Volume 46, Issue 21, May 22, 2015

MAY
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I SS U E 21
AM E RI C A S GAY NE W S S OURCE
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Can Clinton win over Obamas 08 gay supporters?

Some waiting to hear more, others
enthusiastic about 2016 campaign
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
Not all of President Obamas 2008 LGBT supporters are enthusiastic aboutHILLARY CLINTON.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
Eight years ago, the Democratic presidential primary

split the LGBT community between then-Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton and then-Sen. Barack Obama, who
ultimately won the nomination and the White House.
As the 2016 election approaches, many prominent
gay Democrats who backed Obama over Clinton in
2008 say they support her this time around, though
there are some holdouts who are waiting to hear
more, undermining the notion theyd automatically
rally behind the former secretary of state in her
second bid for the presidency.
Eric Stern, director of operations for the career
development oce for the law school at University of
California, Berkeley, supported Obama in 2008 and
CONTINUES ON PAGE 14
Cuban govt seeks to destroy us

Harsh words after police decline
to pursue trans womans killers
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
EDITORS NOTE: Next weeks Blade will feature a special indepth report on LGBT life in Cuba.
LEODAN SUAREZ QUIONES accused Cuban police of ignoring

the stoning death murder of a trans woman.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL K. LAVERS
HAVANA A Cuban transgender advocate this

weeksharply criticized government authorities for failing
torespond to what she described as a hate crime.
Leodan Surez Quiones, who lives in the town
of San Juan y Martnez in Pinar del Ro, told the
PAGES 23-29
Washington Blade on Monday night as she sat

along Havanas oceanfront promenade known as
the Malecn, that local authorities have concluded
the murder of Yosvani Muoz Robaina, a trans sex
worker known as La Eterna, on April 25 was a crime
of passion. She said they reached that conclusion
in spite of reports from local LGBT advocates that
indicate six teenagers stoned her to death.
Everyone thinks that it was not a crime of
passion, it was a homophobic crime, said Surez.
Surez told the Blade the murder underscores
the pervasive discrimination and violence that she
says trans Cubans continue to face.
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0 4 MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5
LO CA L N E W S
About 50 protesters joined a march on Sunday.

WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
D.C. activists march against transphobia

A memorial service for LGBT Fallen Heroes was held at Arlington National Cemetery
last week.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY DAMIEN SALAS
D.C. hosts National Police Week events
More than 150 LGBT police ocers from throughout the country came to the
nations capital last week to participate in events associated with National Police
Week, including a memorial service for LGBT Fallen Heroes held at Arlington
National Cemetery.
Scott Gunn, a detective with the Anne Arundel County, Md., Police Department,
and his husband, Nicholas Baatz, organized a series of LGBT-related events
linked to National Police Week in their role as co-founders of the LGBT Fallen
Heroes Fund.
The goal of the LGBT Fallen Heroes Fund is to identify and honor those fallen
LGBT Law Enforcement Ocers, Fireghters, EMS, and members of the Military
who have dedicated their lives to their communities and give recognition to their
survivors, the organization says on its website.
Gunn said the group, which was founded in 2013, is a project of the D.C. LGBT
Community Center.
Other LGBT events the group organized for Police Week included a fundraiser
for its programs and several social gatherings, which were held at the D.C. gay
clubs Town and Cobalt.
The LGBT Fallen Heroes Memorial Service took place May 13 in an auditorium
at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National
Cemetery. Gunn said about 100 people attended.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Ginsburg presides at marriage of Kahn, Mitchem

Michael Kahn, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Charles
Mitchem, an interior design architect, were married on May 17.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ociated. Ginsburg is a longtime
friend of Kahn and an avid theatergoer. Kahn and Mitchem have known each other for
more than seven years and have homes in D.C. and New York.
The wedding took place at the Anderson House on Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., in the
ballroom and a reception for 150 guests was held in the garden and catered by Occasions.
The Supreme Court is currently weighing litigation challenging marriage bans in four
states; a decision is expected next month.
PETER ROSENSTEIN
About 50 people attended a rally and march against transphobia on Sunday. The
event, organized by local activists, coincided with the International Day Against
Homophobia and Transphobia.
The rally began at Dupont Circle with a speech from local activist Ruby Corado of
Casa Ruby. CoradocriticizedMetropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier as well as the D.C.
Department of Health.
Right now there are trans women, gay men and LGBT people in D.C. jail, said Corado.
Their only crime has been to try to survive in an underground economy. But not once
have I heard you, Cathy Lanier, ask the City Council for resources to help those people
that you jail and then go back to nothing.
After the rally, activists marched from Dupont Circle past the White House to
McPherson Square chanting, Can you hear us? Loud and Queer! and What do we
want? Justice!
MICHAEL KEY
Carly Rae Jepsen, En Vogue to headline Pride

Capital Pride this week announced headlining performers for next months Pride
festival, including Carly Rae Jepsen, En Vogue, Wilson Phillips, Amber and Katy Tiz.
They are slated to perform at the Capital Pride concert on June 14, on Pennsylvania
Avenue, N.W., between 1-9 p.m.
This years Capital Pride Concert is shaping up to be an event unlike any other, said
Ryan Bos, Executive Director of the Capital Pride Alliance. With Carly Rae Jepsen, Wilson
Phillips, En Vogue, Amber, and Katy Tiz performing, this concert will be a tting nale for
the 40th anniversarys ashback theme. We hope that everyone who lives in the national
capital region and our visitors will join us for what is sure to be an unforgettable concert!
Jepsens breakout hit Call Me Maybe topped the iTunes charts two years ago; En
Vogue had a string of R&B hits in the 1990s, including Free Your Mind; and Wilson
Phillips is celebrating 25 years since their memorable hit Hold On.
STAFF REPORTS
Newseum, Blade team up to celebrate Pride

D.C.s Newseum will host a special event, Inside Media: The Washington Blade and
40 Years of Pride on June 6.
The event will feature Blade Editor Kevin Na and senior news reporter Lou Chibbaro
Jr. discussing the history of the newspaper and its award-winning coverage of the LGBT
community as well as the evolution of Pride in D.C.
It will be held June 6 at 2:30 p.m. at the Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.);
admission is free with Newseum ticket purchase. Seating is on a space-available basis.
STAFF REPORTS
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LO CA L N E W S
Amy Austin reects on 30 years at City Paper

Lesbian publisher steps
down, prepares for new
challenges in D.C.
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Change is inevitable no matter your eld
but its even more acute in newspaper
work. After 30 years of navigating all sorts
of change, Washington City Paper veteran
Amy Austin went from publisher, a title
shed had since 2003, to publisher emeritus.
Practically speaking that means shes
no longer there on a daily basis and is
pursuing other options. Her last day was
May 8, also her 57th birthday. She got a
happy sendo she says was a treat and
a day to celebrate whats been built and
whats to come. In addition to a mock
edition of the paper called the Amy issue,
there were cupcakes, Champagne and so
many owers it looked like I had died.
Washington City Paper started in 1981
and only a few years in, Austin, a Princeton,
Ill., native, joined the sta in 1985 working
rst as an ad assistant and gradually, over
many years and through several changes
in ownership, moving to operations
manager, general manager and then
publisher. There are 30 on sta currently.
Weekly circulation has held steady at
about 72,000 for the last six years.
She remembers long-time colleague
Sheila Alexander-Reid, like Austin a
lesbian, giving her an early hard time
because Austin declined to join her for
a beer. She sort of roughed me up,
Austin says with a laugh during a mid-day
interview in her oce on her penultimate
day on the job.
Her early years were spent doing all
sorts of work on the advertising side from
making sure things were print ready to
making corrections with typesetters.
Mostly Ive always worked with what
I would call putting the thing together,
she says. Making sure all the parts work
together, which is essentially the way I
think of the publisher job as well.
With her partner of nine years, Dierdre
Joy, and three kids (two age 14, one 12),
with whom she lives in Mount Pleasant,
Austin says shes not retiring. She admits
to feeling a little restless and gured 30
years was a good time to depart.
I need a bit of time to gure out whats
next but I know what my skills are and
what Im good at, so I hope to apply
those to other things, she says. I care
very much about the city and, you know,
the underserved, so I imagine it will be
something that combines one or two of
those things but I dont have a big plan.
The interview covered many topics:
AMY AUSTIN has no immediate plans but says shes ready to put her skills to work in another arena perhaps helping underserved
Washingtonians.
On changes in the industry: The last

15 years have not been easy because
the whole business model, as you know
if youre anywhere close to newspapers,
was just completely disrupted. But it has
made the work more interesting even
though it was much more dicult. In the
90s, everything was just pouring in and we
had very little competition. We competed
with the Blade, the Washington Post, to
some extent radio and magazines, but we
had a pretty clear playing eld. Now there
are a lot more ankle biters out there.
On managing millennials: I think
they just probably have better insight into
the world than when we were younger,
right? They know much more. Theres
more communication. The world is more
available to them so they arent as loyal as
they once were. The world is writ large
where it wasnt before. I dont think of them
as ckle, I think of them as individualists.
On balancing advertising and editorial:
For me, it never meant that church couldnt
talk to state or state couldnt talk to church.
We do a lot of collaborative projects like
our arts guides, our best of, but at the same
time, I have been the recipient of many an
angry call from people who work with us
on the marketing side who would expect
that would translate into the editorial side,
but thats not the arrangement. Theyre
not buying the editorial, theyre buying
the audience and if the editorial could
be bought, then it wouldnt be very good
editorial.
On being professionally out: I try
to be as out as I can as often as I can.

Philosophically, thats how I roll.
On the hyper-local focus: Its much
more tangible. You feel like you have more
impact. You can see the problems and
address them in editorial. You can see a
new store opening and think, I can help you
reach your greater audience. I love local.
On D.C. changes over 30 years: It
was quite a dierent city then but the
way it hasnt changed is that its still a very
small city. I think we all know the way
things have changed the camera shops
and record stores and none of those
businesses exist anymore, so part of
what City Paper has done on an everyday
basis is cover those gentrifying issues.
Its a very changed place but a lot of the
problems for people who dont have as
much access as everyone else still remain.
Thats why (Councilman Marion) Barry got
so many accolades at his funeral was that
he was tireless about pointing that out
every chance he got.
On memorable City Paper stories
over the years: Letters from an Arsonist
by Dave Jamieson (2007), My So-Called
Stalker, which David Carr, an infamous
journalist who recently died, helped the
victim write in a rst-person account in
1999. Her stalker was arrested shortly
after the story was published, so that was
a positive outcome. I loved it whenever
we got positive outcomes.
On keeping the bean counters happy:
Its certainly always top of mind to always
keep the revenue up and weve been really
successful. Im very proud of the digital

revenue we did under my watch. Ive
been able to keep (them) fairly happy.
On Washington Post: A fantastic
publication but I would argue we have
always done local coverage better or as
well as them but obviously they have a
lot more resources on the revenue side.
You can see them turning to more of a
national outlook, so that just makes City
Papers position even stronger.
On City Papers reputation compared
to other alt weeklies: Ours is the best in
the country!
Her bleakest day on the job: A day
in the fall of 2007 when we had to let a
number of sta go. I can still feel that. It
was very bleak.
Her proudest: One of the most
victorious moments was when (Washington
Redskins owner) Dan Snyder dropped his
lawsuit against us. He ended up dropping
it right before we went through with an
anti-SLAPP motion, which is a law designed
to stop frivolous lawsuits.
On the Rolling Stone campus rape
story: I dont understand how that
happened. It just seems against all principles
that you dont have secondary sources.
Her philosophy of HR: I believe
everyone wants to do their best.
On homophobia vs. sexism in
business: Never a problem with any
of our ownership groups but certainly
you encounter sexism. It happens on a
regular basis and probably more so if
youre gay.
P: K. Green
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NATIONAL NEWS
Amtrakengineer lands in media spotlight

Reports surface that
Brandon Bostian
is gay activist
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
The engineer operating the Amtrak train
that derailed in Philadelphia on May 12,
killing eight people and injuring more than
200 others has participated in gay rights
events in San Francisco and New York,
according to reports by multiple media
outlets, including the New York Times.
LGBT advocacy organizations have
largely remained silent on the reports
that Brandon Bostian, 32, who currently
lives in Queens, N.Y., participated in rallies
while living in San Francisco opposing
Californias Proposition 8, which banned
same-sex marriage in the state in 2008.
Other media outlets quoted Bostian
telling the Manhattan neighborhood
newspaper Midtown Gazette in a 2012
interview that he supports marriage
equality. The newspaper said the
interview was conducted at a marriage
equality forum held at New York Citys
LGBT Community Center.
Its kind of insulting to have to beg
people for my right to marry, the Gazette
quoted him as saying. I feel like we
shouldnt even have to have this ght.
Bostian has told investigators he has
BRANDON BOSTIAN is reportedly

cooperating with the investigation into last
weeks Amtrak derailment that killed eight.
no memory of what happened or why the

train was traveling more than 100 miles
per hour in a zone with a speed limit of
50 miles per hour as the train entered a
sharp curve in the tracks.
His attorney said he suered a
concussion among other injuries and his
last recollection was ringing the trains
bell as it left the Philadelphia station
heading to New York.
Robert Sumwalt, a member of the
National Transportation Safety Board,
which is investigating the derailment,
told the media that Bostian has been
cooperating with investigators.
The New York Times included the
quotes published in the Gazette in a
lengthy May 14 prole on Bostian that
focused mostly on his lifelong love for

railroads and his nine-year career with
Amtrak, which began when he became a
conductor in 2006. His LinkedIn page says
he became an Amtrak engineer in 2010.
It also reported that Bostian donated
money to eorts opposing Proposition 8
in California.
The Los Angeles Times ran a similar
prole on Bostian that, like the New York
Times, mentioned his gay rights activities
toward the end of its story, with information
about his work as a train conductor and
engineer and his past advocacy for train
safety as the focus of the story.
Other media outlets, including the
International Business Times, reported
comments about Bostian by conservative
commentator Sandy Rios, a former Fox
News Channel commentator and current
radio talk show host for the anti-gay
American Family Associations American
Family Radio network.
On her show, Sandy Rios in the
Morning, Rios said Bostians sexual
orientation could have been a factor in
the train derailment and crash.
I think its something to be discussed,
she said. Im not inferring that this
accident happened because hes gay, Rios
said. But I do think its an interesting part
of the story, and I bet it will be edited out.
She added that people dealing with
confusion that has to do with the very
core of who they are are more likely to
react negatively under stress.
Spokespersons for the Gay & Lesbian

Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and
Media Matters, two organizations that
speak out on how the LGBT community
is covered by the news media, didnt
respond to requests by the Washington
Blade for comment on the media
coverage of Bostians sexual orientation.
Fred Sainz, the Human Rights
Campaigns
vice
president
for
communications, said he doesnt believe
Bostians sexual orientation is relevant to
stories about the Amtrak train accident.
It should never have come up, said
Sainz in a statement to the Blade. Its no
more important than describing someone
similarly situated as being straight or
highlighting ones gender or race.
Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism and
sociology at the Columbia University School
of Journalism, who specializes in ethics
in journalism, told the Blade that some
of the media reports on Bostians sexual
orientation appeared within the proper
bounds of so-called prole reporting.
They wanted to do what they always
do on this type of story a prole on this
guy, said Gitlin, who noted that the Los
Angeles and New York Times appeared
to put Bostians sexual orientation in a
proper context.
I dont think thats indecent to toss that in
some 30 paragraphs in, he said in referring
to the Los Angeles Times story. They are
simply following what they can nd out
about the guy. Proles do this sort of thing.
In rst, federal bill seeks to ban ex-gay therapy

Rep. Lieus measure
would classify discredited
practice as fraud
By CHRIS JOHNSON
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) introduced
for the rst-time ever federal legislation
on Tuesday seeking to ban the widely
discredited practice of ex-gay conversion
therapy throughout the country.
Lieu said during a news conference
that he introduced the measure, the
Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act,
because medical and psychological
experts say conversion therapy is only
not ineective, but also potentially harms
individuals who endureit.
We know that being gay or lesbian
is not a medical condition that needs a
cure, Lieu said. Love doesnt need a
cure. Thats what the bill is about.
Under the legislation, conversion
therapy would be classied as fraud

under the Federal Trade Commission Act.
If the legislation were signed into law, the
Federal Trade Commission could enforce
the bill at its discretion and private
citizens could bring lawsuits against those
whopractice ex-gay therapy.
What the bill will do is outlaw
conversion therapy by saying that you
cannot advertise that youre doing
conversion therapy, you cannot say that
it works, you cannot promote it and you
cannot prot o of it, Lieu said.
California, New Jersey and D.C. have
already enacted laws barring ex-gay
conversion therapy. A similar measure
was passed by the Oregon Legislature and
is headed to the desk of Gov. Kate Brown,
whos expected to sign it. The White House
endorsedsuch bans in April, advocating a
state-by-state approach to the issue.
But the federal bill is dierent from
the state bans on conversion therapy
in many respects. First, the state laws
bar the practice only for minors, but the
federal bill would prohibit the therapy

for everyone so long as the practitioners
charge for the services.
Lieu, who spearheaded eorts as
a state legislator to pass the ban in
California, said he would have liked to
have enacted a law in California to bar
the practice for minors and adults, but
that wasnt feasible.
I would have loved to have done it for
everyone, but I couldnt get it through the
legislative process, so we did it for minors,
and other states replicated it, Lieu said.
Now, I think with the additional shift in
public opinion as well as medical science
and the numerous medical associations
that have come out and said this is crazy
therapy, its time to ban it across the
nation for all ages because fraud is fraud
whether you practice it on a 16-year-old
or a 46-year-old.
The legislation is also dierent from
the state bans because it applies only to
practitioners who charge for their services.
In that way, supporters of the bill say it
doesnt infringe upon First Amendment

liberties or religious freedom, but at the
same time is an eective way to stop
ex-gay therapy because the majority of
practitioners are for-prot.
The federal bill also explicitly bans
conversion therapy eorts not only on
the basis of sexual orientation, but also
gender identity.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the
National Center for Transgender Equality,
told the Blade the practice of conversion
therapy for transgender people is just
as ineective as it is for gay, lesbian and
bisexual people.
Its still the same fraud, Keisling said.
You cant change somebodys gender
identity; you cant change somebodys
sexual orientation.
Although the White House has
endorsed bans on sexual orientation
therapy, it has advocated a state-by-state
approach to the issue to build support for
broader action at a later time, stopping
short of endorsing a federal bill.
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 0 9
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NATIONAL NEWS
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Oregon Gov. KATE BROWN signed a ban on ex-gay therapy into law.
Oregon becomes latest state

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Oregon became the third jurisdiction

in the country to ban widely discredited
ex-gay conversion therapy for minors
after Gov. Kate Brown signed into law a
bill prohibiting the practice this week.
Brown, the nations rst openly bisexual
governor, signed the bill, House Bill 2307,
after the Oregon Senate approved the
measure on May 7 by a 21-8 vote. The
bill was already passed by the House on
March 17 by a vote 41-18.
Eliza Byard, executive director of
GLSEN, applauded Brown for taking this
important step.
We hope Oregon will prove to be just
the rst of many states to ban this harmful
and discredited practice that uses rejection,
shame and psychological abuse aimed
at changing ones sexual orientation or
gender identity/expression, Byard said.
Studies conducted by major mental health
organizations and personal testimony from
LGBT youth have shown that conversion
therapy can create dangerous and even lifethreatening eects, including depression,
decreased self-esteem, substance abuse
and suicidal behavior.
Browns oce conrmed to the
Washington Blade she signed the billinto
law, but provided no further comment.
Danni/y Rosen, chair of GLSEN Oregon,
also praised Brown.
GLSEN Oregon thanks the legislature
and governor for protecting LGBT youth
in Oregon from the detrimental eects
of conversion therapy, Rosen said. This

law moves us one step closer to ensuring
that all students in Oregon are safe and
armed both in and out of school.
Oregon
will
join
three
other
jurisdictions California, New Jersey and
D.C. thathave already enacted bans on
ex-gay therapy for minors. The laws in
California and New Jersey have also been
upheld as constitutional by circuit courts
with jurisdiction over those states.
The day after Brown signed the
legislation in Oregon, U.S. Rep. Ted
Lieu (D-Calif.) introduced the rstever legislation in Congress that would
ban ex-gay therapy nationwide by
classifying the practice as fraud. The
White House had previously advocated
a state-by-state approach to the issue,
but White House Press Secretary Josh
Earnest Tuesday said the administration
welcomes congressional eorts ban to
ex-gay therapy.
Oregon isnt the only state this week
to act against the practice. On Tuesday,
the Illinois House passed by a vote of
68-43 a similar measure that would ban
the practice for minors in that state. The
measure, introduced by Rep. Kelly Cassidy
(D-Chicago), now heads to the Senate,
where approval will send the measure to
the desk of Gov. Bruce Rauner. Its unknown
whether the Republican will sign the bill.
Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality
Illinois, hailed the passage of the
legislation in the House and said
momentum continues.
Ending conversion therapy is our
top priority in the legislature right
now, Cherkasov said. Trying to change
the unchangeable, our innate sexual
orientation and gender identity, should
not be attempted because it risks the
health of LGBT youth.
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 1 1
Fostering: A Transformational Life Experience

Six years ago we made the decision to become foster parents.
It was an easy decision, one that did not require a lot of
pondering or mulling over. We invested in the District of
Columbia early in our careers (1987). We chose to live here
and at the time were considered pioneers. After establishing
our roots, finding each other and comingling our assets we
knew we wanted to give back to our community and wanted
to experience parenthood through the lens of being a foster
parent. Warning! The best laid plans dont always follow
the script!
Fast forward to 2010 with all of our course requirements,
background checks and other importantly deemed
documentation we were ready for a placement. Patience
is a virtue and waiting for a placement is a true test we
thought we had cast our net far and wide. We were willing
to foster any child between the ages of 5-15. Following what
we thought to be a lengthy wait the phone finally rang and
our lives changed forever.
There was an eight (8) year old boy who was in need
of a placement. He had experienced several placement
disruptions and was being cared for at Childrens Hospital
and waiting transfer to a residential living facility in Georgia
where he would be cared for until he was eighteen (18).
Again, very little discussion, we were ready for this challenge
and immediately said yes!
Following our first night, we looked at each other and
simultaneously mouthed What Have We Done? Needless
to say, our first night was rough but we survived and we
made it through. We relied on our agency training, our
support groups and each other and our commitment of

providing a safe, loving environment for one of our own a
youth from the District of Columbia.
Fast forward to today gone are the days of tantrums,
emotional outbursts and defiance. The growth, maturity
and stabilization of this child is nothing short of miraculous.
He anchors us and we are his rock. So much so that we
moved forward and adopted this young man. Today, we
cant imagine our lives without him nor can we imagine
what his life what have been like without our paths having
crossed.
Following this experience, we maintained our license and
soon began to explore the opportunity of expanding our
family via the foster care path once again. In January 2015
we were fortunate to have a fourteen-year-old boy placed in
our care. Although the process was the same, his needs were
different than our younger son. Again, via our training and
support from the agency and our friends we quickly adapted
and have formed a permanent bond. In fact we have filed
our letter of intent to adopt and are eager to legalize our
expanded family.
Fostering and adopting our sons has been the most
phenomenal life transformational experience for us. We
cant imagine our life without our sons being a part of it.
There are so many children, especially older children, who
only need love, support and a stable environment from a
loving and flexible family. These are our children, District
of Columbia children, and they deserve to be loved and
nurtured. Take a chance and enjoy the rewards! We did!
For more information about becoming a DC foster parent call 202.671.LOVE (5683).
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
1 2 MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5
NATIONAL NEWS
Obama: LGBT rights are human rights

All people deserve to live
free from fear, violence
By CHRIS JOHNSON
President Obama proclaimed last week
that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
rights are human rights in a statement
observing the annual International Day
Against Homophobia & Transphobia.
We take this opportunity to rearm
that
lesbian,
gay,
bisexual,
and
transgender (LGBT) rights are human
rights, to celebrate the dignity of every
person, and to underscore that all people
deserve to live free from fear, violence,
and discrimination, regardless of who
they are or whom they love, Obama said.
The phrase gay rights are human
rights was made famous by Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in her
former capacity as secretary of state during a
2010 Pride speech and has been used since
that time by the Obama administration to
talk about international human rights.
We work toward this goal every day,
Obama continued. Here at home, we are
PRESIDENT OBAMA issued a statement on

the International Day Against Homophobia &
Transphobia.
working to end bias-motivated violence,

combat discrimination in the workplace,
and address the specic needs of
transgender persons. Overseas, I am
proud of the steps that the United States
has taken to prioritize the protection
and promotion of LGBT rights in our
diplomacy and global outreach.
Obama issued the statement on the
same day National Security Adviser Susan
Rice condemned anti-gay remarks from
Gambia President Yahya Jemmeh in

which he pledged to slit the throats of gay
men in his country.
There is much more to do, and this
ght for equality will not be won in a day,
Obama added. But we will keep working,
at home and abroad, and we will keep
ghting, for however long it takes until
we are all able to live free and equal in
dignity and rights.
On Sunday, Vice President Joseph Biden
issued his own statement, saying the
International Day Against Homophobia &
Transphobia is a time to reect on progress
the country has made on LGBT rights.
My father taught me the simple
notion that everyone, everywhere is
entitled to be treated with dignity and
respect, Biden said. When it comes to
LGBT people, that simple proposition
has been painfully dicult to accomplish
over the years. But in the last decade,
thanks to the astounding bravery of the
LGBT community and those who have
championed their cause, the United
States has made remarkable progress
toward the ultimate goal of equality in
law and in life. Our progress remains
incomplete, but the momentum has
shifted in the right direction.

Biden
acknowledged
signicant
obstacles remainin protecting LGBT people
from human rights violations overseas.
Progress has also been made in many
places around the world, Biden said. But
in too many places, life for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender individuals is
actually getting worse. In too many places,
LGBT community members face violence
with impunity, mistreatment by police,
the denial of healthcare, or religious
condemnation and social isolation.
Biden issued the statement as hes
been making outreach eorts to the LGBT
community, including by speaking at the
annual OutGiving conference for high-dollar
LGBT donors and before LGBT activists at a
Human Rights Campaign conference.
The best mechanism to confront this
hatred is to speak up in favor of universal
human rights. Supportive voices must be
heard, Biden said. Today and every day,
let us continue to defend the rights of
LGBT people, whether from nearby cities
or far-o villages. We cannot rest until
everyone receives the dignity, respect,
and equal treatment under the law that
all people deserve.
Bush: Opposition to gay marriage a core American value

Potential 2016 hopeful says
no constitutional right to
gay nuptials
By CHRIS JOHNSON
Coming o criticism for multiples
responses he gave on whether he would
have invaded Iraq 10 years ago, Jeb Bush
said last week that opposition to samesex marriage should be a core American
value out of concern for giving children
born in poverty a chance to succeed in life.
Ahead of an expected Supreme Court
ruling on the issue next month, the former
Florida governor made the comments in
an interview published Sunday with CBN
News David Brody, who asked Bush if hell
be the candidate for conservative Christians
concerned about the marriage issue.
At rst, Bush responded with comments
along the lines of what hes said in the
past, saying hes also concerned about the
issue and believes traditional marriage
is a sacrament. The use of phrase
traditional marriage is considered code
for conservatives to mean barring samesex couples from marriage.
Its talking about being formed by
ones faith, its at the core of the Catholic
faith and to imagine how we are going to
Former Gov. JEB BUSH (R-Fla.) opposes samesex marriage out of concern for children
born in poverty.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY LEE WHITMAN
succeed in our country unless we have

committed family life, committed childcentered family system is hard to imagine,
Bush continued. So, irrespective of the
Supreme Court ruling because they are
going to decide whatever they decide,
I dont know what they are going to do,
we need to be stalwart supporters of
traditional marriage.
But Bush went further than what hes
said before and made his most extensive
comments on the issue since he said
he was considering a presidential run.
Invoking the name of his Right to Rise
Super PAC, Bush argued that banning
same-sex marriage should be a core
American value to ensure children born in
poverty have the opportunity to succeed.
It has to be if we want to create a right
to rise society, where people, particularly
children born in poverty if we want to
have them to have a chance, it should be a
core American value, Bush said.
Eliminating any possibility that his
reference to traditional marriage was
something other than opposition to
same-sex marriage, Bush added, We
have to restore committed, loving family
life with a mom and dad loving their
children with their heart and soul.
The idea that same-sex marriage harms
children is a debunked talking point used
by gay rights opponents.
Just last week, a pair of sociologists
Brian Powell of Indiana University
and Simon Cheng of the University of
Connecticut announced they would
soon unveil research putting the nal
nail in the con on a widely discredited
study by University of Texas researcher
Mark Regnerus claiming that children
are worse o with same-sex parents. In
fact, the upcoming report will correct

the Regenrus study to show that its data
demonstrates children with gay parents
fare as well as children with intact
biological families.
Bush also said he doesnt believe theres
a constitutional right to same-sex marriage
and took a jab at President Obama and
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton for evolving on the issue.
I dont, but Im not a lawyer and clearly
this has been accelerated at a warp pace,
Bush said. Whats interesting is four years
ago Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton
had the same view that I just expressed to
you. Its thousands of years of culture and
history is just being changed at warp speed.
Its hard to fathom why it is this way.
In another segment of the interview Bush
said Christian business owners shouldnt
be required to provide services for a samesex wedding, drawing on the example of a
Washington orist who was ned under a
state civil rights law for refusing to provide
services to a same-sex wedding.
A big country, a tolerant country ought
to be able to gure out the dierence
between discriminating against someone
because of their sexual orientation and
not forcing someone to participate in a
wedding that they nd goes against their
moral beliefs, Bush added. We should be
able to gure this out. This should not be
that complicated, but gosh it is right now.
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 1 3
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
1 4 MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5
CO V E R ST O RY
Obamas 08 gay supporters pondering Clinton

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01
said he isnt yet ready to back Clinton.

I think it depends on how seriously
she and her campaign take the concerns
that the progressive wing of the
Democratic Party have about her ability
to champion our interests, Stern said. I
think its going to be really important, and
I hope this happens that shell work with
Elizabeth Warren to gain her support and
will hopefully rely on Elizabeth Warren as
an adviser during the campaign.
Stern recalled in 2008, Clinton was his third
choice. After his No. 1 choice in the primary,
former senator and 2004 vice presidential
candidate John Edwards, dropped out of the
race, Stern threw his support behind Obama
and became national co-chair of his LGBT
leadership council.
Among Sterns accomplishments were
redirecting 70 percent of Edwards LGBT
supporters to back Obama, managing
LGBT voter contact eorts in Ohio and
Texas and serving as a media surrogate
for the Obama campaign.
Both the message of the platforms of
John Edwards and Barack Obama to me
were more in line with my values, so I
want to take a wait-and-see approach to
what Secretary Clinton has to say about
herself, about the kind of president shed
be, the kind of White House she would
have and what her priorities would be
and how she would address the grave
economic inequality in our country right
now, Stern said. Thats my No. 1 issue.
Although a Draft Elizabeth Warren
campaign to urge the Massachusetts
senator to enter the race is underway,
Stern said he hasnt formally taken part
in those eorts, but may have signed a
petition for Warren. At this point, Stern
said if he had to vote in the primary, he
would back U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders in
his presidential bid.
I think hes really the only one whos
standing up to corporate interests and
whos really speaking honestly about
the economic inequality that exists in
our country, and the way in which a
Democratic president would need to
address that in order to help those who
are unemployed and underemployed and
still struggling from the after eects of
the recession, and I dont hear that from
Hillary Clinton in the same way I hear that
from Bernie Sanders, Stern said.
But in the likely event Clinton wins the
Democratic nomination, Stern said hed
be proud to vote for her on Election
Day 2016.
The issue of how Obamas 2008
LGBT supporters view Clinton came to
prominence this week. On the campaign
trail in Iowa, Clinton made a stop at the
Mason City home of Dean Genth and
Gary Swensen, a politically active same-
I have always liked and respected Secretary

Clinton very much, said RUFUS GIFFORD,
who backed President Obama over Hillary
Clinton in 2008.
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER DILTS;
COURTESY OF OBAMA FOR AMERICA
sex couple that was one of the rst to

marry in Iowa in 2009 and supported
Obama over Clinton in 2008.
During her 30-minute remarks,
Clinton addressed topics ranging from
preserving Obamacare to mental health
advocacy, but concluded with a story that
could be seen as a call for unication.
Clinton recalled a trip to Indonesia
whenshe was asked on a morning show
about how she could work for Obama
after he defeated her in the primary.
I thought I have to answer this in a
very serious way that maybe they can
understand that in our democracy, we
do try to close the ranks after we have
hard elections, at least thats what we
should be doing, Clinton said. So I said,
Well youre right. I campaigned hard, he
won, I lost, I then campaigned to get him
elected. He asked me to be secretary of
state and I said yes for the same reason:
We both love our country. And at the end
of the day to me, thats what elections are
supposed to be about.
After the event, Genth told the Blade
as the head of a local Democratic group
hes unable at this time to take an ocial
position on the presidential primary.
Nonetheless, he had positive things to

say about Clinton,despite having backed
Obama in 2008.
We just felt as a lot of people did that
it was his moment and it was his time,
but I think we feel equally as strong now
that this is Hillarys moment and this
is Hillarys time, Genth said. We think
shes tremendously a more mature and
stronger candidate than just eight years
ago. You could sense in the house today,
her demeanor and her sense of knowing
what she knows now that shes served
four years as the most traveled secretary
of state in the history of our country. I
think shes more comfortable in her skin.
But Genth recalled that during the 2008
presidential primary, when he helped
set up the rst Obama campaign oce
in Iowa and allowed Obama campaign
workers to stay at his home, the split in
the LGBT community was palpable.
A lot of our LGBT folks, especially
our lesbian friends, were just adamant
for Hillary, Genth said. We were back
in that mode of saying we got to go for
the person that can win in November.
Our LGBT issues and progress is going to
depend on somebody holding the White
House for us.
This time around, Genth said Clintons
experience in the Obama administration as
secretary of state places her at the top of the
list ofcandidates seeking the White House.
There is no human being alive and
breathing on this planet Earth that has
her resume, Genth said. Not Abraham
Lincoln, not Thomas Jeerson, not Ronald
Reagan, not Bill Clinton, nor Barack
Obama. No one has male or female, or
for that matter worldwide that resume
of hers now. And so, I think that makes
her extremely qualied.
In the camp of taking a cautious
approach to Clinton is John Klenert, a
gay D.C. Democratic activist who was a
member of the national LGBT committee
for Obama in 2008.
Klenert said Clinton is the only
Democrat at this point who could win
the White House, but added hes not
particularly thrilled with the way things
are happening now with the campaign,
taking note of recent criticism that
Clintonavoids media questions.
Shes not the best speech person, but
that said, she has seemed to improve her
communications skills at least one-onone with people and doesnt come across
as what seemed to be plastic, Klenert
said. I look at it this way, the nomination
is hers to lose at this point. Will she win
in November? God, I hope so, but thats a
lifetime in politics.
Among the things that Klenert said he
would like Clinton to address is voting
rights for D.C. in Congress as well as
whether shell break another glass ceiling
by appointing for the rst time an openly

LGBT person as a Cabinet member and
an out lesbian as a U.S. ambassador.
But a signicant portion of Obamas
2008 gay supporters say theyre fully
behind eorts to elect Clinton to the
White House.
California Assembly member Evan
Low, who was also a member of the
national LGBT committee during the 2008
primary, said Clinton is his candidate of
choice for this snapshot in time.
Shes had a record of leadership not
only in the Senate, but also as secretary
of state to really promote a lot of
issues that we care about in the LGBT
community, Low said. I think theres a
tremendous opportunity for individuals,
such as myself and others, to rally behind
her candidacy.
Low, who in his previous capacity
as mayor of Campbell, Calif., was the
youngest openly gay, Asian-American
mayor in the country, pointed to her
leadership on LGBT issues at the State
Department, which he said bodes well.
Stampp Corbin, a San Diego-based
Democratic activist and publisher of
San Diego LGBT Weekly, was a stalwart
supporter of Obama, but said hes now
100 percent behind Clinton.
To be honest, I think that shes moved
signicantly, Corbin said. Shes in the
right place with respect to LGBT issues,
and that is of major importance to me.
Im not a one-issue voter, but that is the
issue that is at the top of my list. I dont
understand people if theyre gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender, I really dont
understand how your equality is not the
most important thing to you.
Corbin said he picked Obama over
Clinton and became co-chair of the 2008
Obama National LGBT Leadership Council
because of personal connections to the
Obamas, noting he and Michelle Obama
attended the same high school in Illinois.
Among his duties for the campaign
were drafting policy papers for the
campaign on LGBT issues and he
helped guide the campaign through
the controversy after it hired pastor
Donnie McClurkin, an advocate of exgay therapy, to help rally evangelicals in
South Carolina.
He has been very deliberate about
what hes gotten done, and hes gotten
it done without a lot of fanfare and all
of that, where people were complaining
100 days in, Corbin said. And of course,
theyre going to now all take credit for
putting pressure on the president as he
asked, but it was just a bunch of people
apping their gums and not giving the
president his due in time to get to the
issues that he felt were important.
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 1 5
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CO V E R ST O RY
Cuban trans advocate: Government seeks to destroy us

She said that many trans Cubans

are forced to prostitute themselves
at night because they are unable to
work and receive basic support from
the government in terms of accessing
education and other services. Surez told
the Blade that trans Cubans also face
harassment from the police who she said
are quick to accuse them of engaging in
sex work.
Surez said trans people are able to
walk freely in Havana, but not in her
home province.
We are very discriminated against,
she said. We do not have what you see
here in Havana.
Surezs criticisms stand in direct contrast
to the work that Mariela Castro Espn,
daughter of Cuban President Ral Castro
who directs the National Center for Sexual
Education, and her supporters contend she
is doing on behalf of trans Cubans.
Trans Cubans have been able to
receive free sex-reassignment surgery
under the countrys national health care
system since 2008, but advocates who
are critical of Mariela Castro and her
organization maintain that fewer than
30 people have been able to access the
procedure. Mariela Castro, who is also
a member of the Cuban Parliament, in
2013 voted against a measure to add
sexual orientation to the islands labor
code because it did not include transspecic protections.
Mariela Castro highlighted this fact
during her speech in the city of Las
Tunas on Saturday to commemorate the
International Day Against Homophobia
and
Transphobia.
Several
trans
advocates from Havana and other Cuban
cities attended the event and others that
accompanied it.
The laws are not sucient to guarantee
in full plurality the rights of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, trans and transsexuals in our
workplaces, said Mariela Castro. The
processes of sensitization, education
must be articulated positively for Cubans
who experience discrimination.
She was among those who held a giant
Pride ag as they and hundreds of others
walked toward the citys main square.
Marchers chanted Yes to Socialism, no
to homophobia, and other slogans that
included rights to all people and Las
Tunas is present. Members of Colmanita
de Balcn, a group of young dancers and
singers from Las Tunas, also took part
in the march alongside a number of stilt
walkers holding Pride ags and a group of
local residents who covered themselves
with a clay-like substance.
Two activists, including a member of
CENESEXs Network of Young People for
Health and Sexual Rights (Red de Jvenes
por la Salud y los Derechos Sexuales in
MARIELA CASTRO ESPN, daughter of Cuban President Ral Castro, speaks in Las Tunas, Cuba, on May 16, during events to commemorate the
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL K. LAVERS
Spanish) at the end of the march placed

a wreath of owers and palm fronds
from the organization under a statue of
Vicente Garca, a leading gure in the
10 Years War from 1868-1878 during
which Cubans fought for independence
from Spain, that noted its events
commemorating the International Day
Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
Mariela Castro paid homage to Garca
in a brief ceremony.
Long live our martyrs, she proclaimed
to the crowd gathered around the statue.
Long live the revolution!
Mariela Castro during a speech to her
supporters highlighted the ban against
discrimination in the workplace based
on sexual orientation the countrys
lawmakers approved in late 2013. She
added her fathers government has
pledged to include our citizens in all
forms of social integration.
We do not want exclusion, she
said. We are working for the social
participation of everyone. We want unity.
We are ghting for unity.
Mariela Castro left the event without
speaking to the Blade and reporters from
a handful of other foreign media outlets
who were covering it. CENESEX supporters
who took part in an information fair after
her speech and the march were quick to
applaud the Cuban presidents daughter

and what they insist are her eorts to
advance the Communist islands LGBT
rights movement.
Marilyn vila, a trans woman from Las
Tunas who is a member of Proyecto HSH,
which works to prevent the spread of HIV/
AIDS in the country, described Mariela
Castro to the Blade as the best. She said
that CENESEX provides her organization
with support and other assistance.
They support us in everything,
said vila. She (Mariela Castro) is an
incredible person, as a human being.
The Las Tunas events occurred a week
after another march took place in Havana
to commemorate the International Day
Against Homophobia and Transphobia
on Sunday. Pastors from the U.S. and
Canada blessed the relationships of 20
Cuban same-sex couples during the
event, even though gays and lesbians
lack marriage rights on the island.
Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the
Metropolitan Community Churches who
led a delegation to Cuba earlier this
month, was among those who attended
the Havana event. He, too, praised
Mariela Castro during a telephone
interview with the Blade shortly after
returning to his Los Angeles home.
Mariela Castro as far as the gay
community goes, they all had nothing but

good things to say about her, said Perry.
She is a star in the gay community, just
like I knew she would be.
But not everyone shares that view.
Surez told the Blade she has a very
negative opinion of Mariela Castro.
She said she went to the National
Center for Sexual Education, known by
its Spanish acronym CENESEX, to obtain
sex-reassignment surgery. She said
she has not been able to complete the
procedure and Sarez noted other
trans Cubans have found themselves in
a similar situation.
It is the only organization where one
can go to change their sex in Cuba, she
said, referring to CENESEX.
Surez added she and other
independent LGBT advocates have
formed what she described as a
community project in Pinar del Ro to
ght for people who are discriminated
against by the world. She told the Blade
she is not optimistic that the Cuban
government will advocate on their behalf.
If we accept the hands and the kisses
of the government, it will make all that is
possible into all that it is impossible to
destroy us, said Surez. They are not
obligated to help us...many of us have
died, thanks to this government.
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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
18 M A Y 22, 2015
BA LT I MO RE N E W S
Eagle supporters rally

Last month, the three-member
Baltimore City Liquor Board
refused to grant the owners of the
Baltimore Eagle a liquor license
transfer, claiming that the work
on renovations was not completed
within the required 180 days.
%
Hundreds of thousands of dollars
have been invested by Charles
If your economy needs some stimulation,
and Ian Parrish in renovations,
permits and other expenditures in
Ill show you how to make your car insurance
an eort to reopen the bar on the
dollars work harder. Like a good neighbor,
corner of Charles and 21st Streets
that had been a popular venue for
State Farm is there. CALL FOR A QUOTE 24/7
the leather community since 1991.
The Baltimore Eagle remains closed and its
We disagree with the decision
liquor license was revoked by city ocials.
of the Liquor Board, says a
PHOTO BY A. CURRELL; COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS
message on the bars website,
TheBaltimoreEagle.com.
We
believe that the City should honor its promise to us. Although their stated reason
for extinguishing our license is that The Eagle has been closed for renovations
for more than 180 days, theyve set aside the 180-day guideline dozens of times
for other bars. And although there is no penalty in law that requires the Liquor
Board to revoke our license, they concocted the harshest punishment available.
Why are they selectively penalizing The Eagle?
Despite the Liquor Boards decision, which many believe was unjust, capricious
and even discriminatory, the ownership group and supporters have devised
a three-pronged strategy to bring the Baltimore Eagle back. That strategy
to recover The Eagles license will include pressuring elected ocials, ling a
P090102 04/09 State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, State Farm Indemnity Company, Bloomington, IL
reconsideration or appeal and launching an all-out grassroots campaign.
That endeavor has already begun. A group called Friends of the Baltimore
Eagle, which is not aliated with the Baltimore Eagle LLC, has distributed iers
mostly through social media urging members of the community and allies to
support the eort. The ier, titled PLEASE HELP US SAVE THIS LANDMARK
TAVERN, explains what transpired and claims the Liquor Boards decision was
tainted by a biased member.
Accordingly, Friends of the Baltimore Eagle is urging the community to write
the governor, mayor and City Council requesting that they overturn the boards
decision. The Eagles website provides a simple form to use that includes a
sample message of support.
We are asking Baltimore City for justice, Ian Parrish told the Blade in an
email. The City knew our plans, the City took our money, then the City took our
license and thats neither ethical nor legal. We as businesspeople have been
wronged, the LGBT community has been wronged, and area residents who need
this major revitalization have been wronged.
The Liquor Board has delivered nothing but broken promises, conicts of
interest, and selective applications of the law blunder after blunder at the
worst possible time for our City. We are asking the community to rise up and
join us in our request to Mayor Rawlings-Blake to right this wrong and to show
us that business investment and diversity are truly welcome in Baltimore.
Parrish points out that renovations to the bar have resumed and are moving
ADVERTISIN
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F
forward.
supporters to sign the petition at TheBaltimoreEagle.com.
Get discounts up to 5-40
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Headliners announced for Baltimore Pride

An eclectic group of performers has been assembled to headline this years
ADVERTISER SIGNATURE Baltimore Pride. Transgender entertainer TS Madison will host the entertainment
at the block party on July 25 on Charles and Eager Streets and on July 26 at Druid
Hill Park.
At the block party, Martha Wash, The Original Weather Girl (Its Raining
Men), will perform as will rapper Cazwell.
The festival at Druid Hill Park will feature singer/songwriter Steve Grand,
whose music video All-American Boy went viral in 2013. Grand is believed to
be the rst openly gay male country musician to attract mainstream attention.
I am so excited that Baltimore Pride is going to be celebrating 40 years
with some of the biggest names in the history of Pride, says Paul Liller, Pride
Coordinator.
STEVE CHARING
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 1 9
WEVE BEEN OPEN
FOR OVER 40 YEARS.
BUT THIS STILL DESERVES A COMING OUT PARTY.

Our new location will allow us to continue to serve Washingtons LGBT community, as well as
the broader neighborhood, with services that include primary care, dental, legal and more.
Our new doors open on May 18th. Everyone is welcome at 1525 14th St, NW.
Note that some services will remain at the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center (including the
Tuesday/Thursday evening STD clinic). For more information, visit Whitman-Walker.org/1525
202-745-7000
WWH-008 Washington Blade 9.75x11.5.indd 1
Whitman-Walker.org
5/4/15 1:41 PM
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
2 0 MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5
VIEWPOINT
VOLUME
46
ISSUE
21
ADDRESS
PO Box 53352
Washington DC 20009
Backlash, bullies and

victory blindness
Fight for equality cannot stop
while scapegoating continues
RICHARD J. ROSENDALL is a writer and activist.

Reach him at rrosendall@starpower.net.
On behalf of my friend Dorothy Gale, I

wish to apologize for gay tornados.
Lately, the gays have been blamed
for a long list of ills, both real and imagined. The looming prospect of nationwide
marriage equality has sent some social
conservatives around the bend. It is not
just twisters for which we are on the
hook. The catalog of cataclysms includes
droughts, hurricanes, autism, ebola, economic recession, 9/11, the Amtrak wreck,
900,000 abortions, wiping out Christianity, even the Rapture.
As Rev. Jerry Falwell said after 9/11,
You helped this happen.
The nuns at St. Catherines, who were
always punishing us unjustly, told us unearned suering was redemptive. So in a
spirit of Christian fellowship, and to avoid
the national trauma of a long trial, I have
started confessing to everything anyone

blames on LGBT people. I answer each
idiotic charge with an abject apology:
There I go again. What was I thinking? I
am so sorry.
I fear St. Dominic Savio, patron of the
falsely accused, would weep at my irreverence. Forgive me. As Mae West said, I
used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
A favorite tactic in the anti-gay backlash is for religious bigots to claim they
are being persecuted for their beliefs.
Thus when conservatives blame gay
people for everything under the sun,
they are exercising their freedom of
speech; but when we defend ourselves,
we are called liberal thought police. If
you and your same-sex spouse simply
wish to conduct business in the public
marketplace without facing discrimination, you are accused of anti-Christian
bullying, even if you are Christian yourselves.
Many on the right slammed gay liberals for condemning gay hoteliers Mati
Weiderpass and Ian Reisner after they
hosted an event for Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz. When Reisners apology was widely panned (he
implausibly claimed navet about Cruzs
anti-gay positions), we were excoriated
for our severity, despite Cruz having proposed an anti-gay constitutional amendment the day after the gay event. I am
sorry (again), but it is preposterous for
E DIT OR IA L C A R T OON
tycoons like Weiderpass and Reisner to

be painted as victims because they are
subject to criticism for their political activity like everyone else.
One senses something akin to Stockholm Syndrome in the solicitude for our
opponents by some gay conservatives,
the insistence that somehow the rules everyone else takes for granted should not
apply to gay people. We are supposed to
disarm unilaterally before we have even
won. Conscience clauses are demanded
to let merchants discriminate against us
as they may not do against racial or other
minorities. Sorry again, but no.
I myself have stoutly defended our
opponents free speech rights. This
does not require surrendering our own
rights. The fact that we are winning
does not mean that we are nished.
That mistake is what Michelangelo Signorile, in his new book Its Not Over,
calls victory blindness. One example of
unnished business: until LGBT people
are included in the non-discrimination
protections of Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, in many states you can marry your same-sex partner on Saturday
and be red on Monday.
Some gay conservatives dismiss coalition politics (which my own D.C. colleagues and I have found instrumental
in victories ranging from police accountability to marriage equality) because
their privilege blinds them to the vulnerability of others. They accuse liberals of coercive groupthink because our
recognition of LGBT diversity causes us
to support (say) trans women of color
whose struggles are dierent from
those of gay white men.
How are gay conservatives claims of
victimhood any less silly than complaints
by students at Oberlin and Mt. Holyoke
that disagreeing with them is a form of
violence? Rule of thumb: if your article decrying thought police nds a publisher,
you may be exaggerating their power.
I strive to be civil in my advocacy, to
persuade rather than demolish. But
when there is a rush to scapegoat a gay
railroad engineer, when the media still
regard homophobic slanders as acceptable, when our love is still widely treated
as a laugh line or a dirty little secret, I will
humbly beg your pardon for my inclination to continue the ght. Equality is not
an object, but a habit.
Copyright 2015 by Richard J. Rosendall.
All rights reserved.
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LI FE I N TH E I NTER SEC TION
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 2 1
Black Prides role in my journey of acceptance

Proud to celebrate events
25th anniversary this weekend
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.
This week marks the 25th anniversary

of D.C. Black Pride, the worlds oldest
Black LGBT Pride celebration. In addition
to the local Black LGBT community, thousands of people from around the world
come to Washington for this annual celebration.
For many Black LGBT people, D.C. Black
Pride has served as their rst time in a
predominately LGBT space. I know that
was the case for me. Fifteen years ago,
I hold memories of my early experiences

close to my heart because Black Pride
was there when I needed it.
when I was starting the process of coming to terms with my sexuality, I decided
to attend some of the Black Pride events.
I remember going to the opening reception, where Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton greeted the crowd.
Attendees had cameras and video cameras to document the experience. Many
people were there from out of town, so
watching a member of Congress greet an
LGBT crowd, and a Black LGBT crowd at
that, was a big deal. Being that I wasnt
out, I was terried of being in one of the
photos. I remember trying to move out
of the way anytime someone tried to
take a picture or videotape the event.
Yet, this was my rst time hearing Congresswoman Norton speak in person
and there were no microphones, so I
wanted to stand close enough to her to
hear her comments.
At one particular low point for me, I

was standing a few people away from the
congresswoman and multiple cameras
started ashing as people started taking
pictures of her. Unable to move out of the
way, I held a newspaper up to try to cover
my face. I could have sworn I heard a few
groans in the crowd.
The irony was not lost on me. I was at
a Black Pride event and clearly I wasnt
proud or even comfortable with the idea
that someone may see me there and assume that I was a lesbian or bisexual.
However, this was an important part of
my experience and going to D.C. Black
Pride was an important rst step for me.
Despite this mild embarrassment for
me, my early D.C. Black Pride experiences
were enjoyable, enlightening and very
helpful in my journey of self-acceptance.
During that time, I went to many of the
workshops. The presenters were excellent and I was always able to nd workshops that addressed issues or concerns
that I was struggling with at the time. I
also went to the poetry slams, the lm
festival and some of the day parties.
These events were full of people with
beautiful spirits and they either spoke to
my angst at the time or they served as a
loving, arming space.
While I still celebrate D.C. Black Pride
each year, I hold memories of my early
experiences close to my heart because
Black Pride was there when I needed it.
It was there before I felt a reason to celebrate. It was there to let me know that
Im not alone.
Looking back, if you would have told
me that the timid young woman who was
afraid to be seen at an LGBT event would
become comfortable enough in her own
skin to preside over the Districts largest
LGBT political organization a decade later, I would not have believed it. Yet, that
was my experience and that was my journey. D.C. Black Pride played a key role in
that journey and Im proud to celebrate
D.C. Black Pride on its 25th anniversary.
I N S I DE LGB T W A S HING TON
Proud to again support Hillary Clinton

There is no stronger
supporter of LGBT rights
running for White House
PETER ROSENSTEIN is a D.C.-based LGBT rights

and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly
for the Blade.
There is no stronger supporter of the

LGBT community running for president
than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Even when
Hillary, like many others, was not yet
ready to support marriage equality, she
nevertheless always had close friends in
the LGBT community and shared a mutual respect with them.
I remember a story she told about her
parents after they moved to Arkansas.
They had a gay couple as neighbors and
one was a doctor. Her father, whom Hillary has described as diversity challenged,
liked the guys and one evening made disparaging comments about gays in front of
them. He was shocked when her mom told
him they were a gay couple rather than just
good friends living together. Hillary said
she owed much to that neighbor who was
with him in the hospital when he died after
she and Bill, who was president at the time,
were urgently called back to Washington after spending time with her parents.
As the nation evolved, Hillary changed
with it. Her historic speech on gay rights
as Secretary of State in Geneva on Dec.
6, 2011 has positively impacted the ght
for LGBT rights around the world. It is
a testament to Hillarys belief the LGBT
community must have full and equal civil
and human rights. In 2012, Hillary spoke
in recognition of the 20th anniversary celebration of the Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Aairs Agencies organization in the
historic Ben Franklin Room at the State
Department. Speaking to LGBT State Department employees she said, Our people should not have to choose between
serving the country they love and living
their life with the people they love.
One of the rst things Hillary did upon leaving the State Department, when she could
again make political statements, was to make
a video supporting marriage equality and

this year she called on the Supreme Court to
determine the right for gays and lesbians to
marry is guaranteed by the Constitution.
So it is tting we celebrate and support Hillary at a Pride event in D.C. on
Thursday, June 11 at Lost Society on 14th
Street. You can be a part of this exciting
evening with special guests like campaign
manager Robby Mook, Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Reps. Jared Polis, David Cicilline,
Joe Kennedy and Mark Takano. To RSVP,
visit hillaryclinton.com.
Hillary recognizes there are still many
hurdles to full equality facing the LGBT
community. She understands laws
passed guaranteeing civil and human
rights to African Americans havent ended
discrimination and racism. She has spent
a lifetime speaking out for womens rights
and knows we have a long way to go before women have true equality.
In many states, a gay or lesbian person
can marry one day and be red or denied
a place to live the next. There is the horrendous practice of conversion therapy
still legal everywhere but New Jersey, California and the District of Columbia where
it has been banned for minors. I have
communicated with the Clinton campaign
and asked Hillary to speak out on banning

conversion therapy for minors.
In addition, we need Hillary to give her
full support to, and to ght for, a comprehensive LGBT civil and human rights bill in
Congress. Such a bill is now being prepared
for introduction by Sen. Je Merkley (D-Ore.)
and Cicilline. The bill is similar to one rst introduced in 1974 by Bella S. Abzug (D-N.Y.).
The time to pass such a bill is long overdue.
Those of us who support Hillary Clinton
do so with knowledge she will ght for full
equality for all because she understands
the following words from the U.S. Constitution must one day speak to all of us: We
the People of the United States, in order to
form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide
for the common defense, promote the
general Welfare, and secure the Blessings
of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.
Whether you are Asian, Latino, African
American, LGBT, a woman, or an immigrant ghting for a pathway to citizenship, electing Hillary Rodham Clinton the
45th and rst woman president of the
United States will make a dierence for
you and to future generations.
2 2 MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5
HOST HOTEL
Grand Hyatt Washington
1000 H St NW, WDC 20001
25TH DC BLACK PRIDE AWARDS RECEPTION

Wednesday, May 13, 6:30 8:30 p.m. (program starts at 7:15 p.m.)
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP, 1152 15 St NW, WDC 20005
Admission: $15 - purchase tickets at dcblackpride.org/reception
2015 AWARDS RECIPIENTS

Welmore Cook Award
Ebon F. Bell
Join us to honor the 2015 DC Black Pride Awards recipients. This years Welmore
Cook Award for community service awardees are long time community activists
and Ebone F. Bell and Steven Walker. Genise Chambers-Woods will receive the
Charlotte Smallwood Award presented to the DC Black Pride volunteer of the year.
The DC Black Pride Leadership Award presented to Black LGBT community leaders
who are thirty years old or under will be presented to Jessica Pierce and Keith
Jones, Jr. The evening will include cocktails and hors doeuvres.
EVENTS...A QUICK LOOK

Welmore Cook Award
Steven Walker
All events are free and will be held in the Host Hotel unless noted.
Friday, May 22
Charlotte Smallwood Award
Genise Chambers-Woods
Opening Reception, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Speed Dating/Networking, 8:30 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 23
DC Black Pride Leadership Award
Jessica Pierce and Keith Jones, Jr.
Workshops, 11 3 p.m.
Writers Forum moderated by Timm West, 12:30 2:30 p.m.
Film Festival, 3 7 p.m.
Poetry Slam hosted by ButtaflySoul, 7 9 p.m.
Sunday, May 24
DC Black Pride Leadership Award
Keith Jones, Jr.
Interfaith Service, 9 11 a.m.

Cultural Arts & Wellness Festival, noon 6 p.m.
(Francis-Stevens Educational Campus, 2425 N St NW (near DuPont Circle)
COMPLETE DETAILS
For complete details visit dcblackpride.org
DC BLACK PRIDE IS A PROGRAM OF THE CENTER FOR BLACK EQUITY
CBE DCBP2015 Ad.indd 1
4/29/2015 9:52:55 PM
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
D .C. B LA CK PRI DE
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 2 3
Festering frustration
PHOTO COURTESY OF VOICE OF AMERICA
Some in the LGBT community questioned why Baltimore black youth would riot in their own neighborhoods, ignoring their own communitys history of rioting against police injustice.
Activists say police

abuse is common link
to gay, black riots
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
The Stonewall riots triggered by a police
raid on a New York City gay bar in 1969
and three other lesser known gay riots
in San Francisco were reactions to police
abuse and perceived societal oppression,
according to LGBT activists familiar with
those incidents.
San Francisco gay and AIDS activist
Cleve Jones, who witnessed two of the gay
riots in his city in 1979 and 1991, is among
those who say there are similarities
between the police abuse experienced
by young gay men back in the 1960s and
1970s and young black men today.
Jones and other LGBT activists point to
the incident involving 25-year-old African
American Freddie Gray, whose death on

April 19 from a severe spinal cord injury
he sustained while in custody of Baltimore
police triggered riots and looting.
Ocials with several national LGBT rights
groups, including the National Black Justice
Coalition, have joined African-American
civil rights leaders in denouncing the
action by six Baltimore police ocers who
detained and arrested Gray on a charge
of possessing a small knife that was later
found to be legal to carry.
The groups said Grays death in a policerelated incident, after ocers reportedly
ignored his pleas for medical treatment
while being transported in a police
wagon, highlighted similar instances of
reported abuse by police against young
black men in Baltimore and other parts of
the country, including Ferguson, Mo.
Where you can draw a parallel is with
police relations, Jones says. I think to be
a young gay person in San Francisco in the
late 1970s, you would have many of the
same kinds of feelings as young African

Americans feel toward the police today.
When I got to San Francisco, the cops
hated us. And they made it very, very clear
every day, Jones says. Im an old white
man and unlikely to be singled out for my
appearance for abuse by the police. But my
memories of it from my youth are fresh.
Jones was a student intern working
for San Francisco Board of Supervisors
member and gay rights advocate Harvey
Milk in November 1978. It was at that time
when Dan White, a disgruntled former
police ocer who had just resigned
from his position as one of Milks fellow
supervisors, shot Milk to death in Milks
oce at City Hall.
White killed Milk minutes after
assassinating pro-gay San Francisco Mayor
George Moscone in the mayors oce
in a t of rage over Moscones refusal to
reappoint White to his supervisors seat.
White had announced he changed his
mind and wanted to remain in oce. Milk
was among his fellow supervisors who

urged Moscone not to reappoint White,
who was part of a conservative faction on
the Board of Supervisors that opposed
Milk on many policy matters.
In May 1979, gays and other San
Franciscans became outraged when a jury
ignored prosecutors calls for convicting
White on a rst-degree murder charge
and instead found him guilty of voluntary
manslaughter, the most lenient possible
charge for shooting two people to death.
Similar to the turn of events in
Baltimore 36 years later, gays responded
by holding a protest rally in the gay Castro
neighborhood, which was Milks home
base. They marched peacefully through
the streets as the crowd swelled from
about 500 to more than 1,500 people,
according to news media accounts.
When the gathering of mostly LGBT
people reached City Hall its ranks had
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
24 MAY 22, 2015
D . C. BLA CK P RI D E
From left are ANASTACIA MCCLESKEY,

ANTHONY WAYNE and JACQUELINE B.
ARNOLD in Mighty Real.
PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS
Hit Sylvester musical

returns to D.C.
By KEITH LORIA
There were many iconic personalities
in the disco age, but many would agree
that Sylvester a disco and soul singersongwriter known for his amboyant,
androgynous appearance could
outshine them all.
Known as the Queen of Disco, the gay
performer delighted nightclub audiences
with his funky, spiritual-style singing
and outrageous costumes. He died of
complications of AIDS in 1988.
He was responsible for 15 records, with
ve songs that became gold-record hits
including Cant Stop Dancing, Do You
Wanna Funk, Dance (Disco Heat) and
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real).
The latter became the inspiration
behind the title of Mighty Real: A
Fabulous Sylvester Musical, a show
based on Sylvesters life conceived by
Anthony Wayne and Kendrell Bowman,
which came to fruition thanks in great
part to actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, who
is co-producing the show. The musical
follows the disco legend from his humble
church beginnings to his skyrocketing
success to fame.
Ralph says co-directors Wayne and
Bowman were relentless in their attempt

to try and get her involved, but shes very
happy they were so persistent.
They stalked me on social media and
kept telling me we had to meet, and Id
tell them, This is Twitter, not a meeting
service, she says. I knew Sylvester and
heard about these two men and everyone
kept telling me I should take the meeting.
They came down to Philadelphia on a
cold winter morning about two years ago
and they convinced me this musical had
to be done.
For the past year and a half, Mighty
Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical has
been selling out venues from New York
to San Francisco and had a successful
run at the Howard Theatre last year. Its
returning to the D.C. hotspot for one
night only on Monday (Memorial Day).
This is an incredible show. Anyone who
has ever seen and gotten up to dance at
Mamma Mia!, with the songs of Abba,
this is the same kind of thing, Ralph says.
You get music you know and love and
every night, people are up on their feet
and dancing in the aisles. I think any day
is a great day to have a good time.
Bowman, who also serves as costume
designer for the production, notes that
for the D.C. show, the design element
was beefed up and the performers will
use new costumes for the rst time.
We played the Howard Theatre before
and sold out, but this time we have added

even more glitz and glamour to the
show, he says. We wanted to turn up
the volume. Everything that people heard
about the show that was fabulous, this
time, its even more so. The costumes add
another personality to the character.
In addition to writing the show,
Wayne also plays Sylvester himself, and
encompasses every bit of the amboyancy
and power that the entertainer had.
When I rst come out, from that rst
moment, theres an electricity going
through the crowd. As we go into the
music and really thread it together, I really
become him, Wayne says. Once we take
them through the story and guide them
through the journey of his life, people get
lost in the show. Theyre crying, clapping,
standing up and dancing. They may have
come in as individuals, but they all leave
as a family.
Although Wayne is too young to have
lived through Sylvesters heyday, he did
plenty of research through videos and
songs, plus talked with his family and
friends to truly get the essence of who
Sylvester was.
Ralph says Wayne brings Sylvester to
life and she often hears from people who
knew the legendary gure who say how
much he embodies his spirit.
Hes so warm in his performance and
its such a wonderful thing to see him in
this role, she says. If all you had was the

music alone, that would be enough for a
hit show. After all, Sylvester created some
of the most impactful music ever for the
genre. When it comes to disco, you can
not not think of a song by Sylvester. His
songs make you remember exactly where
you were and what you were doing and
who you were doing it with.
Bowman wants people to know that
you dont need to know Sylvester to fall in
love with this musical.
This show is not a disco show, its not a gay
show, its a universal show for all languages,
all ethnicities and all races, he says.
Everyone is happy and laughing together.
Im happy we could create something that
makes people have a great time.
Ralph agrees and adds that this story
was long overdue to be told.
My
favorite
thing
about
the
production is the love and detail that
goes into truthfully, honestly telling the
story of Sylvester, Ralph says. He was
long overdue to get the credit for what
he added to the disco era and what he
meant for people living with AIDS.
MIGHTY REAL:
A FABULOUS SYLVESTER MUSICAL
Howard Theatre
620 T St., N.W.
Monday at 7 p.m. (doors 6)
$69.50-89.50
thehowardtheatre.com
fabuloussylvester.com
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 2 5
LGBT
CIVIL RIGHTS
lgbt50th.org
MOVEMENT
Grab a coffee,
coffee
take a survey,
change the world.
Making a Difference is Easy.
Take the 9th Annual

LGBT Community Survey
LGBTsurvey.com
Your information is confidential, used for research purposes only.

You will not be contacted for marketing purposes.
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NGLCC-Certified LGBT Owned Business Enterprise
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
26 MAY 22, 2015
Q U E E RY : 2 0 Q U E ST I O N S F O R T E RRA N CE LA N E Y
TERRANCE LANEY
How long have you been out and

who was the hardest person to tell?
I have been out since 19, but I dont
really think of myself as ever being in.
Most of my family members responded
to me disclosing my sexual orientation
with an unimpressed we already knew.
The deputy director of the Mayors Oce of

LGBTQ Aairs answers 20 gay questions
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Like many, Terrance Laney will be at Black Pride this weekend. For him, its
a super important event.
Its black LGBTQ people coming together to love and support each other,
he says. Thats a radical act of courage and we need Black Pride and more
spaces to do that.
Laney, a 31-year-old McDonough, Ga., native, has worked as deputy
director of the Mayors Oce of LGBTQ Aairs in Mayor Muriel Bowsers
administration since January.
Hes single and lives in Shepherd Park. He enjoys travel, exercise and the
arts in his free time.
Whos your LGBT hero?

Bayard Rustin. He organized the 1963
March on Washington and made nonviolent political philosophy part of the
Civil Rights Movement.
Whats Washingtons best

nightspot, past or present?
Anywhere my friends are.
Describe your dream wedding.

Marrying a man who loves me very much
is the most important part of my dream
wedding. I want a huge celebration on
or near a beach to celebrate with my
friends and family over several days
before and after the ceremony.
What non-LGBT issue
are you most passionate about?
I cant fully say what a non-LGBT issue is
because our lives are not single issue but
when I am not spending time on LGBTspecic causes, I ercely advocate for
racial justice.
What historical outcome
would you change?
The idea of race and racial distinctions
would have never been created and
African people would have never been
enslaved.
Whats been the most memorable pop
culture moment of your lifetime?
When the last Beyonc album was
released and my entire life and mental
capacity were overtaken for weeks.
On what do you insist?
Being treated with respect and taking
time to take care of myself.
What was your last

Facebook post or Tweet?
#OnFleekLivesMatter
If your life were a book,

what would the title be?
I Have Lived In Many Ways
202.747.2077
If science discovered a
way to change sexual
orientation, what would you do?
I would throw shade and serve lthy
reads to anyone who changes theirs

but mainly enjoy more space on dance
oors. My grandmother would say good
riddance to bad rubbish.
What do you believe in
beyond the physical world?
A very loving God/dess and my
ancestors.
Whats your advice for
LGBT movement leaders?
The movement has to invest much more
toward developing LGBTQ leaders of
color who have the power to set the
agenda and frame the conversation.
What would you walk
across hot coals for?
To own a house on the beach.
What LGBT stereotype
annoys you most?
Our only political concern is marriage
rights.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?
Paris Is Burning, especially before
everyone knew about it and tried to
appropriate the culture it pays homage
to.
Whats the most
overrated social custom?
Small talk. If someone doesnt have
anything genuine or worthy to say or
if someone really has no interest in
engaging with another person then I
think a smile is sucient.
What trophy or prize

do you most covet?
My undergraduate degree. Being the
rst person in my family to nish college
proved to me that I could do whatever I
set my mind to.
What do you wish youd known at 18?
Life is what happens when you are
planning to do something else. Set
realistic goals but dont try to plan your
entire life.
Why Washington?
This city embraced me with love and gave
me opportunities that no other place
could have. We all have a home that we
are given but Washington is the home
that I have chosen and I look forward to
many more years of building a life and
family here and working with Mayor
Bowser and her administration as we
continue to build pathways to the middle
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 2 7
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
28 MAY 22, 2015
D . C. BLA CK P RI D E
increased to about 5,000, and violence

broke out.
Police cars were set on re, windows
of nearby buildings were smashed and
overhead wires for the citys street cars
were pulled down. Some of the rioters
took tear gas canisters from damaged
police cars and threw them at police,
who initially stood on the sidelines at
the direction of the police chief, again
similar to the Baltimore disturbances this
year, before the chief directed them to
confront the rioters and force them away
from the City Hall area.
About two-dozen arrests were made
and more than 140 protesters and as many
as 60 police ocers were injured, news
media reports said. The rioting caused
hundreds of thousands of dollars in
property damage to the City Hall building
and nearby buildings and vehicles.
Jones, who was present when the
rioting unfolded, said the longtime police
hostility toward the gay community
combined with the shock of a lenient jury
verdict for the man who murdered Milk,
a gay icon, prompted normally peaceful
gays to embrace violence.
I saw people who were known to be
very well mannered who were completely
consumed with rage and hatred of the
police department, he said. It was a real
desire to ght back, a sense that we had
taken this kind of crap for far too long. I
think the LGBT people who were there that
night within all of us the memories of
prior abuses, the reality that we had been
beaten up and called names and put down
for so long and then it was the last straw
that this all white, straight jury basically
gave him a slap on the wrist.
Comptons Cafeteria Riot

pre-dates Stonewall
New Yorks Stonewall riots in Greenwich

Village in 1969, where gays and transgender
people fought back against a police raid, is
considered the historic development that
started the modern LGBT rights movement.
But three years earlier, in August 1966,
a confrontation between a police ocer
and a person witnesses described as a
drag queen inside Comptons Cafeteria
in San Franciscos Tenderloin section
erupted into what has become known as
Comptons Cafeteria Riot.
Transgender historian Susan Stryker,
who co-wrote and co-directed a
documentary lm about the incident in
2005 called Screaming Queens: The Riot
at Comptons Cafeteria, is credited with
helping piece together a comprehensive
report on what happened.
LGBT activists are now calling
the incident one of the rst known
Protesters took to the streets of Baltimore for

a full week after riots broke out April 27, the
day of Freddie Grays funeral.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY KEVIN NAFF
transgender riots in U.S. history based on

reports that Comptons was a hangout for
people who today would be considered
transgender women.
Also patronizing Comptons Cafeteria in
the Tenderloin were the trans womens gay
male and lesbian friends. Nearly all of them,
the documentary lm says, were struggling to
survive at a time when they were considered
outcasts. Most lived in nearby cheap rooming
houses and many engaged in prostitution.
Most were also often harassed by the police
at a time when cross dressing was against the
law, Stryker reports in the documentary lm.
According to the lm, the riot started
when a police ocer threatened to arrest
one of the male-to-female cross dressers
inside Comptons and she threw her coee
in his face. People interviewed in the lm,
which can be viewed on YouTube, said a
melee then broke out among police and as
many as 50 people inside the establishment,
with windows shattered and dishes and
furniture tossed around the room.
The ghting soon moved outside the
restaurant, people in the lm reported,
creating a disturbance considered a fulledged riot on the street.
The violent oppression (and riot)
of transgender people at Comptons
Cafeteria did not solve the problems that
transgender people in the Tenderloin
faced daily, said transgender activist
Autumn Sandeen in a 2010 article about
the incident in gaylesbiantimes.com. It did,
however, create a space in which it became
possible for the city of San Francisco to
begin relating dierently to its transgender
citizens to begin treating them, in fact,
as citizens with legitimate needs instead of
simply as a problem to get rid of.
AB 1 Riots triggered
by veto of gay rights bill
The fourth known gay riot in the United

States took place in San Francisco on
Sept. 30, 1991, after then-Republican Gov.
Pete Wilson vetoed Assembly Bill 1, a gay
rights measure that called for banning
discrimination in employment, housing
and public accommodations based on
sexual orientation.
The bill had been stalled in committee
for years before both houses of the
legislature nally passed it in September
1991. Gay activists and their supporters in
the legislature were outraged over Wilsons
veto, saying he acquiesced to the anti-gay
faction of the states Republican Party.
As was the case in the White Night riots,
a large crowd assembled in the Castro
and stormed the civic center, says Jones,
who was present as the crowd grew and
became increasingly angry. But instead of
stopping at City Hall they went to the state
building and did their best to set it on re.
A short documentary lm on the AB 1
Riot, which included TV news footage of
the incident, says about 2,000 protesters
marched to the state building, where
Wilson had an oce. Protesters can be
seen in the lm using sections of metal
barricade fences as battering rams to
smash through the buildings glass doors.
The lm also shows a protester using
a large pole with a rainbow ag attached
to it to smash through the glass doors on
the building. It says the rioting caused
over $250,000 in damage to the building,
but no arrests were made and no serious
injuries were reported.
Intersection between
Baltimore and LGBT
rights movement
Ocials with some of the national LGBT
groups talked about what they called the
intersection between the Baltimore riots
in late April of this year and the LGBT civil
rights movement.
The recent events in Baltimore
and throughout the nation have been
emotional, hurtful and even traumatic for
so many in the black community, says
Sharon Lettman-Hicks, executive director
and CEO of the National Black Justice
Coalition, an LGBT civil rights organization.
At the National Black Justice Coalition,
we are dedicated to changing the
mainstream narrative around socially
marginalized black people, especially
young people, because issues like police

brutality and economic injustice are
also LGBT issues that disproportionately
impact LGBT people of color.
Black LGBT people cannot separate
their blackness from their sexual
orientation, gender expression or gender
identity, she says. Issues that confront
black people like structural oppression,
classism and racism in America impact
black LGBT people twofold.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the
National Center for Transgender Equality,
says transgender people often face brutal
victimization, mistreatment and violence
at the hands of law enforcement.
She says NCTE works to address police
abuse not only for transgender people
but for everyone in its quest for a more
just society.
According to Keisling, at least one
transgender woman who was arrested
during the Baltimore disturbances
was placed in a mens jail after police
learned she was transgender. She was
forced to remove her undergarments
and made to reveal her body to ocers,
Keisling says.
Our hearts go out to the family of
Freddie Gray and to those people whose
hearts are broken with grief, says Rea
Carey, executive director of the National
LGBTQ Task Force. Police-related killings
of young black men have become a regular
occurrence across our nation. So in a very
real way what is happening in Baltimore is
a predictable reaction to appalling injustice,
deep mistrust of police and a real sense
that nothing will be done about it.
The beauty and responsibility of the
LGBT community is that were at the
intersection of everything, says Human
Rights Campaign Vice President Fred
Sainz. Were black, Asian, Latino and
everything in between.
Because of the stigma we face and
the lack of legal protections, LGBT people
are also more likely to face economic
disenfranchisement, he says. What all of
this means is that this must be a shared
struggle and we also have a responsibility
to make life better for all Americans.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
D .C . B LA CK PRI DE
M A Y 22, 2015 29
ACROSS FROM THE DUPONT CIRCLE METRO
TODAY
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Opening reception
4-9 p.m.
The Warm Up Happy Hour
The Bachelors Mill (1104 8th St S.E.)
Presented byOmega Entertainment &
Daryl Wilson Promotions
Noon-9 p.m.
Hospitality Suite open
Noon-1 a.m.
Game Room open
8:30-10:30 p.m.
Speed Dating/Networking
9 p.m.-4 a.m.
Annual 5000 Men Pride Mega Party
Bliss (2122 24th Pl N.E.)
Saturday
10 a.m. 8 p.m.
Hospitality Suite open

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Workshop: Can We Do
It Standing Up First?
Presenter: Angie Harvey, growth advisor
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m
Workshop: Mandate:
Whats in it for you?
Moderator: Ken J. Pettigrew and
Terrance Payton
11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Workshops
Another Closet?: Living Openly with HIV
Moderator: Aron Cobbs, community
educator, Lambda Legal Defense &
Education Fund
DENIM Presents ILLUMENATIONS:
A nation of Illuminated men
Presenters: Travis Wise, Maurice
Eckstein and Marko Covington
MJ Harris Financial Workshop
Presenter: Malcolm MJ Harris
PrEP
Presenters: Robert E Graham IV and
Jamal Redman, Us Helping Us, People
into Living Inc.
Noon-1 p.m.
Game Room open
12:30-2:30 p.m.
Writers Forum
3-7 p.m.
Film Festival
Featured lm: Bait
3-9 p.m.
The Chill Out Ultimate Day Party
The Park at Fourteenth (920 14th St N.W.)
7-9 p.m.
Poetry Slam hosted by ButtaySoul
9 p.m.-4 a.m.
The Encore Mega Party
Echostage, 2135 Queens Chapel Rd NE,
WDC 20018
Presented by Omega Entertainment
and Daryl Wilson Promotions
3-4 a.m.
Insomniac Mega After-Party
2221 Adams Pl N.E.
Sunday
9-11 a.m.
Interfaith Service
Noon-6 p.m.
Cultural Arts & Wellness Festival
Francis-Stevens Educational Campus
(2425 N St. N.W.)
Outside near Dupont Circle
3-10 p.m.
Mega Day Party featuring K Michelle
Washington Convention Center Main
Ballroom (801 Mt Vernon Pl N.W.)
10 p.m.-5 a.m.
Men N Demand Mega Party
The Park at Fourteenth (920 14th St N.W.)
Monday
11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Annual Us Helping Us Picnic
at the Park (Free and Open to All)
Fort Dupont Park, 3600 Minnesota Ave
SE, WDC 20019
7 p.m.
Mighty Real: a Fabulous Sylvester Musical
Howard Theatre
9 p.m.-2 a.m.
Last Call, the Grand Finale
Stadium Club (2127 Queens Chapel
Rd. N.E.)
1517 CONNECTICUT AVENUE NW // 202.387.3825 // WWW.KRAMERS.COM
LIVE
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
30 MA Y 22, 2015
O U T & A BO U T
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
YARN
W/ BRYAN ELIJAH SMITH
& THE WILD HEARTS
THURSDAY MAY
21
WORLD
PARTY
W/ DAVID DUFFY
W/ GABRIEL KELLEY
22
FRIDAY MAY
SAT, MAY 23
HOLLIS BROWN
W/ GREAT PEACOCK
SUN, MAY 24
QUIET COMPANY
TRANSGRESSOR TOUR
By MARIAH COOPER
TUES, MAY 26
Choose your own

adventure at (Up)rising
KERMIT RUFFINS
& THE BBQ SWINGERS
WED, MAY 27
AN ACOUSTIC EVENING
W/ RICH ROBINSON OF THE BLACK CROWES
PHOTO COURTESY OF PROJECT PUBLICITY
W/ DAVE OGRADY
Miss Fame debuts single at Town

THEHAMILTONDC.COM
Miss Fame, the RuPauls Drag Race season seven contestant often chided
for talking too much on the show, isnt quieting down now. The glamazon has
released the single Rubber Doll from her upcoming debut album.
She performs Saturday night at Town Danceboutique. Doors open at 10 p.m.
with a $10 cover ($12 after 11 p.m.). Tickets are required for the 9 p.m. meet
and greet. Theyre $20 and include a premium seat and photos with Fame. Drag
show starts at 10:30 p.m. Details at towndc.com.
Rubber Doll is a new take on my identity, Fame says in a press release. It
details how my obsession with beauty and makeup helped me to evolve into an
alluring creating that captivates imaginations. The lyrics are taken from entries
in my own journal.
The (Up)rising Festival is Saturday

and Sunday and promises a chooseyour-own-adventure event that weaves
through vacant properties and established
businesses between the 1600-2400 blocks
of Rhode Island Ave., N.E.
Attendees will have the chance to
engage with or see art installations
and performances. Participating artists
include Ganzeer, Contradition Dance,
DJ M Dot, Rose Jae and Sheldon
Scott. Several local businesses are also
participating.
The event is free and open to all ages.
It runs both days from 1-6 p.m. Details at
recreativespaces.com/uprising-festival.
Marys House has

full weekend planned
SPARGELFEST MENU
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White Asparagus, New Potatoes,
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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HOWARD THEATRE
Drag Salute returns

Drag Salute to the Divas returns to Howard Theatre Sunday evening with a
special Black Pride installment dedicated to Girl Groups & Ladies of Hip Hop.
Local drag legend Shi-Queeta-Lee and her cast of male and female
impersonators will perform as Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott, the Mary Jane Girls,
Nicki Minaj and more. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Doors open
at 6 p.m. More Black Pride-related events are on page 29.
The Howard is at 620 T St., N.W. Details and tickets at thehowardtheatre.com.
Marys House for Older Adults, a rst-ofits-kind LGBT-friendly aordable residence

in Washington, has several events this
weekend as part of Black Pride.
On Saturday at 11 a.m., a workshop
titled Before You Know It: Creating New
Strategies to Live a Fuller Life will be
held on the Independence Level at Grand
Hyatt Washington featuring Marys House
Founding Director Imani Woody.
An Old School Dance/Party With a
Purpose will be held from 3-7 p.m.
at Westminster Presbyterian Church
(400 I St., S.W.) with soul food, drinks,
door prizes and music for all ages. Alan
Dinsmore will receive a Celebration of
Life award. Proceeds benet Marys
House. Tickets are $35 and can be
purchased at maryshousedc.org or call
240-432-5996.
On Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Howard
Theatre (620 T St. N.W.) is Sensuality II,
the story of two women in love who travel
to Marys House with exciting stops along
the way. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are
$45-60 and can be purchased at the door
at at cloudstheater.com.
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 3 1
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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
32 M A Y 22, 2015
THEATER
PHOTO BY IGOR DMITRY; COURTESY OF STUDIO THEATRE
From left LIAM FORDE as Luke, KIMBERLY GILBERT as Viv, ZDENKO MARTIN as Danny and
MICHAEL GLENN as Joe in Jumpers for Goalposts.
co me in for a co m pl imenta ry
consu ltat ion a n d r ece i ve
20% off
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Witty Brits spar in Jumpers

By PATRICK FOLLIARD
Viv would love to win just one match. She

knows her aptly named soccer team Barely
1629 WISCONSIN AVE NW 202.338.4100 #IlluSIONSOfgEOrgEtOWN
Athletic will never beat the Lesbian Rovers
or the smug Man City for that matter.
But she thinks they might stand a chance
against Tranny United whose members
play in stilettos. Still, it would be a win.
Penned by British gay playwright
Tom Wells, Jumpers for Goalposts
(now making its U.S. premiere at Studio
Theatre) follows the short season of
Barely Athletic, a ragtag ve-a-side soccer
team competing in an amateur LGBT
Square Dance Lessons - $50
league in Hull, a Northern England port
Starting June 4 6:30 7:30 p.m.
city. For competitive lesbian Viv (Kimberly
Gilbert), head coach and the only woman
Register @ www.dclambdasquares.org
on the team, the stakes are high. Booted
from the opposing lesbian team for being
too bossy, she needs to save face.
The remaining players (four guys;
three gay, one straight) are there for less
ferocious reasons: recreation, perhaps
We Dance to All Kinds of Music
sex and maybe a little romance. Beardy
No Previous Dance Experience Needed
Geo (Jonathan Judge-Russo), a witty,
D V E R T I penniless
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SALES REPRESENTATIVE: BROOKE
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Social Activities
Throughout
the Year
of becoming a gay singing sensation
scores goals for the wrong team and
isnt averse to hitting on the opposition.
the
date
of
proof.
Revisions
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competition, defamation,
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SIONS
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liability, loss, damages,
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5 Thomas
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washington blade newspaper. This includes
but (Liam
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info@dclambdasquares.org
and warranties.
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until
now
has
been unacquainted with
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a soccer ball and the world of dating.
DC Lambda Squares is an LBGT nonprofit inclusive square dance club that does not discriminate, on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, or
And theres Joe (Michael Glenn), a boiler
sexual orientation, all are welcome. The club is a member of the International Association of Gay Square Dance Clubs (IAGSDC), a Lesbian and
Gay Organization.
repairman who was married to Vivs
deceased big sister. At 39, Joe is the oldest
and least in shape of the team, but he
comes every Sunday afternoon at Vivs
insistence. She cant bear the idea of him
spending his weekends at home alone.
The story unfolds in a municipal locker
room after the matches. Its here where
the team receives notes from Viv ranging

from criticisms to pleas to do their best.
Its also where we learn about the players
lives o the football pitch (thats soccer
eld in American). Spikey-haired Viv
runs a pub and lives with her longtime
girlfriend. It seems her extreme concern
for Joe allows her to bury her own sadness
about her sisters death. Beardy insists on
wearing his lucky Peruvian knit hat when
hes playing soccer. But it turns out to be
more than simply a talisman. Hes hiding
something. And the gently budding
romance between Luke and Danny is not
without problems. Its almost derailed by
an HIV diagnosis.
Gilberts turn as Viv is nicely layered.
Beneath the crusty exterior, shes soft and
caring. Her scenes opposite Glenn who
wonderfully underplays Joe are among
the plays best. He poignantly conveys the
essence of a sort of dulled mourning. Hes
not happy but hes OK.
Ably staged by Matt Torney, Studios
take on Wells endearing comedy is
quick-paced and satisfying. Scenes are
punctuated with blasts of British pop.
Set designer Debra Booths drearily real
locker room looks so authentic you can
almost smell it. Michael Giannittis lighting
design is appropriately uorescent. The
casts accents are consistent lots of
raight instead of right. Not what youd
nd in Downton Abbey above stairs.
Despite some predictable plot points,
Jumpers for Goalposts isnt your average
gay or sports play. Its truly inhabited
by people living ordinary lives who just
happen to be gay and ultimately the drama
is more about sorting out skirmishes
rather than battling for the trophy.
JUMPERS FOR GOALPOSTS
Through June 21
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St., N.W.
$44-88
202-332-3300
Studiotheatre.org
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 3 3
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For tickets visit Ticketmaster.com

PLATINUM, GOLD & SILVER SPONSORS
For tickets, artists,

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For tickets
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The DC Jazz Festival, a 501(c)(3) non-profit service organization, is
sponsored in part with major grants from the Government of the District
of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, Mayor; and, in part, by major grants
the National Endowment for the Arts and the DC Commission on the
Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National
Endowment for the Arts. 2015 DC Jazz Festival. All rights reserved.
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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
34 MAY 22, 2015
A RT S & CU LT U RE
HOT HITS & HIDDEN JEWELS

From CultureCapital.com
YOUR LINK TO THE ARTS IN METRO D.C.
A Drag Salute to the Divas

May 24. Howard Theatre.
202-803-2899. thehowardtheatre.com.
Enter the magical world of illusion as your favorite divas dazzle right before
your eyes. Diana Ross and the Supremes, Destiny Childs, TLC, Queen Latifah,
Nicki Minaj & Missy Elliott to name a few, replicated by DCs top illusionist so
well you will swear they are the real thing.
Jumpers for Goalposts

Thru Jun 21. Studio Theatre.
202-332-3300. studiotheatre.org.
A hilarious and heartbreaking play about romance, resilience, taking chances,

and moving on.
2015 Summer Blast O! The Presidents Own United States

Marine Band with Fireworks
May 24. Wolf Trap.
703-255-1900. wolftrap.org.
The Presidents Own United States Marine Band will launch Wolf Traps
summer season with a program of concert band favorites. A reworks display
will follow the concert.
NSO: National Memorial Day Concert

May 24. West Lawn US Capital.
800-444-1324. kennedy-center.org.
The NSO, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Benanti, Esai Morales, and Jason Dolley
join an All-Star Line-Up for the PBS National Memorial Day Concert honoring
our American Heroes, co-hosted by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna and
Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HOWARD THEATRE
THEATRE
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are
Dead. Thru Jun 21. Folger Theatre.
202-544-7077. folger.edu.
Cabaret. Thru Jun 28. Signature Theatre.
703-820-9771. signature-theatre.org.
Zombie: The American. May 27-Jun
21. Woolly Mammoth. 202-393-3939.
woollymammoth.net.
Murder Ballad. Thru May 7. Studio
Theatre. 202-332-3300. studiotheatre.org.
The Call. Thru May 31. Theater J. Atlas.
800-494-8497. theaterj.org.
The Welders: happiness (and other
reasons to die). May 27-Jun 13. Atlas.
202-399-7993. atlasarts.org.
Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester
Musical. May 25. Howard Theatre.
NSFW (Not Safe for Work). May 27-Jun
21. Round House Theatre. 240-644-1100.
roundhousetheatre.org.
The Price. Thru Jun 21. Olney Theatre.
301-924-3400. olneytheatre.org.
Shear Madness. Ongoing. Kennedy
Center. 800-444-1324. shearmadness.com.
Swing Time - The Musical. Thru Jun
27. Navy Memorial. 202-737-2300.
swingtimethemusical.com.
The Fire and The Rain. Thru May 24.
Constellation Theatre. 202-204-7741.
constellationtheatre.org.
One Destiny. Thru Jul 3. Fords Theatre.
202-347-4833. fords.org.
Jarry Inside Out. May 28-Jun 21.
Spooky Action. Universalist Church.
202-248-0301. spookyaction.org.
Hamlet, Q1. Thru May 30. Taety Punk
Theatre Company. CHAW. 202-355-9441.
taetypunk.com.
A Tale of Two Cities. Thru Jun 21.
Synetic Theater. 866-811-4111.
synetictheater.org.
The Trap. May 26-Jun 21. Ambassador
Theater. GWU Building XX. 703-475-4036.
aticc.org.
DANCE
Scottish Ballet - A Streetcar Named
Desire. May 28-30. Kennedy Center.
202-467-4600. kennedy-center.org.
MUSIC
Get Out More!
Amigos Band. May 28. AMP.

301-581-5100. ampbystrathmore.com.
Jazz in the Garden: Tom Lagana. May
22. National Gallery of Art Sculpture
Garden. 202-737-4215. nga.gov.
Mobb Depp. May 22. Kinky. May 23.
Unleashed DC: Empire. May 23. Glam
II. May 24. Yellowjackets. May 27. Louis
Weeks. May 28. The Kingz, MOB & New
Impressionz. May 22. Sunday Brunch
feat. Phaze II. May 24. Howard Theatre.
C.J. Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana
Band. May 28. Artisphere. 888-841-2787.
artisphere.com.
Evenings with Extraordinary Artists:
The Mens Camerata. May 27. Arts Club.
202-331-7282. artsclubofwashington.org.
Sheryl Crow. May 26. Wolf Trap.
703-255-1900. wolftrap.org.
Julian Schwarz, cello and Marika
Bournaki, piano. May 22. Embassy of
Austria. Evening of Fado - Pedro Botas.
May 28. The Embassy Series. Portuguese
Ambassadors Residence. 202-625-2361.
embassyseries.org.
Virginia Grand Military Band. May 23.
The United States Marine Chamber
Orchestra. May 23. Schlesinger Concert
Hall. 703-845-6156. schlesingercenter.com.
Latino Music Fever. May 28-May 30. In
Series. Source Theatre. 202-204-7763.
inseries.org.
MUSEUMS
National Gallery of Art. Peter Paul
Rubens. Thru Jul 5. Drawing in Silver and
Gold. Thru Jul 26. In Light of the Past.
Thru Jul 26. 202-737-4215. nga.gov.
Folger Shakespeare Library. Ships,
Clocks, & Stars: The Quest for Longitude.
Thru Aug 23. folger.edu.
National Archives. Spirited Republic:
Alcohol in American History. Thru Jan 10.
202-357-5000. archivesfoundation.org.
Museum of Women in the Arts. Daisy
Makeig-Jones. Thru Aug 16.
202-783-5000. nmwa.org.
District Architecture Center. reVISION.
Thru Jun 13. 202-347-9403. aiadac.com.
Fords Theatre. Artifacts of the Lincoln
Assassination. Thru May 29.
202-347-4833. fords.org.
National Geographic. Monster Fish.
Thru Oct 11. 202-857-7000. nglive.org.
GALLERIES
Strathmore. If the Shoe Fits. Thru May
31. 301-581-5100. strathmore.org.
The Art League Gallery. John Gosling:
Printed Art: The Potomac. Thru Jun 1.
703-683-1780. theartleague.org.
BlackRock. Precarious Balance: Sabine
Carlson, Nancy Frankel, and Bobbi
Shulman. Thru May 30. 301-528-2260.
blackrockcenter.org.
Arts Club of Washington. May Art
Exhibition. Thru May 30. 202-331-7282.
artsclubofwashington.org.
Capitol Skyline Hotel. Hothouse:
ImPRINT. Thru Jun 20. Hothouse Video:
Amy Finkelstein. Thru Jun 21.
202-488-7500. wpadc.org.
Fisher Art Gallery. Brian Williams.
May 22-Jul 12. 703-534-5726.
schlesingercenter.com.
Goethe-Institut. Future Perfect Project:
Photography Documentation. Thru Jul 3.
202-289-1200. goethe.de.
Neptune Fine Art. The Language
of Line. Thru Jun 13. 202-338-0353.
neptuneneart.com.
Target Gallery. Eunsook Lee. Thru May
31. 703-838-4565. torpedofactory.org.
Zenith Sculpture Space. Hadrian
Mendoza. Thru Aug 23.
zenithgallery.com.
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 3 5
Patio Open With A

New
Happy Hour Menu
During Dinner
Enjoy
Live Piano
Entertainment
Thurs. Fri. and Sat. Nights
202-872-1126
BBGWDC.com
Champagne Brunch
Weekends
Saturdays
A-La-Carte: $26.95
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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
36 MAY 22, 2015
CA LE N D A R
IMAGE COURTESY OF TOUCHSTONE GALLERY
In the Pursuit of Happiness by Aleksandra Katargina, on display at Touchstone Gallery.
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
Rock and Roll Hotel (1353 H St., N.E.)
hosts Bear Nonesense, a bear happy
hour, today from 5-10 p.m. From 5-6 p.m.
receive an additional $1 o pitchers and
pints. Other drink specials include $8
Yuengling pitchers, $3 Yuengling pints, $6
PBR pitchers, $2 PBR and more. DJs Dean
Sullivan and Ed the Metaphysical will play
music. There is no cover charge. For more
information, visit bearnonsense.com.
D.C. Bear Crue hosts Bearaoke at
Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) from 6-11 p.m.
Entry ends at 9:30 p.m. Drink specials
are $4 rail drinks, $4 Bud Light, $4 draft
pints, $8 draft pitchers and free pizza
until 7 p.m. Drink specials end at 11 p.m.
There rst ve singers receive a free drink
ticket. For more details, visit facebook.
com/bearhappyhour.
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. All welcome to join. For details,
visit thedccenter.org.
A new LGB support group meets
today from 10-11:30 a.m. at 16220 S.
Frederick Rd., Gaithersburg, Md. for
individuals in Montgomery County.
The group will discuss coming out of
marriage, homophobia, parenting issues,
nding intimate relationships, LGB
resources in the suburbs and more. For
more information, visit thedccenter.org.
SATURDAY, MAY 23
Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.)
hosts a Naughty Beach Bunny Underwear
Party tonight at 9 p.m. DJ Bryan Yamasaki
will play music. Drink specials are all night
for any man in their underwear. There is
no cover charge. For more details, visit
facebook.com/greenlanterndc.
Touchstone Gallery presents In
Pursuit of Happiness by Aleksandra
Katargina through May 31. The exhibit
uses paintings to reex on how human
beings try to nd happiness For more
details, visit touchstonegallery.com.
SUNDAY, MAY 24
The Imperial Court of Washington
hosts Drag Roulette at Freddies Beach Bar
and Restaurant (555 23rd St., S Arlington,
Va.) at 8 p.m. to benet community
charities. For more details, visit facebook.
com/imperialcourtdc.
The D.C. Kings perform a variety
show at the Bier Baron Tavern (1523
22nd St., N.W.) at 6 p.m. There will be
drag performances by Diego El Sabroso,
Phoenix King, James Fondle, Cli Toris and
more. Sebastian Katz and Rick Shaw will
do sketch comedy and Sheva Diagne and
Pretty Rik E will perform queer comedy.
Chocolate City Burlesque and Cabaret
and the D.C. Gurly Show will perform
burlesque. This is a fundraiser for Pride.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the
door. For more information, search D.C.
Kings Variety Show on Facebook.
Flash (645 Florida Ave., N.W.) hosts
a Memorial Day weekend party tonight
from 9 p.m.-4 a.m. DJ Twin and DJ Sean
Morris will spin tracks for the night.
There will be $5 Fireball shots, $5
Stoli Cosmos and $4 Coronas. Cover
is $10. For more information, visit
facebook.com/ashclubdc.
Nellies Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.)
hosts its Guil-Tea 2015 Kick O Party
today from 3-8 p.m. There will be drink
specials, giveaways and a content. DJ
Shea Van Horn will play music for the
night. There is no cover charge. For more
details, search Guil-Tea 2015 Kick O
Party on Facebook.
The National Memorial Day Concert
will be held on the National Mall tonight
from 8-9:30 p.m. Gloria Estefan will
perform along with Tessanne Chin,
Katherine Jenkins and Russell Watson.
Actress Stefani Scott will make an
appearance. Joe Mantegna and Gary
Sinise will host the event. The show is free
to attend. For more information, visit pbs.
org/national-memorial-day-concert.
MONDAY, MAY 25
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.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
C A L ENDA R
MAY 22, 2015 37
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.
The first openly gay President of the United States faces a host of problems:
an imminent civil war, the threat of an African invasion, an adulterous First Gentleman,
and zombies in the basement of the White House! With his power, his marriage, and
the nations well-being at stake, he must decide what he cares most
about saving...and at what cost.
TUESDAY, MAY 26
Nellies Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.)
hosts Drag Bingo today from 6:30-9:30
p.m. Nellies will donate $1 to HIPS for
every Nellie Beer sold. For more details,
visit facebook.com/hips.
D.C. Strokes Rowing Club, an LGBTfriendly rowing team, hosts a happy hour
at Nellies Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.)
today from 6:30-8:30 p.m. For details, visit
facebook.com/dcstrokes.
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.
Genderqueer D.C. holds a discussion
group at the D.C. Center (2000 14th St.,
N.W.) at 7 p.m. tonight. The group is for
anyone who identies outside of the
gender binary as bigender, agender,
genderuid or any label outside of
cisgender.
For
more
information,
visit thedccenter.org.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27
Queer Undocumented Immigrant
Project hosts Operation #BreakTheCage,
a protest, today starting at 9 a.m. to
ght for protection of their communities
and demand a change in the LGBT
undocumented immigrant community
such as sexual assault on LGBT
detainees. The group will meet at
the Smithsonian metro station (1200
Independence Ave., S.W.) and then go
to the Headquarters of Immigration
and Customs Enforcement followed
by
the
White
House.
For
more
information,
visit
facebook.com/quipnational.
The Lambda Bridge Club meets
tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center
(721 8th St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge. No
reservations required and new comers
welcome. If you need a partner, call
703-407-6540.
A biting political satire.
ZOMBIE:
THE AMERICAN
BY ROBERT OHARA // DIR BY HOWARD SHALWITZ
THURSDAY, MAY 28
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.
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.
WORLD PREMIERE // MAY 25JUNE 21

WOOLLYMAMMOTH.NET // 202-393-3939 // #ZOMBIEUSA
WMTC Wash Blade Ad 5.22.indd 1
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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
38 MAY 22, 2015
Soccer legend rewrote

the book on masculinity
By KEVIN MAJOROS
The eect of David Beckham on Major
League Soccer (MLS) in the United States is
said to be incalculable. His impact ranged
from increases in team expansion fees,
television broadcast rights, merchandise
sales to fan attendance. Those changes were
felt by all MLS teams, not just the L.A. Galaxy
for which he played from 2007 to 2012.
It has been two years since his last match
as part of Paris Saint-Germain and his
legacy continues to resonate. While sports
icons before him like Michael Jordan and
Andre Agassi showed the value of branding,
Beckham took it a step further by showing a
sensitive side to the sports hero.
His soccer career, the marriage to
Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) and the
arrival of their four children, along with
sponsorship deals with Adidas, Samsung,
Pepsi, Gillette and H&M, brought
Beckham to the front and center of
international pop culture.
SP O RT I N I N D . C.
Is it possible that his presence has

helped the LGBT sports movement?
Without standing up and calling himself a
straight sports ally, did he further the public
opinion of acceptance for LGBT athletes?
Did his brand change the long-standing
perception of masculinity in sports?
Yes, on all counts.
When Beckham began his career as
a professional soccer player in 1992 at
age 17 for Manchester United, the sport
was known for its harsh and often hostile
players such as Paul Gascoigne, also
known as Gazza, who played from 1985 to
2004. He was a spectacular player dened
by his o-eld antics which included
misbehaving in press conferences,
public intoxication, temper tantrums and
spousal abuse. Gascoignes outrageous
behavior delighted soccer fans.
Enter David Beckham whose polished
looks, good boy image and sensitivity
coupled with his athleticism, toughness
and sportsmanship ushered in a new
perception of what kind of man can be
successful in the jock culture of athletics.
Truett Vaigneur is a professor at City
University of New York and was the
PHOTO BY PHOTO WORKS; COURTESY BIGSTOCK
DAVID BECKHAM in 2008. Sometimes

straight public gures who exude comfort and
condence help curb LGBT stereotypes without
intending to.
producer of the educational lm The

University Pool, which explored the
experiences of three former college
athletes and the stigma of being gay in
the jock culture of university athleticism.
Vaigneur has also done extensive research
for presentations at conferences and for
academic journals on identity formation
and masculinity in sports.
David Beckhams presence stimulated
a new breed of athletes that are OK
with showing a sensitive side, Vaigneur
says. The masculine presentation of an
athlete is fading and it is becoming OK
to show personality traits that were once
perceived as weakness.
Vaigneur goes on to say, Beckhams
image
was
protected
by
his
heterosexuality; the fact that he wore
a ponytail and modeled underwear
brought about assimilation in the
culture of sports. Any positive shift in
the perception of what makes an athlete,
whether they are gay or straight, is going
to help the culture of athletics.
During Beckhams soccer career, the
media often focused on the fact that he
was a doting family man. He even cited
the need to spend more time with his
family as one of the factors for the timing
of his retirement. He sometimes missed
media events to stay home with his kids.
As for the impact on the LGBT sports
community, there seems to be a blurring
of the lines when it comes to dening an
athlete. More and more straight athletes
are stepping forward in support of
accepting anyone who wants to play.
Gay athletes dont want to be called gay
athletes, they want to be called athletes,
Vaigneur says. We have approached a level
in gay culture where gay men can stand up
and say, I am a man, not a gay man.
Perfect beach getaway Rehoboth

at SawgrassOld Landing Rd.
This four bedroom, three bath townhome is
perfect for large families and friends. It has
a first level in-law suite with its own kitchen
area. This community is amenity rich with
a great social schedule. Pool, tennis,
pickleball, walking trails and bay sunsets.
Karen Gustafson
302-236-8821
Long and Foster Real Estate 37156 Rehoboth Ave. Extd Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971 office 302-227-2541
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 3 9
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
40 MAY 22, 2015
P H O T O S BY MI CH A E L KE Y
The Washington Blade held its ninth annual Summer Kicko Party at the Blue Moon in Rehoboth Beach, Del. on May 15.
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 4 1
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NOW SELLING
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MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 4 3
REALESTATE
Philanthropy thriving
among real estate brokers
By VALERIE M. BLAKE
You see our signs in the community all
the time. Shades of red, black, blue, yellow, green and purple tell potential customers which rm we are associated with
and how to reach us, but what they dont
tell people is who we are when the real
estate workday is done.
This past week I got to wear a red T-shirt
with a Keller Williams logo on it twice. For
the time being, Ill wash, dry and fold it
and keep it in a safe place until next year.
But let there be no doubt: Philanthropy is
alive and well on a daily basis in the real
estate community.
Take, for example, RED Day (translation: renew, energize and donate), a
Keller Williams extravaganza of charity
work in which oces throughout the nation participate each year on the second
Thursday of May.
This year, our local events included a
gardening and beautication project and
a cutthroat game of Pictionary at So Others Might Eat (SOME) in Southeast D.C.
and building play sets for terminally ill
children alongside the Roc Solid Foundation in Bethesda, Fairfax and Rockville.
Other real estate rms have their favorite charities and routinely donate to medical research, participate in special outings
for children stricken with debilitating diseases, volunteer to foster and re-home
animals, provide assistance to the elderly
and inrm and contribute to the arts.
And while we may be competitors in

many ways, our companies often pull together to sponsor area-wide events, the
most recent of which was last Sundays
Capitol Hill Classic. The Classic, comprised
of a 10K run, a 3K run and a fun run for
those who are short of breath or short of
legs, took place along Stanton Park and
was sponsored by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Compass and Keller
Williams Capital Properties.
Sweat and tears were major players
and thankfully, blood was nowhere to be
found, at least while I was there. While
the ttest among us ran, the rest of us
boogied to the beat of the DJ while handing out water and directing people to the
Atlas Fitness yoga station to cool down
and to the fruit station to ll up with bananas and oranges.
The National Association of Realtors
also supports giving back to the community and presents an annual Good Neighbor Award to those who are active in providing resources and support for many
local initiatives.
For example, last years winners, representing ve rms across the country,
were involved in securing aordable,
temporary housing for people awaiting organ transplants, fundraising for
children with birth defects and terminal
illnesses, providing low-cost child care
so parents can work or attend school to
break the cycle of poverty and organizing
free mobile health and dental clinics.
Humbling, isnt it?
In the District and surrounding area,
where the nightly news is lled with violence, its refreshing to see individuals
RED Day (renew, energize and donate) is a Keller Williams extravaganza of charity work in
which oces throughout the nation participate each year on the second Thursday of May.
PHOTO COURTESY OF BLAKE
and groups working tirelessly to better

themselves and their communities.
Even the little things we do have signicance. When I moved to Northeast
in 2007, nine neighbors knocked on my
door to welcome me to the neighborhood
within the rst week and nearly two-dozen
others attended my very loud backyard
party a month later. Recently half a dozen
friends helped care for my dogs while I
dealt with a family emergency.
The incident that has stayed with me
the longest, however, was a simple gesture that occurred during the rst week
after my move, when I drove to the hardware store located on the only commercial strip where parking meters needed to
be fed on an hourly basis.
As I was congratulating myself on a

ne job of parallel parking, there came a
rap at the glass. Startled, I turned to see
another woman standing there and cautiously rolled down my window.
Excuse me, she said, Are you going to
park here? My rst instinct was to reply
in my best New York snarl, Whats it look
like, lady? Instead I simply answered yes.
Well, she said, Im pulling out ahead
of you and theres still some time left on
my meter, so youre welcome to pull up.
Ive been paying it forward ever since.
DAVE LLOYD & ASSOCIATES
SIMPLE
AFFORDABLE
PROVEN RESULTS
VALERIE M. BLAKE can be reached at (202)

246-8602 or at Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com.
Each Keller Williams Realty 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
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weet
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1518 Monroe Bay Avenue
Come see for yourself how you can have Style, Comfort and Location. Located in
Colonial Beach, VA this small waterfront town has captured the hearts of many LGBT
residents in the past few years. Easily drivable to the DC Metro area and Baltimore
and without the Rehoboth price tag. This beautifully renovated Beach home offers:
Comfortable one-level living--Sunroom or 3rd bedroom--2 Full baths--Gourmet
kitchen--Wood floors--Fireplace with wood stove insert--Whole-house sound
system--Contemporary fans and lighting with soft-touch controls--1300 SF deck
with hot tub and dining pavilion--Extensively landscaped yard with irrigation system-Wired for whole-house generator--Large detached two-car garage--Private 100 pier-Unbelievable sunsets over Monroe Bay. $534,500. Visit 1518MonroeBayAve.com
JiMMy CoAtes
Associate Broker
Exit Mid-Rivers Realty
804.224.9450
804.450.0787 (Cell)
We can help you blend it together.
Customized Communications. Renowned Results.

Marketing | Media Outreach | Social Media Strategy and Implementation |
Videography | Conference Planning and Support
jimmy@calljimmycoates.com
www.calljimmycoates.com
990 Colonial Ave.,

Colonial Beach, VA 22443
www.veandco.com | 301.836.1516
Committed to serving the

legal needs
of the entire community.
ADVERTISING
NS
GN
EVISIONS
/LOGO REVISIONS
SIONS
PROOF
over
SALES REPRESENTATIVE: BROOKE JORDAN (bjordan@washblade.com)
125
the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts
and warranties.
years
Founded1887
www.jackscamp.com
1120 Twentieth Street, N.W.
South Tower
Washington, DC 20036
Rockville, MD
Vienna, VA
Baltimore, MD
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
REFRESH & RELAX IN
ROSSLYN. Certified
massage therapist
available. Call or text
Gary w/ your name at
301-704-1158 or visit
www.mymassagebygary.com.
COUNSELING
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.
MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5 4 5
SALE / MARYLAND
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
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.
HEATING / COOLING
PETS
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.
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.
EMPLOYMENT
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.
EVENT /
ENTERTAINMENT
Drag Queens & Impersonators,
Male Strippers - We provide quality
entertainment & entertainers for any
type of party or event. We have Drag
Queens, Celebrity Impersonators
& Male Strippers ready to make
your party or event unforgettable.
(240)605-2912.
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.
HANDYMAN /
IMPROVEMENTS
PHOTOGRAPHY
STEVE OTOOLE
PHOTOGRAPHY Fine
Art Photographer for
portraits, weddings &
dating photos for the
internet.
Call (703) 532-3031.
www.steveotoole
photography.com.
CLEANING
FERNANDOS CLEANING: Residential
& Commercial Cleaning, Reasonable
Rates, Free Estimates, Routine,
1-Time, Move-In/Move-Out. (202)
234-7050, 202-486-6183.
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.
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)2990101. Visit us at maidtoclean.com.
BIDS & PROPOSALS
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.
HEATING / AC
$1,700 SPRING REBATE, get up to a
$1,700 rebate on a qualifying new
Lennox heating and cooling system
from Magnolia Plumbing, Heating &
Cooling. Call 202-829-8510 today.
www.magnoliaplumbing.com.
MOVERS
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.
PAINTERS
FINESSE INTERIOR/
EXTERIOR PAINTING.
Chalkboard & Dry Erase
paint. Wood Staining.
Plaster Repairs. Pressure
Cleaning. Free Estimates.
Elmer 240-462-3760.
PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIEDS ONLINE
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
DEADLINES
All Classied 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
4 6 MA Y 2 2 , 2 0 1 5
W A S HIN G T ON B L A DE .C OM
TREE SERVICE
CHILLUM /
HYATTSVILLE
BRANCHES - FULL SERVICE Tree

Expert Company. Certied Arborists,
pruning, insect & disease diagnosis,
treatment & removal. 301-589-6181.
www.BranchesTreeExperts.com.
Angies List Award Winner 09, 10,
11, 12.
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.
REAL ESTATE AGENTS
NW DC 3 Newly remodeled two BR

unit. All new kitchen with dishwasher,
stove, microwave and pass-through
window, All new bath; wood oors,
new blinds and windows. Popular
neighborhood; one o street
parking space. Near shopping and
transportation; short bike ride into
Rock Creek Park. Tennis courts and
running. $2000/month+. For more
info please contact: Anthony Graham
202-733-5469.
RENT / MD
GayReal.ti
HOME BUYER BONUS!
Top LGBT Realtors Represent Buyers
FREE! Plus up to $2,500 Cash Back at
Closing. www.GayRealEstate.com or
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REAL ESTATE/
COMMERCIAL
TAKOMA PARK Large, spacious,

sunny 2 BR apt, walking distance
to Takoma metro, farmers market
and shops. Gas stove, dishwasher,
microwave, fridge less than a year
old, large master bedroom with
large closet, separate dining room,
lists of counter space and cabinets,
New carpet, new paint, working
replace. Updated bathroom, newly
wired smoke detectors and carbon
monoxide detectors. Easy access
to laundry in the basement. Heat
and water included. Over 1000 SF.
Available immediately. $1680 pcm.
(202) 657-3128 or email mark@
sustaineddialogue.org.
TAKOMA PARK 1 BR, sunny, 2nd r,
hdwd oors, less than a 10 minute
walk to Takoma metro, farmers
market, shops, etc. New paint, oors
renished, updated bathroom, fridge
less than a year old, etc. It has a large
private balcony, 20X8. Heat and
water included newly wired smoke
detectors and carbon monoxide
detectors. Basement laundry.
Available immediately 400 SF cute
and charming easy street parking.
$1050.00 / month. 202-657-3128 or
email mark@sustaineddialogue.org.
REQUEST ONLINE PHOTOS!

-$249,995Brick Cape!3
Terric Levels !
-4 Bedrooms! 2Full Baths!
! Beautiful Yard !
Fort Totten METRO !
LARRY PERRIN REALTOR
(301) 983-0601
LJPerrin@aol.com.
GERMANTOWN
GARAGECONDO
REQUEST ONLINE PHOTOS!

-$209,995 2 Terric
Levels !
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(301) 983-0601
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SALE / WVA
Shepherdstown Beautiful 2.8 ac
w/ HOA. Borders 100 ac Nature
Preserve. Ready to build w/ well,
septic, electric, garage & driveway.
River access. $79,000 obo. Call (301)
801-0177.
WOMENS PERSONALS
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.
BODYWORK
SPECIAL LATINO
TOUCH
5 9, 170 lbs, Oering full body

relaxing, release on my professional
table, in a private atmosphere. In/out.
Parking Available, hotels welcome,
DC/MD/VA, 24/7. Call Lucas, 240-4628669, fromlucas@yahoo.com.
SWEDISH/DEEP
TISSUE/SENSUAL
Massage - relaxed environment by

CMT, 59, 165lbs. NEW TABLE. David
(202)-42one-8900. dcack@hotmail.
com. Cleveland Park metro.
EROTIC SWEDISH MASSAGE - healthy
clean cut guy, 61, 160 lbs, Dupont
Circle, massage table, noon to 1:00
a.m., indulge your body. $70 for 1
hour. Bill 202-728-0238. No text
messages.
THE MAGIC TOUCH: Swedish,
Massage or Deep Tissue. Appts 202486-6183, Low Rates, 24/7, In-Calls.
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.
SALE / MD
RENT / DC
Never hired before? Get tips for

a good experience here: http://
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The Blacklist Site Real Recourse
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PHONE LINES
M$M Hot Phone!!!
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9PM-1AM or by appt
1-800-863-5478 ext.
10672633
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202.822.1666
Arlington
703.373.1000
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LJPerrin@aol.com.
ESCORTS
Baltimore
410.468.4000
Custom bodywork! Quality massage
by a nationally certied masseur.
Exceptional deep tissue & sensual
bodywork for total stress relief in
private studio. 4 Hand Massage
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Special $99.00 Reg. $130.
WHY WAIT? GET Your Erotic deep

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2014 PC LLC www.MegaMatesMen.com 2297
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MAY

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Eight years ago, the Democratic presidential primary

Cuban govt seeks to destroy us

LEODAN SUAREZ QUIONES accused Cuban police of ignoring

HAVANA A Cuban transgender advocate this

Washington Blade on Monday night as she sat

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About 50 protesters joined a march on Sunday.

D.C. activists march against transphobia

D.C. hosts National Police Week events

Ginsburg presides at marriage of Kahn, Mitchem

Carly Rae Jepsen, En Vogue to headline Pride

Newseum, Blade team up to celebrate Pride

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Ask your doctor if a medicine made by Gilead is right for you.

Amy Austin reects on 30 years at City Paper

On changes in the industry: The last

to be as out as I can as often as I can.

successful. Im very proud of the digital

body mind Self

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Amtrakengineer lands in media spotlight

BRANDON BOSTIAN is reportedly

no memory of what happened or why the

focused mostly on his lifelong love for

Spokespersons for the Gay & Lesbian

In rst, federal bill seeks to ban ex-gay therapy

therapy would be classied as fraud

federal bill would prohibit the therapy

doesnt infringe upon First Amendment

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MEMORIAL DAY RUG SALE

Save 40%-60% OFF Handmade, Machine-Made, Sisal, & Shag Rugs!

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