Washington Blade, Volume 56, Issue 13, March 28, 2025

IYA DAMMONS on trans perseverance, PAGE 10

• Roundup of local events, PAGE 10

• Trans AI scientist on navigating tech, PAGE 12

• Mom on moving trans daughter to Canada, PAGE 18

• Arlington should become sanctuary city, PAGE 21

• Trans CEO advocates fighting for DEI, PAGE 21

TRANS DAY OF VISIBILITY:

• Local trans nightlife options growing, PAGE 30

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D.C. queer bar owners sound alarm on WorldPride security concerns

‘The city has a complete obligation to manage this, make it safe’

By JOE REBERKENNY

Excitement for this year’s WorldPride celebration in Washington grows more palpable by the day as more iconic performers are added to festival lineups and a steady stream of new events are announced. It’s clear that Washington is preparing for something big.

But as with any major event, concerns are emerging about how to ensure the safety of the LGBTQ community as people from around the world gather to celebrate the diversity that makes it so special.

Washington is home to about 20 bars that cater to the LGBTQ community. Some bar owners worry that as the celebration approaches their venues will bear the brunt of the influx of visitors. Without federal support, they fear the challenges that come with accommodating such large crowds will only intensify.

The Washington Blade spoke with several gay bar owners following a community meeting that included bar owners, D.C. police, and staff from the mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs. The discussion focused on safety concerns for WorldPride and potential solutions to ease the growing burden on these businesses.

“I think a lot of the bar owners just felt like we needed to all coordinate what we’re doing together with the 2 to 3 million people they say are coming to town,” said Stephen Rutgers, co-owner of Crush, an LGBTQ dance bar on 14th Street. (Rutgers also serves as the Blade’s sales and marketing director.) “There are 16-ish, maybe a little more, LGBTQ bars in the city, which maybe hold 3,500-plus people total. We’re sort of the backbone of the community, and so we’re going to be inundated no matter what. It is great for business, but it also brings a lot of concerns for a lot of the business owners.”

Originally not intended to focus on security, the mid-February meeting quickly shifted to safety concerns, according to Ed Bailey, co-owner of Trade and Number 9. Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, attended, taking notes as bar owners voiced their fears.

“As Japer started the conversation, there was a little bit of a general ‘WorldPride is coming. These are the dates. Here are a few marquee events that are scheduled.’ We went through the basics — when the parade is, when the main downtown festival is, the other music festival, and some other things. And then within 10 minutes of the meeting starting like that, the question of security and safety was brought up. I don’t even remember how, and I don’t think it was the topic at hand. It just became part of the topic, and then it became the only thing that was discussed for the rest of the meeting.”

The discussion centered on how to financially support bar owners in securing the additional staffing needed to handle the influx of millions of LGBTQ tourists. Many attendees emphasized the government’s responsibility to ensure safety for these visitors, especially considering that WorldPride 2019 drew 5 million people to Manhattan.

“WorldPride is going to be the largest event that has ever happened in Washington, D.C., ever, of any kind,” Bailey said. “More people will be here for WorldPride

than have been here for any other thing in history. The city has a complete, 100% obligation to manage this, make it safe, be as welcoming as possible, and ensure everything is in its best form.”

This becomes more complicated given that the District’s resources are ultimately controlled by the Republican-led federal government.

“Is Washington up to that task as a city government? I don’t think it’s ever been tested like this,” Bailey added. “It is unprecedented for Washington — a city essentially controlled by the federal government — to try to maintain, manage, and operate an event of this magnitude without federal assistance. It just puts a stranglehold on the D.C. government.”

David Perruzza, owner of Pitchers, a queer sports bar, and A League of Her Own, a lesbian bar in Adams Morgan, said he sees potential security issues arising not at official WorldPride events but closer to home.

“So now it’s WorldPride, and there will be other events. And God forbid Trump does another counter-event. What are we going to do if we have an issue,” Perruzza asked. “Our main concern is security for these establishments, not so much the events. The events have tons of cops for them and everything, but we just want to make sure that we’re going to be taken care of.”

Rutgers echoed Perruzza’s concerns about the possibility of interference from the president and other Republicans in power.

“I do think people have a lot of questions about whether the bigger stuff is going to be able to happen. It does raise those concerns for us. We’re on private property, so we’re safe, but if things start to get canceled, there will be fewer and fewer spaces for people to go, which then, I think, overwhelms us even more,” Rutgers said. “There are only so many bars. There are only so many larger venues that can hold big private parties that the administration can’t touch. And if they somehow take over city permitting and cancel the street festival, where are those couple hundred thousand people going to go?”

The possibility of increased police presence in LGBTQ spaces was also discussed. Initially seen as a

potential solution to growing concerns, it now appears less viable as the full scale and demands of WorldPride on city resources become clearer.

“They used to have a program where bars and restaurants could hire off-duty MPD officers,” Rutgers explained. “The city would cover a portion of the cost of overtime, and the bar would cover the rest. One issue is that it wasn’t funded in the budget this year, so there’s no money for it. And, two, when MPD is fully activated, there are no off-duty officers available. MPD is already short-staffed. I think there are just flaws in the program — it’s great, we would want to hire people, but we can’t.”

“All of the bar owners were concerned. They feel like they are easier targets, and while there will likely be significant security and police presence at the festival and large events, there probably won’t be much visible police coverage in the areas where the bars are,” Bailey added. “Every single officer employed by the Metropolitan Police Department will be working that weekend. No one will have time off. There will be no extra officers in the nightclub and bar world.”

Beyond the lack of officers and funding, a police presence doesn’t always guarantee a safer space, especially considering that the first Pride was a rebellion against police.

“I also am astutely aware that having police at your establishments is not something that is welcome or comfortable for a very large portion of our community, so that becomes tricky,” Bailey said. “But I believe that given the scenario and the situation, if there were a way to create a system where neighborhoods could collectively pay a fee to have an officer in a patrol car on the block — so businesses could access that officer when significant issues arise — that might bring some comfort. Removing that officer from directly standing at the bar would lessen the impact on customers who may not feel comfortable with a police presence.”

Bowles from the mayor’s office issued a statement to the Blade responding to the bar owners’ concerns.

“We are proud to welcome more than 3 million visitors to Washington, D.C. for WorldPride 2025,” the statement reads. “Washington, D.C. has extensive experience providing world-class security and hospitality for large-scale public events, and this will be no exception. The District continues to work diligently with community organizers and partners to ensure that WorldPride is a safe, accessible, and bold celebration of our community.”

Regardless of how it’s achieved, safety remains the top priority for LGBTQ bar owners, even if it means sacrificing profits or taking on additional responsibilities, the owners said.

“Everybody’s got to step up,” Bailey concluded. “It’s a long, difficult, hard weekend from a working standpoint, but hopefully, a joyous and remarkable experience.”

The Washington Blade reached out to Capital Pride and the Metropolitan Police Department for comment, but neither responded.

Local bar owners are concerned about safety with large crowds expected for WorldPride. (Blade file photo)

D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate Jeri Hughes dies at 73

‘Force of nature’ credited with pro-trans policy at city jail

By LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Jeri Hughes, a longtime D.C. transgender rights advocate who has worked closely with activists in support of the local LGBTQ community, died March 18 at her home after a seven-year battle with lung cancer. She was 73.

Hughes, who has worked for the past 11 years at the D.C. Department of Employment Services, most recently as a Workforce Development Specialist, became involved in local LGBTQ rights and transgender rights endeavors since she moved to D.C. around 2005.

Among other endeavors, Hughes, along with D.C. transgender rights advocate Earline Budd, has served for more than a decade on the D.C. Department of Corrections’ Transgender Housing and Transgender Advisory committees.

Budd this week said Hughes played an important role in ensuring that Department of Corrections officials continue to follow a 2009 policy of allowing transgender inmates to choose whether to be placed in the men’s or the women’s housing units at the D.C. jail.

“In her toughness and determination, Jeri was a force of nature,” said Rick Rosendall, former president of the D.C. Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance. “She pressed the D.C. Department of Corrections for more humane and respectful treatment of transgender inmates,” Rosendall said.

“She pressed the D.C. government to set an example by hiring more trans people,” according to Rosendall, who added that Hughes interacted with D.C. police officials, including former D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham, to push for respectful treatment of trans people by the police.

Hughes’s LinkedIn page shows that prior to working at the D.C. Department of Employment Services she served as housing coordinator for a local social services organization called T.H.E. Inc., where, among other things, she “monitored and mentored a diverse population of LGBT youth.”

Her LinkedIn page shows she also worked from June 2009 to May 2010 as an administrative assistant at the D.C. Anacostia Watershed Society.

Hughes’s brother, Lou Hughes, who said the Hughes

family is originally from Ohio, told the Washington Blade Jeri Hughes served in the U.S. Navy after high school as a torpedo operator in a submarine in the South Pacific. He said a short time later Jeri Hughes moved to New York City, where she operated a company that provided commercial laundry service to restaurants and hospitals.

Lou Hughes said his sister Jeri moved to D.C. around 2005 and initially lived with him and his wife in a basement apartment in their house before moving to her own apartment in Northwest D.C. where she remained until her passing.

He said it was around 2005 that his sister informed her family that she planned to transition as a transgender woman at the age of 54. “And our family fully supported her decision, helped her finance the various surgeries,” Lou Hughes said. “And once she went through the transition it was like she was fully reborn.”

“And that’s why all these negative comments about transgender people right now – it’s very hurtful to our family because she was really the classic transgender person who was really simply born in the wrong body and gave our entire family a real sensitivity and under-

Comings & Goings

Team DC names 9 recipients of its college scholarships

By PETER ROSENSTEIN

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at comingsandgoings@washblade.com.

Congratulations to the nine local LGBTQ high school student-athletes named by Team DC as recipients of its college scholarships. The scholarships for student athletes are $2,500 each and awarded to open LGBTQ student-athletes from high schools across the greater Washington, D.C. region. The scholarships will be presented at the annual Night of Champions Gala, on April 5 at the Hilton National Mall/Wharf.

Charles Roth, Team DC Scholarship Committee Chair, and board member said, “We are continually impressed

and proud of all our scholarship recipients’ continued commitment, dedication, and passion in both the classroom, and in their respective sports.”

Team DC President Miguel Ayala added, “Our scholarship program is the heart of our mission, empowering young LGBTQ+ athletes to embrace their full potential—on and off the field. … These scholarships help set young people on a path to future LGBTQ+ leadership.”

The nine students honored this year are: Nwaamaka Agwu, Springbrook High School (Silver Spring, Md.); Natalia (Nat) Alatis, Hayfield Secondary School (Alexandria, Va.); Emilia Benitez-Pergola, Benjamin Banneker Academic High School (Washington, D.C.); James Hughes, Basis DC, (Washington, D.C.); Catherine (Rin) Kelley, Chantilly High School (Fairfax, Va.); Nadia Lytle, School Without Walls High School (Washington, D.C.); Shan-

standing of what that meant,” Lou Hughes said.

Denise Leclair, one of Jeri Hughes’s closest friends and former roommate, said among Jeri Hughes’s many interests was boating. Leclair said Hughes persuaded her to join Hughes in purchasing a 45-foot sailboat in 2019, shortly after Hughes was diagnosed with lung cancer.

“We spent the next two months getting it fixed up and we started sailing,” Leclair recalls. “And we did quite a bit of sailing, so she really put her heart and soul into restoring this boat.”

Leclair said the boat was docked in a harbor in Deale, Md., just south of Annapolis. She said up until a few months ago, after her cancer prevented her from working full-time, Hughes spent most of her time living on the boat until her illness forced her to return to her D.C. apartment.

“My Dearest Sister Jeri, born April 30, 1951, left our restless Earth in the early morning of March 18, 2025, succumbing to the lung cancer which she battled against so bravely for seven years,” Lou Hughes says in a statement. “As we all know, Jeri was a person of high intellect, incredible energy and fearless in the face of adversity,” her brother wrote.

“Whether through acts of quiet charity, tireless advocacy, or simply offering a listening ear, Jeri made it a mission to uplift, support, and care for every person she encountered,” his statement says. “Her life was a testament to empathy in action, leaving a lasting legacy of love, hope, and selflessness that will continue to inspire all who knew her.”

In addition to her many friends and colleagues in D.C., Jeri Hughes is survived by her brother, Lou Hughes; sister-In-law Candice Hughes; daughter, Casey Martin; sonin-law Wally Martin; grandson Liam Martin; granddaughter, Mirella Martin; niece, Britanny Hughes; and nephew Klaus Meierdiercks.

A memorial service and celebration of life for Jeri Hughes is scheduled to be held May 10 at D.C.’s Metropolitan Community Church at 1 p.m., according to Earline Budd.

ti Osborne, Woodson High School (Washington, D.C.); Katelynne Robertson, Herndon High School (Herndon, Va.); and Jay Young, HS Woodlawn Secondary Program (Arlington, Va).

Team DC has now awarded more than 113 scholarships in the program’s 18-year history. Applications for the 2026 program will open in the fall of 2025. To find out more about Team DC and its scholarship program visit teamdc.org.

JERI HUGHES (Washington Blade photo by Pete Exis)

NWAAMAKA AGWU CATHERINE KELLEY

Iya Dammons on the need to fight Trump’s anti-trans attacks

Head of Safe Haven insists ‘we will not be erased’

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

This year’s Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31 comes amid numerous attacks on the community from President Trump and his congressional allies advancing sports bans, restricting affi rming healthcare, and gutting federal funding of nonprofi ts that provide life-saving resources for the trans community.

One such organization operating in Baltimore and D.C. is Safe Haven, which runs shelters in both cities for trans people experiencing homelessness along with a variety of other services for the broader LGBTQ community, including HIV prevention.

Iya Dammons, who serves as executive director of both Safe Haven groups and operates the shelters, spoke to the Blade about the challenges of doing this work in the current political environment.

Dammons said federal funding for Safe Haven Baltimore and D.C. has been frozen by the Trump administration as part of its sweeping policy of opposing government support for transgender-related programs. But she said the mayor’s offi ces in Baltimore and D.C., including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Offi ce of LGBTQ Affairs, have provided local funding to make up for the loss of federal funds.

“Things are looking dire, but we have to continue our services,” she said. “So, we’re continuing to do the services in Washington, D.C. In Baltimore City we’re also being told that at the end of the day we can keep doing services and the city of Baltimore stands with us,” she said by providing fi nancial support.

In addition to providing transitional housing for transgender people and others in the LGBTQ community experiencing homelessness, under Dammons’s leadership, Safe Haven provides a wide range of supportive services for LGBTQ people in need, with a special outreach to Black trans women “navigating survival mode” living, according to its website.

“Through compassionate harm reduction and upward mobility services, advocacy support, and community engagement, we foster a respectful, non-judgmental environment that empowers individuals,” a website statement says. “Our programs encompass community outreach, a drop-in center providing HIV testing, harm reduction, PrEP, medical linkage, case management, and assistance in accessing housing services,” it says.

Dammons says she and her associates at Safe Haven are responding to the hostile environment brought about by the Trump administration, among other things, by promoting a theme of “We Will Not Be Erased,” which will be highlighted in a Baltimore street mural.

As a follow-up to another street mural initiated by Dammons on Charles Street in Baltimore in July 2020 called “Black Trans Lives Matter,”  the new “We Will Not Be Erased” mural is scheduled to be painted on a two-block section of Charles Street on March 29.

“So, this year, because of what is happening with the Trump administration, that he is trying to erase our population, this is going to say we won’t be erased,” Dammons told the Blade. “And it’s going to refl ect our Black Trans Lives Matter mural,” she said.

Dammons said she is disappointed by Mayor Bowser’s seeming acquiescence to the Trump administration’s demand that she remove the D.C. Black Lives Matter street mural located on 16th Street, N.W. opposite the White House that Bowser had installed during Trump’s fi rst term as president.

“She was likely to lose funding, so I understand,” Dammons said, referring to threats by Trump and Republican members of Congress to cut millions of dollars from the D.C. budget if the mayor did not remove the Black Lives Matter mural.

But Dammons said she does not think Bowser has spoken out forcefully enough about Trump’s actions toward the trans community.

Dammons, who founded Safe Haven Baltimore, which is also known as Safe Haven Maryland, in 2018, is credited with playing the lead role in its growth with a current budget of $3.8 million. She founded Safe Haven D.C. in 2023 at the time the trans supportive D.C. LGBTQ community services center Casa Ruby shut down. The D.C. Safe Haven is located at 331 H St., N.E.

In recognition of her work and contribution to the community, the Baltimore mayor and City Council in June of 2024 named a Baltimore street where the Safe Haven offi ces are located as Iya Dammons Way in her honor.

Dammons said she was highly honored by the street

name designation and has pointed out that with the purchase of a second building to house its offi ces and services scheduled to open in Baltimore in June, Safe Haven has emerged as one of the nation’s largest trans-led LGBTQ nonprofi t service organizations.

“It may be the largest trans-led organization by a Black trans woman of color,” she said. “It’s the largest one on the East Coast led by a Black trans woman of color.”

Regarding Trump and the anti-transgender actions by his administration, Dammons said that as a Black trans woman, “Everything that they have removed from my clients and the people I serve, he has removed from me.”

“And we have no other choice at the end of the day than to stand up and fi ght back and know that we won’t be erased,” she said. “There is no other choice than to stand up and fi ght back because, for them, this is a lifestyle. But to us, this is us. So, it’s a whole different ballgame when you look at the people we serve.”

Trans Day of Visibility events

• Trans Day of Vision picnic and rally, March 30, 1-5 p.m., Malcolm X Park

• ‘Building Power and Solidarity Across Generations’ webinar featuring trans leaders, March 31, 7 p.m. EST, RSVP via Equality Federation’s website.

• Rally featuring members of Congress, March 31, 4 p.m., National Mall between 3rd Street and 4th Street, D.C.

IYA DAMMONS (Blade photo by Michael Key)

5 things a trans scientist wants you to know about AI

Surveillance systems pose unique threat to trans community

By HENRY CARNELL

Trans people were no strangers to the heyday of the internet experimenting with AI text to image generation during primarily 2022 and 2023. Trans writers shared about the potential promise of the technology for producing affirming portraits. The same models, however, researchers found also produced stereotypes and over-sexualization of their depictions of transgender people.

Since then, AI use has exploded—as have examples of how it fails the LGBTQ community. Generative AI has repeatedly been found to bias against LGBTQ folks and other marginalized groups. Research has shown that AI surveillance systems pose a unique threat to the transgender community. In fact, anti-trans and “gender critical” groups have already used AI with the intent of excluding and marginalizing the transgender community.

There are very few trans people working in and studying AI, leaving the community with limited input and guidance around the technology. To better understand the navigating of technology as trans and queer, the Blade sat down with Eddie Ungless, a queer and trans researcher studying queerphobia and transphobia in AI models.

Here are five things Ungless emphasized that the LGBTQ community should consider when navigating the technology.

1: AI isn’t necessarily intelligent

When most people think about AI these days, they think about Chat-GPT or DALL-E. These are essentially, Ungless explains, a system trained on “a very large amount of data to identify subtle patterns, and through that, it is able to mimic very particular aspects of human intelligence,” like the written word.

Mimicking particular aspects of human intelligence does not translate to actual or widespread intelligence.

“AI is quite good at pretending to be good at language,” Ungless says, “that has led to a sense that these systems have a human-like intelligence in other regards.” For example, Chat-GPT may be able to write human-sounding paragraphs, but the content may not be accurate.

Large language models like Chat-GPT are just a sliver of AI technology. “It’s almost more like a marketing term,” Ungless says, referencing a larger line of thought in the AI community. Looking back five years, what was considered to be artificial intelligence was social media recommendation algorithms and moderation algorithms, Ungless explains, “those aren’t things people think of as strongly as AI nowadays.”

2: The trouble is in the data

“There are certain kinds of bias that are now salient to the AI development community,” says Ungless. The problem is that AI’s are often being trained on enormous amounts of unfiltered data. Ungless explains, “we are training these systems on so much data that it is impossible to be confident about what is contained

in that data.”

This is especially true when the data comes from the internet and the content is likely to be disproportionately inaccurate or hateful. Developers will take stopgap measures to try to tame the data, like removing common slurs or testing the final product on common identity terms. “What they’re trying to avoid is a scandal,” says Ungless.

But, Ungless says, “even if you attempt to remove large amounts of stereotyping, sexualizing, fetishizing, or offensive data, it’s still going to creep in and affect your final product.”

Ungless said that it doesn’t have to be the case. They just have to build models differently. Developers are “retroactively trying to undo damage that was done by [the model] being trained on the contents of the internet.” Ungless asks, why don’t we feed our models differently?

3: Smaller is often better

Developers try to feed AI models as much data as possible, with the thought that more information equals more intelligence. This isn’t necessarily the case, says Ungless, especially if the data is coming from the internet.

Ungless images AI trained on smaller, more accurate data sets that have had more human input in creating. For example, scientists have used AI technology on specialized data sets to improve breast cancer detection. Scientists had to be much more diligent about the data going into their models.

Part of curating accurate data sets for AI tools in the future, Ungless argues, should be in consultation with marginalized communities affected by the tools. Instead of trying to fix a tool retroactively, including community input would ensure a better product from the beginning.

Or, at least, looking into what information is already out there. “A good first step would be asking the people who build these systems to reflect more on the normative decisions they make whilst developing them,” he says. “A lot of decisions get made without due consideration for the impact [or] existing social science research.”

Plus, there are other benefits to smaller AI models: research shows they are greener. Earlier in 2025, Chinese AI DeepSeek made headlines for being trained on less data and using less energy.

4: Use the tools thoughtfully

Large language models trained on large swathes of the internet are embedded in many people’s everyday lives at this point. Ungless recommends being thoughtful about what you want to get out of AI. Ungless said it can be a useful technology. “I think that it can have convenient uses. I think it can have creative uses,” they say, especially for tasks that need automation or are tricky solo.

When investigating what the LGBTQ community uses AI for, Ungless has found people use it for things

like writing scripts to help explain coming out or experimenting with gender presentation. He acknowledges that this can be useful in tailoring resources but also encourages folks to check out community created resources since they may be more helpful.

Beyond the limits to AI’s accuracy, Ungless points out that they are “to an extent, averaging machines. So when you ask it to produce a letter for a loved one, it’s not going to be personalized.”

They encourage everybody to “engage more mindfully with AI,” and ask questions like “Does this task really need to be automated using AI? Could a person do it better? Could a more [low-tech] solution do it well?”

5: Protect your data

Since AI’s data often comes from scraping off the internet, the personal data or intellectual property of anyone, not just the LGBTQ community, should be taken into consideration.

Ungless has found that this is especially a concern for LGBTQ creatives. He encourages creators to learn more about how their work may have been used in AI training, pointing users to websites like Have I been Trained? If creators are making visual content, they can also apply a filter—Glaze—that protects data from being used in training sets.

Ultimately many of these questions will come down to policy. Ungless encourages everyone to engage with the future of AI policy. They urge: “As AI gets normalized, I think all should be engaged with ensuring policy makers and regulation keeps an eye on what AI companies are doing.”

(This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.)

EDDIE UNGLESS is a queer and trans researcher studying queer phobia and transphobia in AI models.

Trump ‘culture war’ complicates HUD grants

The disbursement of more than $3.6 billion in federal grants to housing providers has been paused for weeks while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development seeks to condition receipt of the funding on compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive actions targeting DEI and transgender and immigrant communities.

March 4 was the statutory deadline for the agency to distribute the funds, which come through the Continuum of Care Program in support of local governments and nonprofit organizations working to promote “a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness.”

On March 13, a group of Senate Democrats led by U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff (Calif.) and Tina Smith (Minn.) wrote to HUD Secretary Scott Turner urging him to move quickly on distributing the grants and warning of the consequences that recipients are now facing and the harm they will encounter in the future if delays persist.

“To keep the lights on, providers are now being forced to draw on lines of credit at significant cost and risk to their organizations,” the senators said. “These projects enable homeless service providers to help veterans, families with children, youth, seniors, and vulnerable individuals access permanent and temporary housing, crisis counseling, and other supportive services.”

HUD subsequently disseminated grant agreements — and Schiff published an example on his office’s website — that included, among other provisions, language stipulating that the awardee (1) “shall not use grant funds to promote ‘gender ideology,’ as defined in E.O. 14168, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” (2) certifies that it does not operate any programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws, and (3) agrees not to use “that funding in a manner that by design or effect facilitates the subsidization or promotion of illegal immigration or abets so-called ‘sanctuary’ policies that seek to shield illegal aliens from deportation.”

On March 14, the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals stayed a nationwide injunction enjoining three parts of Trump’s executive order on DEI, and the following day, HUD

rescinded the CoC contracts and said to expect new agreements within a week as the agency was “working to revise its CoC grant agreements to be consistent with Federal law and compliant with applicable court orders.”

Schiff then led a second letter to Turner on March 19 with the Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Mazie Hirono (D- Hawaii), and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.).

“We urge the department to immediately issue new CoC grant agreements consistent with longstanding practice— free of the aforementioned conditions— to ensure all individuals experiencing homelessness receive protection and support, regardless of gender identity, location, or other characteristics,” they said, requesting a response by March 31.

“The initial FY2024 grant agreements issued to CoC funding recipients contained new requirements that are deeply problematic, and likely unlawful, requirements,” the senators argued. “These mandates, such as barring shelters from serving transgender people, prohibiting DEI initiatives, and certifying that they do not support ‘sanctuary’ policies protecting noncitizens, conflict with federal civil rights, fair housing, and immigration laws, raising serious legal and constitutional concerns.”

The lawmakers noted “the harm caused by these delayed and unfulfilled CoC grant agreements will fall

Trump cuts health grants related to sexual minorities

Officials at Whitman-Walker Health revealed that the organization’s Institute for Health Research and Policy is facing a 40 percent cut to its federal funding due to President Trump’s ongoing effort to reduce federal government spending.

The news was announced at a weekend drag brunch fundraiser held at Her Diner.

A spokesperson for Whitman-Walker told the Blade that final numbers of the cuts are not yet available and the full impact of the federal funding loss is not yet clear. The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker works to advance good health outcomes via research, clinical trials, and evidence-based policy solutions. So it’s fair to assume the cuts will impact research into HIV and cancer treatments.

In related news, last week the U.S. government terminated at least 68 grants to 46 institutions totaling nearly $40 million, according to a report from the AP.

“Most were in some way related to sexual minorities, including research focused on HIV prevention. Other canceled studies centered on cancer, youth suicide and bone health,” AP reported.

Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon said the agency is “dedicated to restoring our agencies to their tradition of upholding gold-standard, evidence-based science.”

One canceled project at Vanderbilt University was following the health of more than 1,200 LGBTQ people age 50 and older, the AP said.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

disproportionately on our most vulnerable populations, including women, families with children, youth, veterans, survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals.” They added, “Women experiencing homelessness — many of whom are fleeing domestic abuse — already face significant barriers to safety and stability, and restricting access to critical housing services will only further endanger their lives and well-being.”

Citing research that nearly one in three transgender Americans has experiences homelessness in their lives, Schiff and his colleagues stressed that “Transgender and nonbinary people in the U.S. face significant barriers to securing safe housing, with many experiencing homelessness and high rates of mistreatment and violence in shelters.”

With respect to the language in the agreements about “sanctuary” policies, the senators wrote “The organizations receiving CoC funds exist to provide critical, non-discriminatory aid to those in need, regardless of their immigration status. These organizations do not set or enforce immigration policy — they simply fulfill their legal duty to provide life-saving and life-changing care.”

Later on March 19, HUD began issuing new contracts that did not contain the provision concerning DEI but did include the same language about “gender ideology” and “sanctuary” policies.

CHRISTOPHER KANE

Court halts removal of two trans service members

A federal court in New Jersey issued a temporary restraining order on Monday that will halt the separation of two transgender service members from the U.S. military while their case in D.C. challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s ban moves forward.

The order by Judge Christine O’Hearn pauses proceedings against Staff Sgt. Nicholas Bear Bade and Master Sgt. Logan Ireland, who “have been pulled from key deployments and placed on administrative absence against their will because of the ban,” according to a joint press release Monday by the National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLAD Law, which are representing the service members together with other litigants in Ireland v. Hegseth and in the case underway in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Talbott v. Trump.

“That court granted a preliminary injunction March 18 barring the Department of Defense from implementing the ban, finding that it discriminates based on sex and transgender status; that it is ‘soaked in animus;’ and that, due to the government’s failure to present any evidence supporting the ban, it is ‘highly unlikely’ to survive any level of judicial review,” the groups noted in their press release.

Ireland spoke with the Washington Blade in January along with other trans service members and former service members who shared their experiences with the military and their feelings on the new administration’s efforts to bar trans people from the U.S. armed forces.

CHRISTOPHER KANE

U.S. Sen. ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.) (Blade photo by Michael Key)

Japan’s marriage equality movement gains steam

Japan’s Nagoya High Court on March 7 ruled the lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriages violates the country’s constitution.

The plaintiffs argued Japan’s Civil Code and Family Registration Act, which does not recognize same-sex marriages, violates the country’s constitution. They cited Article 14, Paragraph 1, which guarantees equality under the law and prohibits discrimination based on factors that include race, creed, sex, or social status. The plaintiff also invoked Article 24, Paragraph 2, which emphasizes that laws governing marriage and family matters must uphold individual dignity and the fundamental equality of the sexes.

The plaintiffs sought damages of 1 million yen ($6,721.80) under Article 1, Paragraph 1, of the State Redress Act, which provides for compensation when a public official, through intentional or negligent acts in the course of their duties, causes harm to another individual. The claim centered on the government’s failure to enact necessary legislation, which prevented the plaintiff from marrying.

The court noted same-sex relation-

ships have existed naturally long before the establishment of legal marriage. It emphasized that recognizing such relationships as legitimate is a fundamental legal interest connected to personal dignity, transcending the confines of traditional legal frameworks governing marriage and family.

The court further observed same-sex couples encounter significant disadvantages in various aspects of social life that cannot be addressed through civil partnership systems. These include housing challenges, such as restrictions on renting properties, and financial institutions refusing to recognize same-sex couples as family members for mortgages. Samesex couples also face hurdles in accessing products and services tailored to family relationships. While the court deemed the relevant provisions unconstitutional, it clarified that the government’s failure to enact legislative changes does not constitute a violation under the State Redress Act.

The lawsuit, titled “Freedom of Marriage for All,” brought together a large coalition of professionals, including more

than 30 plaintiffs and 80 lawyers. They filed six lawsuits in five courts throughout Japan.

“We filed these lawsuits on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 2019, in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Sapporo, and in September of that year in Fukuoka,” noted Takeharu Kato, director of Marriage for All Japan. “Then, in March 2021, the Sapporo District Court handed down the first ruling declaring the current laws unconstitutional, which received extensive worldwide media coverage. Subsequently, the

Osaka District Court unfortunately ruled that the current law is constitutional, but among the 10 rulings handed down so far, nine have ruled that not recognizing marriage equality is unconstitutional.”

Kato is a lawyer who is part of the legal team in the Sapporo case. He is also a board member of Marriage for All Japan, a marriage equality campaign.

“The MFAJ (Marriage for All Japan) is fully supporting the lawsuits by publicizing the current status of the trials and the rulings in our websites and social networks, setting up press conferences at the time of the rulings,” Kato told the Washington Blade.

Kato said the campaign has significantly shifted public opinion, with recent polls indicating more than 70 percent of Japanese people now support marriage equality — up from approximately 40 percent before Marriage for All Japan launched. Japan is the only G7 country that does not legally recognize samesex couples. Taiwan, Nepal, and Thailand have extended full marriage rights to gays and lesbians.

ANKUSH KUMAR

State Dept. to remove LGBTQ information from human rights report

The State Department has not commented on a report that indicates it plans to remove LGBTQ-specific information from their annual human rights report.

Politico on March 19 reported the Trump-Vance administration “is slashing the State Department’s annual human rights report — cutting sections about the rights of women, the disabled, the LGBTQ+ community, and more.” The Politico article notes it obtained “documents” and spoke with “a current and a former State Department official who were familiar with the plan.”

“We are not previewing the human rights report at this time,” a State Department spokesperson told the Washington Blade on March 21.

Congress requires the State Department to release a human rights report each year.

The 2023 report specifically noted Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act that contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.” The 2022 report highlighted, among other things, anti-LGBTQ crackdowns in Afghanistan, Russia, and Hungary and so-called conversion therapy.

President Donald Trump since he took office has signed a number of executive orders that have specifically targeted the LGBTQ and intersex community. These include the “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”

directive that, among other things, bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers. The State Department has eliminated references to transgender travelers from its travel advisories. Germany, Denmark, and Finland have issued travel advisories for trans and nonbinary people who are planning to visit the U.S.

A directive that Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued bans embassies and other U.S. diplomatic institutions from flying the Pride flag. (Former President Joe Biden in March 2024 signed a government spending bill with a provision that banned Pride flags from flying over U.S. embassies.)

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Namibia’s new president promises equality ‘for all’

March 21 was a historic day for Namibia with the inauguration of Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the country’s first female president who resoundingly won last November’s presidential election.

Nandi-Ndaitwah in her inaugural speech vowed to uphold the rights of every Namibian by bringing shared prosperity for all, and pledged to enhance gender parity across the country.

“The task facing me, as the fifth president of the Republic of Namibia, is to preserve the gains of our independence on all fronts and to ensure that the unfinished agenda of economic and social advancement of our people is carried forward with vigor and determination to bring about shared, balanced prosperity

for all,” she said. “I am optimistic that, as a nation, we can make a success of our country. We must work together as a united people with one heart and one mind.”

Nandi-Ndaitwah’s remarks come at a time when LGBTQ Namibians face the possibility of being criminalized.

MP Jerry Ekandjo in 2023 tabled the Marriage Amendment Private Members’ Bill and Spouse Bill, which would have made same-sex marriages illegal, regardless of whether they had been legally performed outside Namibia. Those who would have violated the proposed law would have faced up to six years in prison, a $5,000 fine, or both.

Former President Nangolo Mbumba earlier this month refused to sign the

bills into law because a majority of MPs did not pass them, and they presented constitutional challenges. Former Home Affairs, Immigration, Safety, and Security Minister Albert Kawana last July tabled the marriage proposal in parliament, and labeled the two bills as redundant.

The Marriage Bill, which became law on Oct. 2, 2024, exactly four months after Kawana tabled it, repealed the Marriage Act of 1961 and all its subsequent amendments, including the Supreme Court decision which recognized samesex marriages legally performed outside Namibia.

The Marriage Act of 2024 says a marriage or marital union between persons of the same sex wherever conducted, or a marriage or marital union conducted in a country other than Namibia which cannot be validly conducted in Namibia is illegal. Anyone who violates the law can face up to four years in prison, a $1,000 fine, or both.

DANIEL ITAI

Since 2019, the advocacy group Marriage For All Japan has sued the Japanese government in all five district courts. (Photo courtesy of Marriage For All Japan)

Namibian President NETUMBO NANDI-NDAITWAH (Screen capture via Kenya Digital News/YouTube)

ANONYMOUS

is the mother of a trans daughter who recently moved from the U.S. to Canada.

Finding the courage to flee U.S. to save my trans daughter

‘My child has begged for her safety so I must go’

Well, we did it. Two weeks ago, I climbed into our SUV with my 23-year-old trans daughter and I drove to Toronto. A foot fi rmly in the highly logical/practical and a foot in the conceptual/creative means I am not risk averse because I can sense a problem and comfortably decide whether I can absorb the outcome.

As a result, I don’t scare easily. Every now and then though, my more intuitive self will sound an alarm letting me know that I need to pay attention, and so I do – especially when it comes to my children. Like many of you my internal sirens have been clanging at air raid levels for some time. It’s been clear to me that trans people are going to be both a political tool and a targeted group for the new administration. As ugly forces converged to deliver the results that Tuesday in November I have been fi ghting the urge to grab my family and simply leave. To get up, get out of the way of what I feel is coming. That’s crazy talk, right? This is the United States. I mean we can’t be there? You know what I mean. THERE.

The place that created the phrase: “Pessimists went to New York, optimists went to Auschwitz.” Rounding up people and simply sending them somewhere. I think we are, and I can’t wait to be wrong.

As I listen to stunning silence from Democrats and threat-immobilized or power-driven Republicans alike, and watch companies pay fealty and capitulate in advance, I am appalled by so few rising to meet the moment. I am disgusted by the demonstrated cowardice just about everywhere we look. What luxury it is to think that as a politician you’re secure enough to wait it out, as though there will be anything left. To think that you will never be in the crosshairs or to think that it’s too hard to do more than you already do. I decided I didn’t have that privilege; for my family optimism could be ruinous.

hopes of creating a plan they too would shut down. This is not unique. For so many of us it is overwhelming. For my daughter, any desire to leave felt like a betrayal, or like she would be abandoning her circle. Any desire to stay felt perilous. I’ve shed torrents of tears at their predicament. That this is their future. And I waited, hitting the snooze button on my internal alarm.

Then politicians started talking about camps and withholding medications. I got a text. “Let’s go. It’s time. [My girlfriend] said she’d move to Canada.” Three weeks later we left.

My family members are fi ghters and protesters. Ask any one of them and they’ll roll up their sleeves and argue. My parents marched on Washington in the 1960s. They demonstrated at nuclear plants in the ‘70s. My daughter has always fantasized about how the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi, and embracing her free-fl oating desire to stay and fi ght. It’s only a fantasy, but I get it. I have that blood in my veins and that idealism thumping in my heart. A political science student and obsessive political hobbyist, I have gone with my peers to rage against the machine, and been an activist from time to time. I never imagined that I would be willing to walk off the fi eld.

On occasion I ask my daughter how she feels about things as they evolve, the clank of each hammer on the chisel chipping away her rights, or each time the president of our country has spent fi ve rambling minutes regularly declaring my child a villain or abomination or the result of some woke virus. Being aware, far too sharp and equally sensitive, the question would overwhelm her, “Mom, I know. I know. I just can’t.” For months that would be the end of the conversation. Sometimes she would come to me in tears to talk about how it felt to be unsafe in your own country, or to know that the administration wants to eliminate you. It’s gut wrenching. Her circle of friends, many of whom struggle, are her lifeline. We all know how important our 20-something tribes are. But when she’d raise the topic with her loves in

The optimist in me says it will all work out, that it is always worth the fi ght. The middle-aged woman, burdened with the tasks of modern living complains that it’s too hard, too expensive. But my child, my child. My child has begged for her safety. So, I must go. It’s really just logistics, like everything else when you have to move mountains — or countries — for your child. Rent our house. Sell our things. Pack. Drive. Get gas. Check and check. Just like we’d do for any other life change. Look for jobs. Split up the family and delegate responsibilities. Done. As I go through this I think, is it any less than Taylor Swift’s mom did when she left Pennsylvania for Tennessee? Or any family that moves and wakes way before dawn for gymnastics or hockey? I’m not going to lie, I picked the easiest place to go, and the one she was most willing to take on. We joke that if the administration is serious about invading Canada that she may choose to fi ght for the side where the government fi ghts behind her. On her side and at her back.

“I want to live somewhere my own government doesn’t want me dead.”

Staying to fi ght the good fi ght is important. But leaving to protect the vulnerable and the precarious is (while no small feat) doable. I hope. If you feel you should, do. If you feel you can’t, look again. If you have to you will.

Toronto Canada

FEATURING

BE STEADWELL

Queer pop artist and storyteller from Washington, DC

GWEN LA ROKA

Stand-up comedian

In Beach,Rehoboth DE

BENJAMIN BROOKS

is the newly elected president of GLAA.

GLAA now more than ever

We deserve a decent society with bodily autonomy

GLAA will be 54 years old this year. We were founded as the Gay Activists Alliance on April 20, 1971 during the era of civil rights, the Stonewall Uprising, and the constitutional crisis brought on by Richard Nixon’s war crimes. Nixon resigned in disgrace when his atrocities came to light. The United States is facing a new constitutional crisis brought on by the tyranny of this wannabe king who feels no shame and respects no law.

For those who are familiar with us, GLAA has been constantly changing. In the 1980s we added the L to be inclusive of Lesbians who no longer found ‘gay women’ to fi t. Today, our membership, values, and policy recommendations are more inclusive than our name. But GLAA’s name accurately refl ects the context of our small role in the larger history of a liberatory civil and human rights movement.

These days, we focus on the Activist Alliance part of the name. GLAA’s core is a group of activists that volunteer their time, skills, and knowledge to collectively advance the rights and health of LGBTQIA+ people throughout the District of Columbia. Such shared struggle in defense of our communities is more critical than ever in the present moment and we invite you to join us. (Click here to join GLAA’s mailing list)

(Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Joining local advocacy efforts is just one way to unleash your inner organizer. Other actions you can do right now to cultivate a better future include: Give monthly recurring donations to a local direct service, advocacy organization or mutual aid group. For the receiver, they are reliable dollars that enable them to do long-term, transformative and lifesaving work in your neighborhood.

Go outside and get involved, in person, with an institution. Make intentional time every week to connect in physical space with new people around a shared purpose. It is a tactic of facism to keep us divided, alone, and confused. We attack facism at the root when we make connected communities of people dedicated to mutual care.

Move your body. The body is a key liberatory tool. Run, dance, embrace, breathe, whatever your practice, engage the mind/body connection and access the information your whole nervous system is sending you. Explore the instincts that drive you to wiggle, giggle, shuffl e and shake.

This is the start. We must meet the ongoing deluge of disorder and destruction with the opposite: clarity and patience. Our advocates and public servants are fi ghting back in the courts. The president’s disruptive rampage must be met with careful diligence and humility, but it must be met.

Donald Trump and his cronies are testing whether the U.S. institutions are strong enough to protect We The People, but he is also testing if we want to be governed this way. I think most people are shocked at the speed and carelessness of the destruction. Many of us want to change the status quo, but rampant chaos is not the answer. We need consistent, peaceful mobs, and patient interruptions of unlawful actions, and every effort small or large to advance our rights and collective liberation.

The public expression of futile anger that catapulted Trump to offi ce is a refl ection of a nation’s collective rage at being trapped in the ever-tightening grip of capitalism as it crushes the life out of us. We deserve better. We deserve a decent society, with self-determination and bodily autonomy. With GLAA we organize for ourselves a future where we all get to live.

We cannot afford to be distracted. We are still under attack for who we are and we will not stop fi ghting for the full liberation and equality all people deserve. SAFETY & FREEDOM FOR US ALL! We are GLAA!

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

Trans people must be allowed to live full, safe lives

MAGA, Project 2025 targeting most vulnerable in society

I have spent much of my life fighting for equality for all people. I grew up with parents who were refugees from Hitler, and am a first-generation gay, Jewish, American. I understand discrimination, though I have had what we now call ‘white privilege.’ That is something granted to me by society, not something I earned. I have fought for civil rights, women’s rights, the rights of people with disabilities, and finally my own rights, when I came out at the age of 34. I was working for Rep. Bella S. Abzug (D-N.Y.), and still not out when she introduced the first version of the Equality Act in 1974. It was five years after Stonewall.

It is now 56 years after Stonewall, and Donald Trump and his MAGA acolytes, still felt they could easily attack transgender people in his campaign for president. The campaign used ads attacking transgender persons to great effect, saying, “Democrats are more into helping they/them, than into helping you.” It was unfair, and disgusting, but effective. It was also a great way to distract people from the havoc they intended to create with Project 2025, both here at home, and around the world. It worked.

What helped make those ads so effective is the simple fact 99% of the population has likely never met a transgender person, or if they have, they don’t know it. Only about 1 percent of the population in the U.S. identify as transgender. There is some debate about the numbers, but currently the LGBTQ community as a whole makes up nearly 10% of the population.

One of the issues people are making a big deal about is whether transgender women should be able to participate in women’s sports, despite the fact their numbers in sport are nearly non-existent. But the argument, even among members of the LGBTQ community, allows questioning their participation be a touch point for discrimination. Those, like lesbian tennis great Martina Navratilova, and others in the LGBTQ community, think those who have transitioned to being women, should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports. Recently California Gov. Gavin Newsom agreed with that. There is some scientific debate about whether a man who goes through puberty as a man, and then transitions, will have an advantage over a cisgender woman. Again, this debate within the LGBTQ community, and the Democratic Party, which generally supports transgender rights, has helped MAGA Republicans use this as a divisive cultural issue.

The debate within the LGBTQ community over transgender people is not new. Over the years there has been debate about how Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), a hero in the LGBTQ community, managed to get ENDA passed in the House in 2007 without including trans protections. His bill was not opposed by the Human Rights Campaign at the time. Barney and HRC came under vicious attack for doing this.

Today, Trump has signed an executive order barring trans people from serving in our military, despite their having fought bravely, and effectively, for years. At the moment a judge has blocked him from carrying out this order but we still don’t know the final decision as Trump’s Justice Department is appealing the ruling. This is just another way Trump and his acolytes, using Project 2025, are going after the most vulnerable in our society. So far, they have threatened Republicans with primaries, and kept any Republican in Congress from speaking out. As we move forward, we will find out if any will put their oath to the Constitution, ahead of their next election.

I have been fortunate to meet many transgender people, some of whom I have fought alongside for the rights of the LGBTQ community. There are groups like Advocates for Trans Equality, and their CEO, Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, whose mom happened to be a congresswoman, and Diego Miguel Sanchez, who has fought valiantly for the rights of the LGBTQ community, and is now at PFLAG. Now we have our first transgender congresswoman, Sarah McBride (D-Del.). Then there is Virginia State Sen. Danica Roem, a recognized national leader in the fight for transgender rights. These are men and women who will allow more and more people to see transgender persons are the same as them. They just want to live free, full, and safe lives, like the rest of us.

WYNNE NOWLAND

is CEO of Bradley & Parker, and she is also a transgender woman. At age 56, she came out as trans to her entire company in an email—featured in the WSJ—saying, ‘You’ve all known me as Wayne, but tomorrow morning I will arrive to work as Wynne.’

Helping your company to be inclusive during hard times

It’s possible to remain true to DEI initiatives

Although everyone knew that many things in our country would change the moment Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term, the speed at which diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives were eliminated was swift and far-reaching. The anti-DEI executive order that Trump issued as part of sweeping first-day executive orders has impacted education and U.S. government programs and has compelled corporations to scale back their DEI initiatives.

However, some companies are still interested in maintaining their commitment to inclusivity in the workplace. During these difficult times, companies can continue to drive morale, retention, and overall business success by remaining true to the need for DEI initiatives.

Companies that prioritize inclusivity often outperform their less-inclusive counterparts, which is all the more reason to have a solid DEI strategy in place. Additionally, inclusivity remains highly valued by employees and leaders alike. Despite efforts to squash valuable DEI initiatives, workplace inclusivity will endure as long as organizations prioritize it as they build their culture.

As a transgender woman, I believe it is essential that I help foster an inclusive environment in the company where I am CEO. The inclusive nature of my company helped me feel comfortable coming to work as my authentic self. By leading by example, I can show my employees how an inclusive workplace culture benefits everyone. By keeping a keen eye on inclusivity, we can attract a more diverse workforce that will strengthen our mission and our level of innovation in the market.

Inclusivity matters because it can increase employee engagement and retention and ultimately lead to higher revenue for the company. Problem solving within the organization can be easier when a wealth of perspectives are brought together. In addition, employee morale can get a significant boost when a company is committed to inclusivity. When employees feel seen and heard, they are more likely to put their all into their work and feel connected to their workplace in a positive way.

So, how can companies continue to promote this all-important inclusivity, especially as DEI programs are being slashed nationwide? It will require sound strategies and recognition of how necessary these initiatives are to build the kind of work culture that will allow everyone to thrive.

Any initiative seeking to increase inclusivity must start with leadership, who should clearly state their dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion. A top-down approach should be woven through inclusive policies, resource allocation, organizational programs, and leadership accountability. Leaders should focus on impact when forming their inclusivity strategies. DEI initiatives should have achievable goals, and those goals should be clear to all stakeholders within the organization.

The hiring and training process also needs to be inclusive. Leaders should implement blind recruitment strategies to minimize bias — even unintentional bias. Job postings should include inclusive language for all potential applicants, and recruiters should work hard to seek out diverse talent for the organization.

Companies that hope to make inclusion an essential part of their operations must offer education and training on inclusive policies so everyone in the organization is on board. Employees should be able to recognize bias and discrimination and know what to do if they encounter discriminatory behavior. Education and training should be comprehensive, and everyone should have equal access to the information. Inclusive environments can also include mentorship programs where people can have equal access to career advancement.

Accommodations also preserve inclusivity in the workplace. They can include flexible work arrangements that accommodate people with families, people with disabilities, and the needs and lifestyles of other team members. Accommodations can also include hybrid work schedules, generous PTO benefits, or sensory accommodations such as quiet workspaces and noise-canceling headphones.

DEI will undoubtedly continue to be a hot-button issue in the next four years. However, there is still room for inclusivity in the workplace, and it is clearly a pathway to business success. By establishing robust strategies, leaders can make it abundantly clear that they take inclusivity seriously and do not intend to abandon it in these uncertain times.

is a writer based in the D.C. area. He is a transgender man and was featured in National Geographic’s ‘Gender Revolution’ documentary. He serves on the board of the LGBT Democrats of Virginia. Contact him at isaacamendwrites@gmail. com or on Instagram at @literatipapi.

Trans people aren’t scared enough

Virginians should make Arlington a sanctuary city

It’s time for transgender Americans to be more scared. Donald Trump is leading a fascist administration. In his fi rst month in offi ce, Trump signed a fl urry of executive orders that clamp down on trans people. One ordered that trans women can’t compete in women’s sports in federally funded institutions. Another banned transgender service members from the military. And yet another executive order, signed on his very fi rst day in offi ce, told the federal government that only two genders exist — those that people were given at birth.

Furthermore, Trump took over the Kennedy Center, electing himself as the chair of the board, and immediately a Pride event was cancelled. Taking over arts and letters is a surefi re sign of fascism. Fascism, as defi ned by Merriam Webster, is a “populist political philosophy or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition.”

America, in essence, is becoming more and more of a fascist state, and Trump is already a fascist leader. Trump’s strand of fascism is interesting, because he is an utter capitalist, with a fetish for colonizing foreign spaces. Trump has been trying to colonize Greenland for many years now, and he also shared an AI generated video of him colonizing the Gaza strip with a Trump hotel and pictures of Elon Musk spooning hummus next to the beach. Both of these are concerning, but the Trump Gaza video is especially horrifying because it shows he is in some sort of quasi break from reality where posting an AI generated future of a war-torn land seems OK. When I fl oated the Trump Gaza video among friends and family, they reacted with words like “crazy,” “insane,” and “delusional.”

When mentioning his transphobia, one relative who is politically aware theorized that Trump would unleash all of his anti-trans fury in just a few months but that he would run out of transphobic things to do. Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be true. Every passing day seems to bring a new anti-trans piece of legislation, whether it’s Texas’s proposed ban on being transgender in and of itself, or whether it’s Utah’s anti-trans bathroom ban.

Yet even more unfortunately, I am not seeing trans people get scared enough. I am not seeing enough action on our part. I am unsure whether our collective inaction is due to the fact that both houses of Congress are red, or whether some of us simply don’t have the privilege of fi ghting.

Regardless, I can propose one policy solution that trans people in the D.C. area can implement: Make Arlington a sanctuary city. In order to make Arlington a sanctuary city, Arlingtonians (and other Virginians for that matter) should lobby the county board to do so. However, Virginia faces stiff pushback from Gov. Youngkin when it comes to the formation of sanctuary cities. On Dec. 12, 2024, Youngkin proposed a budget that would include a “sanctuary city ban” across the state. We have to make sure that we lobby the legislature to reject this proposed version of the budget.

Until then, transgender Americans need to start devising plans to move to sanctuary cities across the country and to fund underprivileged trans people who need the money to do so. Some of us also need to start thinking about moving to Canada if our futures become less bright.

‘Hurt

Capital’ chronicles young life of bipolar, trans writer

Washington Blade contributor Isaac Amend has published a new book, “Hurt Capital,” chronicling a range of topics related to his transgender status, a personal struggle following a psychotic breakdown, and more.

BLADE: Why did you write this book and why now?

ISAAC AMEND: In college, I was an avid writer for the Yale Daily News, and tried to prepare myself for a good writing career, taking classes with Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Cunningham, and other notable authors, including Anne Fadiman and Cynthia Zarin. But when I got out of college, I spent six or seven years in the real world, outside of Ivy gates, racking up experiences to write about — whether it was falling in love with a woman, getting hit by a car in Cyprus, or being manic for 13 months straight. But once all of those things were done, I went back to my literary roots, frantically scribbling books and articles in my room at night. Now I want to have some sort of writing career, and I can partly thank the Blade for that, as you welcome most of my op-eds.

I felt like it was important to write about bipolar disorder in very honest and raw terms. I experienced a psychotic break from reality when I was 19 years old that I felt ashamed to tell everyone in my life about, but now I want to come clean with it. Recovering from a psychotic break is a complicated process, and I’ll never really know if my mind has fully recovered, but I do know that because of my break from reality, I’m able to tackle difficult problems in life without getting scared. I feel like it’s also important for the general public to know about how much hurt and pain transgender people feel on a daily basis, hence the name “Hurt Capital.”

BLADE: Who’s the audience for your book?

AMEND: It’s funny, this is a question that all authors need to answer in a book proposal to agents, and I did exactly that, querying dozens of agents. My book has three target audiences. The first are expats, or expatriates. These are people who live overseas — either on embassies in South Asia or in suburban compounds on the outskirts of Moscow. These are the places that I grew up in, and I felt “genderless” for some of my time as an expatriate, frolicking to and fro with not a worry in the world as I grew up in Pakistan and India. I want to connect with other people who have lived overseas.  The second target audience for my book are twins. I have an identical twin named Helen who is my best friend. I’m constantly trying to be a good brother to her, whether it’s helping her move apartments or buying her groceries. We connect on a very deep level, and I’m sure that my gender transition partly shocked her and in some ways, may have made her feel upset. It’s a unique phenomenon when one identical twin wants to be a man, and the other one wants to stay a woman. I’ll never fully understand how God made me bipolar and trans while he made my twin sister non-bi-

New book from Isaac Amend a rich and complicated tale FROM STAFF REPORTS

polar and cisgender.

The third target audience for my book are individuals with mental health issues. I want to connect with other people who have also gone through psychotic breaks, been manic, talked at the speed of light, felt depressed, or felt so anxious that they had to pop a lot of pills and stay in bed. I want to connect with people who suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHD, and OCD, among many other diseases. These disorders are so complicated in nature, but we need to be honest about their dimensions and how to best treat them.

BLADE: How long did it take to write and what was your process?

AMEND: The book didn’t take me long to write. I churned out around 5,000 to 7,000 words in one week, then I had a 500 word per day policy — it’s a policy I implement with all of my books. I would write 500

words per day usually at a bar at night. I was living in D.C. back then and would frequent Nanny O’Brien’s, a well-known Irish dive bar open late. I would pull out my iPhone and write 500 words (but usually more) in Google Docs. There were all sorts of characters at Nanny O’Brien’s — bartenders who would scream at me if I didn’t tip enough, people from the Russian embassy, and famous politicos who would bring their golden retriever in tow. I almost got into a fistfight there with a Russian diplomat, but still miss the memories that bar curated. I even told my landlord at the time that I associated Nanny O’Brien’s with the book.

BLADE: What are you thoughts on how the new Trump administration has attacked trans rights and do you see any hope in the near future?

AMEND: It’s a travesty, what’s going on. The new administration is cruel beyond belief, yet I still retain some semblance of hope for the future. I see our nation as divided, but a nation that still elects an almost equal amount of Republicans to the presidency as it does Democrats. Most large cities in the U.S. are dominated by progressive people who understand the value in diversifying sexuality and gender identities, and celebrating that diversity. I always tell people to “vote with their feet,” as in, if you have the privilege of being able to move to a new location, move to a city that is full of liberal minded people. But many trans youth don’t have the privilege of moving; they are stuck in schools full of students that bully them for their gender. Indeed, there is a massive mental health crisis happening among trans youth. The Trump administration has banned everyone under the age of 19 from receiving gender affirming care, and that is cruel. I have spoken openly about my belief that adolescents and other youth should be able to access puberty blockers, and I maintain that stance.

This seems out of left field, but I’ve seriously thought about pooling money together to pay for trans youth to receive medical care in Canada. It’s sort of a gauche idea, because trans youth presumably need to stay in school in the U.S., and their parents would have to agree to them going up north, but the idea still persists in my head. I guess I dream of ways that these kids can feel better, and receiving care in Canada comes to mind.

BLADE: What’s your message to young trans kids who are frightened during these difficult times?

AMEND: Keep your head up. Older trans people like me are fighting for you to have better lives. If someone tries to put you down in school just remember that they are putting you down out of an insecurity they harbor about themself or the world. Secretly, they feel inferior. Don’t forget that the qualities that you bring to the table — your unique gender and/or sexual identity — is what makes you beautiful.

‘Hurt Capital’ is available now at Amazon and from other retailers.

BLADE: There are many queer memoirs out there; what’s unique about your story?

AMEND: My story is intersectional, meaning I weave a story about a transgender man who is also bipolar and is a twin and grew up overseas in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India, Russia, and Jordan. It’s not a one-dimensional story. It’s rich and complicated with tales of being manic and going on testosterone and being psychotic and hoping that I don’t lose all of my marbles in front of my twin and little sister and the rest of my family. I speak of KGB henchmen in Russia and spooks here in D.C. (kind of like that Russian diplomat who almost tried to punch me). I speak of many things—not just being queer.

The following is an excerpt from “Hurt Capital,” which is available now at Amazon and other retailers.

Dear Mom,

The pills in my bathroom cabinet are sitting next to each other like fifteen linebackers on a football field. Bolton Edmunds Greenlaw Wagner Warner. The Chiefs are winning, and I haven’t even spotted Travis Kelce yet. They’re all famous–each single pill bottle–each capsule I need to swallow with orange juice at night. I get the high pulp kind, now, from Trader Joe’s, that costs around four bucks. Semi pulp doesn’t put the tablets down fast enough. I’ve got every kind of med imaginable since my first episode ten years ago.

Bipolar has never felt so bad. But it’s also never felt so good. The mania that lasted for a year last September has crept away, but its high still remains in my head. At least partly. Partially. Essentially. Basically, it was awesome. I celebrated at every turn. Went walking for hours on end, only to feel my breath creeping into my lungs, and out, past midnight, when I dreamt of fairytales and candy cane land and piles of dollars stacked so high in front of Rick Ross. So high that he forgot he sold coke. I forgot he sold coke. I forgot a lot of that year, Mom.

I want to be like Rick Ross one day. I want to star in a song with Drake. Rapping about lemon pepper chicken and taking my celebrity son to French Montessori. I want to be a hustler, a gangster at every turn, a coke warlord just fiending for a kingdom. The kingdom I create is in my mind: it’s ruled by Dostoevsky and Tolstoy and even Pushkin. I named a cat after Pushkin. Russian writers have never felt so real. I want them to come back from the dead and resurrect themselves–all polished and everything. No wax. I remember visiting Tolstoy’s grave with you in Moscow, when henchmen roamed the city at night and CIA officers were prowling the embassy’s corridors. I was scared in Moscow. Scared back then. Scared of my female body. But now it’s a male one, and I’m a son. I’m your son, Mom. But I’m troubled. Very troubled indeed.

I went to a soccer game again. We are named Footyholics. We played near Logan Circle, in the backyard of a school, and I swear the soccer ball was going to kill me. It hit my head, with a bang–not a whimper–and zoomed past some crust on my earlobes. My black stud almost shook for a bit. I clenched the ring you got me on my index finger. You got it from Delhi, and now I’m remembering things back there as well, when you and I lived in India. But there are many things I still can’t remember, Mom. Just trust me on that one. Trust me.

Here’s one thing I do remember, though: getting in that car accident with you. In Delhi. You were all up in the front seat, and Helen and I were in the back. And a motorcyclist went clamp on the right window, and his flesh and blood were splayed all near for us to see. He died that day, and I think that’s the first time I ever saw you cry. I only saw you cry a second time, when Dad was in Kabul, and you missed him like hell, and Phoebe had a tantrum on the National Gallery steps, and you drove us back home, teary-eyed, and you just sat crying that day, in the DC suburbs. And there was not a damn thing I could do about it.

We lost the soccer game. Footyholics lost. But we grabbed a few beers after, at a place near the traffic circle, where expats and missionaries and bankers were fiending for a beer as well, all alike, just as I was fielding for a kingdom in my head. I swear this city is ruled by sociopaths sometimes. They just crawl around here, like ants around a hill, waiting to wreak havoc.

At the bar we were sitting outside, on a wooden table, and we all ordered some beers and some tacos and stuff. And some burritos with chicken. And I swear I shouldn’t drink, but I’m just like your husband–there’s nothing that tastes better than alcohol in this world, Mom. But beer is bad for me. It’s bad for a guy who thinks a soccer ball is going to kill him. At the restaurant, I spotted a street sweeper brushing away leaves. I suddenly fixated on the sweeper: on his crew cut, his black boots, his leather skin. I thought he was manic for leaves. I also thought the waitress hated Jesus until a cross kissed her neck. I thought many things, Mom, and none of them were true.

CALENDAR |

Friday, March 28

“Center Aging Monthly Luncheon and Yoga” will be at 12 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. Lunch will be held in the climate-controlled atrium at the Reeves Center. For more details, email adam@thedccenter.org.

Trans Discussion Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This group is intended to provide an emotionally and physically safe space for trans people and those who may be questioning their gender identity/expression to join together in community and learn from one another. For more details, email info@thedccenter.org.

GoGayDC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Happy Hour” at 7 p.m. at DIK Bar. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea-sharing, and community building. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Saturday, March 29

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

Sunday, March 30

GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Coffee and Conversation” at 12 p.m. at As You Are. This event is for those looking to make more friends and meaningful connections in the LGBTQ community. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

GoGayDC will host “LGBTQ+ Community FunDay Social” at 4 p.m. at Moxy. This event is a gathering of members of the LGBTQ+ Community. About 20 LGBTQ folk are expected. It’s free to attend and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Monday, March 31

“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.

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Tuesday, April 01

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 andyarias09@gmail.com.

Wednesday, April 02

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.

“Protecting Your Peace and Cultivating Queer Joy” will be at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom. This is a free 1.5-hour workshop discussing boundaries, resilience, and forms of resistance for the LGBTQ community in the Washington, D.C., region. For more details, register on the DC Center for the LGBT Community’s website.

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. There will be discussion, activities, and a chance for you to share what you want future events to include. For more details, email adam@thedccenter.org.

Thursday, April 03

The DC Center’s Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. People will be informed on Wednesday at 5 p.m. if they are picked to receive a produce box. No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org or call 202-682-2245.

Virtual Yoga with Sarah M. will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breath work, and meditation. For more details, visit the DC Center for the LGBT Community’s website.

OUT & ABOUT

Celebrate Trans Day of Vision in D.C.

The DC Center for the LGBT Community will celebrate Trans Day of Vision with a potluck picnic and rally on Sunday, March 30 at 1 p.m. at Malcolm X Park.

At this event, attendees will gather in community and solidarity and share their vision and what liberation means to them as the D.C. queer community loudly proclaims that visibility and polite requests for acceptance are not enough.

Visit the DC Center’s website to RSVP.

Here’s how to give back to the queer community

The DC Center for the LGBT Community will host a “Support Group Facilitator Training” on Saturday, March 29 at 1 p.m. on Zoom.

This training will provide information required for becoming a Support Group Facilitator at the DC Center. The training will also provide support for concerns from current facilitators as well as provide an opportunity to discuss ethics and best practices. Group leaders and facilitators that operate support groups within the DC Center are encouraged to come to learn, share challenges, and solutions.

To RSVP, visit the DC Center’s website.

Trans rights supporters will gather Sunday at Malcolm X Park. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

LES ARTS FLORISSANTS

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at 300 Théotime Langlois de Swarte, violin

Sunday, Mar. 30 at 4 p.m.

Featuring this “mesmerizing” (New Yorker) violin star

CIRQUE MECHANICS

Pedal Punk

Saturday, Apr. 5 at 2 and 8 p.m.

A high-flying thrill ride on wheels

Virginia Opera LOVING V. VIRGINIA

Saturday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 4 at 2 p.m.

A gripping world-premiere about the historic civil rights case

April 12

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Be mesmerized by Asher HaVon, season 25 first LGBTQ+ winner of NBC, The Voice, as they bring the house down with their electrifying performance. Groove with Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge and Family and dance your heart out to Crystal Waters’ house-driven hits while Quad City DJ’s get the crowd on their feet. Secure your premium Grandstand seats now — the BEST way to take in all the fun — for the most unforgettable processional extravaganza!

Special Guests Princess Ariel, Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse joining from The Most Magical Place on Earth –Walt Disney World Resort®

Out actor Ángel Lozado on his new role in

‘In the

Heights’ Lin-Manuel

Miranda’s musical at Signature Theatre through May 4

By PATRICK FOLLIARD

Before his smash hit “Hamilton” transformed Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote “In the Heights,” a seminal musical set in an upper Manhattan barrio. Infused with hip-hop, rap, and pop ballads, the romance/dramedy unfolds over a lively few days in the well-known Latin neighborhood, Washington Heights.

Now playing at Signature Theatre in Arlington, “In the Heights” features handsome out actor Ángel Lozado as the show’s protagonist Usnavi de la Vega (named for a U.S. Navy vessel), a young Dominican American bodega owner who figures warmly in the center of the hood and the action.

A durable part that Lozado has wanted to play for some time, it’s proved the perfect vehicle to showcase his talents in a story that rings true to his heart.

WASHINGTON BLADE: Timing is very important to you.

ÁNGEL LOZADO: During rehearsal at Signature, our director James Vásquez said “In the Heights” finds you at a time when you need it. And that definitely resonates with me.

In the past I was up for Usnavi several times and then I was standby in the part for two weeks at the Muny in St. Louis but never called to go on.

And then, I lost my grandmother in January and was cast at Signature. In the show, the neighborhood loses their abuela [played by Rayanne Gonzales], I feel like I was meant to play the part at this moment. I’m a firm believer in the timing of it all.

was in, I lost my love for baseball.

BLADE: How did you find your way to theater?

LOZADO: Through high school choir. It was a hard switch, but one that I couldn’t resist.

BLADE: You’ve been openly queer in the business. Has that ever been a problem?

LOZADO: I don’t know if it’s problematic or not. As actors, we don’t get behind the closed doors of casting. I do know that I’ve gotten to play lots of roles regionally that are straight men and that hasn’t been a problem.

BLADE: You’ve trained vocally at Florida State University, debuted on Broadway in “Bad Cinderella,” sang in “Jesus Christ Superstar Live (NBC),” and sung in many other musicals, but I’m guessing this is different?

LOZADO: Rapping is the most challenging part of the role. I’m trained in musical theater. I can sustain eight shows a week, but this is different. Rapping is more taxing. It’s challenging. With rap it’s clipped and the throat gets tighter.

BLADE: Like so much of Manhattan,Washington Heightshas changed a lot since 2008 when the show is set.

LOZADO: I currently live in Washington Heights and it’s very gentrified. Rents are high. I don’t think it was their intention to do a period piece but “In the Heights” is a period piece.

BLADE: And you grew up in Orlando, Fla., where before discovering theater, you were heavily into baseball.

LOZADO: I’m Puerto Rican, and baseball is a big part of our culture. My parents put me on a team at five, and I played first base through mid-high school. That was going to be a career. Went from one crazy career to another. When I got to high school, I was struggling with my queerness being in the sports world — struggled with my identity and the space I

Then again, I’ve cosplayed as a straight man most of my life. It makes me laugh when people see me offstage, they’re like, “Wow, you were really convincing as straight on stage.” I’ll take that compliment because that means I’m acting.

BLADE: Tell me about other roles you’ve played

LOZADO: Latin roles: Usnavi, Bernardo in “West Side Story,” Emilio Estefan in “On Your Feet!” and Che in “Evita.” And while I was thrilled to play those great parts, at the same time, I had friends getting auditions that weren’t specific to them being white, Black, or whatever. I worked with people who are more seasoned in the industry who had done 12 productions of “Evita.” I didn’t want to do that. I love representing my culture but I’d also like to do parts that have nothing to do with that. Dream roles include Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George.”

BLADE: And how about a new work? Would you like creating a role on Broadway?

LOZADO: Oh yes, that’s the big dream.

BLADE: Do you think “In the Heights” might appeal to both Latin and queer audiences?

LOSADO: Yes. To see a people show themselves in a way that’s different from the stereotypes, telling our story in our own way, and not allowing the headlines define who we are, but to stand up in our joy.

“In the Heights” holds up the Latin community and, for me, that’s a parallel to the queer community, celebrating itself, especially in the upcoming time of WorldPride DC 2025 events (May 23-June 8).

‘In the Heights’ Through May 4 | Signature Theatre

4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, VA | Tickets start at $40 | Sigtheatre.org

ÁNGEL LOZADA (center in green) as Usnavi and the cast of ‘In the Heights’ at Signature Theatre. (Photo by DJ Corey Photo)

9:30 Club, other venues unveil blockbuster WorldPride plans

Betty Who, Bob the Drag Queen, Janelle Monáe to perform

By EVAN CAPLAN

On the heels of the announcements of Cynthia Erivo and Doechii headlining free weekend events during WorldPride June 7-8, legendary live music venue 9:30 Club and its partner locations have launched bombshell show announcements of their own, featuring D.C. fan favorites, dynamic combinations, and new artists in honor of WorldPride in Washington, D.C. The lineup features Betty Who, Bob the Drag Queen, Janelle Monáe, and many more.

I.M.P. Concerts, an independent concert promotion and production company, which operates the 9:30 Club, the Anthem, Lincoln Theatre, Merriweather Post Pavilion, and its newest venue, The Atlantis, has developed a weeklong WorldPride

lineup that extends across its portfolio of venues.

Jen Hass, the 9:30 Club booking director, and Guillaume Desnoë, the creative director, told the Blade that, “as soon as we found out WorldPride was coming to D.C., we decided to go beyond normal programming. We wanted something really special for all of our venues,” they said. “We always incorporate Pride into our events, but WorldPride is another level, and we want to step it up.”

During prior years’ Pride celebrations, the 9:30 Club has hosted events and parties, including the long-running Mixtape party. This year, the shows are much more ambitious.

The week kicks off on May 31 with Snow Wife playing at The Atlantis. Then, on Thursday June 5, are two huge shows, each featuring two stars that have been central to the LGBTQ cultural experience. For a seated show at the Lincoln Theatre, Sibling Rivalry Live with Bob the Drag Queen & Monét X Change will perform, featuring their signature banter, commentary, stories, and sisterly arguments. The event is a live engagement based on their podcast of the same name. Monét X Change was Miss Congeniality on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 10 and winner of AS4, and Bob The Drag Queen was winner of season 8.

On the same night, at The Anthem, legendary performer and icon Grace Jones will be joined onstage by Janelle Monáe for a unique twosome.

On Friday night June 6, MIXTAPE is back for WorldPride Weekend, bringing the LGBTQ community together for a night of music and dancing. As usual, DJs Matt Bailer and Shea Van Horn will play a mix of house, indie dance, nu-disco, electropop, and throwbacks.

On Saturday, June 7, hometown favorite and perennial Pride stalwart Betty Who will perform a late-night set at the 9:30 Club.

“It feels like a very important time to be hitting the road, creating spaces for joy,” said Betty Who. “D.C. has such a special energy, and my history with the 9:30 Club is long and beloved. I’m really looking forward to returning home to a venue I have so many beautiful memories in to create some new ones.”

Hass notes that “it’s special to have Betty Who at 9:30 Club. She’s always been an incredible performer over the years. She’s played at both The Anthem and 9:30 Club before. Having her back is exciting because it’s full circle and shows how much she means to the queer community in DC.”

Earlier that same evening, Perfume Genius will be onstage at 9:30 Club as well.

Finally, after a week-plus-long series of shows, the list features a concluding spectacular: the Closing Drag Show, “an energetic night of drag and dance,” featuring contestants from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (the full lineup of participating Queens has not yet been released).

9:30 Club is an offi cial WorldPride partner, having been in talks with the organizing committee for several months, all with the same goal: “to make WorldPride incredible in D.C.,” say Hass and Desnoë. Plus, $1 from each ticket will be donated to the Capital Pride Alliance in conjunction with WorldPride DC 2025.

Hass and Desnoë also noted that it was important to them to bring in various types of acts and performances, across all of their venues. “In many ways, WorldPride is special. Our list of shows is part of what we do all the time. We pay attention to and are part of the community. The 9:30 Club and IMP represent diversity, acceptance, safe space, and joy”

In addition to the published list of shows, additional acts will be announced in coming weeks.

JANELLE MONÁE is scheduled to perform at The Anthem during WorldPride. (Image via Instagram)

Trans pride thriving in D.C.’s queer nightlife scene

T4T provides vital space for joy, visibility, resistance

By JOE REBERKENNY

The queer nightlife scene has long provided much needed spaces for connection, resistance, and activism. It’s fitting, then, that in 2025 — a time when the transgender community is bearing the brunt of discriminatory policies at national, state, and local levels — LGBTQ bars remain vital spaces of solace and celebration for a community that too often struggles to find acceptance in public life.

In honor of International Transgender Day of Visibility on Monday, March 31, the Washington Blade spoke with several prominent transgender figures in D.C.’s LGBTQ nightlife scene about their journeys into the industry, how it has shaped them, and why celebrating with other trans people in these spaces is essential to fostering support and protection for the transgender community.

Samson Russell, security operations manager at Crush Dance Bar on 14th Street, spends most nights scanning IDs and welcoming patrons to one of the busiest LGBTQ bars in the city. But once a month, Russell takes the stage as a DJ at T4T, a trans-centered event at Trade, another LGBTQ bar just down the street.

“I was never really into partying or nightlife,” Russell said. “I wanted to be a part of it, but it just was too intimidating. Once everything shut down [during the pandemic], I realized life is short, and there are more reasons to be involved in nightlife than just wanting to party. It’s about bringing people together.”

Russell’s entry into the nightlife scene was sparked by an Instagram message from DJ Lemz, a Washingtonian DJ known for the queer BENT celebration at the 9:30 Club. That push led Russell to embrace performing, highlighting trans identity in nightlife and using the stage as a platform for visibility.

“I started working the door at Trade maybe a year later, and then immediately wanted to be part of the drag scene,” Russell said. “Getting booked when you don’t have any drag experience is tough, even in a city as accepting as D.C. I wanted to highlight transness as an art form. My first time doing drag was producing my own show at Trade, and two years later, it’s still a monthly event called T4T. Eventually, I learned how to DJ, and three weeks later, I started DJing for T4T. Now, it’s just a mix of different art forms, all rooted in how my transness led me into nightlife.”

Onstage, Russell doesn’t just perform; they embody trans resilience. In some acts, they inject themselves with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) onstage, turning a deeply personal moment into a public declaration of identity.

“I’m not trying to act like I guided anyone into their sense of self, but it’s really cool when someone sees me and feels comfortable enough to talk about transness,” Russell said. “I’ll take off my shirt and show my scars. I’ll put lipstick and blush on them to make sure people see them. My T shot is the climax of my act. I want people just getting started in their transition to see it’s real, it’s happening, and if I can do it in this DIY blue-collar way, then surely they can too.” T4T isn’t just a performance space, it’s a refuge.

Brooke N Hymen, a self-described “trans masc of bimbo experience” drag performer, has taken the stage multiple times at the event and finds it to be a source of validation.

“It’s proving to myself and the community that I belong here,” Hymen said. “It’s a way to showcase my transness and my trans art. Being seen and valued as a trans artist in the city — it’s an affirming feeling.”

The affirming energy of T4T extends beyond the performers. Keaton Paz, a trans employee at Trade, sees the impact firsthand at the door.

“I love getting to be at the door for those events and seeing trans people walk in,” Paz said. “You can see the relief and joy on their faces, like, ‘Oh, there are trans people here working and participating. I know this is going to be a safe space.’ That moment of recognition and safety brings me so much joy. Knowing we’re a second home for so many people, that’s what it’s about.”

For many trans people, LGBTQ bars offer more than just a place to grab a drink. They provide a sense of belonging. Whether through trans-specific events or simply recognizing a trans person behind the bar, these venues create spaces where trans people can exist without fear. The importance of visibility isn’t just about celebration, it’s a reminder that trans people deserve to live openly, loudly and without apology.

“Trans Day of Visibility means living and showing your authentic self,” Hymen said. “It’s about knowing that your identity is valid, even if you’re not happy with your current circumstances. I’m early in my tran -

sition, but I think it’s important to be visibly loud and trans for the people who don’t have access to medical care or who are just starting their journeys.”

Paz echoed this, emphasizing that the day is meaningful even for those who are still questioning their identities.

“It’s not just for trans individuals,” Paz said. “It’s for anyone on their own gender journey. Having a day like this is powerful. It lets people see we’re here, we exist. If that visibility is taken away, it’s an attempt to erase us entirely.”

While agreeing with the sentiment, Russell expressed more complicated feelings about the day.

“I’ve got mixed feelings because why is it different from any other day?” Russell said. “While I’m grateful it exists, there are 364 other trans days of visibility in my book. It’s so dandy that cis people think of us every last day of March, but at the end of the day, this is my daily life.”

For Russell, being visible as a trans person in Washington — especially under an administration that is hostile to LGBTQ rights — adds an even deeper layer to their presence in nightlife.

“I’m in the belly of the beast — the capital of the country under this horrible administration,” Russell said. “So what else am I going to do but perform in the most sincere way I can? Specifically to my transness. It’s not just about being a hot man. It’s about knowing where I came from, where we’re at, and what my part is in this fight.”

T4T is held every second Tuesday of the month at Trade, located at 1410 14th St., N.W.

No, ‘Mid-Century Modern’ is not a ‘Golden Girls’ remake

And that’s a good thing

By JOHN PAUL KING

There’s long been a desire for a gay version of “The Golden Girls.”

GenX (and younger) fans who have loved that show’s iconic quartet of aging female “frenemies” have been clamoring for it since the actual “Golden Girls” was still on the air – so by the time the creators of “Mid-Century Modern” came up with the idea for a show about three gay friends “of a certain age” (and one cantankerous mother) living together in Palm Springs, it was hardly an original idea. Yet even if they weren’t the first to fantasize about a show featuring the gay male equivalents of Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia, it hardly matters. They were the ones that actually made it happen.

That’s due in large part to who they are - or at least, what they’ve done before. The two men who hatched the plot (Max Mutchnick and David Kohan) were also responsible for “Will & Grace.” After they teamed up for a brainstorming session with queer TV powerhouse Ryan Murphy – who eagerly joined forces with them as the show’s executive producer – there was enough viability behind it to bring the long-gestated dream to fruition at last.

The “at last” came this week, when all 10 episodes of the show’s debut season dropped on Hulu, and it’s undeniable that there was not only a dream behind it, but also a considerable amount of talent – most obviously in its casting. Headlining (as “lingerie mogul” Bunny Schneiderman) is longtime stage/screen/TV star Nathan Lane, a multi-award winner who is a legend for his “Bird Cage” performance alone, with eternally hunky Matt Bomer adding a whole different flavor of star power as ditsy-but-sweet-hearted (and blithely promiscuous) flight attendant Jerry. The trio of friends is rounded out by former fashion columnist Arthur, played with imperious aplomb by Nathan Lee Graham, a lesser-known but equally well-rounded veteran performer whose resume includes roles in “Zoolander” and “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” as well as a guest appearance on “Absolutely Fabulous.” Finally, sitcom royalty (and Tony-winner) Linda Lavin – who passed away in December, after filming had completed on the show’s inaugural season – is on hand to steal scenes as Sybil, Bunny’s pull-no-punches mother, who owns the house they all live in and makes sure to assert her matriarchal dominance at every opportunity.

In the pilot episode, titled “Bye, George,” Bunny, Jerry, and Arthur reunite to mourn the death of an old companion, with whom the trio of friends once formed

a quartet. With each of them facing the uncertainty of a new life after changes in the old one have left them to cope on their own, Bunny decides to invite his two remaining buddies to move with him to Palm Springs, to live with his mother Sybil in a spectacular mid-century modern (hence the name) house that would probably make Frank Sinatra jealous. The arrangement, however, becomes precarious even before it officially begins, when Bunny connects with a much-younger hook-up and becomes smitten – forcing his two would-be roommates into a scheme to bring him back to his senses before he rescinds their invitation and offers it to his new “boyfriend” instead. It’s classic sitcom material, of course, with lots of crossed wires and jumped conclusions to fuel the wackiness – though in this case, at least, the show stops short of the zany hijinks one might expect from Lucy and Ethel (or even Rose or Blanche) before wrapping things up with a friendship-affirming bow. We can’t fault it for that; there’s a premise to be launched here, after all.

Besides, there’s plenty of other comfortable old-school sitcom fun to be had throughout: a sparring match between Arthur and Sybil, whose love-hate dynamic quickly sets the stage for an ongoing battle of sharp wits and sharper tongues; the air-headed naivete of Jerry, with Bomer both leaning into and undercutting the cliché of the pretty-but-dumb aging “twunk”; and Bunny’s sincere but impulsive starry-eyed sentimentality, which is frequently undercut by his “Dorothy-esque” natural instinct (and Lane’s natural talent) for bitchy queendom.

Yet while there are clear choices to mirror the iconic personality traits of the original “Golden Girls” crew in “Mid-Century Modern,” the new series seems less regimented in defining each of its characters quite so succinctly, opting instead for a sort of “blend” in which the familiar personas of the former show’s leading ladies are spread a little more evenly between the four of them together. The result is a show that is obviously a new variation on an established theme, but one in which echoes of the original can be detected in each of its disparate elements rather than confined within the plainly-delineated parameters from which they have been inherited. To put it more plainly, it’s a show that acknowledges and embraces the material which inspired it, but goes beyond mere imitation to carve a space of its own. Neither a remake nor a reboot, it’s more like an offspring, a separate entity unto itself despite the DNA it shares with its progenitor.

Which is, of course, the only way a show like this can have any real chance of success; to attempt a direct copy of the series that inspired it would spark inevitable (and well-deserved) criticisms of laziness, along with the myriad quibbles which would undoubtedly arise from displeased “Golden Girls” fans; yet to diverge too radically from the established format would eliminate the very reason for its existence. Its seasoned creators were savvy enough to know that a gimmick only goes so far, and they build a show that leaves room for growth beyond its origin as a nostalgic homage into a series with the potential to succeed in its own right. And with the first season helmed by director James Burrows (an 11-time Emmy-winner for his work on shows like “Taxi,” “Cheers” “Frasier” and “Will & Grace”), who brings the experienced hand necessary to create the kind of authentically “retro” piece of entertainment that this one aspires to be, the old-school vibe feels as fresh as it did when “The Golden Girls” debuted – almost 40 full years ago.

Whether that nostalgic pull is enough to make the show a hit is hard to predict. It has laugh-out-loud moments, and convincingly reasserts the importance of genuine friendship and chosen family that has always been a common element in such shows. At the same time, while “The Golden Girls” was unequivocally queer-friendly, it was not specifically queer-themed. Given today’s polarized sensibilities around queer content, the timing might be wrong to permit this decidedly queer evolution of its premise – which saucily pulls no punches when it comes to the details of queer sexuality as personified in its three very different but equally randy protagonists – to have the same universal appeal that made it a long-running mainstream hit.

Only time will tell. For now, you can watch the entire first season on Hulu, and make that call for yourself. For our part, we’re just happy to have another high-profile queer show to enjoy, because we all really need that right about now.

The cast of ‘Mid-Century Modern.’ (Image courtesy of Hulu)

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Find a way to participate in the sharing economy

Earn extra cash by walking dogs, renting your car, and more

By JOSEPH HUDSON

If you could turn back time, would you find a way to participate in the sharing economy? If you own a home, a car, or have other resources or skills, you may still be able to. So don’t fret, SNAP OUT OF IT! (Anyone getting the Cher references so far?)

Recently, companies like AirBnB, VRBO, Uber, Lyft, Couchsurfing, Upwork, TaskRabbit, LendingClub, Poshmark, Meowtel, Rover, and Neighborgoods (among others) are allowing people to share their resources. Goods and services such as cars, money, homes, couches, clothing, business skills, tech or maintenance, design, dog walking, financial and accounting help, graphic design, among other skills can be shared with others for a price. People are finding ways to use the underutilized resources of their time, possessions and knowledge to make extra money, pay down debt, pay off bills, finance vacations, or just pay for those expensive eggs.

For homeowners, these resources can help offset the costs of owning and financing a home or allow the bandwidth to finally take that three months abroad or six-month sabbatical they have been desiring. As with any investment of time or resources, you will have

to assume some risk. If you are renting out your car or home, there will be wear and tear. If you are lending money, there is a risk of it not being returned. If you are selling gently used clothing online, the item could be returned, or the payment does not go through. These are risks one must take into consideration when starting any new enterprise. But as they say, without any risk, there can be no reward.

The sharing economy is based around peer-to-peer transactions. There is renewed emphasis on having experiences, less societal pressure for consumption, and embracing the access to experiences via online platforms. It’s not uncommon for many urban dwellers to own only one car, or not even own a car due to the access one has via the sharing economy. Vacations can be afforded via the peer-to-peer networks where a group of five people can stay in a luxurious setting at a favorite getaway destination for a fraction of the cost of a hotel and all meals out.

When one decides to venture into offering their home or car for these types of transactions, a wise tip to remember is that this is still operating a business. Customer service matters. Cleanliness, prompt attention and communication are key. It will require knowledge toward budgeting, setting competitive prices, creating memorable customer experiences, listening to constructive feedback, and using those customer service skills we all expect to see when we are dining out, staying at a hotel, or flying an airline.

If you would like to learn more about how to leverage your own resources to up your monthly income or free up your schedule, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I offer affordable seminars in creative thinking and digital marketing, to help people make use of their spare time, resources and energy.

JOSEPH HUDSON is a referral agent with Metro Referrals. Reach him at 703-587-0597 or joemike76@gmail.com.

The Rover app allows you to find customers for your home dog walking business.

Mark Taper Forum. Photo by Makela Yepez.

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