Volume 46, Issue 9, February 27, 2015

FEBRUARY
27
2015
VOLUME 46
ISSUE 09
State lawmakers target

gay rights from West Va. to Texas
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson allowed an anti-LGBT bill
to become law on Monday, raising fears among advocates
that the measure is an omen of more attacks on gay rights to
come in other states.
Senate Bill 202, approved by the new Republican majorities
in the state legislature, bars municipalities from enacting nondiscrimination ordinances for classes of people not already
protected under state law. Although sexual orientation
andgender identity arent explicitly mentioned in the new law,
AMERICAS GAY NEWS SOURCE
its a thinly veiled attempt attargeting LGBT non-discrimination

ordinances in cities like Little Rock and Eureka Springs.
Amid court victories advancingmarriage rightsthroughout
the country, the Arkansas law was one among
severalmeasures pending in state legislatures aimed rolling
back rights for LGBT people. Many of these bills are known
as Religious Freedom Restoration Acts and would enable
individuals and businesses to refuse service toLGBT people
and allow clerks to opt out of issuing marriage licenses to
same-sex couples.
Hutchinson had declared he would allow the measure to
become law through inaction, but LGBT advocates attempted
to convince him to veto the bill.
Eorts to combat the measure included a website,
CONTINUES ON PAGE 14
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Arkansas Gov. ASA HUTCHINSON (R)

allowed a new anti-LGBT bill to become
law this week.
Lawyers murder sparks

concern among D.C. activists
Signs of pick-up killing in
stabbing death of married man
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
The mystery surrounding the murder of 30-year-old
D.C. attorney David Messerschmitt, who was found
stabbed to death on Feb. 10 in a downtown hotel
room hours after his wife reported him missing, has
captured the attention of activists who monitor antiLGBT violence.
D.C. police have yet to disclose whether they know
how Messerschmitt met the person who killed him or
the motive of the crime. Last week police said they
didnt know why Messerschmitt, who lived on Capitol
Hill with his wife, checked into a room at the upscale
Donovan Hotel near Thomas Circle shortly before he

was found dead.
A public document in support of a police search
warrant for the hotel room led in D.C. Superior Court
shows that the case has some of the similarities of a
pick-up murder.
Among the items found in the hotel room,
according to the search warrant document, were a
condom and lubricant, an enema, a wallet with credit
cards, a computer and cell phone. The document says
Messerschmitt was found lying face down on the oor
with stab wounds to his back.
Apparent blood was observed on the oor
throughout the room, the walls of the hotel room,
the door of the hotel room, and on the body of the
decedent, a police adavit in support of the search
DAVID MESSERSCHMITT was found stabbed to death at

the Donovan Hotel on Feb. 10.
PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK
HONORING MAME
OFF THE STREETS
BEHIND THE MUSIC
Locals mourn death of

longtime drag star
Mame Dennis at age 74.
Gay man talks about

being homeless in D.C.,
dreams for the future.
Gay hit maker leaves

pop for drag, dishes on
drama of working with Gaga.
PAGE 8
PAGE 20
PAGE 23
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F E BRU A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 0 3
FRANCIS POULENC
DIALOGUES
OF THE CARMELITES
Now thru Mar. 10 | Opera House
Wonderful psychological
complexity...a hymn to
the powers of sisterhood
and the strength of
female solidarity.
The Toronto Star
Eric Owens, Photo by Cory Weaver
COMPANY PREMIERE!
American bass-baritone
Eric Owens speaks to you
even in his silences...and
shakes you when he sings.
Photo by Scott Suchman
The Chicago Sun-Times
RI C H A R D WA GN E R
THE FLYING
DUTCHMAN
Mar. 721 | Opera House
Note: The role of The Dutchman will be sung by Alan Held on Mar. 11.
Tickets on sale now!
(202) 467-4600
kennedy-center.org
Tickets also available at the Box Office.
Groups (202) 416-8400
Major support for WNO is provided by Jacqueline Badger Mars.
Additional support for Dialogues of the Carmelites is provided

by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
David and Alice Rubenstein are the Presenting Underwriters of WNO.
Additional support for The Flying Dutchman is provided by the
Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts.
General Dynamics is the proud sponsor of WNOs 2014-2015 Season.
WNO acknowledges the longstanding generosity of
Life Chairman Mrs. Eugene B. Casey.
Generous support for The Flying Dutchman is provided by

Ken and Dorothy Woodcock.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
0 4 F E B RUA RY 2 7, 2015
LO CA L N E W S
Russian lesbian nds refuge in Baltimore

Nadya survived 3 brutal
attacks in homeland
before eeing
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
BALTIMORE Nadya, a 31-year-old
lesbian from Russia, and her girlfriend of
nearly six years were talking at a coee
shop in Northwest Baltimore early in the
evening of Feb. 20.
The temperature outside was a bitterly
cold 12 degrees as the two women sat
along the window that overlooked the
parking lot of the Shops at Quarry Lake.
Nadya and her girlfriend continued
talking about their homeland, their
relationship and the life they hope to
build in the United States.
We dream about having a house,
children and dogs, Nadya told the
Washington Blade.
Nadya and her girlfriend moved to
Baltimore from Moscow in late October.
They are among the growing number of
LGBT Russians who have ed to the United
States to escape what they describe as
increased anti-LGBT discrimination and
persecution in their homeland.
Nadya declined to be photographed
and asked the Blade only to publish her
rst name.
Her girlfriend declined to take part in
the interview, but she agreed to translate
Nadyas answers to the Blades questions
from Russian into English.
Im a little bit afraid actually, said Nadya.
Nadya grew up outside of Rossoch, a
city near the Ukrainian border. She and
her girlfriend met 16 years ago when they
were in high school.
Nadya told the Blade she realized she
was a lesbian when she was 13, even
though she liked girls since she was a
young child.
She said she tried to tell her mom,
but it wasnt something like Mom, Im a
lesbian. Nadya told the Blade that her
mother threatened to nd a doctor who
would cure her of her sexual orientation
if she were a lesbian after she found
letters that a friend had written to her.
I convinced her that I wasnt, she said
in English.
Face like jelly after attack

Nadya told the Blade she wasviolently
attacked three times because of her
sexual orientation.
The rst incident took place in October
2001 when she was a member of her
colleges volleyball team.
She told the Blade that she had come
out to one of her teammates with whom
she had become friends. Nadya said the
woman proceeded to tell her boyfriend

that she was a lesbian.
He attacked her with a baseball bat
while she was sitting on a bench.
It was terrible because I was bleeding
and I had injuries on my head, said
Nadya, speaking Russian as her girlfriend
interpreted. She had told him everything
about me and he decided just to teach
me and show me Im a freak.
Nadya said a group of six men attacked
her in 2005 as she left an LGBT party in
the city of Voronezh.
She told the Blade that her assailants
followed her as she walked toward a
taxi she had called. Nadya said the men
knocked her to the ground and began
kicking her in the face and shoulders.
She said her left eye was nearly swollen shut
and her face was like jelly after the attack.
I was trying to hide my head with my
arms, said Nadya. The taxi left because
nobody wants to get in trouble.
Nadya told the Blade she suered a broken
nose during Moscow Pride in May 2012.
Russian police detained more than
three-dozen people Nikolai Alekseev
and other LGBT rights advocates and
a handful of Orthodox Christians who
confronted them during the event that
descended into violence. A Moscow court
a few weeks later upheld local authorities
decision to ban the gathering from taking
place for 100 years.
When you go to such prides, you
still have hope, Nadya told the Blade,
discussing the attack and the police who
arrested those who took part in the event.
The government not only sees it actually,
but they pretend that everythings ne
and that nobody is harmed and nobody is
assaulted and things are just ne as they
are and we are not human beings. We are
people who are just second-class (citizens.)
Honor to kill LGBT

people in Russia
Russias LGBT rights record came

under increased scrutiny in 2013 when
President Vladimir Putin signed into law
a bill that banned the promotion of socalled gay propaganda to minors.
Putin sought to downplay criticisms
over the propaganda law ahead of the
2014 Winter Olympics that took place
last February in the Black Sea resort
city of Sochi. The arrest of more than a
dozen LGBT rights advocates who staged
protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg on
the same day the games opened sparked
further outrage.
A Russian judge last month convicted
the founder of a website for LGBT youth
of violating the countrys propaganda law.
Police a few months earlier detained eight
people who staged a National Coming Out
Day protest outside Moscows Sokolniki Park.
Russian LGBT rights advocates in October held a protest in Moscow to commemorate National
Coming Out Day. Police ocers later detained them.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NIKOLAI BAEV
Russia decriminalized homosexuality in

1993.
Nadya told the Blade she feels anti-LGBT
attitudes persist, in part, because people
remain afraid of the prison sentences that
gay men received during the Soviet era. She
said Russian politicians and religious ocials
provoke people just to be anti-gay.
Everybody should be against gay
people, she said in Russian as she spoke
about Putins LGBT rights record. Its
some kind of honor to kill LGBT people.
The Obama administration in March
2014 froze the American assets of Yelena
Mizulina, a state Duma deputy who
sponsored the propaganda bill, and six
other Russian ocials over the annexation

of Crimea during the ongoing war between
Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists in the
eastern part of the country.
Some, including gay journalist Jamie
Kirchick and Spectrum Human Rights, a group
that advocates on behalf of LGBT Russians,
have urged the Obama administration to
use a 2012 law the Magnitsky Act that
freezes the assets of Russian citizens and
ocials directly responsible for human rights
violations and bans them from entering the
U.S. to punish those behind the countrys
anti-gay crackdown.
CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Gay student loses bid for

Georgetown class president
Tim Rosenberger, an out gay student who serves as secretary of Georgetown
Universitys LGBT campus group, GU Pride, lost his race for student president at
Georgetown on Feb. 19, nishing last in a ve-candidate race.
According to Georgetowns student newspaper, The Hoya, the winning
candidate, Joe Luther, and his vice presidential running mate, Connor Rohan,
ran an unprecedented satirical campaign that mocked the Georgetown Student
Government Association as being unresponsive to the needs of the students.
Rosenberger told the Blade he saw no signs of anti-gay sentiment in the
campaign or in the unorthodox statements and positions taken by Luther, who
received 1,080 votes or 30 percent of the rst round vote in an instant runo
voting system, according to gures reported by The Hoya.
The Luther-Rohan ticket received a nal vote count of 1,693 votes, or 54
percent, after three additional rounds of adjusted counting as part of the runo.
Rosenberger, a junior majoring in English, and his vice presidential running
mate, Reno Verghese, whos straight, received 154 votes, or 4.3 percent, of the
vote in the rst round before being eliminated from contention.
The two guys that won are good guys, Rosenberger said. I didnt see that
coming, but Im not unhappy about it, he said. Actually, out of all the tickets
they may be the second best qualied to do good things for the gay community
at Georgetown.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
F E BRU A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 0 5
W A SHI NG T ONBL A D E . COM

F E B RUA RY 2 7 , 2 0 15 06
AD VER TO R I AL
ARTS IN ACTION: Washington Concert Opera

reviving Richard Strauss rarity GUNTRAM
By JOEY NEWSOME
Those who attended the 1894 Weimar
premire of Richard Strausss rst opera,
Guntram, likely surmised that they were
hearing the work of a talented disciple
of Richard Wagner but might never have
suspected that they were witnessing
the artistic birth of, as he introduced
himself to the American liberators of his
beloved Garmisch in 1945, der Komponist
von Rosenkavalierthe composer of Der
Rosenkavalier. With his rst great tone
poem, Tod und Verklrung, behind him,
the young Strausss development as a
composer was at a crossroads at the time
of his work on Guntram. Having discarded
the ethics of Schopenhauer in favor of the
philosophical grandiloquence of Nietzsche,
the not-yet-thirty-year-old Strauss infused
his score for Guntram with thematic ideas
that would recur four years later in the
monumental tone poem Ein Heldenleben.
Despite the near-disastrous reception that
the opera received in 1894, the composers
lingering aection for his freshman eort
for the stage was conrmed by his return
to Guntram in 1940, when he substantially
revised and shortened the score. The
lingering suspicion of the score among
Twenty-First-Century
musicians
and
audiences was revealed by its inexplicable
absence from celebrations of the
sesquicentennial of Strausss birth in 2014:
among countless productions of the familiar
operas, the seldom-performed Feuersnot
and Intermezzo received performances
and recordings, but Guntram continued to
hide in the shadows cast by his Straussian
siblings, represented by only three concert
performances at Dresdens Semperoper.
That omission will be rectied in part on
1 March 2015, when Washington Concert
Opera will present a concert performance
of Guntram in Lisner Auditorium on
the campus of The George Washington
University. Fielding a superb cast of singers
lauded for combining vocal power with tonal
beauty under the experienced baton of the
companys Artistic Director Antony Walker,
Washington Concert Opera again oers
District-area audiences an opportunity to
make the acquaintance of a neglected score
and, in this case, gives attentive ears the
chance to listen for the seeds that ultimately
owered in Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf
Naxos, and Die Frau ohne Schatten.
Washington
Concert
Operas
performance will utilize Strausss 1940
edition of the score, which also served as
the basis for the operas only other known
performance in the United States, a 1983
concert performance in Carnegie Hall by
the Opera Orchestra of New York featuring
German tenor Reiner Goldberg in the title
rle and Hungarian soprano Ilona Tokody,
with whom OONYs Music Director Eve
Queler also made a studio recording of
Guntram for Sony/CBS Masterworks. While
preferring Strausss later, tightened version
of the score, Maestro Walker is sensitive

to the demands that Guntram makes on
conductor, cast, orchestra, and audience.
One of the biggest challenges in conducting
Guntram is that although it is very
Wagnerian in language in many passages,
Strausss use of the orchestra to accompany
the singers is less transparent and heavier
than Wagners writing, he says. I will have to
be very careful with balancing the orchestra
with the singers. Fortunately, in concert the
singers are in front of the orchestra, and in
Lisner the orchestra is seated behind the
proscenium. The combination of both these
facts makes the balance between singers
and orchestra a little easier!
Likewise, Maestro Walker is attentive
not only to the signicance of Guntram in
Strausss artistic evolution but to the operas
place in the transition of large-scaled
musical forms from the lush tonalism of
the Nineteenth Century to the more sinewy
idioms of the Twentieth Century. Guntram
is an intensely lyrical work, with sweeping
vocal lines and beautiful orchestral textures,
the conductor muses. I hope our audience
falls in love Strausss luscious and luxurious
vocal and orchestral lines: a language
that is the fullest expression of late 19th
Century Romanticism and on the cusp of
the modernism of the early 20th Century. As
one experiences Guntram, he suggests, one
can listen for Wagnerian inuences, echoes
of Strausss early tone poems Macbeth,
Don Juan and Death and Transguration,
as well as [reminding] oneself that this
work was [introduced] in 1894, the same
year as Debussys Prlude laprs-midi
dun faun, Massenets Thas, Mahlers 2nd
Symphony, and a year after Verdis Falsta,
Humperdincks Hnsel and Gretel, and
Puccinis Manon Lescauta fascinating
period of transition in Classical Music!
As is typical of Washington Concert Opera
performances, the companys Guntram
will benet from the participation of a cast
of singers ideally-chosen for their parts:
Kansas-born tenor Robert Dean Smith in
the title rle, soprano Marjorie Owensa
recent Metropolitan Opera dbutanteas
Freihild, acclaimed Wagnerian baritone Tom
Fox as Der alte Herzog, Annapolis native
baritone Zachary Nelson as Herzog Robert,
and Chinese bass Wei Wu as Friedhold.
One of Americas most celebrated singers
of the punishing Wagner and Strauss
repertories for tenor, Robert Dean Smith
recently garnered praise for his singing of
another of operas most daunting tenor
parts, the title rle in Verdis Otello, in a
performance recorded by NAXOS [reviewed
here]. In contemplating his preparations to
sing Guntram, Mr. Smith is quick to dismiss
the notion suggested by tenors of the past
that singing Verdis Otello is, in vocal terms,
a game-changer. In no way does singing
Otello alter my approach to Guntramor
any other rle, for that matter, he says. It
does give me another unique experience
that aects ALL of the rles I sing. Every rle
has specic vocal demands necessitating the

application of a correct singing technique
so that Verdi will sound like Verdi, Wagner
like Wagner, and so on. With each new rle,
with each performance, and also with each
rehearsal, I have a mindset for wanting to
develop artistically and vocally, improving the
ability for expression and communication of
the music. This mindset is especially crucial
in approaching Strausss Guntram, he feels,
owing to the characters innate musicality,
a quality that surely inspired the composer,
perhaps even in a covertly autobiographical
sense. Guntram is a singer, like Tannhuser
and, to some extent, Walther in Meistersinger,
Mr. Smith states. I always nd it a pleasant
challenge to sing as a character on stage.
Guntram is one of the good guys, although
he does kill, albeit in self-defense. His love of
nature, his generosity, and sense of duty are
the positive qualities I would like to bring out
as much as possible.
Like Mr. Smith, Tom Fox chooses to focus
primarily not on the musical pedigree of
his rle in Guntram, Der alte Herzog, but on
the characters dramatic specicity. Well,
certainly [he] is not patterned after Alberich
[a rle in which Mr. Fox has excelled at the
Metropolitan Opera, both in Siegfried and in
Gtterdmmerung] or Klingsor, [but there]
could be a tad of Telramund in there, he
condes, but those are all Wagner Bse
rles. I feel [that] Strauss was nearing King
Marke in Tristan with the alte Herzog. The
rle of Robert seems more along the same
type as Alberich, but Strauss was too young
when he composed this piece to grasp the
psychology of Wagners tremendous vocal
writing for those rles. Certainlyfor me,
at leastStrauss later followed his own
path in his vocal writing, acknowledging the
inuence of Wagner along the way. Mr. Fox,
whose Vodnk in North Carolina Operas
semi-staged performance of Dvoks
Rusalka [reviewed here] was a marvel of
intelligent, understated characterization,
is keenly aware of the inconsistencies in
Strausss depiction of the alte Herzog and
the resulting diculties in making the
character one with whom an audience can
sympathize. Actually nding and settling
on an interpretation [means] not giving too
much weight to the lack of dramaturgy in
Strausss libretto, he remarks. I dont nd
any sympathy for Robert in the story, so
why is the alte Herzog so embittered at the
death of an abusive son-in-law? Thinking
further about his insightful understanding
of the rle, Mr. Fox adds, That being said,
I let Strausss composition guide me. His
orchestration in the Funeral Aria exhibits
tremendous pathos for the old man and
his falling-apart empirehence become
the old man suering loss and equating
everything with his supposed glorious past.
This helps motivate the rage that I feel the
part demands at the end. The beginning
of the rle shows the Herzogs love for
his daughter and his acceptance of the
Minnesinger Guntram.
The rle of Freihild was originated

by soprano Pauline de Ahna, who four
months after the rst performance of
Guntram became Frau Strauss. Washington
Concert Operas performance will feature
one of the very few sopranos in the world
with experience in Strausss rst opera.
Having sung Freihild in the three Dresden
performances in 2014, Marjorie Owens
comes to Washington after having rung in
2015 with her Metropolitan Opera dbut as
Verdis Aida [in which role she alternated,
incidentally, with another Washington
Concert Opera alumna, Tamara Wilson].
She was, in fact, the Strauss soprano par
excellence at the Semperoper in 2014, her
celebration of the 150th anniversary of the
composers birth having encompassed,
in addition to Freihild in Guntram,
performances of the title rles in Ariadne
auf Naxos, which she also sang with great
distinction in Fort Worth in 2013, and
Daphne. Another great Straussian, Dame
Gwyneth Jones, paid homage to Pauline de
Ahna in a performance piece entitled Die
Frau im Schatten (The Woman in the Shadow),
noting that the sopranos inuence over her
husband was more heard than seen by the
public. Her inuence was extraordinary,
however, and the quality of Strausss music
for Freihild is indicative of the power that
the soprano exerted over the composer.
Mr. Smith likened Strausss characterization
of Guntram to Wagners portrayal of the
title character in Wagners Tannhuser, and
comparisons between Elisabeth in the same
opera and Elsa in Lohengrin with Strausss
Freihild are similarly apt. Elisabeth is another
part in which Ms. Owens has excelled in
Dresden, solidifying her qualication to sing
Freihild with unimpeachable musical and
dramatic authority.
It seems that virtually every important
German-speaking composer of opera
has to his credit at least one score that
languishes in obscurity. Even amidst the
increased scrutiny of the Baroque revival
of recent decades, infrequently-performed
Hndel operas are numerous. Beyond
Salzburg, how many audiences have heard
Mozarts Apollo et Hyacinthus, Ascanio in
Alba, or La nta semplice? Having only one
player in the game spares Beethoven from
neglect in the worlds opera houses, but
Wagners legacy seldom extends to modern
performances of Die Feen, Das Liebesverbot,
and Rienzi. Perhaps even more than any
of these scores, Richard Strausss Guntram
has much to oer the Twenty-First-Century
listener. Maestro Antony Walker and
Washington Concert Opera have repeatedly
proved wonderfully adept at conveying the
singular passion and pageantry of opera on
the concert stage. Their Guntram is poised
to establish our nations capital anew as one
of the worlds foremost operatic capitals.
To learn more about Washington
Concert Operas performance of Guntram,
please visit the companys website or
phone 202.364.5826 to purchase tickets.
F E BRU A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 0 7
RICHARD STRAUSS
LISNER AUDITORIUM
21ST AND H STREETS, NW
WASHINGTON, DC
WITH FULL ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS

ANTONY WALKER, CONDUCTOR
C CHRISTODOULOU
TICKETS AND
MORE INFORMATION:
CONCERTOPERA.ORG
202.364.5826
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
0 8 F E B RUA RY 2 7, 2015
LO CA L N E W S
LGBT Black History Month

events highlight family love
MAME DENNIS died this week at age 74.

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
D.C. drag legend remembered

As Mame, Rizzi led Academy for decades
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Carl Rizzi, who performed as his drag alter ego Mame Dennis for decades as president of the Academy
of Washington, died Monday according to friends. He was 74.
Rizzi had been in the hospital for about two weeks, initially because of a urinary tract infection. Although
the cause of death was not immediately known, friends said Rizzis health was complicated by a blood clot
in the leg and pneumonia.
Rizzi was born in Nashua, N.H., on June 22, 1940, according to the Rainbow History Project, which did an
extensive interview with him in 2000. He was the only child of Guido Rizzi and Mildred Fisher Rizzi. Upon
leaving the Navy, Rizzi settled in Washington and was employed at the U.S. Postal Service where he worked
until he retired in 1995. In retirement, Rizzi worked part time for All American Pest Control in Arlington,
Va., for 15 years.
Rizzi came out in 1963 and enjoyed the Chicken Hut, a gay bar on H Street, N.W.
Somehow because I was crazy and I was loud and I was amboyant, they called me Auntie Mame, he
told Rainbow History Project. And the name stuck though the Auntie dropped o.
Rizzi rst did drag in 1965 for Halloween. He performed in drag soon after. Within a few years several
groups of local drag families had formed including the Oscars, Beekman Place and Henry Street. They
united in 1973 and as Dennis, Rizzi became president of the Academy as it is now known. Over the next
four-plus decades, Rizzi presided over the group that had several annual events including Miss Gaye
Universe D.C. and Miss Gaye America D.C., its own version of the Academy Awards in which Golden Boy
trophies were presented a la Oscars, and in which best actor and best actress prizes were given to the
organizations most dedicated members. Rizzi himself made the selections.
The group was also known for its philanthropic eorts giving money to Whitman-Walker, Brother Help
Thyself and many other organizations. Academy members sometimes received aid through its Helping Our
Own People (HOOP) Awards. Rizzi was pleased to present a check to Frank Kameny a few years ago for his
many years of activism.
Rizzi told the Blade in 2011 on the Academys 50th anniversary that the group was founded to mold an
elite group of people whose social life would center around drag. By creating parties and activities, I knew
that I would always be surrounded by people wanting to attend them.
She will be remembered as a tireless and very dedicated leader of the Academy of Washington, said
Andre Hopfer, who performs as Tula. This organization was everything to her and her favorite man was
her Oscar. She loved to carry him onto the stage and frequently brought him along to other Academy
events.
When I think of words to describe her, I think pioneer, legend, trailblazer and friend, said Daniel
Hays, who performs as Muy Blake Stephyns. Without her noble deeds I would never have had the
opportunity to perform and grow as a performer in D.C. I will cherish every minute we had together.
She paved the way for many a drag queen to come and be who you wanted to be in the Academy and
everyone was a star in her eyes, said Leon Hargraves, who as Chris Monroe, was Denniss drag daughter.
She was an icon to the drag community.
No information on a funeral or memorial service was immediately available.
The sometimes unrecognized love for LGBT people within

black families and the growing number of young LGBT leaders
who are black emerged as themes in the nal week of the
D.C.-area celebration of Black History Month, according to an
ocial with the National Black Justice Coalition.
Isaiah Wilson, NBJCs external aairs manager, said a town
hall event Sunday night at the Human Rights Campaign
building co-sponsored by several LGBT supportive groups,
focused on This Is Luv, a multi-media campaign highlighting
arming LGBT love in black communities and families.
Among those appearing at the event were gay former NBA
player Jason Collins and E.J. Johnson, son of famed NBA star
Magic Johnson.
There is a dominant and pervasive narrative within
the U.S. and internationally that the black community is
overwhelmingly more homophobic than other groups,
but we know that this biased assumption is unfounded, a
statement released by the campaign says.
Too many people within the black LGBT community
believe this myth and never allow themselves to be loved
by their families, said LGBT sports advocate Wade Davis in
a statement promoting the town hall event. Our goal is to
make it known that love for black LGBT people exists in our
community.
Wilson said NBJC planned to release toward the end
of the week a list of 100 Emerging Black LGBTQ Leaders
Under Age 30 to show that an emerging generation of black
LGBT leaders in many dierent elds and professions are
becoming involved in civic aairs, including LGBT rights.
Although he knew of no additional LGBT specic Black
History Month activities this week in the D.C. area, Wilson
said many of these events would be of interest to LGBT
community members: culturecapital.com/feature/132/blackhistory-month-february-2015-in-metro-dc.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
LGBT issues addressed at

Chinese New Year events
Bystanders on H Street, N.W. in Chinatown on Sunday

cheered as the annual Chinese New Year Parade, including
the traditional dance performed by young men in a dragon
costume, wound its way under the Chinatown archway.
David Do, the openly gay director of the D.C. Oce of
Asian and Pacic Islander Aairs, said he had the opportunity
to speak about LGBT-related issues, among other topics, in
speeches he gave at several indoor events on Sunday related
to Chinese New Year.
Among them were events sponsored by the citys Chinese
Consolidated Benevolent Association and the Taiwan cultural
and economic oce, which serves as Taiwans unocial
embassy to the U.S.
In my speeches throughout the day I talked about
expanding the LGBT connections that the Oce of Asian and
Pacic Islander Aairs will have throughout the District of
Columbia and region to help provide more information and
help gain acceptance for LGBT in the AAPI community, Do
told the Blade in an email.
The Asian and Pacic Islander LGBT community faces
many cultural and religious burdens in the AAPI community,
he said.
As an LGBT member of that community, Do said he
understands the struggles of coming out to his family and
the stigma associated with it. He said his vision is to make
sure there is a strong relationship between the LGBT
community and the AAPI community.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
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NATIONAL NEWS
Former NFL player MICHAEL SAM will compete on Dancing with the Stars.
PHOTO BY MARCUS QWERTYUS; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
Michael Sam to compete on dance show

LOS ANGELES The rst openly gay man drafted into the National Football
League will compete on the upcoming season of ABCs Dancing with the Stars.
Grammy Award-winning singer Patti LaBelle and Olympic gymnast Nastia
Liukin are among the celebrities who will compete against Michael Sam on the
show.
Sam, a former University of Missouri defensive end, last February came out
during a series of interviews with the New York Times and ESPN.
The St. Louis Rams in May 2014 picked Sam during the seventh round of
the draft, but released him before the start of the regular season. The Dallas
Cowboys in October cut Sam from the teams practice squad.
Not guilty plea in Marine murder case

OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines A Philippine court on Feb. 23 entered a not
guilty plea for a U.S. Marine who allegedly murdered a transgender woman.
The Associated Press reported that Marine Pfc. Joseph Pemberton refused to
enter a plea during a brief court appearance in Olongapo City outside of Manila,
the Philippine capital.
Local prosecutors contend Pemberton met Jennifer Laude, 26, at a nightclub
on Oct. 11, 2014, while the USS Peleliu was docked at the Subic Bay Freeport,
which is adjacent to Olongapo City on the Philippines main island of Luzon.
Laudes naked body was later found in a motel bathroom.
The trans womans death sparked widespread outrage among Philippine
LGBT rights advocates. Laudes murder also highlighted opposition to the U.S.
military presence in the country.
Jennifer has become our martyr, the symbol of our suering as a community,
Angie Umbac, president of the Rainbow Rights Project, a Philippine LGBT
advocacy group, told the Washington Blade shortly after Laudes death.
The Associated Press reported that lawyers who are representing Laudes
family said Pembertons trial is expected to begin next month.
Lawsuit led on behalf of Ga. trans inmate

MACON, Ga. The Southern Poverty Law Center last week led a federal
lawsuit against the Georgia Department of Corrections on behalf of a transgender
woman who claims she has been denied medical care and sexually assaulted by
inmates at a mens prison where she is serving her sentence.
The Alabama-based organization in a press release said that Ashley Diamond,
who is serving a sentence for a non-violent crime at Valdosta State Prison, had
received hormone therapy for 17 years before her incarceration. The Southern
Poverty Law Center said the Georgia Department of Corrections denied its
request to allow Diamond to receive the aforementioned treatment.
Chinyere Ezie, a lawyer for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Diamond
has also experienced no less than seven brutal sexual assaults since she began
serving her sentence three years ago.
Diamond spoke about her case in a video she secretly recorded from inside
the prison.
Its amazing how a minor brush with the law has turned into a death sentence,
said Diamond. This is more than just about hormone treatment. This is about
gross human rights violations. Three years of torture is enough.
RANDY BERRY previously served as consul general at the U.S. Consulate in Amsterdam.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT
State Department
names rst LGBT envoy
Randy Berry to promote
equality around the globe
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
The State Department this week
announced it has named Randy Berry as its
special envoy to promote global LGBT rights.
Berry, who is openly gay, has been the
consul general at the U.S. Consulate in
Amsterdam since August 2012.
He was the consul general at the U.S.
Consulate in Auckland, New Zealand, from
2009-2012 and the deputy chief of mission at
the U.S. Embassy in Nepal from 2007-2009.
Berry during his State Department career
has also been posted in D.C., Bangladesh,
Egypt, Uganda and South Africa.
Randys a leader, said Secretary of
State John Kerry in a statement to the
Washington Blade. Hes a motivator.
But most importantly for this eort, hes
got vision. Wherever hes served from
Nepal to New Zealand, from Uganda to
Bangladesh, from Egypt to South Africa,
and most recently as consul general in
Amsterdam Randy has excelled. Hes a
voice of clarity and conviction on human
rights. And Im condent that Randys
leadership as our new special envoy will
signicantly advance eorts underway to
move towards a world free from violence
and discrimination against LGBT persons.
A State Department ocial told the
Blade earlier this month the envoy would
be an openly gay Foreign Service ocer.
Its been long in the making because
the secretary insisted the envoy be a
career Foreign Service ocer from inside
the institution, someone who is part of
the fabric of the institution, a diplomat by
training, said the ocial.

Kerry in his statement to the Blade
highlighted the State Departments Global
Equality Fund that seeks to promote LGBT
rights around the world. He also noted
homosexuality remains criminalized in
more than 70 countries.
At the same time, and often with our
help, governments and other institutions,
including those representing all religions,
are taking steps to rearm the universal
human rights of all persons, regardless
of sexual orientation or gender identity,
said Kerry. So while this ght is not yet
won, this is no time to get discouraged.
Its time to stay active. Its time to assert
the equality and dignity of all persons, no
matter their sexual orientation or gender
identity. And with Randy helping to lead
our eorts, I am condent thats exactly
what we can and will do.
Jessica Stern, executive director of the
International Lesbian and Gay Human
Rights Commission, welcomed Berrys
appointment.
The U.S. envoy can contribute to
a new era in which the conscience of
governments everywhere can be focused
on the destabilizing impact of prejudice
and abuse that inicts suering on
millions worldwide, said Stern in a
statement. Human rights should be a
priority for every government in both
domestic and foreign policy.
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) last year
introduced a bill the International
Human Rights Defense Act that would
have created an LGBT envoy within the
State Departments Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights and Labor.
Markey and California Congressman
Alan
Lowenthal
reintroduced
the
proposal last month.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
F E BRU A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 1 1
Studyweighs use of HIV drug before-after sex

Findings said to conrm
eectiveness of PrEP
for gay men
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
A study evaluating the eectiveness of
limiting the dose of the pre-exposure HIV
prophylaxis drug Truvada to between two
and 24 hours before sex and for two days
after sex showed that gay and bisexual men
who followed this regimen reduced their risk
of HIV infection by an average of 86 percent.
The ndings of this and a separate
study also yielding an 86 percent risk
reduction rate for HIV by taking Truvada
as a pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP on
a daily basis were presented on Tuesday
before the Conference on Retroviruses
and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle.
These ndings together provide
additional evidence of the power of PrEP
to reduce the risk of HIV infection, the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention said in a statement.
CDC ocials expressed caution,
however, that the rst-of-its-kind study
by researchers in France of a beforeand-after-sex regimen of Truvada might
be most eective for men who have
frequent sexual encounters with multiple
partners. Participants in the study, which
was conducted in France and Canada,
MICHAEL WEINSTEIN, president of the AIDS

Healthcare Foundation, said condom use is
the best way for gay men to protect their
sexual health.
had a median of 10 sex acts per month

and eight partners every two months,
according to the CDC analysis.
With that many instances of sexual
encounters, those participating in the
study were taking PrEP on an average of
three to four times per week, suggesting
that a buildup of Truvada in their bodies
gave them a level of protection closer to
those taking PrEP on a daily basis.
CDC cautions that researchers do not
yet know if this regimen will work among
MSM who have sex less frequently and
would therefore be taking PrEP less often,
the CDC analysis says. CDC continues to
recommend daily dosing of PrEP and urges
people at substantial risk for HIV infection
and their health care providers to continue
to follow current CDC guidelines.

Those
guidelines
along
with
recommendations by other health
experts call for MSM and others to
continue to use condoms when engaging
in sex, in part, because PrEP does not
protect against other sexually transmitted
diseases, including hepatitis.
The second study analyzed by the CDC
consisted of gay and other men who
have sex with men who were clients at
sexual health clinics in England.
Participants incorporated PrEP into
existing risk reduction strategies, which
included condom use, says a write-up by
organizers of the study, who have named
the study PROUD. There was no dierence
in the number of men diagnosed with other
sexually transmitted infections between
those on PrEP and those not on PrEP, the
write-up says.
That nding is considered signicant
because critics of PrEP have expressed
concern that men taking PrEP would no
longer be motivated to use condoms,
placing them at risk of other sexually
transmitted diseases.
A third study presented at the Seattle
conference, which was conducted by CDC
researchers and published in the Journal
of the American Medical Association,
used statistical modeling to show how the
rate of new HIV infections would change
if more people with HIV became virally
suppressed through treatment.
More than 90 percent of new HIV
infections in the United States could be

averted by diagnosing people living with
HIV and ensuring they receive prompt,
ongoing treatment, a CDC statement
says the study shows.
The statement says the study for the
rst time developed estimates of the
number of HIV transmissions caused
by people in dierent stages of care,
including those who are unaware they
are infected, those who are retained
in care, and those who have their virus
under control through treatment.
By
quantifying
where
HIV
transmissions occur at each state of
care, we can identify when and for whom
prevention and treatment eorts will
have the most impact, said Jonathan
Mermin, director of the CDCs National
Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD,
and TB Prevention.
We could prevent the vast majority of
new infections tomorrow by improving
the health of people living with HIV
today, he said.
People who were successfully keeping
the virus under control through treatment
were 94 percent less likely than those
who do not know they are infected to
transmit their virus, a CDC statement
says the study shows. However, previous
national estimates have indicated that
just 30 percent of people with HIV have
reached this critical step in care.
New rule to grant gay couples access to FMLA

Policy makes spouses
eligible regardless
of residence
By CHRIS JOHNSON
Married same-sex couples will soon be
eligible for benets under the Family &
Medical Leave Act even if they live in a state
that doesnt recognize their union, the
Labor Department announced Monday.
In a statement, Labor Secretary
Thomas Perez said a new rule is set to be
nal that will ensure individuals in samesex marriages have access to federally
protected leave from work to care for
spouses with serious medical conditions.
The basic promise of the FMLA is that
no one should have to choose between the
job and income they need, and caring for
a loved one, Perez said. With our action
today, we extend that promise so that no
matter who you love, you will receive the
same rights and protections as everyone

else. All eligible employees in legal samesex marriages, regardless of where they
live, can now deal with a serious medical
and family situation like all families
without the threat of job loss.
According to a Q&A accompanying the
announcement, the nal rule changing
existing policy under the Family &
Medical Leave Act is set for publication on
Wednesday and will take eect on March 27.
The rule change is consistent with
the Obama administrations stated goal
of extending the federal benets of
marriage to the greatest extent possible
to same-sex couples, regardless of their
state of residence, in the aftermath of
the U.S. Supreme Courts 2013 decision
against the Defense of Marriage Act.
The Obama administration has granted
certain benets to married same-sex couples
such as immigration, tax, federal employee
and employer-provided pension benets
regardless of whether or not these couples
live in a state with marriage equality.
But benets under the Family & Medical
Leave Act were previously unavailableto

married same-sex couples living in one
of the remaining 13 states that prohibits
recognition of their unions. Regulations
looked to the state of residence, not
the state of celebration, to determine
whether a couple is married.
Emily Hecht-McGowan, director of
public policy for Family Equality Council,
said the rule change is essential for samesex couples who need access to benets
under the Family & Medical Leave Act.
The Family and Medical Leave Act is the
only federal law helping Americans balance
the demands of both work and family,
Hecht-McGowan said. Since its passage
in 1993, FMLA leave has been used more
than 200 million times but until today, it
was not fully accessible to LGBTQ workers.
The Department of Labor has done an
outstanding job of ensuring full and fair
implementation of the Windsor decision
and this nal rule is a critical step in ensuring
LGBTQ workers can care for themselves
and their spouses regardless of where in
the country they live without jeopardizing
their jobs or economic security.

The rule change from the Labor
Department was expected. One year
after the DOMA decision in June, the
Labor Department announced it was
preparing the change in regulation to
ensure married same-sex couples have
access to the Family & Medical Leave Act
regardless of where they live.
Other issues for same-sex couples
living in non-marriage equality states
remain in the wake of the Supreme
Courts decision. Access to spousal
veterans benets, Social Security benets
and copyright ownership is still denied
because U.S. code looks to the state of
residence, not the state of celebration, to
determine whether a couple is married.
On its face, those cant be changed as
easily because the prohibitions are in federal
law, not regulation. But LGBT advocates,
including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.),
have said blocking spousal veterans and
Social Security benets to same-sex couples
in non-marriage equality states violates the
spirit of the DOMA decision.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
1 2 F EB RUA RY 2 7 , 2015
NATIONAL NEWS
White House endorses Carter remarks on trans service

Press secy unaware of
anti-gay Arkansas law
By CHRIS JOHNSON
White House Press Secretary Josh
Earnest endorsed this week comments
from the new Pentagon chief that were
favorable to open transgender service in
the U.S. military, saying President Obama
shares those views.
I can tell you the president agrees with
the sentiment that all Americans who
are qualied to serve should be able to
serve, and for that reason, we here at
the White House welcome the comments
of the secretary of defense, Earnest
said in response to a question from the
Washington Blade.
Earnests remarks come just one day
after newly sworn-in Defense Secretary
Ashton Carter expressed an openness to
transgender service at a military town hall
in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
I dont think anything but their
suitability for service should preclude
them, Carter said in response to
a question from Jesse Ehrenfeld, a
lieutenant commander with U.S. Navy
Medical Care.
For months, the White House has been
dodging questions about whether it
supports the idea of allowing transgender
people to serve openly in the military.
Prior to Carters conrmation hearing last
White House Press Secretary JOSH EARNEST

said President Obama backs Ashton Carters
views on transgender service.
month, Earnest deferred to the Pentagon

when asked by the Blade whether the
White House thinks the U.S. military could
implement open service.
The end of Dont Ask, Dont Tell in 2011
enabled openly gay people to serve in
the U.S. military, but openly transgender
people are still unable to serve. Unlike with
Dont Ask, Dont Tell, the administration at
any time could lift the ban on transgender
service because its not a law, but rather a
medical regulation.
Although the White House has
endorsed Carters comments, Earnest
noted the Pentagon should handle

further details on implementing open
transgender service.
Asked by the Blade whether the White
House is coordinating with the Pentagon
on next steps to lift the ban, Earnest
deferred to the Defense Department and
was non-commital about any change.
To talk about what those next steps
might be, Id refer you to the Department
of Defense, Earnest said.
Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen, a
Pentagon spokesperson, said Monday
he has nothing more to add to Carters
comments and conrmed no specic
review of the ban on transgender service
is ongoing.
However,
Christensen
said
the
Pentagon has undertaken a routine
review of its medical accession policy
thats expected to last 12 to 18 months,
although the review isnt specic to the
ban on transgender service. The last such
review was conducted in 2011 and left the
medical regulation barring transgender
service in place.
Ashley Broadway-Mack, president of
the LGBT military group known as the
American Military Partner Association,
said Earnests remarks demonstrate
both the commander-in-chief and the
defense secretary are supporting openly
transgender service.
So now is the time for action - action
to end the outdated ban harming our
brave transgender service members and
their families, Broadway-Mack said. All
qualied Americans - regardless of their

gender identity - deserve to be able to
serve our nation openly and honestly.
Allyson Robinson, public policy director
for the LGBT military group SPARTA, said the
Pentagon should heed Obama and move
forward with open transgender service.
To those familiar with how the
military chain of command works, the
commander-in-chiefs
intent
could
not be clearer: President Obama has
done more to ensure transgender
Americans are treated fairly and with
respect than all those whove previously
held the oce combined, Robinson
said. Good subordinate leaders take
their commanders intent and execute
they get the job done. Thats what
SPARTAs transgender members, their
commanders, and their families are
looking to Secretary Carter to do now.
Stephen Peters, spokesperson for the
Human Rights Campaign, commended
the White House for the remarks, but said
its time to follow up with action.
Considering both the president and
the Secretary of Defense believe that all
who are qualied to serve should be able
to, its far past time for this discrimination
against transgender service members to
end, Peters said. Lets put action to these
words and nally change the outdated
regulations that still prevent some
qualied Americans from serving openly
based solely on their gender identity.
DNC LGBT Caucus maps plans for 2016

Seeks applicants for
outreach post
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Members of the Democratic National
Committees 36-member LGBT Caucus
met in Washington on Feb. 21 to discuss
plans for LGBT involvement in next years
presidential election, including eorts to
help elect LGBT delegates to the 2016
Democratic National Convention.
The caucus met on the nal day of the DNCs
annual winter meetings, which took place at
the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill.
It was a good meeting, said LGBT
Caucus Chair Earl Fowlkes, who also
serves as president of D.C.s Gertrude
Stein Democratic Club, the citys largest
local LGBT political group.
We talked about issues of diversity,
Fowlkes said. We talked about the
convention. We talked about delegate
selection. I think these are all very important
issues for the caucus to consider.

Others
attending
the
meeting,
including gay DNC member Rick Staord,
the LGBT Caucuss former chair, said the
caucus will have to step in to do much of
the delegate selection organizing that the
National Stonewall Democrats did for the
2012 Democratic Convention.
NSD, an LGBT Democratic Party
organization, was founded in 1998 by gay
former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). It
ceased operating in January 2013 because
of a budget shortfall and an inability to
raise sucient funds to stay in business.
Ocials with the group said at the time
they expected the shutdown or hiatus
to be temporary and they were hopeful
the group would resume operations the
following year.
But that never happened, and Fowlkes
told the Washington Blade following the
LGBT Caucus meeting on Feb. 21 that he saw
no signs of NSD coming back in time for the
start of the planning process for delegate
selection this year and early next year.
That means this caucus will really have
to step up to the plate in terms of nding

LGBT delegates, Staord told fellow
caucus members.
DNC ocial Regina Thomas told
the caucus meeting that the DNC has
approved hiring a director of the DNC LGBT
Outreach Desk. The position has remained
unlled since September 2013, when gay
Democratic activist Je Marootian, who
held the post since 2011, resigned to take
a job as White House liaison to the U.S.
Department of Transportation.
Thomas said a large number of
enthusiastic applicants have submitted
resumes for the job but she said
most dont have the type of campaign
experience needed for the position. She
urged LGBT Caucus members to invite
others to apply for the post.
During an LGBT Caucus meeting in
Washington last March, caucus members
and LGBT Democratic activists urged the
DNC to ll the position in time for the
2014 congressional mid-term elections.
With the National Stonewall Democrats
out of the picture, the caucus members
and activists said the outreach desk

director was needed to help as many
as 100 local and state LGBT Democratic
Clubs coordinate LGBT get-out-thevote eorts to help elect and re-elect
Democrats to Congress.
DNC Regional Press Secretary Ian Sams
said at the time that he and others in the
DNCs communications division would
conduct LGBT outreach work until a
replacement for Marootian was hired.
Democrats took a beating in the 2014
mid-term elections, losing control of
the Senate and seeing their numbers
decrease in the House, where they
already were in the minority.
Amy Stacey, the DNCs chief executive
ocer, told LGBT Caucus members at the
Feb. 21 meeting that the party will need
the help of all of its diverse constituencies,
including LGBT Democrats, to help elect a
Democrat to the White House in 2016. Stacey
is the former head of Emilys List, a national
group that helps elect women to public oce.
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1 4 F E B RUA RY 2 7, 2015
NATIONAL NEWS
Arkansas law tip of a new anti-LGBT iceberg?

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01
vetosb202.com, set up by New York-based

LGBT rights advocate Scott Wooledge
to generate social media responses
against the measure. In a joint statement
on Friday, a team of LGBT legal groups
consisting of the American Civil Liberties
Union, the ACLU of Arkansas, Gay &
Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, Lambda
Legal and National Center for Lesbian
Rights said the measure amounts to a
giant, ashing Gays Stay Away sign.
It will block sincere local eorts to
show that Arkansas communities are
welcoming places beckoning talent,
innovation and workforce diversity, the
statement says.
Also on Friday, Chad Grin, an
Arkansas native and president of the
Human Rights Campaign, wrotean essay
in the Arkansas Times urging a veto
of SB 202 as well as a halt to HB 1228,
a religious carve-out bill pending in the
Arkansas Legislature that would enable
discrimination against LGBT people.
Im proud to call Arkansas my home
state the place where my entire
extended family has lived for years,
Grin writes. I know these bills do not
reect the Arkansas values. They certainly
do not reect this states commitment
to growing a 21st Century economy
that attracts good paying jobsand to
guaranteeing a business climate that
welcomes everyone who is willing to
work hard and build a better future for
themselves and for their community.
One surprise voice in opposition to SB
202 came from gay icon Cher, who took
to Twitter to criticize Hutchinson. Cher
wrote, Why am I not surprised That Asa
Hutchinson, Gov of Arkansas,is hanging
LBGT community out to dry!?
On the day that the measure was set
to become law, J.R. Davis, a spokesperson
for Hutchinson, was succinct in
response to the Arkansas Times, when
asked whether such opposition had
inuenced Hutchinsons decision. The
governors position will not change,
Davis was quoted as saying.
But, as reported last week, a number of
voices remained silent on SB 202, or didnt
speak out until the 11thhour just as the
measure was poised to become law.
Walmart, which is based in Arkansas
and is the largest private employer in
the state, said nothing during the week
before SB 202 became law despite calls
from LGBT advocates. But in an article
from the Associated Press on Monday
reporting the measure had already
become part of state code, a Walmart
spokesperson
said
the
company
opposesthe measure.
Every day, in our stores, we see
rsthand the benets diversity and
HRC President CHAD GRIFFIN, whos from

Arkansas, was criticized by some for not
coming out more forcefully against SB 202.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY BLAKE BERGEN
inclusion have on our associates,

customers and communities we serve.
It all starts with the core basic belief
of respect for the individual. And that
means understanding and respecting
dierences and being inclusive of all
people, said Walmart spokesman
Lorenzo Lopez. We feel this legislation is
counter to this core basic belief and sends
the wrong message about Arkansas.
White House Press Secretary Josh
Earnest said he wasnt aware ofSB 202
on Monday and declined to say whether
President Obama thought a veto was the
right course of action.
Im not aware of that specic piece
of legislation, Earnest said. You know,
ultimately, you know, governors have to
make these kinds of decisions for themselves.
So, I wouldnt weigh in at this point.
Also not speaking out against the
legislation were former President Bill
Clinton and likely 2016 Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Clinton,
despite the fact they occupied the
governors mansion in Arkansas as
governor and rst lady before moving to
the White House in 1993.
Even though Grin penned the
editorial criticizing the bill, Michelangelo
Signorile, a gay New York-based advocate
and radio host, criticized Grin and the
Human Rights Campaign in an essay and
on Twitter for not being visible enough
in the ght against SB 202. Signorile
Tweeted, #ItsNotOver Our supposed,
leaders, @ChadHGrin, let hate happen
in Arkansas, staying silent. Not even a
tweet in recent days. Pathetic.
Wooledge said passage of the measure
should serve as a wake-up call for the
LGBT movement to be prepared toght
against similar anti-LGBT measures in
other states.
Our opponents are well organized
and have concrete plans to use state
legislatures to chip away at LGBT
victories with legislation that punishes
and demonizes gay people, Wooledge
said. As a community we have been
reactive to non-marriage laws with mixed
success. We need to do a better job

getting ahead of the game.
Wooledge also faulted Walmart for not
speaking out sooner, saying its statement
against SB 202 came far too late.
We were a day late and a dollar short
rallying business in Arkansas, Wooledge
said. Walmarts announcement might
very well have been an SB 202 gamechanger a week ago. But it arrived too
late to do any good.
It remains to be seen whether
opponents will le a lawsuit seeking
to overturn SB 202. The law seems to
contradictthe U.S. Supreme Courts 1996
decision in Romer v. Evans, but that ruling
against Colorados Amendment 2 struck
down a measure that explicitly targeted
gay people. In a case brought against a
law in Tennessee similar to SB 202, a state
court threw out the lawsuiton appeal.
Holly Dickson, a sta attorney with the
ACLU of Arkansas, said a lawsuit against
SB 202 is under consideration.
We are certainly considering litigation
because the bill is discriminatory in
intent, targets the LGBT community, and
is unconstitutional, Dickson said.
Laura Phillips, an Arkansas LGBT
activist and board member of the
Fayetteville-based NWA Center for
Equality, said the ght in Arkansas is now
focused on stopping HB 1228, which has
been passed by the House and is now
pending before the Senate.
HB 1228 is another monster
altogether, Phillips said. I hope that we
hear more from our faith leaders both
in and out of state. I hope that business
leaders speak out against this. I hope that
people are vocal in calling and speaking
against this. We are better than this. Im
just really disheartened today.
Meanwhile, other anti-LGBT bills,
including Religious Freedom Restoration
Acts, continue to percolate in state
legislatures, and new eorts are underway
to keep them from becoming law.
In Georgia, a new prominent voice
against pending religious freedom bills,
is former Georgia Attorney General Mike
Bowers, who in his capacity as a state

ocial in the 1980s successfully defended
his states ban on sodomy before the U.S.
Supreme Courts in Bowers v. Hardwick.
These bills have the potential to
provide the opportunity for those that
use them to be a law unto themselves, to
say, Im not going to follow any given law
because its against my religion, Bowers
said during a news conference, according
to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Its so
broad, its almost impossible to limit.
Two companion pieces of religious
freedom legislation are pending before
the Georgia General Assembly: HB 281,
which is pending before the House, and SB
129, which is pending before the Senate.
Other anti-LGBT bills are moving
forward in various capacities in state
legislatures throughout the country. Heres
a breakdown of action in recent weeks:
KENTUCKY The Senate Education
Committee approved on Monday by
an 8-1 vote, according to the Lexington
Herald-Leader without providing much
notice, SB 76, which would require
transgender students to use a bathroom
matching their biological sex or to seek
special accommodations, such as a
unisex bathroom.
INDIANA On Monday, the Indiana
Senate by a vote of 40-10 passed SB 101,
which would allow private businesses,
individuals and organizations to discriminate
against anyone in Indiana on religious
grounds. All Republicans voted for the bill
and all Democrats voted against it.
OKLAHOMA On Tuesday, the
Oklahoma House Children, Youth &
Family Services Committee approved by
a vote of 5-3 without debate legislation
protecting widely discredited ex-gay
sexual orientation conversion therapy.
The legislation, HB 1598, is sponsored
by State Rep. Sally Kern, who once said
gay people posed a greater risk to the
country than terrorists.
TEXAS One day after a lesbian couple
in Austin obtained a marriage license in
Travis County, State Sen. Charles Perry
submitted legislation on Friday, SB 673, to
make the Texas secretary of states oce
the sole distributor of marriage licenses.
Not all movement on state legislation
aecting the LGBT community was
damaging to LGBT people. Last week, a
Wyoming House committee approved
legislation that would bar discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender
identity after removing from discussion a
member who proposed an amendment
to make the eect date when hell
freezes over. But on Tuesday, the full
House voted down the measure, 33-26.
WEST VIRGINIA Just after Arkansass
measure became law, a copycat version
was introduced Monday in the West
Virginia Legislature.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
L O CA L NEW S
F E BRU A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 1 5
Murder prompts concern among LGBT activists

warrant says. A wallet was observed

lying next to the decedents head, with
various credit cards strewn about.
Additional credit cards and identifying
documents were observed throughout
the room, the adavit says.
The fact that they left a wallet with credit
cards there is a head scratcher, said D.C.
attorney Dale Edwin Sanders, who practices
criminal law. You would think this person
would have walked o with them.
Law enforcement experts have said socalled pickup or hookup murders often
involve someone who targets gay men
or straight women by befriending them
at a bar or other meeting place, including
online hookup sites, and persuading
the victim to invite them to their home
or another place such as a hotel room.
The perpetrator then robs, assaults and
sometimes kills the unsuspecting victim.
I would hope that if the police have
any evidence that the person David met
was through a sex line gay or straight
the public would be informed quickly
so they can be aware of any danger to
them, said gay activist Peter Rosenstein.
Paul Tupper, chair of the D.C. group
Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence,
said police sometimes alert LGBT
community groups about instances
of anti-gay violence but police have
not contacted GLOV about the case of
Messerschmitts murder.
I certainly wouldnt want to impede
their investigation if it means being able
to nd this killer, Tupper said. But if the
LGBT community at large is at threat and
theyve got credible suspicion of that I
wish they would let us know.
Rick Rosendall, president of the D.C.
Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance, said the
Messerschmitt case has been the subject
of discussion in gay community circles
in his neighborhood on the 17th Street,
N.W., strip where several gay bars and
restaurants are located.
Of course people should be cautious
in any case and of course the police
should inform the community about any
ongoing risk, Rosendall said. What we
need is a thorough and prompt police
investigation and not sensationalism.
D.C. police spokesperson Gwendolyn
Crump noted that police released photos
and a video of a person of interest in the
case on the day after Messerschmitts
body was found, saying police are
appealing to the public for help in
identifying a suspect.
Police are oering a $25,000 reward
for information leading to the arrest and
conviction of the person responsible for
But Crump said police could not
comment on whether they have
The Metropolitan Police Department

has released video images of a person of
interest in the homicide investigation.
IMAGE COURTESY OF D.C. METROPOLITAN
POLICE DEPARTMENT YOUTUBE CHANNEL
determined the case appears to be a gay

or straight pickup murder or whether the
departments Gay and Lesbian Liaison
Unit has been called in to help homicide
detectives investigate the case.
The GLLU is aware of this case, Crump
said. I cannot comment further as this is
an ongoing investigation.
On the day following the discovery of
Messerschmitts body in the hotel room
police released a video they obtained
from the hotels security cameras
showing what they said was a person of
interest in the case. The person is shown
wearing a hooded jacket while walking
back and forth in the hotel lobby and
later walking up a ight of stairs.
It could not be determined from the
video whether the person of interest
is a man or a woman, police have said,
and they declined to say why they
have linked the unidentied person to
The New York-based LGBT AntiViolence Project has said pick-up murders
have evolved from earlier years when gay
men invited someone they met at a gay
bar or other gay meeting place to their
home for sex and were later killed by
the person. According to AVP executive
director Sharon Stapel, gay male victims
of pick-up murders have met their killers
in recent years mostly through online
hook-up sites and apps.
Stapel told the Blade in an email that
AVP is working with online social media
sites that cater to a gay male clientele
to help them post safety tips and alerts
about the potential danger of inviting
home someone they meet on such sites.
The popular app Grindr is among
those cooperating with AVP, saying it
began posting safety-related messages
on its site last November.
According to Stapel, many victims of
pick-up related violence choose not to
report incidents to police because of the
stigma associated with meeting people
for sexual trysts or because the victim is

in the closet and fears being outed if he
reports an incident to police.
Messerschmitt, a native of Cincinnati,
worked for the prominent law rm DLA
Piper, whose D.C. oces are located in
Chinatown. He specialized in intellectual
property rights law.
A police report says his wife, Kim Vuong,
called police about 1:50 a.m. on Tuesday,
Feb. 10, to report him missing. The report
says she told police everything seemed
ne when they spoke by phone and

that he later texted her about 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 9, saying he expected to be
home about an hour later. Co-workers said
he left his oce on Feb. 9 about 5:30 p.m.
While there is the factor for the family
if David was bi or gay and they didnt
know and they now have to deal with
that, it shouldnt change what people
think about David and the good things he
accomplished in his life, Rosenstein said.
All those things are still the same.
Log Cabin to speak at CPAC

Gregory Angelo, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, announced this
week that hes set to represent his organization in a discussion titled Putins
Russia: A New Cold War? at the annual CPAC conference.
The panel is scheduledtobeginat noon on Saturday at the conference, which
is taking place at the Gaylord National Hotel in National Harbor, Md.
Now is not the time to make the perfect the enemy of the good, Angelo
said. Log Cabin Republicans will continue working toward full sponsorship of
future CPACs. In the meantime, I look forward to bringing the gay conservative
perspective to CPAC 2015 on behalf of Log Cabin Republicans, as well as the
message that when conservatives focus on unity rather than division, we win.
Others set to speak on the panel are neo-conservative writerSeth Cropsey,
former Hewlett-Packard CEO and U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina,
Foundation for Defense of Democracies Cli May President, and University of
North Carolina-Chapel Hill history professor Amanda Brickell Bellows.
In a statement last week, Log Cabin accused the American ConservativeUnion,
which organizes CPAC, of denying the group the opportunity to co-sponsor the
event. Although Log Cabin said it was told by CPAC organizers the gay group
wasnt conservative enough, Log Cabin insisted the reason it was rejected is
because its an LGBT organization.
Denying a group co-sponsorship of CPAC for being a gay organization would be
consistent with organizers decision in the past to bar from the event GOProud,
a now-defunct gay conservative group, despite the organization credentials as a
right-leaning organization.
The American Conservative Union responded to the accusation by saying
Log Cabin had never formally applied to co-sponsor the event, but Log Cabin
provided the Washington Blade an email sent to CPAC organizers with an
explicit ask for co-sponsorship.
CHRIS JOHNSON
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
1 6 F E B RUA RY 2 7, 2015
BMore Proud summit

on tap for March 28
For the second time, UMBC will
host the annual BMore Proud LGBTIA
Leadership Summit a conference
consisting of LGBTIA students from
area colleges and universities and
allies. This years theme is Growing
Out:
Developing
Self,
Campus,
weekdays_blade.pdf
1 began
12/16/14in
Community.
These summits
BA LT I MO RE N E W S
2010.
The 2015 summit, set for March
28, seeks to achieve the leadership
networking, and educational goals of
the BMore Proud Collegiate Queer
Coalition with a special focus on the
development of stronger student
leaders,
organizations,
campuses,
and ultimately, the queer community
ofBaltimore.
The conference aims to engage
2:25participants
PM
in skill-building, experiential
exposure
and
knowledge-sharing
networking opportunities to strengthen
them as individuals.
The summit traditionally consists of
guest speakers, a series of breakout
sessions covering a wide array of
subjects that involve queer leadership
and relating to the theme for the
current years summit; a resource
area where LGBT and LGBT-friendly
organizations and companies can
provide
information;
and
social
Morning Edition
Marketplace Morning Report
BBC Newshour
The Diane Rehm Show

The Kojo Nnamdi Show
All Things Considered
Marketplace
C
CM
MY
CY
CMY
More Than
a Soundbite
are you listening?
Listen at wamu.org
activities that include a dance. In 2014,

about 200 attended the summit at
Johns Hopkins University.
This years summit takes place
from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the
Commons at UMBC, 1000 Hilltop
Circle in Baltimore. The planners are
seeking volunteers, breakout session
presenters as well as registrants
from the area colleges.
The
BMore
Proud
LGBTQIA
Leadership Summit engages students
from across the Baltimore region,
providing opportunities for networking
and
meaningful
leadership
and
professional development, said Zach
Kosinski, graduate coordinator for
LGBTQ Programs at UMBC and adviser to
the BMore Proud Planning Committee.
In todays world where increasingly
complex issues face our community,
cultivating leadership among the young
people who will lead us in years to come
must be a priority.
For more information and to register,
visit bmoreproud.org.
Revelation of Bobby
Pritchard to debut
Baltimores queer theater company,
Iron Crow Theatre, presents the world
premiere of The Revelation of Bobby
Pritchard in the second of its threeshow 2014-2015 season. This poignant
and lyrical new play from Maryland
playwright Rich Espey, three-time
winner of the Award for Best Play at
the Baltimore Playwrights Festival, is
a contemporary exploration of the
clash between religious conviction and
modern LGBT issues contained within
the tumultuous dynamics of a typical
American family.
Dreams about the late Bobby
Pritchard compel Marta to return to
her home town, a rural and religious
community she fled decades ago to
disclose the truth about Bobbys death
and to marry her partner Cynthia
in the church in which she grew up.
Now, with her wife at her side, Marta
encounters Hank, a brother she barely
knows who must deal with the painful
revelation about Bobbys death, and
Oren, a nephew struggling with his
sexuality. Hank makes the choice to
support his family rather than his
communitys traditions, and shots ring
out.
Directed by Iron Crows artistic director,
Steven J. Satta, The Revelation of Bobby
Pritchard opens on March 13 and will
run through March 28 at the Baltimore
Theatre project, 45 W. Preston St. in
Baltimore.
For more information and ticket
reservations visit ironcrowtheatre.org or
call 443-637-CROW.
STEVE CHARING
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
H E A L TH NEW S
FE B R U A R Y 27, 2015 17
Educated at Brown, Harvard,

and Johns Hopkins
Washingtonian Magazine Top Doc
US News & World Report Top
1% of Doctors in the USA
Dual Board Certified in Facial
and Body Plastic Surgery
Patients at high risk for HIV who were paid to take meds did no better with medication
adherence than those who were not paid, a new study has found.
Paying those at risk for HIV to take drugs doesnt work

SEATTLE A major study testing whether Americans would take HIV drugs
daily if they were paid to do so, essentially failed, scientists at an AIDS conference
this week said according to a New York Times article.
Paying patients in the Bronx and in Washington where infection rates are
high among poor blacks and Hispanics up to $280 a year to take their pills
daily improved overall adherence rates very little, the studys authors said.
The hope was that the drugs would not only improve the health of the people
taking them, but help slow the spread of HIV infections. HIV patients who take
their medicine regularly are about 95 percent less likely to infect others than
patients who do not. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates
that only a quarter of all 1.1 million Americans with HIV are taking their drugs
regularly enough to not be infectious.
Paying patients $25 to take HIV tests, and then $100 to return for the results
and meet a doctor, also failed, the study found.
The failure of the cash-incentives trial was a surprise and a disappointment
to scientists and advocates. It had paid out $2.8 million to 9,000 patients in 39
clinics over three years, but the clinics where money was distributed did only 5
percent better than those that did not a statistically insignicant dierence,
the Times reports.
Some small clinics and those where patients had been doing poorly at the start
of the study did improve as much as 13 percent, however, the Times article said.
Conversion therapy ban considered in Oregon

PORTLAND Clergy, mental health professionals and LGBT activists in Oregon
testied this week in favor of a bill aimed at banning conversion therapy for
gay youth, the Oregonian reports.
Basic Rights Oregon championed the Youth Mental Health Protection Act,
which would prevent licensed mental health care providers in Oregon from
practicing conversion therapy, which operates from the stance, rejected by the
American Psychiatric Association, that homosexuality is a mental disorder.
California, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. have passed legislation to ban the
practice. Lawmakers in a dozen other states are considering similar legislation.
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Trigger warnings
and Twitter wars
Clashes over gender
politics test the civil rights
community
RICHARD J. ROSENDALL is a writer and activist.

Reach him at rrosendall@starpower.net.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, We are

caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. But recent hostilities between radical
feminists and transgender activists have
pulled some loose threads.
For years, some radical feminists
have vociferously opposed transgender people. An example is Janice Raymond, a lesbian ex-nun who wrote in
her 1979 book, The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male, that
trans women, whom she regarded as
male predators, were the avant garde
of the patriarchy invading womens
spaces. As a liberal feminist and a supporter of trans equality, I very much
disagree with Dr. Raymond. Dana Beyer, executive director of Gender Rights
Maryland, explains, [G]ender identity

(the sex of ones brain) drives trans
persons to transition, regardless of
genital anatomy.
For the LGBT advocates with whom I
work in Washington, D.C., that ship has
sailed. We do not sit around discussing
gender theory. We take it as a given that
trans people are citizens entitled to equal
protection. We work in coalition to ensure
that the T is included in legislation, data
gathering, and public services (and D.C.
is among the top states in the Human
Rights Campaigns State Equality Index).
Science is on our side: the American Psychiatric Association declassied transgender identity as a disorder in 2012, as it did
homosexuality in 1973.
For some, this is not enough. There is
a movement to no-platform trans-excluding radical feminists (TERFs), that is to
bar them from campuses and deny them
a platform for their views. This is part of
a broader and distinctly illiberal trend
whereby universities are seen not as centers for the robust exchange of ideas, but
as frightening places full of triggers and
microaggressions. Students are seen as
fragile owers who must be protected
from views that might oend them. This
is an assault on learning, and those of us
who are not professional victims need to
ght it.
Enter Peter Tatchell, a British human
rights activist who has supported trans
E DIT OR IA L C A R T OON
PHONE
equality for decades. As an LGBT rights

advocate he has scaled the wall of Lambeth Palace to confront the Archbishop of
Canterbury; taken a brick to the head at a
gay rights march in Moscow; and received
a savage beating for attempting a citizens arrest of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. This brave and principled
man believes in debating his adversaries
rather than silencing them. He wrote on
Feb. 17:
For me, free speech is one of the most
precious of all human rights. It is the
foundation of a democratic, open society.
It should be defended without exception,
unless it involves threats, harassment or
incitements to violence.
In line with this, Tatchell recently joined
a sign-on letter defending the right of the
TERFs he disagrees with to present their
views. For this he was hit with thousands
of vituperative Twitter messages calling him transphobic and even including
death threats.
A similar controversy recently engulfed
playwright Eve Ensler, whose award-winning play, The Vagina Monologues, was
canceled by the student theater board
at Mt. Holyoke College with the charge
that it was blatantly transphobic. Ensler
found it necessary to write a reply titled, I
Never Dened a Woman as a Person With
a Vagina.
Beyer writes, I believe the current P.C.
agenda, by demanding purity from its allies, is showcasing its inherent weakness.
She is right. We do not advance the cause
of justice by censorship or by claiming to
be traumatized by other peoples opinions.
Granted, that is easy for me to say as
someone who has not been assaulted,
harassed for using public restrooms, or
driven into survival sex by job discrimination. But ring fusillades in 140-character
bursts and blocking those who disagree
with you is no legislative strategy.
Tatchell writes, The most eective way
to defeat bigoted ideas is not by proscription but by challenging and exposing them
and by presenting better, non-bigoted
ideas. Thats why Ive often accepted
invitations to debate homophobes, misogynists, transphobes and anti-Muslim
zealots. The feedback Ive received nearly
always suggests that theyve come out of
such debates damaged and discredited.
But hey, go ahead and zing him (@
PeterTatchell) with another nasty tweet.
Hes had worse.
Copyright 2015 by Richard J. Rosendall.
All rights reserved.
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CO MM UNI K A TE
F E BRU A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 1 9
Despite progress, plenty of politicos still hate our guts

From Arkansas to Wisconsin,
a trail of very bad people
KATE CLINTON is a humorist who has

entertained LGBT audiences for 30 years. Her
monthly column appears exclusively in the
Blade. Reach her via kateclinton.com.
On a dark, cold evening in Manhattan,

I was sitting with a friend in the back of
a mini-van. Jammed between us in the
way back, in a huge luxe car seat, sat my
friends four-year-old daughter. The sliding door was open. We were waiting for
her other Mom.
They were visiting from California.
The kid was miserable, o-schedule, and
over-tired from a long day of Manhattan.
Her eyes were glassy with tears she was
too tired to squeeze out. Suddenly she
pushed back in a rigid get-me-out-of-thiscar-seat arc. In the dark, the whites of her
Moms eyes had that Shes gonna blow
any second panicked look.
I whispered to my small friend, You
want me to tell you a story? She whimpered yes and relaxed back in her seat.
I asked, Do you want to hear the one
about the good little girl? Or the one
about the bad little girl?
Not to brag, but my bad little girl stories
are post-Disney awesome. I was already storyboarding a narrative arc about how the bad
little girl made her other mothers life a living
hell when she nally got in the freezing, friggin van. Without the friggins of course.
But my small friend had locked me in a
puzzled look. Her Mom leaned in and explained, In our family, we dont say people are bad or good. Theyre just people.
Shes confused.
I was not confused. I asked semi-sweetly, Would you like to hear the story about
Hitler? Her mom gave me a vicious clip to
the back the head. I saw stars.
That dear girl is grown up and is going
to college next year. She wants to major
in political science and then work in international peace and social justice. Im not
sure if she has maintained the Up With
People ethic of her youth.
Ive tried a few times since that night to
learn from the children and give people
the benet of the doubt. But it turns out
Im no good at it. I could never emcee a
Benet of the Doubt dinner. People are
good or they are bad, they are not just
people. And chances are if they do not
have a sense of justice, they are bad people. I am willing to be wrong, happy to be
shown dierently.
Despite rosy pictures of the American
peoples shifting shine on LGBTQ people,
there are plenty who still hate our guts.
In an interview on a trade junket to
Europe, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R)
said he would have to punt a question on
evolution. He who himself is living proof
that there is no evolution, was roundly
mocked. Back home to show his conservative street cred in his bid for the presidency, Walker announced he would block
hospital visitation rights for same-sex
couples. I am quite comfortable saying he
is a bad person who will do anything to

become President Evil.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said
he would not veto a bill that would protect a group already protected under
state law. Sound OK? In fact the mealy
mouthed bill would ban cities, towns and
counties in the state from protecting LGBTQ people in housing, employment or
public accommodation. I am happy to call
out the banality of his badness.
The thing about bad is that it never
stops. Just when you think you can sit
back on your LGBTQ victory laurels, the
zomboids come back at you in full frontal assault or relentless chipping away.
As you might suspect, I am sad that the
blowhard character Stephen Colbert created is o the air, soon to be followed
by Jon Stewart from The Daily Show. I
wish them well. They didnt cotton to the
notion that people are neither good nor
bad. We must continue to heap steaming
piles of ridicule, mockery and revulsion
upon bad people.
Do you want to hear the story about
Jeb Bush?
I N S I DE LGB T W A S HING TON
Giuliani shows his desperation with Obama attacks

A pathetic politician
descends into irrelevancy
PETER ROSENSTEIN is a D.C.-based LGBT rights

and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly
for the Blade.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani

appears to be a sad and lonely man. Anyone who needs attention so desperately
as to get into the news the way he did last
week is either that or pathetic. By questioning President Obamas love of country, he revealed himself to be a pathetic,
washed-up politician who will do or say
anything to get a front-page headline. He
is irrelevant, but like Sarah Palin and Ann
Coulter, just seems to crave attention.
Among Tea Party members and those
who attend CPAC and maybe racists
the kind of statements made by Giuliani, Coulter and Palin about President
Obama get cheers. They may be lies, misstatements and total nonsense but they
are greeted by those on the far right as if
Whether you like Obama or not, whether you like

his policies or not, whether you share his Christian
religion or not, he has never shown himself to be
anything but a decent and caring human being.
made by oracles. Whose fault is that and
what do we do about it?
Anything intelligent or rational a mainstream Republican wanted to say over
a host of news cycles last week was
drowned out by the Giuliani asco. All
Republicans preparing to run for their
partys presidential nomination had to
respond to reporters questions on what
they thought about what Giuliani said. We
saw how uncomfortable that made some
of them. As a Democrat it makes me happy to see that; as a voter and someone
who cares about our county it doesnt.
Whether you like Obama or not, whether you like his policies or not, whether you
share his Christian religion or not, he has
never shown himself to be anything but
a decent and caring human being one
who loves his family and his country.
When someone questions that they make
more of a statement about themselves
than they do about him. When they make
their attacks personal they take attention away from any legitimate dierences
they may have with him on policy.
Political arguments tend to get heated
but you can argue and try to convince
others of your rightness without getting
personal or lying.
But that was never Giulianis style as so
comprehensively reported by Wayne Barrett in the New York Daily News, in which
he wrote about Giulianis version of love
and love of country. Barrett, who has extensively investigated Giuliani, wrote, Ask
Regina Peruggi, the second cousin he grew
up with and married, who was oended
when Rudy later engineered an annulment
from the priest who was his best man on
the grounds, strangely enough, that she
was his cousin. Or ask Donna Hanover, the
mother of his two children, who found out
he wanted a separation when he left Gracie Mansion one morning and announced
it at a televised press conference.
Or ask Judi Nathan, his third wife,

whom he started dating while still married to Hanover. In two SUVs, he and an
entourage of six or seven cops traveled
11 times to Judis Hamptons getaway at a
taxpayer cost of $3,000 a trip. Thats love.
Rudy may have forgotten the halfdozen deferments he won ducking the
Vietnam War, even getting the federal
judge he was clerking for to write a letter
creating a special exemption for him. And
remember Bernie Kerik? Hes the Giuliani
police commissioner, business partner
and sidekick whose nomination as Homeland Security secretary narrowly preceded indictments. He then did his national
service in prison.
Barrett added, Giuliani went so far
as to rebuke the president for not being
brought up the way you were and the
way I was brought up through love of this
country, a bow no doubt to the parenting
prowess of Harold Giuliani, who did time
in Sing Sing for holding up a Harlem milkman and was the bat-wielding enforcer
for the loan-sharking operation run out
of a Brooklyn bar owned by Rudys uncle.
Why do the mainstream media even
bother to quote him anymore? The media
should focus on the issues that matter,
but that wont happen until the remarks
of a pathetic has-been stop selling papers
or winning TV ratings.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
2 0 F EB RUA RY 2 7, 2015
LI F E I N T H E I N T E RSE CT I O N
Gay youth ages out and into homelessness

A reminder that amid progress,
many still struggling
LATEEFAH WILLIAMS biweekly column Life

in the Intersection focuses on the intersection
of race, gender and sexual orientation. Reach
her at lateefah_williams@msn.com or @
lateefah4DC.
EDITORS NOTE: This is part two of a fourpart series on LGBT homelessness. Visit
washingtonblade.com to view part one, D.C.
must prioritize housing LGBT youth, trans
residents.
D.C. ocials nally seem to be focused on

addressing chronic homelessness, but solutions cant come fast enough for one young
man. Darnell Watson, 24, is a gay AfricanAmerican, native Washingtonian, who has
spent most of his life under the care of D.C.s
social service agencies.
Darnell says he entered the child welfare
system when he was ve years old. His mother died when he was a baby and his father
was not in the picture. After being physically
abused by his aunt and sexually abused by
his uncle, he was placed in the child welfare
system. After that, he lived in numerous group
homes and foster homes until he aged out

of the system. Growing up, Darnell lived in so
many dierent homes that he cannot recall a
precise number.
When Darnell aged out of the child welfare system, he went into the Department of
Disability Services (DDS) system. After about
a year, he signed himself out of the DDS system. I thought I could do it on my own, but I
couldnt, he said.
Soon afterward, Darnell became homeless.
He was homeless from November 2012- December 2014. During his two years of homelessness, Darnell struggled to eat regularly and
to nd a safe place to sleep. A lot of times, I
didnt eat and I didnt sleep. I would go two or
three days without eating or sleeping.
I would walk around at night and try to
sleep at a rec center. One recreation center
in Northwest, which I am not going to name
to protect staers who broke the rules to help
Darnell, would allow him to sleep and take
showers there. I used to work there as a summer job, so they knew me.
When the weather reached hypothermia
temperatures, he would go to another recreation center because there was a warming
shelter. The warming shelters would open at
8 p.m. and require people to leave at 6 a.m. I
would go out and come back at 8 or 9 a.m. and
they would let me back in to lay down.
Both aforementioned recreation centers
gave Darnell clothing. He also stayed in one
shelter in Northeast, one in Southeast and a
DARNELL WATSON, 24, is gay and spent two

years homeless in D.C.
lot of warming shelters.

As a gay man, Darnell said he would feel
more comfortable at a LGBT shelter because
there would be a lot of people that know me
and I will feel safer. Hes never been assaulted
at a District shelter, but a lot of men came on
to me. Sometimes I felt uncomfortable.
Darnell reentered the DDS system in December 2014. He says he is eligible for its services
due to having bipolar disorder, ADHD, depression and issues with anger. After asking him
numerous times if he was sure that he wanted
me to include information about why he was in
the DDS system, he said, Yes. It would help if
people would open up and talk more.
Through a DDS program, Darnell now stays
in a transitional unit in Petworth, with a roommate who is also in the program. I was supposed to be out of the program and into my
own apartment in 30 days. The 30 days are
up and I have to do another 30. They said they
would nd me an apartment but Ive been

here over 60 days and I dont see any signs.
In addition to being placed in a permanent
apartment, Darnell wants to nd a job. I
want to work so bad, he told me repeatedly
throughout the interview. He has previously
worked at Safeway, Giant and a hair care store.
He said having an apartment can improve me
getting a job. It would be better for my mood
to have a stable place to live and better for my
relationship [with his boyfriend].
Darnell lights up when asked about the
type of work he desires. I want to do housekeeping. Anything I can do. I love working and
Im a people person. I would love to work in a
government building doing cleaning, copying
or oce work. Darnell loves to dance and
to cook. One of his dreams is to take cooking
classes.
It was an absolute pleasure talking to
Darnell. Despite all of the challenges that
he has faced throughout his young life, he
remains hopeful about the future. While we
are celebrating advances in LGBT rights and
a renaissance in the District, it is important
to remember that many people in our community are still struggling. We must ensure
that another young person does not have
to struggle as Darnell has while aging out
or moving from one social service system to
another.
I want to help Darnell fulll his dream of attending cooking classes. If anyone can help,
please contact me.
VIEWPOINT
Thanks for the party, Leslie Gore

KATHI WOLFE is a writer, poet and regular
contributor to the Blade. She can be reached
through this publication.
Some of my most memorable moments

have been spent around You Dont Own Me,
Leslie Gores signature song, an anthem of feminism, deance and pride for generations. Ive
danced, drank beer, made love and quarreled
with lovers with Gores lyrics in my ears: You
dont own me, Im not just one of your many
toys/ and dont tell me what to do/So just let me
be myself/To live my life the way I want.
Gore, the singer, songwriter, actress, feminist and activist, who recorded You Dont
Own Me and other hit songs before she was
18, died on Feb. 16 from lung cancer at age 68
in New York. She is survived by Lois Sasson,
her partner of 33 years, her brother Michael
Gore and her mother Ronny Gore. Gore came
out publicly as a lesbian in 2005. In that year,
she hosted several episodes of In the Life, an

LGBT news magazine that aired on PBS.
Born in Brooklyn, Gore, who grew up in
Tenay, N.J., wanted early on to become a
singer. At 16, she got her big break when
Quincy Jones, then with Mercury Records, became her producer, after hearing her pianoand-voice recordings.
Its My Party, her rst song, a tale of teen
angst, became a No. 1 hit in 1963. Soon after,
Gore recorded a succession of top hits, including Judys Turn To Cry, Shes a Fool, Thats
the Way Boys Are, Maybe I Know and You
Dont Own Me.
Knowing that fame is often eeting, Gore
graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with
a degree in English and American literature in
1968. I had a good brain in my head, she told
the Sacramento Bee.
Her songs dropped o the top of the
Billboard charts as the popularity of girl
groups faded. But Gore didnt bask in oldies nostalgia. Over the years, she appeared
in TV shows from the campy 1960s Batman (as the Pink Pussycat, a sidekick of
Catwoman) to Murphy Brown (as herself),
and on Broadway in Smokey Joes Caf.
A talented musician, Gore became a songwriter. With her brother, she co-wrote Out
Here on My Own for the soundtrack of the
movie Fame. The song was nominated
for an Oscar. Words We Dont Say, a song
Gore recorded for her 2005 album, was
played on The L Word.
Gore came of age when most women, including herself, werent aware of feminism. Yet,
even then, she showed signs of being a feminist, uppity woman. She was a serious artist
that was way ahead of her time, Ronnie Spector, leader of the Ronettes, said in a statement.
You Dont Own Me, written by John Madara and David White, has been performed by
everyone from Dusty Springeld to Joan Jett to
Diane Keaton, Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn
in the movie The First Wives Club. When
Gore rst recorded the tune in 1964, she saw
it as a humanist song. Then she told the Minneapolis Tribune in 2010, As I got older, I could
see why people would use it as a feminist anthem.
I dont care what age you are -whether
youre 16 or 116, she added, theres nothing
more wonderful than standing on the stage
and shaking your nger and singing, Dont tell
me what to do.
Gore, who grew up at a time when it was
dicult, if not impossible, to be openly queer
told After Ellen, I just tried to live as normally
as humanly possible. But as truthfully as humanly possible.
She knew what a dierence seeing queer
people on TV could make to LGBT youth. Gore
hosted some In the Life episodes, as a result
of meeting young gay people in the Midwest
who really had nothing to relate to, Gore told
the New York Times.
Too often, artists believe they shouldnt be
activists or that their art isnt political enough
to contribute to the struggle for social change.
That wasnt the case for Gore, who worked
throughout her life for progressive causes.
During the 2012 presidential campaign and
the 2014 mid-term election, she permitted
Dont Own Me to be used in PSAs advocating for womens reproductive rights. Ladies,
weve got to come together, get out there and
vote, and protect our bodies! Theyre ours!
Gore says in the 2014 PSA.
Thank you, Leslie, for helping us to have the
guts to be ourselves. Itll always be your party.
R.I.P.
F E BRU A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 2 1
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ARTS
AND
ENTERTAINMENT
Gay producer left the pop

world behind to discover his
inner woman in Cary NoKey
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Its almost a show business clich that
often what looks like the best of times in
a career from the outside can be some of
the darkest times for the entertainer.
That was the case with Rob Fusari, the
New Jersey native who found himself
one of the most sought-after R&B/pop
producers around the turn of the century.
His credits are impressive No No No
and Bootylicious for Destinys Child, Wild
Wild West for Will Smith as well as co-writer
and producer for ve cuts on Lady Gagas
smash debut The Fame album from 2008,
which he co-executive produced.
Yet oddly it took the 37-year-old turning
within and discovering his drag alter ego
Cary NoKey to nd artistic satisfaction.
Hell be in Washington next week to
open the RuPauls Drag Race: Battle
of the Seasons tour and lled us in by
phone from Cincinnati where the tour
happened to be at the time on how it
all unfolded. His comments have been
slightly edited for length.
WASHINGTON BLADE: How did Cary
NoKey emerge?
ROB FUSARI: It was about two years
ago this month, actually, and it basically
came out of a dark time creatively and
emotionally after the Gaga record, The
Fame. I felt I kind of peaked my career
as a producer and had this pinnacle
moment so in the years following, I was
searching for what my next chapter
would be, where I was supposed to be
creatively and as a person. I thought the
move was to try and nd and develop
another artist but I was nding it really
dicult to identify who that person might
be despite the thousands of artists I was
looking at. It started to become very,
very frustrating. I just couldnt seem
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
VOLUME
46
ISSUE
09
FEBRUARY
27
2015
PAGE
23
to get that magic going with anyone.

I eventually recorded a vocal of my own
one night in the studio on my birthday.
I left early and went out for a few hours
and when I got back, a group of friends
were listening to it and thats kind of
when Cary NoKey started. It was just
one of those moments where it felt like
everything I was searching for was right
there in front of me somehow but I didnt
see it because I didnt think of myself as
a performer. It started unfolding and
progressing in a very natural way.
BLADE: Had you always been interested
in drag?
FUSARI: I grew up raised by a mom with
very feminine qualities who kind of always
treated me as the daughter she never
had. Eventually I started to embrace that
side of myself and it became almost like
a car I could jump into and I just became
OK with expressing my fashion sense and
some other things Id been suppressing
and some things I was a little fearful of.
It became this vehicle in which I found I
could express myself in other ways.
BLADE: You said it was frustrating that
you couldnt nd another great artist to
work with but didnt you realize a Gagacaliber success story was maybe one in a
million? How realistic was it to try to catch
that kind of lightening in a bottle again?
FUSARI: No, because Id spent a good
10 years in the business by that point and
I had hundreds and hundreds of unsigned
artists reaching out to me every day, so I
had my pick of the litter so to speak. I said
if I cant nd the next thing, nobody can.
I met some really strong ones, some really
good artists but theres something else a
superstar has that nobody else has that
you cant explain it. This lightening bolt that
goes through you that I just couldnt nd.
BLADE: Youve produced A-list artists
and now youre performing yourself.
What the public sees is much dierent,
Im sure, from what you see. Whats the
biggest misconception?
FUSARI: The whole overnight sensation
PHOTO COURTESY OF PROJECT PUBLICITY
Cary NoKeys act is a little Rock of Ages to Cabaret to 42nd Street says visionary ROB FUSARI.
concept is so misleading because its an

overnight sensation that takes years and
years to get to. I always say to artists,
if youre not willing to give up your life
for this, its not gonna happen. Theres
no in between. I dont think people really
understand the sacrice, and its massive,
that people make The dingy clubs you
have to play and having to be on all the
time. People watch the Grammys and
see the award and the parties and its like
watching a movie. Im here to tell you,
its the opposite. Sure, there are those
moments, of course, but what you have
to give up and what you have to do to get
there is everything.
BLADE: Your single is called American
Dream, which is a rather serious song. Did
you need Cary to tell that story or did she
unlock some kind of artistic freedom in you?

FUSARI: Freedom comes in dierent
ways. The freedom you get from your
country comes at a very hefty price and
I think we all know that, be it taxes, be
it culture it comes with a price. The
freedom that drag queens and transgender
people have is totally dierent. They
have a certain peace, a freedom and
theyre living their dream that has nothing
to do with what our country told us the
dream was. Its almost like we got fooled a
bit with the white picket fence which has
really become the exception today. Im not
bashing the country, I love this country, but
its built on some fallacies and weak ground
that needs to be dealt with. I felt I wasnt
living my own dream and who I am as Cary
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
2 4 F EB RUA RY 2 7, 2015
Q U E E RY : 2 0 Q U E ST I O N S F O R SH A W N SH O RT
SHAWN SHORT
How long have you been out and who
was the hardest person to tell?
I came out ocially to my parents at
20 years old but I shared my rst locker
with my initial boyfriend in high school. It
was hard to tell my mother. I didnt want
to stop being her angel.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Dissonance Dance Theatre has a new space the Lang Theatre at Atlas
Performing Arts Center its company members are excited about.
Named after arts philanthropist Jane Lang, Dissonance will unveil its world
premiere On the Fifth Sunday evening at 5:30 p.m. at the Center (1333 H St.,
N.E.). Tickets are $27.50 and can be purchased at atlasarts.org.
The Lang Theatre is a beautiful performance space, says Shawn Short,
Dissonance artistic director. As producer and choreographer, the more
equipped a space is, the more I can let my imagination run wild. Jane Lang
has been a long-time supporter of DDT. I am personally excited to be able to
honor her enthusiasm for the companys work by performing in the theater
that bears her name.
On the Fifth is a two-part program. The rst half, Baroque Fantasy, is
a three-movement neoclassical suite while part two, Stitch, is a 30-minute
ballet performed in bare feet. Dissonance combines classical ballet and
contemporary dance styles.
Short grew up in the region. Hes 36, single and lives in Northeast. Short
enjoys reading, photography, video games and learning French in his free
time.
202.747.2077
Whos your LGBT hero?

I dont have one, but I will say that
Keith Boykin was instrumental as a role
model in my early 20s during his tenure
in Washington during the late 90s.
Whats Washingtons best nightspot,

past or present?
I enjoy Nellies. It has an open and
friendly environment. Guys dont mind
striking up a conversation there. I do
miss the old Circle Bar (Dupont Circle/
Connecticut Ave.) every now and then.
There was always wall-to-wall eye candy
on Sundays.
Describe your dream wedding.

One that I dont have to plan!
I organize everything in my life. I
would love to nd a guy who is high
functioning, who is empathetic, a good
listener and gives and takes. When
that day comes and Im certain that its
love, I will probably be OK with a small
gathering of family and friends near the
water in the summer.
What non-LGBT issue are you most

passionate about?
Social justice and its relation to the
arts. I believe that we as human beings
need to assist one another to prosper
and develop. I feel the arts accelerate
the spirit of a community and aid in
its progression. I view the arts as a
vocational skill. The arts can not only
provide therapy or a safe space for
youth, it can truly add to the creative
economy in and around its marketplace.
Look at the arts district developments in
and around D.C.
What historical outcome would you
change?
I believe in karma. Things happen for
a reason most times; learn and move
forward.
Whats been the most memorable pop

culture moment of your lifetime?
Waiting as a kid for the premiere of
Michael Jacksons video Remember
the Time featuring Iman. I was in
middle school and wanted to learn the
choreography rst to be able to do it the
next day at school.
On what do you insist?
Manners, patience, humility.
What was your last Facebook post or

Tweet?
A good teacher is like a candle it
consumes itself to light the way for
others. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
If your life were a book, what would

the title be?
Dont Drink The Water! How To
Survive The Road Less Traveled
If science discovered a way to change
sexual orientation, what would you
do?
I believe my orientation has aided me
in my successes. I love me. I wouldnt
change.
What do you believe in beyond the

physical world?
I grew up in a Baptist/Holiness church
environment. But I studied other
religions and came to realize that I
just believe in karma. The universe will
support you when you humbly stand in
your light.
Whats your advice for LGBT

movement leaders?
Keep up the work. We appreciate you.
Its hard I know.
What would you walk across hot coals

for?
Am I dreaming? Is he single? Can I hold
him forever?
What LGBT stereotype annoys you

most?
That we are all happy, nice, festive and
love shopping.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?

A tie: Noahs Ark and The Happy
Sad
Whats the most overrated social

custom?
We still have those?
What trophy or prize do you most

covet?
My degrees. Im the rst generation in
my family to obtain my bachelors and
masters.
What do you wish youd known at 18?

That its true good guys nish last.
Why Washington?
What other city has go-go music,
political scandal, a large theater scene
and a mayoral oce with high heels at
the desk?
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
T HE ATER
FE B R U A R Y 27, 2015 25
March 324
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
A three-week, multidisciplinary, international festival showcasing the many cultures

of Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking peoples, and their impact around the world
Actor ANDRE DE SHIELDS likes to keep working.
De Shields on August
Wilson, Yul Brynner
and Mary Poppins
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
Out actor Andr De Shields could easily
boast an unusually illustrious career.
Instead, he simply describes his lifes
work as markedly eclectic.
Over the years hes acted in countless
classic and contemporary works and
appeared in the original productions of
Broadway musicals The Full Monty, Aint
Misbehavin and The Wiz. In the early
70s, he even choreographed Bette Midlers
backup dancers, the Harlettes. But what has
been glaringly missing from the De Shields
resume until now is a part penned by
the late August Wilson, the foremost AfricanAmerican playwright of his time and one of
the greatest American playwrights ever.
Its not that I didnt want to do an
August Wilson play. I did, says De Shields,
who is currently playing Stool Pigeon in
Wilsons King Hedley II at Arena Stage.
But theater is a directors game. I had to
wait until I was chosen. That came when
director Timothy Douglas called and
oered me the part. And I accepted.
Set in Pittsburghs Hill District during the
Reagan era, King Hedley II is the ninth
installment in Wilsons 10-part series,
The Pittsburgh Cycle. It tells the story
of King Hedley (here played by Bowman
Wright), an ex-con who returns to his
old neighborhood attempting to rebuild
his life by selling stolen refrigerators to
nance a business venture. But life is
tough and the odds are against him.
Wilson deals in archetypes, explains
the out actor. And Stool Pigeon is the fool.
Like the fool in King Lear, Pigeon is the
conscience of the king. Hes an outlier who
gets away with a lot. He quotes the Bible,
but Pigeons quotes are all misquotes.
Its fun but what it does is speak to his
ability to temper information. The most
dicult thing for people to receive is the
truth because it stings. Truth has to be
modulated, mitigated and disguised in
humor. Like Mary Poppins says, a spoonful
of sugar helps the medicine go down.

The plays title character challenges the
status quo of the haves and have-nots.
To me it resonates today, he says.
There are those with authority and those
without. Im specically referencing young
black American men whove been taken
out by white cops. This isnt mentioned
in the play but you cant get away from
the allusions. The plays not easy. Theres
comedy but its a tragedy in every sense.
In writing a cycle that includes a play for
every decade of the 20th century, Wilson
accomplished what no other American
playwright has. His work captures the joys and
struggles of the African-American experience.
But in that cycle there isnt a single gay
character, says De Shields, 69. Wilson
and I are contemporaries. His Hill District
is the same as the Baltimore ghetto where
I grew up. I know there was an Andre in
his neighborhood. But still, he didnt write
a gay character.
Im not condemning him. Im reporting.
His plays are relentlessly heterosexual,
and thats cool. I dont see a reection
in them. But that doesnt mean theres
not something in it for everyone. They
contain universal hard lessons about life.
Just dont go wearing your gender badge.
Looking ahead, De Shields has
compiled a professional bucket list. From
the commercial canon, hed like to the
play the King in Rodgers & Hammersteins
musical The King and I, a part Yul
Brynner played on stage and screen.
People tend to assume my inuences
are Sidney Poitier and James Brown.
Theyre great, but growing up I really
admired Yul Brynner. He was gorgeous
and his ethnicity was all over the place. I
even mimicked his sexy walk.
Part of a good career in theater, says
De Shields, is sustainability and longevity.
You have to work all the time in order to
work all the time. Yes, you aim for certain
parts but in the meantime you work. Praise
gods, I am employed more often than not.
KING HEDLEY II
Through March 8
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth Street, SW
$45-90
202-488-3300
Arenastage.org
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
PICASSO CERAMIST AND THE MEDITERRANEAN
Exclusive U.S. exhibition!
Mar. 422 | Atrium & Atrium Foyers
GRUPO CORPO (BRAZIL)
Mar. 6 & 7 | Eisenhower Theater
BUIKA (SPAIN) WITH IVN MELON LEWIS &

CONTINUUM QUARTET (CUBA)
Mar. 8 | Concert Hall
COMPAA MARA PAGS (SPAIN)
Utopa
EUGENIA LEN (MEXICO)
Eugenia Len y Las Voces de Mujeres, Voces del Pueblo
CARMEN SOUZA (CAPE VERDE)
Live at Lagny Jazz Festival Tour
Mar. 16 | Eisenhower Theater

Plus, more dance, music, theater, literature panels, forums,
installations, and culinary offerings.
IBERIAN SUITE: global arts remix is curated by Alicia Adams, Vice President of International Programming
Tickets on sale now!
(202) 467-4600 kennedy-center.org

Tickets also available at the Box Office | Groups (202) 416-8400
For complete festival information, visit

KENNEDY-CENTER.ORG/IBERIA
IBERIAN SUITE: global arts remix
Presented in cooperation with the governments of Portugal and Spain
Presenting Underwriter
HRH Foundation
Festival Benefactors include the Portuguese Secretary of State for Culture, Ambassador Elizabeth F. Bagley,
Natalia and Carlos Bulgheroni, Amalia Perea Mahoney and William Mahoney, and David and Alice Rubenstein
Major Sponsors include Arte Institute, Caixa Geral de Depsitos, Cames Instituto da Cooperao e da Lngua,
EDP, Fundao Luso-Americana, Marca Espaa, SPAIN arts & culture, ThinkFoodGroup, and Wines of Portugal
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
26 FEB R U A R Y 27, 2015
O U T & A BO U T
By MARIAH COOPER
Fink, Marxer perform at HRC
PHOTO BY GREG ALLEN
Koz to open for Manilow

Gay saxophonist Dave Koz joins Barry Manilow for his One Last Time! tour at
Verizon Center (601 F St., N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Koz is best known for his contemporary jazz style shown on singles like HoneyDipped and You Make Me Smile. He is also the host of the Dave Koz Radio
Show. Manilow has won Grammy, Tony and Emmy awards. His latest album
My Dream Duets was released last year. The tour has drawn mixed reviews
from fans who said too many of Manilows biggest hits are breezed through in
medley form.
Tickets range from $31.35-148.85. For more details, visit verizoncenter.
monumentalnetwork.com.
Grammy
Award-winning
lesbian
folk duo Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer
perform a family concert at Human Rights
Campaign (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.)
on Saturday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Fink and Marxer will perform songs
from their upcoming album Dancin in
the Kitchen. Each family will receive an
advanced copy of Dancin in the Kitchen
and have the chance to meet Fink and
Marxer. There will also be snacks available
during the show.
The rst show is at 11 a.m. and
the second is at 1 p.m. Adult general
admission tickets are $10 and child
general admission tickets are $5. For
details, visit action.hrc.org.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY DAMIEN SALAS
Team D.C. fashion

show returns
PHOTO COURTESY OF DC KINGS
D.C. Kings celebrate 15th anniversary

D.C. Kings, a male imitation and performance art troupe, hosts its 15th
anniversary Scandal, at Comet Ping Pong (5037 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) tonight
at 10 p.m.
DJ Lez Rage will provide music to accompany the drag king and burlesque
show. Then DJ Deedub will take over to play music for the rest of the night. There
will be food and alcohol available. Guests must be 18 and over for admittance.
D.C. Kings have performed more than 500 shows in the last 15 years.
Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10. For more information, visit dckings.com.
Team D.C. hosts its annual fashion

show and model search at Town (2009
8th St., N.W.) Saturday at 8 p.m.
Models will compete in categories
like casual wear, swimsuits, leather,
underwear and sports gear. The clothes
they wear will also be auctioned o from
stores such as Universal Gear, Bite the
Fruit, TrickBox and more. Proceeds benet
the Team D.C. College Scholarship Fund
which awards scholarships to openly gay
student athletes from the local area. There
will be a party after the auction.
Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15.
For more details and to purchase tickets,
visit teamdc.org.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
S P O RTI N I N D. C.
FE B R U A R Y 27, 2015 27
PHOTOS COURTESY OF D.C. GAY FLAG FOOTBALL LEAGUE
MATT MURTAUGH, left, and JAY MARONEY of the D.C. Gay Flag Football League.
Vets welcome rookies

in ag football league
Long-time members say
younger players have
upped level
By KEVIN MAJOROS
In the continuing Blade series on the
veterans and rookies of the LGBT sports
teams in the metro Washington area, we
shine the spotlight this week on the D.C.
Gay Flag Football League.
The League is set to launch its 10th
season with 270 players on 20 teams.
Members also run a recreation league
with four teams which is primarily for
players who want to develop their skills,
play new positions or try out for the
competitive league for the rst time.
Matt Murtaugh just came out of the
closet last May and moved to D.C. two
months later in July. He was looking to
make new friends and heard about the
D.C. Gay Flag Football League.
I went through the draft last fall
for season nine, the new player skill
assessments and the scrimmages,
Murtaugh says. It was a little intimidating
at the beginning.
Murtaugh, who is 23 and works in
government contracting, had never
played ag football before entering the
League. He grew up in North Potomac,
Md., playing basketball and also played
intramural basketball while earning his
degree at the University of South Carolina.
I was the only rookie on my team and the
veterans were very welcoming and walked
me through all the rules, Murtaugh says.
They are the ones who make the team run.
Murtaugh found the League to be very
competitive and is looking forward to
season 10.
I am so happy I joined, he says. I met
a lot of great people that I would not have
met otherwise.
Jay Maroney is a veteran who has
been involved in gay ag football since
1999 when it was just a bunch of friends
playing pick-up games on the Mall. He has
played in all nine seasons of the D.C. Gay
Flag Football League and is also looking
forward to season 10.
He comes back every season because
its organized, competitive and the teams
are dierent every year (the League
redrafts the players every season to
prevent team dynasties).
The social structure of the League is
very dierent than what you often nd in
D.C., Maroney says. There are no cliques
and social barriers seem to disappear.
We have a nice mix of rookies, veterans,
women and straight players.
Maroney, 44, attended a small college in
western Massachusetts and received his
masters from Georgetown and a doctoral
law degree from George Washington
University Law School. He played club level
sports during those years and fell in love
with kayaking after taking it as a class in his
early college years in Massachusetts.
He moved out west and became a
professional kayaker and eventually
moved to the hotbed of kayaking in
the southeast where he specialized in
freestyle kayaking and down river sprints.
Maroneys ag football experiences
continue to play out in a positive way
because of the friendly, outgoing players
who join the League.
He says the quality of play gets better
every season because of the rookies.
The veteran players didnt always
bring a lot of prior athletic experience to
the League because of the homophobia
in sports when they were growing up,
Maroney says. The rookies seem to
be coming to us with more of a sports
background which serves to raise the
quality of play in all of us.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
28 FEBRUARY 27, 2015
ARTS & CULTURE
HOT HITS & HIDDEN JEWELS

F RO M CULTURECAP I TAL. CO M Y O U R LI N K TO T H E A R T S IN M ET R O D . C .
MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP

FEB 28 & MAR 1. GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITYS
CENTER FOR THE ARTS
888-945-2468. CFA.GMU.EDU.
Mark Morriss work is celebrated for its musicality, and he continues to

experiment with the relationship between music and movement. This program
includes two works set to music by Lou Harrison and a new dance set to Songs
Without Words by Mendelssohn.
DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES

FEB 27-MAR 10. WNO AT THE KENNEDY CENTER.
202-467-4600. KENNEDY-CENTER.ORG/WNO.
Faith is put to the ultimate test in Poulencs powerful opera about an order
of Carmelite nuns who refuse to renounce their beliefs during the French
Revolution. Francesca Zambello directs this company premiere, sung in English.
SUNSET BOULEVARD
FEB 27-MAR 21. RESTON COMMUNITY PLAYERS AT
CENTERSTAGE.
703-476-4500. RESTONPLAYERS.ORG.
Norma Desmond, electrifying star of yesteryear, sets down a path to remind

Hollywood and the world that she is still big its the pictures that got small.
Andrew Lloyd Webbers musical is based on the lm by Billy Wilder.
ATLAS INTERSECTIONS FESTIVAL

THRU MAR 7. ATLAS PERFORMING ARTS CENTER.
202-399-7993. ATLAS ARTS.ORG.
Three weekends of over 100 performances featuring artists from DC & beyond,
spotlighting sound, movement, story, family & caf concerts. All at Atlas
Performing Arts Center. See this weekends schedule below.
PHOTO COURTESY OF GMUS CENTER FOR THE ARTS
THEATRE
Mary Stuart. Thru Mar 8. Folger Theatre.
202-544-7077. folger.edu
Kid Victory. Thru Mar 22. Signature.
703-820-9771. signature-theatre.org.
Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival:
Jayamangala. Feb 28. AirBorne DC! /
Zip Zap Circus USA. Feb 28. dog & pony
dc. Feb 28-Mar 7. Wits End Puppets.
Feb 28-Mar 7. The Whole Truth (and
nothing but OPERA IMPROV). Thru
Feb 28. UrbanArias. Happenstance
Theater. Thru Feb 28. Atlas.
202-399-7993. atlasarts.org.
Cherokee. Thru Mar 8. Woolly Mammoth
Theatre Company. 202-393-3939.
woollymammoth.net.
Godspell. Thru Mar 1. Grounded. Thru
Mar 22. Olney Theatre Center.
301-924-3400. olneytheatre.org.
Choir Boy. Thru Mar 1. Studio Theatre.
202-332-3300. studiotheatre.org.
House of Desires. Thru Mar 1. GALA
Hispanic Theatre. 202-234-7174.
galatheatre.org.
Last of the Whyos. Thru Mar 1.
Spooky Action. UNMC. 202-248-0301.
spookyaction.org.
Shear Madness. Ongoing. Shear
Madness. Kennedy Center.
800-444-1324. shearmadness.com
The Lieutenant of Inishmore. Thru
Mar 8. Constellation. 202-204-7741.
constellationtheatre.org.
Happy Buddha Comedy. Feb 27. Bare:
A Pop Opera. Thru Mar 1. DCAC.
202-462-7833. dcartscenter.org.
Back to Methuselah. Thru Mar 15.
Stage Guild. Undercroft. 240-582-0050.
stageguild.org.
Othello. Thru Mar 1. WSC Avant Bard.
Theatre on the Run. 703-418-4808.
wscavantbard.org.
Much Ado About Nothing. Thru Mar 22.
Synetic. 866-811-4111.
synetictheater.org.
Truth the Musical. Thru Feb 28.
THEARC. 202-889-5901. thearcdc.org.
Folger Consort at Strathmore.

202-544-7077. folger.edu.
The Silk Road Ensemble. Mar 1.
Washington Performing Arts at
Kennedy Center. 202-785-9727.
washingtonperformingarts.org.
Cabaret Series: Signature Tenors.
Thru Feb 28. Signature. 703-820-9771.
signature-theatre.org.
Brand Nubian & Kool G Rap. Feb
27. The Prince & Michael Jackson
Experience. Feb 28. Luke James & BJ
The Chicago Kid. Feb 28. Curren$y.
Mar 3. Howard Theatre. 202-803-2899.
thehowardtheatre.com.
Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival: Capital
City Symphony. Feb 27. Wytold. Feb
27. All Points West. Feb 27-Mar 6.
Brad Lindes DIX OUT. Feb 28. David
Schulman & Quiet Life Motel. Feb 28.
Cheick Hamala Diabate. Feb 28. Not
What You Think. SynchroniCity. Mar 1.
Atlas. 202-399-7993. atlasarts.org.
Le Vent du Nord. Feb 28. BlackRock.
240-912-1058. blackrockcenter.org.
Dom Flemons. Feb 28. Artisphere.
888-841-2787. artisphere.com.
Tigran Hamasyan. Feb 27. The Clarice.
301-405-2787. claricesmithcenter.umd.edu.
Big Sams Funky Nation. Feb 28. James
Cotton. Mar 1. The Barns at Wolf Trap.
877-965-3872. wolftrap.org.
MUSEUMS
National Gallery of Art. Piero di
Cosimo: The Poetry of Painting in
Renaissance Florence. Thru May 3.
202-737-4215. nga.gov.
Folger Shakespeare Library. Decoding
the Renaissance. Thru Mar 1. folger.edu.
National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea.
Thru Apr 12. Doris Lee: American Painter
and Illustrator. Thru May 8.
202-783-5000. nmwa.org.
National Geographic. Spinosaurus: Lost
Giant of the Cretaceous. Thru Apr 12.
202-857-7000. nglive.org.
DANCE
GALLERIES
Les Ballets Trocadero de Monte

Carlo. Mar 5. The Alden. 703-790-9223.
mcleancenter.org/alden-theatre.
Devi Dance Theater. Feb 28-Mar 1. Dance
Place. 202-269-1600. danceplace.org.
Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival:
Deviated Theatre. Feb 27-Feb 28.
Tehreema Mitha Dance Company,
Nancy Havliks Dance Performance
Group, Vision Contemporary Dance
Ensemble & Dissonance Dance
Theatre. Mar 1. Atlas. 202-399-7993.
atlasarts.org.
WPA at Artisphere. SELECT 2015. Thru

Mar 7. WPA at Capitol Skyline Hotel.
Hothouse Video: Marina Zurkow. Thru
Mar 15. 202-234-7103. wpadc.org.
BlackRock Center for the Arts.
Photographic Works by Ronald
Beverly. Thru Feb 28. 301-528-2260.
blackrockcenter.org.
The Art League Gallery. Student/
Faculty Show. Thru Mar 1. 703-683-1780.
theartleague.org.
District Architecture Center. Cover
Stories: ArchitectureDC Magazine, 2003
2014. Thru Apr 4. 202-347-9403.
aiadac.com.
Robert Brown Gallery. Painting,
Calligraphy and Ceramics by Stephen
Addiss. Feb 28-Apr 18. 202-338-0353.
robertbrowngallery.com.
Torpedo Factory. In the Flesh V. Thru
Mar 1. 703-838-4565. torpedofactory.org.
MUSIC
Annapolis Symphony Orchestra with
Simone Dinnerstein, piano. Mar 1.
Strathmore. 301-581-5100. strathmore.org.
The Merchant of Venice: Music and
Poetry of Shakespeares Play. Feb 27.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
A D V I CE
You may save on rent but

lose your relationship
MICHAEL RADKOWSKY, Psy.D. is a licensed

psychologist who works with gay individuals
and couples in D.C. He can be found online
at personalgrowthzone.com. All identifying
information has been changed for reasons
of condentiality. Have a question? Send it to
Michael@personalgrowthzone.com.
MICHAEL,
Im in a great relationship with Lisa.
Weve been dating for three years and living
together for the past eight months. Im
going back to graduate school in the fall and
were concerned about how to make a longdistance relationship work. Any pointers?
One complication is, Im going to grad
school in my hometown and Ill be living
at my parents to avoid spending an
enormous amount of money on rent.
Im not out to them (long story short,
theyre very conservative). They know
Lisa as my good friend, but coming out
to them would create a lot of drama and
messiness, which would make it very
dicult for me to live there. How can I
minimize the eects of not being out to
them on my relationship with Lisa?
MICHAEL REPLIES:
Long-distance relationships are risky.
Your big challenge is to stay close and
vibrant as a couple even though youre
usually far apart geographically. Theres no
easy or foolproof way to do this because
phone calls, Skype, Face Time, texts and visits
are all poor substitutes for actually being
together physically on an ongoing basis.
You can do your best to make up
for the day-to-day distance by getting
together frequently. But this is not a great
solution, because too much gets jammed
into too short a time. Long-distance
couples often try to spend time alone
together, see friends, try new restaurants,
cook dinner, cuddle in bed all morning,
shop for furniture, have sex, make great
impressions on each other, argue, etc.,
all in a weekend. Intimacy and closeness
dont thrive in a pressure cooker.
Another problem with long-distance
relationships is that both partners may
resist fully engaging in their own lives
because they dont want to develop a life
apart from their mate. Ive seen people
resist making new friends, decorating
their homes or pursuing careers. Theyre
trying to keep their lives in suspended
animation until some hoped-for date in
the future when theyre actually going to
FE B R U A R Y 27, 2015 29
live with their partner. In the meantime,

real life slips by.
Conversely, Ive seen people pursue
their own lives while separated and then
ultimately grow so far apart that theres
no glue left between them.
That said, here are some tips to help
you manage a long-distance relationship
as best you can.
First, put a limit on how long youre
going to live apart rather than keeping
the distance open-ended. This requires
you to be clear about the reason youre
temporarily separating. It also gives you a
nish line to aim toward, which can help
both of you keep your energy owing
toward your relationship.
Second, stay in frequent, close touch
between visits. The time you plan to
connect should be sacred; no interference
from work, friends, activities or any other
excuses. Make sure you share whats
going on in your lives. Not just the dry
facts, but the feelings underneath.
Third, consider making friends with
people where youre living who are also in
long-distance relationships. Support from
others in the same situation can be helpful.
Fourth, need I say that its a great idea to
avoid extra-relationship relationships? While
you may feel in need of some loving, youll
be irting with the dangerous possibility of
your new playmate supplanting Lisa as the
object of your aection.
With regard to living with your folks, I dont
think youve considered that being closeted
to your parents is a huge threat to your
relationship with Lisa, maybe even more
than a long-distance relationship would be.
Relationships always suer when one
or both partners are closeted. Hiding is
intrinsically stiing, warps your ability to
wholeheartedly be with your partner and
stunts your self-esteem. If you live with
your parents, its unavoidable that youll
tamp down your enthusiasm for Lisa,
reduce the frequency of your connections
and limit your visits in order to maintain
the illusion that the two of you are merely
friends. How can you avoid becoming
even more distant from Lisa if you are
hiding your relationship with her on a
daily basis? And, not incidentally, how
does Lisa feel about being a secret? While
rent is expensive, consider the cost to
your relationship of your staying closeted.
Id also like you to consider that your
plan to live with your parents and even
to move out of town indicates you
are uncomfortable really being close to
others. You already dont let your parents
really know you and your current plan will
both deepen your distance from them
and diminish whatever closeness you
have with Lisa. If you think I have a point,
consider working with an intimacy-wise
therapist. I suspect you are sabotaging
your relationships, so please get some
clarity before proceeding.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
3 0 F EB RUA RY 2 7, 2015
CA LE N D A R
show and a two for one happy hour from
5-9 p.m. There will also be Drag Race
trivia and prizes. For more details, visit
numberninedc.com.
The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W..)
hosts coee drop-in hours this morning
from 10 a.m.-noon for the senior LGBT
community. Older LGBT adults can
come and enjoy complimentary coee
and conversation with other community
members. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.
Us Helping Us (3636 Georgia Ave.,
N.W.) holds a support group for gay black
men to discuss topics that aect them,
share perspectives and have meaningful
conversations. For details, visit uhupil.org.
Nellies Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.)
hosts Poker Face tonight at 8 p.m. Play
Texas Hold Em Poker for free. There
will be prizes. For more details, visit
nelliessportsbar.com.
E-mail calendar items to calendars@washblade.

com two weeks prior to your event. Space is limited so priority is given to LGBT-specic events
or those with LGBT participants. Recurring
events must be re-submitted each time.
TODAY
Reel Armations presents a screening
of Moroccan-Islamic lm Salvation Army
at Human Rights Campaign (1640 Rhode
Island Ave., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m. The
lm tells the story of a gay Moroccan boy
who must deal with his homosexuality,
abusive father and sexual advances from
older men. General admission tickets are
$10. VIP tickets are $25 and include one
drink ticket, one popcorn ticket and VIP
seating and recognition. For details, visit
reelarmations.org.
The V D.C. presents Glitther at Zebra
Bar (3423 14th St., N.W.) tonight from
9 p.m.-3 a.m. There will be specials
including $3 PBRs, $4 Fireball shots and
half-priced pizza from 9-11 p.m. There is
no cover. Admission limited to guests 21
and over. For more details, visit facebook.
com/thevdcevents.
Lesbian comedian Chelsea Shorte
headlines the Dont Block the Box Comedy
Show 40 at the Wonderland Ballroom
(1101 Kenyon St., N.W.) tonight at 7:30
p.m. Other comedians performing include
Christine Ferrera, Dana Fleitman and Curt
Mariah. Natalie McGill will host the event.
There will be a dance party after the
show. Cover is $3. For more information,
visit thewonderlandballroom.com.
Women in Their 20s, a social
discussion group for lesbian, bisexual,
transgender and all women interested in
women, meets today at the D.C. Center
(2000 14th St., N.W.) from 8-9:30 p.m.
Come meet other queer women in a fun
and friendly setting. All welcome to join.
For details, visit thedccenter.org.
SATURDAY, FEB. 28
The Imperial Court of Washington
D.C. holds a cabaret drag brunch at Bistro
Bistro (1727 Connecticut Ave., N.W.)
today from noon- 2p.m. For details, visit
imperialcourtdc.org.
Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer
organization, volunteers for Food and
Friends (219 Riggs Rd., N.E.) today from
8-10 a.m. Volunteers will chop vegetables
and pack groceries. To volunteer, email
jonathan@burgundycrescent.org.
For
more details, visit burgundycrescent.org
Number Nine (1435 P St., N.W.) hosts
Jawbreaker: Lose Control (An Ode to
Missy), a dance party featuring music from
the 2000s, tonight at 9 p.m. DJ Chord and
DJ Kelly will play music for the night. Drink
specials are $5 Absolut vodka drinks and
$5 Bulleit Bourbon all night. For more
details, visit numberninedc.com.
Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts CTRL: 50
Shades, a dance party, tonight at 10 p.m.
DJ Adam Koussari-Amin and DJ Devon
Trotter will play music at 11 p.m. Cover is
TUESDAY, MARCH 3
Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.)
hosts its weekly FUK!T Packing Party from
7-9 p.m. tonight. For more details, visit
thedccenter.org or greenlanterndc.com.
SMYAL (410 7th St., S.E.) hosts a
rap group, a support group for LGBT
youth, today from 5-6:30 p.m. For more
information, visit smyal.org.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4
PHOTO COURTESY OF SHORTE
Out comedian CHELSEA SHORTE plays the Wonderland Ballroom this weekend.
$10 from 10-11 p.m. and $12 after. The

drag show starts at 10:30 p.m. Admission
is limited to guests 21 and over. For more
information, visit towndc.com.
Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.) hosts
Gay/Bash! tonight at 10 p.m. Brooklyn
drag performer Merrie Cherry will be the
special guest. Other performers include
Rumor Millz, Summer Camp, Heidi Glm
and more. There will be a show at 11:30
p.m. and 1 a.m. The show is all ages. Cover
is $7. For details, visit blackcatdc.com.
New York based choreographer Jack
Ferver performs Chambre at American
Dance Institute (1570 E Jeerson St.,
Rockville, Md.) tonight at 8 p.m. The show
is a contemporary interpretation of Jean
Genets play The Maids and is part
performance piece and art installation.
There will also be a champagne bus
running from Slipstream Coee House
(1333 14th St., N.W.) to the corner of
14th St. and Rhode Island Ave. The bus
leaves at 6:45 p.m. General admission
tickets are $31.25 for the performance
only. Champagne bus and performance
tickets are $41.25. Blade readers can use
code Fathom for $15 performance tickets
and Fathombus for $25 performance
ticket with champagne bus. The show
was rescheduled for tonight after
snow last weekend. For details, visit
americandance.org.
SUNDAY, MARCH 1
Drag
performer
Special
Agent
Galactica performs at Freddies Beach
Bar (555 23rd St., S, Arlington, Va.) tonight
at 7 p.m. She will perform alongside
jazz and classical guitarist Peter Fields.
Special
Agent
Galactica
combines
musical performance with storytelling
about her top secret spy career. There
is no cover. For more information, visit
pinkhairedone.jimdo.com.
Perrys (1811 Columbia Rd., N.W.) hosts
its weekly Sunday Drag Brunch today
from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The cost is $24.95
for an all-you-can-eat buet. For more
details, visit perrysadamsmorgan.com.
Nellies Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) hosts
a drag brunch today with two shows at
10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Brunch buet
is $26 and the rst mimosa or Bloody
Mary is free. For more information and to
purchase tickets, visit nelliesdragbrunch.
eventbrite.com.
MONDAY, MARCH 2
Number Nine (1435 P St., N.W.) hosts
RuPauls Drag Race premiere party
with drag performer BaNaka tonight at 8
p.m. The show begins at 9 p.m. There will
be $3 Absolut vodka cocktails during the
Bookmen D.C., an informal mens gay

literature group, discusses Darling by
Richard Rodriguez, an essay collection about
religion, place and sexuality, at the Cleveland
Park Library (3310 Connecticut Ave., N.W.)
tonight at 7:30 p.m. All are welcome. For
details, visit bookmendc.blogspot.com.
The Tom Davoren Social Bridge
Club meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the
Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for social
bridge. No partner needed. For more
information, call 301-345-1571.
THURSDAY, MARCH 5
SMYAL (410 7th St., S.E.) hosts Womens
Leadership Institute, a group for LBT
women and their straight allies ages 13-21
to discuss female sexuality, relationships
and womens rights today from 5-7 p.m.
For more information, visit smyal.org.
Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.)
hosts a happy hour from 4-9 p.m. today.
From 10-11 p.m. shirtless men drink
free. There will also be a best chest
contest. The prize will be $50 cash and
a $50 bar tab. DJs Back2Back will play
music for the night. For more details, visit
greenlanterndc.com.
Bachelors Mill (1104 8th St., S.E.)
holds a happy hour today from 5-7:30
p.m. All drinks are half price. There will
be pool, video gaming systems and cards.
Admission is $5 after 9 p.m. DJ Bling, DJ
Freaky and DJ Tim-Nice will play music
for the night. For more information, visit
bachelorsmill.com.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
A R T S & EN TE RTA I NMENT
FE B R U A R Y 27, 2015 31
Fusari says Drag Race

vets are pros
NoKey until I was able to let Rob Fusari and

even Gaga go. I still get asked questions
about it and thats ne, but that chapter of
my life has ended and thank God, because
it wasnt the best chapter to be honest. It
might have been one of the worst.
BLADE: Where was the dissatisfaction
coming from?
FUSARI: Im not trying to bash Gaga,
but sometimes the shit you have to eat
to get to a certain place is not worth it.
I cant change history but I wonder now,
was it worth it? Its not about the money.
Id give the money back in a heartbeat.
Its about integrity, about character about
feeling good about yourself and being
part of something. The people who work
with Cary NoKey, theyre going to stay
on board because when the time comes
and theres success, theyll have a reason
to stay on board. You gotta treat people
fairly. You gotta look to everyone who
helped you along the way. Im not going
to just kick people o the roof.
BLADE: You felt Gaga did that?
FUSARI: Absolutely.
BLADE: Was there any talk of working
with her on her follow-up?
FUSARI: Absolutely not. I could never
have done that anyway. I could never put
my creative art and soul into somebody
who kicks people o the roof.
BLADE: What would you say to her if
you were with her in an elevator today?
FUSARI: Get o.
BLADE: You did a track with Whitney
Houston. Did you work it up then send it
to her people or were you in the studio
together with her?
FUSARI: No, we cut the vocal together
in the studio for Love That Man. (from
the 2002 Just Whitney album)
BLADE: What was she like to work with?
FUSARI: To be honest, it wasnt the
best. She wasnt sober so it was dicult at
times. She was battling addiction and she
was with Bobby, who was just a nightmare.
BLADE: How did it come about that you
are on the Drag Race tour?
FUSARI: We were playing out in (New
York) a lot and it ended up that we had
landed the spot opening for Adore
Delano at the Gramercy Theatre. We
were thrilled. I love the Gramercy and
Adore and we were just thrilled. It was
a great t. All the Drag Race folks were
there and the executives and creative

folks and they asked if we were interested
in joining the tour next year, so we said
yes. A lot of times things like this are said
and it doesnt come to fruition, its just
part of the business, but we just nished
the Macy Gray tour and right after that,
we were ready and it just worked out.
BLADE: What are the queens like on tour?
FUSARI: Its a blast, Im so happy.
Theyre so nice and so classy. Theyre pros.
Youd think it would be a lot of backstage
mayhem and chaos and drama on the
bus and so on, but its actually really
the opposite. Everybodys really on their
game and really pro. Im really impressed.
BLADE: Do you feel like an outsider
since theyre all vets of the show?
FUSARI: Its weird, I dont. Theyve
accepted me and we denitely hit it o.
BLADE: Are you a gay man who does
drag? How do you identify?
FUSARI: It goes so many dierent ways.
It goes sideways, it goes inside out, it
changes from day to day and I explore all
dierent sides of it. Thats really the only
way I can explain it. Do I want to go full
drag tomorrow? Of course, I would do it.
Do I want to have a sex change? No, its not
something Im looking to do. If somebody
wanted to call me a cross dresser, I dont
think I am but you could probably say that
about me and I dont have a problem with
it. The wires just all cross for me in so
many dierent directions.
BLADE: What do you actually do in the
show?
FUSARI: Its basically a way to open the
show with something dierent. Its more
serious, though it can be playful at times.
We keep it simple. I do about a 20-minute
set and sing about seven songs and I have
a dancer with me. We do some covers but
in a very Cary NoKey kind of way. I do
(Gaga hit) Paparazzi because its a song
I wrote and Im proud of but people get
to hear it in more of its original version.
Some of its very aggressive, almost like
Kurt Cobain, but then its also kind of Joel
Grey-Cabaret too. It spans a lot. I know
its hard to sit through 20 minutes of new
music you dont know, so we mix it up.
RUPAULS DRAG RACE
Battle of the Seasons
2015 Condragulations Tour
with special guest Cary NoKey
March 8
9:30 Club
815 V St., N.W.
$35-65 (VIP)
8 p.m.
930.com
3 2 F E B RUA RY 2 7, 2015
FILMTHEATERGALLERIESMUSEUMSMUSICDANCETELEVISION
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
E N T E RTA I N M EN T
FE B R U A R Y 27, 2015 33
PHOTO BY KRISTIN DOS SANTOS; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
Out actor NEIL PATRICK HARRIS drew mixed reviews for hosting the Oscars.
Harris hosts, Gaga wows

and Rivers snubbed
at 87th awards
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
As is common for the telecast, the
presentation of the 87th annual Academy
Awards on Sunday night drew mixed
reviews on everything from Neil Patrick
Harriss hosting performance, Lady
Gagas Sound of Music tribute, Graham
Moores acceptance speech in the
adapted screenplay category and a spate
of other matters.
Perhaps because none of the heavily
nominated lms were box oce home
runs in the league of last years Gravity,
interest and ratings overall were down.
The telecast garnered about 36 million
viewers in the U.S., making it the leastwatched Oscars since 2009 (when Hugh
Jackman hosted) and the third-lowest
Oscars in the awards broadcast history,
according to Deadline.
Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue
of Ignorance) and The Grand Budapest
Hotel each won four Oscars with the
former taking the best director and best
picture awards. The Imitation Game,
a biopic of gay World War II-era British
codebreaker Alan Turing, was nominated
in eight categories but won only the
screenplay award.
In accepting it, Moore said hed
attempted suicide at 16 because I felt
weird and dierent and I felt like I did not
belong. He then urged young viewers
to stay weird, stay dierent. Although
he never said the word gay, many
assumed he was referencing recent gay
teen suicides, especially considering his

connection to the Turing lm. But Moore
told BuzzFeed at the Governors Ball later
that night that hes not gay.
Out twin singers Tegan and Sara
performed Everything is Awesome from
The Lego Movie. The Shawn Pattersonpenned song lost to Glory from Selma.
In the acting categories, Julianne
Moore won best actress for Still Alice,
Eddie Redmayne won best actor for his
portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The
Theory of Everything, J.K. Simmons won
best supporting actor for Whiplash and
Patricia Arquette won best supporting
actress for Boyhood.
Lady Gaga, honoring the 50th
anniversary of The Sound of Music
with a medley of its songs, drew largely
praise from many on social media who
mentioned her range and ability to sing
many genres of music as also evidenced
by her performance on the Grammys on
Feb. 8 when she sang with collaborator
Tony Bennett.
And Harris, such a hit when he hosted
the Emmys and Tonys, drew surprisingly
lackluster reviews especially compared
to Ellen DeGeneres, another openly gay
host, who helmed the ceremony last year.
Harris, who even came out in only socks
and underwear at one point (in a spoof
of Birdman), was criticized for mangling
names, making a joke after one winner
referenced her sons suicide and going on
and on about his predictions being locked
in a box on stage all through the evening.
Many gay fans felt Joan Rivers, a
staple of the red carpet for years, was
snubbed by not being included in the in
memoriam segment, though her lm
work was largely comprised of voice-over,
cameo and documentary work.
3 4 F E B RUA RY 2 7, 2015
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F E BRU A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 3 5
REALESTATE
4 ways to improve relations with contractors

Communication and the
Golden Rule are key
By VALERIE M. BLAKE
Youre glad to see him when he arrives.
He knows your most intimate desires.
You trust him with your house keys and
you even give him money. You tell all your
friends and family about him and are lulled
into thinking everything is going ne and
then, slowly, you begin to notice a change.
He breaks a date or stands you up. The
time he does spend with you is rushed
and you frequently come upon him texting other people or whispering on the
phone when he thinks youre not listening. Those requests for money get a little
larger and come more frequently.
And nally it dawns on you your favorite contractor is no longer the friendly,
competent, aordable provider of quality
work he once was.
Woe is me! you wail. Why did he
abandon me this way? How can I nd another who will treat me like the goddess
of real estate I am? Doesnt he realize hes
losing a great source of income?
My real estate friends and I have recently been discussing this common phenomenon. We run around like princes and
princesses with a glass slipper looking for
matching trades people and when we nd
them, we use them in our own homes to
make sure they meet our standards.
If they do, we refer them to our clients
once, twice, three times and as many as ve
and then, during the sixth referral, the Dr.

Jekyll of plumbing becomes the Mr. Hyde of
polybutylene pipes and pinhole leaks.
When I asked my colleagues for some
real life examples from their own experiences, the stories I heard could rival an
episode of Scandal.
First, there was The Ladies Man who
made a pass at a married female customer and couldnt understand why his
advances were being rebued. Then, The
Amazing Bipolar Man helped a client with
her groceries on one day and spewed
blue words at her the next before walking
o the job. One of the Mr. Hydes showed
up drunk and another, on crack.
Worse yet was The Thief who came
back at night for the computer and the
$2,000 mountain bike. He formed a triad
with The Con Man, who set a low price
and then up-charged every week for
something new, and The Embezzler, who
simply took the cash deposit and was
never seen or heard from again.
And then theres my personal favorite,
The Fire Starter, who burned down half of
one of my investment properties by leaving
a lit cigarette on a dresser after arguing with
me about what he was owed. You havent
lived until youve been awakened at 4 a.m.
by a phone call with the caller shouting, Get
on YouTube! Your house is on re!
Despite the awful experiences relayed by
some, I was delighted to nd several agents
who told me they have great, long-term relationships with the trades people they hire
and refer. So what are some of the secrets
to holding onto the good ones?
First, dont always select the company

with the cheapest bid. The more expensive rm might be one that rarely goes
over its cost estimate, that meets or exceeds deadlines, or that employs trades
people who do things right the rst time.
What a concept!
Second, clearly communicate your
needs. When you point to a wall and say,
I need a bookcase here, does that mean
across the whole wall? Floor to ceiling?
Fixed or adjustable shelves? Made of oak,
pine or MDF? Put things in writing, draw
pictures, leave Post-Its whatever it takes
to get your point across.
Third, link installment payments to timeliness. Periodically assess the work, make
any necessary adjustments to the plans
and determine if you and your contractor are still communicating well. You may
want to oer a bonus for early completion

rather than a penalty for being late.
Fourth, remember that the Golden Rule
rules. Treat your contractor with respect,
dont throw a t when he brings some unexpected glitch beyond his control to your attention, and dont ask him to make changes
to the original scope of work for free.
As for The Ladies Man, 98 percent of
the time its best to show him the door,
cancel any contract and settle your account. The other 2 percent of the time?
Well, I think I hear a squeak coming from
the hinges on my bedroom door.
DAVE LLOYD & ASSOCIATES
SIMPLE
AFFORDABLE
PROVEN RESULTS
VALERIE M. BLAKE can be reached at Keller

Williams Capital Properties, 202-246-8602 or
Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com. Each oce is independently owned and operated. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Sid Binks, PhD, ABPP-CN

Board Certified in Clinical Neuropsychology
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Individual & Couples Therapy

for the LGBTQ Community
20 years experience!
3000 Connecticut Ave. NW 202.255.5187 SidBinks@aol.com
LGBTC.com/html/sid_binks.html
Top 1% Nationwide
NVAR Life Member Top Producder
703-593-3204
WWW.DAVELLOYD.NET
ENTHUSIASTICALLY
SERVING DC & VIRGINIA
CALL TODAY TOPLACE YOUR AD
202.747.2077
3 6 F E B RUA RY 2 7, 2015
condo
living
in
shaw.
the neighborhood
Shaw is the quintessential urban environment.
It is a primarily residential neighborhood, with
tree-lined streets and Victorian row houses and
a place where many of Washingtons favorite
1601 5th st nw
local businesses call home.

While quiet, some of Washington, D.C.s premier
entertainment
venues
and
restaurants
are
located in Shaw. Breweries, independent coffee

shops, beer gardens, the 9:30 club, the Howard
Theater, and much more all make up the fabric
of the neighborhood. New to the neighborhood
is CityMarket at O, which includes a brand new
72,000-square-foot Giant supermarket.
Centrally
located
and
just
blocks
from
downtown, the neighborhood boasts excellent

transportation access that has helped fuel an
unprecedented urban renaissance in the area.
Residents enjoy easy access to Logan Circle,
the U Street Corridor, City Center, Mount Vernon
Square, and multiple Metro stations.
Shaw
boasts
storied
history,
beautiful
buildings, strong residential character, and

dedicated residentsmaking it one of the
hottest neighborhoods in D.C.
modern
blend of
styles.
the property
5Q is a collection of four unique and exceptional

townhomes nestled together at the corner of
5th and Q Streets. The homes architecture was
inspired by the blending of the traditional with a
1601at5q.com
more contemporary and industrial style. Design

decisions were made to create spaces with a
loft-like feel, including high ceilings and open
floor plans. Every element of the 5Q homes was
built with an exacting attention to detail from
the modern faade, to the bay windows that
allow unparalleled views from the properties
interior, to the choice of exceptional finishes
and features. Each of the four homes possesses
the considered luxury and detail of a custombuilt residence.
Each home has a thoughtful and spacious floor
plan that provides more than 2,200 square
feet of living space. All four homes include four
bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms. Each
residence enjoys private terraces off the main
living area and rooftop decks, while two of the
four homes feature in-law suites situated on
the lower levels. Underground garage parking
completes the package.
5Q is a collection of four unique and exceptional townhomes nestled together at the corner of 5th and Q Streets. The homes architecture was
inspired by the blending of the traditional with a more contemporary and industrial style. Design decisions were made to create spaces with a
loft-like feel, including high ceilings and open floor plans. Each home has a thoughtful and spacious floor plan that provides more than 2,200
square feet of living space. All four homes include four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms. Each residence enjoys private terraces off
the main living area and rooftop decks, while two of the four homes feature in-law suites situated on the lower levels. Underground garage
parking completes the package.
& Brent Group
OPEN SUNDAY MARCH 1, 1-4PM Rob
1506 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005
Rob & Brent Group

1506 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005
Robert Sanders | + 202 744 6463
Brent Jackson | + 202 263 9200
robandbrent@ttrsir.com
facebook.com/RobandBrentGroup
ghts Reserved. Sothebys International Realty is a licensed trademark to
Robert Sanders | + 202 744 6463

Brent Jackson | + 202 263 9200
robandbrent@ttrsir.com
facebook.com/RobandBrentGroup
MMIV Sothebys International Realty Affiliates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Sothebys International Realty is a licensed trademark to
Sothebys International Realty Affiliates, Inc. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Office is Independently
Owned and Operated, Except Offices Owned and Operated by NRT incorporated. SIRI. The above information, while deemed highly
reliable, cannot be guaranteed.
DEADLINES
SHARE ADS ARE FREE
All Classified Ads

- Including Regular & Adult Must Be Received
By Mondays at 5PM
So They Can Be Included
in That Weeks Edition of
Washington Blade and
washingtonblade.com
Place your housing to sharead online at

washingtonblade.com
and the ad prints free in the paper and online.*
*25 words or less prints free - anything more is $1/word.
W A SH I NGTO N B LA DE.C OM
MASSAGE / CERTIFIED
BEST MASSAGE by male certified
therapist. Soothing Swedish; deeptissue; stress & pain release. Safe
Atmosphere in Annandale, VA, almost
right off I-395. Days/Eve/Wkend. In/
Out calls. Hotels welcome. Call Marval
(703) 568-6348.
REFRESH & RELAX IN

ROSSLYN. Certified
massage therapist
available. Call or text
Gary w/ your name at
301-704-1158 or visit
www.mymassagebygary.com.
BULLETIN BOARD
Singer for weddings,
birthdays, anniversaries,
other special
occasions. Repertoire
includes Broadway,
American songbook,
classical - just ask!
Contact Maureen Roult at
maureenmezzo@yahoo.
com or 301-832-2036.
COUNSELING
EMPLOYMENT
EXECUTIVE
ASSISTANT
/ PROJECT
COORDINATOR
Join the Fathom Creative team as an
experienced EA/PC professional with
stellar organizational skills. Proactive,
articulate and 3+ years experience
+ degree required: beawesome@
fathomcreative.com.
COUNSELING FOR GAY MEN.

Individual/couple counseling w/
volunteer peer counselor. Gay Mens
Counseling Community since 1973.
202-580-8861. gaymenscounseling.
org. No fees, donation requested.
HAIR STYLIST CHAIR rental
CHANGES ARE EASIER WITH

HELP. Small, private practice
group of experienced, caring
therapists.Safe, confidential
setting. Offices in Woodley Park &
Takoma Park near Metro.Licensed
professionals.Insurance
reimbursable.Washington
Therapy Guild. Call 202-483-2660.
washingtontherapyguild.com.
facility to do so. Call 202.294.7383.
LGBTQ AFFIRMING THERAPY at

Dupont Circle Individuals, couples,
families, adolescents. Over 15
years serving the community. Mike
Giordano, LICSW. 202/460-6384
mike.giordano.msw@gmail.com.
www.WhatIHearYouSaying.com.
Mount Pleasant. Please come tour

our salon! Associate opportunity
also available. This is a perfect
opportunity for those who want their
own hair business but do not have a
JUNIOR SALES
EXECUTIVE NEEDED!
Looking for an outgoing
and dynamic sales rep!
Please apply online at
http://www.catering.
com/company/jobs/
employment.
DELIVERY DRIVERS WANTED need
LOCKER ROOM ATTENDANTS

NEEDED! The Crew Club, a gay mens
naturist gym & sauna, is now hiring
Locker Room Attendants. We all
scrub toilets & do heavy cleaning. You
must be physically able to handle the
work & have a great attitude doing
it. No drunks/druggies need apply.
Please call Richard at (202) 319-1333.
from 9-5pm, to schedule an interview.
Floral shop in NW Washington. Call
HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER,

National LGBTQ Task Force. Visit our
website: http://www.thetaskforce.org/
about/employment/open-positionhuman-resources-manager.html.
ENHANCE YOUR
AD WITH OUR
UPGRADES
PICTURES
BOLD TEXT
LARGE TEXT
COLOR
AND MORE
CONTACT US AT
202-747-2077
ADOPTION & ASSISTED
REPRODUCTIVE Law Attorney Jennifer
Fairfax represents clients in Maryland
& D.C. interested in adoption or ART
matters.301-221-9651,JFairfax@
jenniferfairfax.com.
LIMOUSINES / DRIVERS
MUST LOVE DOGS Unique

opportunity for right person / couple.
Retired couple seeks freedom &
flexibility. We need someone for
house cleaning, dog sitting, other
household / caretaker duties on
flexible basis. In exchange for
services, were offering a nice SFH, FR
w/ FP, adjacent to our property. Must
have some income, drivers license &
pass background check. No pets or
children. Long term position. Please
email: CareforVashti@gmail.com.
LEGAL SERVICES
FULL SERVICE LAW FIRM
Representing the GLBT community
for over 30 years. Family adoptions,
estate planning, immigration,
employment. (301) 891-2200.Silber,
Perlman, Sigman & Tilev, P.A. www.
SP-Law. com.
MAID TO CLEAN. Gay owned.

Serving DC/VA since 1996. We
provide 1x, move/in, move/out,
recurring service. We love pets &
your dirt! (703)299-0101. Visit us at
maidtoclean.com.
FERNANDOS CLEANING:
Residential & Commercial Cleaning,
Reasonable Rates, Free Estimates,
Routine, 1-Time, Move-In/Move-Out.
(202) 234-7050, 202-486-6183.
FLOORING
HIGHTOWER FLOOR SERVICE, Inc.
The Wood Experts Serving the DMV
Area since 1948. We Sand-StainInstall-Repair-Hardwood Floors.
Bonded and Insured. Call 202-7266795 for FREE Estimate.
HEATING / AC
KASPERS LIVERY SERVICE BMW 740LI

Luxury Sedan Service; Hourly, Point
to Point & Special Airport Transfer
Rates! Gay & Veteran Owned! http://
www.KasperLivery.com Phone 202554-2471 or 800-455-2471.
PETS
CARETAKER /
DOG SITTER
own auto. Good compensation. Busy

Jeff, 202 667 7888.
JOIN US. New Psychotherapy

Group for Montgomery County
LGB Adults. Affirmative & safe
space to connect & explore issues.
Coming out of marriage, parenting,
finding intimate relationships & local
resources. Grace Riddell LCSW. 301942-3237. griddell@aol.com. LGBTC.
com/html/grace_riddell.html.
COMMUNITY MINDED SALES

Professionals: Brown Naff Pitts
Omnimedia, LLC owners of The
Washington Blade & Azer Creative,
both Award Winning companies
have a unique opportunity for the
right self motivated, organized &
experienced individual. New business
development, outside sales for
one of the nations most respected
LGBTQ publications. Washington DC
offices. Small staff, welcoming input
& involvement. Responsibilities are to
increase revenue by selling services
across all platforms. Representing the
Washington Blade brand in public/
business capacity. Respond with
via email to: srutgers@washblade.
com with cover letter outlining why
you think you have the qualities
to advance our business, your
resume, & three qualified references
aware of your skill level & business
development. List OUTSIDE SALES in
subject of email.
F E BRU A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 3 7
HANDYMAN /
IMPROVEMENTS
JUST THE GUY Handyman /
Cleaning for your home or office
no job too small, 1x, regular, movingin/out services, great rates, days,
evenings, & weekends. Call or text:
202-276-9272.
PHOTOGRAPHY
STEVE OTOOLE PHOTOGRAPHY
Fine Art Photographer for portraits,
weddings & dating photos for the
internet. Call (703) 532-3031. www.
steveotoolephotography.com.
CLEANING
TOO NEAT GUYS INC. Residential
& Commercial cleaning in DC
& Northern VA. Over 20 years
experience, gay owned, licensed,
bonded & insured. Email: tooneat@
comcast.net, (703) 622-5983.
BRITISH REMODELING HANDYMAN

Local licensed company with over 25
years of experience. Specializing in
bathrooms, kitchens & all interior/
exterior repairs. Drywall, paint,
electric & wallpaper. Trevor 703-3038699.
PAINTERS
ATELIER INTERIOR/
EXTERIOR PAINTING.
Chalkboard & Dry Erase
paint. Wood Staining.
Plaster Repairs. Pressure
Cleaning. Free Estimates.
Elmer 240-462-3760.
DEADLINES
ENHANCE YOUR AD WITH OUR UPGRADES

PICTURES
BOLD TEXT
LARGE TEXT
COLOR
AND MORE
CONTACT US AT 202-747-2077
All Classified Ads

- Including Regular & Adult Must Be Received
By Mondays at 5PM
So They Can Be Included
in That Weeks Edition of
Washington Blade and
washingtonblade.com
3 8 f e b rua ry 2 7, 2015
SHARE / VA
WOODBRIDGE,MBR single-family
home between Quantico & Ft. Belvoir.
Beautifully renov. walk-out bsmt. BR
w/ priv. full bath. Singles only. $900/
month. 703-798-3955.
MORTGAGES / LOANS
TREE SERVICE
BRANCHES - FULL SERVICE Tree
Expert Company. Certified Arborists,
pruning, insect & disease diagnosis,
treatment & removal. 301-589-6181.
www.BranchesTreeExperts.com.
Angies List Award Winner 09, 10,
11, 12.
MOVERS
GET PRE-APPROVED NOW!

Purchase, Refinance & Home
Renovation Loans. Competitive Rates.
Call: Leslie Garber, Mortgage Advisor,
NMLS# 704734, Stonegate Mortgage
Corporation, NMLS# 186732,
202.257.4024.
OFFICE &
COMMERCIAL
OUR GUYS AROUND TOWN

MOVERS. Professional Moving &
Storage. Let Our Guys Do The
Heavy Lifting. Mention the Blade
for 10% off of our regular rates.
Call today 202.734.3080. www.
ourguysatmovers.com.
GREAT SCOTT MOVING INC. Local
& Long Distance, Pianos!Call us For
a Great Move at a Great Price (301)
699-2066.Highly rated in Consumer
Check Book, Better Business Bureau,
Yelp & Angies List.
SHARE / DC
GWM w/ 2 cats has cozy fully
furnished room available in NE DC.
No Pets, no children, non-smoker
preferred. Metro, Parking, all
amenities. 202-306-0288. Serious
responses only, no texts.
CAPITOL HILL furnished or
unfurnished rooms for rent in well
appointed townhome. 2 1/2 blocks
from Eastern Market Metro. Finished
single BR for $795+utilities. Also a
huge 18 x 30 unfurnished room with
southern exposure $1095.+ utilities.
Available immediately. Call Dr. Wes
202-544-5688.
SHARE / DE
REHOBOTH SEASONAL ROOM
Summer Rental---reasonable rate
in a quiet setting, close proximity to
beach, downtown & outlets. Inquire
by email rbflamingo@comcast.net.
GREAT RETAIL SPACE for lease.

Route 1-Hyattsville Arts District, 4802
Rhode Island Ave. Commercial space
for lease. Excellent visibility. Ideally
located in Hyattsville Arts District.
Perfect for clothing store, studio,
restaurant, bakery, or other retail.
MOUNT RAINIER HOMES

- REQUEST ONLINE
PHOTOS !
-$299,000 - Totally
Renovated!! 2-Car Garage!
2 BR Cottage! LARGE
Fenced Yard!
-$219,995 - Lovely doublelot!Sweet Bungalow,
needs your creativity!
-$299,995 - Sears
Craftsman Cape Cod!3- 4
BRs!1 1/2 Baths! Sauna!
Hot Tub! Garage!
LARRY PERRIN REALTOR
(301) 983-0601
LJPerrin@aol.com.
MONTGOMERYVILLAGE
TOWNHOMES - REQUEST
ONLINE PHOTOS!
-$349,995 - Garage!3 BRs!
2 - 1/2 Baths! Terrific
Basement Family Room!
-$259,995 - 3 Level!3
Bedrooms! 2 - 1/2 Baths!
Huge Basement Family
Room!
-FOR RENT Only $1595
3-Level Townhome,3
Bedrooms, 2 1/2 Baths!
LARRY PERRIN REALTOR
(301) 983-0601
LJPerrin@aol.com.
SALE / ELSEWHERE
1 & 2 BR CO-OPS for sale. $135,000
to $213,000. Rental possibility. 1 to
3 blocks from the beach. Contact
Bob Marciak, Realtor, Coldwell
Banker. Email Me: bob.marciak@
floridamoves.com Web: www.
floridamoves.com/bob.marciak.
W ASH I N G T O NB L A DE . CO M
PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIEDS ONLINE
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
5 9, 170 lbs, Offering full body

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EROTIC SWEDISH MASSAGE healthy clean cut guy, 61, 160 lbs,
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for 1 hour. Bill 202-728-0238. No text
messages.
AFFORDABLE MASSAGE by friendly
& intuitive Latin male, in relaxing,
priv. studio just 15 min from DC
inArlington. Plenty of Parking.Same
day appts, 703-401-9093 or
a2006mx@yahoo.com.
THE MAGIC TOUCH: Swedish,
Massage or Deep Tissue. Appts 202486-6183, Low Rates, 24/7, In-Calls.
Two miles from DC. Alex 202-2155238. nvfive@gmail.com.
RENT / DC
16th STREET HEIGHTS Large house
in tranquil setting. 4 bed, 3 1/2 bath.
In-law suite. Walk to park, stores,
metro. $3,300/mo. incl. util. (202)
316-1107.
SALE / MD
Historic MD Farm 1 hr from
DC Two contiguous properties: a
restored 1820s stone farm house
(3,400 s/f) on five acres; a 21-acre
homesite with superb views & able
to be subdivided. See at www.
farmforsalemaryland.com.
SPECIAL LATINO
TOUCH
table, in a private atmosphere. In/out.
Parking Available, hotels welcome,
DC/MD/VA, 24/7. Call Lucas, 240-4628669, fromlucas@yahoo.com.
MASSAGE SILVER
SPRING...sensuous erotic
naked. Bruno $70 per hr.
301 580-2716.
ESCORTS
Never hired before? Get tips
for a good experience here: http://
beforeyoucome.blogspot.com
The Blacklist Site Real Recourse
WOMENS PERSONALS
for Male Escorts & Masseurs.

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GWF, SOFT BUTCH, attractive,

blue eyes, brown hair. I walk three
miles every day. I like movies, music,
playing cards, tv and pizza. ISO GWF
attractive, feminine, for friendship
and a long term relationship. If you
are interested, call Debbie 703-3683618.
MENS PERSONALS
Quality focused grounded
country guy looking to meet a
handsome bottom guy for possible
ltr. be clean and DD free. I am a family
man. I work in law enforcement. I am
drama free. Work in the city and live
in the country. Be over 35. Email me
about yourself and include a photo.
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BlackListedJohn.com.
ADULT PARTIES
WHITE HOUSE ATHLETIC CLUB

masseur (former) Custom bodywork!
Quality massage by a nationally
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tissue & sensual bodywork for total
stress relief in private studio. 4 Hand
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F E BRU A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 5 3 9
WARNING
HOT GUYS!
2013 winner
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for publication design
(official capital pride guide)
Washington
2014 winner
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202.822.1666
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703.373.1000
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410.468.4000
A D V E RT I S I N G
PROOF #2
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FEBRUARY

State lawmakers target

AMERICAS GAY NEWS SOURCE

its a thinly veiled attempt attargeting LGBT non-discrimination

Arkansas Gov. ASA HUTCHINSON (R)

Lawyers murder sparks

Donovan Hotel near Thomas Circle shortly before he

DAVID MESSERSCHMITT was found stabbed to death at

PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

OFF THE STREETS

BEHIND THE MUSIC

Locals mourn death of

Gay man talks about

Gay hit maker leaves

2015 Is Off tO An AmAzIng stArt!

But We need mOre InventOry!

Denny & LeyLa

BETHESDA / CHEVY CHASE

1509 22nd Street NW

4400 Jenifer Street NW

7032 Wisconsin Avenue

W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM

Now thru Mar. 10 | Opera House

Eric Owens, Photo by Cory Weaver

The Chicago Sun-Times

Tickets on sale now!

Major support for WNO is provided by Jacqueline Badger Mars.

Additional support for Dialogues of the Carmelites is provided

Generous support for The Flying Dutchman is provided by

Russian lesbian nds refuge in Baltimore

Face like jelly after attack

woman proceeded to tell her boyfriend

Honor to kill LGBT

Russias LGBT rights record came

Russia decriminalized homosexuality in

other Russian ocials over the annexation

Gay student loses bid for

W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM

W A SHI NG T ONBL A D E . COM

ARTS IN ACTION: Washington Concert Opera

of the score, Maestro Walker is sensitive

has specic vocal demands necessitating the

The rle of Freihild was originated

W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM

WITH FULL ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS

LGBT Black History Month

MAME DENNIS died this week at age 74.

D.C. drag legend remembered

The sometimes unrecognized love for LGBT people within

LGBT issues addressed at

Bystanders on H Street, N.W. in Chinatown on Sunday

W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM

Logan 14 saLon spa/med spa

Keep your promise to protect each other.

1314B 14th St. NW WDC 20005 202.506.6868 Logan14salonspa.com

Serving Our COmmunity fOr 31 yearS

ISSUE DATE: 01.23.15

(240) 778-2330 (703) 536-0220

Silber, Perlman, Sigman &tilev, P.a.

Lawrence S. Jacobs/McMillan Metro, PC

Michael Sam to compete on dance show

Not guilty plea in Marine murder case

Lawsuit led on behalf of Ga. trans inmate