Volume 47, Issue 15, April 8, 2015

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AM E RI C A S GAY NE W S S OURCE
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Ignoring backlash in N.C., Gov. Bryant signs anti-LGBT bill

By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
Despite calls from LGBT advocates urging him to veto the measure, Mississippi Gov.
Phil Bryant wasted little time in signing into law a religious freedom bill thatenables
sweeping anti-LGBT discrimination.
I am signing HB 1523 into law to protect sincerely held religious beliefs and moral
convictions of individuals, organizations and private associations from discriminatory
action by state government or its political subdivisions, which would include counties,
cities and institutes of higher learning, Bryant said in a statement. This bill merely
CONTINUES ON PAGE 16
Sanders, Clinton court trans vote

ahead of East Coast primaries
By CHRIS JOHNSON
After Sen. Bernard Sanderss shellacking of Hillary Clinton in
Wisconsin this week, the candidates are shifting their focus to
New York, the site of the next big primary contest on April 19.
And in a historic rst, both campaigns are aggressively reaching
out to the transgender community for support.
Gov. PHIL BRYANT (R-Miss.) signed a sweeping religious freedom bill into law this
week.
Andrea Zekis, policy director for Basic Rights Oregon,

introduced Sanders on stage at an April 25 rally in Oregon.
Meanwhile, on the Transgender Day of Visibility, the Clinton
campaign made public a Q&A with 12 transgender advocates
who support the candidate.
Zekis, an Arkansas native, spoke at the rally about the
diculties she faced coming out as transgender, noting
discrimination in her home state is legal under state law.
Seven years ago, I took the bold step to live in my truth, Zekis
said. I accepted myself as a transgender woman, and for that I
Sen. BERNARD SANDERS won big in

Wisconsin this week.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
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Brief Summary of Patient Information

about ODEFSEY
ODEFSEY (oh-DEF-see)
(emtricitabine, rilpivirine and tenofovir alafenamide) tablets
Important: Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist about medicines that
should not be taken with ODEFSEY.
There may be new information about ODEFSEY. This information is only a summary
and does not take the place of talking with your healthcare provider about your medical
condition or treatment.
What is the most important information
I should know about ODEFSEY?
ODEFSEY can cause serious side effects, including:
Build-up of lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis). Lactic acidosis may happen
in some people who take ODEFSEY or similar medicines. Lactic acidosis is a serious
medical emergency that can lead to death. Lactic acidosis can be hard to identify
early, because the symptoms could seem like symptoms of other health problems.
Call your healthcare provider right away if you get any of the following
symptoms which could be signs of lactic acidosis:
feel very weak or tired
have unusual (not normal) muscle pain
have trouble breathing
have stomach pain with nausea or vomiting
feel cold, especially in your arms and legs
feel dizzy or lightheaded
have a fast or irregular heartbeat
Severe liver problems. Severe liver problems may happen in people who take ODEFSEY.
In some cases, these liver problems can lead to death. Your liver may become large and
you may develop fat in your liver. Call your healthcare provider right away if you
get any of the following symptoms of liver problems:
your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow (jaundice)
dark tea-colored urine
light-colored bowel movements (stools)
loss of appetite
nausea
pain, aching, or tenderness on the right side of your stomach area
You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or severe liver problems if you
are female, very overweight (obese), or have been taking ODEFSEY or a similar
medicine for a long time.
Worsening of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. ODEFSEY is not approved to treat
HBV. If you have HBV and take ODEFSEY, your HBV may get worse (flare-up) if you stop
taking ODEFSEY. A flare-up is when your HBV infection suddenly returns in a worse
way than before.
Do not run out of ODEFSEY. Refill your prescription or talk to your healthcare
provider before your ODEFSEY is all gone.
Do not stop taking ODEFSEY without first talking to your healthcare provider.
If you stop taking ODEFSEY, your healthcare provider will need to check your
health often and do blood tests regularly for several months to check your HBV
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What is ODEFSEY?
ODEFSEY is a prescription medicine that is used to treat HIV-1
in people 12 years of age and older:
who have not received HIV-1 medicines in the past and have an amount of HIV-1 in
their blood (viral load) that is no more than 100,000 copies/mL, or
to replace their current HIV-1 medicines in people who have been on the same HIV-1
medicines for at least 6 months, have a viral load that is less than 50 copies/mL, and
have never failed past HIV-1 treatment.
It is not known if ODEFSEY is safe and effective in children under 12 years of age or who
weigh less than 77 lb (35 kg).
When used to treat HIV-1 infection, ODEFSEY may help:
Reduce the amount of HIV-1 in your blood. This is called viral load.
Increase the number of CD4+ (T) cells in your blood that help fight off other infections.
Reducing the amount of HIV-1 and increasing the CD4+ (T) cells in your blood may help
improve your immune system. This may reduce your risk of death or getting infections
that can happen when your immune system is weak (opportunistic infections).
ODEFSEY does not cure HIV-1 infection or AIDS. You must keep taking HIV-1
medicines to control HIV-1 infection and decrease HIV-related illnesses.
Ask your healthcare provider about how to prevent passing
HIV-1 to others. Do not share or re-use needles, injection equipment, or personal items
that can have blood or body fluids on them. Do not have sex without protection. Always
practice safer sex by using a latex or polyurethane condom to lower the chance of sexual
contact with semen, vaginal secretions, or blood.
Who should not take ODEFSEY?

Do not take ODEFSEY if you also take a medicine that contains:
carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Epitol, Equetro, Tegretol, Tegretol-XR, Teril)
dexamethasone (Ozurdex, Maxidex, Decadron, BaycadronTM)
dexlansoprazole (Dexilant)
esomeprazole (Nexium, Vimovo)
lansoprazole (Prevacid)
omeprazole (Prilosec, Zegerid)
oxcarbazepine (Trileptal)
pantoprazole sodium (Protonix)
phenobarbital (Luminal)
phenytoin (Dilantin, Dilantin-125, Phenytek)
rabeprazole (Aciphex)
rifampin (Rifadin, Rifamate, Rifater , Rimactane)
rifapentine (Priftin)
the herb St. Johns wort or a product that contains St. Johns wort
What should I tell my healthcare provider

before taking ODEFSEY?
Before taking ODEFSEY, tell your healthcare provider if you:
have liver problems including hepatitis B or C virus infection
have kidney and bone problems
have had depression or suicidal thoughts
have any other medical conditions
are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if ODEFSEY can harm your
unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking ODEFSEY.
Pregnancy registry: there is a pregnancy registry for women who take HIV-1
medicines during pregnancy. The purpose of this registry is to collect information about
the health of you and your baby. Talk with your healthcare provider about how you can
take part in this registry.
are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed if you take ODEFSEY.
You should not breastfeed if you have HIV-1 because of the risk of passing HIV-1
to your baby.
At least one of the medicines in ODEFSEY can pass to your baby in your breast milk.
It is not known if the other medicines in ODEFSEY can pass into your breast milk.
Talk with your healthcare provider about the best way to feed your baby.
Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription
and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
Some medicines may interact with ODEFSEY. Keep a list of your medicines and show
it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.
You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for a list of medicines that
interact with ODEFSEY.
Do not start a new medicine without telling your healthcare provider. Your healthcare
provider can tell you if it is safe to take ODEFSEY with other medicines.
How should I take ODEFSEY?
Take ODEFSEY exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it. ODEFSEY is
taken by itself (not with other HIV-1 medicines) to treat HIV-1 infection.
Take ODEFSEY 1 time each day with a meal.

Do not change your dose or stop taking ODEFSEY without first talking with your
healthcare provider. Stay under a healthcare providers care when taking ODEFSEY.
Do not miss a dose of ODEFSEY.

If you take too much ODEFSEY, call your healthcare provider or go to the nearest
hospital emergency room right away.
When your ODEFSEY supply starts to run low, get more from your healthcare provider
or pharmacy. This is very important because the amount of virus in your blood may
increase if the medicine is stopped for even a short time. The virus may develop
resistance to ODEFSEY and become harder to treat.
What are the possible side effects of ODEFSEY?

ODEFSEY may cause serious side effects, including:
See What is the most important information I should know about ODEFSEY?
Severe skin rash and allergic reactions. Skin rash is a common side effect of
ODEFSEY. Rash can be serious. Call your healthcare provider right away if you get a
rash. In some cases, rash and allergic reaction may need to be treated in a hospital.
If you get a rash with any of the following symptoms, stop taking ODEFSEY and
call your healthcare provider right away:
fever
skin blisters
mouth sores
redness or swelling of the eyes (conjunctivitis)
swelling of the face, lips, mouth or throat
trouble breathing or swallowing
pain on the right side of the stomach (abdominal) area
dark tea-colored urine
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Depression or mood changes. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have
any of the following symptoms:

feel sad or hopeless
feel anxious or restless
have thoughts of hurting yourself (suicide) or have tried to hurt yourself
Change in liver enzymes. People with a history of hepatitis B or C virus infection
or who have certain liver enzyme changes may have an increased risk of developing
new or worsening liver problems during treatment with ODEFSEY. Liver problems
can also happen during treatment with ODEFSEY in people without a history of liver
disease. Your healthcare provider may need to do tests to check your liver enzymes
before and during treatment with ODEFSEY.
Changes in body fat can happen in people who take HIV-1 medicine. These
changes may include increased amount of fat in the upper back and neck (buffalo
hump), breast, and around the middle of your body (trunk). Loss of fat from the legs,
arms and face may also happen. The exact cause and long-term health effects of
these conditions are not known.
Changes in your immune system (Immune Reconstitution Syndrome) can happen
when you start taking HIV-1 medicines. Your immune system may get stronger and
begin to fight infections that have been hidden in your body for a long time. Tell your
healthcare provider right away if you start having any new symptoms after starting
your HIV-1 medicine.
New or worse kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare
provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys before you start and
while you are taking ODEFSEY. Your healthcare provider may tell you to stop taking
ODEFSEY if you develop new or worse kidney problems.
Bone problems can happen in some people who take ODEFSEY. Bone problems
may include bone pain, softening or thinning (which may lead to fractures). Your
healthcare provider may need to do tests to check your bones.
The most common side effects of rilpivirine, one of the medicines in ODEFSEY, are
depression, trouble sleeping (insomnia), and headache.
The most common side effect of emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide, two of
the medicines in ODEFSEY, is nausea.
Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or that
does not go away.
These are not all the possible side effects of ODEFSEY. For more information, ask
your healthcare provider or pharmacist.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to
FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
This Brief Summary summarizes the most important information about ODEFSEY. If
you would like more information, talk with your healthcare provider. You can ask your
healthcare provider or pharmacist for information about ODEFSEY that is written for
health professionals.
For more information, call 1-800-445-3235 or go to www.ODEFSEY.com.
Keep ODEFSEY and all medicines out of reach of children.
Issued: March 2016
ODEFSEY, the ODEFSEY Logo, GILEAD, the GILEAD Logo, and GSI are trademarks
of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies. All other trademarks referenced herein
are the property of their respective owners.
2016 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. ODEC0005 03/16
3/30/16 11:10 AM
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
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LO CA L N E W S
Former NAPWA director sentenced to six months in jail

Shocked friends watch
as guards place
Oldham in handcus
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.

lchibbaro@washblade.com
A Montgomery County, Md., Circuit

Court judge on Monday sentenced Frank
Oldham Jr., the former executive director
of the National Association of People with
AIDS, to six months in jail two months
after he pleaded guilty to embezzling
money from the organization in 2012.
During a hearing at the Rockville-based
Circuit Court building, Judge Steven G.
Salant sentenced Oldham to ve years
incarceration but suspended all but six
months of time to be served. He also
sentenced Oldham to three years of
supervised probation upon his release
and ordered that he undergo alcoholrelated testing and treatment if needed.
As a condition for probation, Salant ordered
that Oldham be prohibited from taking a job
or providing services in a duciary capacity
during the term of his probation.
In a development that startled friends
and former colleagues who attended the
sentencing hearing, guards placed Oldham
in handcus and escorted him out of the
courtroom after Salant ordered that he
begin serving his sentence immediately.
Last week, as part of a plea agreement
with
prosecutors,
Oldham
paid
FRANK OLDHAM was led away in handcus

after a judge sentenced him to begin a sixmonth sentence immediately.
$11,238.08 in restitution for money he

was accused of embezzling from NAPWA
in 2012 shortly before the group declared
Chapter 7 bankruptcy and closed its doors
30 years after it was founded in 1983.
The defendant committed multiple
acts in this embezzlement scheme,
according to a sentencing memorandum
submitted to the court by Montgomery
County States Attorney John McCarthy.
With each individual act, the defendant

violated the trust put in him by NAPWA,
the sentencing memo states.
The State believes that punishment
must go beyond a period of probation
and should include a period of executed
incarceration, it says.
Oldhams attorney, Thomas Degonia,
submitted to the court more than a dozen
letters and statements by colleagues
and activists recognizing and praising
Oldhams long career as an advocate for
people with AIDS and AIDS prevention
and treatment policies.
One of the letter writers was A.
Cornelius Baker, a longtime AIDS and
LGBT rights advocate who served as
NAPWAs policy director and executive
director from 1992 to 2000.
His eorts have resulted in comfort
for those who were dying, policies
and programs to bring longer life to
people living with HIV, and critical policy
decisions to prevent new HIV infections,
Baker states in his letter.
I hope that the court will recognize
Franks life of good work and recognize
that he has already carried the burden
of the incidents involved in NAPWAs nal
days, Baker wrote. Justice would not
be served by any further punishment in
this case and it would only serve to cause
more harm to Frank and those who have
beneted from his work.
During the sentencing hearing two
former NAPWA board members and
friends of Oldham, Judy Billings and

Thomas Petty, testied on Oldhams behalf,
urging the judge to limit his sentence to
probation rather than incarceration.
A third former NAPWA board member,
Bruce Homeister, testied as a victims
advocate, saying he represented the NAPWA
board and the organizations supporters
who he said were wronged by Oldhams
actions. He called on Salant to sentence
Oldham to some period of incarceration.
The sentencing came seven months
after a grand jury handed down a six-count
indictment against Oldham, accusing him
of stealing between $10,000 and $100,000
from NAPWA in November 2012.
Oldham served as executive director of
NAPWA from January 2006 to November
2013, when he resigned following
unconrmed reports that thousands of
dollars of the organizations funds were
missing or unaccounted for.
Degonia, Oldhams attorney, points
out that the plea agreement oered by
prosecutors doesnt present evidence
that Oldham misappropriated funds
over and above the $11,238 that Oldham
admitted taking by using a NAPWA credit
card for personal use.
He said Oldham is remorseful for
his illegal actions but notes that they
occurred, in part, because Oldham
needed the money to survive personally
at a time when NAPWAs nancial crisis
that led to the bankruptcy resulted in his
working without pay.
Gay Air Force lieutenant faces August court martial

Military denied Seefrieds
request to resign
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
Gay U.S. Air Force Lt. Joshua Seefried, who
is facing sexual assault charges, conrmed
that he waived his right to a pre-court
martial evidentiary proceeding known as an
Article 32 hearing at an arraignment on April
4 at Andrews Air Force Base.
The arraignment followed a decision
by Air Force prosecutors last year to
reinstate charges that Seefried engaged
in wrongful and abusive sexual conduct
and forcible sodomy. The charges stem
from allegations by a gay U.S. Marine
lieutenant that Seefried performed sexual
acts on him in a New York hotel room in
2012 while the Marine was intoxicated
and unable to give consent.
A military investigator who presided
over two previous Article 32 hearings in
the Seefried case concluded following
both proceedings that there was

insucient evidence to prove the
allegations against Seefried and that a
court martial would most likely result in
Seefrieds acquittal.
The investigator, Col. Robert Preston,
recommended against a court martial
and called for the charges to be dropped.
Prestons second recommendation came
after a U.S. Coast Guard ocer, who had
been with Seefried and the Marine at the
New York hotel room when the sexual
assault allegedly occurred, testied that
the Marine had consented to a three-way
sexual encounter with him and Seefried.
Despite this testimony and Prestons
recommendations, Maj. General Darryl
Burke, commander of the Air Force
District of Washington, overruled Prestons
recommendations both times and ordered
that the case go to court martial.
At the April 4 arraignment, Seefrieds
military attorney, Capt. Allen Abrams,
conrmed that Seefried also had
requested that he be allowed to resign
from the Air Force in lieu of a court martial
and that the request was denied. Abrams

didnt say who denied the request.
But two sources familiar with the
case have told the Washington Blade
that Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee
James denied the resignation request in
December after it had been approved by
Air Force prosecutors and Burke.
At the time Air Force prosecutors agreed
last year to allow Seefried to resign in lieu of
a court martial, they dropped the charges
pending against him to facilitate the
resignation agreement, even though under
Air Force regulations such an agreement
cannot be nalized unless it is approved by
the Air Force Secretary.
An Air Force spokesperson has declined
to conrm or deny that the resignation
request and its denial by Air Force Secretary
James had taken place, saying such
developments were personnel matters
that are not part of the public record. The
spokesperson, Lt. Col. Joel Harper, said the
sexual assault charges were dropped and
reinstated in Seefrieds case as part of an
administrative matter for which he could
not provide further details.

The judge presiding over the Monday,
April 4 arraignment, Lt. Col. Andrew
Kalavanos, set a tentative date of July 18
for a pre-court martial motions hearing.
He noted that the court martial has been
scheduled to begin on Aug. 22.
Air Force observers familiar with the
case have said they expect Seefrieds
civilian attorney to reintroduce a motion
calling for dismissal of the case on
grounds of unlawful command inuence.
The attorney, Richard Stevens, had
introduced a similar motion last year,
which became null and void when the
charges against Seefried were dropped
to pursue the resignation in lieu of court
martial option.
Stevens argued at the time he rst
introduced the motion that Maj. Gen.
Burke appeared to be under pressure
from members of Congress and
Pentagon ocials who have criticized
the military in recent years for not being
aggressive enough in prosecuting sexual
assault cases.
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LO CA L N E W S
D.C. Council member DAVID

GROSSO authored the Youth
Suicide Prevention and School
Climate Survey Amendment Act
of 2015.
D.C. Council passes

suicide prevention bill
The D.C. City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve a bill that
requires the citys public schools to adopt suicide prevention policies that
specically address the needs of LGBT youth.
The legislation, the Youth Suicide Prevention and School Climate Survey
Amendment Act of 2015, among other things, requires that all school-based
personnel receive at least two hours of suicide prevention, intervention and
post-intervention training each year.
Bill 21-361 also calls for the D.C. Oce of the State Superintendent of
Education to develop and publish a model suicide prevention, intervention and
post-intervention policy and to develop research-based school climate surveys
related to potential causes of youth suicide.
The Trevor Project, a national organization that provides crisis intervention and
suicide prevention eorts for LGBT youth, calls the newly approved legislation
the rst law in the nation to require a school suicide policy to specically address
the needs of LGBTQ youth.
D.C. Council member David Grosso (I-At-Large) is the author of the legislation,
which he co-introduced with nine of his fellow Council members, including
Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large).
The Trevor Project is proud to have played a key role in helping this bill pass,
which will help not only LGBTQ youth, but also foster and homeless youth,
as well as those living with mental illness, substance use and disorders, selfharming behaviors, and those bereaved by suicide, said Abbe Land, the Trevor
Projects CEO and executive director.
Mayor Muriel Bowser was expected to sign the bill. Under the citys Home Rule
Charter, the legislation must then go to Capitol Hill for a 30 legislative day review
by Congress before it becomes law.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
D.C. considers ban on city travel

to states with anti-LGBT laws
D.C. Council member David Grosso (I-At-Large) and six of his Council colleagues
introduced a bill on Tuesday that would prohibit city government funding for travel to
any state that adopts a law sanctioning discrimination against LGBT people.
The bill, the Government Travel and Human Rights Act of 2016, declares that the
Mayor, Council, Attorney General, an Advisory Neighborhood Commission, or District
agency shall not do either of the following:
Require any of its employees, ocers, or members to travel to a state with a law
in eect that armatively sanctions or requires discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation or gender identity or expression.
Use District funds to travel to a state, or approve a request for District-funded
or District-sponsored travel to a state with a law in eect that armatively sanctions
or requires discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or
expression.
The bill says these restrictions shall not apply to travel that is necessary for the
enforcement of District law, to meet contractual obligations in existence prior to the
eective date of this Act, or for protection of public health, welfare, or safety.
Grosso and his Council colleagues introduced the bill less than a week after Mayor
Muriel Bowser issued a mayoral order prohibiting city-funded travel to North Carolina.
Bowser said her order was in response to a bill approved by the North Carolina Legislature
and signed by the states governor that would allow businesses to discriminate against
LGBT people on religious grounds.
Grosso praised Bowser for issuing the travel ban directed against North Carolina.
The bill I am introducing now would enshrine such policy as D.C. law, he said. [T]
he North Carolina law is part of a wave of attacks on the human rights of LGBT people
across the country, he said. Indeed, the Governor of Mississippi has just this morning
signed similarly awful legislation into law.
A Grosso aide said at least four more Council members signed on as co-sponsors of
the bill shortly after it was introduced at the Councils legislative session on Tuesday,
April 5, indicating it is strongly favored to pass in the 13-member Council when it comes
up for a vote.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Gay Republican to challenge Norton in 2018

D.C. gay Republican activist Craig Smith announced on Feb. 4 that he has led a
Statement of Candidacy with the U.S. Federal Elections Commission that he will run
in 2018 for the congressional delegate seat currently held by Eleanor Homes Norton
(D-D.C.).
Smith said his decision to run for the seat came too late for the ling deadline to get
on the Republican Party ballot to challenge Norton this year. However, he said hes
considering whether to run this year as a write-in candidate for Nortons seat.
Regardless of what happens this year, he said hes committed to run for the seat in
2018 and D.C. Republican Party leaders have pledged to support him at that time.
Craig is running to be the congressional delegate to make sure the voices of
Washington are heard and their vote counts without being sidelined by progressive
politics, a Feb. 4 statement announcing his candidacy says. Even though the District
isnt a state, we need equal representation set fourth within the guidelines of our U.S.
Constitution, the statement says.
The statement says Smith served in the U.S. Army for 10 years and worked on Capitol
Hill as a congressional eld representative before assuming his current job as president
and CEO for About Face 4 Vets, Inc., a non-prot veterans advocacy organization based
in Fairfax, Va.
He told the Washington Blade he would be a strong advocate for LGBT equality if
elected to the D.C. congressional delegate seat.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Randy Brewster dies at 54

Randy Dewain Brewster died on March 27 at
his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., according
to clergy at his church. He was 54. No cause of
death was given.
Brewster was born July 19, 1961. A native
of Washington, Brewster moved to Rehoboth
Beach 15 years ago.
He worked for nearly 30 years as a nancial
specialist. Over the last decade, he worked for
Right Property Management.
He was active in choral singing and was
a member of the parish choir of All Saints
Church and St. Georges Chapel, the Mixed
Blessing chorus and formerly the Southern
Delaware Choral Society, the Clear Space
Chorus and other choirs in Washington. He
RANDY BREWSTER
also enjoyed entertaining at local restaurants.
Brewster is survived by friends Joe Pinto
and John Klenert, business partners Martha and Jerry Wright and other parishioners at
All Saints. He was preceded in death by his dog, Baxter.
A service is planned on Saturday, April 9 at 11 a.m. at All Saints Church (18 Olive Ave.,
Rehoboth Beach, Del.). A reception will follow in the parish hall. Donations to the church
music fund may be contributed in Brewsters memory.
Singers who wish to sing at his service may contact Jackson Borges, director of music,
at 302-227-7202, ext. 108 or jborges@allsaintsandstgeorges.org for details.
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1 0 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
LO CA L N E W S
MEGHAN TRAINOR is slated to play Pride in June.

SCREENSHOT COURTESY OF YOUTUBE
Meghan Trainor, Charlie Puth

to headline Pride
Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth will headline the 2016 Capital Pride Concert,
the organization announced Wednesday.
The Capital Pride Concert, presented by Hot 99.5, will be held Sunday, June
12 starting at 1 p.m. on Pennsylvania Avenue at Third Street during the Capital
Pride Festival.
The 2016 Capital Pride Festival and Capital Pride Concert will be remembered
as one of the best on record. We will have more exciting entertainment than
ever, and expect more exhibitors and attendees than ever, Ryan Bos, executive
director of the Capital Pride Alliance, said in a statement.
Trainors singleAll About That Bass landed her on theBillboardHot 100 with
her debut album Title earning a Grammy for Best New Artist. Her sophomore
album Thank You, which will be released in May, features her hit single No
which debuted at No.11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Puths breakout was on Wiz Khalifas See You Again featured on the Furious
7 soundtrack earning Golden Globe and Grammy nominations. Puths debut
single Marvin Gaye featured guest vocals from Trainor and is on his album
Nine Track Lives along with his latest single One Call Away.
MARIAH COOPER
Probation for trans woman in D.C. armed standoff

A D.C. Superior Court judge on March 18 handed down a sentence of 12 months
probation for a transgender woman arrested last November for repeatedly ring a gun
on the roof of a downtown oce building that led to a 10-hour stando with D.C. police.
The sentencing came three months after Hyattsville, Md., resident Sophia Dalke
pleaded guilty to separate charges of carrying a pistol without a license and the unlawful
discharge of a rearm as part of a plea bargain deal oered by prosecutors.
In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorneys Oce dismissed
a more serious charge of assault with a dangerous weapon and agreed to recommend
a sentence at the lower range of court sentencing guidelines.
At the time of her arrest, police reported that Dalke stated she initially intended to
commit suicide by jumping o the building and was suering from a mental health
crisis.
A police arrest adavit says Sgt. Jessica Hawkins, a transgender woman who serves
as supervisor of the departments LGBT Liaison Unit, played an important role in
persuading Dalke to surrender peacefully. Court records state that Dalke entered the
upscale oce building at 1999 K St., N.W., sometime before 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov.
15.
Dalkes LinkedIn page said she worked as an IT support specialist for a company
located in the building, which enabled her to gain access to the building after normal
business hours.
The arrest adavit says Dalke began ring shots from the roof of the building and
shot out several windows of adjacent buildings, causing police who arrived on the scene
to take cover. No one was hurt during the incident, according to court records. But
the incident lasted through the morning rush hour, prompting police to close nearby
streets and sidewalks, which caused a massive downtown trac jam.
Court records show Dalke was held since the time of her arrest. At the time of her
guilty plea, Judge Anita Josey-Herring agreed to a request by Dalkes attorney that she
be transferred to St. Elizabeths Hospital for psychiatric evaluation to help the defense
develop an appropriate sentencing recommendation. The judge also agreed to a
request by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Earnest, the lead prosecutor in the case,
that Dalke remain incarcerated after her evaluation at St. Elizabeths on grounds that
she was a danger to herself and the community.
Josey-Herring sentenced Dalke on March 18 to 12 months incarceration for the
unlawful discharge of a rearm charge and six months incarceration for the charge
of carrying a pistol without a license. She then suspended both sentences and
ordered that Dalke undergo 12 months probation with several conditions, including a
requirement that she enter an alcohol treatment program and undergo a substance
abuse assessment. Another condition includes ongoing mental health screening and
evaluation.
The judge ordered her released following the sentencing, court records show. The
records show that Josey-Herring also scheduled a probation review hearing for April 26.
I think she was very lucky that she got a judge who would look at the big picture
and understand the human story that brought her to this event, said D.C. attorney
Cheryl Stein, who is not Dalkes attorney but who has represented clients in D.C.
Superior court for more than 30 years.
Stein noted that a conviction for carrying a pistol without a license carries a possible
maximum sentence of ve years in prison and a $5,000 ne. Under her sentence, Stein
said, Dalke could receive no more than the one year in jail should she violate the terms
of her probation.
Do I think this is an appropriate sentence? Yes, said Stein. I think its always a good
idea to treat someones issues rather than just punishing them. This clearly was a
defendant with a lot of needs, and I think its wonderful that were trying to meet those
needs instead of just locking her up.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Maryland appeals court to hear parental rights case

Marylands Court of Appeals will hear arguments on April 5 in an appeal that
tests whether Maryland law will give full recognition to the families of LGBT people.
Marylands parental recognition law has remained unsettled for same-sex couples, even
as Maryland established civil marriage equality for same-sex couples in 2012 and the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled last summer in favor of marriage equality nationwide.
In the case being argued on Tuesday, Conover v. Conover, lower courts ruled
that Michael Conover, who is a transgender man, is not legally a parent of his son.
Before Conovers gender transition, he and his female partner had a child by articial
insemination of his partner. They married after marriage equality became legally
recognized for same-sex couples, but the lower courts have ruled that Conover is a
legal stranger to the child he raised from birth.
Conover is represented by attorneys with recently merged FreeState Legal and
Equality Maryland, the states advocacy organizations for the civil rights of the LGBT
community.
Were looking forward to making our case to the Court of Appeals that it needs to
revisit our states parentage law in the era of marriage equality and put all Maryland
families, whether headed by same-sex or opposite-sex couples, on an equal footing,
said Jer Welter, deputy director and managing attorney for the merged organizations
and one of the attorneys representing Conover, in a statement.
The Court of Appeals, which hears arguments in Annapolis, is Marylands highest
court. Its seven judges decide appeals from courts throughout Maryland in cases
raising important and unresolved legal issues. The court agreed to hear the Conover
case in December 2015. A decision in the case is expected before the end of the Courts
current term in August.
More information about the case is available at freestatelegal.org.
STEVE CHARING
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NATIONAL NEWS
Attorney General LORETTA LYNCH
Lynch notes trans rights in speech

WASHINGTON Attorney General Loretta Lynch made a reference to
transgender rights in a speech she delivered at the White House.
The Department of Justice as a whole is remaining vigilant in protecting
the rights of transgender women in American prisons, she said on March 30
in remarks she delivered at a conference that focused on women and criminal
justice. In the past, being trans has too often meant a life of intolerance and
isolation, not just in prison, but in life.
Even recently, we have seen state and local eorts to impose on trans people
an identity that they do not recognize as their own, added Lynch. But I want
to make clear that the Department of Justice and the Obama administration
is determined to ensure that transgender individuals can live the lives they
were born to lead fully, without discrimination and with the support of their
community and their country.
Lynchs remarks come two days after LGBT North Carolinians and advocacy
groups led a lawsuit against the states law that prohibits people from using
public restrooms based on their gender identity and bans local governments
from enacting anti-LGBT nondiscrimination measures.
Gay tourist attacked in Miami Beach

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. A gay man claims he was attacked last month in Miami
Beach because of his sexual orientation.
Jordan Schaeer told WTVJ, a Miami television station, that he and his partner
were inside the Burger King Whopper Bar on Washington Avenue on March 14
when he was attacked.
A surveillance camera shows a man attacking Schaeer and holding him on
the oor. Pictures that Schaeer provided WTVJ show swollen lips and other
injuries to his face.
It was just a simple kiss with my boyfriend, Schaeer, who lives in Los
Angeles, told WTVJ. Then right after that kiss, I started walking over and thats
when I was approached by this gentleman.
Why dont you show if youre tough or not you little faggot, said the man,
according to Schaeer.
WTVJ reported that police in Miami Beach are looking for two men in
connection with the attack who were seen in the surveillance video.
U.S. Marines sentence reduced in trans murder

OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines A Philippine judge has reduced the sentence
of a U.S. Marine who was convicted of killing a transgender woman.
The Philippine Star reported that Judge Roline Jines-Jabalde of the Olongapo
City Regional Trial Court Branch 74 on March 29 reduced Lance Cpl. Joseph
Pembertons sentence from 12 to 10 years in prison. The newspaper said that
the court rejected his appeal of his conviction.
A court late last year found Pemberton guilty of killing Jennifer Laude in 2014.
Prosecutors contend that Pemberton met Laude at a nightclub while his ship
was docked at the Subic Bay Freeport, which is adjacent to Olongapo City on the
Philippines main island of Luzon. The court convicted him of strangling Laude in
a motel room and forcing her head into a toilet bowl.
Laudes death sparked outrage among Philippine LGBT rights advocates. It also
highlighted opposition to the U.S. military presence in the island archipelago.
LPAC has endorsed TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-Ill.) for U.S. Senate.
LPAC endorses
Duckworth for U.S. Senate
HRC backs Kirk in race,
igniting controversy
By CHRIS JOHNSON
Amid controversy over the Human Rights
Campaigns endorsement of Sen. Mark Kirk
(R-Ill.) for re-election to the U.S. Senate,
a political action committee for lesbian
activists has endorsed his Democratic
challenger, Tammy Duckworth.
LPAC, or the Lesbian Political Action
Committee, announced Thursday its
support for Duckworth, who lost both
her legs and damaged her right arm as a
helicopter pilot during the Iraq war, for a
seat in the U.S. Senate.
Beth Shipp, LPACs executive director,
said
her
organization
endorsed
Duckworth because reproductive and
LGBT rights hang in the balance in the
upcoming election.
Tammy Duckworth has proven,
through her actions in Congress, that
she will work hard for womens equality,
LGBT rights and social justice the core
tenets upon which LPAC was founded,
Shipp said. Her support for our values
is real, actionable, and comprehensive;
Tammy is the candidate who will be a
forceful advocate for LGBTQ women and
our allies in the U.S. Senate. This year,
its more about actions than words when
it comes to supporting candidates. We
need leaders like Tammy who will stand
with us after the election when the real
work begins.
According to LPAC, the organization
made the decision to support Duckworth
in her race for a U.S. Senate seat
Wednesday night. A LPAC spokesperson
said the organization doesnt share
information about board votes, but
indicated there was no opposition to the
endorsement.
Duckworth, whos currently serving
in the U.S. House representing Illinoiss

8th congressional district, said shes
honored to receive the endorsement
from LPAC.
Its more important than ever that
we safeguard basic civil rights for all
Americans, especially for women and
minorities within the LGBTQ community
who face unequal treatment in the
workplace, housing market and education
system, Duckworth said. I am proud
of the work I have done in Congress to
institute protections for LGBTQ federal
workers, lobby equal pay for equal work
and protect a womans right to choose.
LPACs endorsement of Duckworth
comes after the Human Rights Campaign
endorsed Kirk for re-election to the U.S.
Senate. Although Kirk was one of the rst
Senate Republicans to endorse samesex marriage and is a co-sponsor of the
Equality Act, some LGBT Democrats have
criticized the decision because Kirk would
cast a vote for Republican leadership in
the Senate and has said hed support
Donald Trump if he were the Republican
presidential nominee.
Shipp hinted at the confusion aboutthe
Human Rights Campaign endorsing Kirk
over Duckworth in a separate statement
to the Washington Blade.
Given the controversy around the
race, we, at LPAC, felt it was critical to
announce that a meaningful segment
of the LGBTQ community - that being
lesbian and queer women - is supporting
Congresswoman Duckworth as she
campaigns to unseat her Republican
incumbent opponent, Shipp said. With
a perfect 100 point rating on LGBTQ
issues and reproductive rights - Tammy
Duckworth was the clear choice for LPAC.
Moreover, with the Senate in play, and
the stakes so high with all that could
come before a Supreme Court (unable to
get a nominee through the obstructionist
GOP Senate), races like this demand our
communitys attention.
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NATIONAL NEWS
New PAC aims to build trans political power

Trans United Fund to
distribute questionnaire
to 2016 hopefuls
By CHRIS JOHNSON
As advocates seek to beat back antitrans measures in state legislatures,
a new political action committee has
launched seeking to build political power
for transgender people.
The committee, called the Trans United
Fund, was announced on Monday with
the goals of building political leadership
for transgender people and endorsing
candidates committed to transgender rights.
Hayden Mora, a founding member
of the Trans United Fund, said in a
statement the creation of the committee
is essential at a time when lawmakers
across the country debate measures that
would impact transgender people.
The transgender community is no
stranger to adversity but what we face
today is a new challenge, a coordinated,
national and vicious attack from the far
right at municipal, school district and
legislative levels, Mora said. Trans
United Fund will ll a crucial gap in
our movement, creating a space for
transgender people and our allies.
Trans United Fund, which bills itself
as a bipartisan 501(c)(4) organization,
arrivesin the aftermath of enactment of a
law in North Carolina that undoes all proLGBT city non-discrimination ordinances,
including one recently passed in Charlotte,
and prohibits transgender people from
using public restrooms in schools and
government buildings consistent with
their gender identity.
Mora told the Washington Blade the
committee had been in development
for some time because it sought to be
inclusive of many voices, but is being
announced at this time because a
consensus was reached on the details
and the multitude of anti-trans attacks by
lawmakers across the country.
The mounting and ongoing attacks at
the state legislatures, but also at the ballot,
municipalities and schools districts really
just made us feel like we needed to move
and we needed to act now, Mora said.
In addition to ghting anti-trans attacks
in legislatures, Mora said the committee
will address other issues impacting the
transgender community, such as HIV/AIDS,
homelessness, treatment in immigration
detention and anti-trans violence.
We need candidates to understand
that
being
supportive
of
trans
equality begins with supporting nondiscrimination but also must proactively
address the issues that impact the most
RUBY CORADO, a D.C-based trans activist, is

one of 12 members of the Trans United Fund
advisory committee.
vulnerable in our community, Mora said.

Im exhausted and profoundly saddened
every day I hear about another young
trans person that has taken their life
because the bullying and discrimination
was too much, another trans woman
of color murdered senselessly and the
myriad other forms of discrimination we
face. Education is crucial but so is action,
there is simply too much at stake.
On the agenda for the Trans United
Fund this year, according to a statement,
is a presidential candidate questionnaire
that has been developed and will be
distributed to all 2016 presidential
hopefuls. Additionally, the committee plans
a legislative scorecard program and other
eorts related to educating supporters and
building transgender political power.
It remains to be seen which candidate
Trans United Fund will endorse in the
presidential race or which political
contenders running for other political
oces the group will support.
The committee didnt announce any
endorsements upon its launch, but
Mora said the upcoming presidential
endorsement will be the rst priority,
along with establishing a presence in a
handful of states.
One state under consideration is
North Carolina, where Gov. Pat McCrory,
who signed HB 2, is up for re-election,
and Attorney General Roy Cooper,
whos challenging him, has refused to
defend the law in court. Other potential
endorsements
are
openly
trans
candidates, like Danny Askini, whos
running for the 43rd legislative district in
the Washington State House.
As the legislative season continues
to unfold, as our analysis continues to
deepen, and as more and more fantastic
champions arrive, well be making those
decisions and folks should stay tuned for
endorsements, Mora said.
Mora declined to disclose monetary
goals for the Trans United Fund, but said
fundraising would be an intensive goal for

the next few weeks in addition to getting
our name out there, and building our list
and building the depth of Trans United at
the state level.
Bamby Salcedo, executive director of
the Trans Latin@ Coalition, said shes part
of the Trans United Fund because trans
people need a strong political voice to
support the activism, legal, policy and
direct service work already happening.
I ght every day to address the
consequences of inhuman immigration
policies, the disproportionate impact
of HIV on our community, violence and
disenfranchisement particularly of the
most vulnerable in our community
young people, black and brown people,
particularly women and immigrants,
Salcedo said. We save lives every day
but we cant reach everyone with direct
services. We need to move from being
primarily reactive to more proactive, going
to the root of institutionalized transphobia,
and that requires a stronger political voice.
The 12 members of the Trans United
Fund advisory committee include Brynn
Tannehill, a Virginia-based trans activist
and Navy veteran; Ruby Corado, a D.Cbased trans activist who founded the nonprot Casa Ruby; and Monica Roberts, a
transgender activist based in Houston.
The Human Rights Campaign, the
nations largest LGBT group, also has a
political action committee and legislative

scorecard for candidates. Mora told the
Blade eorts like those are crucial, but the
Trans United Fund is needed for trans
folks to ensure that we can build our own
political power and speak with our voices.
JoDee Winterhof, the Human Rights
Campaigns senior vice president for
policy and political aairs, said the Trans
United Fund is a welcome addition to
eorts to elect pro-LGBT candidates.
If we want to have candidates and
incumbents who support the LGBT
community, we must help elect them,
Winterhof said. Thats why we rst
started funding candidates through our
PAC decades ago, and we believe the
expansion of resources and additional
eorts to elect pro-equality candidates is
a very positive thing.
Robert Raben, a gay D.C.-based political
consultant and former assistant attorney
general under President Bill Clinton,
in a statement called the Trans United
Fund the next example of sophistication
within this movement.
As long as we have a privately raised
nance system, participating in it is crucial
to achieve the progress we need, Raben
said. Few in the nation have faced the
challenges transgender Americans face;
kudos that despite the discrimination, they
are still willing to engage in the political
process to make this country stronger.
Court strikes down Miss. adoption ban

A federal court has struck down the Mississippi ban on same-sex couples
adopting in the state based on the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of samesex marriage.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan III, an appointee of former President George
W. Bush, issued a preliminary injunction against the law in a 28-page decision
Thursday.
Invoking the Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex marriage, Jordan
writes it seems highly unlikely a high court that struck down state marriage
bans on the basis they deny benets to gay couples, including the right to adopt,
would then conclude that married gay couples can be denied that very same
benet.
Obergefell obviously reects conicting judicial philosophies, Jordan writes.
While an understanding of those positions is necessary for this ruling, it is not
this Courts place nor intent to criticize either approach. The majority of the
United States Supreme Court dictates the law of the land, and lower courts are
bound to follow it. In this case, that means that section 93-17 3(5) violates the
Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.
Jordan accuses state ocials defending the ban of making a tepid
defense of the statute itself. He concluded that Mississippis adoption ban is
unconstitutional because it contravenes the Fourteenth Amendment tothe U.S.
Constitution.
Enacted in 2000, the gay adoption ban in Mississippi state code consisted
of nine words: Adoption by couples of the same gender is prohibited. Its
considered the last remaining state law in the country to explicitly prohibit
same-sex couples from adopting.
CHRIS JOHNSON
A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 1 5
In the place we call home, you wont find any borders. Not between D.C., Maryland and Virginia,
not between natives and newcomers, not between those just cutting loose and those who grew up to
Bustin Loose. Here, there is only one allegiance that matters:
NATIONALS BASEBALL.
We come together in the pursuit of happiness. We hop the Green Line to make
the 7:05 game time. We celebrate our inalienable right to hot dogs and high fives. We cheer for the
MVP on Opening Day and share the hopes of a child, dreaming of becoming him one day.
We wear the red, white and Curly W, pursuing a championship, writing our teams history, together.
THIS IS OUR PURSUIT.
NATIONALS BASEBALL. ONE PURSUIT.
NIGHT OUT // 6.14.16

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NATIONAL NEWS
White House hints at federal penalties for anti-LGBT laws

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01
reinforces the rights which currently exist

to the exercise of religious freedom as
stated in the First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution.
The governor signed HB 1523 the
morning after Mississippi lawmakers
tabled a motion late Monday to reconsider
the measure, eliminating the last remaining
hurdle for approval in the legislature and
sending the bill to Bryants desk.
Titled
The
Religious
Liberty
Accommodations Act, HB 1523 is
considered the most sweeping law inthe
nation to enable anti-LGBT discrimination
in the name of religious freedom.
The lawprohibits the state from taking
action against religious organizations
that decline employment, housing or
services to same-sex couples; families
whove adopted a foster child and wish to
act in opposition to same-sex marriage;
and individuals who oer wedding
services and decline to facilitate a samesex wedding. Additionally, the bill allows
individuals working in medical services to
decline to aord a transgender person
gender reassignment surgery.
The bill also allows state government
employees to opt out of issuing licenses
to same-sex couples, but the person must
issue prior written notice to the state
government and a clerks oce must not
delay in the issuing of licenses.
Critics say HB 1523 would allow
discrimination against single mothers,
same-sex couples and their families,
transgender people, and children, such
as denying them housing in homeless
shelters, important medical care or
employment. Moreover, critics say the
bill would authorize conversion therapy
for LGBT young people in foster care.
Jennifer Riley-Collins, executive director
of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Mississippi, said Bryants signature of HB
1523 marks a sad day for Mississippi.
This is a sad day for the state of
Mississippi and for the thousands of
Mississippians who can now be turned
away from businesses, refused marriage
licenses, or denied housing, essential
services and needed care based on who
they are, Riley-Collins said. This bill
ies in the face of the basic American
principles of fairness, justice and equality
and will not protect anyones religious
liberty. Far from protecting anyone from
government discrimination as the bill
claims, it is an attack on the citizens of
our state, and it will serve as the Magnolia
States badge of shame.
Chad Grin, president of the Human
Rights Campaign, slammed Bryant on
Twitter for signing the measure, saying it
demonstrates the governors ignorance
and accusing him of refusing to meet with
business and LGBT leaders.
White House spokesman JOSH EARNEST this week hinted that North Carolinas anti-LGBT law
could jeopardize some forms of federal funding for the state.
Tony Perkins, president of the anti-LGBT

Family Research Council, crowed in victory
over Bryants signature, saying the law
gives fresh momentum to stop what he
called eorts on behalf of the government
to discriminate against people who believe
in one man, one woman.
We applaud Gov. Bryant, Lt. Gov. Tate
Reeves, and House Speaker Philip Gunn,
for standing up for the fundamental
freedoms of the people they represent,
Perkins said. No person should be
punished by the government with crippling
nes, or face disqualication for simply
believing what President Obama believed
just a few years ago, that marriage is the
union of a man and a woman.
Mississippi has no state law against antiLGBT discrimination that the religious
freedom bill would compromise, nor
does any municipality in the state have
an ordinance against anti-LGBT bias, so
the discrimination aorded under HB
1523 is already legal under state law. The
measure could undermine a future state
law or city ordinance prohibiting antiLGBT discrimination.
In 2014, Bryantsigned into law religious
freedom legislation seen to enable
anti-LGBT discrimination, but the new
measureallows even broaderdiscrimination
against LGBT residents.
Bryant signed HB 1523 into law despite
growing criticism of North Carolina Gov.
Pat McCrory for signing into law a dierent
anti-LGBT measure that undoes pro-LGBT
city non-discrimination ordinances and
prohibits transgender people from using
the public restroom consistent with their

gender identity. It remains to be seen
whethera similar clamor will grow urging
Bryant to repeal the religious freedom
bill in Mississippi.
Companies doing business in Mississippi
have spoken out against the bill, including
Nissan, Toyota, Tyson Foods and Levi
Strauss. The Mississippi Manufacturers
Association urged a veto, saying the bill
is contrary to corporate policies of its
members expressly providing for an
inclusive workplace environment that
supports diversity. Also making his
opposition known is Mississippi native and
former N*SYNC singer Lance Bass, who
came out as gay in 2006.
White House Press Secretary Josh
Earnest said Tuesday state laws enabling
anti-LGBT discrimination like the religious
freedom measure in Mississippi can be
outright mean-spirited.
Earnest addressed the Mississippi
law in response to a question from the
Washington Blade immediately after news
broke early Tuesday afternoon Bryant had
signed House Bill 1523 into law.
I have to acknowledge this is the rst
time Im hearing about the Mississippi
law, but if it is as you described, the
president and the administration has
long been on the side of justice and
equality, and some of the laws that weve
seen passed that target LGBT Americans
are not consistent with those values of
fairness and equality, Earnest said. And
in some cases, those laws are outright
mean-spirited, and its not something that
most Americans are comfortable with.

Top Democrats also denounced the
law. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.), House Minority Whip Steny
Hoyer (D-Md.) and Democratic National
Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman
Schultz
each
issued
statements
condemning House Bill 1523.
Similar to the comments she made about
North Carolinas anti-LGBT law, Pelosi said
the Mississippi law is going against the
tide of progress and called for passage of
federal LGBT non-discrimination legislation
known as the Equality Act.
Wasserman Schultz said the Mississippi
law is embarrassing, shameful and truly
perplexing for Republicans and equal
treatment for LGBT people is a necessity.
Hoyer said the Mississippi law gives legal
cover to discrimination against LGBT people.
Meanwhile, the White House hinted
this week that North Carolinas law raises
questions about the status of federal
funding for the state.
Earnest said Monday North Carolinas
House Bill 2 raises policy and legal
questions that federal agencies are now
investigating.
There are some both policy and legal
questions that are raised by the passage
of this law and there are a number of
government agencies that are thinking
through those questions now and taking
a look at what impact it may have on
existing law, Earnest said.
Last week, the New York Times
reported various agencies within the
Obama administration including
the
Departments
of
Education,
Transportation and Housing & Urban
Development are evaluating whether
passage of House Bill 2 will impact federal
policy in North Carolina, such as loss of
federal funds. Critics of the law have said
it contravenes Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972, which both prohibit
gender discrimination under current law.
In the aftermath of jurisdictions ranging
from San Francisco to Seattle to D.C. to
New York instituting bans on non-essential
government travel to North Carolina
following enactment of the anti-LGBT law,
Earnest said hes not aware of a policy
decision like that thats been reached
in terms of the federal government
instituting a travel ban to the state.
Asked for more details on what kind
of federal penalties North Carolina could
face as a result of enacting the anti-LGBT
law, Earnest declined to be more specic
from the podium.
There are a range of individual
agencies that are taking a look at this, and
so obviously you can ask them if theyve
reached any determinations about how
this particular law would have an impact
on their interactions with the state of
North Carolina, Earnest said.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
N A T I O NA L NEW S
A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 1 7
Sanders, Cruz triumph in Wisconsin primary

received a lot of support. But I was scared.

At the time, I lived in a state where I could be
red from my job, denied housing, denied
health care. In essence, I lived in a state
where I could be denied an opportunity.
Zekis said she took comfort in knowing
there are lawmakers seeking to put an
end to anti-trans discrimination, which is
why shes supporting Sanders.
We need a leader who is committed to
economic justice for all people, regardless
of their race, gender, sexual orientation
or gender identity, Zekis said.
Sanders is a co-sponsor of the Equality
Act, a federal bill that would prohibit antitrans discrimination in all areas of civil
rights law, and pledged in an interview
with the Washington Blade to be a
transgender advocate.
Last week, the Clinton campaign
published a Q&A titled, Meet 12
transgender Americans who are proud
to support Hillary Clinton. Written by
Sarah McBride, a transgender Clinton
supporter, the introduction to the Q&A
says Clinton has a record of results for
the trans community and has outlined the
most detailed plan for trans equality ever
proposed by a presidential candidate.
McBride is among the 12 transgender
people in the Q&A and explains that she
supports Clinton for president because of
her record as secretary of state and the
proposals she has outlined to advance
transgender rights.
Shes the only candidate running to
have delivered tangible progress for
the transgender community when she
reformed passport policies at the State
Department and added gender identity to
the departments employment policies,
McBride writes. Shes laid out a detailed
and life-saving platform on LGBT equality,
and has routinely and proactively spoken
about our needs as a community to LGBT
and non-LGBT audiences alike. More
than anything else, Im supporting Hillary
because, like she says, shes not a single
issue candidate, because we do not live in
a single issue country.
In a policy paper on LGBT rights made
public in December, Clinton pledged
to help protect transgender people
from violence, streamline the process
for changing identity documents for
transgender people and invest in law
enforcement training on interactions with
transgender people.
Others who took part in the Q&A are
Blossom Brown, a Jackson, Miss.-based
transgender advocate; Barbra Siperstein,
a New Jersey activist and member of the
Democratic National Committee; Meghan
Stabler, a board member of the Human
Rights Campaign; and Diego Sanchez,
director of policy for PFLAG.
The trans outreach comes weeks
Sen. TED CRUZ won the Wisconsin primary this week, complicating the delegate math for
frontrunner Donald Trump.
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER HALLORAN; COURTESY OF BIGSTOCKPHOTO.COM
before the New York primary on April 19,

when a mother lode of 277 delegates will
be up for grabs. According to a Quinnipiac
poll published on Thursday, Clinton leads
Sanders, 54-42, in the state where she
served as U.S. senator.
That stands in contrast to an Emerson
College poll last month that showed
Clinton with a 48-point lead in the state,
prompting speculation that Sanders is
now surging.
Melissa Sklarz, a New York-based
transgender advocate and Clinton
supporter, said she thinks trans outreach
will benet Clinton in the Empire States
primary in addition to rallying transgender
and gender non-conforming people.
It will remind New York voters that
Hillary Clinton has been the face and
voice for gay and lesbian and transgender
civil rights around the world as secretary
of state, Sklarz said. She has seen rst
hand how trans women are subjected
to poverty and violence, and I believe, as
president, Hillary will stand with trans and
GNC people as strongly as Barack Obama.
Given his decit in delegates, Sanders
would need a whopping victory in New
York much like his wins in Washington
State, Alaska and Hawaii to overtake
Clinton in reaching the 2,383 delegates to
win the Democratic nomination.
Pauline Park, a New York-based
transgender activist and Clinton critic,
said transgender endorsements are
unlikely to benet the candidate because
endorsements in general arent inuential
and too few members of the transgender
community vote.
The outreach to the transgender
community from the Clinton and Sanders

campaign is also not likely to be eective,
simply because its extremely dicult to
reach members of the community, and all
too many of those who can be reached do
not vote, Park said. At this point in time,
it is extremely dicult even to measure
the size of the transgender community let
alone the proportion of it that is politically
active, and no activist or celebrity, no
matter how prominent, should be believed
if s/he claims to speak for the entire
community, especially when it comes to
electoral politics and party primaries.
Sanders, Cruz
win big in Wis.
Shaking things up for the presidential
front-runners of their respective parties,
Sanders and Sen. Ted Cruz emerged as
the winners in the Wisconsin primaries
on Tuesday.
Media major outlets declared Sanders
the winner over his rival Clinton and Cruz
the winner over his competitors Donald
Trump and Gov. John Kasich soon after
polls closed.
On the Democratic side, Sanders won the
Wisconsin Democratic primary with 56.6
percent of the vote compared to 43.1
percent won by Clinton. Meanwhile, on the
Republican side, Cruz won 48.2 percent
of the vote, followed by Trump with 35.1
percent and Kasich with 14.1 percent.
At at campaign rally in Laramie,
Wyo., Sanders celebrated his Wisconsin
win by emphasizing the momentum
his campaign has enjoyed since its
beginnings a year ago.

With our victory tonight in Wisconsin,
we have now won seven out of eight of
the last caucuses and primaries, and
we have won almost all of them with
overwhelming
landslide
numbers,
Sanders said.
Clinton wasnt expected to speak later in
the evening in Wisconsin. As pointed out by
the Hungton Posts Sam Stein on Twitter,
she was attending a high-dollar fundraiser
as Sanders spoke and the candidate
articulated his familiar refrain the average
donation to his campaign was $27.
Bernie touts his $27 average donation
during his victory speech while Clinton is
o at a private, $10k-a-plate fundraiser,
Stein tweeted.
But to win the Democratic nomination,
Sanders will have to continue racking up
wins by signicant margins in states thatll
be more challenging for him. Among the
upcoming major states are Pennsylvania,
where polls show Clinton in the lead, and
New York, where Clinton has an advantage
because she served there as U.S. senator.
Sanders will also have to overcome a
widely panned interview with the editorial
board of the New York Daily News in
which he seemed unaware of the details
of his own proposed policies, such as
where hed place terrorist suspects after
closing Guantanamo Bay, the process for
breaking up big banks and whether bank
executives can be jailed under current law.
In a speech in Milwaukee, Cruz also
celebrated his victory after he was
introduced on stage by Wisconsin Gov.
Scott Walker, who endorsed him before
the primary.
Tonight, Wisconsin has lit a candle
guiding the way, Cruz said. Tonight, we
once again have hope for the future.
Cruz also recommitted himself to
upholding religious liberty as president,
which is considered code for enabling
anti-LGBT discrimination.
Catholic schools, and Jewish day
schools, Brigham Young, and the Little
Sisters of the Poor will see a Supreme
Court that protects their religious liberty,
Cruz said.
The win by Cruz in Wisconsin
jeopardizesthe expectation Trump will be
the Republican presidential nominee and
increases the possibility the candidate
couldbe selected at an open convention.
Trump won at least three delegates
in Wisconsin. On the Republican side,
some delegates are awarded on the basis
of which candidate wins each of the state
congressional districts. Trump was doing well
in early returns in rural areas of the state.
According to the Associated Press,
voter turnout in the Wisconsin primary
was estimated to be 40 percent of the
electorate, which is the highest ever for a
primary in the state since 1980.
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18 A PR IL 08, 2016
BA LT I MO RE N E W S
PAUL LILLER received

a suspended sentence
and two years of
probation in a theft
case.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO
BY STEVE CHARING
Pride coordinator pleads guilty to theft

Just as leaders from the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community
Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB) are gearing up to host Pride
2016, the 2015 Pride Coordinator, Paul Liller, accepted a plea deal in a case in
which he had been accused of theft by GLCCBs board president Jabari Lyles.
Following three postponements that began in Baltimores District Court last
December, Liller signed an Alford plea agreement in Baltimore Circuit Court
on March 30. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor (theft; less than $1,000 value)
without admitting guilt and maintaining his innocence but admitting that the
prosecution could likely prove the charge based on the evidence.
Liller, 33, was charged, according to Assistant States Attorney Toi Mason, with
taking property from the GLCCB in the amount of $704.58. Sources told the
Blade that it was a result of his using the GLCCBs debit card to buy non-GLCCBrelated items.
These purchases allegedly occurred between Aug. 15-Sept. 15 based on
a complaint led by Lyles on behalf of the GLCCB. According to the original
charging documents, they included such items as various art supplies, crafting
supplies and oce supplies.
Since becoming GLCCBs Pride coordinator in late 2014, Liller was appointed
the GLCCBs development coordinator and ultimately deputy director and acting
executive director after the resignation of Joel Tinsley-Hall eective July 6, 2015.
Liller resigned suddenly on Oct. 13 amid rumors concerning missing funds
from Pride. The GLCCB then initiated a review of its nancial transactions whose
ndings led to the complaint.
As a result of the plea deal, Liller received an 18-month suspended sentence,
two years supervised probation and restitution to the GLCCB in the amount
charged.
GLCCB president Lyles did not respond to requests from the Blade for
comment.
Chase Brexton launches trans youth program
Chase Brexton Health Care has launched a new program oering a full range
of health care services for transgender and gender-diverse youth. The program,
Some things we all have in
Gender Journeys of Youth, or Gender JOY, is the rst program in the Baltimore
common.
area to provide comprehensive support to transgender youth, who have health
Theres nobody like me to protect the
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lauren rdH and Patient-of-the-Week Cielo
things we all value. Like a good neighbor,
Gender Joy assists children, adolescents and young adults with questions or
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ISSUE DATE: 03.04.16
SALES REPRESENTATIVE: BRIAN PITTS (bpitts@washblade.com)
Chase Brextons LGBT Health Resource Center, which opened last year, will
REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of
proof. Proof will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of
help connect Gender JOY patients to additional services and resources.
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after
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naff
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NS
omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is
There are many children and adolescents who experience an internal feeling
responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users
GN
can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or
EVISIONS
any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any
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copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair
/LOGO REVISIONS
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By signing
proof you are agreeing to your contract obligations with the
Indra this
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liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred
washington blade newspaper. This includes physician
but is not limited to placement,
Maria
Hodas
DDS,
MS
by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertisers breach of any of the foregoing representations
payment and insertion schedule.
DDS
and warranties.
Transgender individuals face heightened risks of harassment and violence at
school and at home. Also, nearly 75 percent of transgender patients worry that
medical personnel will treat them dierently as a result of their identity.
Jonna S Wooten, Agent
Gender care is oered for youth and adolescents at Chase Brextons Columbia,
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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
20 A PR IL 08, 2016
H E A LT H N E W S
FDA approves new combo HIV drug

NEW YORK The Food and Drug Administration has approved Descovy, a
combination HIV drug developed by Gilead Sciences, the Associated Press
reports.
The daily pill includes two already-approved drugs for treating the virus. The
combination is the backbone of Gileads newest HIV medicines, and is part of
Gileads HIV pill Genvoya, approved in 2015, the AP reports.
Gilead, of Foster City, Calif., is a top maker of HIV and hepatitis treatments.
Descovy carries FDAs strictest warnings about side eects, including
potentially fatal buildup of lactic acid in the blood and worsening of hepatitis B,
immune system problems and kidney damage, the AP reports. Its approved for
treating patients aged 12 and older with the HIV-1 subtype.
Gilead says Descovy is as eective as its blockbuster Viread at a much-lower
dose. It hasnt disclosed the price, the AP article said.
Grant to seed study on gay/bi mental health
WE NEED YOU TO MAKE

HIV/AIDS HISTORY
NEW HAVEN, Conn. The Yale School of Public Health has received a $3.9
million grant to study the ecacy of a mental health intervention they developed
for gay and bisexual men, the school announced.
It targets young gay and bisexual men and helps them cope with stigmarelated stress to reduce their risk of mental-health disorders, including alcohol
and drug abuse and HIV-risk behaviors. The National Institute of Mental Health
awarded the grant.
The research team has already conducted a multi-year pilot study.
They consulted community health providers and at-risk gay and bisexual men
to create an intervention that teaches skills to counteract the harmful eects
of stigma-related stress. Sixty-three young men received the intervention, and
the ndings indicate that participants experienced improved mental and sexual
health. With the new grant, researchers are planning to launch a larger trial with
a higher level of control, school ocials said.
If this next stage of testing works as we expect it to, we will have strong
evidence about how to eectively treat gay and bisexual mens mental health
problems and their associations with HIV risk, said John Pachankis, Ph.D.,
associate professor and the studys principal investigator.
The 10-session intervention designed by Pachankis and his group includes
cognitive-behavioral techniques that teach men skills to counteract the eects of
stigma-related stress. For example, men who internalize negative lessons about
themselves might avoid romantic connections with other men, Yale ocials said.
We helped these men learn to recognize the origin of these behaviors, tolerate
strong emotions, and engage in more personally meaningful and rewarding
behavior, Pachankis said.
Study nds PrEP under-prescribed
TAKE STEPS WITH US:
LONDON Out of a pool of more than 1,000 gay and bisexual men, a new UK
study found that only 83 fewer than one in 10 reported PrEP use, Reuters
reports.
But 42 percent of those who do use it said they had not skipped a single dose
in the previous 90 days, and only 6 percent had skipped more than two doses
per week, the investigators reported at the annual meeting of the Society of
Behavioral Medicine in Washington, Reuters reports.
The lesson for care providers is that men are willing and able to take a daily
pill, so it is important to talk to those who could benet and increase prescription
rates, study leader Jerey Parsons, a professor of psychology at Hunter College,
City University of New York, told Reuters Health by email.
The majority of gay men who are . . . good candidates for PrEP are not on the
medication, and many havent spoken to their medical providers about PrEP. We
need to get conversations going, and in general promote more open dialogue
between doctors and patients regarding sexual health, Parsons told Reuters.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has guidelines to help health care
providers determine who is an appropriate candidate for PrEP with safer sex
practices and Truvada, a pill made by Gilead that contains the antiviral drugs
emtricitabine and tenofovir.
The ndings are from One Thousand Strong, a three-year observational study
of a U.S. national sample of gay and bisexual men ages 18 to 80 that is now
underway, Reuters reports.
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Be very afraid
Trump and Cruz mean to
do us harm
PETER ROSENSTEIN is a D.C.-based LGBT rights

and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly
for the Blade.
North Carolinas new anti-LGBT law is a

nasty example of what is going on in the
country today. Whether its a new wave
of open racism, homophobia, sexism or
anti-immigrant rhetoric, all are being not
only exacerbated by the candidacies of
Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) but being encouraged by them. The
comparisons to Mussolini are appropriate.
While the current rise of hate can be
largely attributed to these men, it is a culmination of what has been said by many
in the Tea Party, and the ultra-right of the
Republican Party for many years. I have
often written of Cruz as the current incarnation of the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy
(R-Wis.).
The rise of Trump is what happens
when a political party is taken over by the
far right and its more moderate members
are cowed into submission. When the
likes of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) and Speaker Paul Ryan
(R-Wis.) are no longer willing to stand
up for decency and common sense but

themselves encourage racism and make
it more acceptable by their reactions to
and attacks on President Obama.
We have reached a crossroads in our
country and the 2016 elections will be
very telling as to which road we will take:
the one that leads to decency and respect
for each other or the one leading to totalitarianism. The rst test will come for
Republicans as they determine whether
they will allow Trump or Cruz to take over
their party. Their convention in Cleveland
will tell whether the more rational wing of
the party has surrendered to the far right.
The second test will come if either Cruz
or Trump is the Republican nominee and
the American people will have to decide
if they are willing to soundly reject them.
At this point, I no longer have faith the rational members of the Republican Party
will prevail but do believe the American
people will do the right thing. They have
shown before, even if it has taken time,
they can dierentiate between good and
evil. They will stand up to and reject ideologues and demagogues.
It is my hope in this pivotal election that
people will side with their better angels
as they cast their votes for candidates up
and down the ballot. We may not survive
a national vote that will further divide us.
Women, African Americans, immigrants
the LGBT community and all minorities
and allies who support basic decency
must unite to protect and provide every
American with full civil and human rights.
There is a famous poem attributed to
Pastor Martin Niemoller that begins, First
they came for ..., about the cowardice of

German intellectuals following the Nazis
rise to power and the subsequent purging of their chosen targets, group after
group. Many adaptations in the spirit of
the original have been published all dealing with themes of persecution, guilt and
responsibility. One of the most famous
is quoted in the Holocaust Museum and
begins: First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I
was not a Socialist; Then they came for
the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak
out because I was not a Trade Unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not
speak out because I wasnt a Jew; Then
they came for me, and there was no one
left to speak for me.
With Donald Trump and Ted Cruz we
have reached a time in the United States
where the meaning of that poem resonates. With calls for the deportation of
11 million Mexicans; rolling back strides
made by the LGBT community for human
and civil rights; overturning Roe v. Wade;
and rolling back the right to vote for African Americans we should all be frightened.
Many of us who have fought for progress and peoples rights all our lives never
believed these ideas could gain traction
here. Yet they have and they must be
fought. Every one of us must speak out
in a loud and clear voice and say we will
not go quietly into the night and allow the
United States to go down that path. We
will use our voices and our votes to take
us down a path of decency and respect
for all.
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A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 2 3
Hillarys Arkansas HIV history =

Nancy Reagans silence
A closer look at rst ladys
record in early days of epidemic
By MICHAEL PETRELIS
It cannot be said that during her nine
years as rst lady of Arkansas that Hillary
Clinton started a local conversation about
AIDS her advocacy had such a low-key
volume that no one heard it.
Now that the dust-up over her grossly
uninformed statement about Nancy Reagan starting a national discussion about
AIDS has subsided, its relevant to examine
her HIV record, such as it is, from her Little
Rock years.
Remarkably, during the 1980s when
their husbands held power and the AIDS
epidemic created crises at every level of
government, as thousands of gay men and
others suered and died, neither rst lady
left a paper trail of actions or statements
addressing the grief, tremendous fear and
stigma we lived with.
As a member of the ACT UP/Presidential
Project from late 1991 to the November
1992 election, I kept thick les on Gov. Bill
Clintons campaign and reporting on his
HIV record. Nothing in my archive includes
any reference to Hillarys HIV record and
online searches fail to locate any relevant
source materials.
If she took action or spoke up prior to
campaigning against George H. W. Bush, it
went unreported or duly noted.
Hillary held no elective oce while her
husband served as governor but she was
no shrinking violet when it came to injecting herself into public policy matters and
state government, and ghting for causes
she believed in.
In 1977, then-attorney general Bill Clinton endorsed modernization of the states
homosexual and bestial anti-sodomy statute and as governor made no public comments calling for repeal of the law. Same
goes for Hillary. When in 1991 courageous
local Democratic politician Vic Snyder, who
eventually served as a representative in
Congress, attempted to erase the law from
the books, neither Clinton oered him support.
Newspaper accounts from 1991 oer
details on how police entrapped men cruising for sex at highway rest stops and other
locations, and after they were arrested
and charged under the sodomy law, their
names and home addresses were published for all to read.
Arkansass sodomy statue was in eect
until the Supreme Court struck down such
laws across the land, but while it was on the
HILLARY CLINTON recently criticized HIV disclosure laws, but she was silent when her husband
signed one.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY DAMIEN SALAS
books it was vigorously used by prosecutors against LGBT persons.

Compounding the stigma and fear of
gays and our sexual relations, and the
added burden of HIV transmission stemming from outrageous neglect of prevention and education programs, Gov. Clinton
in November 1989 signed one of the worst
criminal transmission laws in the nation.
The law made it a Class A felony for a poz
person to have penetrative sex with another person without rst disclosing their HIV
status. If convicted, sentences required no
less than six years and a maximum of 30
years in prison.
This law is still on the books and an unknown number of persons convicted under
it currently are inmates in penitentiaries
serving time.
Public records obtained from Arkansas
prosecutors by advocates aliated with
Sero, a nonprot of HIV poz folks and allies
ghting stigma and injustice, while limited
in scope because several prosecutors refused to release responsive records citing
state sunshine law allowing ocials to deny
access to public records if the requester
lives out of state.
The Sero organization is based in Pennsylvania.
Of caseloads made public for about a
dozen persons, the average sentence meted out was 10 years and three people got
20 years while only one received six years
in prison. I believe these cases represent a
mere fraction of all convictions in Arkansas.
After extensive searching, Ive come
across nothing showing Hillary opposed
the HIV criminalization law before her husband signed it or after going into eect.
Over the course of their nal nine years

of holding the reins of power in Little Rock
and of widespread HIV and sodomy criminal enforcement, Hillary expended no political capital on us or our concerns.
Just how missing-in-action on AIDS were
the Clintons up to September 1990?
An extended editorial at the time in Little
Rocks alternative weekly The Spectrum
headlined Time For An AIDS Policy completely omits the Clintons, indicating they
werent known for doing the right thing on
HIV matters.
It noted: The incidence of reported AIDS
in Arkansas is up 158 percent over last year
by the end of September, there will be
147 cases on the books as compared to 57
this same time last year. The Department
of Health Services just completely cut Medicaid benets to 10 of 13 Arkansans who
take AZT The Arkansas Department of
Corrections simply failed to reapply for its
grants that paid for a full-time AIDS education coordinator Blacks in Arkansas have
an alarmingly disproportionate incidence
of AIDS; about 23 percent of AIDS cases are
among blacks who make up 16.3 percent of
the population.
With primaries underway, the Clinton for
President Committee in early March 1992
issued a one-page position paper on AIDS
that is noteworthy because it lacks any
compelling achievement on his part directly
assisting people with AIDS or those at-risk.
It reads: As chairman of the National
Governors Association, he formed the rst
working group of governors to develop a
policy on AIDS In 1986, under Governor
Clintons leadership, the Arkansas State
Board of Education adoption a resolution
calling for the development of AIDS educations skills to be integrated into the
Health Education Course Content Guide.
Granted, a panel and a resolution connected to Bill during the rst ve years of
the plague are something, theyre exceedingly underwhelming and pitiful and force
me to wonder where was Hillary and did
she do a damn thing about HIV in Little
Rock?
In her apology after her erroneous Nancy Reagan comment generated pain, Hillary
wrote:
Ive always tried to do my part in the
ght against this disease, and the stigma
and pain that accompanies it. At the 1992
Democratic National Convention, when
my husband accepted the nomination for
president, we marked a break with the past
by having two HIV-positive speakersthe
rst time that ever happened at a national
convention.
Echoes of Bills 1992 campaign AIDS position paper long on platitudes, short on
substance. Given how abysmal her HIV Arkansas record is, Hillarys apology omitting
anything she may have done prior to the
presidential campaign is quite telling.
A four-page policy assessment paper
from the Arkansas Gay and Lesbian Task
Force in February 1992 to the Human
Rights Campaign about the states AIDS
legislation and response to the epidemic
oers more on the issue.
On top of the bad laws, sodomy arrests
and prosecutions and lack of initiative from
the Clintons, the task force shed light regarding no state funds appropriated for
AIDS: [O]nly federal money was spent here
until 1991 [when three HIV educators for
community-based organizations for the entire state were hired] . . . $30,000 in 1992
was money to be used for testing and counseling that the federal government quit
sending and it came from the Governors
Emergency Release Fund.
Most galling, Hillary said: We should call
on states to reform outdated and stigmatizing HIV criminalization laws.
If only Bill hadnt signed Arkansass criminalization law she would have one less
state to call on to amend, maybe even repeal, these lock-em-up laws.
Whats needed now, just as weve
weighed Mrs. Reagans HIV resume, is to
apply the same degree of accountability
to Mrs. Clinton especially during her Little
Rock years.
MICHAEL PETRELIS is a longtime San

Francisco-based blogger focused on AIDS and
LGBT issues.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
2 4 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
VIEWPOINT
Avoid these election-year mistakes

A moment on the lips, a
lifetime on the court
RICHARD J. ROSENDALL is a writer and activist.

Reach him at rrosendall@starpower.net.
We see words of caution everywhere: Do

not drive with sunshield in place. Do not
use thermometer orally after using rectally.
Do not iron clothes on body. As I study
manufacturers warning labels, I sometimes
wonder what geniuses are buying their
products. In a similar vein, partisan elections
reveal impaired judgment in political consumers.
Perhaps you have noticed this. Your
friend or relative, whose sensibleness and
decency you generally respect, has decided
to support Candidate X, whose brazen ignorance and naked opportunism your friend
fails to recognize. Your friend is determined
to see nothing but virtue in this candidate,

and nothing but vice in rival candidates.
Because I care, I have compiled a list of
election-year missteps we can all be on the
lookout to avoid. (Note: This list is inevitably arbitrary and idiosyncratic. I therefore
encourage my smart and savvy readers to
share their own examples.)
Just because you get annoyed by Anderson Coopers ts of giggling does not make
him wrong when he observes that Donald
Trump talks like a ve-year-old.
Just because Sen. Lindsey Graham is a
closet case who overcompensates by advocating unnecessary wars does not take away
the lucid moment when he said choosing
between Trump and Ted Cruz was like being shot or poisoned.
Just because Paul Ryan is good looking
and not Donald Trump is no reason to let
him make the next three Supreme Court
appointments. The courts gutting of a key
provision of the Voting Rights Act in 2013
unleashed aggressive voter suppression efforts by his party from Arizona to Wisconsin.
So do us all a favor and moon over someone
elses workout pics.
Just because Bernie Sanders raises legitimate calls for reform does not chart a
successful revolution. Meanwhile, the #Ber-
nieOrBust pledge, which would hand victory to the GOP, is ne for people who can
lament other peoples suering from their
places of privilege.
Just because you think Hillary Clinton is
too cozy with Wall Street does not require
a side eye for her proposal to rein in large
nancial institutions, her diplomatic eorts
against a nuclear Iran, her lifelong support
for childrens and womens rights, or her
launch of a global LGBT initiative. Painting
nasty caricatures is a dangerous game given
the hate being stoked across the aisle.
Just because only 42 percent of American
Muslims support marriage equality is no
reason to make common cause with Islamophobes who think that number is too high.
Just because Republican Sen. Mark Kirk
has a 78 percent score from the Human
Rights Campaign compared to Democratic
challenger Tammy Duckworths perfect
score does not mean HRC doesnt have its
reasons for endorsing Kirk. You dont have
to get mad at HRC in order to agree with
LPAC and support Duckworth. By the way,
its a bit silly to join the #DivestFromHRC
movement when you werent giving them
money in the rst place.
Just because North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is a lying bastard does not make it OK
to insult the children of unmarried parents.

While were on the subject of the anti-LGBT
bills racing through Red State legislatures,
let me say that just because someone repeats men in dresses a hundred times
does not make his ignorance of gender variance any less glaring, and does not change
the fact that, based on experience, you are
likelier to receive unwelcome contact in a
public bathroom from a United States senator than from a trans woman.
Just because your husband cheated on
you does not mean you have to trade him in
for someone who beats you. This is a metaphor for dumping imperfect Democrats in
favor of Republicans who are worse. At the
same time, just because going home alone
can be sensible in personal relations does
not make it smart to stay home on Election
Day. You can go without a lover, but someone is going to be sworn in as president next
Jan. 20.
Spoiler alert: In William Faulkners story
A Rose for Emily, the title character turns
out to have been sleeping beside her lovers
corpse. If Paul Ryan can have Ayn Rand, I can
have Southern Gothic. Neither, however, is a
reliable basis for public policy.
Copyright 2016 by Richard J. Rosendall.
All rights reserved.
VIEWPOINT
All-out assault on our rights now underway

Trans people should occupy
restrooms in N.C. in protest
By SUZI CHASE
The passage of HB 2 in North Carolina,
essentially enshrining biological sex as
an admission requirement to state restrooms, was awful in many, many ways.
It forces trans students to out themselves. It causes hardship to those unfortunate enough to be born in states
that dont allow birth certicate gender
changes. It disproportionately targets
transgender people whose economic
situations make documentation updates
prohibitive. And it carries a chilling eect
for those just beginning transition.
What should also trouble state residents, though, is that their legislature took
up the bill, debated it, and passed it in
both houses for the governors signature
in a single day. Can the impact of a law affecting thousands really be appreciated in
just a few hours? Its clear legislators didnt
want to know the truth, lest stories of human suering sway their weaker colleagues from the noble end of oppressing
the states transgender citizens.

When government shows that level of
callousness, simply speaking out in opposition is ineective. Hope is being expressed that the NBA or Disney or some
similar corporate powerhouse will rain
punishment down upon the powerful
of their state showing them the error of
their ways. Maybe one will. They certainly
could use all the help they can get.
But its optimistic to expect large corporations to ride to their rescue. Companies
are driven by prot. If it prots them to
punish North Carolina, they will. Otherwise, they may make big noises (which
obviously didnt worry the bills supporters), but will end up taking whatever
route nancially benets their investors.
Reliable pressure on lawmakers in Raleigh needs to come from the LGBT community itself. Ideally, any action should
have happened months ago. Our enemies have made it clear an all-out nationwide assault on our rights is underway.
For transgender people living in states
harboring religious antipathy, the time to
educate the public and lawmakers about
bathroom needs is long before a bill like
HB 2 is introduced. Now the toothpaste

needs to be returned to the tube.
The protests reported in the state capital represent a good start, but such actions are hard to sustain. I suggest a more
narrowly targeted protest with greater
staying power.
What if transgender people across
the state sought to occupy restrooms
in popular locations as an educational
gesture? Just two or three people could
make their presence felt, small teams of
transgender men standing in womens
rooms, and trans women in mens rooms
carrying signs saying we dont want to be
here; a live, conspicuous display of the
reasons why forcing them there doesnt
make sense.
Yes, such a move would be provocative, possibly leading to confrontation,
violence or arrests. Protests generally
do. However, incidents instigated by others against peaceful protesters will help
make our point. Were a team to chronicle
on video an instance of harassment from
the public or law enforcement, it would
make clear who truly is in danger from
the new law.
Safety would be a concern, of course,

as in all civil rights struggles against the
forces of hate. It takes bravery to stand
against homophobic and transphobic intimidation. Occupation teams would need
escape plans for when violence erupts that
seriously threatens harm. However, inciting
violence would be a tactical error by opponents of transgender bathroom rights. Violence makes news, news draws attention
and attention represents an opportunity
for education. Indeed, without attention,
educating the public is impossible.
One Charlotte resident has already begun. Charlie Comero has been handing
out cards. I am a transgender man who
would rather be using the mens room
right now, they read. This is likely uncomfortable for both of us. Something
larger is needed. Cards can be rejected,
but signs are harder to ignore. Turning
Comeros personal crusade into a more
visible protest would drive home to voters who may still be unclear, exactly why
HB 2 is a bad idea.
SUZI CHASE is a Maryland-based freelance
writer.
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WEDDING
PLANNING
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
VOLUME
47
ISSUE
15
APRIL
08,
2016
PAGE
27
SAME-SEX NUPTIALS BRING QUESTIONS FROM ALL SIDES

By MARIAH COOPER
mcooper@washblade.com
In the Key & Peele comedy sketch
Gay Wedding Advice, a family gathers
to learn the proper etiquette behind
attending a gay wedding for their cousin.
The familys pressing questions include,
When do we sing Over the Rainbow?,
Where do you get the Euros to buy gay
gifts? and whether to throw Skittles
instead of rice.
The skit is based on etiquette guru
Steven Petrows gay wedding advice
and he says although the content is for
laughs, its not far o from the questions
straight people ask him about same-sex
ceremonies.
Theres often this free-owing anxiety,
even amongst those who are supportive
of same-sex marriage. Things that Ive
heard are people wondering whether if it
will be like a gay Pride parade or festival,
wild and crazy, Petrow says. I tell them,
No, Ive actually never seen a ceremony
like that. Although once a while I do hear
about performers in drag as part of the
reception. But like any other marriage, its
a sacred ceremony.
Petrow, known as Mr. Manners, is no
stranger to laying down the etiquette law.
Hes the author of The Essential Book of
Gay Manners & Etiquette, The New Gay
Wedding: A Practical Primer for Brides
and Grooms, Their Families and Guests
and Steven Petrows Complete Gay &
Lesbian Manners: The Denitive Guide to
LGBT Life, among others. He also writes
Civilities, a Washington Post column
about LGBT and straight etiquette and is
the Hiltons Modern Manners Expert.
His etiquette career came about when
a mutual friend set him up on a blind
date with the late writer and former
HarperCollins editor David Rako. The
pair had both battled cancer and had an
interest in collecting old etiquette books
and vintage cooking books respectively.
The rst date was terrible, Petrow says
but Rako ended up sending Petrow a
book contract for his rst book.
Now Petrow, who married his husband
Jim Bean in 2013, gives gay etiquette
advice in his books and column. Hes
often asked if there is really a dierence
in etiquette for same-sex couples and
straight couples.
STEVEN PETROW says gay and lesbian couples tend to be surprisingly heteronormative in their
wedding choices, perhaps, he guesses, because they were shut out for so long.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HILTON
The rules are the same. But we

had been basically shut out of every
mainstream wedding planning book and
etiquette book for decades until my book
came around, Petrow says. Couples
often had been together for many years
if not decades. When marriage became
legal in their state they kind of jumped at
the chance and got married.
Because it started happening relatively
quickly, there were no rituals or traditions
established, he says.
Now theres a whole new generation
approaching their weddings. Theyre
much more along the traditional. Theyre
heteronormative. Theyre following the
example of getting engaged, having
long engagement periods, bachelor and
bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinners
and showers and all of that.
Same-sex marriage legalization has
even shifted the proposal process.
Even with decades of feminism and

more gender equality, with oppositesex couples, men still do most of the
proposing, Petrow says. Theres no such
precedent for same-sex couples.
For earlier couples, those who got
engaged before last year, I think it was
kind of a mutual decision. Weve been
together for 10 years and were doing
the dishes and now same-sex marriage
is legal so while doing the dishes, Well
honey, do you want to get married?
Sure, lets do it. It wasnt really romantic
necessarily. These days there is much
more traditional asking.
The etiquette guru says although a ring
is often involved, it isnt always the case.
Gay men frequently like to exchange
watches for what Petrow calls the
timeless element a watch represents.
Those who do exchange rings opt to take
the rings o before the ceremony or
switch the ring from the right hand to the

left hand to signify the marriage.
Gender-neutral wedding registries
are something same-sex couples now
can take advantage of much easier than
before. Petrow says in the past a samesex couple would have to choose who to
be the bride and groom for certain items.
Now, many vendors have listed items with
gender-neutral language such as Spouse
One and Spouse Two. Places like Macys
and Target oer LGBT wedding registry
for couples. The Hilton also recently
launched a new LGBT wedding registry to
recognize same-sex couples.
When it comes to the actual wedding,
Petrow has some advice for guests eager
to capture the moment.
I think all too many guests are
bringing their cell phones and tablets to
ceremonies and disrupting things, taking
pictures, tweeting or being on Instagram
before the brides and the grooms have
posted anything of their own. Ive seen
people step into the aisle and block a bride
that way. My advice to those folks is to
ask before you take pictures. Remember
you are not the center of attention at
the ceremony, thats the brides and the
grooms, Petrow says.
However, technology can put a fun
spin on a ceremony. Petrow says putting
a GoPro in the wedding bouquet to see
the ceremony from a new angle can be
intriguing. Drone photography is also a
popular choice to catch an aerial shot of
the reception, but Petrow urges couples
to disclose using it to guests for the sake
of guests privacy.
During the reception, the cake can be
the most exciting part for foodies and
lovers of cake decorations. Petrow says
he still sees the traditional two grooms or
two brides on top of a cake, but he has
noticed the couples initials on top of the
cake just as often. For a futuristic spin, 3D
technology can be used to place photos
of the couple on top of the cake.
Once married, the terms used to refer
to spouses are varied and Petrow urges
anyone unsure to simply ask the couple
how they refer to one another.
CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
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Same-sex marriage is good for business according to a recent Williams Institute study.
PHOTO BY DANIELLE MADELEY; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
Dollars and sense

GAY MARRIAGE GENERATES MILLIONS, SPURS JOB GROWTH: STUDY
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Four months after same-sex marriage came to the entire country via the Supreme
Court decision in June, 2015, the Williams Institute studied the eect it had economically.
They estimate that 96,000 same-sex couples wed in that period spending more than
DC MetRO WeDDing OffiCiants
$634
million themselves while their out-of-state guests spent an estimated $178 million
Serving DC/VA/MD Specializing in
to attend, generating more than $800 million in spending.
LGBT civil & spiritual weddings!
Its a boon to states, Williams researchers say. Those estimates, which researchers say
Have your wedding your way!
are conservative, yielded more than $51 million in sales tax revenue. This spending could
Rev. Dan 703-644-0253
support about 9,700 jobs for a full year. The study is available online at williamsinstitute.
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law.ucla.edu.
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Although the numbers are speculative, researchers factored in several components.
According to The Wedding Report, the average cost of a U.S. wedding in 2014 was
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Same-sex couples may receive less nancial support from their parents and other
family
members to cover wedding costs due to persistent stigma, resulting in less
spending, the report says. Taking these factors into account as in previous studies
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by the Williams Institute, we estimate that same-sex couples spend one-quarter of the
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ADVERTISER SIGNATUREAs to whether same-sex couples tend to spend more or less on their weddings,
SIONS
washington blade newspaper. This includes
but is not
limited to placement,
Christy
Mallory,
senior counsel with the Williams Institute, says, We dont really know.
and warranties.
Earlier, they tended to get married very quickly, Mallory, who declines to give her
sexual orientation, says. They didnt know how long it would be around, if it would get
repealed and so on. They were often rushing to get married, so our estimates were that
they tended to spend about 35 percent. Our research was designed to take that into
account.
Same-sex marriage, as one might expect, tends to taper o the longer its legal in a
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of all marriages in a state the rst year its legal, tapering o to about 21 and 15 percent
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A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 3 5
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Gay ociant TRAVIS CRYTZER ociating at a recent local wedding. Hes one of many local
ociants happy to unite LGBT couples.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CRYTZER
Here comes the pride

D.C.S BOOMING WEDDING INDUSTRY HAPPY TO SERVE LGBT COUPLES
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
With same-sex marriage here to stay in the U.S., theres a booming industry available
in the D.C. area and beyond to meet your wedding needs.
The Intrepid Wendell, gay-owned and operated by Daniel Boettcher, is here to help
you fashion your joy and your love into a set of rings that represent who you are and
what your love means. Its located just steps from the White House. Schedule an
appointment by visiting theintrepidwendell.com.
This years D.C. LGBT Wedding Expo already happened. Same Love, Same Rights
was held in February at Maggianos, but rainbowweddingnetwork.com is still a great
site for same-sex wedding resources in the region. If youre willing to travel and dont
want to wait til next years D.C. event, upcoming expos are slated for Atlanta (April 10),
Milwaukee (May 15), Seattle (May 15) and a host of other cities.
Need help nding an ociant? The Knot (theknot.com) has a D.C. page with 148
arming ministers, rabbis, pre-marriage counselors and more.
Proposition Love is another gay-owned jewelry outlet that oers bracelets, necklaces
and, of course, wedding bands. Find it online at propositionlove.com.
A sure sign the movement is maturing is when you start seeing same-sex wedding
products on the shelves at mainstream outlets. Nothing yet in Michaels or big
surprise Hobby Lobby, but the Paper Source now sells Mr & Mr. and Mrs. & Mrs.
rubber stamps along the more traditional Mr. & Mrs. version. Theyre available for
$8.95 each at Paper Source outlets in Old Town Alexandria, Bethesda and Georgetown
though oddly only the Mr. & Mrs. version is for sale online. Location details are online
at shop.papersource.com.
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set of luxury watches designed exclusively for the Countdown to a Cure campaign.
Available in 20 dierent styles for both men and women, 20 percent of the sales go to
the cause. The mens watches, made with 18-karat white gold, retail for $21,200; the
womens, which feature rubies, sapphires and garnets, for $16,200.
And nally, two new books chronicle the marriage wars in interesting ways and could
make lovely mementos for the next gay couple whose wedding you attend. Love
Unites Us: Winning the Freedom to Marry in America is edited by Kevin Cathcart and
Leslie Gabel-Brett and features rsthand accounts from the attorneys and advocates
who brought the Obergefell v. Hodges case to the Supreme Court. And Justice Anthony
Kennedys decision in the case is now available in gift book form as The U.S. Supreme
Court Decision on Marriage Equality.
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Celebrating 35 years in song,

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New York City Master Chorale
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THE NEW YORK TIMES
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ARTS
AND
ENTERTAINMENT
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
VOLUME
47
ISSUE
15
APRIL
08,
2016
PAGE
41
MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS,

music director of the San Francisco
Symphony, says managing an
orchestra like a business is a mistake.
PHOTO BY ART STREIBER;
COURTESY OF THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
CONDUCTOR MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS OPENS UP ON

HIS LONG CAREER IN CLASSICAL MUSIC
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Though just four performances, the
San Francisco Symphonys current East
Coast mini-tour features two programs.
The symphony will perform on
Saturday, April 16 at 4 p.m. at the Kennedy
Center Concert Hall performing Franz
Schuberts Symphony No. 8 Unnished
and Gustav Mahlers Das Lied von der
Erde. The players will be joined by
mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke and tenor
Simon ONeill. Two days prior, theyll
perform the same program at Carnegie
Hall. The symphony will explore works by
Copland and Schumann at the New Jersey
Performing Arts Center this weekend.
We caught up with Music Director
Michael Tilson Thomas, now in his 21st
season with the symphony with whom
hes shared 12 Grammys, by phone this
week. His comments have been slightly
edited for length.
WASHINGTON
BLADE:
Youve
recorded many Mahler symphonies.
What is it about his music that continues
to resonate with you?
MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS: His music
is very central to my whole view of life
and that was evident from the rst time
I heard his music when I was around 13.
This piece in fact, which were about to
play in Washington, Das Lied von der
Erde, I heard the last movement, the
farewell, called Der Abschied, and it was
stunning, a shock to me to hear music
which so completely described the shape
of my own soul and what I felt to be my
parents souls, where all the kind of aching
questions about the meaning of life and
all sorts of questions which I hadnt even
consciously formed, but somehow I just
knew this was a testimony that meant
so much to me. Part of that was the
musical presentation of situations where
there can be bitterness or frustration or

conict, but nonetheless theres still an
element of beauteousness as well. For
me, the message of the music is to hold
on to the beauteousness at whatever the
cost. That resonated with me from the
rst moment and still does.
BLADE: Does the Schubert symphony
youre also performing contrast with or
complement the Mahler?
TILSON THOMAS: Schubert (was)
using this sort of haunted language that
was very Czech-inuenced because his
parents came from what is now the Czech
Republic and of course Mahler did as
well, so there is this sort of major/minor
haunted harmonic language thats part of
it. On the piano you have a note which
you sometimes call E at or sometimes
you call it D sharp. On the piano, its the
same note, but in orchestral music, these
two notes are actually dierent notes.

They do dierent things and they lead in
dierent directions. Schubert and Mahler
are both constantly reinterpreting the
meaning of a note. Youre being kind of
guided, pulled back and forth across the
line of the meaning of a single note taking
you into a brighter or darker world. Thats
very much what theyre playing with.
BLADE: As you perform around the
country and the world, do you sense
dierences in how the audiences receive
the work?
TILSON THOMAS: I think were very
aware of the dierent audiences. Theyre
ectoplasmic almost. You come o the
stage and you can just sense a certain
energy and focus in the hall and that does
aect the way you feel about the music.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
4 2 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
Q U E E RY : 2 0 Q U E ST I O N S F O R J J V E RA
JJ VERA
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
By JOEY DiGULIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
JJ Veras involvement with the Rainbow Youth Alliance goes back 10 years
to its rst meeting. Having joined in his rst semester of high school, he was
a xture in the group until age 18.
Ive always been so thankful for Rainbow Youth Alliance and try to give
back any chance I get, says the 25-year-old Rockville, Md., native. They oer
youth empowerment during a time when self discovery is just beginning for
these kids. Even in this day and age where we think people are open and
accepting, LGBT youth all over the country are still experiencing depression,
anxiety, bullying and unsafe home and school environments.
Vera, now a member of the Gay Mens Chorus of Washington, will perform
with the chorus at an event on Saturday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian
Universalist Congregation of Rockville (100 Welsh Park Dr., Rockville) as the
Alliance celebrates its 10th anniversary. Theres a $20 suggested donation to
benet Alliance programs. Details at rainbowyouthalliancemd.org.
The Alliance is a peer-to-peer and adult-facilitated support group for LGBT teens.
Vera works by day at a salon and also as a singer/songwriter. He lives in
Columbia Heights and enjoys singing and performing with the chorus in his
free time.
How long have you been out and who

was the hardest person to tell?
Since eighth grade. The hardest person
to tell was the rst my sister.
Whos your LGBT hero?
St. Marsha Pay-It-No-Mind Johnson
Whats Washingtons best

nightspot, past or present?
Flash is always a good time, but I love
the grime and soul of Jimmy Valentines
over on H Street.
Describe your dream wedding.

An underwater mermaid reception with
the ceremony ending on a ship above
water with an ocean wave carrying me
from the ocean to the party boat. The

probability of any of that happening
is equivalent to the actual chances of
me ever getting married. Marriage isnt
something I think too much about. I
dont know if Id ever want it, but I honor
my right to!
What non-LGBT issue are

you most passionate about?
As far as social justice goes, feminism
and issues on racism are up there with
LGBT issues for me. The perfect storm
is mixing all of those things and arriving
at the huge issues within inter-sectional
identity.
What historical outcome
would you change?

I would stop Yolanda from shooting
Selena. Only halfway kidding.
Whats been the most memorable pop

culture moment of your lifetime?
David Bowies death and his last album.
Im lucky to have shared the earth with
someone as mystical and creative as
him.
On what do you insist?

I insist that gender is a social construct
and that once people lose fear and
are properly educated on gender and
sexuality, they will nd that there is a
larger number of humanity that does
not exist within this gender binary. Its
beyond being assigned a pink or blue
hat at birth. And you dont have to relate
to understand. Just be inclusive.
What was your last

Facebook post or Tweet?
A link promoting the Rainbow Youth
Alliance Benet Concert featuring
GMCWs Rock Creek Singers and the
GenOUT Youth Chorus on Saturday, April
9 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of
Rockville. Ill be singing a solo with them.
Its free with a suggested donation of
$20. Come talk to me!
If your life were a book,

what would the title be?
What it Feels Like for a Butch Queen
If science discovered a way

to change sexual orientation,
what would you do?
Id protest it. Or nd my high school
crush and get him hip to my love.
What do you believe in

beyond the physical world?
Im positive there is more to existence
than this temporary world. We as
humans just have a wide and inquisitive
vocabulary for what that is. Not to get
religious or spiritual, but were just here
messing around until our bodies expire
and we move on to the rest. I feel there
is more. The universe is ever expanding.
Whats your advice for LGBT

movement leaders?
Stop ghting each other. With all this
progress weve made, it seems like
the LGBT community has become
divided against each other in certain
places.Were all dealing with our
own oppression, whats the point
of perpetuating it within our own
community? We need to be ghting for
each other.
What would you walk

across hot coals for?
My family
What LGBT stereotype

annoys you most?
A really damaging stereotype is when
we think trans people are only validated
when they adhere to societal standards
of beauty. The only trans people visible
in pop culture are beautiful and perfect
examples of their gender identity, but
thats not the reality for all people of
the trans community and it doesnt
necessarily have to be. Either way, its
not up to you to decide how someone
feels about their own body or identity.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?

Hedwig and the Angry Inch was a
movie my friends and I obsessed over
for years. Always my favorite. Maybe my
favorite, overall. I also have to mention
Trans-America. Such a beautifully
messed-up movie with real characters.
Whats the most

overrated social custom?
Gender
What trophy or prize

do you most covet?
Being able to walk around my house
dressed how I want, with the friends
I want, without fear or discomfort is
one of my greatest accomplishments
so far. It does wonders for how I deal
with myself and the world. I was never
allowed that growing up. I still deal with
shame, but I live with amazing friends
who celebrate each other for who they
are.
What do you wish youd known at 18?

It gets better if you dont get bitter. Also,
youre beautiful and need to get yourself
to singing/dancing lessons as soon as
possible! You dont have to be scared.
This too shall pass.
Why Washington?
The Gay Mens Chorus of Washington
opened so many doors and its because
of all theyve given me that I felt
empowered enough to leave the nest in
Rockville for more action in the music
scene here in the city. My therapy is
singing with all those amazing people
and letting the vibrations in my body
carry all my sorrow out with every note
and silent breath. I came to the city to be
more involved in the chorus and the city
itself is so alive with music and political
culture, its right where I need to be.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
M US I C
A PR IL 08, 2016 43
PHOTO BY JOSEPH SINCLAIR
The new Pet Shop Boys album features vintage, 90s-sounding dance pop with a modern edge.
Dance legends still

exploring on SUPER
By CHRIS GERARD
Its been 30 years since the debut of the
Pet Shop Boys rst album Please and its
worldwide smash West End Girls. Since
then theyve unleashed an impressive run
of acclaimed albums and have scored
dozens of hits around the world.
Their new album SUPER reunites
the duo with producer Stuart Price, with
whom the boys collaborated on their
excellent 2013 release Electric. SUPER is
even better than its predecessor. This time
the duo looks back and incorporates retro
90s dance grooves into their high-energy
electro-pop. Its familiar and nostalgic, but
still with a bright modern sheen.
Neil Tennant is in prime form on
SUPER his incisive wit is as sharp
as ever and his dour vocals have never
sounded better. Studio whiz Chris Lowe
dives back into those classic 90s sounds
that pumped through the clubs in a
golden era of techno, trance and house
and brings them all hurtling into the
present. Of course, there is always more
than just big melodies, pulsing beats and
waves of synths to the Pet Shop Boys
music under the glossy pop exterior
is an undercurrent of anxiety and
vulnerability to many of the tracks.
Happiness opens the album with a
rhythm reminiscent of something Shep
Pettibone might have remixed in the late
80s/early 90s. Between frantic burst of
synths, Tennant repeats the lyrical hook
that becomes the overall theme of the
album: Its a long way to happiness/a
long way to go/but Im gonna get there,
boy/the only way I know. The rst single
is The Pop Kids, a song that seems
simple at rst, but once it sinks in the
poignant reection on the golden years
of youth shines through.

Twenty-Something looks at the
struggles of a millennial trying to keep
up with the pressures and expectations
of an increasingly cynical world beholden
to money, status and technology. The
restless anxiety and isolation is stoked to a
fever pitch by the jittery rhythm and edgy
synths. Groovy is an old-school banger
designed to be blasted on massive club
speakers while the crowd dances itself
into a frenzy. Much darker is the tense
and shadowy The Dictator Decides, one
of the more dramatic tracks the duo has
recorded in recent years. Its told from the
point of view of a despot who has given in
to hopelessness and would love nothing
more for his oppressed citizens to rise up
in insurrection so he can be freed from
his personal torment.
Pazzo!,
a
largely
instrumental
showcase for Chris Lowe, is another
manic dance oor anthem. The hypnotic
club vibe continues with Inner Sanctum,
the rst track the duo unveiled as a
teaser when the album was announced
earlier in the year. Two of the strongest
commercial tracks anchor the last part
of the album: Undertow and Burn
are both highly melodic dance pop gems
that should without question be on the
shortlist of potential follow-up singles to
The Pop Kids.
The nal track is Into Thin Air,
a haunting piece about a desire to
disappear and fade away. Its easy to
understand why, given the pressures
and tensions that never seem to abate in
modern society.
SUPER is caught in a vice between
the sometimes harsh realities of life
and the freedom and release that losing
yourself on the dance oor can provide.
Its a terric collection of immaculately
produced songcraft by wily veterans who
deliver yet another gem in their already
amazing catalog of work.
GREAT PERFORMANCES
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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
4 4 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
BO O KS
Pauli Murray, Eleanor

Roosevelt bonded during
civil rights movement
By KATHI WOLFE
Most of us would be proud to have
earned a degree, written an acclaimed
book of poetry or memoir, worked
tirelessly for civil rights and have been part
of a friendship that fostered human rights.
Pauli Murray, the groundbreaking
African-American activist, lawyer, writer
and priest, who lived from 1910-1985 and
was attracted to women, did all this and
much more. For nearly 25 years, Murray
the granddaughter of a mixed-race slave,
was a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt, whose
privileged background entitled her to
belong to the Daughters of the American
Revolution. Roosevelt resigned from the
DAR in 1939 when the group prohibited
the renowned African-American singer
Marian Anderson from performing at
Constitution Hall in Washington.
In her compelling new book The
Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait
of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor
Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social
Justice, Patricia Bell-Scott, editor of the
anthology All the Women Are White, All
the Blacks Are Men, but Some of Us Are
Brave, tells the story of this extraordinary
relationship. Bell-Scott is professor
emerita of womens studies and human
development and family science at the
University of Georgia. Her previous books
include: Life Notes: Personal Writings by
Contemporary Black Women and Double
Stitch: Black Women Write about Mothers
and Daughters, which won the Letitia
Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize.
From 1938-1962, their friendship was
sustained by some 300 postcards and
letters as well as personal visits. The
relationship began when Murray, 27,
working for the WPA, a New Deal agency,
sent Eleanor Roosevelt a letter protesting
a speech Franklin Delano Roosevelt had
made at the University of North Carolina.
(The university had refused to admit Murray
as a student because she was black.) The
friendship continued until Roosevelt, 26
years older than Murray, died in 1962.
Murray earned three law degrees,
organized sit-ins in the 1940s while a
student at Howard University against
eateries that discriminated against
people of color, participated in bus
boycotts 15 years before Rosa Parks and
created the legal strategy that ensured
that sex discrimination was included in
the Civil Rights Act.
A co-founder of the National
Organization
for
Women,
Murray
wrote the memoir Proud Shoes, the
well-regarded poetry collection Dark
PHOTO COURTESY OF BELL-SCOTT
PATRICIA BELL-SCOTT explores the friendship

between Eleanor Roosevelt and Pauli Murray in
her new book.
Testament as well as numerous essays

and books. In 1977, she became one of
the rst women to be ordained as a priest
by the Episcopal Church. Though Murray
hadnt been involved in writing it, in 1971
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in an homage to
Murrays work, listed her as a co-author in
her rst brief before the Supreme Court.
Born in Baltimore, Murray didnt use
her given name Anna Pauline. Her
father was a teacher and her mother was
a nurse. At age three, after her mother
died, Murray went to Durham, N.C., where
she lived with her grandparents and
two of her aunts, one of whom became
her adoptive mother. In her childhood,
Murrays
father,
after
contracting
what was thought to be encephalitis,
suered from unpredictable attacks of
depression and violent moods. Murray
wasnt ashamed of her sexual orientation
and was in a long-term relationship with
Irene, Renee Barlow. Yet, because of
homophobia and her race, she was often
denied employment in the government
and the private sector.
Its no wonder that it took Bell-Scott 20
years to write Firebrand. Recently, she
talked with the Blade about the book and
the friendship between Murray and the
woman, who Murray called Mrs. R.
This was not something I intended to
do, Bell-Scott said of Firebrand. I was
working on another project at the time.
Then in 1983, Bell-Scott asked Murray
to serve as a consulting editor to SAGE:
A Scholarly Journal of Black Women,
of which she was a co-founding editor.
Though Murray couldnt do SAGE, she
wrote a letter of encouragement to
Bell-Scott. Pauli wanted to work on her
autobiography, she said.

In a follow-up to this letter, Murray
wrote to Bell-Scott, You need to know
some of the veterans of the battle whose
shoulders you now stand on.
She didnt say, know me better, Bell-Scott
said, but she did say she took great pride in
her work as a member of the subcommittee
on legal rights of the Presidents Commission
on the Status of Women. (President John F.
Kennedy appointed Eleanor Roosevelt chair
of the commission.)
Bell-Scott made notes of what she
wanted to talk about with Murray when
her writing project was nished. But I
didnt get the chance 18 months later,
she died of pancreatic cancer, she said.
Her letter haunted me. Quite a few years
later, I decided I was still so haunted by
her comment about knowing the veterans
on whose shoulders youre standing on.
After examining the collection of
Murrays letters at the Schlesinger Library
at Harvard University and the collection
of Roosevelts letters at the Franklin
D. Roosevelt Library, Bell-Scott said,
she immediately recognized that their
relationship deserved attention. Their
friendship is mentioned only briey by
historians and biographers.
Despite the fact that Murray and
Roosevelt came from very dierent
backgrounds, they had a lot in common,
Bell-Scott said. To begin with, Anna was
the given name for both of them and they
never used it, she said. They both lost
their parents before their teens and were
sent to live with elderly kin.
They were sensitive kids who grew up to
be compassionate women with a thirst for
justice, Bell-Scott said. Even though she
was rst lady, people made fun of Eleanors
appearance and ridiculed her teeth, she
added. Pauli was boyish looking. People
poked fun at how she looked.
Murray and Roosevelt loved their
fathers who suered from mood disorders
and alcoholism respectively. Though they
were outspoken and highly energetic in
their quest for social justice, people were
often surprised to learn that Pauli and
Eleanor were both shy, Bell-Scott said. It
took them tremendous psychic energy to
overcome their shyness.
Both were voracious readers and avid
writers. Though she was a committed

social justice activist, lawyer and priest,
writing was what was closest to Murrays
heart, Bell-Scott said. Pauli couldnt turn
away from activism, she said, but if
there were any regrets she would have
liked to have written more.
Roosevelt, too, was committed to her
writing, Bell-Scott said. Eleanor wrote her
My Day column even when she was rst
lady, she said. After FDRs death, she
reported on Russia and pursued other
writing projects.
Their sense of well being was
dependent on having meaningful work
and exercise, Bell-Scott said. They had
a talent for friendship. And they loved
dogs. Eleanor liked Scotties and Pauli
liked mutts and strays.
Murray would work herself into
exhaustion and crash, Bell-Scott said. She
suered from mood swings which werent
properly diagnosed as a thyroid disorder
until Pauli was in her 40s, she said.
Eleanor suered episodes of depression.
Their friendship was the context that
allowed Murray and Roosevelt to grow
into the transformative leaders that we
know them as, Bell-Scott said. When they
rst met, Pauli was an impatient young
radical Eleanor felt it was important
to always consider taking social justice
action with great caution to always
follow the muted action on civil rights of
the Roosevelt administration. (FDR never
publicly pushed Congress to speak out
against lynching, Bell-Scott said.)
Later in their lives, Bell-Scott said,
Murray had moved from radical left to
left of center voting for Lyndon Johnson
as a registered Democrat after decades
of voting for Socialist candidates. By
the 1960s, Roosevelt had put her life
on the line at civil rights workshops and
demonstrations.
When I look at the issue of Paulis
sexuality, I think of the social context of
the time. Here is a woman coming to
adulthood in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, she
said. Homosexuality is dened as a mental
disorder until the 1970s. Pauli, a very bright
woman, reads the scientic literature.
Added to this, Bell-Scott said, was the
homophobia of McCarthyism, which
considered LGBT people to be a security
threat. Pauli was a black woman lawyer,
she said, thats an unconventional career
for a woman. There are rumors about her
sexuality and her mental health. She is living
with discrimination on so many fronts.
But Murray wasnt ashamed of who she
was, Bell-Scott said. She was raised as a
child by elder kin with Victorian values.
You didnt talk about sexuality.
From reading Murrays letters and
sermons from later in her life, it seems to
me that Pauli began to publicly embrace
herself, Bell-Scott said.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
A D V I CE
Excessive marijuana
use has hubby irked
MICHAEL RADKOWSKY, Psy.D. is a licensed

psychologist who works with gay individuals
and couples in D.C. He can be found online
at personalgrowthzone.com. All identifying
information has been changed for reasons
of condentiality. Have a question? Send it to
Michael@personalgrowthzone.com.
MICHAEL,
My husband Dan has become a
pothead.
Hes smoked since long before we met
eight years ago, as have I. But while I only
use occasionally, on weekends here and
there, Dans use has always been more
frequent. And lately he is high every night.
Anything that requires attention or
motivation is out serious conversation,
enjoying a movie together, sex and more.
Most distressing to me: Weve been
talking about adopting a kid since we met
and are now in a nancial position to do
so. But how can someone who is stoned
all the time be a responsible parent?
Im angry that Dan has essentially
become AWOL from our marriage. I want
to raise a child with him and grow old
together, but for these things to happen
I need him to cut back on his pot smoking.
Ive raised this with him and he belittles
my concern, stating that marijuana is
harmless, given that it was recently
legalized in D.C. Any arguments I make
or research I do to prove the dangers of
excessive pot use, he ignores.
Help?
MICHAEL REPLIES:
If you want to stay married, either you
or Dan has to shift your stance.
If you werent planning to adopt a child,
Id push you to consider accepting Dan as
he is. But I wouldnt push you too hard,
because I can understand not wanting to
be married to a guy who is as checked out
as you describe.
Its a no-brainer that you cant
be frequently stoned and also be a
dependable parent to an infant or child.
Childrens needs and emergencies dont
follow a schedule. What happens if you
A PR IL 08, 2016 45
cant think straight when your young son

or daughter falls o the swing set and
needs a trip to the emergency room?
So Dan has to make some changes
if he is to be a responsible parent. Even
if the two of you wind up not pursuing
adoption, he still has to cut down on his
pot use if you insist on having a husband
you can interact with on a regular basis.
Not exactly a high bar, by the way.
The question, then, is how you are
talking to him about his pot use.
If youre lecturing or threatening
him, Im not surprised hes shutting
down. While your disappointment and
concerns make sense, its often human
nature to hold fast to our position when
criticized. And telling your spouse what
he should and shouldnt do isnt exactly
an endearing gesture that will encourage
him to come closer to you.
So how about simply telling him what
you can and cant live with, in your
marriage and as a prospective parent.
Your intent should not be to twist his
arm, only to let him know your own
bottom line. What he chooses to do is his
decision. No sarcasm, bitterness or mind
games here, please.
I suspect your own pot use is
undermining your telling Dan to
moderate. Dan could easily see you as a
hypocrite who has decided that your own
level of use is ne while his is problematic.
Also, Dan would have an easier time
cutting back if you werent using on
occasion. So think about changing your
own behavior as well.
Finally, do you have any idea why Dan
has increased his use of late? What might
be going on in his life (or in his head) that
he is looking to zone out so frequently?
Dan may simply enjoy the feeling of
getting high, and is using more given the
relaxation of legal restrictions. But its also
possible that he has some good reason
for seeking a near-constant dose of stress
relief. If thats the case, if he reduces his
marijuana intake, hes going to need
something else to keep calm that does not
numb his brain and thought processes.
All of this is for Dan to grapple with
or not. You can ask questions and make
suggestions about important issues with
curiosity and concern, doing your best
not to be critical or superior. You cant
control whether Dan will nd your input
helpful or irritating.
That said, the risk of irritating your
husband is no reason to keep your mouth
shut when the subject is important.
Lil Buck:
A dazzling prodigy
The New York Times
Johnny Gandelsman, Cristina Pato, and Lil Buck
photo by Erin Baiano
DEMO: Place
with DAMIAN WOETZEL
starring LIL BUCK
Memphis Jookin Dance Phenomenon
singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist
KATE DAVIS
tabla
DAVIS
SANDEEP DAS
DAS
violin
JOHNNY GANDELSMAN
gaita
CRISTINA PATO
GANDELSMAN
sheng
PATO
WU TONG
cello
DAVID TEIE
TONG
Memphis Jookin
RON PRIME TYME MYLES
TEIE
April 22 & 23, 2016 at 7 p.m.

Terrace Theater
MYLES
WOETZEL
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

KENNEDY-CENTER.ORG (202) 467-4600
Tickets also available at the Box Office. Groups call (202) 416-8400.
New Artistic Initiatives are funded in honor of Linda and Kenneth Pollin.
LIVE
MAVIS
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
46 AP R IL 08, 2016
O U T & A BO U T
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
STAPLES
W/ THE BROADCAST
THURSDAY APR
BELINDA
CARLISLE
W/ SPECIAL GUEST GABE LOPEZ
FRIDAY APR
SAT, APR 9
WILLIE NILE
TUES, APR 12
JIMMIE VAUGHAN AND

THE TILT-A-WHIRL BAND
By MARIAH COOPER
FRI, APR 15
ALL GOOD PRESENTS:
THE MOTET
W/ VERY SPECIAL GUEST
THE NTH POWER
SAT, APR 16
SHEMEKIA COPELAND
SUN, APR 17
GRIFFIN HOUSE
THEHAMILTONDC.COM
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE RAINBOW YOUTH ALLIANCE
Rainbow Youth Alliance celebrates 10 years

Rainbow Youth Alliance celebrates a decade of service to the community
with an anniversary benet concert at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of
Rockville (100 Welsh Park Dr., Rockville, Md.) on Saturday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m.
The concert will feature performances from the Rock Creek Singers of the
Gay Mens Chorus of Washington and its GenOUT Youth Chorus. Rainbow Youth
Alliance is a non-prot support group that helps LGBT youth in Montgomery
County and the D.C. metro area. There is a $20 suggested donation to benet
Rainbow Youth Alliances programs.
For more details, visit rainbowyouthalliancemd.org.
PHOTO BY RANDEE ST. NICHOLS; COURTESY OF STRATHMORE
Lets turn up the lights
PHOTO COURTESY OF FAY JACOBS
Gracelessly Fay
Lesbian comedian Fay Jacobs performs her show Aging Gracelessly for the
nal time at Camp Rehoboth Community Center (37 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth,
De.) on Sunday, April 10 at 7 p.m.
The show is based on Jacobs four published memoirs. Jacobs touches upon
her life including life with her wife, lesbian invisibility to marriage equality and
the aging process. Historical topics such as Rehoboths history and the Delaware
ght for marriage equality are also included in the show. Doors open at 6:45
p.m. There is a cash wine and beer bar.
Tickets are $20. For more information, visit camprehoboth.com.
Legendary comedian Carol Burnett

performs at the Music Center at
Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Ln.,
Bethesda, Md.) on Friday, April 15 and
Saturday, April 16 at 8 p.m.
Laughter and Reection with Carol
Burnett: a Conversation Where the
Audience Asks the Questions features
Burnett engaging in an open dialogue
with the audience. The Emmy-winning
actress will share behind the scenes
stories and insight from her career.
Tickets range from $65-175.
For more details, visit strathmore.org.
Its Distrkt C weekend

at the Eagle
Distrkt C returns with SEED Saturday
night at the Eagle (3701 Bening Rd., N.E.)
from 10 p.m.-8 a.m.
Resident DJ Mark Demarko will spin
along with guest DJ Erez Ben Ishay. Billy
Santoro, Seth Santoro and Dylan Knight
will make guest appearances.
No cost for the downstairs bar.
Wristbands required for upstairs. Tickets
are $25 and are available at distrktc.
ticketleap.com.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
T HE ATER
A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 4 7
PHOTO COURTESY OF ARENA STAGE
CAMERON FOLMAR says All the Way is about historical events that have eerily apt signicance to modern life.
Character-packed All the

Way revisits early 60s
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
When Cameron Folmar was cast as
Alabamas notoriously racist former
governor George Wallace in All the
Way, Robert Schenkkans Tony-winning
play about President Lyndon Johnsons
struggle to pass the historic Civil Rights
Act of 1964, some of his friends were a
little put o. But those who understood
the dramatic possibilities implicit in
playing a dark character instantly realized
what a juicy part the actor had landed.
Going into Arena Stages production,
Folmar, whos gay, didnt know a lot about
Wallace what he most remembered
about was the well-known photo of
then-Gov. Wallace standing in a doorway
blocking black students from enrolling at
the University of Alabama. With his vow
of segregation forever, Wallace seems
cartoonishly villainous, Folmar says.
But like a lot of seemingly onedimensional character, hes actually
complex. Though I must confess with a
character like him it was challenging to
nd something in myself to bring him out
in a realistic way.
All the Way was commissioned by the
Oregon Shakespeare Festival and premiered
in 2012 during an election season. If it was
timely then and moreso now.
Not a week goes by that comparisons

are not made between Donald Trump and
Wallace, says Folmar, a Georgia native
who calls New York City home. Because
of Trump and Cruz too, civil rights are
center. The Civil Rights Act talked about
in the play outlawed discrimination based
on race, color, religion, sex or national
origin. Like Trump, Wallace did a lot of
chest thumping and played to the fear
and anger of people who felt left out and
left behind.
From the start, Folmar was excited to
be part of this production and eager to
work at Arena for the rst time.
When the cast gathered for a read
through of the play, we all felt turbo
charged with a rush of excitement.
What had been abstract had suddenly
become real. Were in D.C. where some
of the characters are still alive, barely so
in some cases. But there are plenty of
people around who knew these people.
Staged by Kyle Donnelly, the play
features 66 named characters played by
17 actors. With the exception of President
Johnson (played by Jack Willis, who
created the role in Oregon), the plays
many historical gures deliver a message,
hit home some points and disappear
back into the wings.
Because Jack is so good and so familiar
with the part, Folmar says, I think we
were able to focus on the other many
characters in a way that would have been
impossible. Hes the sun and were all
orbiting around that giant gure.

As Wallace, Folmar pops on stage for
four rabble-rousing speeches. He also
plays other parts including California
Congressman James C. Corman, a liberal
Democrat who championed the Civil Rights
Act, and Walter Reuther, former president
of the United Automobile Workers at a time
when unions had signicant power.
Its episodic with many short scenes,
but thats really the best way to tell this
story, Folmer says. Prior to serving as
vice president and then president after
Kennedys assassination, Johnson was in
both houses of Congress. Hes known as
a master manipulator who got thousands
of bills through in a way we cant imagine
today. In the play hes portrayed as having
a 15-track mind and is constantly juggling
with both hands and feet. Characters are
coming at him from all directions.
Folmars relationship with the D.C.
theater scene began in New York. He
studied with Shakespeare Theatre
Companys Michael Kahn when Kahn
was also head of the acting program
at Juilliard in Manhattan. Months after
Folmar graduated in 1999 Kahn cast him
as Edgar in King Lear.
It was a big break for me, says Folmer,
45. And since then Ive been lucky with
parts especially in D.C.
Washington
highlights
include
Five by Tenn, a collection of rarely
produced Tennessee Williams oneacts includingAnd Tell Sad Stories of
the Deaths of Queens in which Folmar

played an aging, lonely drag queen; Alan
Bennetts The Habit of Art at Studio
Theatre; and Oscar Wildes An Ideal
Husband at Shakespeare. On and oBroadway he enjoyed a long run in the hit
comedy The 39 Steps.
Im happiest on stage when Im
covered in dirt and look like hell and am
insane. Or when Im dressed fabulously,
well spoken and wealthy and carrying a
glass of Champagne. Either extreme is
what its all about for me.
Folmar is comfortably out in his career.
He came out at 18 while doing summer
theater in New Jersey.
I fell hard in love with a fellow actor.
And that was it. I remember thinking Im
gay. Nobodys going to tell me its wrong
and Im not interested in trying to hide
it. Prior to that, Id had secret boyfriends
in high school. Wed park in cornelds
and fool around like all the other kids
in Georgia. While there have been good
closeted actors, I think its better to be
out, he says. Its important to listen
with your heart. Really what you have in
the end is your own experience and if
youre looking at that through gauze, its
impossible to reach it as deeply.
ALL THE WAY
Through May 8
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth St., S.W.
$40-90
202-488-3300
Arenastage.org
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
4 8 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
F I LM
PHOTOS COURTESY OF HBO
Among a slew of new HBO docs are pieces on Robert Mapplethorpe (right), Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper (center photo) and the late Nora Ephron and her gay son, Jacob (center in nal photo).
Gay lives blaze on screen

in new HBO docs
By BRIAN T. CARNEY
Currently in rotation on HBO (as well
as HBO2, HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO
On Demand) are three fascinating new
documentaries featuring LGBT subject
and lmmakers.
The rst is Mapplethorpe: Look At
The Pictures, the rst comprehensive
look at the life and times of the
controversial gay artist (1946-1989).
Directed by the acclaimed team of Fenton
Bailey and Randy Barbato (RuPauls Drag
Race, Inside Deep Throat and The
Eyes of Tammy Faye), the lm draws
on Mapplethorpes archives, along with
dozens of interviews and rediscovered
audio interviews with the artist
himself. The documentary examines
the fascinating interplay between his
personal and professional lives and
adeptly captures the broader public
dialogues about sex, art and money.
The documentary opens with curators
from the J. Paul Getty Museum and the
Los Angeles Museum County Museum
of Art preparing to mount landmark
Mapplethorpe
retrospectives.
Their
comments on the frequently sexually
explicit photographs are delightful and
informative, and it would be wonderful to
hear how the late artist would respond to
their readings of his works.
The movie then turns to Mapplethorpes
childhood in the Floral Park neighborhood
of Queens, where he drew pictures of the

saints for the parish priest, a friend of
the Catholic family. Sensing that he was
dierent and wanting to a pursue a career
as an artist, Mapplethorpe graduated
high school at the age of 16 and enrolled
in the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. By
the late 1960s, he was taking Polaroid
photographs of friends and lovers and
relentlessly promoting his art.
Through sensitive interviews and
incisive editing, Bailey and Barbato
skillfully capture the amazing energy
that Mapplethorpe poured into both his
photographs and his career. They show
Mapplethorpe at both work and play,
documenting the joyous rise of the gay
and leather scenes in Manhattan, the
emergence of photography as both high
art and high commerce, and the grueling
work of artist and models in the studio.
Before his death in 1989, Mapplethorpe
helped organize The Perfect Moment,
an amazing retrospective of his work that
included self-portraits, explicit scenes of male
S&M activity, owers, nude children and
celebrity photographs, along with poems by
rocker Patti Smith, his ex-girlfriend.
As Mapplethorpe: Look At The Pictures
deftly details, this touring exhibition of
his works sparked nationwide protests
and secured Mapplethorpes artistic and
political legacy. While the lm includes
sexually explicit images and is not for
the whole family, the documentary is a
masterful portrait of a man who changed
the way we look at photography, sexuality
and the business of art. Bailey and
Barbato have created a ne lm that is
worthy of their monumental subject.

Working on a very dierent scale, openly
gay lmmaker Jacob Bernstein explores
his late mothers life in Everything
is Copy Nora Ephron: Scripted &
Unscripted. The son of Ephron and
journalist Carl Bernstein (of Watergate
fame), Bernstein turns his camera to the
central mystery of his mothers life: How
could the woman who so relentlessly (and
joyfully) turned her own life, and the lives
of family and friends, into fodder for her
ction, essays and movies remain silent
about the most profound crisis in her life,
her diagnosis with a rare blood disorder
that lead to her death in 2012?
Combining
frank
and
revealing
interviews with his own family members
and his mothers friends and colleagues,
scenes from her famous movies, televised
interviews with Charlie Rose and Dick
Cavett, family photos and dramatic readings
of Ephrons essays, Bernstein deftly crafts a
warm portrait of his mother that doesnt
shy away room some of the less pleasant
aspects of her personality. He tracks her
pioneering career from the mailroom of
Newsweek magazine to a reporting stint at
the New York Post, and from writing for the
countrys leading news outlets and literary
magazine to success (and multiple Academy
Award nominations) as a screenwriter and
director in Hollywood.
Throughout her career, Ephron
ruthlessly mined her life for material. Most
famously, she turned her bitter divorce
from Carl Bernstein into Heartburn, the
1983 novel and 1986 movie. Writer and
director Bernstein thoughtfully explores
the way his mother balanced personal

loyalty and professional ambition in her
work and sensitively examines how she
juggled family and career.
Working with co-director Nick Hooker,
Jacob Bernstein has created a portrait of
his mother that is both tender and tough,
and that bodes well for the career of this
edgling director.
Less successful is the documentary
Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt &
Anderson Cooper. Directed by Liz Garbus
(What Happened, Miss Simone?), the
movie is most eective when it chronicles
Vanderbilts fascinating life and shows her
working in her studio at age 91. Vanderbilt
has lived her tempestuous life rmly in the
public eye, from the lurid 1934 custody
battle between her mother and her aunt
(including rumors of lesbian relationships),
though her four stormy marriages, to
her work as designer, author and artist.
The historical vignettes are charming,
informative and visually clever, especially
when Garbus shows actual photographs
morphing into their imaginative painted
recreations in Vanderbilts studio.
The movie is least eective during the
long contemporary interview scenes.
Garbus lets openly gay television
journalist Cooper (who also served
as executive producer) interview his
mother, and their conversations often
seem stilted and stale. The release of the
documentary coincides with the release
of a volume of letters between mother
and son, and it seems likely that the book
is more insightful than these onscreen
conversations.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
S P O RTI N I N D. C.
A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 4 9
PHOTO BY KATIE G. NELSON, USE WITH PERMISSION
From left are APAKO WILLIAMS, JAY MULUCHA and MR. PRIDE 2015 at Uganda Pride.
LGBT athletes nd
openness and obstacles
in various sports
By KEVIN MAJOROS
Last year, the Washington Blade
spotlighted United States lawyer Nate
Freeman on his journey across Africa to
raise awareness for LGBT rights through
his Out in Africa Ride foundation.
Freeman is back in Africa to continue
the work that was started on that ride.
The obstacles for social change in the
LGBT community in Africa are great, but
Freeman has encountered a number
of organizations fostering change on a
grass-roots level.
Last year, he rode his bike from Cairo
to Cape Town to meet with LGBT activists
in 10 dierent countries. He now works
in Kampala, Uganda for Human Rights
Awareness and Promotions Forum, an
organization that provides free legal aid
services for LGBT people.
Those services include assisting
LGBT people who have been arrested
and training paralegals to represent
LGBT people in their communities.
Money raised from the Out in Africa
Ride (outinafricaride.org) has funded a
project to help LGBT non-prots comply
with all the necessary legalities, such
as registering the organization and
instituting a proper board of directors.
Uganda
criminalizes
same-sex
relationships and the environment for
LGBT people there is dicult. A number
of committed Ugandan activists are

involved in important work to create a
better environment for the future.
After Freeman settled into his work in
Kamapala and began networking, he was
pleasantly surprised to nd a edgling
LGBT sports community in the area.
Organizations such as the Uganda
Network for Transgender and Gender NonConforming Persons, FEM Alliance, Freedom
and Roam Uganda and Sexual Minorities
Uganda all have members and sta who
are LGBT athletes. So far, Freeman has
encountered LGBT athletes in the sports of
rugby, basketball, soccer and swimming.
Warry Ssenfuka, executive director
of Freedom and Roam Uganda, is also
captain of the national Uganda womens
rugby team. She is openly lesbian and
says that while many remain in the closet
for fear of discrimination, the rugby world
has become a safer place for the LGBT
community. Although Ssenfuka has been
attacked verbally, she usually ends up as
friends with those who have criticized her.
Our eorts are all about benetting
the communities and sports oer a huge
opportunity for camaraderie, Freeman
says. Gaining acceptance for LGBT people
requires a multi-pronged approach and it
will focus on the arts, business and sports
in addition to the legal and health issues
that the communities face.
Often times, it is just the whisperings
of their sexual orientation or gender
identities that set up the obstacles for the
LGBT athletes and results in their teams
being disbanded.
The soccer team has been shut
down for a year though members are
still playing pick-up and are looking to

compete again. The Magic Stormers
basketball team is now experiencing the
same problems and the lack of sponsors
has led to loss of court time, jerseys and
good players.
Two members of the Magic Stormers,
Apako Williams and Jay Mulucha, are trans
men. Williams, executive director of the
Uganda Network, and Mulucha, executive
director of FEM Alliance, were victims of a
hate crime several months ago perpetrated
in a sports bar by fellow athletes.
Despite the attacks, Williams and
Mulucha hope they can take a basketball
team to compete in the 2018 Gay Games
in Paris.
If we come out and show that we are
strong, Mulucha says, we can encourage
even those people in the LGBT community
who have lost it all to have hope.
As a test case to pave the road to the
Gay Games, Freeman is looking for an
opportunity to send six swimmers to
Edmonton, Canada for the International
Gay & Lesbian Aquatics Championships
in August.
He is being assisted by Williams and
Mulucha, as well as by Diane Bakuraira, an
administrator at Sexual Minorities Uganda
who trained on the national Uganda
swim team. Because she was gender
non-conforming, she was never asked to
compete in international competitions.
For her, the world championships are an
opportunity to increase visibility.
The world has low perceptions of
LGBT people and of Africans, she says.
We want to show that we can compete.
The idea for sending the swimmers is
a long shot for two reasons: visas and

funding.
LGBT Ugandans have had a dicult
time getting visas to Canada in the past
including a contingent of Ugandans who
were invited to Toronto Pride in 2015.
Freeman is hoping the Justin Trudeau
government will be more open to granting
visas and that the Ugandans can allay any
fears about those who may seek asylum.
We have identied a team of
swimmers who we believe pose an
extremely low risk of seeking asylum,
Freeman says. These swimmers are all
employed and well-connected members
of the community who want to remain
in Uganda with their families to ght for
greater equality.
As for funding, Freeman has been in
contact with a network of high-end donors
in several U.S. cities who are interested in
global LGBT issues. The problem facing
the request for sports funding is that
human rights organizations and health
organizations are where donors usually
oer their support.
Obviously I am advocating for all LGBT
issues, but the law isnt going to change
here in the near future, Freeman says. A
big push for all of the issues would result
from economic assistance and more
visibility of the athletes.
He says the desire for visibility and
openness is the same thing driving LGBT
athlete all over the world.
In some ways, this is the reclamation
of their own body by saying they can still
use it to play athletics, says Freeman.
The government and society cant dictate
what they do with their own bodies.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
5 0 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
A RT S & CU LT U RE
HOT HITS & HIDDEN JEWELS

From CultureCapital.com
YOUR LINK TO THE ARTS IN METRO DC
An Evening with Molly Ringwald

Apr 8. AMP by Strathmore.
301-581-5100. ampbystrathmore.com.
Since 2013, this triple-threat actress, author, and musician has been on the
road with her quartet supporting her debut album,Except Sometimes. Expect a
sultry set of jazz standards plus a nod to her acting days with a jazz rendition of
The Breakfast Club classic, Dont You (Forget About Me).
The Nether
Thru May 1. Woolly Mammoth.
202-393-3939. woollymammoth.net.
In 2050, when Earth is a gray wasteland, how will humanity escape? Enter the
Nether: an immersive wonderland oering users beauty, order, and the ability
to satisfy their desiresno matter how disturbingaway from real world
scrutiny. A modern crime drama that hacks into urgent questions of desire,
technology, and morality.
Josephine/After Life
Thru Apr 9. UrbanArias at Atlas.
888-841-2787. urbanarias.org.
Master composer Tom Cipullo returns to UrbanArias with a 90-minute double

bill:Josephine(Josephine Baker) and After Life (Gertrude Stein and Pablo
Picasso).
Architecture Week: Firm Crawl

Apr 8. District Architecture Center at Cox Graae & Spack Architects.
202-347-9403. aiadac.com.
Join fellow students, architects and design enthusiasts for a unique opportunity
to visit three award-winning architecture rms: Hickok Cole Architects, Shalom
Baranes and Associates, and cox graae + spack architects. Participants will
be able to get an inside glimpse at the rms, and enjoy refreshments while
learning about each rms design process.
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMP BY STRATHMORE
Buy
Discount Tickets
ticketPLAce.org
THEATRE
SigWorks: Accepts with Pleasure. Apr
11. The Flick. Thru Apr 24. The Mystery
of Love & Sex. Thru May 8. Signature
Theatre. 703-820-9771.
signature-theatre.org.
Shear Madness. Ongoing.
The Kennedy Center. 800-444-1324.
shearmadness.com.
Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Thru
May 8. GALA Hispanic Theatre.
202-234-7174. galatheatre.org.
Marjorie Prime. Thru Apr 10. Dial M
for Murder. Thru May 1. Olney Theatre.
301-924-3400. olneytheatre.org.
Moment. Thru Apr 24. Studio Theatre.
202-332-3300. studiotheatre.org.
Falling Out Of Time. Thru Apr 17.
Theater J. 202-518-9400. theaterj.org.
The Island of Dr. Moreau. Thru Apr 9.
Theatre Lab. 202-824-0449.
theatrelab.org.
Love that Dog. Apr 9. BlackRock.
240-912-1058. blackrockcenter.org.
110 in the Shade. Thru May 14. One
Destiny. Thru May 20. Fords Theatre.
202-347-4833. fords.org.
American Idiot. Thru Apr 16.
Keegan Theatre. 202-265-3767.
keegantheatre.com.
Salt of the Earth. Apr 8-Apr 9.
Maryland Opera Studio: Regina. Apr
8-Apr 16. The Clarice. 301-405-2787.
claricesmithcenter.umd.edu.
1984. Thru Apr 10. Shakespeare Theatre
Company. Lansburgh Theatre.
202-547-1122. shakespearetheatre.org.
DANCE
Dance Place Youth Festival. Apr
9-Apr 10. Dance Place. 202-269-1600.
danceplace.org.
Black Tie Celebration at the Embassy
of Spain. Apr 8. Embassy Experiences.
Embassy of Spain. 301-519-8030.
embassyexperiences.com.
MUSIC
Patti LaBelle. Thru Apr 8. Jessica Krash.
Thru Apr 10. Greg Sandow. Apr 14. Jan
Knutson. Apr 13-Apr 27. Strathmore.
301-581-5100. strathmore.org.
Anacostia Delta. Apr 9. AMP.
301-581-5100. ampbystrathmore.com.
Acoustic Africa: Habib Koite &
Vusi Mahlasela. Apr 14. GW Lisner
Auditorium. 202-994-6800.
lisner.gwu.edu.
Rose Ensemble. Apr 10. National Gallery
of Art. 202-737-4215. nga.gov.
Shakespeare and Purcell. Apr 8-Apr 10.
Folger Consort. Folger Theatre.
202-544-7077. folger.edu.
NSO: Nikolaj Znaider, conductor:
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano. Thru Apr
9. NSO: Hugh Wol, conductor: Anne
Akiko Meyers, violin. Apr 14-Apr 16.
kennedy-center.org.
Bavarian Radio Symphony
Orchestra. Apr 12. Yo-Yo Ma (cello)

& Emanuel Ax (piano). Apr 13. WPA.
washingtonperformingarts.org.
Smithsonian Chamber Players. Apr 9.
TSA. Museum of American History.
202-633-3030.
smithsonianassociates.org.
Madame Buttery Tea. Apr 10.
Green Spring Gardens. SAAM
Cherry Blossom Celebration. Apr 9.
Smithsonian American Art Museum.
nationalcherryblossomfestival.org.
Orli Shaham, Piano. Apr 10. JCC of
Greater Washington. 301-348-3872.
jccgw.org.
MUSEUMS
Folger Shakespeare Library. Americas
Shakespeare. Thru Jul 24. folger.edu.
National Archives. Amending
America. Thru Sep 4. 202-357-5000.
archivesfoundation.org.
National Gallery of Art. Louise
Bourgeois: No Exit. Thru May 15. Three
Centuries of American Prints from the
National Gallery of Art. Thru Jul 24.
202-737-4215. nga.gov.
Museum of Women in the Arts.
Salon Style: French Portraits from the
Collection. Thru May 1. 202-783-5000.
nmwa.org.
National Geographic. Crocs. Thru Apr
24. 202-857-7000. nglive.org.
Smithsonian Anacostia Museum.
Twelve Years That Shook And Shaped
Washington: 1963-1975. Thru Oct 23.
202-633-4820. anacostia.si.edu.
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian.
Eye Pop: The Celebrity Gaze. Thru Jul 10.
202-633-8300. npg.si.edu.
Sandy Spring Museum. The Agrarian
Transformed. Thru May 7. 301-774-0022.
sandyspringmuseum.org.
GALLERIES
The Art League Gallery. Orbit. Thru May
1. 703-683-1780. theartleague.org.
BlackRock. Sheldon Scott. Thru Apr 23.
301-528-2260. blackrockcenter.org.
JCCNV. After the Holocaust. Thru May 19.
703-323-0880. jccnv.org.
District Architecture Center. Works by
Hany Hassan, FAIA. Thru May 7.
202-347-9403. aiadac.com.
Fisher Art Gallery. Jessica Kallista. Thru
Apr 24. 703-534-5726.
schlesingercenter.com.
Foundry Gallery. Lindsay Mullen. Thru
May 1. 202-232-0203. foundrygallery.org.
Gallery Neptune & Brown. FOON
SHAM: Exuberant Journey. Thru May 1.
202-986-1200. neptuneneart.com.
Goethe-Institut. American Universitys
Berlin Studio Program. Thru Apr 29.
202-847-4700. goethe.de.
Zenith Sculpture Space. Full Circle. Thru
Apr 30. zenithgallery.com.
VisArts at Rockville. Marcella
Marsella. Thru Apr 24. 301-315-8200.
visartsatrockville.org.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
A R T S & EN TE RTA I NMENT
A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 5 1
Conductor says classical bubble looks dierent inside

Im fond of saying these big places for me

are like national parks that you return to.
Youve wandered there before, but the
company with which you nd yourself is
dierent and has an enormous inuence
on what the nature of the experience is
going to be.
BLADE: Have you been insulated to
some degree in San Francisco from the
kinds of challenges many of our other
national symphonies are facing?
TILSON THOMAS: No, I wouldnt say
so. Like all the major orchestras, weve
experienced dierent kinds of crises
and growing pains, visions coalescing
as dierent generations have moved
through the orchestra. These things
are inevitable. Ive been performing
symphonic music now for 50 years. I
started when I was 20, so Ive seen many
changes happen in music and society and
music coming from China and Venezuela
and parts of the world from which we
didnt used to see so many people.
The growth of all these things is a very
positive thing in the big picture. So theres
a very positive growth state and at the
same time, there are denitely growing
pains in society itself. How are these
things going to be sustained and grown
and what do young musicians coming
into the profession desire? What kind of
life do they want to have? All these things
are being turned over and discussed even
as we speak.
BLADE: Are you pressured to perform
lm scores or saw away under pop acts or
that sort of thing to bring in new people?
Or have you tried to stave o that sort of
thing?
TILSON THOMAS: Theres a balance
that needs to be struck and theres always
going to be a concern of having too many
programs that would be apart from the
central mission of the orchestra. Not just
in symphony orchestras but with any
arts organization. Theres a lot of talk
about searching for sustainable business
models but these are not businesses.
These are idealistic organizations that
are communities of people that were
established to share a particular art as
a living tradition and strengthening and
preserving that and passing it on to many
generations. Thats the real purpose.
Its necessary perhaps in each new
generation to remind ourselves thats
what were doing and what we need to
do.
BLADE: Your bio makes reference
to your work reimagining the concert
experience. In what ways have you done
that?
TILSON THOMAS: Ive been very

involved
with
multi-media,
new
technology and something of a pioneer
in using the online resource Internet2 to
reach people with educational messages
in territories around the world. Most
recently with a process called LOLA, an
information system that reduces online
latencies and makes it possible now
within a thousand kilometers to perform
music with someone as if youre really in
the same room with them. With the
New World Symphony, weve done a lot
of work in video that has been ahead of
the curve. Not just concert performance
videos but creating kind of art
installations inside the concert hall.
BLADE: Have you always been out
professionally?
TILSON THOMAS: Oh, I dont know.
Thats hard to answer. Joshua (Robison)
and I got married a couple years ago but
weve been together 40 years. Since the
very beginning, we were together very
clearly with no disguise and that goes
back quite a ways at this point. To us, that
didnt seem so remarkable. We worked
together in a production company that
makes a lot of dierent musical products
and education projects happen around
the world and weve always done that. We
havent been involved, as many others
have been, in any courageous crusade of
one type or another. We supported those
things and I have such respect for people
who did that. On the other hand, people
now say it was somewhat extraordinary
that we were living our lives that way in
terms of being transparent about being
together then and that was unusual, I
guess, at the time.
BLADE: How gay are our orchestras in
general?
TILSON THOMAS: Id say a very rough
number would be maybe 10 percent or
something like that. Maybe more.
BLADE: Perhaps more in San Francisco?
TILSON THOMAS: Not necessarily.
Orchestras are very individual animals.
It was, of course, dierent when I rst
began conducting. In any major orchestra
there might have been one or two people
who were not even out but everybody just
kind of knew they were gay. As opposed
to now when there are many people in all
the major orchestras who are LGBT and
its not in any way a big deal and certainly
not with the many young musicians. If
people are thinking they might make
music with someone, whats going on with
their gender or sexuality is of no interest
whatsoever. If youre talking about where
youre placing the third of a major chord
or issues of tuning or articulation, then
thats a big deal.
BLADE: Its interesting when you see the

kinds of people given the Kennedy Center
Honors over time and how popular acts
are now being inducted much more often
than performers from the classical arts.
At the same time, theres a lot of hand
wringing in our symphonies and opera
companies and so on. I could give tons of
examples. Is society being slowly dumbed
down over time?
TILSON THOMAS: Well there are
dierent kinds of occasions that serve
dierent purposes. There are lots of
awards and prizes that are given for
certain types of work, like the MacArthur
Fellows or the Pulitzer Prizes or the great
number of other awards and prizes that
are given to people whose names would
be little known to the general public,
but which nonetheless exert quite an
inuence within various arts worlds.
Some of these things are much more
of an occasion in certain realms than
something like the Grammys or the
Oscars or those kinds of things which are
really more shows. It used to be that if
you were from the classical arts and you
were up for a Grammy, you would go to
the Grammys and you were presented
with it there. That no longer happens.
Something might happen in a hotel lobby
earlier in the day or something because
those awards are not in the mainstream.
BLADE: They only give out about six
on the air anymore out of 90-some
categories or whatever it is.
TILSON THOMAS: Yeah, well, I guess
in any art there will always be dierent
sides. You have people doing quite
specic work which they know from the
beginning will appeal to a small number
of people. Other people are working in
much wider areas but its extraordinary
at this particular moment, the diversity
of work that is taking place. Its really
quite remarkable the very interesting
experimentations with styles that a lot
of people are doing. A lot of people are
writing and thinking new thoughts, way
more than you would think based on the
gloomy predictions that are often made
about the future of all of this. Its not quite
the way it looks from the outside when
you see all the young people out there
creating new work.
BLADE: Would you say the works of
Mahler and Schubert dont carry quite
the cultural gravitas they might have a
generation ago perhaps?
TILSON THOMAS: I saw something in
San Francisco the other night and one of
the pieces on the program was written
in 1199. It was the earliest and the most
recent piece was written in 1963. So its
extraordinary how much has changed
in that period of 7- or 800 years. There

were certain things about that piece from
1199 that were very reminiscent of works
by Steve Reich or John Adams and that
are still very inuential in contemporary
musical thought. A composer like
Schubert or Mahler, the reaction to
whom at the time was often hostility or
incomprehension, over time it has been
proven that there was something in that
music that people wanted to come back
to. Ideas that proved to be so powerful,
so moving and so authentic that people
wanted to hear them again and again and
its fascinating because its the audience
that makes that decision. I can be a big
fan of some particular composer and can
champion that composer through many
times and create situations in which their
music will be presented, but ultimately 10
or 15 or 20 years later, it will be the public
that decides if that music means enough
that they want to hear it again.
BLADE: Has audience etiquette
improved or deteriorated to any
noticeable degree over the course of your
career?
TILSON THOMAS: Its very dierent
in dierent places and even on dierent
evenings. These things are very dierent
from city to city and country to country.
Even in San Francisco, theres a certain
sense of what the character of the
audience is like. The Wednesday night
audience, the Thursday night audience,
theyre all slightly dierent in their
reactions and in their focus. We created
a new series called SoundBox which is
designed for people whove never been to
classical music concerts before with very
experimental repertoire and it uses video
projection and other things and is kind
of set in a club atmosphere. Drinks are
served and you have 20 minutes of music
then 20 minutes of lounge-type activity
and then the music comes back. Well, in
fact these audiences are more quiet and
focused than the subscription audience
can be. Theyre totally focused. When the
music starts, theyre totally in it. What for
me has been particularly gratifying is that
with some of this earlier music weve been
doing, we did one piece by Monteverdi
from 1610, so many young people came
up and said how transporting it was and
you think, God, heres something from
400 years ago that can reach out and
have that kind of emotional eect. That
really is one of the greatest treasures of
my life.
WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS PRESENTS
THE SAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY
Kennedy Center Concert Hall
Saturday, April 16
4 p.m.
$55
washingtonperformingarts.org
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
5 2 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
CA LE N D A R
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.
search LezLink on Facebook.
MONDAY, APRIL 11
The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W..)
hosts coee drop-in hours this morning
from 10 a.m.-noon for the senior LGBT
community. Older LGBT adults can
come and enjoy complimentary coee
and conversation with other community
members. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.
Us Helping Us (3636 Georgia Ave.,
N.W.) holds a support group for gay black
men to discuss topics that aect them,
share perspectives and have meaningful
conversations. For details, visit uhupil.org.
TODAY
Touchstone Gallery (901 New York
Ave., N.W.) opens three new exhibits
this month. First is The Bloom is On,
an exhibit by Touchstone member
artists who showcase works of color and
pattern in springs early light through
collage, painting, sculpture, photography
and other mediums. The second
exhibit is Between Two Worlds by Rob
Goebel which are works of abstract
expressionism and action painting. Lastly,
Earth House by Rosemary Luckett is a
collage work of cuts, pastes and paints of
living organisms. For more information,
visit touchstonegallery.com.
Bear Nonsense hosts Bear Happy
Hour at Rock and Roll Hotel (1353 H St.,
N.E) tonight from 5-10 p.m. DJ Alex DB and
DJ Dean Sullivan will play tracks for the
night. Drink specials include $9 Yuengling
draft pitcher, $4 Yuengling draft pint, $8
PBR draft pitcher, $3 PBR draft pint, $4
Ketel One drinks, $4 rail drinks and more.
There is no cover. For more details, visit
bearnonsense.com.
Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.)
celebrates the third anniversary of
Church Night tonight from 8-11:30
p.m. There will be appearances and
performances by Christine Ferrera,
Preee, John F. ODonnell and Pria Pus.
There will be carnival games prior to the
show, which starts at 9:30 p.m. There will
also be drink specials. Tickets are $12. For
more information, visit blackcatdc.com.
D.C. Bike Party hosts its fourth annual
cherry blossom chase and after party at
the Dupont Circle Fountain at 7:30 p.m.
Bikers are encouraged to wear pink and
oral to bike around town. There will be
an after party at the Milk Cult warehouse
(79 Hanover Pl., N.W.) at 9 p.m. DJ Avervge
will play music. There will be $5 PBRs and
free bike parking. For more details, visit
facebook.com/dcbikeparty.
SATURDAY, APRIL 9
Hanks Oyster Bar (1624 Q St., N.W.)
hosts its ninth annual Oyster Fest today
from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. There will be allyou-can-eat fresh oysters, fried oysters,
barbequed oysters, popcorn shrimp, Old
Bay fries and all-you-can-drink premium
draft beers. Tickets are $90. For more
details, visit hanksoysterbar.com.
Honey Groove, a festival for queer
people of color, is at Blind Whino (700
Delaware Ave., S.W.) today from 4-11
p.m. There will be performances by
Reesa Renee, BOOMscat, Pinky Killacorn,
RAtheMC, The CooLots, Be Steadwell,
Smoochie Blanco and J Pope and Funky
Friday. There will be body painting by
Sekayi Fernandes and live painting by
TUESDAY, APRIL 12
Washington Blade and Mix 107.3 host
a Yappy Hour Kick-O at Town (2009 8th
St., N.W.) today from 5-9 p.m. There will
be $4 drinks, $4 beers and giveaways
including registration to D.C. Bike Ride.
For more details, visit facebook.com/
washingtonblade.
Bachelors Mill has half-price drinks all
night long from 5 p.m.-2 a.m.tonight. They
also have pool, video gaming systems and
cards. Admission is free. For more details,
visit bachelorsmill.com.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13
PHOTO COURTESY OF TOUCHSTONE GALLERY
Next of Kin is one of many new works on display now at Touchstone Gallery.
Dawn, Tree, Emma JoJo and more. DJ

Mim, DJ Lady Ryan, DJ Rosie and Tezrah
will spin tracks. Guests who arrive by 5
p.m. will receive two complimentary Jack
Daniels Honey drinks. Tickets are $53.74.
For more information, visit facebook.
com/honeygroovedc.
The Coven, a witchy-themed queer
womens party, is at Smith Public Trust
(3514 12th St., N.E.) tonight from 10
p.m.-2:30 a.m. DJ Alex DB and Abichula
will spin. Cover is $5. For details, visit
facebook.com/thecovendc.
Distrkt C presents SEED, a gay dance
party, at D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd.,
N.E.) tonight from 10 p.m.-8 a.m. Porn
stars Billy Santoro, Seth Santoro and
Dylan Knight will make appearances. DJ
Mark DeMarko and DJ Erez Ben Ishay
will spin. Tickets are $25. For more
information, visit facebook.com/distrktc.
Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.) hosts
Mixtape, a gay dance party, tonight from

9:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. DJ Matt Bailer and
Shea Van Horn will play music. This is an
all-ages party. Cover is $10. For details,
visit blackcatdc.com.
SUNDAY, APRIL 10
Rainbow Theatre Project presents
My Queer Body at the Bier Baron
Tavern (1523 22nd St., N.W.) written and
performed by Tim Miller. The one-man
show explores sexual and gender identity.
Tickets are $15. For more information,
visit rainbowtheatreproject.org.
LezLink hosts Not Ya Mammas Speed
Dating: In the Park at the Rock Creek Park
Group Picnic Area 1 (2401 Tilden St., N.W.)
today from 3-5 p.m. This event is for lesbians,
bisexual women, trans men and women who
love women. Arrival by 2:30 p.m. is strongly
suggested. Tickets are $10. For more details,
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 703407-6540.
Big Gay Book Group meets at 1155
F St., N.W. Suite 200 tonight at 7 p.m. to
discuss Bettyville: A Memoir by George
Hodgeman, the true story of a writer who
returns home to care for his aging mother.
For more details, visit biggaybookgroup.com
or email biggaybookgroup@hotmail.com.
Earth Pearl Collective hosts CLIT
(Consiously
Learning
Intimacy
Together), a discussion on love, sex and
intimacy for women, at the Water Hole
(4004 34th St., Mt. Rainier, Md.) tonight
at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 and include one
free beverage and admission. For more
details, search Earth Pearl Collective on
Facebook.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14
Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer
organization, volunteers for Food and
Friends (219 Riggs Rd., N.E.) today from
8-10 a.m. Volunteers will chop vegetables
and pack groceries. To volunteer, email
jonathan@burgundycrescent.org.
For
more details, visit burgundycrescent.org.
Lesbians Who Tech host a happy hour
at Provision D.C. (2100 14th St., N.W.)
today at 6 p.m. Discuss tech topics with
lesbians and queer allies interested in the
tech community. For more information,
visit lesbianswhotech.org.
A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 5 3
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2212 white oaKs drive

$530,000
$1,200,000
2 story all brick townhouse condo for 1 large business

or set up as 2 separate business spaces. Lower lvll
with reception area and 3 offices/conference rooms.
Upper lvl with reception area and 3 office/conference
rooms. Storage and BA on each level. Plenty free
unassigned parking. Convenient location, on Backlick
and near Braddock intersection. EZ access restaurants, shopping, 395/495/FFX Parkway.
Extraordinary renovation/transformation of this unique home.

Over $400,000 in structural and designer renovations on
two levels. All new Italian made Pendini kitchen with custom
teak cabinetry -Top-of-the-line Miele microwave, oven,
built-in espresso maker, dishwasher as well as a Subzero
refrigerator. All new master bath with top-of-the-line German
made fixtures. Custom 100 year old reclaimed Indonesian
teak bed and headboard. The list goes on and on.
Bright 1 Bedroom Bath Condo for rent. Floor to

ceiling windows in living dining area. Luxurious
contemporary bath. Contemporary kitchen with
stainless steel, granite. Open Floor plan. Hardwood
floors, cement ceilings for that industrial look.
Washer and Dryer in Unit. Garage parking.
Ground floor two bedroom/two bath condo just outside

beltway. Gas Fireplace. Full size washer and dryer in
unit. Assigned parking and guest and street parking.
Community center, swimming pool and tot lot. Close to
shopping, restaurants and public transportation.
RentAl - AVAilABle nOw!
new listing
sweet PRiCe!
COMing sOOn
725 longfellow street, nw

washington, dc 20011
803 howard street, unit 235

alexandria, va
525 n. fayette street, unit 406

Spacious 1334 sf 2BR/2BA condo at the Plaza. Unit is in

close proximity to pool, tennis courts, its own huge parking space and large storage bin. Master bedroom features
a large walk-in closet, en-suite bath, and has its own balcony. The second good sized bedroom has a large closet
as well with the bath just across the hall. Public transportation, hospital, shopping and restaurants nearby.
Gorgeous courtyard side 2 bedroom two bath Condo

at the revitalized Henry Condominium. New Stranded
Bamboo flooring throughout (except baths). New light
fixtures. Fresh paint. Custom Closets. New Stackable
LG Washer and Dryer. 2 convenient garage parking
spaces. Restaurants and metro almost at your door.
3820 9th street, n, unit 703e

arlington, va 22203
$2,500/month
Bright 2BR/2BA in luxury building. Three sided gas fireplace in living/dining areas. Master bedroom has large
closets. Master bath features whirlpool tub. Washer and
dryer in unit. Open kitchen. Great parking space. Extra
storage. Great building amenities, gym, outdoor pool, grilling area. Your choice of Ballston or Virginia Square Metros. Shopping, dining and lots of entertainment nearby.
$640,000
Dont miss this great opportunity to own this much desired

home in the Petworth area. This spacious home includes
sunroom off kitchen and third bedroom, wood floors throughout main level, Six panel doors, double hung windows, recessed lighting throughout, 42~ kitchen cabinet with a center
island, stainless steel appliances, open floor layout great for
entertaining. Parking pad in rear for 6 cars!
$295,000
$585,000
now accept i n g n e w l i s t i n g s ! l i c e n s e d i n d c , m d, va , & d e .

OLD TOWN HI STORI C
400 K ING STREET
ALEXANDRI A VA 22314
703.683.0400
GEORGETOWN SALES
1680 WI SC ONS IN AVENUE NW
WASHINGTON DC 20007
202.944.8400
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
5 4 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
P H O T O S BY MI CH A E L KE Y
Bambi Nicole Ferrah was crowned Miss Freddies 2016 at the drag competition at Freddies Beach Bar and Grill on April 3.
A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 5 5
old town
alexandria
JUST
LiSTed
4315 50th St, NW, Washington, DC 20016
109 S. Pitt202
Street,
VA 22314
. 552Alexandria,
. 5600
526 Queen Street

OPEN HOUSES 2-4PM
Alexandria, VA 22314
Saturday, December 5
$2,595,000
Sunday, December 6
800.549.9299
Chesapeake horizons. Capitol hill ConvenienCe.
harwood, Md
SunShine and SophiStication

Beautifully appointed Craftsman-style residence on 34 acres near Chesapeake Bay was part of the Tulip Hill estate built in 1756 and
later
visited
bymid-nineteenth
George Washington.
in history, the
waterfront farm property
also hasexudes
designsophistication
elements andinmodern
amenities
This
classic,
century,Rich
three-bedroom,
three-and-a-half-bath,
brick residence
its gracious
double
that will appeal to todays homeowners. The all-Viking gourmet kitchen delights, high ceilings and large windows afford panoramparlors divided by period pocket doors, a noble dining room awash in light and a chefs kitchen with adjacent keeping room opening to
ic views of bucolic pastures and sparkling waterways. The stacked blue stone fireplaces and custom-milled trim and moldings are
the courtyard
garden
replete
withspaces
outdoorabound
kitchen.toAdditional
delights
a finished
an intimate
office and a
exceptional.
Indoor
and
outdoor
enjoy nature
and include
entertain
large orlower
smalllevel,
groups.
Offeredin-home
at $2.198M.
loggia as well as Charleston porch overlooking gardens. With secured off-street parking for one vehicle, the enticements of Old Town are
For more information and video, visit: waterfields.info
easily attainable. Its an executive abode awaiting only its fourth owner since 1840.
lAuren biShoP
mikebrown
Associate Broker
reAlTor
Licensed in DC, MD and VA
202.361.5079
202.340.3340
lbishop@mcenearney.com
MikeBrownMoves.com
Mike@MikeBrownMoves.com
www.laurenbishophomes.com
This is not intended to solicit the listings of other brokers. All information is deemed
reliable but as it is provided by third parties, cannot be guaranteed.
5 6 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
Life
Upgraded.
Your journey to happily ever after starts right now
With peerless service up to, during & beyond your purchase.
With meticulous floor planning, refined architecture & choice features.
With a convenient location near Downtown Annapolis & scenic waterways so you
can enjoy life - upgraded.
A luxury townhome community convenient to Baltimore, Washington D.C., and the Eastern Shore.
Village Greens of Annapolis
Gated courtyard townhomes from the upper $300s

OVER 60% SOLD OUT!
Up to 2,450 sq. ft. 2-car garages Up to 4 BR Up to 3 full, 2 half BA

4th oor lofts available Gourmet kitchens Stone, brick & Craftsman-style architecture
Huge energy savings Walk to local eateries & conveniences
Just 5 minutes to Annapolis Towne Centre at Parole & Downtown Annapolis
Close to scenic waterways & the Chesapeake Bay
627 South Cherry Grove Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone: (410) 263-6710
CraftmarkHomes.com/VillageGreens
Open Monday: by Appointment.
Tuesday-Thursday, Saturday-Sunday: 11 am - 6 pm. Closed Friday.
Brokers Welcome.*
*Must register at site and comply with policy terms. MHBR #451.
WA SH I N GTO NB LADE.C OM
A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 5 7
REALESTATE
Find your green thumb, no matter the space

City life doesnt mean
forgoing greenery
By TIM SAVOY
Lets face it: many of us were not born
with a green thumb. Planting and gardening seems to be a daunting task for
many, often out of fear of failure or a
lack of inspiration. For a city full of green
space from the National Mall to Rock
Creek Park, the District does spoil us with
inspiration for large screen spaces. However, we often miss out on this at home,
but there are many ways to incorporate
greenery into the home without breaking
the bank and with limited space.
Green space at home is one of the
greatest ways to be creative at home. No,
you dont have to have a big plot of land or
a large budget. Planting something small,
indoor or outdoor, expresses creativity.
Besides providing more life to your home,
there is an immeasurable benefit to your
homes value with the addition of plants
and flowers in your home. With just a few
creative techniques, you can transform
your space into a green one instantly.
First, one of the largest complaints regarding a resistance to planting at home
is a lack of outdoor space. For many, condominium and apartment living is our
reality that doesnt afford private outdoor
space. As a trade off, many of these buildings are providing common or limited private planting space. For example, some
apartment buildings offer rentable plant-
ing space on the roofs of their buildings.

These rooftop green spaces are perfect
for a small, efficient vegetable garden of
seasonal foods. If you are lucky enough
to have a small patio or balcony in your
flat, consider planters boxes with vines or
perennial flowers. For under $50, you can
easily plant a few flowers off your balcony
to add color to your space.
Additionally, all you need to have a
plant is sunlight, an easy amenity to provide at home. Inside your home, planting
can be as easy as a few pots and seeds
to create an herb garden in the kitchen.
Herbs such as basil, sage and oregano
can be low maintenance, DIY projects that
give your living space a little extra charm.
After just a few moments and minimal effort, this small, colorful garden can easily
rest and grow on your windowsill.
For the homeowner who wants to
think larger in terms of plant size, think
of planting greenery such as a fiddle leaf
fig or peace lily, both of which require
little attention, water and sunlight. Also,
terrariums, a smaller alternative, can give
a good visual effect to many spaces in
the home, and are easy to maintain. As a
rule of thumb think of plants as finishes
in your home; like a tasteful accent pillow
or throw rug, your planting can say a lot
about your personal style.
Finally, sometimes living in the city can
place too much of a constraint on your
gardening ambitions. For needs outside
the house, it may be time to look toward
a community garden. The District is home
to dozens of community gardens, from the
Living in the city doesnt mean you have to forego greenery.
Districts Department of Parks and Recreation-sponsored parks to private parks that

sponsor some garden space. For many,
community gardens provide an opportunity to interact with the community while
also allowing ambition to grow plants you
otherwise wouldnt within the city.
Often small green spaces provide a
sentimental value to the owner. The rate
of return on a small section of greenery

or a couple pots of herbs can be hard
to quantify, but often times, this value
is irreplaceable, and truly sets the home
apart from others.
Tim Savoy (@SavoyRealEstate) is a real estate
agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Dupont/Logan. Reach him at 202-400-0534
or timothy.savoy@cbmove.com.
SIMPLE
AFFORDABLE
PROVEN RESULTS
CALL TODAY TOPLACE YOUR AD
202.747.2077
DAVE LLOYD & ASSOCIATES

Top 1% Nationwide
NVAR Life Member Top Producder
703-593-3204
WWW.DAVELLOYD.NET
ENTHUSIASTICALLY
SERVING DC & VIRGINIA
5 8 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
2563 Nicky LaNe aLexaNdria, Va 22311
Just sold for $10,000 above asking price!
Stay close to everything yet far from the noise in this private community located under a mile from 395 at Mark Center. Enjoy the upgrades in this three-level
townhouse in the Seminary Heights community. Home features TWO Master Suites with private baths. Basement bonus room is perfect for guests. Gourmet
kitchen features gorgeous granite counter-tops and stainless steel appliances. Large family room and rec rec room that opens to spacious patio.
5821 dawes avenue alexandria, Va 22311
Just listed and under contract in 4 days!
bring your backup offers!

Custom Home Filled With Upgrades! Gorgeous, contemporary home tucked into quiet community with nearly a half acre lot! 3 beds, 2.5 baths, plus basement plumbing rough-in. Many upgrades including totally renovated kitchen, new carpet, plus newer roof, water heater, HVAC, siding, and appliances.
Spend your days enjoying the private views from the sun-soaked solarium or large deck great for entertaining! Choose peaceful living with the convenience
of being just minutes to D.C., Mark Center, 395, & bus routes, & shopping.
For video, photos, floor plans, and more, visit 5821dawesave.com

Irene Xenos
Licensed Realtor in VA & MD
RE/MAX By Invitation
4784 Lee Highway
Arlington, VA 22207
Cell: (703) 956-0418

Office: (703) 677-8730
Fax: (703) 940-0708
Email: irene.xenos@remax.net
Website: irenexenos.com
Company Website: www.byinvitationrealty.com
A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 5 9
Make memories in a new home!

open sunday 2-4pm
506 SummerS Ct.
4 bedS - 3.5 bathS
$1,795,000
www.506summers.mcenearney.com
1810 OrChard St.

4 bedS - 3.5 bathS
$1,350,000
www.1810orchard.mcenearney.com
open sunday 2-4pm
open sunday 2-4pm
3939 FOrt WOrth ave

4 bedS - 3.5 bathS
$1,049,900
www.3939fortworth.mcenearney.com
1026 CrOSS dr
4 bedS - 2.55 bathS
$799,900
www.1026cross.mcenearney.com
pRICe ReduCed!
4120 Seminary rd.
4 bedS - 4.55 bathS
$1,199,900
www.4120seminary.mcenearney.com
1250 S. WaShingtOn St. #605

3 bedS - 4 bathS
$1,148,900
www.1250washington605.mcenearney.com
303 SummerS dr
3 bedS - 3 bathS
$939,900
www.303summers.mcenearney.com
2309 valley dr
4 bedS - 2.5 bathS
$899,900
www.2309valley.mcenearney.com
2050 JamieSOn ave #1016

3 bedS - 2 bathS
$825,000
www.2050jamieson1016.mcenearney.com
6245 WalkerS CrOFt Way

3 bedS - 3.5 bathS
$515,000
www.6245walkerscroft.mcenearney.com
1016 S. Wayne St. #804

2 bedS - 2 bathS
$472,900
www.1016wayne804.mcenearney.com
3601 S. 5th Street #104

2 bedS - 1 bath
$218,900
www.36015th104.mcenearney.com
If you are thInkIng of buyIng or sellIng your

home, or would just lIke to chat about the
local market, contact us today. wed love to
help you achIeve your real estate goals.
6 0 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
proud winner of
a 2013 & 2014
american graphic
design award
ARLINGTON N.
CLARENDON CUTIE!
$255,000
Just Listed! 132-A N. BedFORd stReet

Light and bright 1 bedroom condo in Clarendons popular
Bedford Park. Enjoy your own private entrance opening directly
into this adorable 612 square foot end unit with open floor plan,
generous sized living room, spacious remodeled eat in kitchen,
updated full bath, fresh paint, new flooring, convenient washer
& dryer in unit and assigned parking. Amazing commuter
locale! Easy access into town (Metro bus stop across the street)
and less than a mile to Clarendon Metro and all the shops,
restaurants and entertainment along the Orange Line Corridor.
dAVe LLOYd & AssOCiAtes
4701 Old Dominion Drive Arlington, VA 22207
703-593-3204 WWW.dAVeLOYd.Net
Barbra Streisand
on Roof Decks:
On a clear day
you can see forever.
VALERIE M. BLAKE, Associate Broker, GRI
Dupont Circle Office 202.243.7700 (o) 202.246.8602 (c)

Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com www.DCHomeQuest.com
Custom landscape design

Patios, walkways, pool decks
Outdoor fireplaces and kitchens
Planting and water features
Landscape lighting and irrigation
DEADLINES
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All Classified Ads

- Including Regular & Adult Must Be Received
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WA SH I NGTO N B LA DE.C OM
A P RI L 0 8 , 2 0 1 6 6 1
LGBTQ Affirmative Therapy Downtown Silver Spring. Group,
couples & individual. Warm,
supportive & interactive. Blue Cross
PPO/Out-of-Network/Sliding Fee
Scale. Jonathan Lebolt, PhD, DCSW,
CGP, Therapy@Doctor-Jon.com, www.
Doctor-Jon.com, 240-507-7696.
LEGAL NOTICE
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
PROBATE DIVISION
2016 NRT 10
Rose R. Gildenhorn, Name of Deceased Settlor
NOTICE OF EXISTENCE OF REVOCABLE TRUST
Rose R. Gildenhorn whose address was 3801 New Mexico Avenue, N.W.
#1022, Washington, DC 20007 created a revocable trust on June 23, 1994,
which remained in existence on the date of her death on November 1,
2015 and Harry Gildenhorn & Jeffrey Gildenhorn, whose addresses are
10905 Roundtable Court, Rockville, MD 20852 & 3200 Ellicot Street, N.W.,
Washington, DC 20008 are the currently acting trustees, hereinafter the
Trustee. Communications to the trust should be mailed or directed to Harry
Gildenhorn at 10905 Roundtable Court, Rockville, MD 20852.
The Trust is subject to claims of the deceased settlors creditors, costs of
administration of the settlors estate, the expenses of the deceased settlors
funeral and disposal of remains, and statutory allowances to a surviving
spouse and children to the extent the deceased settlors residuary probate
estate is inadequate to satisfy those claims, costs, expenses, and allowances.
Claims of the deceased settlors creditors are barred as against the Trustee
and the trust property unless presented to the Trustee at the address
provided herein on or before September 25, 2016 (6 months after the date
of the first publication of this notice). An action to contest the validity of
this trust must be commenced by the earliest of (1) November 1, 2016 (one
year from the date of the deceased settlor( or (2) September 25, 2016 (6
months from the date of first publication of this notice) or (3) ninety days
after the Trustee sends the person a copy of the trust instrument and a
notice informing the person of the trusts existence, the Trustees name and
address, and the time allowed for commencing a proceeding.
The trustee may proceed to distribute the trust property in accordance with
the terms of the trust before the expiration of the time within which an
action must be commenced unless the Trustee knows of a pending judicial
proceeding contesting the validity of the trust or the Trustee has resolved
notice from a potential contestant who thereafter commences a judicial
proceeding within sixty days after notification.
This Notice must be mailed postmarked within 15 days of its first publication
to each heir and qualified beneficiary of the trust and any other person who
would be an interested person within the meaning of D.C. Code, sec. 20101(d).
Date of first publication: March 25, 2016, Harry Gildenhorn & Jeffrey
Gildenhorn.
Anne Meister, Register of Wills, Clerk of the Probate Division.
DEADLINES
All Classified Ads

By Mondays at 5PM
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MASSAGE / CERTIFIED
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massage therapist
available 12-8 Sun-Tues.
Call or text Garyat 301704-1158 or visit http://
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DC MASSAGE THERAPY.
near metro. EZ parking. Email:
dcack@hotmail.com, Dave.
COACHING
ADHD COACHING I am a
graduate of the ADD Coaching
Academy. Please call 202-421-8900
Adult PCS solicits expressions of

interest in the form of proposals with
references from qualified vendors for
the following services:
1. Elevator Repair & Maintenance
2. Moving
3. HVAC Repair & Maintenace
4. General Contracting
5. Furnishing
6. Facilities Management Services
7. Security Services
Please visit http://aohdc.org/jobs/ for
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may be emailed to aoh@aohdc.org
with the subject line of the type of
service. Deadline for submissions
is 12:00pm April 15th. Email is the
preferred method for responding.
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.
build a more orderly tomorrow

TODAY.
COUNSELING
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.
STEVE OTOOLE
PHOTOGRAPHY Fine
Art Photographer for
Portraits & Weddings.
Check out my new
website - www.
steveotoolephotography.
com. Specializing in Bears
& Big men. Steve
703-861-4422.
PET CARE
CAT SITTING your house.
Away for the weekend or a long
vacation, or if your cat needs care
& feeding during the day. Please
see my web site for details: www.
chuckswhiskerwatchers.com.
CLEANING
LEGAL SERVICES
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.
ADOPTION & ASSISTED

REPRODUCTIVE Law Attorney Jennifer
Fairfax represents clients in DC, MD
& VA. interested in adoption or ART
matters.301-221-9651,JFairfax@
jenniferfairfax.com.
FERNANDOS CLEANING:
Residential & Commercial Cleaning,
Reasonable Rates, Free Estimates,
Routine, 1-Time, Move-In/Move-Out.
(202) 234-7050, 202-486-6183.
for more info or email:789davidr@

gmail.com. David Rose. Discover &
PHOTOGRAPHY
FULL SERVICE LAW FIRM

Representing the GLBT community
for over 35 years. Family adoptions,
estate planning, immigration,
employment. (301) 891-2200.Silber,
Perlman, Sigman & Tilev, P.A. www.
SP-Law. com.
MAID TO CLEAN Gay owned,

awesome, trustworthy & reliable!
Serving the DC/VA area. Mention
this ad for $50 off. Maidtoclean.com.
(703) 299-0101.
LIMOUSINES / DRIVERS
GIL PAINTING Co. Bonded,

Licensed & Insured. Interior/
Exterior Painting. Plaster & Dry
Wall. Wallpaper Removal, Power
Washing. Carpentry. Roofing &
Remodeling. www.Gilpainting.
Com.Walter (301) 370-9940
Gilpainting@Comcast.Net.
KASPERS LIVERY SERVICEBMW

2016 750XI Luxury Sedan Service;
Hourly, Point to Point & Special
Airport Transfer Rates! Gay & Veteran
Owned! http://www.KasperLivery.com
Phone 202-554-2471.
HOME IMPROVEMENT
DEADLINES
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Place your housing to share
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washingtonblade.com
*25 words or less prints free - anything more is $1/word.
6 2 A PRI L 0 8 , 2 0 16
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BRITISH REMODELING HANDYMAN

Local licensed company with over 25
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bathrooms, kitchens & all interior/
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EXTRAORDINARY COASTAL HOME
Designed by David Jameson. Featured
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design award winning home. Endless
views. Great getaway! $795,000.
Call Craig Linthicum, Meredith Fine
Properties (c) 410-726-6581 or (o)
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FINESSE INTERIOR/
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Chalkboard & Dry Erase
paint. Wood Staining.
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Volume 47, Issue 15, April 8, 2015

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A PR I L

Ignoring backlash in N.C., Gov. Bryant signs anti-LGBT bill

Sanders, Clinton court trans vote

Andrea Zekis, policy director for Basic Rights Oregon,

Sen. BERNARD SANDERS won big in

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

One small pill contains

Please see Brief Summary of

Brief Summary of Patient Information

Who should not take ODEFSEY?

What should I tell my healthcare provider

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

Take ODEFSEY 1 time each day with a meal.

Do not miss a dose of ODEFSEY.

hospital emergency room right away.

What are the possible side effects of ODEFSEY?

any of the following symptoms:

Former NAPWA director sentenced to six months in jail

By LOU CHIBBARO JR.

A Montgomery County, Md., Circuit

FRANK OLDHAM was led away in handcus

$11,238.08 in restitution for money he

With each individual act, the defendant

friends of Oldham, Judy Billings and

Gay Air Force lieutenant faces August court martial

both proceedings that there was

and that the request was denied. Abrams

not provide further details.

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

The Home Youll Love

New Townhomes with Rooftop Terraces from the $800s

PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. EYA MARKETING LLC.

D.C. Council member DAVID

D.C. Council passes

D.C. considers ban on city travel

Gay Republican to challenge Norton in 2018

Randy Brewster dies at 54

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

WASHINGTON, DC | TYSONS GALLERIA | MGBWHOME.COM

MEGHAN TRAINOR is slated to play Pride in June.

Meghan Trainor, Charlie Puth

Probation for trans woman in D.C. armed standoff

Maryland appeals court to hear parental rights case

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

GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION

you want a fresh look for your home, come In to

In your choIce of hundreds of fabrIcs and

PROMO CODE: 48 Sale prices good thru 4/11/16

Keep your promise to protect each other.

SERVING OUR COMMUNITY

2141 P STREET NW SUITE 103

Serving Our Community for 35 years

Wills & Trusts

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

FamiLY | eState PLaNNiNG | emPLoYmeNt | immiGratioN

Silber, Perlman, Sigman & Tilev, P.A.

Serving the LGBT Community

Attorney General LORETTA LYNCH

Lynch notes trans rights in speech

Gay tourist attacked in Miami Beach

U.S. Marines sentence reduced in trans murder

LPAC has endorsed TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-Ill.) for U.S. Senate.

in the U.S. House representing Illinoiss