to ﬁnd the joy of failure freeing. And I like being part of a changing show. I like the idea of somebody being able to say “I was there the night Patti LuPone yelled at the guy who took a picture.”

BLADE: An unexpected moment.

MILLAN: Of course, I go in with certain things I have planned out, but I like the element of excitement that anything might happen. And I think the audience should feel that way too.

MIKE MILLAN (Photo courtesy of Signature Theatre)

Spain Flamenco Arts & FECACE (Spain) SER.RANA

Choreographed & performed by Sonia Franco NOV 7 - 10 |DC PREMIERE

Flamenco Aparicio Dance Co. LO MEJOR DE EDWIN

Choreographed & directed by Edwin Aparicio NOV 15 - 17

Marc López & Monserrat Martínez (Spain) INTIMATE FRIENDS OF FLAMENCO

NOV 22 - 23 |WORLD PREMIERE

A writer finds his voice through sex work in ‘Sebastian’

An engaging, sexy, and thought-provoking ride

By JOHN PAUL KING

When Finnish-British filmmaker Mikko Mäkelä’s film “Sebastian” premiered at the 2024 Sundance Festival, he told Variety he wanted his movie to provide a “frank and honest portrayal of queer sexuality.” That’s surely enough to lure queer audiences – particularly gay male audiences, thanks to its gay male protagonist – with the promise of steamy onscreen sex, and his movie, now available on VOD platforms after a limited theatrical release, certainly delivers on it.

That, however, is only half (perhaps less) of what it’s all about, because, like its title character, it lives in two worlds at once.

In fact, “Sebastian” isn’t even his real name. He’s actually Max (Ruaridh Mollica), an aspiring writer who works a “survival job” at a literary magazine while working on his first novel – a “pseudo-memoir” chronicling a gay sex worker’s encounters with various clients. It’s not exactly “pseudo,” though; the experiences he writes about are real, gained by advertising himself on a website for gay escorts to obtain “research” for his book. The results are getting him noticed, and a publisher (Leanne Best) is interested in the completed manuscript – but he finds his focus being pulled away from his “real” life and deeper into the anonymous thrill of exploring his own sexuality in the safety of an assumed identity.

It’s not just his work that’s affected; among the other things that begin to suffer from his growing obsession are his relationships: with his co-worker and bestie, fellow aspiring writer Amna (Hiftu Quasem); with his conservative mother back in Edinburgh, who already disapproves of his lifestyle in faraway, hedonistic London; and to a much older client (Jonathan Hyde) with whom “Sebastian” has developed an unexpected emotional attachment. Most of all, it’s his own sense of identity that is caught in the conflict, as he tries to keep both sides of his double life together while preventing his whole world from falling apart.

It’s a story with a lot of irons on the fire – a quality it seems to share with the novel its protagonist is writing, much to the irritation of his would-be publisher. What begins as the saga of a fledgling male escort – we first meet Max during his first booking as “Sebastian,” after all, suggesting almost from the start that it is this persona that is our true protagonist – soon shifts into that of an ambitious-but-frustrated young author attempting to fuel his creativity through lived experience, laced with the ongoing thread of his own sexual awakening and self-acceptance. It even makes overtures toward an unexpected (and unorthodox) love story, before venturing down a darker path to become something of a cautionary tale, a warning against the dangers of leading a compartmentalized existence and allowing the gratification of one’s personal appetites to overshadow all the other facets of our lives. Along the way, it throws in some commentary about the tense dynamic between creative expression and commercialism in the arts, not to mention the reinforcement of stigma and negative attitudes around sex workers – and sex in general – through the perceptions and representations created by social traditions and popular culture.

This latter perspective might be the key to what is really at the heart of “Sebastian” all along, toward which Mäkelä’s screenplay hints with a description of Max’s work-in-progress as being about “the shame of being

ashamed.” From the beginning, it is his own fear of being found out that becomes his greatest obstacle; far more than his reluctance to cross lines he’s been raised to respect, it’s the dread of having his reputation and his prospects shattered that causes him to waver in his path – and that feeling is not unfounded, which is in itself a telling indicator that the power of social judgment is a very real force when it comes to living our authentic lives. Indeed, his personal taboos are quick to fall away as he pursues his undercover “research”, but the guilt he feels about being caught in a social position perceived as “beneath” his own is something he cannot shrug off so easily. With so many generations of religious and societal dogma behind them, such imperatives are hard to ignore.

Yet, there’s yet another aspect of “Sebastian” to discuss, that, while it is self-evident in the very premise of Mäkelä’s movie, might be easy to overlook in the midst of all these other themes. A story about someone pretending to be someone else is inherently about deception, and Max, regardless of his motives, is a deceiver. He deceives his clients to obtain the material for his writing, and he deceives his employers and his publisher about where he gets it; he deceives the people closest to him, he deceives potential romantic partners – but more than anyone else, he deceives himself.

It’s only by becoming honest with oneself, of course, that one can truly find a way to reconcile the opposing sides of our own nature, and that is the challenge “Sebastian” sets up for its protagonist, no matter which name he is going by in the moment. Whether or not he meets it is something we won’t spoil, but we’ll go as far as saying that a breakthrough comes only when Max is forced by circumstance to follow his instincts and “get

honest” with someone – though we won’t tell you who. In the end, “Sebastian” satisfies as a character study, and as a journey of self-acceptance, largely thanks to a charismatic, layered, thoroughly authentic performance from Mollica, a Scots-Italian actor of tremendous range who convincingly captures both sides of Max’s persona and transcends them to create a character that incorporates each into a relatable – if not always entirely likable – whole. Mäkelä’s steady, clear-eyed direction helps, as does the equally dignified and vulnerable performance from veteran character actor Hyde, whose chemistry with Mollica is as surprising as the relationship they portray in the film.

Even so, “Sebastian” suffers from the many balls it attempts to keep in the air. Though it aims for sex-positive messaging and an empathetic view of sex work, it often devolves into the kind of dramatic tropes that perpetuate an opposite view, sending mixed messages about whether it’s trying to diffuse old stereotypes or simply reinvent them for a modern age of “digital hustlers.” Further, in its effort to offer an unfiltered presentation of queer sexuality, it spends perhaps a bit more screen time than necessary showing it to us as explicitly as possible while omitting all but a glimpse of full-frontal nudity, but just enough to conjure the word “gratuitous.”

Don’t get us wrong, though; Mäkelä’s movie – only his second feature film effort to date – is an engaging, sexy, and ultimately thought-provoking ride, even if its tangled ambitions sometimes get the better of its narrative thrust, and it comes with our recommendation.

It’s just that, one of these days, we’d really like to see a movie where sex work is honestly portrayed as a job, just like any other – but I guess we’ll have to wait until society is ready for it before we get that one.

RUARIDH MOLLICA in ‘Sebastian.’ (Image courtesy of Kino Lorber)

BOOKS Randy Rainbow doesn’t hold back in new book

Something snide and cynical that’ll make you laugh

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

Whine, whine, whine.

You got something to say, say it. Got an opinion? The world is waiting. It doesn’t do any good to mutter, sputter, or whine when something’s bothering you. As in the new book, “Low-Hanging Fruit” by Randy Rainbow, take it to the complaint department.

Randy Rainbow has a lot to say, and he’s not afraid to say it.

For starters, he’s “resigning from trying to fix you, effective immediately.” Any boneheaded thing you want to do now, whatever. Nothing is his responsibility anymore. He has other issues to worry about.

“The truth is,” he says, “I have a lot of complaints about a lot of things.”

There are right ways of doing things, he says, and there are wrong ways and we just all really need to know the difference – especially if you’re a “Karen.” He’s compassionate if you were born with that name, but not too much.

“I’m a flamboyant homosexual who’s lived my entire life with the name Randy Rainbow, so you’ll get little sympathy from me in this department.”

Other than that, you may wonder what Rainbow’s (ahem) “position” is: he’s actually thinking about running for president as a member of “a Rainbow coalition...” He doesn’t have much experience but, he says, if there’s one thing we’ve learned in the past few years, that doesn’t matter at all. He stands on a green platform, but he can’t ban fluorocarbons because, you know, the hair thing and all.

Rainbow misses his 20s, old-school dating sites, hooking up, and his former attention span. He waxes nostalgic about the places he’s lived, including an apartment overlooking a “fruit market.” He wonders why teenagers are suddenly “successful lifestyle gurus.” He hates when “stars begin losing their luster” and he wishes again for actors like Hayworth and Garbo.

But, he says, “Diva-complaints aside... I really do thank God for all the opportunities I’m given.”

So the elephant in the room right now might be one you’ll (never?) vote for, but you know that author Randy Rainbow will reliably skewer that political animal online, hilariously. The fun-poking continues in the most deliciously snarky way in “Low-Hanging Fruit.”

‘Low-Hanging Fruit’

By Randy Rainbow

c.2024, St. Martin’s Press | $28 | 224 pages

And yet, that’s not the only subject Rainbow tackles. Readers who love catching his posts and videos are treated here to a random string of observations, opinions, and rants-not-rants, with the signature sassy style they’ve come to expect. What you’ll read can be spit-out-your-wine funny sometimes, and other times it touches a nerve with nods toward culture, new and old, that’ll make you nod with recognition. Nothing in Rainbow’s path goes without sharp-edged comment, which is exactly what you want from his books. Unexpectedly, this one also includes a soft word or two and a few slight confessions that are gentle and that might even make you say, “Awwwwww.”

If you’re ready for something snide and cynical that’ll make you laugh, something that you’ll want to read aloud to a companion, “Low-Hanging Fruit” is what you need. Look for this book now and you’ll have no complaints.

High Heel Race Annual drag event ﬁlls

17th Street

The 37th annual High Heel Race was held along Frank Kameny Way on 17th Street, N.W. on Tuesday, Oct. 29. Thousands of spectators gathered to witness the parade of costumed racers pass by. Kenny Monroe of Maryland won the race.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Giuseppe LoPiccolo)

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Transform your home with energy-efficient LED lighting

Add sconces, lamps, outdoor accents, and more

By SCOTT BLOOM

The light-emitting diode (LED) is today’s most energy-efficient and rapidly developing lighting technology. Quality LED light bulbs not only last longer but are more durable and provide comparable or better light quality than other types of lighting. In fact, the inventors of the LED were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 for their groundbreaking invention. This simple bulb has transformed how we light our homes, significantly reducing energy usage and reshaping the future of home lighting.

When incorporated effectively, LED lights into your home can create a visually appealing as well as an energy-efficient environment. Let’s both save on electricity bills and also do this aesthetically well.

As the real estate market in Washington, D.C., continues to evolve, landlords are constantly looking for ways to make their properties more appealing to tenants. One of the simplest yet most impactful upgrades a property owner can make is improving the lighting in their rental units, particularly by using LED lighting. LED technology offers a range of benefits that can transform spaces, improve energy efficiency, and enhance tenant satisfaction.

Incorporating Downlighting with LED Technology

LED downlights are a popular choice for those looking to add modern, subtle lighting to their homes. According to a post on Quora by contributor Nick Chris, “LED downlights can be installed in ceilings to provide direct and focused lighting, perfect for task-oriented areas like kitchens or bathrooms.” The post also highlights that downlights can be used in living rooms to create ambient lighting, adding that “LED downlights are a great option for areas where you want to minimize the visibility of the light fixture itself while maximizing the impact of the light.” By using LED downlights strategically, you can direct light exactly where you need it, providing both functional and aesthetic benefits.

Lighting Dark Spaces: Transforming Basements and Beyond

One of the biggest challenges landlords face is making dark or poorly lit areas more inviting, especially in basements. LED lighting, particularly flat ceiling spots, can dramatically change the ambience of these spaces. Many basements in older homes or rental units can feel dark and uninviting, but by installing LED ceiling fixtures, landlords can make these areas bright, warm, and attractive. Tenants often respond positively to these improvements, as a well-lit basement can shift the overall perception of a property from gloomy to welcoming.

The key benefit of these LED fixtures is that they don’t require much ceiling space, making them easy to install in areas with lower ceilings. This is particularly useful in basements, where ceiling height is often limited. Additionally, these lights can be strategically placed to maximize illumination without overcrowding the room, allowing for better use of the space.

Customizing the Mood

LED lighting provides not only brightness but also versatility. One of the standout features is the ability to adjust both the color temperature and the brightness level. This allows for light customization, from bright, crisp white to a softer, more soothing yellow. For landlords, this flexibility helps in creating comfortable and appealing environments that can suit a wide range of tenant preferences, whether in living rooms, bedrooms, or basements.

Adding lighting inside or out can transform your home.

Many LED fixtures also come with dimmable options, giving both landlords and tenants more control over the lighting. In practice, this means the lighting can be adapted for different times of the day or for various activities, making it a versatile choice for rental properties.

Energy Efficiency

Another major advantage of LED lighting is its cost-saving potential. LEDs consume only a fraction of the energy required by traditional incandescent or CFL bulbs, leading to significantly lower electricity bills. This is beneficial for landlords in common areas or in rental units where utilities are included in the rent, as well as for tenants who are responsible for their own utility payments. With LEDs, landlords can also reduce maintenance costs, as these bulbs last much longer than traditional ones and do not need to be replaced as frequently. This durability is a major asset, particularly in rental properties where long-term reliability is essential.

Enhancing Curb Appeal

Lighting improvements aren’t limited to interiors. LED bulbs can also be used effectively in exterior fixtures to enhance curb appeal. Bright, efficient lighting in entryways, pathways, and parking areas not only makes properties more attractive, but also improves safety for tenants returning home after dark. By installing LED lighting outdoors, landlords can create a welcoming and secure environment for tenants, further increasing the value and desirability of their rental properties. Additionally, the long-lasting nature of LED bulbs means exterior lighting can remain functional for extended periods without the need for frequent replacements.

Tailoring LED Lighting to Each Property

When it comes to lighting solutions, one size does not fit all. LED lighting offers the flexibility to tailor lighting solutions based on the specific needs of each property. Whether upgrading overhead fixtures in living spaces or installing adjustable LED spots in dim basements, landlords can use LED lighting to enhance their properties’ function and appeal. By investing in high-quality fixtures and leveraging the energy efficiency, versatility, and brightness of LEDs, landlords can improve tenant satisfaction and retention, making their properties more competitive in the rental market.

Practical and Decorative Uses for LED Lights

LEDs aren’t just for basic lighting needs; they can be used to enhance the aesthetic appeal of your living spaces. Here are some creative ways to incorporate LED lighting into your home:

Accent Lighting: Under-Cabinet Lighting: LED strips installed under kitchen cabinets not only illuminate your countertops but also add a sleek, modern touch.

Bookshelves and Display Cases: Showcase your favorite books or collectibles by integrating LEDs into your shelves.

Toe-Kick Lighting: Installing LED strips along baseboards or under bathroom and kitchen cabinets adds a subtle and modern glow.

Task Lighting

Desk Lamps: For workspaces, LED desk lamps provide focused, bright light, which can reduce eye strain.

Reading Nooks: Place LED floor or table lamps in cozy corners to create well-lit spaces perfect for reading.

Ambient Lighting

Cove Lighting: Install LED strips in ceiling recesses or coves to create indirect lighting that adds depth and softness to any room.

Wall Sconces: Use LED sconces in hallways or living rooms for soft, ambient lighting.

Decorative Lighting

Fairy Lights: String LED fairy lights over headboards, furniture, or windows to create a whimsical and cozy atmosphere.

LED Candles: Opt for LED candles that offer a flickering effect without the fire risk, perfect for creating a warm ambiance.

Outdoor Lighting

Pathway Lights: Enhance safety and beauty by lining your walkways with LED pathway lights.

Deck Lighting: Embed LEDs into decks or stairs to illuminate your outdoor spaces for nighttime gatherings.

Holiday Decorations

Christmas Lights: LED lights are perfect for decorating your Christmas tree or mantels, providing a festive and energy-efficient glow.

Functional Lighting

Closets: Brighten up closets by installing small LED fixtures for better visibility.

Garages and Basements: Use powerful LED lights in garages and basements for well-lit, functional spaces.

Tips for Effective LED Lighting

Plan Your Design: Thoughtfully plan your LED lighting layout to enhance both functionality and design.

Choose the Right Color Temperature: Warm white (2700K-3000K) is perfect for cozy spaces like bedrooms, while neutral white (3500K-4100K) works well in kitchens and workspaces. For bright areas, opt for daylight (5000K-6500K).

Ensure Dimmer Compatibility: If you plan to use dimmable LED lights, check that they are compatible with your dimmer switches. Energy Efficiency: Always look for LED lights with high energy ratings to maximize your savings.

Whether you’re upgrading your home’s lighting or planning for a renovation, LED lights offer a versatile and energy-efficient solution that can significantly reduce your electricity costs. By incorporating LED technology into your lighting design, you’re not only creating a more comfortable and appealing living space but also contributing to a more sustainable future.

SCOTT BLOOM

is owner and senior property manager at Columbia Property Management. For more information and resources, go to www.ColumbiaPM.com.

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MASSAGE

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One of a kind. Now two.

Ultra-equipped, finely appointed, meticulously kept apartment homes available now in Lanham, Maryland’s new Harkins District.

+ Studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment homes, featuring open floor plans

+ Gourmet kitchens, including quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances

+ Hardwood-inspired flooring and spa-inspired baths

+ Washer and dryer in each apartment

+ TWO Resort-style saltwater pools with cabanas

+ TWO Rooftop bars with lounge seating

+ TWO Clubrooms with billiards

+ TWO Conference and co-working spaces

+ TWO Fitness centers

+ Pet-friendly and pet-free living options

+ Garage parking available for all residents

+ 1.5 blocks to New Carrollton Metro and Amtrak

+ Monthly social resident events