Washington Blade, Volume 55, Issue 46, November 15, 2024
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String of anti-gay attacks rattles community
D.C. man dies of injuries; 12 arrested at Salisbury University
By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com
A string of anti-gay attacks in and near D.C. has rattled the community in the past few weeks.
D.C. police this week confirmed for the Blade that a gay man who worked as a hairstylist and a DJ and who was found unconscious about 5 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at the intersection of 5th and T Streets, N.W. near the gay bar Uproar has died.
Friends who knew the victim, Bryan Smith, stated in a GoFundMe message seeking support for his medical expenses that he was hospitalized for a severe head injury.
A D.C. police spokesperson confirmed that Smith died on Nov. 7 and the cause and circumstances surrounding his death were pending with the Northern Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office.
Police released a video showing two suspects and a vehicle they believe the suspects used in committing the robbery of Smith.
“The ongoing investigation has determined that the man was robbed by two suspects while walking on the block,” according to an Oct. 30 police statement released before Smith died. “Detectives are still working to determine how the victim sustained his injuries,” the statement says.
Smith was found unconscious on Oct. 27 about five hours after another gay man, Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarra, 22, was reportedly attacked and beaten by as many as 15 men and women at the McDonald’s restaurant at 14th and U Street, N.W., according to a D.C. police report and information provided by Lascarra’s husband.
D.C. police announced they made an arrest Nov. 5 of a
16-year-old juvenile male in connection with the McDonald’s case. The arrest came on the same day police released photos of seven suspects in the McDonald’s assault case taken from video cameras at or near the McDonald’s.
In their release of the video showing the two suspects in the Smith case, police are asking that anyone who may recognize the two individuals should contact police at 202727-9099 or text their tip to the department’s TEXT TIP Line at 50411.
Meanwhile, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the assault of a gay man by a group of Salisbury University students has drawn national media attention since last week.
So far, 12 men ages 18-21 have been arrested in the brutal attack. The students allegedly lured the man to an apartment because of his “sexual preferences,” according to local police.
The victim, a male in his 40s, allegedly propositioned someone on Grindr who claimed to be 16 years old, an attorney for one of the suspects told the Baltimore Banner. The age of consent in Maryland is 16.
Once the victim arrived at the apartment, a group of more than 12 suspects emerged from the bedrooms and attacked, punching, kicking, and spitting on the victim while using anti-gay slurs.
The Washington Blade obtained video of the attack apparently recorded by one of the suspects that was posted to TikTok and circulated among students at Salisbury University. In the video, the victim can be seen being struck from behind while seated in a chair, then repeatedly punched as
he tries to flee. The Blade is not identifying the victim and not posting the full video in which the man’s face is clearly visible. Visit washingtonblade.com for the clip.
The suspects are charged with first-degree assault, false imprisonment, reckless endangerment, and hate crimes.
The suspects are: Cameron Guy, 18, of Baltimore; Jacob Howard, 19, of Elkridge; Eric Sinclair, 21, of Mount Airy; Patrick Gutierrez, 19, of Salisbury; Dylan Pietuszka, 20, of Friendship; Zachary Leinemann, 18, of Crofton; Ryder Baker, 20, of Olney; Bennan Aird, 18, of Milton, Del.; Riley Brister, 20, of Davidsonville; Cruz Cespedes, 19, of Jarrettsville; Dylan Earp, 20, of Gambrills; and Elijah Johnson, 19, of Crofton.
The Banner reported that all 12 students have been suspended along with the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, to which some of the suspects belonged.
Two D.C. LGBTQ rights advocates stepping down from jobs Crenshaw leaving Alston Foundation; Czapary departs mayor’s office
By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com
Longtime D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate June Crenshaw announced she is stepping down from her position for the past nine years as executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, the local organization that provides housing and support services for homeless LGBTQ youth.
Around the same time, fellow LGBTQ rights advocate Salah Czapary announced he is stepping down from his position for the past two years as director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Nightlife and Culture.
Meanwhile, a third longtime local LGBTQ rights advocate, David Meadows, was unanimously confirmed on Nov. 1 by the D.C. Council for an appointment by Mayor Muriel Bowser as a member of the city’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which is responsible for administering, enforcing, and adjudicating the city’s alcoholic beverage and medical marijuana laws. Neither Crenshaw nor Czapary disclosed in announcing their departure from their jobs what their future career plans are, and the two didn’t immediately respond to a question from the Washington Blade asking about career plans going forward.
Crenshaw currently serves as co-chair of the committee organizing D.C. World Pride 2025, the international LGBTQ Pride celebration expected to draw a million or more visitors to the city for a wide range of World Pride events in late May and early June 2025.
“After over nine years of unwavering dedication and visionary leadership, our beloved Executive Director, June Crenshaw, has decided to step into her next chapter,” a statement released by the Wanda Alston Foundation board of directors says. “While we will miss June’s daily presence, we are grateful that she will stay on through the transition to ensure a warm, seamless handover as we actively search for our next executive director,” the statement says.
It adds, “Her unwavering commitment to our mission, clients, and team has helped build a foundation of compassion, resilience, and excellence. This transition reflects her readiness to explore new paths and her belief in the bright future of the Wanda Alston Foundation.”
In his own statement, Czapary said he appreciated the opportunity his job gave him to serve the city and its residents and visitors.
“October marked my last month in the Mayor’s Office and I’m grateful to Mayor Bowser for giving me the opportunity to serve as the District’s Nightlife and Cultural Director, supporting our hospitality sector – the sector that makes the city a great place to live and visit,” he said.
“I’m proud of positioning the office as a responsive entry point for industry and residents to interact with government,” he said in his statement. “The role deepened my understanding and love for D.C. in ways I couldn’t have imagined two years ago.”
Czapary added, “As for me, I’m excited about what’s next.” But he gave no indication of his future career plans.
In the past 20 years or longer D.C. mayors have appointed an LGBTQ member of what used to be called the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board or ABC Board before its role was expanded to include marijuana regulations. It currently still uses the name ABC Board to denote Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board.
LGBTQ rights advocates have called for at least one LGBTQ member of the board to provide representation for the important role that gay bars and other LGBTQ establishments licensed to sell or service liquor have historically played in the community.
The board’s previous gay member, Edward Grandis, left the board earlier this year. In a statement released at the time of his confirmation by the Council, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the ABC Board on liquor and cannabis related regulations, issued a statement introducing Meadows as its new board member.
“Mr. Meadows is a long-time Ward 8 LGBTQIA+ community advocate with 30 years of extensive experience serving in leadership roles in District government and civic organization,” the statement says. “Most recently, Mr. Meadows ran day-to-day operations in the Office of At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds as her Chief of Staff and Senior Adviser,” the statement continues.
It says Meadows previously has served as executive director of the D.C. Democratic Party and notes he began his career in the hospitality industry, including serving as events manager for the D.C.-based National Democratic Club. His appointment on the ABC Board is for a four-year term.
D.C. police released a video showing two suspects and a vehicle they believe the suspects used in committing the robbery of Bryan Smith that led to his death. (Screen capture via MPD YouTube)
JUNE CRENSHAW announced she’s leaving the Wanda Alston Foundation. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Longtime D.C. resident served as director of Whitman-Walker
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
| lchibbaro@washblade.com
Antonio Cornelius Baker, whose extensive career in public health included service as special adviser to the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health and as executive director of D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health and the National Association of People With AIDS, died unexpectedly at his home of natural causes on Nov. 9, according to friends and former colleagues.
Among the numerous organizations to which he provided support and guidance was the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, which, upon learning of his passing, released a statement that reflects the view of many who knew Baker.
“A. Cornelius Baker stood with our founder, Elizabeth Taylor, at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS movement and throughout her legacy,” the statement says. “The ETAF officers and staff team join his family, friends and community as we mourn his loss together,” it says, adding, “We find comfort in knowing that his spirit, along with Elizabeth’s, will continue to guide and inspire us and the entire HIV/AIDS movement in our ongoing work.”
A native of New York, Baker received a bachelor’s degree from the Rochester, N.Y., Institute of Technology’s Eisenhower College before moving to D.C., in 1982 for an internship at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He next worked for the Washington City Paper before working in 1983 as a fundraiser for the LGBTQ group Brother Help Thyself.
Biographical information from the D.C. Rainbow History Project shows he worked on U.S. civil rights advocate Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign in 1984 and later that year joined the election campaign of former D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz. Following Schwartz’s election, Baker worked on Schwartz’s Council staff as an executive assistant from 1986 to 1989.
Baker’s LinkedIn page shows he worked briefly in 1989 at the White House Office of Presidential Personnel under President George H.W. Bush before beginning work as a Confidential Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Health at the Department of Health and Human Services from October 1989 to May 1992.
His next career move was to join the National Association of People With AIDS in 1992 initially as policy director and later as executive director, where he served until 1999. According to his LinkedIn page, he next joined the then Whitman-Walker Clinic, which is currently called Whitman-Walker Health, in 1999 as executive director.
“Cornelius Baker led Whitman-Walker through challenging times, strengthening the infrastructure and organizational culture, but always with keen attention to the people we were serving,” said Whitman-Walker’s current CEO, Naseema Shafi. “He brought that commitment to community, to Whitman-Walker, and he continued it throughout all of his years of service.”
He held his executive director’s position at Whitman-Walker until December 2004 when he began work with the National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition as a senior adviser, a position he held until 2014, when he took a position as Technical Adviser for RHI 360, a global research organization specializing in health-related issues. He remained in that position until 2014, his LinkedIn page shows
Later that year he began work as an Acting Deputy Coordinator at the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy. He assumed the position of Chief Policy Adviser for that office in 2015 and held the position until October 2017.
According to his LinkedIn page, he next served as a lecturer with the Hubert Department of Global Health at Emory University for seven years while also working as a special adviser beginning in 2018 to the Office of AIDS Research and the U.S. Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) at the National Institutes of Health. His LinkedIn page says he continued in those two positions to the “present,” possibly up until 2024.
An Emory University spokesperson confirmed that Baker was on the university’s faculty where he lectured and mentored students. Friends of Baker said he had a close friend in Atlanta and most likely spent time with the friend when he lectured there while remaining a D.C. resident.
“The loss of Cornelius Baker, who passed away recently, has left a deep, irreplaceable void in the hearts of those who knew him, worked with him, and were touched by his profound impact on the world,” said Wisdom Ijay, in a write-up for a publication of an organization called Evening Prayer who identified himself as a friend of Baker.
“While Cornelius is most well-known for his contributions to the HIV/AIDS move-
ment, his advocacy work spanned a range of social justice issues,” Ijay said. “His passion for racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and women’s rights made him an instrumental figure in advancing the causes that he cared deeply about,” Ijay states in is write up on Baker.
“When it came to LGBTQ+ rights, Cornelius was an advocate for intersectional activism – recognizing that the right for LGBTQ+ equality was not separate from the broader movements for racial and gender justice,” he states. “He worked alongside other leaders to advocate for LGBTQ+ healthcare rights, fighting for better healthcare policies and social services for LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly in the context of HIV/AIDS care.”
In a statement, Whitman-Walker Health said, “We have lost an incredible hero and absolute giant. Cornelius Baker led Whitman-Walker Health during a time when we needed him most. His tireless care for the people — the community — will be missed. Thank you for all that you have done, fearless leader. Rest well now.”
The Center for Black Equity, a D.C.-based LGBTQ advocacy organization, released a statement calling Baker “a trailblazing advocate whose dedication to health equity, especially for Black and LGBTQ+ communities, changed countless lives.” The statement adds, “Cornelius was a compassionate leader and mentor, an unwavering voice for justice, and a cherished friend to many. His passion, resilience, and commitment to equity in health and rights shaped policy, empowered communities, and uplifted those who needed it most.”
Schwartz, for whom Baker worked on her former D.C. Council staff, stated on her Facebook page that she considered Baker her dearest friend who she often thought of as her second son “for the extraordinary life he led and all the time, effort and love he gave to make the world a better place for all of us.” Schwartz added, “No one had a more brilliant mind or more giving heart.”
Baker was last seen by friends and former colleagues on Nov. 3, about a week before his passing, attending a D.C. reunion reception the Rainbow History Project held for the community leaders and activists, including Baker, it has designated as LGBTQ community pioneers.
The Washington Blade couldn’t immediately determine the cause of Baker’s death or whether plans were being made for funeral or memorial services.
ANTONIO CORNELIUS BAKER died unexpectedly at his home of natural causes on Nov. 9. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Dems must not abandon trans people after Trump’s win: Kierra Johnson
LGBTQ advocates prepared for all outcomes ahead of election
By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com
As Democrats look inward following Vice President Kamala Harris’s electoral defeat, the party must not abandon transgender people or cede the fight to expand rights and protections for the community, National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund President Kierra Johnson told the Washington Blade.
President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, and those run by other Republican candidates, spent tens of millions on anti-trans ads leading up to the election, a messaging strategy that has been credited with energizing the conservative base and ultimately defeating Democrats like U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), who ran for Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) U.S. Senate seat.
Others doubt whether the issue had much, if any, impact on the elections, especially the presidential race — arguing that the results are better explained by headwinds like the post-pandemic disadvantage faced by incumbent leaders around the world, or by the realignment of the American electorate that decisively sent Trump back to the White House.
When she was at Howard University on Wednesday to watch Harris deliver her concession speech, Johnson said she was asked twice whether “the alignment around trans rights was a part of the problem” or whether Harris was doomed by her campaign’s failure to distance the vice president from President Joe Biden. Her response: “God, no.”
Broadly, she said, “it’s pointless to be in this space of, ‘what could the Harris campaign have done differently’ when we’re operating in this context” where authoritarianism and fascism have taken hold while sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, anti-immigrant bigotry, and other forms of prejudice are now expressed so openly.
Plus, Johnson added, the vice president “had, what, 107 days of a campaign? And she got that close — that’s pretty damn amazing.”
Challenging the theory that the anti-trans advertising was effective, she said, is (1) the success of so many LGBTQ candidates like Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride, who made history with her election to become the first transgender member of Congress, and (2) the fact that Trump and his allies did not just leverage anti-trans messaging in their campaigns, but also leaned into other forms of bigotry, from fear mongering about immigrant communities to racist attacks focused on Harris’s biracial identity.
NBC News reported on Friday that hundreds of LGBTQ candidates were elected to public office across the U.S., and many races have not yet been called. According to the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, the number of known LGBTQ people who ran this year, 1,017, marks a 1.1 percent increase from 2020, with more non-cisgender candidates running than ever before.
About 80 percent have been successful. Several, like McBride, have made history. For instance, Hawaii, Iowa, and Missouri will welcome the first transgender representatives to their state legislatures, Kim Coco Iwamoto, Aime Wichtendahl, and Wick Thomas.
“When I see this many trans people who were voted by the people into elected office, some who were reelected into office, I’m hard pressed to believe that that was the winning strategy,” Johnson said, pointing to wins by other trans candidates in Minnesota, Kentucky, New
Jersey, and Illinois.
“The Trump campaign had a lot of bigotry, throughout the first campaign, continuing on till now, that was anti-Black, anti-immigrant, anti-woman, anti-queer, anti-trans,” she said, adding, “There’s an appetite for that kind of racist, bigoted way of doing and being. They did a whole lot of that. And, yeah, I think it spoke to a particular part of their base — and I don’t think that that was about us, what we did or didn’t do right.”
“It’s really easy for us to point our fingers at conservatives, right-of-center [folks] or Trumpers or Tea Partiers,” she said. “But it’s harder for us to admit and talk about racism” and other forms of discrimination and prejudice “that is existent and perpetuated in left, leftist parties and left communities and organizations that are doing social justice work.”
“When I hear people who identify as Democrats saying we need to distance ourselves from trans people and perpetuating this notion that that’s why we lost,” Johnson said, “that is transphobia among leftist political people” and evidence of the need to root out and combat it.
“We’ve got to start building our strategies with our whole community intact,” she said. “Not how we’re going to do this without trans people. Not how we’re going to do this without, you know, evangelical Black people. Not how we’re going to do this without people in the Midwest and the Rust Belt or the Bible Belt. Not how we’re going to do this without immigrants.”
Each of those approaches would alienate critical parts of the Democratic base, Johnson said.
Beyond the work of electing pro-equality candidates, she said the movement and the Democratic Party must “affirm the humanity of all of us and build strategies that put the most vulnerable at the center,” which “means we have to question how things have always been done” along with the systems that were not originally designed to accommodate the full diversity of people they serve.
“Part of it is about representation,” Johnson said, “the presence of non-binary, trans, queer people in the work, in ads, in media. But it’s also a power analysis” that involves, or requires, talking “about trans people not as a separate community of people, but part of the different communities we are in.”
For example, trans people are experiencing the struggle for affordable housing as much as anyone else, she said. “Regardless of the work that we’re doing — prison reform, voting rights, housing access — put our people at the center, trans people at the center, as yet another voice that is a part of that whole.”
The success of LGB and queer and trans candidates last week, and the protections for LGBTQ people and women’s reproductive freedoms in ballot measures that passed in states like New York, were important, Johnson said.
At the same time, “what I want people to understand,” she said, “is we’ve got to move beyond identity politics and representation and really think about how we are building power. So with these wins, how are we leveraging them for gained power in our communities? We’ve got to be working overtime to come up with the pathways and strategies to leverage that power toward progress for our whole community.”
When asked to share a message for the LGBTQ community in the wake of the election, Johnson said “we’ve got to create space and time to feel and heal,” but “we also have to find our organizations, our community partners, our friend groups that we can actually dig in with to get the work done.”
“You have every reason to be mad, sad, confused, frustrated,” she said, “but do not be helpless.”
Johnson added, “Our communities have been resilient through decades, centuries. And that perspective is important. While we are in hard times, our ancestors and foreparents created a lot of progress, and now we’re called to do the same. We have a responsibility to do the same.”
“A lot of our peers didn’t make it to be freedom fighters,” she said, but “we have. Let’s step into that power.”
While LGBTQ advocacy groups, including the Task Force, are expected to lose their seats at the table once the Trump-Vance administration takes over in January, Johnson told the Blade, “That’s all good, because the power is actually in the people anyway.”
“Access to the White House, influence in the White House, is important,” she said, but “that’s never been the end-all-be-all. We know that power is built from the grassroots up, and so that just gives us more time to organize and strategize with our people on the ground.”
“Bring it,” Johnson added. “We’ve got powerful, powerful voices. Folks who are in Texas and in Michigan and Ohio, that that are ready. They’re ready to dig in, to keep this fight going — and to fight smarter, and in a broader, bigger coalition.”
“While we couldn’t have predicted exactly where we were going to be today, the Task Force and other organizations in the LGBTQ movement have been doing scenario planning for months,” she said, “so we’re not caught with our pants down. We’ve run scenarios, and we are already moving to implement different strategies in the communities that we’re working in.”
Johnson highlighted the Task Force’s flagship “Creating Change” conference in Las Vegas from Jan. 22 to 26, where the organization will be “bringing together legal minds to actually do, basically, office hours on-site,” allowing attendees the opportunity to consult attorneys with questions about their rights and protections under the next administration.
“It’s not about advocacy,” she said. “It’s about taking care of our people. I think you’re going to see more of that — in addition to the policy and advocacy work, more is going to be done to actually hold and support and protect our people.”
National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund President KIERRA JOHNSON speaks at the group’s D.C. Board cocktail reception in September. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
In Loving Memory of Joe Patrick
Joe Patrick passed away at the age of 62 on October 23, 2024, in Alexandria, VA. Known for his loving and gregarious nature, Joe’s presence was a joy to his family and friends, and his smile was truly one of his greatest gi s.
Joe leaves behind his husband of 25 years, Rick Bishop. He spent several years as bar manager at Annies, a role he adored and o en reminisced about. Joe’s love for travel and social gatherings was well-known, and he could o en be found contentedly rocking in a chair, enjoying the simple pleasures of life.
A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date, with details to be announced. In lieu of owers, contributions may be made to Food and Friends in memory of Joe. His warmth and kindness will be deeply missed by all who knew him. To donate to Food and Friends: https://impact.foodandfriends.org/give/637065/#!/donation/checkout
Where beauty lives.
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HRC’s Brandon Wolf reflects on Trump’s victory, path ahead
He joined the Blade for a conversation on Rated LGBT Radio FROM STAFF REPORTS
Human Rights Campaign National Press Secretary Brandon Wolf and Washington Blade White House reporter Christopher Kane spoke with Rated LGBT Radio on Thursday, following Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
They covered subjects ranging from the impact of anti-trans advertising by the former president’s campaign and other Republican candidates in down-ballot races to the future of the Democratic Party and what lies ahead for organizations in the LGBTQ movement.
Prior to joining HRC, Wolf served as press secretary for Equality Florida. A survivor of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, he is recognized for his work in LGBTQ advocacy, public speaking and media appearances, and his critically acclaimed 2023 memoir “A Place for Us.” The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
MODERATOR : What is the mood at HRC and what are leaders and staff saying? BRANDON WOLF : Like millions of people, the folks at HRC are heartbroken. I know I can speak for myself in saying that I am most heartbroken for those who have had their humanity questioned for years by Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. I’m most heartbroken for those who have been in the crosshairs, who have seen their freedoms and rights stripped away in state after state, in places like Texas and Tennessee and Florida. I’m heartbroken for the families who have been terrorized by their political leaders for years because of the kind of environment that people like Donald Trump have created, and I’m heartbroken for all the people who aren’t sure what happens next, the people who’ve listened to Donald Trump’s words, who’ve seen the ads that he’s run, who’ve read through Project 2025 and are deeply concerned about what happens next for themselves and their families.
This is a really challenging time, and the obstacles we’re facing are incredibly difficult, but we’ve also been here before as a community. I think about our ancestors a lot. I think about when we were being beaten and brutally assaulted by police officers, we fought back at Stonewall, and birthed a movement when people were dying by the 1,000s of AIDS and leaders refused to acknowledge that pain and suffering. We fought back, we formed Act Up, and we brought ourselves to this moment in time where we have the opportunity to potentially end that epidemic in our lifetime. We have been in incredibly challenging circumstances before, and at every one of those moments, we’ve locked arms with each other. We’ve chosen to get through it together. We dared ourselves to imagine what’s possible when we finally overcome those hurdles, and at every one of those moments, we have been successful. We’ve made progress happen. So, I’m heartbroken by the results of the election, but I’m certainly not feeling broken today.
MODERATOR : What are you hearing from LGBTQ groups you’ve spoken with in terms of their reaction to the election?
CHRISTOPHER KANE : The remarks that we just heard from Brandon actually echo what I heard earlier from Kierra Johnson, who’s the president of the LGBTQ Task Force and Task Force Action Fund. She was saying how we have this rich history as a community of activism, and how brave our forebears have been and how many of our brothers and sisters lost their lives defending our rights.
Something that I think these advocacy groups will be thinking about is what the next administration might cost [them], in terms of their access to levers of power. To what extent is the Trump administration going to work with these groups? And that means kind of a change in strategy, because the focus becomes, you know, political organizing and a lot of the other work that’s so important that these groups are engaged in, right? You know, whether it’s going out into the field and helping people get, in our community, get exactly what they need, Whether it’s providing legal resources for folks, in light of what we’re going to see in terms of regulatory and legal changes over the next administration. So there’s just so much work to be done.
MODERATOR : It seems the Trump campaign sought to divide the community between LGB people on one side and trans and nonbinary communities on the other. VP-elect J.D. Vance saying, for example, that the ‘normal gay guy’ vote would break in their favor.
WOLF : First, I’m loath to let J.D. Vance tell anybody what normal is supposed to be. But the truth is, the data does not bear out that they won any significant part of the LGBTQ+ community. Exit polls show that people in the community backed Harris over Donald Trump by a 70 point margin, 84 to 14. That margin is second only to Black women in support of Vice President Harris. So, the LGBTQ+ community continues to be a very reliable part of the Democratic coalition, and I think that is because of a couple of things: Number one, we understand what’s at stake. We understand what we have to lose in these elections. We understand what we’re up against in Donald Trump. And number two, in Kamala Harris and [her VP pick, Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz, we had real champions for our community — career-long champions who were doing the work of equality even before that was, maybe, politically advantageous or easy for them to do. It was Kamala Harris who was performing some of the first same-sex marriages in California when the country was having a debate over whether or not we should be able to get married at all. It was Tim Walz who, in the late ’90s, as a football coach, was the sponsor of the Gay-Straight Alliance club at his high school.
So, I think you saw that drive turnout in the LGBTQ+ community. That number expands when you get into some of these highly competitive battleground states. In Arizona, equality voters, who are people who prioritize LGBTQ+ equality when deciding who to vote for, equality voters backed Democratic candidates by a 92 to seven margin. So, again, we’re talking about a community that understands what’s at stake, and really showed up in this election cycle.
The other thing I want to address is, you’re talking about the MAGA agenda of driving people apart from each other. This is the old playbook. This is the right-wing playbook that they use every single time. And it’s because the MAGA agenda is not one that is designed to bring people together. MAGA candidates and campaigns don’t have a vision for our country. They don’t fundamentally believe in a multi-racial, multi-generational democracy, and so the only thing they have to offer the American people is division, chaos and hate. They pit neighbors against each other. They turn one community against another. They dare us to build higher walls and taller fences, because so long as we’re fighting with each other, we won’t find the time or the resources to organize against them collectively. And so that is what they have to offer us, this agenda of chaos, division, and hate, and that is what they’ve been trying throughout the election cycle, instead of offering policy proposals to help people address the cost of housing or groceries, instead of offering offering real comprehensive conversations on immigration reform, for instance, they serve up hate and xenophobia and transphobia and general bigotry. So, I think we have to be wary of falling into that same trap.
Continues at washingtonblade.com.
HRC National Press Secretary BRANDON WOLF (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Kamala Harris addresses country after Trump victory
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed a large crowd of supporters Wednesday afternoon, following her loss to former President Donald Trump.
She began her remarks by reaffirming her commitment to honoring the outcome of the election and the peaceful transfer of power.
“I do not concede the fight that fuels this campaign,” she said. “The fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness and the dignity of all people, a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at all best.”
Harris urged her supporters, many of them emotional, not to despair — echoing remarks she has made in the past about the need to keep up the fight for justice.
“Sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. That doesn’t mean we won’t win.
The important thing is, don’t ever give up. Don’t ever give up. Don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place.”
More specifically, she said, “This is a time to roll up our sleeves. This is a time to organize, to mobilize and stay engaged for the sake of freedom.”
“I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time,” Harris said, “but for the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case.”
“But here’s the thing, America, if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billion of stars. The light, the light of optimism, of faith, of truth and service. And may that work guide us, even in the face of setbacks, toward the extraordinary promise of the United States of America.”
CHRISTOPHER KANE
House races could decide Dept. of Education’s future
The Associated Press reports that more than a dozen races for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, including 10 for congressional districts in California, remain too close to call as of Tuesday — a full week after voters cast their ballots on Nov. 5.
Democrats hope that if they can flip the lower chamber, which is now governed by a narrow Republican majority, it might function as a bulwark against President-elect Donald Trump, his incoming administration, and the 5347 majority in the U.S. Senate that his party secured last week.
If, on the other hand, the GOP retains control of the House, the Republican victory would clear a major roadblock that could otherwise have stymied a major plank of Trump’s education agenda: Plans to permanently shutter the U.S. Department of Education.
Congress ultimately scuttled the former president’s effort to do so during his first administration — though, technically, the proposal then was to merge the agency with the U.S. Department of Labor.
The Wall Street Journal notes that some Republicans, at the time and in the years since, have come out against plans to abolish the 44-year-old agency, in some cases even objecting to major funding cuts proposed by Trump that they understood were likely be unpopular.
However, if the second term plans for DOE as delineated in the Trump campaign’s Agenda47 and the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 governing blueprint become a major policy priority once the incoming administration takes over in January, reluctant Republican lawmakers will face tremendous pressure to get out of Trump’s way.
Among other responsibilities, DOE disburses and manages student loans, enforces the civil rights laws in public schools, and provides funding for students with disabilities. The agency’s programs, such as Title I, offer assistance for low-achieving or high-poverty K-12 schools, while Pell Grants help undergraduates who otherwise would not be able to pay for college.
It is unclear whether or how those functions will continue if the DOE is disbanded.
Trump’s aim, at least in large part, is to give states — rather than the federal government — the ultimate say over how their schools are run. At the same time, perhaps paradoxically, the other cornerstone of his education policy agenda is to issue proscriptive rules governing the content, curricula, and classroom discussion that will be permitted in the country’s public schools.
Specifically, this means “critical race theory, gender
ideology or other inappropriate racial, sexual or political” topics or materials are forbidden. Reasonable people are likely to disagree about what is and is not “inappropriate,” and they may well have different, even disparate, definitions for terms like “gender ideology.”
When Florida and other states enacted similar anti-LGBTQ content and curricular restrictions in their public schools, critics warned the ambiguous language in the statute and the resulting confusion would lead to censorship, or perhaps self-censorship, especially for students and staff who, by virtue of their skin color or sexual orientation or gender identity, are more likely to be targeted with targeted or overzealous enforcement in the first place.
According to the National Education Association, “federal civil rights laws prohibit school boards and other employers from discriminating against or harassing staff or students based on their sexual orientation or gender identity,” which “means, for example, that a school district may not prohibit only LGBTQ+ educators from answering students’ questions about their families, may not prohibit recognition and discussion in class only of LGBTQ+ families, and may not require that only LGBTQ+ students hide their sexual orientation or gender identity at school.”
However, the NEA warns, “some school districts, administrators, and the Florida Department of Education may nonetheless choose to do so until a court orders otherwise.”
If officials at a public high school allow heterosexual teachers to display family photos in their classrooms but warn the openly gay teacher that he must put his away or be terminated for violating restrictions on in-school discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, the manner in which the policy was enforced against him would presumably run afoul of the federal civil rights laws, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
The teacher could assume the expense of hiring an attorney to pursue legal remedies, shouldering the burden and the risk that litigation that could drag on for months and conclude with a judgment in favor of his employer. Alternatively, until or unless Trump dissolves the agency, he could file a complaint with DOE’s Office of Civil Rights. Alternatively, until or unless Trump dissolves the agency, the teacher could file a complaint with DOE. The agency’s Office of Civil Rights would evaluate the information he shared to determine whether there were sufficient grounds to open an investigation and, if so, would deploy
“a variety of fact-finding techniques” that can include a review of documentary evidence submitted by both parties, interviews with key witnesses, and site visits.
After the investigation is complete, if a “preponderance of the evidence supports a conclusion that the recipient failed to comply with the law,” OCR will attempt to negotiate a resolution agreement. If the recipient refuses to resolve the matter in this manner, OCR can “suspend, terminate, or refuse to grant or continue federal financial assistance to the recipient, or may refer the case to the Department of Justice.”
According to the DOE’s website, the agency has 11,782 investigations that were open as of Tuesday, with complaints against institutions of all kinds operating in all 50 states, from rural elementary schools in the Deep South to prestigious medical schools, community colleges, and charter schools for students with developmental disabilities. Likewise, the six civil rights laws over which OCR has jurisdiction cover a wide range of conduct, from sexual harassment to discrimination, retaliation, and single-sex athletics scholarships.
Should Trump succeed in abolishing the department, it is not yet clear how those active investigations would be handled, nor how complaints about violations of civil rights law by educational institutions would be reported and investigated moving forward in the agency’s absence.
During his first administration, Trump passed proposed changes to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which retooled the process for reporting sexual assault on college campuses in ways that were widely seen as imbalanced in favor of the accused.
President Joe Biden in April issued new guidelines that featured “significant shifts in how institutions address sexual harassment, and assault allegations while expanding protections for LGBTQ+ and pregnant students,” the American Council on Education wrote. Specifically, the administration provided a “new definition of sexual harassment, extending jurisdiction to off-campus, and international incidents,” while “clarifying protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, and parenting status.”
The regulations sidestepped thornier questions, however, about how schools should approach issues at the intersection of gender identity and competitive sports, specifying only that they should avoid bans that would categorically prohibit transgender athletes from participating.
CHRISTOPHER KANE
Vice President KAMALA HARRIS speaks at Howard University on Wednesday, Nov. 6. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Int’l
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
is the Blade’s international news editor. Reach him at mlavers@washblade.com.
activists offer path forward for American counterparts
Trump’s re-election will not stop fight for LGBTQ rights
Donald Trump early on Nov. 9, 2016, declared victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. My husband and I arrived in Jerusalem less than 48 hours later.
A Wider Bridge, a group that “advocates for justice, counters LGBTQphobia, and fights anti-Semitism, and other forms of hatred,” months earlier had invited us to participate in one of their missions to Israel. It was my first time in the country.
Our first meeting was at the Shalom Hartman Institute, which describes itself as a “leading center of Jewish thought and education” that seeks “to strengthen Jewish peoplehood, identity, and pluralism; to enhance the Jewish and democratic character of Israel; and to ensure that Judaism is a compelling for good in the 21st century.”
The staffer who greeted us welcomed us to Israel. He then pointed out that Benjamin Netanyahu had been prime minister for nearly a decade.
“Now you will know what it will feel like,” he said. His comment was cold comfort to many of us who were still reeling over Trump’s victory. It is also one that has repeatedly come to mind as I continue to process the results of the presidential election and what a second Trump presidency will mean for this country, for me as a gay man, for the community that I cover, and especially for transgender Americans and immigrants who the first Trump administration disproportionately targeted.
The U.S. is certainly not the only country in which voters in recent years have elected authoritarian figures who pose a threat to LGBTQ rights.
Viktor Orbán has been Hungary’s prime minister since 2010. Javier Milei has been Argentina’s president since December 2023. Jair Bolsonaro was Brazil’s president from 2019-2023. Netanyahu was Israel’s prime minister from 1996-1999 and from 2009-2021. He became the country’s prime minister for a third time on Dec. 29, 2022.
Hungary, among other things, has enacted a so-called propaganda law and effectively banned same-sex couples from adopting children since Orbán took office. Milei’s government in August closed Argentina’s National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism. Bolsonaro, among other things, encouraged fathers to beat their sons if they came out as gay and said people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 are at increased risk for AIDS.
Activists who protested against Netanyahu’s proposed judicial system reforms say they would have adversely impacted LGBTQ Israelis. The prime minister postponed these efforts in March 2023 after a nationwide strike paralyzed the country. Israeli lawmakers a few months later approved them after opposition lawmakers stormed out of the Knesset in protest.
Israel, Brazil, Argentina, and Hungary are four of the dozens of countries around the world in which LGBTQ rights have been under attack — and the U.S. will certainly remain on this list once Trump takes office again on Jan. 20. It is certainly a frightening prospect for many in our community, but the activists in the aforementioned countries have not given up, and
their American counterparts should not either.
“I’m not saying it’s not easy, but the direction is so clear,” András Léderer, the head of advocacy for the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, told me in April during an interview at a Budapest coffee shop. “They (the Hungarian government) can try to introduce setbacks. They can make life miserable, temporarily, but, you know, you just can’t go against the entire world in that sense.”
Hamas militants on Oct. 8, 2023, killed Israel Defense Forces Maj. Sagi Golan in Be’eri, a kibbutz that is near the Israel-Gaza border. His fiancé, Omer Ohana, with the support of Israeli advocacy groups, successfully lobbied Israeli lawmakers to amend the country’s Bereaved Families Law to recognize LGBTQ widows and widowers of fallen servicemembers.
“It was a big effort, and a big success,” Yael Sinai Biblash, the CEO of the Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel, told me last month after she attended Golan’s memorial service in a Tel Aviv suburb.
Bru Pereira and Gui Mohallem, co-directors of VoteLGBT, a Brazilian organization established in 2014 with a mission to increase LGBTQ representation in politics, in response to Trump’s reelection said they and others in Brazil are “witnessing how grassroots efforts, particularly from marginalized communities, are crucial in defending LGBTQ+ rights under right-wing governments.”
Donald Tusk became Poland’s prime minister last December after a group of coalition parties that he leads won a majority of seats in the Sejm, the lower house of the country’s parliament. President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the conservative Law and Justice party who opposes LGBTQ rights, remains in office as part of the governing coalition.
Deputy Justice Minister Krzysztof Śmiszek is gay. His partner, former MP Robert Biedroń, a member of the European Parliament.
Magda Dropek is an activist who ran for the Lesser Poland Regional Assembly in Kraków, Poland’s second-largest city, in April. Lesser Poland is among the provinces that had declared themselves “LGBT-free zones” ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Dropek noted in her X post in response to the U.S. election results that Sarah McBride last week became the first openly transgender woman elected to Congress.
Dropek, like others, pointed out Russian President Vladimir Putin and other politicians respond to “antagonized societies” with “populism and (sacrifice) human rights.” Dropek, however, stressed the new Polish government presents an opportunity.
“What happened in Poland a year ago is still an important story that brings hope to others,” she said. “It’s a huge responsibility, but also work, because this is the time to change mentalities and educate using democratic tools. Because we’ve been coping with everything else, grassroots support and organization for so many years, you know yourselves.”
Trump leaves office on Jan. 20, 2029.
Gilead priced several HIV & hepatitis C drugs out of reach for people in developing countries.
A Nation Surging Right Needs Our Higher Angels
NicholasF. Benton FALLSCHURCHNEWS-PRESS
Asfor the election:With thetsunami of blaming that us sincelast week, what areweto think? Blame the U.S. electorate? Howaboutthe ithas todoto survive?The reality is has moved faraway from agrounded politicalcenter,a center the Harris campaignhadanexcellent graspof and laid claim to.
No, thebiggestfactor infact was the relentless impact of the rightwing mediainanenvironmentin which lyinganddeceit are now considered OK.Addtothis theevenmorecritical rolenowof online socialmedia platforms, includingthedubious asXas anopenly pro-Trumpvehicle
The so-calledmainstreammedia has doneplenty,aswell,to shape an overallenvironmentin which Fox News andothers onthe farrighthave beenableto shapethemindsetsof millions
Themajor media are controlled by sixmulti-nationalconglomerates whoseshareholders have a generallyedintheoverwhelming predominance of news coverage.These news organizationswalk aformulatedline offalse “objectivity” while shaping
owners
So,the so-calledmainstream media,theirrelativelymore toxic rightwing siblings and especially social mediaplatforms like X canindeed beblamed for this electoraloutcome, as they wouldhavein2008 with Obamahadtheybeen asprepared as they’ve become in the meantime In thelast century,every edition of the NewYork Councilon ForeignRelations’ annual report had as its onlyappendix a listing of major U.S. newspapers andother media, stateby state, withinformation on theirownershipandpolitical slant Thiswas obviously usedtocapture all formsof the sharingofinformationandopinion, which was clearly successful
Thelosers in thisgame?Everybody but the oligarchy, in America and worldwide, sitting on topof the process
Addto thisthe oft-forgottenrealityexposedin Orwell’s “1984”about howtotalitarianregimescontrolthe mindsof their subjects. That is,the powers control both sidesof the argument. In“1984” this includedthe undergroundopposition.Tyrannies setthe pointand the counter-point alikeand winthrough the exhaustion
In this election, couldtheDemocrats, ostensiblyactingon behalfof all“others” besides theoligarchyand its allies in oursociety, havedone thingsdifferently this time around? Notwithout selling their collective soul
werethe main policyissues. Biden continuestobe one of themosteffective presidents of the U.S.ever, better than LBJ anduptherewith the likes of Abe Lincoln and FDR.But now it’s going totake decades before that isonce again understood.
Of course,thankstothe media, Biden’shistoriceconomicachievements got translated suchthatthey were perceivedasfailuresby millions
On aglobal scale,the wholelast periodhas been dominatedby Putin’s obsessionwithUkraine, andtheheinouswarcrimes that he’sperpetrated there.LosingTrump’sability tohand over Ukraine when Trump lostreelection in2020, Putinresortedto one of themostcriminal,bloody aggressions imaginable with a fullforce military invasion.
Itwasn’t going well for him, soPutin orchestrated the equally abominable Hamasinvasion of Israel13months ago, Hamasbeing a Russian asset operatingthrough Iran.The subsequent horrors in Gaza perpetrated by theoligarchy’s friend Netanyahu isstill owing to Hamas forusing innocent Palestinians, the peopletheyclaimto represent, as shields.
But make no mistake,Russia’s invasion ofUkraine hasas its clear objective eventualcontrol over all of Western Europe.
Thetaskbefore us now isoneof damage control anda longer-term very serious commitmentto restore the brain cells of America.Itisamoralchallengelike none wehave faced sincethedaysoftheHolocaust. This isnot astrugglebetween“left”and “right,” it is between upand down betweenthebetter angelsof our natures versus the dark ones.
PETER ROSENSTEIN
is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.
Democrats must stop the circular firing squad
Instead focus on blocking Trump’s
agenda
Democrats should take a moment before they go after each other and try to assign blame for the loss. There is plenty of time to do that. From Nancy Pelosi, to Bernie Sanders, each has already voiced their thoughts on who they think is to blame, but it’s too soon for that.
Democrats should remember Joe Biden is president for more than two more months, and we should be working to make him as strong as possible. There is much he can do in that time, including getting out the budgeted money for environmental issues. Then let’s focus on what the Senate can do, while it is still in the hands of Democrats. Among other things they should confirm a lot of new judges. We know if Republicans were in this situation they would do that. Then on Jan. 21, we can begin the work of rebuilding the Democratic Party where it needs rebuilding, and start the work toward electing Democrats in the 2026 midterm elections. The work needed now is being done by those like Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, who is calling a special session of the legislature to deal with the expected Trump policies that could impact the state. Other Democratic governors, with Democratic legislatures, are doing the same. That is what has to be done now.
Then the Democratic Party has to finally rid itself of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) who has the nerve to attack the party that allowed him to run in its primaries even though he is not a Democrat. The party gave him all their lists and he has used them to raise money, sell his books, and earn enough to buy his third home. He has never really accomplished much in all his years in Congress. I am sick of listening to him attack the party.
I may not like it, but understand why journalists, and opinion writers, and all the useless commentators on cable TV, like Van Jones, who get paid to be there, all want to make a headline for themselves. The pontificators will all say dumb things, and try to outdo the person sitting next to them. It’s what they get paid to do. So, as is my choice, I have stopped watching any cable TV. But when Democratic politicians do the same thing, I am much less accepting. The election is over, and you don’t need to do it now. You don’t need to attack other Democrats just to try to get your own headline. Hold off a little, take a breath, and let’s all look at the results when we have them all. As I write this, we don’t even know who will win the House of Representatives. Instead of attacking your own party, attack Trump and the Republicans who are proposing things that will hurt your constituents. There is plenty to attack them on already.
It is pretty clear Trump will not get everything he campaigned on done. He won’t solve the world’s problems in 24 hours. So, let’s develop some ways to attack his tax plan, and let’s keep warning people who voted for him how he will end up hurting them. Let’s talk about tariffs and how bad they can be for the average American. Because we lost this campaign, it doesn’t mean the things we fought for were wrong. Giving new parents $6,000, or helping start-up businesses with more loans and tax cuts, are things still worth fighting for. We know we have to develop new messaging, and that is what we can work on now and try it out. Democrats can do that without attacking each other.
Instead let’s celebrate those who won. The senators who held on to their seats, like Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.). Then all the LGBTQ members of Congress who were reelected. New members of Congress like Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) and the first transgender woman elected, Sarah McBride (D-Del.). Then the two African-American women elected to the Senate, Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D-Del.), and Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.). We really do have some things to celebrate.
Once again, it’s time to stop the circular firing squad, and take that breath. There are groups planning a March on Washington and those of us who are fighters, will be there. We will be there to fight for Democrats in the 2026 mid-term elections. We will be there to join hands again. But there is some time, take a breath and manage to hold your tongue for just a little bit, before going on the attack against your own.
Should gay snowbirds cancel Florida amid anti-LGBTQ attacks?
The ethics of soaking up the sun while DeSantis targets our own
By SEBASTIAN FORTINO
The sunny state of Florida has long been a draw for many members of the LGBTQ community, particularly those from cold Northeast states who flock there in winter.
With temperatures cooling off, the annual migration is underway, despite Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his agenda attacking queer rights. Florida’s hostile environment has a long history, including the failed attempt by Anita Bryant to keep gay teachers out of the Miami school district some 40 years ago.
That homophobic tradition continues. In addition to the current administration’s draconian “Don’t Say Gay” law, and DeSantis’s threats to Disney World in Orlando, the LGBTQ section was recently removed from the Visit Florida website.
Travel is perhaps the most important industry for much of Florida, especially the Southeast and many gay couples decide to retire to the land of eternal summer permanently. Then there are those who flock to “winter” in the state.
Tony Adams is a journalist, editor, playwright, and former contributor to the South Florida Gay News. In 2016, he published a book, “Ending Anita: How Two Key West Bartenders Won Gay Marriage for Florida.” He and his husband spend time there every winter. But he finally had enough.
“I didn’t like paying taxes to the DeSantis administration,” he said. “I sold my place in Fort Lauderdale.”
But he cautions against an all out boycott of the state.
“If we desert Florida now, we are depriving our LGBTQ+ businesses of the revenue they need to stay alive,” he said. “For that reason, I still visit Florida whenever I can, especially Key West and stay at the Island House. … Florida has a long tradition of homophobia in politics. In my book I assembled timelines of hatred going back to the 1977 campaign of Anita Bryant against gay teachers in public schools. Floridians get angry and then come to their senses, but maybe it’s just the flatness of the Florida terrain that allows that pendulum to swing more violently than in other states.”
celing their big annual conference there,” Salvato said. “Since they feel that these anti-LGBTQ actions as well as others feel racist. Like the attack on ‘critical race theory’ teaching and attacks on DEI create an unsafe environment for their constituents. This is not good for the economy or reputation of Visit Florida.” He added, this will “take a long time to repair.”
On those like Adams who sold their property but still visit, Salvato notes, “In fact that actually feels like a better reaction than friends who are boycotting the state entirely. To me that makes no sense. The folks in the capital will still draw their salary whether or not you visit your favorite gay guesthouse in Florida. However, the gay owners of that guesthouse or the queer staff will suffer so your boycott hurts the very community who you wish to protect.”
The sheer number of queer people, especially young gay men often escaping hostile families when they graduate high school or before, who find work in the nightlife industry is staggering. Each June, throngs of these young men arrive hoping to find a welcoming community, a job, and a sunny beach.
The Blade reached out to several gay snowbirds from the Northeast for comment for this story; all declined to comment.
Ed Salvato, a leader in LGBTQ marketing and education for the tourism and hospitality industry, weighed in on the deletion of the LGBTQ tourism page.
“The removal felt like erasure, it also felt gratuitous,” Salvato said. “What harm was that information doing to anyone? I speak to many tourism and hospitality professionals as well as frequent travelers, almost all of whom were dismayed and angered by these actions.”
Anecdotally, Salvato said he has heard from friends who are fed up and want to move out. Those who visit frequently are rethinking their upcoming visit to the Sunshine State, he said.
“Recently, I spoke to a woman in Florida very active in hospitality and the diversity, equity, and inclusion space who said she just heard from a large conference of mostly African Americans from Historic Black Colleges and Universities who are can-
“In the instance you cite,” meaning snowbirds who may wish to sell property and visit long-term, “this shifts the benefits around the state so that’s better than a boycott but I think the best thing we can do is to go and support those destinations and suppliers that are daring to continue to reach out to LGBTQ travelers despite the signals sent out by the conservative state government.”
Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, took a similar stance as Salvato. How much money does the state earn from the “gay dollar?” She said “billions.”
“The state not only disrespects a significant contributor to its tourism economy but also sends a dangerous and exclusionary message,” Smith said. “This wasn’t just a petty move — it’s part of a calculated campaign to push LGBTQ people out of public life in Florida. When questioned about why they did this, Visit Florida officials confirmed that this removal was done to align with DeSantis’s hostile policies and rhetoric toward the LGBTQ community.”
Like Salvato, Smith and Equality Florida recommend spending your dollars at LGBTQ-friendly businesses.
“Residents and visitors can also channel their economic influence toward companies that align with their values, sending a strong message that equality and inclusivity matter to them,” Smith said. “Equality Florida is a proud partner of Open To All, a growing coalition of businesses large and small that pledge to be welcoming and inclusive. Customers can search ‘open to all’ businesses on YELP, empowering us to vote with our dollars and support businesses that prioritize and actively advocate for LGBTQ rights.
“In Fort Lauderdale,” she added, “VisitLauderdale.com launched a new social media campaign, “No End to the Rainbows,” to reaffirm their commitment to promoting a welcoming and inclusive environment for all.”
Some gay travelers are wondering if they should boycott Florida over its anti-LGBTQ laws.
CALENDAR |
Friday, November 15
“Center Aging Monthly Luncheon and Yoga” 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 “LGBTQ+ Community Social” at 7 p.m. at DIK Bar. 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 16
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.
The DC Center for the LGBT Community will host “Vogue Sessions” at 2 p.m. Sessions is open to all ages, genders, and experience levels and will be facilitated each-one-teach-one. No shade, no drama, no categories. DJ Tony Play starts spinning at 3 p.m. For more details, email dmvkikinights@gmail.com.
Sunday, November 17
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 18
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.
Genderqueer DC will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a support group for people who identify outside of the gender binary. Whether you’re bigender, agender, genderfluid, or just know that you’re not 100% cis – this is your group. For more details, visit www.genderqueerdc. org or Facebook.
By TINASHE CHINGARANDE
Tuesday, November 19
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 the organization’s website.
Bi Roundtable Discussion will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is an opportunity for people to gather in order to discuss issues related to bisexuality or as Bi individuals in a private setting. Visit Facebook or Meetup for more information.
Wednesday, November 20
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.
“Queer Voices Unplugged on Trans Day of Remembrance” will be at 7 p.m. at Busboys & Poets on 14th Street. This will be a space that allows us to honor our trans siblings, mourn those lost, and celebrate the power and love in our community.
Thursday, November 21
The DC Center’s Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. People will be informed on Wednesday at 5 p.m. if they are picked to receive a produce box. No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org or call 202-682-2245.
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.
OUT & ABOUT
Pianist Jeremy Denk to play George Mason
The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (FSO) and the Center for the Arts at George Mason University co-present Jeremy Denk — one of America’s foremost pianists—on Nov. 23 at 8 p.m. Denk joins the FSO as soloist for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. The concert, conducted by FSO Music Director Christopher Zimmerman, also includes the regional premiere of “She Dreams of Flying” by American composer Quinn Mason, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. Tickets are available through the Fairfax Symphony and the Center for the Arts: $65, $55, $40 and half-price for youth through grade 12 (service fees may apply).
A pre-performance discussion with Denk and Maestro Christopher Zimmerman, moderated by Mason Dewberry School of Music Professor John Healey, will take place in Monson Grand Tier, located on the third level of the Center for the Arts Lobby, 45 minutes prior to curtain.
DC Center to host clothing drive
The DC Center for the LGBT Community will host “Fashion Freeway” on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 11 a.m. Guests will have the opportunity to check out the clothing closet. Clothes, shoes, accessories, and other items will be available. Take what you need, give what you can – donations and contributions are appreciated but not required. The Center will accept most kinds of clothes, but are especially in need of accessories and clothing in larger sizes.
For more details, visit the DC Center’s website.
Pianist JEREMY DENK (Photo credit Michael Wilson)
Bi TV star pivots to theater in intense thriller ‘Data’
Arena production probes topical moral dilemma in corporate
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
Whether it’s a remote location shoot or acting in a play at Arena Stage, former Disney star Karan Brar loves the idea of “sitting somewhere longer than a vacation but short of saying I live there.”
For him, “it’s exciting to experience a new place no matter how stimulating or uninteresting it might be, of running away to a project and focusing everything you can on it, and then coming back to your life in New York and reconnecting and getting all the updates from friends.”
Recently, during a phone conversation the morning after the opening night of “Data” at Arena, a very positive Brar reflected on the experience. “It was a real feat to get it where it was and both the audience and the cast felt good about it. So, I’m happy.”
He plays Maneesh, a queer entry-level programmer at Athena Technologies, a data-mining firm in Silicon Valley. Content to work in the low-stress environment of User Experience, the brilliant though not particularly ambitious new employee undergoes a “crisis of conscience” when a promotion comes his way and he learns the extent to which Athena is willing to go to hide its secrets.
“So much of my lived experience is similar to what Maneesh goes through,” says Brar, 25. “His identity, sexuality, his parents, and his experience with grief.”
When Brar first read the script at home in his apartment, he yelled to his roommate “this play is about me.” Seeing the tremendous similarities, she replied that he had to do the part.
So, despite his utter lack of theatrical experience, he went for it. Playwright Matthew Libby’s “Data” was not only Brar’s first theater audition ever but it’s also his first leading role. There are many firsts connected to the production for him, he says.
At just seven years old, young Brar took stock of his life, a sort of assessment that has occurred every seven years since.
Growing up in Bothell, a suburb of Seattle where all the boys played sports, he knew that wasn’t his bag. Despite being “deeply uncoordinated” he continued trying, but to no avail.
Things changed one Saturday at the mall when he spied an advert for acting classes. His father who’d done some acting in college suggested he give it a shot. Classes became a weekly thing, and that led to finding an agent and then one commercial led to another. His big break came when he answered a nationwide casting and won a part in the film franchise “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” He joined the Disney Channel playing10-year-old Indian adoptee Ravi Ross on the show “Jessie.” With continued success the family relocated to Los Angeles.
His seemingly charmed life took a turn in 2019 when his best friend died unexpectedly and Brar subsequently entered treatment for depression and anxiety. In 2023, he publicly shared these happenings as well as his recovery and being bisexual in a first-person essay for “Teen Vogue.”
“It felt important to me to create congruency between my public and private persona. By being an open book, it’s allowed me to have agency over my own story. It’s also allowed me to connect with other South Asians who don’t always talk about the things mentioned in the essay.”
Admittedly for Brar, the transition from TV/film to stage, and the opposing technical aspects therein, have been daunting.
“Different mediums require different things from actors,” he explains. “I’m eager to do well and meet people at the bar they set for me.”
Staged in Arena’s intimate Kogod Cradle space, under the patient auspices of director Margo Bordelon, he’s been able to make the adjustment to stage including the newness of sitting with material through rehearsals and performances, and sees theater as something he’ll continue to pursue.
“Data” can feel like a relay race, an intense and fast paced thriller. And at 90 minutes without intermission, I don’t think you’ll be checking your watch at any point, he says.
Today, Brar’s main drive is to create projects that start conversations outside of the theater or away from a screen, and he believes “Data” does just that.
“It’s engaging, deeply honest, and complex just as we are as people. And it’s very topical to what’s going on in our world right now, the moral dilemmas we’re facing on a micro and macro scale.”
America
KARAN BRAR (Photo courtesy Arena Stage)
Page shines in trans family drama
‘Close
to You’
Authenticity reinforced by collection of superb performances
By JOHN PAUL KING
As we approach Thanksgiving 2024, it seems safe to say that holiday dinners with the family back home are going to be even more stressful than usual.
Those conversations with cousins and in-laws around the table have always been a minefield to navigate for queer people from traditional families. This year, knowing that the uncle seated across from you voted for somebody who might take away your hardwon rights is sure to make that turkey pretty hard to swallow. With scenarios like that looming large in our minds, there’s a particular twinge of poignance to be felt in watching “Close to You,” a Canadian film from writer/director Dominic Savage in which Elliot Page plays a trans man returning to his small-town family home for his father’s birthday after being away for nearly five years.
Sam (Page) has been living in Toronto, renting a room from a friend-and-surrogate-mother (Sook-Yin Lee) while exploring and adjusting to big-city life as a trans man; now, he’s ready to return home for the holiday, but nervous about the reception he might receive. On the train ride home, he runs into Katherine (Hillary Baack), his “bestie” from school, and the warm – if somewhat awkward – acceptance he feels from her buoys him as he goes on to face his father (Peter Outerbridge), mother (Wendy Crewson), and the siblings and significant others who make up his immediate family circle.
Things go reasonably well, at first, with a warm welcome from Mum, a newfound acceptance from Dad, and a tentative rekindling of connection with his sisters (Janet Porter, Alex Paxton-Beesley), but increasingly aggressive provocations from a transphobic extended family member (David Reale) become difficult to ignore. He finds an escape and some solace with Katherine, who overcomes an initial reticence to reconnect further after their chance reunion reawakens the emotional bond they once shared; but the old feelings and resentments stirred within his family dynamic threaten to derail any chance of true reconciliation at home, reminding him of why he left in the first place.
Moody, raw, and tinged with a melancholy that asserts itself even in its happier moments, Savage’s movie conveys a tone as chilly as the slushy Canadian November of its setting. It takes the audience in close – literally, in the sense that much of it is shot in close-up, tight on its players’ faces as if we were part
of the conversation – to provide a tangible feeling of intimacy and connect us to the emotional perspective of everyone involved. Much of it has an improvisatory feel, with dialogue that sometimes feels tentative or choked with uncertainty, yet allows for the eruption of frequent outbursts and the resonance of eloquently expressed thoughts. And its authenticity is reinforced by a collection of superb performances, with Page (who co-authored the film’s story with Savage) giving a deeply felt star turn as Sam and a gifted ensemble of actors in support. All together, it creates an atmosphere that effectively evokes the feelings of helpless vulnerability that are familiar to so many of us, queer or straight alike, when we return to the scenes of a youth that we longed to escape.
For some viewers, in fact, the film’s constant feeling of low-frequency anxiety will likely be too much. For many, of course, it will hit close to home, and trigger traumatic memories; for those who can’t relate, it may all seem a bit too “doom and gloom,” and others might see its respectful treatment of a trans narrative as being agenda-driven or even dismiss it as “woke” – though truthfully, those who might do that are not likely to be watching it in the first place.
Which is not to say that “Close to You” is a complete downer; there are plenty of uplifting moments, too, when connections shine through and we are reminded that, underneath all the confusion and misunderstandings that have strained Sam’s relations with his family, there is love – even if the characters themselves may not feel it in that moment. Nor does it put all the focus of his emotional wariness on his transness; on the contrary, much of the conflict is focused on feelings of isolation, of being judged for having a different focus to his life than the rest of his very traditional family, and other things which make him
“different” that have nothing to do with his gender. It celebrates the value of “found” family in the glimpses it gives us of Sam’s other relationships, and even gives us a spark of unexpected romance. In many ways, it might even be seen as a “feel-good” movie, were it not for the sense of unanswered sadness that underpins it all.
That, perhaps, is what makes it resonate not just as a trans story (though it is certainly first and foremost that) but one about queer experience overall: the knowledge that, no matter what positive changes are made or how fully one embraces one’s truth and identity, there will always be people who will judge you for who you are. The problem isn’t within you – it’s within them, so it’s something you can’t fix, and there’s a sense of powerlessness that comes from that.
In the cultural climate that has been suddenly thrust upon us in America, that’s undoubtedly a realization that has been haunting many of our thoughts about who we can trust in a society that has repeatedly shown its willingness to cast us out. It’s for this reason that “Close to You” carries an additional impact for queer audiences that might have been intended at the time of its making; after all, that uncle across the Thanksgiving table may have treated you perfectly well your whole life, but when you know that his love for you was less than his concern over the price of groceries, it’s hard to trust him again – and we’ve just been given a sobering reminder that there is a chillingly large percentage of our friends and neighbors for whom the same can now be said.
“Close to You” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023, and was released in Canada and the UK earlier this year, along with limited screenings in the U.S. It’s now available for home viewing via multiple VOD platforms.
ELLIOT PAGE plays a trans man returning to his small-town family home. (Image courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment)
I cheated and my boyfriend won’t forgive me
How do we rebuild trust after an affair?
By MICHAEL RADKOWSKY
Dear Michael,
I cheated on my boyfriend and I can’t get him to forgive me.
A few months ago I slept with another guy. I can’t really explain why I did it. Sam and I have had an agreement to be monogamous and I believe in monogamy. Rick, the “other man” and I, have been friends for a long time and it just happened. Rick is very attractive, I think he has a great personality, we were having dinner together and I’d had a bit too much to drink. We started making out and then left together and went to his place.
Unfortunately, a friend of Sam’s saw us kissing at the restaurant and reported me to Sam. He confronted me and I confessed to everything (not just the kissing).
I am very disappointed in myself and I’ve communicated that, over and over, to Sam.
But he continues to be angry with me. Every time I go out, he tells me to “behave.” He told me I can’t see Rick anymore and he has my “find my phone” feature activated so that he can always check my whereabouts. He also has all my passwords and periodically checks everything. It’s like being randomly drug-tested by my boyfriend.
On one hand, I understand. I’ve destroyed his trust in me and I need to rebuild it.
On the other hand, it’s hard to live with his obvious contempt for me and his skepticism when I am trying to live up to a higher standard, going forward.
The truth is, I am starting to resent the constant scrutiny and contempt. I actually told him that and he blew up at me, telling me that I have no right to feel this way after hurting him as I have done.
Is one episode of infidelity really that bad?
According to Sam, yes — because I did it and didn’t
tell him. He says he never would have known if his friend hadn’t told him about it, and this makes him wonder what else I’ve done, or might do.
All I can say is, I am contrite and told him everything I’d done when all he knew was that I had made out with someone. So I am wanting to be honest.
I don’t know how it’s possible to recover from this.
Michael replies:
You can’t have a loving relationship when one partner is the probation officer and the other partner is on probation. As you are finding, you wind up in a cesspool of resentment and suspicion.
Here’s an alternate approach: First, focus on giving Sam reason to trust you, every hour and every day. This means behaving in a way that is trustworthy.
The big question: What constitutes trustworthy behavior?
Of course, you must consider Sam’s feelings and comfort level in deciding on how you should conduct yourself as his partner. But you can’t base your standard only on what Sam demands; and you can’t do everything he demands.
That’s what you’re doing now, with all the password-checking and location-tracking, and it’s leaving you angry, scared, demeaned, and second-guessing yourself. It’s also unbalancing your relationship, because rather than being two equal partners, one of you is subservient to the other.
One more problem: it’s a fact of life that when people are being watched, they are often tempted to find some way to “cheat.” I’m not saying that Sam’s surveillance should or will drive you to hook up again; but ongoing
scrutiny can certainly lead people to want to hide things. That is not a good dynamic for an intimate relationship. Here’s an alternate way to rebuild trust: Decide for yourself how you want to behave, what standards and limits have integrity for you (again, taking into great consideration what is important to Sam). Strive to live up to these standards. Continue to follow through, day after day. You will feel proud of yourself and solid in your belief that you are a person who is trustworthy.
This may take some time. I understand well that you broke Sam’s trust, and perhaps his heart. You have to build a track record for him to see that you are holding yourself accountable.
You may be facing a dilemma, as frequently happens in intimate relationships. They have a way of forcing us to make tough choices. If you do what you think is best to be a trustworthy partner, and if some of your choices violate Sam’s demands, Sam may end the relationship. On the other hand, ongoing scrutiny and cross-examination may be intolerable for you in a close relationship.
Explaining to Sam why it is important for you to have a boundary at times, in the interest of strengthening and developing a more loving relationship, may be helpful.
While you, the partner who strayed, wrote this letter, there are important points for Sam (or anyone in his position) to consider in the interest of repairing a relationship following infidelity. I will address these in my next column. (Michael Radkowsky, Psy.D. is a licensed psychologist who works with couples and individuals in D.C. He can be found online at michaelradkowsky.com. All identifying information has been changed for reasons of confidentiality. Have a question? Send it to michael@michaelradkowsky.com.)
How do you rebuild trust after an affair?
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Enter this charming enclave of luxury builder EYA’s townhomes. Easy commute to DCA, Crystal City and Washington, DC! This four level, impeccable townhome has been practically planned for urban living. The entry level has an office and/or guest space and entree to the oversized one car garage. On the upper main level this open space features a stunning kitchen with serious storage, and large island (to inspire your culinary creativity), dining area and living room with custom builtin’s. There is a powder room and grilling deck close by. Up another level is the primary bedroom with fully outfitted walk-in closet and luxury bathroom with two sinks. Another bedroom and full bathroom complete this level. The full-sized stackable washer and dryer are located in easy proximity. Up another level is a bedroom, full bathroom and family room. Here is the access to the rooftop deck complete with remote awning for even the sunniest days! Walk to multiple restaurants, parks and close by Braddock Metro Station! LEED-certified construction!
LOW HOA! Discover the perfect blend of luxury and comfort at 810 Snowden Hallowell Way in the heart of Old Town Alexandria! Freshly painted and movein ready, this home is just minutes from DCA airport, Amazon HQ2, and all the excitement of Washington, DC. Don’t miss your chance to call this exceptional property your home!
Fun holiday gifts for car fans
A trunkful of ideas for the gay gearheads in your life
By JOE PHILLIPS
Dodge Igloo Kool Tunes Cooler
Mixing beats with brews, Dodge offers a combined cooler and boombox ($296), with two built-in speakers, LED status indicator, charging port and Bluetooth pairing. You can rock your tunes for up to 10 hours on a single charge. Capacity: 26 (12-ounce) cans.
Lexus Flask and Tumblers
able in black, red, or cream, these preening pumps are designed with a square toe, red lining and natty-looking red pull at the heel. Made in Italy, naturalmente!
Rolls-Royce Cufflinks
Ford Warriors in Pink Mug
Add some spirit—or spirits—to the holidays with a Lexus High Camp Parkside Flask ($140). The stainless steel, vacuum-insulated container has a chic cypress-green finish and can hold the temperature of a full bottle of wine for up to 24 hours. Two tasteful tumblers—inspired by classic stemless wine glasses—fit on the top and bottom of the flask.
Ferrari Baby Romper Outfit
For swaddling any newborns in the family, there’s a festive Ferrari romper ($150). This outré outfit— made of 100% cotton—has the automaker’s famous Prancing Horse emblem on the front and comes with matching baby bib. Expect plenty of pitstops ahead!
Ferrari Plush Pump Shoes
For more prancing, though this time as an adult, Ferrari has a pair of patent-leather pump shoes ($1,291). Avail-
How to up your sartorial game even more? Spirit of Ecstasy cufflinks ($900) from RollsRoyce are crafted in 925 sterling silver, with choice of either a rhodium-plated or dark-ruthenium
finish. And pricing is a bargain, considering the average MSRP of a brand-new Rolls today is $500,000.
Kia Flashlight and Electric Lighter
The Warriors in Pink Mug ($20) from Ford is part of the automaker’s longtime initiative to help fight breast cancer. Both the Susan G. Komen and Pink Fund each receive 5% of the purchase price of the mug, as well as
For outdoor adventures, Kia has a waterproof, rechargeable LED flashlight with builtin electric lighter ($38). The compact flashlight is less than four inches long and come in three modes: full power, half power or—for all of us disco queens—pulsing strobe. And the tail of the flashlight opens up into a windproof lighter. Lanyard and micro-USB cord included.
Cadillac Cabana Towel
Some automakers see everything in black and white — literally. The Cadillac cabana towel ($37), with retro-groovy yarn-dyed stripes, is made of 100% microfiber polyester and measures 60x72 inches.
Cadillac Crew Socks
Cadillac also has a pair of sporty, fully knitted blackand-white crew socks ($59). Bonus: the classy cardboard presentation box.
logo emblazoned in white.
Bentley Napkin Rings
Ringing in the New Year just got a lot more la-dida with a pair of Bentley napkin rings ($97). The diamond-shaped knurling pattern echoes the elegant design on the grillwork, console and upholstery of glam Bentleys. The automaker’s emblem is laser-engraved on the underside of the napkin rings. Available in nickel-plated metal or gold-plated zinc alloy.
Number Nine
Patrons enjoy a night out at LGBTQ bar on Saturday
(Washington
Number Nine was lively on Saturday night. The Logan Circle venue was voted “Best Neighborhood Bar” in the Washington Blade’s Best of LGBTQ D.C. 2024 reader’s choice awards.
Blade photos by Giuseppe LoPiccolo)
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
Who are the people involved in a real estate transaction? Lenders, agents, inspectors, and more play a role
By JOSEPH HUDSON
When buying a house for the first time, people may wonder if their life is going to be like what you see on HGTV or another TV show. Yes, some real estate agents drive nice cars, put photos on social media of beautiful countertops, luscious landscaping, stunning backsplashes, high-end appliances with bespoke details, and price tags that seem like they belong on a television show – stuff that “vision boards” are made of.
Real estate can be sexy. There is also the experience of what I call, “the everyday transaction.” This is the situation where someone may be the first in their family or friend group to buy a property. Or maybe this is the last one of their friends to buy a home. It could be the person that just got a notice from their apartment community that their rent was going up by $500 a month next year, and they decided it was time to start putting this inevitable amount of money into an investment each month. As my previous broker calls it, homeownership is a “forced savings plan.” It can be hard to force oneself to save at times, but your rent payment is going into equity. At some point, you can sell the investment and get back the money you put into it. Rent that is $2,400 a month can easily turn into over $115,000 during one presidential term.
The cast of characters in a real estate transaction includes:
• The buyer agent and the seller’s agent (if the house is for sale by owner, then no seller agent)
• The lender (mortgage officer) and their team
• The title company (a company of attorneys and staff to help with the legal aspects of transferring ownership, recording the deed with the municipality
or state and transferring water utilities, paying off the old mortgage with the proceeds from the sale, etc.)
• Any employees of a city or county that might be brought in (e.g. a down payment assistance loan funded by a municipality)
• A home inspector (if an inspection is requested by a buyer)
• Any contractors that are brought in for estimates for repairs or work projects.
These are the people that are brought into the transaction to help bring it to completion. A good agent usually has recommendations on title companies and attorneys, home inspectors, lenders, may have contacts with city or county departments for processing permits, etc. and will utilize the network they have built over the years to help coordinate a smooth transaction (as smooth as possible) and result in a happy seller and a happy buyer.
Who you work with matters. If you have more questions about this, please do not hesitate to ask. Yes, real estate CAN be sexy, but you also want competent people working on your behalf, who know how to navigate the process smoothly.
There are many players in a real estate transaction, starting with the agents.
MASSAGE
MASSAGE FOR MEN
Private studio near Rosslyn/Courthouse, weekends (Fri-Mon), 12-9. Text Gary @301-704-1158 or visit www.mymassagebygary.com
BULLETIN BOARD
Academy of Hope
Adult Public Charter School REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
STRATEGIC PLAN
Academy of Hope Adult Public Charter School (School) and Academy of Hope Foundation (Foundation) is requesting proposals from strategic planning consultants. See full RFP for details and submission information at https://aohdc.org/get-involved/jobs/. Proposals are due 12/16/2024.
LOST SILVER RING
with Blue Stone on Connecticut Ave near Cleveland Park. Reward of $500, if found. Call 202-359-3046.
PUPPY: SHIH TZU - POODLE
Tan and brown. Eight months old male. Likes children and dogs. Needs a loving home with a backyard.Free to good home. 202-384-5049.
People. Individual/Couples counseling with a volunteer peer counselor. GMCC, serving our community since 1973. 202-580-8661
gaymenscounseling.org No fees. Donation requested.
EMPLOYMENT
CAREGIVER
We are seeking a part-time caregiver for a Senior citizen. The schedule is Mon - Fri, 5 hours/day & 5 days a week. The time is flexible. We are looking to hire someone immediately. Salary is $30/hr. Send email to campbellm77676@gmail.com for more details.
HANDYMAN
BRITISH REMODELING
Local licensed company with over 25 years of experience. Specializing in bathrooms, kitchens & all interior/exterior repairs. Drywall, paint, electrical, wallpa- per, roofing & siding. Trevor 703-303-8699
LEGAL SERVICES
ADOPTION, DONOR, SURROGACY
legal services. Catelyn represents LGBTQ clients in DC, MD & VA interested in adoption or ART matters. MODERN FAMILY FORMATION Law Offices, Slattery Law, LLC. 240-245-7765 Catelyn@ModernFamilyFormation.com
LIMOUSINES
KASPER’S LIVERY SERVICE Since 1987. Gay & Veteran Owner/ Operator. Lincoln Nautilus! Proper DC License & Livery Insured.
MOVERS AROUND TOWN
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