Washington Blade, Volume 56, Issue 05, January 31, 2025
Logan Ireland, other trans service members react to Trump’s military ban, PAGES 08 & 10
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In ‘watershed moment,’ Catholic Cardinal apologizes for church treatment of LGBTQ people
Remarks came during Archdiocese of Washington LGBTQ prayer service
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
In what is believed to be a first-of-itskind event, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, who has served since 2019 as leader of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., held a Jan. 22 prayer service for members of the local LGBTQ Catholic organization Dignity Washington.
The service, which is like a Catholic mass but doesn’t include the offering of holy communion, took place at 6:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown.
Dignity Washington officials said the event came about after they met with Gregory at his diocesan office in September and he agreed to their invitation for him to hold a religious service for the local LGBTQ community.
Dignity Washington President Vince Rodriguez told the Washington Blade he and fellow Dignity members were honored and moved that Gregory went beyond just holding the service by offering an apology for the way the church has
treated LGBTQ people.
“There is no room for religious bigotry that is largely fueled by lack of knowledge and ignorance on the part of peoples who may call themselves religious but whose behavior violates the basic tenets of most of the great faith traditions of the world,” Gregory said in written remarks that he read as part of his homily or sermon at the prayer service.
“I apologize for my own failure to emulate Christ’s compassion,” he stated in his remarks. “The way that we have treated our LGBTQ brothers and sisters has brought them tears and to many of us disgrace,” he told those attending the service.
“I apologize from the heart for the hurt that has resulted in the loss of so many of our family members who belong to God no less than I do,” he said.
“I apologize not only for those whose past actions have scandalized and wounded these men and women. I apologize for my own lack of courage to bring healing and hope, and I ask forgiveness,” Gregory said in concluding his remarks.
“It was very powerful, very moving,” according to Rodriguez, who said about 80 mostly Dignity members attended the prayer service on a cold night.
Peter Daly, a retired Catholic priest and Dignity Washington member, said that due to an oversight by someone in the archdiocesan office, the office did not contact Dignity to inform the group that the service had been scheduled for Jan.
22 until just under two weeks before that date. He said Dignity officials scrambled to get the word out in time for people to make plans to attend.
“And it turned out to be a wonderful service,” Daly told the Blade. “His homily was exceptional. I’ve never heard an archbishop or a cardinal, and I’ve heard a lot of them, say and offer an apology not only on behalf of himself but on behalf of the church and other hierarchs for the way the LGBTQ community has been treated,” Daly said.
“I think Cardinal Gregory’s remarks are a watershed moment in the relationship between the Archdiocese of Washington and the LGBTQ+ community,” said Jeannine Gramick, a Catholic nun and official with the local LGBTQ Catholic group New Ways Ministry.
“I am hopeful this will set an example for other bishops to embrace Dignity communities across the U.S.,” she told the Blade. “Dignity was the first group in the world to organize and speak up for their rights as baptized LGBTQ+ Catholics.”
Pope Francis on Jan. 6 named Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, who has a record of support for the LGBTQ community, to replace Cardinal Gregory, who is retiring, as the next Archbishop of Washington, D.C, which is the official title of the Catholic Church leader of the D.C. archdiocese. McElroy is scheduled to be installed in his new position at a March 11 ceremony at D.C.’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Capital Pride board member resigns, takes role as Trump’s acting Sec’y of Labor
Vince Micone asserts ‘DEIA programs resulted in shameful discrimination’
By LOU CHIBBARO
JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com
On his first day in office President Donald Trump on Jan. 20 named Vince Micone, who’s gay, as Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor.
Micone, who has worked in high-level positions in federal government agencies for at least 30 years, has served on the board of directors of D.C.’s Capital Pride Alliance, which organizes most of D.C.’s LGBTQ Pride events, for 15 years. But Micone resigned from the board this week, just months before the city’s WorldPride celebration that is expected to draw 2+ million visitors to D.C. in May and June.
Micone most recently served as head of the Department of Labor’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management, according to a report by Reuters. But his tenure as Secretary of Labor will be a short appointment.
Trump has nominated former U.S. Rep. Lori ChavezDeRemer, a Republican from Oregon, to be the permanent Secretary of Labor. Her nomination is expected to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in the next week or two.
Micone’s appointment as acting Secretary of Labor became Trump’s second appointment of an out gay man to a U.S. Cabinet position. In November, shortly after his election as president, Trump nominated gay hedge fund executive Scott Bessent to be U.S. Treasury Secretary.
The Senate Finance Committee this week voted to approve Bessent’s nomination and to send it to the full Senate for final approval.
Micone couldn’t immediately be reached by the Washington Blade for comment. Ashley Smith, chair of the Capital Pride Alliance board, said Micone informed the board he was stepping down this week as a board member due to his new duties as Acting Secretary of Labor.
The Capital Pride Alliance website includes a short biography of Micone that says he has served on the organization’s board since 2010 and until his resignation this week served as Vice President of Operations and Treasurer.
“Vince serves as co-chairperson of the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area, which has raised $732 million for charities in our community, across the nation, and around the world under his leadership,” the Capital Pride write-up says.
“Vince has served as an elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in D.C, a member of the Mayor’s LGBT Commission, and Chairperson of the D.C. Commission on National and Community Service,” according to the write-up. “He has participated in many LGBTQ+ organizations, is a DC Front Runner, and served as a fierce advocate for HIV programming and quality for our community,” it says.
The Reuters report says that prior to working at the Department of Labor, Micone held positions with the Department of Commerce, Department of Treasury, and Department of Homeland Security. Reuters also reported that Micone served on Trump’s 2016 presidential transition team.
On Thursday, Micone sent an email to all Labor Department staffers informing them that, “We are taking steps to close all agency DEIA offices and end all DEIA-related contracts in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Orders … These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination.”
The email, which bears Micone’s name and title, goes on threaten any department employees who “disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language.”
The same letter has been sent to other federal agencies.
Cardinal WILTON GREGORY held a Jan. 22 prayer service for members of the local LGBTQ Catholic organization Dignity Washington. (Photo courtesy Archdiocese of Atlanta)
VINCE MICONE served on the Capital Pride board of directors for 15 years. (Photo courtesy Micone)
Trans service members speak out as Trump pushes military ban
They boast a combined 77 years of experience in four branches
By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com
Leading up to President Donald Trump’s issuance of an executive order on Monday instructing the Pentagon to explore banning transgender service members from the U.S. armed forces, the Washington Blade spoke with five sources who, according to the new administration, lack the “readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity” required to serve.
Together, they boast a combined 77 years of experience in four branches, where they had either enlisted or joined as commissioned officers. Three are currently serving, while two have retired. Several have seen combat in overseas deployments.
While the details of how the Pentagon plans to exclude trans service members are not yet fully clear, Sue Fulton, who served as assistant secretary of veterans affairs for public and intergovernmental affairs, noted that “you’re talking about undertaking administrative processes that are going to require people and paperwork and meetings and working groups and the promulgation of new rules and policies — all with the intent of removing capable, lethal, proven warriors from their positions.”
“Transgender Americans have been serving honorably for decades and have been serving openly for almost 10 years,” she said. “And the acceptance level, there’s a study that [found] about the same percentage of military folks, about 70%, have no issues with transgender service members, which is the same percent as the general population.”
Fulton, who commissioned in the U.S. Army after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as a member of the first class to admit women, is not transgender, though she has served as president of SPARTA, a group comprised of trans service members and former service members. An out lesbian, Fulton has been an advocate for women serving in combat roles, and she was involved in the effort to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Her insights are buttressed by the testimony of trans service members who shared their experiences with the Blade over the past week. Interviews with Fulton, along with trans service members and veterans Logan and Laila Ireland and Alivia Stehlik, were conducted during the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Creating Change conference in Las Vegas.
Senior uniformed service member, O-6 rank, who spoke on the condition of anonymity
I’ve been out in the LGBTQ+ community since I was 17. And I came into the service knowing that under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ I would have to go back in the closet. So, I served under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ for 10 years, and it was kind of like you had two lives.
It was very hard. It was very hard for years. You always had to have eyes in the back of your head, a little bit, like watching — if you go out, is somebody there seeing you? If you went out to a gay club, are people watching?
But the missions and the work that I did in the service — it was the missions that I was just drawn to. I always think about, ‘why did I stay in?’ It was my commitment to selfless service. I have always wanted to serve this country, and I felt a sense of pride every day as I put on the uniform and did the work.
Under the Trump 1.0 ban, that is when I was really working on figuring out that I was trans. Going back to his inauguration in 2017 and his announcement, by tweet, that he was banning trans service members, at that point I had acknowledged, to myself, ‘yeah, I know I’m trans.’
In 2017, I just halted everything and said, ‘Okay, well, I can’t do anything for three years now. Even if I wanted to transition.’ So, I talked about it with my friends, I talked about it with my spouse at the time, and it was just something I talked about.
Just like I knew that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ would go away, I knew that at some point this would change. So, I kind of held it all in for those three years. And then after Biden was elected, and he rescinded Trump’s ban, the door was opened for me to then come out if I wanted to.
At that point, I began to really think about if I wanted to transition or not. Now, at the rank that I was in, as an O-5, I was thinking about coming out, but I was in a command position. I was second in charge of a command at the time, and all eyes were on me. So, it was a big decision whether or not to come out.
When I was able to then come out early into the Biden-Harris administration, I was also up for a promotion to become an O-6. If I didn’t make O-6, then I would retire, because if you don’t make the promotion, you kind of get forced to leave the service. And then I would have come out as trans as a civilian.
Ultimately, of course, I was promoted and I made the decision, ‘Okay, I want to come out, I want to, publicly, start the transition. And I want to transition in the service.’ It’s very difficult to come out in that space.
U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Logan Ireland
I’m within OSI and my main job is to work in the Indo-Pacific with some of our host nation and coalition partners. One thing that I absolutely love about my job are the travel opportunities, the education benefits that I’ve been afforded to have, working with some of our foreign partners, made some awesome friends in many different countries. I’ve been able to be stationed in South Korea, UAE, deployed to Afghanistan, Qatar. I’ve had a great career, had a great experience, and that’s all been just by being visible and being the best troop that I can be.
I just hit my 14 years. So when I first came in, I came in as security forces. I always wanted to be a cop. Have a couple people that are in law enforcement in my family, and I just kind of wanted to take on that lineage. Plus, going to college was pretty expensive. I was in a bachelor’s degree, and it was just kind of like being a hamster in a wheel, working all the time, going to college, and wanting to do something more. So, going into the military for education benefits and
travel, I mean, I saw that as my number one ticket, so I enlisted in the military, the Air Force was my number one choice, got to be stationed at awesome bases, and throughout my career, I’ve had amazing leadership that have allowed me the space and the voice to serve authentically and be myself, but also holding me to the standard.
And with what I’ve tried to do with my service, I always want to try and exceed that standard, to show other people that, hey, I’m here doing this as a good service member, raise their right hand, just like everybody else. I happen to be transgender, but that’s just one pillar of who I am and what my service represents.
I do that because there’s going to be someone that’s one day going to come after me that wants a seat at that military table, and they want to see me being a visible trans person, because maybe they are [trans], or maybe there’s someone from another marginalized community that doesn’t know if military has a place for them. By being visible and showing that, hey, I’m doing it, exceeding the standard, you can do it too.
I think that brings a lot of value, especially when we’re in a military that, you know, is somewhat at a recruiting deficit. You know, we want to try and bring the best and the brightest that meet the standard and want to raise their right hand to serve.
We never came in the military to get that praise from someone else. We did it for the brothers and sisters to the left and the right of us. And for other people, especially trans people, the military was their only option. You know, they needed that financial stability, those education benefits. Maybe they wanted to travel, find a place of being and a place to serve authentically.
The military gives them that option. It’s the number one employer of transgender individuals. Most of the people that are transgender in the military now are at the senior non commissioned officer level with an average of 12 years of service. So we bring a lot of value to the military by serving. And for those that are coming into the service, we are their supervisors. We are there to help them integrate into the military and show them all the benefits that the military has given to us.
Retired U.S. Army medic Laila Ireland
I joined the military in 2003 and I medically retired in 2015. I was deployed twice to Iraq, both of the both those times were like 14 month deployments.
Logan and I have experienced our journeys very differently in terms of our careers. I had a leadership team that just was not movable in their opinions and their own biases, and they were very old school military, very old school Army. So having to battle that while supporting Logan and watching him get the accolades and the recognition was extremely difficult for me.
I come from a long legacy of folks in my family that served in the military, and part of that is me wanting to be part of that legacy as well, and so it was a no brainer for me to join the military.
I served during ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ I watched the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ and then here with the trans ban, and then lifting of that ban, and now it was re-implemented, and now we’re in talks of not having trans service at all.
CONTINUES ON PAGE 36
ALIVIA STEHLIK, LOGAN IRELAND, and LENE MEES DE TRICHT (Photos courtesy of the subjects)
Trump bans trans service members from military
President Donald Trump on Monday signed a series of executive orders focused on the military, including a directive gutting the Pentagon’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs along with another banning transgender service members from the U.S. armed forces.
White House officials said new military standards for mental and physical readiness will exclude transgender troops, which would mean the EO goes further than the ban Trump implemented during his first term in 2017.
Among the first actions the president took after his inauguration on Jan. 20 was rescinding the order that former President Joe Biden signed immediately after he took office in 2021 that allowed trans and gender diverse service members to serve openly.
“The implementation [of the ban] is on the DoD regarding specifics,” a White House official told CNN.
A February 2018 memo by the U.S. Department of Defense contained carveouts to exempt trans service members already in uniform who had joined the military prior to the policy excluding them, along with those who do not require a change in gender or those who have been “stable for 36 consecutive months in their biological sex prior to accession.”
DEI practices, meanwhile, will be subject to review by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was narrowly confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Friday.
Lambda Legal and the Human Rights Campaign on
Monday announced plans to sue the Trump-Vance administration “to block implementation of yet another discriminatory and dangerous attempt to bar patriotic transgender military service members from serving openly in the U.S. armed services,” Lambda Legal said in a press release.
“We have been here before and seven years ago were able to successfully block the earlier administration’s effort to prevent patriotic, talented Americans from serving their country,” said Sasha Buchert, Lambda Legal counsel and director of the Nonbinary and Transgender Rights Project. “Not only is such a move cruel, it compromises the safety and security of our country and is particularly dangerous and wrong. As we promised then, so do we now: we will sue.”
“Thousands of current service members are transgender, and many have been serving openly, courageously, and successfully in the U.S. military for more than eight years — not to mention the previous decades when many were forced to serve in silence,” Buchert added. “Once again, as during the first term, the Trump administration is attacking a vulnerable population based on bias, political opportunism, and demonstrably untrue ‘alternative facts,’ denying brave men and women the opportunity to serve our country without any legitimate justification whatsoever.”
Sarah Warbelow, vice president of legal at HRC, said “Our military servicemembers, including thousands of transgender troops, wear the same uniform, take the same oath, and meet the same rigorous standards,” adding, “They are heroes who put their lives on the line to protect our country—and we owe them all a debt of gratitude.”
“Instead, this discriminatory ban insults their service and puts our national security at risk. Expelling highly trained members of our military undermines military readiness and wastes years of financial and training investments,” Warbelow said.
“It also needlessly upends the lives of families who have already sacrificed so much,” she said. “The Commander-in-Chief should prioritize our military’s safety and readiness, not use his position to issue bans on entire groups of people. This order is unconstitutional, and we will see this administration in court.”
SPARTA Pride, a nonprofit of transgender people who
The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary, gay hedge fund manager Scott Bessent.
Overcoming opposition from some economically progressive Senate Democrats like Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.), the nominee was confirmed by vote of 68-29.
Bessent during his hearing said that extending tax cuts that were passed during Trump’s first administration with the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act but are slated to expire in 2025 will be a top priority.
“This is pass-fail, that if we do not fix these tax cuts, if we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an
economic calamity,” he told the senators.
“Today, I believe that President Trump has a generational opportunity to unleash a new economic golden age that will create more jobs, wealth and prosperity for all Americans,” Bessent said at his confirmation hearing.
According to Fortune Magazine, Bessent, who is a billionaire, disclosed assets worth an estimated $521 million.
He will be the second openly gay man to serve in the Cabinet, after Biden-Harris administration Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and in a Cabinet-level office, after Obama-Biden administration Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis and Trump-Pence ad-
currently serve or have served in the military, released a statement on Monday:
“Transgender Americans have served openly and honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces for nearly a decade. Thousands of transgender troops are currently serving, and are fully qualified for the positions in which they serve.
“Transgender service members currently fill critical roles in combat arms, aviation, nuclear engineering, law enforcement, and military intelligence, many requiring years of specialized training and expertise. Transgender troops have deployed to combat zones, served in high-stakes missions, and demonstrated their ability to strengthen unit cohesion and morale.
“While some transgender troops do have surgery, the recovery time and cost is minimal, and is scheduled so as not to impact deployments or mission readiness (all of which is similar to a non-emergent minor knee surgery). The readiness and physical capabilities of transgender service members is not different from that of other service members.
“SPARTA Pride is standing by to support all transgender service members impacted by this policy.”
“Donald Trump’s executive orders are not only cruel, discriminatory, and wrapped in disinformation, but they will make all of us less safe. Throughout our military’s history, thousands of transgender people have served with honor, integrity, and bravery,” said Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center. “Attempting to ban them is an insult to their humanity and the contributions that they have made.”
“Additionally, Trump’s decision to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives will lead to further harassment in our ranks, making underrepresented service members a greater target for discrimination,” she said. “Already we are hearing reports of anti-harassment policies being taken down based on the order to end equity and inclusion initiatives, which is appalling, misguided, and a gross insult to those who serve.”
Goss Graves added, “Everyone, regardless of race, gender or sex, should be able to work with dignity— including in the military — without fear of discrimination and harassment. We will continue to fight against these harmful abuses of power.”
CHRISTOPHER KANE
ministration Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell.
CHRISTOPHER KANE
President DONALD TRUMP (Photo via White House/X)
SCOTT BESSENT (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Queer Americans from N.M. to Philly on coping with Trump 2.0
Activists, immigration rights attorneys on the tough road ahead
By SEBASTIAN FORTINO
I tried not to look at the clock this morning as I prepared to write. However, curiosity got me: Trump had been president for exactly nine minutes. Although his presence loomed so large in the vacuum of the four years between terms 45 and 47 that it doesn’t seem as if he ever really left.
The question now is how we, as members of the LGBTQ community, will cope with the next four years. I live in the Four Corners area of New Mexico. The county of San Juan is rural and very red. My extended in-laws are mostly Trump supporters but, mercifully, the mutual gag order against discussing politics over Christmas was kept in place.
At one such family party a woman asked if my partner and I knew her son Eric Domiguez. Had we still been in my native Philadelphia we probably would not have known this particular Eric based on sheer population. So at first it was a case of, “You’re the only gay men in the room. Do you know my gay son?”
However, I did know him via Facebook and learned he’s related to my fiancé by marriage. Dominguez runs Alphabet Mafia Presents, a social group creating safe spaces for the queer community. He is also responsible for a queer-centric recovery group, Recovery Queers. Soon after the election the group addressed concerns.
“Alphabet Mafia Presents, Recovery Queers and Sasha’s Rainbow of Hope collaborated to set up a queer town hall in November to address community concerns about local impacts of a second Trump presidency,” Dominguez shared. “It was open to the entire community and had the police LGBT liaison from Farmington police department on hand to answer questions. The event was put together in response to an incident that happened at a local barbershop where a queer individual overheard a conversation between two Trump supporters making comments about how they can’t wait for Trump to get rid of all the queer people in his second term. That conversation brought up a lot of fear for what could happen in our small conservative community.”
Dominguez encountered people on social media in fear of what could happen, talking about leaving the country to find a safe space to exist, struggling with mental health issues, parents afraid for their trans children, and other topics. Interestingly, despite the small population of Farmington, N.M., they have had an LGBTQ police liaison since the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub massacre.
“And coming soon,” Dominguez shared, “we’ll have The Gay Agenda Four Corners. A website, social media pages and weekly newsletter to promote all queer events and resources happening throughout the Four Corners.”
As we have seen in our earlier history, from Stonewall to Anita Bryant, from ACT UP to marriage equality, LGBTQ people rally to take care of each other. Dominguez is concerned, as we all are, about Project 2025. But he takes solace in the people, groups, and events he works with locally.
“I’m an openly gay man that hosts queer events in rural communities. And conservative friends praise me and have told me they think God sent me here to bring our community together through the work I do. So yeah I am scared of what could happen. But my experience here in our small conservative town has shown me that we can come together in spite of our differences. I know this isn’t the same for all small towns,” he cautions. “But we have groups like Equality New Mexico that have been working to make New Mexico a sanctuary state for queer and trans people. Laws passed over the last few years have made New Mexico one of the safest states for queer people to exist. I have seen first hand how existing
as a queer person in small rural communities has influenced change. I can focus on fear. Or step outside my comfort zone, interact with people with different beliefs and grow together as a community. Either way the only way I’ll make it through the next four years is finding support in the community.”
Tim Rudy, a stay-at-home dad, and Brian Rudy, an events planner, are a married couple with two recently adopted sons living in Brian’s native Texas. Being in a very red state, do they fear for the future as a same-sex couple with two young children?
“I can’t say we have experienced any challenges as a samesex couple or a same-sex parent unit, at least not outwardly. People in this state are typically friendly and offer hospitality, even if they do talk about you behind your back in that charming southern way. Because of the areas we have chosen to live and work and the friends we choose to surround ourselves with, I feel like we are pretty well insulated from some of the ugliness one can experience in a deep red state,” Tim shared. “That being said – though it hasn’t touched me I know friends who have experienced assaults and various targeted attacks even on the streets of vehemently liberal Austin.”
As for being gay parents, the Rudys say the boys have not experienced negativity at school.
“They have fantastic support systems at school and Brian was a teacher for years so we are able to maneuver them into the most ideal learning environments. However, when our youngest was in daycare, Tim went to pick him up one day and a little girl ran up to him and started loudly asking why he had two dads. The easiest response to that is always that every family is going to look different. But this four-year-old was quite opinionated about the situation. Probably as a result of belief systems at home.”
Brian is the son of an Iranian refugee. He does not, however, feel threatened by Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“We are close with a number of people who this may directly affect in the local Persian community. Many Persians who fled Iran during the Iranian Revolution were forced to leave without their birth certificates and other identifying documentation (regardless of status or wealth) and that can present a major problem for them for obvious reasons,” Brian stated.
“Xenophobia isn’t a problem for us,” Tim added. “Brian’s maternal family has been in Texas for generations.”
While my fiancé’s family kept the gag order in place at holiday parties, the Rudys were not so lucky at a recent gathering.
“One issue that is unavoidable in this area is conservative friends and family,” Brian shared. “We were recently at a family party where an intoxicated family friend was shouting angrily about the democratic presidential candidate’s campaign, and when Tim engaged in order to discuss facts versus rightwing propaganda, the guest began berating Tim in front of the entire family and our children, which was unacceptable. Sadly, the host of the party, a close family member, chose not to apologize and instead explain that she ‘loves this country because we can all have our own beliefs.’”
Speaking of immigration issues, a talking point of both Trump and the shadowy figures behind Project 2025, I spoke to Joseph Best of Best & Associates, an immigration law group based in Philadelphia. Best has been practicing law since 2008. He says he became enamored with immigration law during an immigration clinic at Villanova University. As an immigration attorney he is eligible to practice in any state as immigration is a federal matter. He need only hold a license in one state to practice in any jurisdiction. And he does: His so-
cial media shows him in New York one day, or Maine, or Pennsylvania the next fighting for immigrants. Best has fought for several LGBTQ people to gain citizenship.
“LGBT people generally have very viable asylum cases and often we get good results because so many countries are openly persecuting their LGBTQ+ citizens, often proudly so,” he said. “Asylum law in the U.S. has positively evolved over the past several decades to broadly support protections for LGBT people. Although, because our system is so broken and arbitrary, there are still some very bad immigration judges who refuse to follow the law and struggle to find a legal or factual basis as an excuse to not grant protection to our clients.”
As for Project 2025, Best says it is “nothing new … save for its own explicit announcement of their intentions to destroy America as a pluralistic representative, secular democracy. Of course, the biggest impact that their anti-LGBT agenda would have on immigration would be to restrict the application of asylum law for people fleeing anti-LGBT violence and harm and the efforts to undo legal progress in the states and federally around marriage equality and privacy rights more broadly. But thankfully all of that is complicated to actually implement and cannot happen overnight allowing for political opposition to get organized in response. Transgender people are today the easiest targets in our community to pick on. But it is an old playbook that anyone old enough who survived AIDS and our struggle for LGBT rights in the 80s and 90s will recognize immediately.”
Tyrell Brown is executive director at Galaei QTBIPOC Social Justice and Founder and Program Director at Philly Pride 365. According to their website, “Serving the Latinx community while widening our embrace, GALAEI now provides services, support and advocacy for all Queer, Trans, Indigenous and People of Color (QTBIPOC) communities.” The community they serve is historically more vulnerable due to socio-economic issues and other divides in Philadelphia.
Brown has been active in Philly’s queer community for a long time. The Galaei organization is more than an office. It’s a vibrant community center nestled on a small street in the Fishtown section of the city. An area largely economically destroyed by the closing of manufacturing and fisheries – hence Fishtown – and one now increasingly vulnerable to recent gentrification displacing long-time residents.
“As the executive director here,” Brown explained, “I have forecasted the potential of this for a year, while also driving home to the staff and those I encounter in the community that times will be difficult, and that we may not be able to anticipate every action, challenge, by the coming administration... but ensuring them that we are a resilient people and that we will navigate these challenging times.”
TYRELL BROWN is executive director at Galaei QTBIPOC Social Justice and Founder and Program Director at Philly Pride 365. (Photo courtesy Brown)
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Trump immigration policies ‘will cost lives’
(Editor’s note: Washington Blade International News Editor Michael K. Lavers will be on assignment in Mexico and El Salvador through Feb. 8 to cover the impact of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy on LGBTQ migrants and asylum seekers. Lavers will report from Tijuana and Mexicali, two Mexican cities that border the U.S. He will also be in Mexico City and San Salvador, the Salvadoran capital, before returning to D.C.)
Groups that work with LGBTQ migrants and asylum seekers have condemned the Trump-Vance administration over its immigration policies.
President Donald Trump shortly after his Jan. 20 inauguration signed several immigration-specific executive orders. They include:
• Declaring a national emergency on the Southern border
• Suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program
• Ending birthright citizenship under the 14th amendment. (U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, who Ronald Reagan appointed, in a Jan. 23 ruling described the directive as “blatantly unconstitutional.”)
Trump has reinstated the Migrant Protection Protocols program, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy that forced asylum seekers to pursue their cases in Mexico. The White House on Jan. 20 also shut down the CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) One app that asylum seekers used to schedule appointments that would allow them to enter the U.S. at ports of entry.
A press release the Department of Homeland Security issued on Jan. 21 issued notes the Trump-Vance administration has ended “the broad abuse of humanitarian parole” for undocumented migrants. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and CBP agents can also make arrests in schools, churches, and other so-called “sensitive” areas.
An ICE press release notes the agency, the U.S. Marshals Service and other federal agencies on Sunday “began conducting enhanced targeted operations” in Chicago “to en-
force U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities.”
ICE on X said its agents arrested 956 people on Sunday across the country. NBC Washington reported ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations personnel on Sunday morning were at a Fairfax County apartment building, but it is not clear whether they took anyone into custody.
A second press release that ICE issued on Jan. 23 notes the arrest of an undocumented Mexican man in Houston who was wanted for the “rape of a child” in Veracruz, Mexico. Mexican authorities took him into custody after ICE officials returned him to his country of origin.
“We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home while, at the same time, stumbling into a continuing catalogue of catastrophic events abroad,” said Trump in his inaugural address.
“It fails to protect our magnificent, law-abiding American citizens, but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions, that have illegally entered our country from all over the world,” he added.
Immigration Equality Executive Director Aaron C. Morris on Jan. 22 said Trump’s “agenda to detain, deport, and dehumanize people is an affront to fundamental American values.”
“The executive orders will cost lives, separate families, and trap queer people in extreme danger,” he said. “They are an overt, illegal power grab with mortal consequences for LGBTQ people seeking safety in the United States.”
Then-Vice President Kamala Harris and others in the previous administration acknowledged violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity is among the “root causes” of migration from the Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. (Morris is among the activists who sharply criticized the Biden-Harris administration over policies they said restricted LGBTQ people and people with HIV from seeking asylum in the U.S.)
“The Trump administration’s recent executive orders targeting asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants while escalating attacks on the LGBTIQ community are unethical, un-American, and jeopardize countless lives,” Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration Executive Director Steve Roth told the Washington Blade in a statement. “By barring asylum and suspending refugee programs, these policies strip away fundamental human rights and protections, directly threatening LGBTIQ refugees who already endure persecution, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and systematic inequality.”
Familia: TQLM, an organization that advocates on behalf of transgender and gender non-conforming immigrants, was even more pointed in a statement it posted to its Facebook page shortly after Trump’s inauguration.
“On Jan. 20, we resist,” said Familia: TQLM. “This is not a day to give into fear, but a day to reclaim our power.”
“Trans and queer immigrant people have endured through regimes that sought to erase, silence, and destroy us,” it added. “Yet, we remain.”
Casa Frida, which works with LGBTQ migrants and asylum seekers in Mexico City, in a Jan. 20 post to its X account said it will continue to work with the aforementioned groups with the support of local officials.
“We are preparing ourselves to continue working with love and solidarity in favor of LGBTIQ communities, migrants and displaced people,” said Casa Frida. “Our programs are reorganized and coordinated with local governments with pride, dignity and without fear or shame of who we are.”
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
ICC recognizes LGBTQ people as victims of gender persecution
The International Criminal Court on Jan. 23 for the first time recognized LGBTQ people as victims of gender persecution under international criminal law.
Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, announced a request for arrest warrants against Taliban officials accused of targeting women and others perceived as defying the group’s strict gender norms in Afghanistan. It is the first time LGBTQ people have been explicitly named as victims in a gender persecution case before the court.
Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, there has been a significant escalation in the repression of LGBTQ people and women. A report that Human Rights Watch released in 2022 documented nearly 60 cases of targeted violence against LGBTQ people in the months following the Taliban’s return to power.
The Washington Blade in October 2022 reported the Taliban have frequently used the contents of seized cell phones to track and target LGBTQ people, further intensifying the climate of fear, and violence against the community in Afghanistan.
In its February 2023 report, “A Mountain on My Shoulders: 18 Months of Taliban Persecution of LGBTIQ Afghans,”
Outright International detailed how Taliban security officials systematically targeted LGBTQ people, especially gay men and transgender women, subjecting them to physical and sexual assault as well as arbitrary detention. The report also noted Taliban authorities had carried out public floggings for alleged same-sex relations, with the Taliban Supreme Court publicly defending these punishments on social media at the time.
The report indicates Taliban officials had escalated their efforts to target LGBTQ people, making it a greater priority. They collected intelligence on LGBTQ activists and community members, hunted them down, and subjected them to violence and humiliation as part of their systematic campaign of repression.
Khan has sought charges against the Taliban’s Supreme Leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani for crimes against women, girls, and LGBTQ people. Khan said there are reasonable grounds to believe that Akhundzada and Haqqani orchestrated systematic violations of fundamental rights, including physical integrity, autonomy, free movement, free expression, education, private and family life, and free assembly.
Khan further detailed that the Taliban’s persecution was committed in connection with other crimes under the Rome Statute, including murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, enforced disappearance, and other inhumane acts.
Reports indicate the Taliban has banned education for girls beyond sixth grade, severely restricting their access to education and limiting employment opportunities in health and education sectors. Taliban members have also beaten, detained, and tortured women who participated in protests in support of their rights, and have carried out violent attacks against LGBTQ people.
Khan’s requests have been submitted to a pretrial chamber comprising three ICC judges, who will decide whether to issue the warrants. The ICC initially authorized the Afghanistan investigation in March 2020, following a preliminary examination that began in 2007. The investigation, however, was paused for several years as the prosecutor and ICC judges considered a request by Afghanistan’s former government to defer ICC proceedings in favor of domestic prosecutions the government claimed to be pursuing.
ANKUSH KUMAR
President DONALD TRUMP took office on Jan. 20, 2025. (Public domain photo courtesy of the White House’s X page)
is editor of the Washington Blade. Reach him at knaff@washblade.com
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Trump’s gay Treasury Secretary should denounce anti-trans attacks
President likes his queer people gay, white, cis, rich, and obedient
The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Scott Bessent, President Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary, in a rare bipartisan vote of 68-29.
Bessent, a billionaire hedge fund manager, becomes the first openly gay, Senate-confirmed Republican Cabinet member. He’s also the highest-ranking out gay government official ever, as Treasury Secretary is fifth in the line of presidential succession.
It’s hard to make sense of the disconnect here: On one hand Trump makes history with a senior gay appointment; on the other, he launches cruel attacks on the transgender community on day one.
The Republican-led House last week passed a bill that would prohibit schools that receive federal education funding from allowing trans students to play girls’ and womens’ sports. Trump, meanwhile, has already banned Pride flags at U.S. embassies and eliminated the X gender marker on passports and other government documents. Trump’s executive order titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” would prohibit the federal government from recognizing people and populations whose birth sex does not match their gender identity. Additionally, the order directs the attorney general to allow “people to refuse to use a transgender or nonbinary person’s correct pronouns, and to claim a right to use single-sex bathrooms and other spaces based on sex assigned at birth at any workplace covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and federally funded spaces.”
Then on Monday, he issued an executive order banning transgender service members, a move that would impact more than 15,000 brave trans people serving in the military. So far, Bessent is silent on those attacks. Trump likes his queer people gay, white, cis, rich, and obedient. Bessent has defended Trump’s self-serving tax cut plan for the wealthiest Americans as well as his misguided and destructive tariff obsession.
Kelley J. Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, released a statement about Bessent’s nomination.
“We need pro-equality LGBTQ+ nominees and LGBTQ+ people at all levels of government. The LGBTQ+ community is counting on openly LGBTQ+ nominees like Scott Bessent to step up for the community,” Robinson wrote. “HRC has a long history of working across the aisle to advance equality and this appointment may be an opportunity to continue.”
28 – MARCH 16
We have entered a dangerous time that will require many of us to make decisions about how to respond to these attacks, not just on trans people, but immigrants who are already being arrested and deported in cities across the country. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is making plans for how the city will operate in the event he is arrested and jailed for refusing to cooperate with these immigrant raids. That’s what courage looks like.
Will Bessent find his backbone and work to convince his boss that the anti-trans hysteria must end? Does he have a trans person in his life who might inform his views? Trans people are human beings, fellow Americans, and family and friends and they deserve respect from their government. They deserve an advocate in the White House who sees their humanity and can articulate it while standing up to the powerful bigots in Trump’s orbit. I hope HRC’s Robinson is right and Bessent will find the courage to stand up for the full spectrum of the LGBTQ community but we haven’t seen any evidence of that yet.
It’s not just senior gay officials who need to stand up; many of us will likely face a decision to resist or comply with the unconstitutional actions of this administration. Too many former progressive allies have already folded like cheap tents — including MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. We must look to the example of Mayor Scott and others who are refusing to capitulate to this madness. I hope Scott Bessent finds his voice and advocates for a more compassionate approach to trans humanity.
FERNANDO CHANG-MUY is the Thomas O’Boyle Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania. ASHLEY ACOSTA is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Political Science with minors in Legal Studies & History, Sociology, and Latin American and Latinx Studies.
Trans women: Abuse in Colombia, rejection in U.S.
U.S. has a moral and legal obligation to provide refuge
I teach International Human Rights and U.S. Asylum law. I have traveled with students to Colombia and met with one of the most vulnerable marginalized communities – trans women. We learned about their constant threats, fear, and trauma. Social stigma, lack of government supported healthcare, employment exclusion and discrimination, and violent hate crimes, push many trans women to flee their homes, even their parents’ homes, in search of safety and dignity.
Yes, some Colombian legal protections for LGBTQ communities exist, such as the decriminalization of same-sex relationships and recognition of gender identity. However, the state’s failure to effectively enforce these laws, forces many trans women to leave. And in our own backyard, Trump administration executive orders on (not) providing refuge, closing the border, and on (not recognizing) trans individuals will result in their continuing persecution.
They hope that by leaving Colombia, often risking their lives for the possibility of asylum, they will have a better future. The journey north is dangerous — natural, legal, and manmade challenges confront trans women as they try to cross through Central America by bus, foot, or truck. Central American countries like Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, pose legal, political, economic, and transphobic challenges.
The passage through Central America is not just a political or bureaucratic challenge, but a physical one with extreme risks. Trans women often travel in disguise or attempt to blend in with other migrant groups, but their gender identity inevitably makes them vulnerable to sexual violence, exploitation, and even murder. Criminal organizations that prey on migrants see trans women as easy targets for extortion and trafficking. Alongside physical danger, they must navigate a maze of legal barriers. Central American governments’ reluctance to acknowledge gender-based persecution means many trans women do not receive the protection they would otherwise qualify for under international refugee laws.
they remain in a state of limbo.
This process involves telling their story before an asylum officer or an immigration judge, perhaps the most emotionally taxing part of the process. For many trans women, recounting their experiences of violence and discrimination in their home countries is not just a legal procedure, but an emotionally traumatic reenactment. Asylum officers and immigration judges may lack training in trans issues, sometimes fail to recognize the nuances of gender identity and violence, resulting in re-traumatization and the denial of claims that deserve protection under both U.S. and international human rights laws. If denied asylum, they need to file a written appeal within 10 days to an administrative appeals unit. And if they lose there, they can file an appeal to the U.S Court of Appeals where they reside.
Between 2014 and 2024, data shows that the overwhelming majority of appeals from trans asylum applicants were filed by Latinx individuals. Of the 25 applicants, 20 were from Latin America, with Mexico, Honduras, and other Central American countries representing the bulk of petitioners. Most circuit courts denied the appeals, but the Ninth (covering California) and Tenth Circuit (covering Colorado and New Mexico) were most favorable to petitioners. Notably, there was no representation of Colombian nationals in this data. This absence, however, does not mean that trans women from Colombia were not seeking asylum. Instead, it could reflect numerous barriers, such as being denied by an immigration judge without appealing process, fear of repercussions, language barriers, lacking resources to afford legal counsel, or insufficient knowledge of the appeals.
The stakes could not be higher. For trans women from Colombia and other countries, asylum in the United States is not just about securing a new life, but escaping a nightmare of systemic violence and oppression.
Yet once they reach the U.S. border, they face a series of almost impossible legal and procedural hurdles. Many are detained in border facilities where the risk of abuse, including sexual assault and mistreatment by law enforcement, is significant, and they must secure competent legal representation. Immigration law in general, and asylum law specifically, is unbelievably complex. The Application for Asylum is 12 pages long, in English. There is no right to government-supported free legal aid, unlike the availability of public defenders for people charged with crimes. Trans women often struggle to find lawyers who are knowledgeable about the asylum procedures and how to prove persecution because of gender identity. Those who do manage to secure legal aid face an overcrowded, understaffed immigration system that can take years to process asylum applications, during which time
As a society, we must do more than merely acknowledge these challenges; we must address them directly. Colombia must recognize the rights of all of its people, including trans women, and equally important, implement those laws by charging, investigating and sentencing the perpetrators of human rights abuses against trans women. The U.S. can withhold foreign aid for failure to comply with the Leahy Principles, which prevents the U.S. from providing foreign aid to governments with poor human rights records.
We have a moral and legal obligation to provide refuge given that we passed the U.S. Refugee Act as far back as 1980. This means ensuring that their voices are heard, their experiences are validated, and that the asylum process is accessible and protects their rights. Without these changes, the cycle of violence and displacement will continue, leaving countless trans women in danger and without hope for the future.
Version by Juan Mayorga | Directed by José Luis Arellano
Attacks on trans people, women, immigrants are just the beginning is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.
Trump takes a wrecking ball to decency, democracy
Within the first week of Donald Trump’s second term in the White House, we have seen him take a wrecking ball to democracy and decency. He is signing multiple Executive Orders, many of which will be challenged in court, in his effort to wreak vengeance on anyone, and anything, he doesn’t like. He has pardoned those who attacked, and tried to kill police officers. He is destroying the Privacy and Civil Liberties Agency, which investigates national security issues that intrude on individual rights, and keeps the Congress and public informed about them. He has effectively ended DEI activities in all federal agencies, and has reversed all the Biden Executive Orders that helped people get affordable healthcare. He has attacked the trans community, and women, and is trying to end birthright citizenship enshrined in the 14th amendment to the Constitution. He ended all civil rights prosecutions in the Justice Department, and cancelled numerous healthcare conferences aimed at fighting cancer, at the NIH. He withdrew the country from the Climate Accords, and moved to withdraw us from the World Health Organization. This is only the beginning.
We shouldn’t be surprised as these are all things he said he would do. I am not sure what made some people stay home and not vote, maybe thinking it was all bluster. But they, and the 49% of the electorate who did vote, and voted for Trump, should all look in the mirror and accept they are responsible. Some may actually like that feeling, others will not. But like it or not, it is where we are now. Maybe some who didn’t read it before the election, should now read Project 2025, to see what will come next. It is all laid out in a blueprint for Trump’s second administration, and is truly frightening. For those who thought some Republican senators may be willing to take a principled stand, with the confirmation of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense, we now know 50 Republican senators have their lips firmly attached to Trump’s ass.
I will agree with some of what Trump does, that’s inevitable. I want illegal immigrants who are committing crimes to be deported. If those are the only immigrants he deports, great. But then as Bishop Maryann Budde said to him at the National Cathedral, there are many immigrants without documents who are hardworking, pay their taxes, and make good neighbors. She simply asked for mercy for those who are picking our crops, washing dishes in restaurants after we eat, and work the nightshifts in our hospitals. They are making our lives better. She asked him to remember the LGBTQ community is frightened today. They fear for their rights and for the chance to live free and productive lives. They are the children of Democrats, Republicans, independents.
I have been attacked on social media by some who I didn’t realize actually believed Trump’s lies. Some who actually believe crime is at the worst it has ever been, when in actuality it is close to its lowest level in nearly 50 years. They won’t accept we have the best economy in the world, and Trump’s denying climate change will hurt all of us, especially our children. They are under the impression Trump is actually better in the long run for a lasting peace for Israel than Kamala Harris would have been, and some think he actually cares about the Palestinian people. He clearly doesn’t and recently proposed moving more than one million Palestinians out of Gaza so it can be leveled. He had dinner with neo-Nazis, and welcomed them into his home. He finds good things about Hitler, and he and his acolyte Elon Musk, have actually mimicked Hitler’s salute.
I know we must try to lower grocery prices, and energy costs. But most economists agree, tariffs won’t do that, rather just the opposite. Putting strings on money to help California recover from the recent fires is an abomination. It is estimated Californians give billions more to the national treasury than they take out. What happens when the next natural disaster occurs in Alabama? Will there be strings on their getting help? Obscene.
Yet despite all this, I still have hope. I refuse to give up, or give in, believing in the long run, if we stick together, we can overcome Trump, and his acolytes. That we can get people to wake up to the truth, and speak out at the ballot box, in Virginia and New Jersey in 2025, and in the midterm election in 2026. I refuse to live without hope.
Historic Oscar showing for ‘Emilia Pérez’ stirs controversy
Karla Sofía Gascón is first trans nominee for Best
By JOHN PAUL KING
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences makes the annual announcement of Oscar nominations, it’s always a day of divisive opinions – but even the most divisive Oscar controversies of the past are bound to end up feeling like a pleasant chat over brunch compared with the one that has predictably erupted over last week’s revelation of the Academy’s slate of contenders, in which “Emilia Pérez” became not only the most-nominated fi lm of the year, but the fi rst to score a Best Actress nod for a transgender actor.
It’s a milestone that hardly comes as a surprise. The fi lm’s star, Karla Sofía Gascón, has been considered a front-runner in the category throughout the awards season so far, already winning the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress (Musical of Comedy) and snagging an equivalent nomination for the upcoming SAG Awards – whose membership also happens to represent the largest percentage of Academy voters, thereby making their choices a solid indicator of how things are going to go down on Oscar night. In any other year, apart from being noted as a historic fi rst and inevitably ruffl ing a few conservative feathers, Gascón’s inclusion in the lineup would likely otherwise feel like business as usual.
That, however, was before the return of convicted felon Donald Trump to the White House. Days after the former reality show star signed an executive order proclaiming that the United States will henceforth legally recognize only “two genders” (justifi ed in part by the invocation of “concrete reality,” whatever that is), it seems that Academy voters have a dissenting opinion – and suddenly, a simple Oscar nomination feels like an act of resistance against the government itself.
For those who have yet to see the fi lm (which is now streaming on Netfl ix), “ Emilia Pé rez ” is a sprawling musical drama in which Gascón portrays a powerful Mexican cartel boss who enlists an idealistic lawyer (Zoe Saldaña, also nominated for an Oscar, as Best Supporting Actress) to facilitate a gender transition, so that she can disappear from her brutal life of violent confl ict and fi nally live freely as the true self she has always had to keep hidden. It’s an epic-length saga, blending multiple genres into a larger-than-life, unpredictable wild ride that both celebrates traditional cinematic conventions and shatters them.
Actress
Corbett’s critically lauded examination of the “American Dream” through the experiences of a Holocaust survivor (Adrien Brody) on his way to becoming a celebrated architect in the mid-20th-century United States, got 10, as did John M. Chu’s blockbuster adaptation of “Wicked” (including one each for stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande). Among other multiple nominees are “Conclave,” “Anora,” and “A Complete Unknown,” along with “The Substance,” which earned a Best Actress nod for previous dark horse candidate Demi Moore as one of its total.
Other nominations of note: Colman Domingo, whose well-deserved Best Actor nomination for “Sing Sing ” gives him another shot at becoming the fi rst openly gay person to win in that category; a pair of nominations for literary adaptation “Nickel Boys,” a story of two Black American youths at an abusive reform school in 1960s Florida; a nomination for Isabella Rossellini, daughter of three-time-Oscar winner Ingrid Bergman and Italian cinema maestro Roberto Rossellini, as Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Conclave”; and the inclusion of “Memoir of a Snail,” a uniquely poignant Australian fi lm which features (among other non-kid-friendly things) a pair of queer characters being subjected to conversion therapy, among the nominees for Best Animated Feature.
As always, there were snubs, too: egregiously, Daniel Craig, the star of Luca Guadagnino’s “ Queer ” who was widely seen as a front runner, was shut out for a Best Actor nomination. Guadgnino, who also directed the bisexual tennis romance “ Challengers ” this year, saw both of his movies come up empty-handed; also left out was a Best Actress nod for Pamela Anderson’s breathtaking comeback turn in “The Last Showgirl,” despite promising buzz and a strong showing at previous awards ceremonies this season.
Nevertheless, while in other years these subjectively labeled hits and misses might be fodder for plenty of debate in the public forum, none of them are even a storm in a teacup compared with the uproar around “Emilia Pérez” – which thus far (at this writing, anyway) has focused on detracting from the merits of the fi lm itself, rather than at its transgender star. We get it: “Emilia Pérez” is not a fi lm for all tastes, so it’s not surprising that many fi lm fans are appalled at the acclaim it has received.
In addition to the kudos for Gascón and Saldaña, the fi lm – which, though its dialogue is mostly in Spanish, was produced in France, giving it the additional distinction of earning the highest number of nominations of any non-English-language movie in Oscar history – also earned its place among the 10 Best Picture contenders, where it competes against more traditionally styled favorites like “ Conclave ,” “Wicked,” and the Chalamet-as-Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” as well as “artsier” titles like “Anora” and “The Brutalist.” Additionally, fi lmmaker Jacques Audiard is nominated as director and co-screenwriter (with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius, and Nicolas Livecchi, in the Adapted Screenplay category), with two nods in the Best Song category and a host of so-called “technical” awards to round out its whopping total of 13 - only one nomination fewer than the three fi lms (All About Eve,” “Titanic,” and “La La Land”) currently tied at 14.
Other fi lms on the Oscar roster also gathered a high tally; “The Brutalist,” Brady
Even so, thanks to the atmosphere of transphobic oppression that has been forced upon us by Trump and his extremist cronies, any discussion of the fi lm and its nominations must now be considered with all one’s critical thinking skills, because any arguments, either for or against its worthiness, might merely be a smokescreen for a deeper agenda than defending a set of cinematic aesthetics.
For our part, of course, we celebrate the fi lm for its bold inclusivity, as well as its fantastical exploration of not only gender, but justice, corruption, politics, and all the contradictory passions that make being human what it is. We also celebrate Gascón’s nomination and the signifi cant historic impact it carries – particularly coming at this precarious moment in the American story.
As for Oscar night, we have no idea what to expect, so our only prediction about the ceremony on March 2 also serves as a bit of advice, courtesy a quote from a previous Oscar champion: “Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.”
ZOE SALDAÑA and KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN in ‘Emilia Pérez.’ (Photo courtesy of Netflix)
Friday, January 31
CALENDAR |
“Center Aging Friday Tea Time” will be at 2 p.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, email adam@thedccenter.org.
GoGayDC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Social in the City” at 7 p.m. at Hotel Zena. 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, February 01
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 food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
LGBTQ People of Color Support Group will be at 1 p.m. on Zoom. This peer support group is an outlet for LGBTQ People of Color to come together and talk about anything affecting them in a space that strives to be safe and judgment free. For more information and events for LGBTQ People of Color, visit thedccenter.org/poc or facebook.com/ centerpoc.
Sunday, February 02
GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Dinner” at 6:30 p.m. at Federico Ristorante Italiano. 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.
GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community FunDay Social & Games” at 4 p.m. at Moxy. This event is ideal for making meaningful new connections and informal community building. Or just to unwind and enjoy the group happy hour. Fabulous people from all over the world are expected. Nametags will be provided. This event is free to attend and more details are available on Eventbrite.
By TINASHE CHINGARANDE
Monday, February 03
“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 choice. For more details, email adam@thedccenter.org.
Tuesday, February 04
Universal Pride Meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This group seeks to support, educate, empower, and create change for people with disabilities. For more details, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.
“The Ultimate Queer Game Show” will be at 8 p.m. at the DC Arts Center. This is a comedy show hosted by The Carmichaels – comedians Krystal & Samiyyah Ali – that will pit two teams competing for the Queer Championships. Get ready for a night of queer trivia, queer news, and of course, tons of laughs! Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Wednesday, February 05
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.
Center Aging: Women’s Social and Discussion Group will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This group is a place where older LGBTQ+ women can meet and socialize with one another. For more details, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.
Thursday, February 06
The DC Center’s Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. To be fair with who is receiving boxes, the program is moving to a lottery system. 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
Are you down for a queer rock experience?
Jammin Java will host “An Unfiltered Night of Alt Rock & Pop” on Monday Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at its location on 227 Maple Ave. E., Vienna, Va.
This will be an unforgettable evening as four critically acclaimed queer artists bring their raw energy to the stage for a cathartic, high-octane alt rock and pop experience. There’ll be bangers about trauma, drama, pterodactyls, situationships, witchy business, and queerness, all pan seared and served up fresh with more hooks than Peter Pan’s nemesis.
Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased on Jammin Java’s website.
Freddie Lutz and GoGay DC host ‘LGBTQ+ Community Brunch’ at 11 a.m. Saturday at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Broadway vet Ashley Blanchet tackles
‘Bedwetter’
at Arena
Sarah Silverman memoir a funny, poignant story of struggling with depression
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
Skilled and experienced at comedy and drama, Broadway vet Ashley Blanchet says there’s a big difference between the two. She explains, “Comedy is right or wrong, you nail it or you don’t; whereas with drama there’s room for subjectivity. Because I started out as a dancer, being able to hit the mark makes a lot of sense to me. There’s a lot of rhythm to comedy.”
Currently Blanchet is eliciting laughs as Miss New Hampshire in “The Bedwetter” at Arena Stage. A musical based on comedian Sarah Silverman’s bestselling memoir, it’s the funny yet poignant story of a hairy 10-year-old girl’s struggle with clinical depression and bedwetting.
Blanchet’s Miss New Hampshire is a kind of fairy godmother character. “Most of the time I’m in Sarah’s head. She first sees me on TV in Miss America, and soon I start talking to her.”
By the end of the piece, Sarah learns that Miss New Hampshire is also a bedwetter. Subsequently, the future comedian turns her weaknesses into strengths, taking her depression and bedwetting and using it to fuel her creativity and eventual career.
This isn’t Blanchet’s first time as Miss New Hampshire. She initially auditioned in 2019 and eventually created the role off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company in 2022.
She recalls going into the audition mostly cold. Only knowing that Miss New Hampshire is a pageant girl who unwittingly says some funny things, she partly fashioned her on Kristin Chenoweth’s ditzy Glinda in “Wicked.”
“Sarah [Silverman] and the show’s director Anne Kauffman, were laughing. I thought they were just being polite. Turns out, they really liked what I did.”
Although Blanchet, 37, doesn’t claim a personal connection to bedwetting, she can relate to the depression described in the show. Like Sarah, she had a difficult time transitioning into her teenage years. In fact, she credits theater with saving her life.
At 14, Blanchet left home to attend Walnut Hill School, a private performing arts high school in Massachusetts. From there, she moved on to University of Michigan, a great preparatory place for theater, she says. After graduating with a BFA, she went straight to New York where she made her Broadway debut as part of the ensemble in “Memphis.” Soon she began progressing to parts with words and songs.
Because so many musicals thematically touch on being different, Blanchet says bisexuality helps in her work.
“I’ve always felt a little bit of an outsider, so the concept of acceptance and learning to love yourself found in ‘The Bedwetter’ is something I can relate to from both a queer perspective and from being Black. As I get older, I’m increasingly grateful to be who I am.”
Going into college, Blanchet assumed she was straight, but after becoming exceptionally fond of a female friend, growing excited whenever they made plans to hang out, it became clear to her that her feelings were romantic. They were together for three years.
“Being bisexual, there wasn’t like a community waiting for me despite there being many bi people. I didn’t have what my gay guy friends seemed to find. For me, sexual attraction is more about energy than body parts. Coming to own that and be proud of it was a journey and is relatable to different situations including acting.”
Blanchet has played Elsa in “Frozen” on Broadway. She was the also the first Black actor to play the title role in “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella” at Paper Mill Playhouse, a well-known regional theater in New Jersey. And Blanchet very happily led the cast as Maria in “The Sound of Music,” also at Paper Mill.
“These are parts that I never knew I’d do it. That’s kind of what it’s like to be Black in this business,” she says.
Scheduled to be in D.C. at Arena this winter, “The Bedwetter” cast assumed they’d be in for a wild time no matter how the election played out. They weren’t wrong. Fortunately for Blanchet, she’s immersed in her work and comfortably sharing digs with her big, beloved mixed-breed dog Cosmo.
Returning to the show, a Broadway-bound production, is proving an exciting challenge. “I’m like, ‘what did a I do last time? What made this joke work?’ I can’t remember,” she says laughing. “But it’s always good to return to the show, making tweaks and changes. I’m always trying to do anything I can to improve my performance.”
ASHLEY BLANCHET as Miss New Hampshire in ‘The Bedwetter.’ (Photo courtesy Blanchet)
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Liza sparkles again in ‘Truly Terrific’ documentary
A reminder that the beloved icon remains a force to be reckoned with
By JOHN PAUL KING
If you were alive in the 1970s, an awareness of Liza Minnelli probably feels hard-coded into your DNA.
Already famous on television by the time she was a young teen as the endearingly awkward and prodigiously gifted daughter of Judy Garland, having been regularly featured on her mother’s variety series, her explosion into the rarified strata of global stardom might have felt like sheer nepotism if not for the raw magnificence of her talents. Yes, she was uniquely “lucky” to have been the progeny of Hollywood royalty, but for a generation that had already begun to view the nostalgic memories of its parents’ youth through the filter of a more cynical worldview, that status might well have been an impediment to her success were it not for the undeniable verve and spirit of the persona that she brought with her when she performed. Whether in films like Bob Fosse’s masterful screen adaptation of “Cabaret,” or performing live – an experience captured and immortalized in her unprecedented televised concert, “Liza With a ‘Z’” – or even in the arguably naive candor with which she conducted her private life in the public eye, there was something so infectiously real about Liza that even the most jaded of cultural pundits could not help but be on her side.
For gay men, who found in her a similar connection as they had found in her mother – an earnest, genuinely positive spirit attempting to navigate a complicated life and find a place of her own in a world that viewed such enthusiasm with skepticism and judgmental disdain –she became more than just a star. She was a free spirit who, in her struggle to overcome expectation and assert her own unique stamp on the world, became not only easily relatable, but a kindred spirit.
It’s that special bond between Liza and her legion of gay superfans – make no mistake – that permeates “Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story,” the new documentary helmed by Bruce David Klein that debuted in front of enthusiastic crowds at last summer’s Tribeca Film Festival and is now rolling out in theaters across the country. Obviously a labor of love – for its subject, for her fans, and for the show business legacy that Minnelli has represented so tirelessly across her long career – designed to further cement the bond between a beloved icon and those who adore her, it’s a movie that wholly depends on the infectious charisma of its septuagenarian star. Eschewing any attempt at a comprehensive career retrospective, it puts the focus on the story of her life, and the pluckier-than-expected Liza emerges with a canny and self-aware authenticity, complemented by enough hard-earned comfort in her own skin to not only hook a built-in audience of lifelong worshipers but win over a whole new crowd of acolytes.
Picking up, significantly, with the passing of Garland, Klein crafts his movie as a more-or–less chronological exploration of the star’s storied career (and, to a lesser extent, her private life, which remains somewhat cloaked beneath an aura of seemingly genuine and easygoing acceptance) as it highlights the key artistic triumphs and personal partnerships in her life. That means audiences looking for a tell-all tabloid-style post-mortem on the star’s famously unsuccessful history of romance and marriage are likely to be disappointed. There are no scandalous tales, no bitterness, no trash-talking – save for that reserved for David Gest, a self-styled celebrity
publicist and Minnelli’s fourth and final (to date, anyway) husband, who allegedly used their relationship as a means to exploit her financially – and no regrets to be aired.
Instead, the film and its still precocious 78-year-old star choose instead to turn their attention toward celebrating the various key collaborators with whom her career became symbiotically entwined. Hollywood vocal coach-turned powerhouse nightclub star Kay Thompson, who as her godmother served as a mentor for her after Garland’s death; French singer Charles Aznavour, who helped hone her now-iconic performance style; lyricist Fred Ebb, who with composer and songwriting partner John Kander launched her Broadway career with their show “Flora, the Red Menace” and would continue to write signature songs for her throughout their career; director/choreographer Bob Fosse, who guided her to an Academy Award for her star-making performance in “Cabaret” and a Tony for “Liza With a ‘Z’”; and, of course, Halston, the era-shaping fashion designer who not only created her signature style but became her jet-set companion and running buddy for nights out at Studio 54. There are others, too, like former flame-turned-lifelong friend Ben Vereen and more recent associates, Billy Stritch and Michael Feinstein, all of whom show up for on-camera interviews to sing Liza’s praises as an entertainer and as a person. Ultimately, though, it’s Liza herself that provides the best testimonial for herself, not with a litany of personal achievements but through her willingness to own up to – and shrug off – the mistakes she has made and to credit those who have helped to influence and shape her along the way. Brassy, generous, endlessly and authentically positive even when discussing the various missteps and low points that have
marked her career, her extensive screen time gives her plenty of opportunity to show us that, even after a lifetime of struggling against scoliosis, bodily injury, and a well-publicized addiction to prescription drugs, the Liza we all know and love – endlessly positive, big-hearted, effusive in her praise of others and her appreciation for life, with a song or a show-biz story never far from her lips nor her heart – is exactly who she really is. That she is able to exude the same plucky, high spirited enthusiasm that has always been her trademark, despite the obvious toll exacted upon her by the years and the health challenges she has weathered, only makes us love her all the more.
That doesn’t mean that Klein’s documentary avoids all the dark places in Liza’s life. Any attempt to tell her story would be incomplete without at least some discussion of her complicated relationship with “Mama,” the pressure of forging a career in her famous shadow, or the inevitable parallels that can be drawn between their personal and professional lives, and the movie does go there – though it does so delicately, in a respectful and generalized manner, without lingering on details. Likewise, it touches on Minnelli’s problem with addiction, emphasizing resilience rather than scandal.
The result admittedly plays like a love letter, an effect underscored by the universally glowing comments from famous friends and fans interviewed oncreen, from the late Chita Rivera to Darren Criss, as well as in the plentiful archival footage of her career highlights. If the subject were anyone but Liza Minnelli, one might almost suspect this glossy, entertaining portrait of trying to whitewash its subject – instead, it comes off not just as a well-deserved tribute, but a welcome reminder that she is, and always was, a force to be reckoned with.
LIZA MINNELLI in ‘Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story.’ (Photo courtesy of Atlas Media Corp. and Zeitgeist Films in association with Kino Lorber)
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‘Radiant’ an illuminating biography of Keith Haring
Author captures artist’s complexities in sympathetic new book
By CHARLES GREEN
“Radiant” is an illuminating biography of the talented artist Keith Haring, who made his indelible mark during the 1980s before dying young of AIDS. Brad Gooch, biographer of poets Frank O’Hara and Rumi, follows Haring from his childhood in Kutztown, Pa., to his early days in New York City painting artistic graffiti, to his worldwide fame and friendships with Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
The eldest of three children and the only boy, Haring learned to draw early on from his father. Art quickly became a lasting obsession, which he pursued fiercely. Growing up in a small, conservative town, he was drawn to countercultural movements like hippies and religious “Jesus freaks,” although he mostly found the imagery and symbols appealing.
He studied commercial art in Pittsburgh but later dropped out, spending several years working and learning at the Pittsburgh Arts and Crafts Center, before moving to New York City in 1978. Studying painting at the School for Visual Arts, he also learned about video and performance art, making interesting projects. He also began drawing images on subways and blank advertisement backboards. One of his most distinctive was the Radiant Baby, a crawling baby shooting rays of light.
Gooch begins the biography with his own encounter with this public art, which felt colorful and “extremely urgent.” It had to be done guerilla-style, before the authorities could catch him, and they were frequently painted over. He was arrested a few times. Ironically, a few years later Haring would be paid huge sums and flown around the world to create large-scale art on public property. People were amazed at how quickly he worked, even in terrible conditions. Sometimes at these events, while a crowd was gathered, he would draw and give away the artwork. Knowing that his art in galleries sold for incredible amounts, he enjoyed occasionally frustrating the art world’s commercial desires.
His Pop Shops also revealed Haring’s competing impulses. Opened in 1986, first in New York and later in Tokyo, they put his art on all sorts of merchandise, including T-shirts and posters. On the one hand, they allowed ordinary people to buy his work at reasonable prices. However, they also earned him more money and increased his public image.
He made art for everyone. His best-known pieces, featuring babies and dogs, are colorful and family friendly. Some even consider it “lightweight.” He eagerly created murals and artwork for elementary schools and neighborhoods. But he also made art with social and political commentary and sexual explicitness. “Michael Stewart – USA for Africa” depicts a graffiti artist’s strangulation by New York City Transit Police officers. He painted “Once Upon a Time…” for the men’s bathroom of New York City’s Lesbian & Gay Community Center.
Haring worked nearly right up to his death in 1990. The Keith Haring Foundation keeps his work in the public eye, while also funding nonprofits working with disadvantaged youth and AIDS education. Gooch captures Haring’s complexities; he befriended graffiti artists of color and dated working-class men, but was sometimes ignorant about how his wealth and fame affected these relationships. Well written and sympathetic, the book can sometimes overwhelm in detail about life in the 80’s and Haring’s celebrity friends.
‘Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring’
By Brad Gooch
c. 2024, Harper | $20 | 502 pages
Commanders watch parties
Local LGBTQ bars host events for sports fans
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Pitchers DC and JR.’s Bar hosted watch parties for football fans to view the NFC championship game between the Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Jan. 26. The Eagles defeated the Commanders with a score of 23 to 55.
Navigating D.C.’s down payment assistance programs
On the way home, after a detour and a few speed bumps
By JOSEPH HUDSON
D.C. offers some of the most extensive programs for down payment assistance that are managed by the Greater Washington Urban League and the DC Housing Finance Authority, for programs like HPAP and EAHP (Home Purchase Assistance Program and Employer Assisted Housing Program).
The District also offers the DC Opens Doors Program. All of these are great examples of offerings to help first-time or newer home purchasers to afford buying in the District of Columbia, one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets.
There are various requirements for a buyer to use the program. These can be found at dhcd.dc.gov/ service/homeownership. Many qualified local lenders are knowledgeable about these programs and can assist in dozens of these transactions each year. Often, asking a lender about these programs is a great place to start. Tina Del Casale with Sandy Spring Bank has been helping her clients with these programs for years. As part of her education outreach for clients, Tina informs her buyers of the following:
• In the HPAP and the EAHP program, the seller must provide the opportunity for the buyer to perform a home inspection with a qualified home inspector.
• The items that are flagged as “must repairs” need to be fixed by the seller.
• The buyer must get their financial documentation to the lenders involved, as well as to the District of Columbia to be approved to use the program.
• Whichever organization or department is managing the down payment assistance fund disbursal will also be involved in the process.
moving trucks, packing, when to move funds around, whose home they will be sleeping at after the 3rd or 4th delay, and wondering if the seller is going to become so agitated with the entire process that they begin to Google search the term “small claims court.” In a recent instance, the buyer was delayed about four times over the holidays and when the file was ready to close, they were informed that the settlement had to be the following day. So, it was a situation of delay, delay, delay, delay, delay, delay, delay, and do this NOW, which means a buyer must coordinate (for the maybe 3rd time) a day off of work and recalculate their entire schedule at the last second to accommodate an organization that seems to have made few efforts to stay in communication along the way.
D.C. offers some of the most extensive programs for down payment assistance in the country.
• Ideally, it takes about 45-60 days from the date of ratification (going under contract) to close (the settlement date)
• The lenders help to qualify/approve the condo buildings for financial health, ensuring that the finances within the building are being maintained by the homeowner association.
What happens, often, is that the process goes smoothly until the organization that manages the down payment assistance funds receives the file. The closing date can be extended time and time again, causing both the buyer and the seller to recalculate moving dates,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 08
These delays make the buyer less competitive to win an offer and can make a planned purchase fail due to the failure of the buyer to perform. Nobody wants to be told their house will sell and then must make alternative plans when they realize the contract is not going through, OR there will be a significant delay by up to one to three months.
How can we make this process more user friendly? If we could, developers might be more motivated to make affordable housing units available for more people, knowing that the process of selling a unit won’t cause interminable delays and headaches for all parties involved. Buyers must be fully vetted financially before submitting an offer. Is there a way to fully vet the down payment assistance funds, that they arrive in escrow at the title company a week or two before settlement so that all parties can plan their lives accordingly?
Self-awareness as an organization is crucial for knowing where blind spots exist, how they can be looked at, and how a decent process can be improved to fulfill its own goal of helping buyers get into homeownership. Perhaps an exit interview or feedback form could be sent to each buyer after purchase and looked at for suggestions for improvement.
JOSEPH HUDSON
is a referral agent with Metro Referrals. Reach him at 703-587-0597 or joemike76@gmail.com.
Trans service members speak out as Trump pushes military ban
For a lot of trans people, the military is the only option for them to to survive, to get out of the situations they’re in, and again, we’re part of that one percent of the population that has sworn to defend the country. Why would you want to not allow them to do that?
I joined the military, and came in as a military human intelligence collector, so I was an interrogator. After my first deployment, I felt that that job was just not — it did not align with my morals and values and so I came back from the deployment and said that I need to switch into a different position, and I became a medic.
All through my entire career, everyone, every one of my leadership teams have been completely receptive to me.
They recognize the leadership traits that I had. I became a leader. I mentored so many different soldiers along the way. It was just that last duty station in Hawaii at Tripler [Army Medical Center] that I encountered toxic leadership.
I think part of that was that they did not have the resources nor the language to understand who and what trans people are. All I wanted them to see was my efforts — base your opinions off of meritocracy. And that’s a huge word that we’re using now when we’re talking, especially on the Hill, when we’re talking about [how] we just want to measure people by the meritocracy, which is hugely hypocritical.
I was stationed in Alaska. I was stationed in San Antonio, Texas, where I was a part of the schoolhouse team, where we garnered all of our medics coming in from all branches, made sure that they went through proper training through the school. So I’ve had a pretty good career up until my last portion of it.
Even when ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ was repealed and I openly identified as gay, my leadership was completely on board, and they said, you know, we don’t see that. We just see you as a leader, and you’re bringing so much to the table. And [that’s what trans people want, too] — to be seen and and valued just the same as their counterparts. Continues at washingtonblade.com
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LEGAL NOTICE
OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION 2025ADM000010
Harry C. Carter aka Harry Carter Kelly, Name of Decedent
Miroslav Nikolov, 7100 Columbia Gateway Drive, Ste. 190, Columbia, MD 21046 Notice of Appointment, Notice to Creditors and Notice to Unknown Heirs
Bernice G. Kelly , whose address is 4225 Colorado Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20011 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Harry C. Kelly aka Harry Carter Kelly who died on January 31, 2024 with a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., 3rd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/24/2025. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/24/2025 or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship.
Date of first publication: January 24, 2025
/s/Bernice G. Kelly, Personal Representative, 202-291-5888
A True Test Copy /s/Nicole Stevens, Register of Wills.
Harry Carter Kelly, Name of Deceased Settlor NOTICE OF EXISTENCE OF REVOCABLE TRUST
Harry Carter Kelly whose address was 4225 Colorado Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20011 created a revocable trust on August 15, 1997, which remained in existence on the date of his death on 01/31/2024, and Bernice G. Kelly, whose address is 4225 Colorado Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20011 is the currently acting trustee, hereinafter the Trustee. Communications to the trust should be mailed or directed to c/o Miroslav Nikolov, Esq. at 7100 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 190, Columbia, MD 21046. The Trust is subject to claims of the deceased settlor’s creditors, costs of administration of the settlor’s estate, the expenses of the deceased settlor’s funeral and disposal of remains, and statutory allowances to a surviving spouse and children to the extent the deceased settlor’s residuary probate estate is inadequate to satisfy those claims, costs, expenses, and allowances.
Claims of the deceased settlor’s creditors are barred as against the Trustee and the trust property unless presented to the Trustee at the address provided herein on or before 7/31/2025 (6 months from the date of first publication of this notice). An action to contest the validity of this trust must be commenced by the earliest of (1) 1/31/2025 (one year from the date of the deceased settlor) or (2) 7/31/20225 (6 months from the date of first publication of this notice) or (3) ninety days after the Trustee sends the person a copy of the trust instrument and a notice informing the person of the trust’s existence, the Trustee’s name and address, and the time allowed for commencing a proceeding.
The Trustee may proceed to distribute the trust property in accordance with the terms of the trust before the expiration of the time within which an action must be commenced unless the Trustee knows of a pending judicial proceeding contesting the validity of the trust or the Trustee has received notice from a potential contestant who thereafter commences a judicial proceeding within sixty days after notification.
This Notice must be mailed postmarked within 15 days of its first publication to each heir and qualified beneficiary of the trust and any other person who would be an interested person within the meaning of D.C. Code, sec. 20-101(d).
Date of first publication: January 31, 2025 /s/Bernice G. Kelly, Trustee, 443-393-7696
A True Test Copy /s/Nicole Stevens, Register of Wills.
