Volume 47, Issue 53, December 30, 2016

DECEMBER
30,
2016
v o l u me 4 7
issue 53
Americas LGBT News Source
w a s h i n g t o n b l a de . c o m
0 2 DE CE MB ER 3 0, 2016
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D E CE MBE R 3 0 , 2 0 1 6 0 3
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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
0 4 DE CE MB ER 3 0, 2016
LO CA L
Top 10 local stories of 2016

TRANS WOMEN FACE VIOLENCE; ELECTION NIGHT TURNS SOMBER
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
These are the top 10 D.C.-area stories of 2016 as selected by the Blades editorial sta.
#10
D.C. submits bid to

host 2022 Gay Games
Tennis legend Billie Jean King was among those who announced their support for
D.C.s bid to host the 2022 Gay Games, which a committee representing local LGBT
sports groups ocially submitted on Nov. 30.
The quadrennial LGBT international sports competition usually draws between
12,000 and 15,000 athletic competitors and between 80,000 and 100,000 spectators to
the host city.
The action by the Park Service came four months after the D.C. Historic Preservation
Review Board voted unanimously to designate the Furies House as a historic landmark
on the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites.
LGBT history advocate Mark Meinke, who led a 63-page nominating petition for the
houses D.C. historic status, said its designation by D.C. and the National Park Service
as a historic site and landmark marked the rst time a specically lesbian oriented site
achieved such a status.
The house at 219 11th Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. became the operational center of
the lesbian feminist separatist collective, The Furies, between late 1971 and the autumn
of 1973 which created and led the debate over lesbians place in society, Meinke wrote
in his nomination application.
#7
Police end midnight

shift for LGBT Liaison Unit
The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened on Sept. 24.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
#9
African-American
History Museum opens
LGBT activists joined in the celebrations surrounding the grand opening on Sept. 24
of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is located on
the National Mall across the street from the Washington Monument.
The new museum, which has drawn record crowds, includes several LGBT-related
exhibits, including an inscribed watch that Martin Luther King Jr. gave to Bayard Rustin,
a gay man who served as lead organizer of the 1963 March on Washington in which King
gave his famous I Have a Dream speech.
Its a very poignant reminder of the relationship between Martin Luther King and
Bayard Rustin, said William Pretzer, a supervisory museum curator of history associated
with the African American Museum.
Pretzer said many of the museums exhibits show that the African American freedom
movement inspired other groups, including LGBT rights advocates, to organize and
agitate for their own liberation.
D.C. police ocials conrmed in January that they had discontinued the midnight shift
for the departments LGBT Liaison Unit a few months earlier as part of a redistribution
of ocers to where the call volume is heaviest.
Sources familiar with the LGBT unit said its midnight shift has often been the units
busiest time period because higher rates of violent crime and domestic violence occur
during late-night hours.
The elimination of the midnight shift came about one year after members of the LGBT
Liaison Unit and other police liaison units were assigned to unrelated patrol duties for half
of their daily work shifts due to a shortage of ocers on the force, police ocials said.
The LGBT Liaison Unit has been greatly diminished in recent years, Stephania Mahdi,
chair of the D.C. Anti-Violence Project, told a City Council hearing on police matters in March.
The truth of the matter is the LGBT community does not feel the same level of
support from the Liaison Unit that they have received in previous years, she said.
#6
Trump campaign courts

gay delegates in D.C.
A representative of Donald Trumps presidential campaign in February called the

president of Log Cabin Republicans of D.C. and four or ve other members of the group
to invite them to run as delegate candidates pledged to Trump.
D.C. Log Cabin President Chris Allen said the Trump campaign representative knew that
he and several other D.C. Log Cabin members were running as uncommitted delegate
candidates in the citys March 12 Republican presidential preference convention.
She just called to say that the Trump campaign noticed that I wasnt aliated with
anyone and wanted to know if I would like his endorsement for delegate, Allen told the
Blade. And I just told her I wasnt looking for any endorsement at this time.
Allen and the other Log Cabin delegate candidates, who also declined the Trump
campaigns oer of an endorsement, lost their races to become uncommitted delegates
at the D.C. GOP convention. Most of the D.C. GOP candidates who won delegate
positions were committed to then presidential candidate Marco Rubio and John Kasich.
#5
Chase Brexton roiled

over union ght
The National Park Service on May 4 honored the Furies House on Capitol Hill.
#8
Furies House named

historic landmark
The National Park Service on May 4 added a Capitol Hill row house used in the early
1970s as headquarters for a lesbian feminist group called the Furies Collective to the
National Register of Historic Places.
Baltimores Chase Brexton Health Care, which operates health centers that serve the
LGBT community in Maryland, became the target of community protests and criticism
from more than a dozen LGBT advocacy organizations in August when its upper
management aggressively opposed an eort by employees to form a union.
Union organizers and their supporters among Chase Brextons patients and local
activists became outraged when top managers, reportedly with the approval of CEO
Richard Larison, red at least ve managers in retaliation for their support for the
unionizing eort. In November Chase Brextons Board announced that Larison decided
not to renew his contract to continue as CEO and would be stepping down at the end
of the year.
CONTINUES ON PAGE 05
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
LO C A L
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 04
Top 10 local
stories of the year
Lesbian chef and caterer TYONNE JOHNS was stabbed to death in August. She was later honored
at the Blades Best Of awards.
#4
at high risk for violent attacks and murder.

Authorities have identied the victims as Keyonna Blackeny, 22, who was found
stabbed to death on April 16 in a room she had booked at the Red Roof Inn in Rockville,
Md.; Deeniquia Dodds, 22, who was fatally shot in the early morning hours of July 4 near
her home on Division Ave, N.E., in D.C.; Crystal Edmonds, 32, who was fatally shot Sept.
16 on a street in Baltimore; and Noony Norwood, 30, a Richmond resident who was
found suering from fatal gunshot wounds on a street in South Richmond on Nov. 6.
Two men have been arrested and charged with rst-degree murder in the Blackeny case
at the Red Roof Inn and another two men have been charged with rst-degree murder in
the Dodds case in D.C. D.C. police have said the motive in the Dodds murder was robbery
but the two suspects appear to have targeted Dodds because she was transgender.
Chef Tyonne
Johns murdered
Lesbian chef and caterer Tyonne Johns, 35, a beloved gure in the D.C. area, was
stabbed to death on Aug. 6 while coordinating the catering of an outdoor wedding at a
park in Chantilly, Va.
A Fairfax County judge on Oct. 31 ruled that prosecutors established probable cause
that 19-year-old Kempton Alexander Bonds, a summer employee at the park, allegedly
fatally stabbed Johns during an argument over the ownership of folding chairs used for
the wedding. Police charged Bonds with second-degree murder. He has been released
on a $250,000 bond while awaiting trial.
Johns was a highly acclaimed chef who operated her own catering business in the
D.C. area during the past several years. Readers of the Washington Blade in October
voted to posthumously award Johns the honor of Best Chef in the Blades 2016 Best
of Gay D.C. competition.
#3
One-third of LGB students

considered suicide
Thirty-two percent of D.C. high school students who identify as gay, lesbian, or
bisexual reported they seriously considered attempting suicide during the previous
12 months, according to the city school systems annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey
released on Sept. 1.
The survey ndings show that the LGB students heterosexual peers reported
seriously committing suicide during the same 12-month period at a rate of 10 percent.
D.C. Public Schools ocials didnt respond to an inquiry by the Blade about why
transgender students have not been included in the annual survey since it began more
than 10 years ago.
DEENIQUIA DODDS was shot to death on July 4.
#2
Trans women murdered

in D.C. area
PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK
LGBT activists in D.C., Virginia and Maryland have expressed alarm that at least four
transgender women lost their lives to violence in 2016 in separate incidents in D.C.,
Rockville, Baltimore and Richmond.
Each of the victims was a transgender woman of color, which anti-violence activists
say is in keeping with a longstanding national trend showing trans women of color are
Hundreds of Hillary Clinton supporters lled Town on Election Night, only to leave shocked and
disappointed.
#1
LGBT allies win most

races in D.C. area
Nine of 10 LGBT allies, including former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, won their races for
seats on the City Council and the D.C. State Board of Education in the Nov. 8 election.
Among those winning their races was D.C. State Board of Education President Jack
Jacobson, the citys highest-ranking openly gay elected ocial.
In key races in Maryland, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a longtime supporter of
LGBT rights, won election to the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Barbara
Mikulski (D), who also has been a longtime LGBT rights backer.
Another longtime LGBT ally who won on Nov. 8 was Maryland State Sen. Jamie Raskin
(D-Montgomery County), who beat GOP challenger Dan Cox for the U.S. House seat
being vacated by Van Hollen. Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, yet another
LGBT ally, won election to the states 4th Congressional District, which includes parts of
Prince Georges County.
In Virginia, LGBT supporter Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) won re-election to his Northern
Virginia U.S. House seat. But Democratic challenger and LGBT rights supporter LuAnn
Bennett lost her race against incumbent Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) in the states
10th Congressional District, also in Northern Virginia. Comstock has had a mixed record
on LGBT issues during her tenure as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
While pleased with the electoral success of local and state allies, LGBT activists grew
increasingly somber at an election night party at D.C.s Town nightclub as election
returns projected on large video monitors showed Republican presidential nominee
Donald Trump defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
0 6 DE CE MB ER 3 0, 2016
BA LT I MO RE
Top 10 Baltimore
news stories of 2016
EAGLE SET TO FLY AGAIN; COMMUNITY CENTER MOVES
By STEVE CHARING
Heres a look back at the top 10 Baltimore news stories of 2016
as ranked by the Blades editorial sta.
The exterior of the new Baltimore Eagle, which could open as soon as New Years Eve.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY STEVE CHARING
#10
Life terms for

killer of 2 gay men
Quinton Decarlo Bass, who was convicted in the 2012 killings of two Mount Vernon
gay men, Alex Ulrich and Larry Peterson, was sentenced to two life terms plus 45 years.
Police determined the murders to be the result of a botched robbery and not a hate
crime.
#9
Hopkins resumes
gender-arming surgeries
The decision was reached following a petition by students and faculty criticizing the
institution for not disavowing a controversial anti-LGBT report by two faculty members.
Chase Brexton CEO Richard Larison announced he would step down after a controversy erupted
over a unionizing eort.
#5
Community Center
leaves Mount Vernon
The GLCCB announced a shift to larger, more functional quarters on the third oor of
2530 North Charles St. following two and a half years at the Waxter Center.
#4
FreeState Legal,
Equality Maryland merge
In an eort to form a comprehensive, statewide direct legal services and policy

advocacy organization for LGBTQ individuals, the two organizations merged into one
entity and was renamed FreeState Justice.
#8
#3
#7
#2
Baltimore shows its

Pride despite heat
With thousands attending the parade and block party in Mount Vernon as well as
the festival in Druid Hill Park the next day, Baltimore Pride was deemed a success as it
netted over $80,000 for the GLBT Community Center of Baltimore.
Drinkery re-opens
after liquor board reversal
A petition drive to close the 44-year-old gay bar in Mount Vernon because of alleged
rowdiness was thwarted by a technicality as the liquor board reversed its initial decision.
Many community members were angered by the eorts by the petitioners to close the
bar.
#6
Baltimore grieves
with Orlando
Several vigils from Baltimore to Frederick some drawing more than 1,000
participantstook place to grieve the loss of life from the massacre at the Pulse
nightclub.
Baltimore Eagle eyes

New Years Eve opening
Four years after the bar was closed, a new Baltimore Eagle is about ready to y.
Construction delays and an initial liquor board decision slowed the re-emergence of the
iconic leather bar.
Trans woman shot,

killed in Baltimore
The still unsolved murder of transgender woman Crystal Edmonds, 32, in Northwest
Baltimore prompted a community vigil and outcry against violence targeting transgender
women of color.
#1
Unionizing eort
roils Chase Brexton
The ring of ve professionals for alleged eorts in support of employees who

desired to unionize triggered community backlash and a rally as well as the announced
departure of the health providers CEO in 2017.
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0 8 DE CE MB ER 3 0, 2016
NATIONAL
Top 10 national stories of

the year
MASSACRE IN ORLANDO, TRUMPS WIN SHOCK NATION
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
These are the top 10 national stories of 2016 as selected by the Blades editorial sta.
#8
Gavin Grimm case moves

to Supreme Court
President Obama designated as a national monument the area around the Stonewall Inn in June.
#10
Stonewall Inn named

U.S. Historic Landmark
The Obama administration this year through the Department of Interior took
unprecedented steps to recognize moments in LGBT history.
Amid Pride celebrations in June, President Obama designated as a national monument the
area around the Stonewall Inn where riots in 1969 kicked o the modern gay rights movement.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell also issued the rst-ever National Park Service theme
study identifying places and events associated with the history of LGBT Americans.
Among places identied in the survey are the D.C. house of the late gay rights pioneer
Frank Kameny, which is on the National Register of Historic Places; and D.C.s Furies
Collective House, which in the early 1970s became the operational center for the lesbian
feminist and separatist Furies collective.
The U.S. Supreme Court may be on cusp of another major LGBT rights decision
after agreeing this year to review whether a transgender student can use the school
bathroom consistent with his gender identity.
Justices issued a writ of certiorari to take up the case of Gavin Grimm, who was denied
use of the boys room at Gloucester County Schools in Virginia. Although the U.S Fourth
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Grimms favor, the Supreme Court placed a stay on the
decision and agreed to take it up.
The Supreme Court agreed to review the decision even though the American Civil
Liberties Union, which is representing Grimm, asked the court to turn it down.
If the court rules in Grimms favor, the decision could be a massive win for transgender
students assuring them access to the bathroom in schools nationwide consistent with
their gender identity.
#7
The arrival of religious

freedom bills
With varying success, state legislatures advanced measures aimed at allowing

discrimination against LGBT people, often in the name of religious freedom.
One such measure Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed into law would have enabled
sweeping anti-LGBT discrimination in the state, including the denial of services to samesex couples or transition-related care for transgender people.
But a federal court barred enforcement of the measure before it could take eect as
a result of a lawsuit led by New York attorney Roberta Kaplan.
In South Dakota, Gov. Dennis Daugaard vetoed legislation that would have barred
transgender students from using the bathroom consistent with their gender identity.
In Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a religious freedom bill that would have allowed
faith-based organizations to deny services to LGBT people.
Those measures could be a precursor to more anti-LGBT bills in 2017. In Texas,
lawmakers have pre-led bills in the same mold, including a measure that would ban
city LGBT ordinances.
Oregon Gov. KATE BROWN was a ray of hope on Election Night.
#9
Kate Brown elected

Oregon governor
On an Election Night that disappointed many LGBT voters, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
was a ray of hope upon becoming the rst openly LGBT person and rst bisexual person
elected governor in the United States.
Brown had already been serving in the role of Oregon governor for more than a year
as a result of being Oregon secretary of state and next in the line of succession when
her predecessor resigned in scandal.
But the victory against Republican challenger Bud Pierce armed Brown would be
allowed to serve four more years. Brown secured 50.5 percent of the vote compared to
the 43.8 percent won by Pierce.
In an interview with the Washington Blade last month, Brown said the signicance of
being the rst openly LGBT and bisexual person elected governor is increased visibility
because you cant be what you cant see.
If I can be a role model for one young person that decides that their life is worth living
because theres someone like them in the world, its worth it, Brown said.
The U.S. Senate this year conrmed ERIC FANNING as Army secretary.
#6
Eric Fanning conrmed

as Army secretary
Following an eight-month period of inaction on his nomination, the U.S. Senate this
year conrmed Eric Fanning as Army secretary, making him the rst openly gay person
to head any service in the U.S. military.
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) placed a hold on the nomination on the purported basis he
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL
D E CE MBE R 3 0 , 2 0 1 6 0 9
Top 10 national
stories of the year
wanted assurances from President Obama he wouldnt move Guantanamo Bay terrorist
suspects to a prison in Kansas. Upon pressure from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to move
forward with conrmation, Roberts said he received sucient assurances from the Pentagon.
In an interview with the Washington Blade, Fanning acknowledged the distinction of
being the rst openly gay Army secretary.
I increasingly reect on my own experience when I was younger and working in the
Department of Defense and didnt really see a way forward for me because I didnt see
people like me in positions of leadership, Fanning said. So, I think in some ways, its
an important milestone for a lot of people particularly in the military, even civilians who
work around the military.
#5
Pentagon lifts ban on

trans military service
After a yearlong review geared toward changing the policy, Defense Secretary Ashton
Carter this year lifted the ban on openly transgender people serving in the U.S. armed
forces.
Carter announced in June the military would undo the medical regulation prohibiting
transgender troops from serving openly.
Although Carter said the Pentagon would lift the ban eective immediately, the
initial change only allowed existing transgender troops to serve openly without fear of
expulsion. Medical benets, including transition-related care like gender reassignment
surgery, wasnt available until October and openly transgender people still wont be able
to accede in the military until July.
McCrory signed House Bill 2 after the North Carolina Legislature approved the law
during an emergency session with only a single day of consideration. The law bars
localities from enacting pro-LGBT discrimination ordinances, undoing one recently
enacted in Charlotte, and prohibits transgender people from using the public restrooms
in schools and government building in accordance with their gender identity.
The law inspired a massive outcry from LGBT advocates and business leaders who
called for repeal. The resulting loss of business in North Carolina cost the state an
estimated $400 million.
In a state Donald Trump won handily, McCrory lost to Democratic challenger Roy
Cooper by a margin of 10,000 votes, although McCrory initially called for a recount and
took almost a month to concede.
#2
Gunman kills 49
at Pulse nightclub
The LGBT community faced a stunning tragedy this year when a lone gunman killed
49 people and wounded 53 others at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
Armed with an assault weapon and a 9 mm Glock semi-automatic pistol, Omar
Mateen executed patrons during a three-hour stando at the Pulse nightclub before
Orlando police ocers shot and killed him.
In a call to 911 prior to the attack, Matten pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of
Iraq & Syria. Although initial reports said Mateen was a patron of the nightclub and used
gay hookup apps, the FBI said it couldnt nd any evidence to substantiate those claims.
A groundswell movement emerged in the LGBT community to take on gun reform.
Grassroots groups like Gays Against Guns held protests and the Pride Fund to End
Gun Violence was formed. But those eorts may be stymied at the federal level as a
result of the election.
Anti-gay Justice ANTONIN SCALIA died in February. In 2015, the Blade snapped this strange
bedfellows photo of Scalia chatting with LAVERNE COX and KATIE COURIC at the annual White
House Correspondents Dinner.
#4
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO
Antonin Scalia dies
After gaining an anti-gay reputation for his caustic dissents to gay rights decisions
during his 30 years on the bench, U.S. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia died unexpectedly
this year at age 79 at the Cibolo Creek Ranch in Texas.
The Reagan-appointed justice objected to major decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court
in favor of gay rights, including the decision in the nationwide ruling last year in favor of
same-sex marriage.
President Obama named U.S. Chief Judge Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
D.C. Circuit to succeed Scalia, but the Republican-controlled Senate never held a hearing
or a vote on the nomination.
#3
N.C. passes HB2;

McCrory ushed in election
Following an outcry over a law he signed barring transgender people from using the
public restroom consistent with their gender identity, voters in North Carolina ushed
Gov. Pat McCrory at the polls on Election Day.
DONALD TRUMPs win is the biggest story of 2016.
#1
Trump wins election
Donald Trump deed expectations with a surprise win on Election Day and placed
into question massive gains in LGBT rights, making his victory the No. 1 story of the year.
Polls indicated Hillary Clinton would prevail in the 2016 presidential race, but Trump
performed surprisingly well in Rust Belt states winning the traditional blue states
of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and pulled o an Electoral College victory
despite losing the popular vote by 2.7 million.
The victory alarmed many LGBT people because Trump has staked out anti-LGBT
positions, including support for the anti-LGBT First Amendment Defense Act, and
pandered to social conservative groups that have opposed LGBT rights.
Trumps proposed Cabinet picks are a whos who of Republicans with anti-LGBT
backgrounds, including Ben Carson as HUD secretary, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) as HHS
secretary and Sen. Je Sessions (R-Ala.) as attorney general.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
1 0 DE CE MB ER 3 0, 2016
I N T E RN A T I O N A L
Top 10 international
stories of 2016
OBAMA VISITS CUBA; TRUDEAU MARCHES FOR LGBT RIGHTS
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
Heres a look back at the top 10 international LGBT news stories,
as ranked by the Washington Blades editorial sta.
#10
Belize Supreme Court

strikes down sodomy law
The European Court of Justice in 2014 said countries within the European Unioncannot
require gay asylum seekers to prove their homosexuality.
The Brexit vote took place against the backdrop of an inux of refugees and migrants
from Syria and other countries into Europe.
Then-Prime Minister David Cameron resigned in the wake of the vote.
Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin of the Belize Supreme Court in August ruled his
countrys colonial-era sodomy law is unconstitutional.
Caleb Orozco, a prominent LGBT rights advocate, and his group, the United Belize
Advocacy Movement, challenged the law in 2010.
The Belizean government in September announced it plans to appeal a portion of
Benjamins ruling. Orozco told the Blade that his case would have an impact throughout
the English-speaking Caribbean.
People are beginning to realize that it is possible to advance LGBT issues in the
region, he said.
#7
XULHAZ MANNAN was hacked to death in Bangladesh in April.
#6
PHOTO COURTESY OF GOOGLEPLUS
#9
Prominent activist
murdered in Bangladesh
The murder of a prominent LGBT activist in Bangladesh in April sparked outrage

around the world.
A group of men hacked Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy to death inside an
apartment building in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka on April 25.
Mannan launched Bangladeshs rst LGBT magazine in 2014. He worked for the
U.S. Embassy in Dhaka for eight years before joining the U.S. Agency for International
Development last September.
President Obama expressed his condolences to Mannans family. USAID and the
State Department also paid tribute to him.
Ansar-al-Islam, the Bangladeshi branch of al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the
murders. Islamists have killed several secular academics, writers, bloggers and members
of religious minority groups in the predominantly Muslim country since early 2015.
#8
Brexit vote could

impact LGBT rights
A referendum on whether the U.K. should leave the European Union passed in June.
The results of the so-called Brexit referendum sparked concern among activists who
said it could adversely impact LGBT asylum seekers.
Many LGBT refugee and asylum seekers talking to me are worried about how they
will be treated with this outcome, Davis Mac-Iyalla, a gay Nigerian man who received
asylum in the U.K., told the Blade from London after the vote.
The European Court of Justice, which is the European Unions highest court, in 2013
ruled those who face incarceration in their countries of origin because of their sexual
orientation could receive asylum in the U.K. and the blocs 27 other member states.
Colombia, FARC
reach peace deal
The Colombian government and a rebel group in September signed an LGBT-inclusive

peace deal that sought to end Latin Americas longest-running war.
President Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Timochenko Londoo, commander of
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, signed the accord during a ceremony
in the Colombian city of Cartagena. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon were among the foreign dignitaries who attended the ceremony.
Representatives of two Colombian LGBT advocacy groups participated in the peace
talks that began in Havana in 2012.
Colombian voters in October narrowly rejected the peace deal.
Santos and Londoo in November signed a revised agreement. The Colombian
Congress ratied it on Nov. 30.
Lawmakers ratied the peace deal less than eight months after Colombias highest
court ruled in favor of marriage rights for gays and lesbians. Two men from the city of
Cali on May 24 became the rst same-sex couple to legally marry in the country.
UN calls on countries
to decriminalize homosexuality
A report the U.N. released in October calls upon countries to decriminalize consensual
same-sex sexual relations.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein notes in the 2015
report to the U.N. Human Rights Council that countries that criminalize consensual
homosexual acts are in breach of international human rights law.
These laws, by their mere existence, violate the rights to privacy and
nondiscrimination, it reads. Arrests and the detention of individuals on charges
relating to sexual orientation and gender identity including oenses not directly
related to sexual conduct, such as those pertaining to physical appearance or so-called
public scandal are discriminatory and arbitrary.
The report was released two months after the chief justice of the Belize Supreme
Court ruled the countrys anti-sodomy law is unconstitutional.
Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in more than 70 countries.
#5
USAID bans anti-LGBT

discrimination among contractors
The U.S. Agency for International Development in 2016 formally banned contractors
from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The rule formally took eect on Oct. 25. National Security Advisor Susan Rice made
the announcement the following day at American University in Northwest D.C.
Its a major step toward ensuring that American assistance is provided in a fair and
equitable manner, said Rice.
USAID Administrator Gayle Smith described the new policy as an important step
forward for USAID and our partners, and ensures our inclusive approach to development
will continue into the future.
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Top 10 international
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the church rearmed its ban on gay men in the priesthood. LGBT rights groups in 2016
also criticized Francis over his comments on marriage and gender.
#2
ISIS continues persecution

of gay Syrians and Iraqis
National Security Advisor SUSAN RICE announced that USAID now bans anti-LGBT discrimination.
The new policy does not require contractors to extend nondiscrimination protections
to employees of organizations abroad that receive U.S. funding. It also does not include
USAID grantees.
The so-called Islamic State continued to persecute gay Syrians and Iraqis in 2016.
ISIS militants in January reportedly threw a teenage boy who they accused of engaging
in homosexuality from a roof in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor. They also reportedly
executed another Syrian teenager in May by publicly stoning him.
Ayaz Shalal, a human rights activist from the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern
Iraq, told the Blade in August during an interview in D.C. that he was terried when he read
a New York Times article about ISIS executing people who were accused of sodomy.
Iraqi forces with the backing of the U.S. and other countries in October launched an
oensive to retake the ISIS stronghold of Mosul. The militant group in 2016 lost territory
it once held, but it nevertheless continued to pose a threat.
The gunman who killed 49 people inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., earlier
this year pledged his allegiance to ISIS, even though there is no evidence it ordered him
to carry out the massacre. Three suspected ISIS members in June reportedly planned to
attack a transgender rights march in Istanbul.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerged as a leading LGBT rights supporter in 2016,
marching in several Pride parades.
#4
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRUDEAUS OFFICE
Justin Trudeau emerges

as LGBT rights champ
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016 emerged as one of the worlds most
prominent LGBT rights champions.
Trudeau this summer became the rst Canadian prime minister to march in Pride
parades in Montreal and Toronto. A gay man from Syria who received refugee status
in Canada in 2014 was the grand marshal of Vancouvers annual Pride parade in which
Trudeau and members of his family participated in July.
Reports emerged in August that the Canadian government plans to apologize to
those who were convicted of gross indecency before the government of Trudeaus
father, Pierre Trudeau, decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations in 1969.
Justin Trudeau in November announced he had named MP Randy Boissonnault as his
special advisor on LGBT issues.
We have made great strides in securing legal rights for the LGBTQ2 community in
Canada from enshrining equality rights in the Charter to the passage of the Civil
Marriage Act, said Justin Trudeau in a statement.
Transgender Canadians remain vulnerable to discrimination and hate crimes in spite
of Justin Trudeaus support of LGBT-specic issues.
#3
Pope Francis sends mixed

signals on LGBT issues
Pope Francis in 2016 continued to send mixed signals in terms of LGBT issues.
The ponti in June said the Roman Catholic Church should ask forgiveness from gay
people over the way it has treated them.
A Vatican ocial in November criticized a priest who said civil unions and other
human sins caused the two earthquakes that killed nearly 300 people in central Italy
earlier this year. Francis earlier this year accepted the resignation of a cardinal who
repeatedly used homophobic slurs to describe gay U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican
Republic James Wally Brewster.
The Vaticans Congregation for the Clergy in December released a statement in which
JUANA MORA met with President Obama in Havana earlier this year.
#1
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL K. LAVERS
Obama meets Cuban LGBT

activists in Havana
President Obama in March met with two Cuban LGBT rights advocates during his
historic trip to the Communist island.
Juana Mora and Nelson lvarez were among the members of Cuban civil society who
met with Obama in Havana. Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser
Susan Rice, senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett and U.S. Chief of Mission Jerey
DeLaurentis also attended the meeting.
Mora is a vocal critic of Cuban President Ral Castro and his daughter, Mariela Castro,
who promotes LGBT-specic issues on the island as director of the National Center for
Sexual Education.
Mora and other independent Cuban LGBT rights advocates maintain they face
harassment and even arrest. Maykel Gonzlez Vivero, an independent journalist and
LGBT activist, was detained for several days in October while covering the aftermath of
Hurricane Matthew in the city of Baracoa.
Obama in December 2014 announced the U.S. would begin the process of normalizing
diplomatic relations with Cuba. He is the rst sitting American president to visit the
Communist island since 1928.
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I N ME MO RI A M
In memoriam:
Those we lost in 2016
FROM BOWIE TO LADY CHABLIS, A YEAR OF LOSS
By KATHI WOLFE
DAVID BOWIE, LADY CHABLIS and EDWARD ALBEE were among those we lost in 2016.
BOWIE PHOTO BY ADAM BIELAWSKI, CHABLIS PHOTO VIA YOUTUBE, ALBEE FILE PHOTO
How can the dead be truly dead when

they still live in the souls of those who are
left behind? wrote queer writer Carson
McCullers in her novel The Heart Is a
Lonely Hunter.
Below are some of the many LGBT
people and allies who will live on in our
minds and hearts.
David Bowie, 69, the queer, musician
and actor, died on Jan. 11. Bowie had
been ghting cancer for 18 months.
Blackstar, his last album, was released
days before his death. It was a nal,
classic Bowie move releasing an album
without fanfare and letting the art stand
on its own, editor Kevin Na wrote in the
Blade.
Art historian Hugh Honour, 88, died
on May 19 in Tofori, Italy. For more than
50 years, Honour and his partner John
Fleming edited and wrote many books.
All the genius of the masters seem to
tremble in the sunbeams and dance upon
the waves, Honour and Fleming wrote in
The Venetian Homes of Henry James,
Whistler and Sargent.
Connie Kopelov, 90, who had
Alzheimers disease, died in Manhattan
on May 28. Kopelov and her partner of 23

years Phyllis Siegel were the rst samesex couple to be legally married in New
York City. The couple wed on July 24,
2011, the rst day that same-sex couples
could marry in New York State.
Melvin
Dwork,
94,
who
was
dishonorably discharged from the Navy
for being gay in 1944 when he was 22,
died in Manhattan on June 14. In 2011,
the Navy changed his discharge to
honorable.
Cultural critic John Gruen, best known
for his autobiography Callas Kissed Me...
Lenny Too! A critics Memoir, died on
July 19 in Manhattan at age 89. In the
memoir, Gruen called himself a critic,
gady, busybody, father, husband, queer,
neurotic workaholic.
Elliot Tiber, a businessman and gay
rights activist, 81, who was instrumental
in organizing the landmark Woodstock
music festival, died on Aug. 3 from a
stroke in Boca Raton, Fla. Many young
queer people take their current freedom
for granted, Tiber told Publishers Weekly
in 2011, Coming out in the summer
of 1969 was the most dangerous yet
liberating thing that ever happened to

me.
Johnny Nicholson died at his
Manhattan home at age 99 on Aug.
4. Tennessee Williams and Gore Vidal
were among the New Bohemians who
frequented his restaurant, the Caf
Nicholson. John T. Edge called the Caf
a canteen for the creative class in the
Oxford American.
Iconic Mexican singer Juan Gabriel,
66, died in his California home on Aug.
28. He has passed on to become part of
eternity and has left us his legacy through
Juan Gabriel, the character created by
him for all the music that has been song
and performed all around the world, his
publicist told the Associated Press.
Over 30 years, Gabriel sold more than
100 million albums and wrote more than
1,500 songs. Mexican president Enrique
Pena Nieta called Gabriel one of the
greatest musical icons of our country.
Actor Jon Polito, 65, who appeared as
gangsters in Coen brothers lms, died on
Sept. 1 in Los Angeles from complications
of multiple myeloma. He married his
husband Darryl Armbruster in 2015.
=The transgender performer Lady

Chablis, 59, died on Sept. 6 in Savannah,
Ga. Chablis, who had pneumonia,
is best known for being featured in
the 1994 bestseller Midnight in the
Garden of Good and Evil. She was The
Lady Chablis from morning to night,
Midnights author John Berendt, told
the New York Times. She had a great
repartee, and she had a way with
words.
Edward Albee, the greatest playwright
of our time, died after a brief illness on
Sept. 16 at age 88 in Montauk, N.Y. Albee
is best known for his groundbreaking
play Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
After the Tony-winning play ran on
Broadway, it became an iconic movie
starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth
Taylor.
Bill Cunningham, 87, the beloved
New York Times fashion photographer,
died on June 25. Cunningham was
known for his sense of style as well as
for getting his photos of AIDS benets
and of LGBT people into the New York
Times long before the paper used the
words AIDS or gay.
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Top 10 Blade website

stories of 2016
POLITICS PROVED POPULAR, BUT SEX SCANDAL TAKES TOP SLOT
By STAFF REPORTS
Following are the 10 most tracked stories on the
Washington Blade website for 2016 listed in descending order of popularity.
Wills & Trusts

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An op-ed criticizing HILLARY CLINTON for her comments praising the Reagans record on
AIDS landed at #3 on the Blades most tracked story list after the Drudge Report linked to it
prominently.
#10
#9
#8
#7
#6
#5
#4
#3
#2
#1
Sanders raising funds against

gay congressional candidates
Straight celebrities become gay

imaginary couples
Mississippi governors son reportedly
victim of anti-gay attack
FamiLY | eState PLaNNiNG | emPLoYmeNt | immiGratioN

ComPLeX LitiGatioN | CiviL riGHtS | LGBt | adoPtioN | BuSiNeSS
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Rainbow ag burned outside A

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Trump forties anti-LGBT positions,
taps Santorum as adviser
James Buchanan:
Americas rst gay president?
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Hillarys painful mistake, an opinion piece about

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Trumps natl security pick outed gay
brother dying of AIDS
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Looking back on 2016

Emotional year leads
to an uncertain future
for LGBT rights
KEVIN NAFF is editor of the Washington Blade

and can be reached at kna@washblade.com.
Best wishes for a happy holiday season

from all of us at the Washington Blade
and thanks for your continued support
of our work. We value our readers, advertisers, sources and community partners.
The need for that support becomes more
acute in 2017 as we strive to continue our
mission of informing the LGBT community in the face of an adversarial new presidential administration. We will continue
to hold public ocials accountable, investigate and publicize hate crimes, monitor
LGBT-related legislation and court rulings
and so much more, only well likely be do-
ing it from the outside looking in.

The past eight years have been an incredible journey and weve worked hard
to bring you all the news from the front
lines. For those of us who were around
for the George W. Bush administration,
we know whats coming next: news blackouts, unresponsive government sources,
attacks on LGBT equality and worse under President-elect Trump, whose minions have hinted at unprecedented efforts to dodge accountability by sidelining
the media. There have been threats to do
away with daily press briengs and crass
stunts aimed at undermining the credibility of journalists, from attacking reporters at Trump rallies to this week Trump
posing for photos at Mar-a-Lago with the
press pool in an eort to further erode
their credibility. Those reporters should
stop letting Trump use them and start
doing their jobs.
But back to the Blade. In case you
missed an issue or two, here are a few
highlights from our 2016:
The Blade remains the only LGBT-focused media outlet credentialed in the
White House brieng room. We are there
each day, so when you hear Josh Earnest
and other ocials answering LGBT-related questions, its often a Blade reporter
E DIT OR IA L C A R T OON
asking them.
We are also the only alternative media
outlet in the White House pool rotation,
meaning one day per month, a Blade
reporter shadows the president and reports what happens to the world.
The Blade is a member of the White
House Correspondents Association; we
attend the WHCA dinner each year, again
the only LGBT outlet to do so.
We are in the State Department each
week, holding ocials accountable for
U.S. response to anti-LGBT activities
abroad.
This year, we sent a team of three reporters and a photographer to cover the
Republican and Democratic national conventions.
When news broke of the Pulse nightclub massacre, I jumped on a plane with
a reporter immediately to report from Orlando and conducted an exclusive interview with the Florida governor in which
he, for the rst time, acknowledged our
community was targeted.
We conducted an exclusive LGBT interview with Hillary Clinton just days before
the election.
Our reporters traveled to numerous
international destinations to cover the
plight of the LGBT community abroad,
including to Cuba, Israel, the Dominican
Republic, Jamaica and others.
On the corporate giving side, we sponsored a wide array of community events
and organizations, from Capital Pride to
SMYAL to the DC Gay Flag Football League
and many, many others. In total, we gave
more than $200,000 in in-kind support to
our community in 2016. Giving back is a
key part of our corporate culture at the
Blade.
This list is by no means comprehensive.
There are big changes coming to Washington following the election. Your continued support of our work in 2017 will help
ensure our success in fullling our mission of informing the LGBT community locally, nationally and internationally about
issues important to us.
Again, thank you for supporting the
Blade. Dont hesitate to reach out to me
directly with questions or story ideas. We
want to hear from you. And best wishes
for a safe and happy holiday season.
202-747-2077
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Good riddance to 2016

And lets be prepared to ght
for our values in 2017
PETER ROSENSTEIN is a D.C.-based LGBT rights

and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly
for the Blade.
Some nice and exciting things did happen

for me in 2016. An unexpected trip to St. Barts
courtesy of my friends Dan and Jessica, which
included private jets and a 171-foot yacht.
Good times in Rehoboth Beach, evenings at
the theater, and dinners with friends. It was
also the rst time in nearly 50 years I didnt
have and wasnt looking for a full-time job.
For me 2016 was really about only one
thing: the presidential campaign and working
to elect Hillary Rodham Clinton. Everything
else fades into the woodwork. Being without
a full-time job allowed me to be intensely in-
volved. Writing my planned book was put on

hold with nearly all my writing, including regular columns, focused on the campaign. There
was total immersion from Java House coee
in the morning to Clinton nance committee
calls in the afternoon to meetings and fundraisers in the evening.
Then at 10:30 p.m. on Election Night it all
came to an end. Hillary was losing Florida and
about to lose the election. The mood at the
Jacob Javits Center in New York went from jubilant to total depression in about 30 minutes.
I have been involved in politics since the
age of nine handing out iers for Adlai Stevenson. As a teenager in 1964, I attended
my rst political convention in Atlantic City;
the one that nominated Lyndon Johnson.
There were highlights at all the conventions
Ive been to. In 1964, it was the 20-minute
ovation Bobby Kennedy received from delegates who were yelling and standing on
their chairs. In 1976, it was being with Bella
Abzug as she campaigned for a Senate seat
in what turned out to be a losing primary.
In 1980, it was Ted Kennedys speech, The
Dream shall never die. In 2008, I served as
a delegate for Hillary in what turned out to
be Barack Obamas convention. But never
was I as moved as listening to Hillary Clinton when she made history accepting the
nomination as the rst woman ever nominated by a major political party to be their
presidential candidate.
This was likely the last presidential campaign I will ever be so fully involved in. This one
was dierent. I loved and believed in the candidate who I had rst met in 1990. There was
no job at the end of the campaign I wanted.
Nothing I expected for all the hard work except to see this brilliant, compassionate woman become the rst woman president of the
United States.
There are many people who shared the
same feelings. In a presidential campaign
there are thousands whose lives are impacted. All those political appointees who worked
in the Obama administration and will now
be out of work. All those who dedicated anywhere from a year to three of their lives to
Hillarys campaign and wont have the chance
to work in her administration. All the young
people, many whom I was fortunate to meet,
who worked in Brooklyn and across the nation
knocking on doors, sleeping on couches, with
nearly no salary, whose rst big loss in life was
this campaign. It is my hope as they say good
riddance to 2016 they will regroup and take

heart from the amazing people they met and
the amazing experiences they had and move
forward with a dedication to continue to make
a dierence for people.
One is Adam Parkhomenko, who I am
honored to call a friend. He dedicated the last
three years of his life to electing Hillary, rst cofounding Ready for Hillary. Adam will be OK
and I am now pleased to support him as he
campaigns to be vice chair of the DNC.
Many face the future with trepidation questioning whether Trump will turn back the clock
in America. Will gains made in civil rights, womens rights, LGBT rights be reversed? Will voter
suppression be part of the future and the Voting Rights Act the past? Will we turn our backs
on the rest of the world with the misguided
slogan America First? Will we turn our backs
on the diversity that makes our nation great?
As we say good riddance to 2016, we must
be prepared to embrace 2017. Ready to ght
for equality, decency and progress. Ready to
join hands to stop the Trump administration
from taking us backwards. Ready to demand
we continue to move steadfastly and proudly
into the future; a future that will include and
embrace all of us.
V I E W PO I NT
2016: From the best to the worst

Perseverance is the
price of freedom
RICHARD J. ROSENDALL is a writer and activist.

Reach him at rrosendall@starpower.net.
On Sunday morning, June 12, I arrived

on Pennsylvania Avenue to set up my
groups Capital Pride table and learned the
awful news of the Pulse nightclub massacre. That Sunday night, the Tony Awards
were dedicated to the victims, and the
company of Hamilton performed the
Battle of Yorktown without muskets.
2016 was the year of Hamilton, of
Moonlight, and of the National Museum
of African American History and Culture
(NMAAHC). It was the year of Pulse. It was
the year of Standing Rock. It was the year
President Obama made a healing visit to
Hiroshima. It was the year North Carolina
Gov. Pat McCrory was defeated by his own

homophobic and transphobic policies. It
was the year that saw the rise of Trump. At
its end, America stood on a precipice.
It was the year a black gay man, Eugene
J. Coleman, was Class President and First
Captain at West Point, only the third man
ever to hold both titles. The anti-gay right
may seek to reverse open military service;
but overreach is a classic blunder that will
be the rights undoing. Coleman represents
the normative power of the actual, as former Solicitor General Walter Dellinger put
it in 2011 in criticizing Cardinal Timothy
Dolans ferocious opposition to New Yorks
passage of civil marriage equality. As on
that front, experience dispelled the fears.
In Annapolis last spring I saw two
young men from the Naval Academy
holding hands. Our integration into military culture has sunk deep roots. Those
who would reverse it are rebelling against
the classic virtues of honor and merit.
Like most federal courts on marriage after Windsor, the military is on our side,
notwithstanding the Kremlin Stooges
gang of retired crackpot generals.
If, like the white urban hipsters mocked
by Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock on Saturday Night Live, you think the 2016 elec-
tion is the worst thing ever to happen in

America, spend a few hours in NMAAHC.
The artifacts there attest to a long, heroic
struggle by African Americans against
erasure. Before these precious objects
could grace Lonnie Bunchs triumphant
museum, they had to be passed down by
many generations.
We have seen worse is a refrain heard
from many African Americans since Election Day. That practical wisdom is the bulwark of our republic, whose strength lies
in the very diversity that our presidentelect has done his best to splinter. The
imagination to stand in anothers shoes
cannot be imposed by any law nor defeated by any strongman. It lies at the beating
heart of the American experiment.
On Dec. 13, Rachel Maddow interviewed
Attorney General Loretta Lynch in the
Stonewall Inn. Stonewall did not mark the
beginning of the LGBT rights movement;
Frank Kamenys ght against the D.C.
vice squad preceded it, as did the riot at
Comptons Cafeteria in San Francisco. But
Stonewall was a key ashpoint, and now
it is a national monument. Lynch said that
the bar and the events it commemorates
are emblematic of the struggles of many
groups for equality. A monument designa-
tion may be revoked, but the notion that

such an action erases us is like someone
who stops pointing at the moon and thinks
the moon thereby disappears.
Tarell Alvin McCraneys original title
for Moonlight was In Moonlight Black
Boys Look Blue. His storytelling and eye
for detail gave director Barry Jenkins,
cinematographer James Laxton, and talented actors a wealth of insights to work
with; and it was made for far less money
than the polished results would suggest.
Moonlight is being touted for best movie of the year. McCraney was recently appointed chair of the playwriting program
at his alma mater, Yale School of Drama.
Talent, skill, perseverance and an ability
to sell your ideas can take you far.
As with playwriting, so with politics. Withdrawal and despair are out of the question.
We must stay in the game, and continue
telling our stories, and building and rebuilding alliances. At a crucial moment in Moonlight, the teenaged Chiron ghts back. That
can come at a price, to be sure. What price
are we willing to pay to defend our communities, our lives, and our country? That is for
each of us to answer.
Copyright 2016 by Richard J.
Rosendall. All rights reserved.
2 0 DE CE MB ER 3 0, 2016
Help us nd D.C.s top

20 LGBT singles for the
Blades Singles Issue
on February 10th, then
meet them at Town
Danceboutique on
February 11th.
Nominate yourself or your friends from January 3-16
at washingtonblade.com/singles
ARTS
AND
ENTERTAINMENT
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
VOLUME
47
ISSUE
53
DECEMBER
30
2016
PAGE
21
Zig-zagging zeitgeist
CAIT, ABFAB, WILL & GRACE AND MORE DOMINATE POP CULTURE COUNTDOWN
By MARIAH COOPER
mcooper@washblade.com
PHOTO COURTESY WARNER BROS.
PHOTO COURTESY NBC
PHOTO COURTESY FOX SEARCHLIGHT
PHOTO COURTESY NBC
#10
WONDER WOMAN SNEAK PEEK
#9
NBC DEBUTS HAIRSPRAY: LIVE!
#8
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS RETURNS
#7
I AM CAIT CANCELLED
Wonder Woman is a beloved

superhero for many but her big screen
glory wasnt embraced until this year.
Audiences received their rst glimpse of
the Amazonian warrior, portrayed by Gal
Gadot, in Batman V Superman: Dawn of
Justice in March. While the role was brief,
hype surrounding her solo lm Wonder
Woman, to be released on June 2, 2017,
began this year with clips and a trailer.
If this years brief sighting wasnt
enough there will be plenty of Wonder
Woman in the coming years with Gadot
appearing as Wonder Woman in Justice
League on Nov. 17, 2017 and in Justice
League 2 in 2019.
Meanwhile 70s TV Wonder Woman
Lynda Carter brought her Long-Legged
Woman show to the Kennedy Center in
April. She sings there regularly.
NBC continued its tradition of live,

television musicals with Hairspray Live!
on Dec. 3. The musical was an adaptation
of the 2002 Broadway musical version, not
the John Waters original lm nor the 2007
remake, with Harvey Fierstein penning
the teleplay and reprising his role as Edna
Turnblad. Big names like Ariana Grande,
Jennifer Hudson, Kristin Chenoweth,
Martin Short, Rosie ODonnell and Sean
Hayes bolstered the cast, but newcomer
Maddie Baillio held her own in the starring
role of Tracy Turnblad.
While there were plenty of slips during
the airing, the mic frequently cut out and
a cameraman sadly cut Chenoweth out of
a nal bow, it had plenty of charm. There
were boisterous musical numbers and
live, 60s-themed commercials for Oreo,
Reddi Wip and Toyota throughout the
broadcast adding the right amount of old
school charm. Relive the experience, or
take it in for the rst time, with an encore
airing on Dec. 26 from 8-11 p.m.
Absolutely Fabulous revived itself

once again for a feature-length movie
that hit theaters in July. Jennifer Saunders
and Joanna Lumley brought back their
characters Edina Monsoon and Patsy
Stone, this time to accidentally kill Kate
Moss and hide out in the south of France.
The movie had plenty of celebrity cameos
including Graham Norton, Daniel Lismore,
Dame Edna Everage and Joan Collins.
The 90s BBC comedy always seemed to
make a comeback with a revived series from
2001-2004 and 20th anniversary specials in
2011 and 2012. This time Saunders revealed
to the Daily Mail the party is nally over for
Edina and Patsy.
Im not doing anything more with Ab Fab.
Thats it, Saunders says. That. Is. It. I cant see
the point of doing anything else with it, really.
Caitlyn Jenner took the world by storm

in 2015, but 2016 proved to be a quieter
year for the former Olympian, and the
ratings for I Am Cait were hit hard by
the dip in interest. A spin- from Keeping
Up with the Kardashians, the rst season
of I Am Cait focused on Jenner and her
family coming to terms with publicly living
her life as a transgender woman. While
viewers tuned in to see Jenner share
emotional moments with her children
and confront her ex-wife Kris Jenner, the
second season shifted in tone. It followed
Jenner and a group of her transgender
friends on a road trip across the U.S.
advocating for transgender rights.
Having more of a political focus, the
second seasons storylines focused on
Jenners conservative views clashing with
her friends more liberal politics. Side
storylines with Jenners friends including
Candis Cayne, Ella Giselle, Chandi Moore
and Kate Bornstein also took up more
screen time than before. Exactly why the
show hit low ratings isnt exactly known
but E! and Jenner announced the shows
cancellation in August.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
22 DECEMBER 30, 2016
YIR: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
PHOTO COURTESY LOGO
#5
FINDING PRINCE CHARMING
BECOMES A HIT
PHOTO COURTESY WIKIMEDIA
#6
COLTON HAYNES, KRISTEN STEWART,
SHEPARD SMITH COME OUT
Celebrities chose 2016 to be honest
about their sexual orientation with some
choosing to directly address it and others
simply no longer hiding.
Actor Colton Haynes sexual orientation
was frequently speculated about after
photos surfaced of him appearing in gay
magazine XY. When a fan referenced
Haynes secret gay past on Tumblr in
January, Haynes responded nonchalantly
by saying, Was it a secret? The Arrow
star ocially came out in an interview
with Entertainment Weekly in May
explaining that his anxiety about coming
out prevented him from doing so earlier.
Kristen Stewart became more open
about her relationships with women in
2016. In March, French musician Soko
conrmed that she was in a relationship
with Stewart. The actress moved on to
date her former assistant Alicia Cargile
and conrmed they were together in an
interview with Elle UK. Stewart told Elle UK
when she was dating a guy, hinting at her
highly publicized relationship with actor
Robert Pattinson, that they were turned
into these characters and placed into this
ridiculous comic book. Now, dating a
woman she said, Right now Im just really
in love with my girlfriend. Weve broken
up a couple of times and gotten back
together, and this time I was like, Finally,
I can feel again.
Fox News anchor Shepard Smith
quietly came out in an interview with the
Hungton Post in October. While being
questioned if his former boss Roger Ailes
had ever stopped him from coming out
publicly, Smith denied it while conrming
his sexual orientation.
Thats not true, Smith said. He was as nice
as he could be to me. I loved him like a father.
Finding Prince Charming proved

that gays can follow the dating reality
show formula with the best of them.
Modeled after The Bachelor, the show
pitted 13 male suitors in competition
for the aection of Atlanta-based
interior designer Robert Seplveda Jr.
The show included plenty of nasty, spitinging brawls, Im-not-here-to-makefriends mentalities and lots of OMG-Icant-believe-Im-falling-in-love-so-fast
revelations. As a host who serves as a
soundboard for the bachelor, Lance Bass
grilled Seplveda on which way his heart
was leaning each episode, and emotional
tie eviction ceremonies (the equivalent
of a The Bachelor rose ceremony)
to complete the age-old dating show.
Bombshell secrets were also dropped
throughout, like Seplvedas past as a sex
worker in his 20s coming to light.
The formula worked for both Seplveda
and LOGO as the bachelor asked Eric to
keep his tie for an exclusive relationship
and LOGO scored high ratings. The show
will be back for a second season.
#3
HOLLYWOOD TURNS OUT FOR HILLARY
#2
BEYONC SERVES UP LEMONADE
Hillary Clintons presidential run

proved she was, mostly, the celebrities
president. Many stars voiced their
support for Clinton in the 2016 election
from musicians to actors. Cher publicly
campaigned for Clinton, frequently
tweeting her support and appearing at
campaign events. Demi Lovato joined
Clinton on the campaign trail during
the primaries and appeared at the
Democratic National Convention. Ellen
DeGeneres also proclaimed herself a
Clinton supporter on her talk show. Elton
John and Katy Perry both performed at
Clinton fundraisers during the campaign.
Lady Gaga and Perry attended Clintons
election watch party and Lady Gaga stood
in solidarity with Clinton by protesting
outside Trump Tower after Donald Trump
was announced President-elect.
The election also brought back beloved
sitcom Will & Grace. Will, Grace, Jack
and Karen all returned for a 10-minute
minisode based on the election. While the
minisode wasnt specically pro-Clinton,
the cast did appear to support Clinton in
song at a fundraiser. Debra Messing, Sean
Hayes, Eric McCormack and Megan Mullally
sang a song bashing Trump to the tune of
Ocer Krupke from West Side Story.
Without warning, Beyonc dropped the

music video for Formation on Feb. 6 for
what would become the rst single from
her sixth studio visual album Lemonade.
Beyonc performed Formation at the
Super Bowl half-time show and drew
criticism for the Black Panther-themed
performance.
Lemonade was released on April 23
as an album and a one-hour concept lm,
which aired on HBO. The album mixed
hip-hop, rock, reggae, pop, country and
gospel. The songs caused a buzz about
Beyoncs marriage with Jay-Z, many
were left wondering Who is Becky with
the good hair?, and how much of the
album was truth or art.
Lemonade became a critical think
piece darling among music critics and
was praised for its unapologetically,
pro-black narrative of love, womanhood
and heartbreak. Saturday Night Live
spoofed the album twice with its
skits The Day Beyonc Turned Black
and Melanianade, a Lemonade
performance with Melania Trump in
Beyoncs role. Lemonade also earned
nine Grammy nominations making
Beyonc the woman with the most
Grammy nominations of all time.
#4
DEGENERES RECEIVES MEDAL OF
FREEDOM
Ellen DeGeneres was presented with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom by President
Obama in an emotional ceremony for the
comedian in November. Obama noted
that DeGeneres was courageous to come
out 20 years ago and reminded everyone
that the result was the cancellation of her
sitcom Ellen. However, her persistence in
the industry led her to have the success she
has achieved today.
Again and again, Ellen DeGeneres
has shown us that a single individualcan
make the world a more fun, more open,
more loving place, so long as we just keep
swimming, Obama said at the ceremony.
DeGeneres visibly teared up when Obama
placed the medal around her neck.
The monumental moment wasnt
without some DeGeneres antics. The
comedian was denied entry into the
White House when she forgot to bring
her ID. Waiting outside in Layette Park,
DeGeneres tweeted the ordeal with a
picture of her sitting forlornly on a bench.
Eventually, she was allowed inside where
she took on the Mannequin Challenge
with fellow honoree Diana Ross.
PHOTO COURTESY NPG
PHOTO COURTESY WIKIMEDIA
#1
SAYING GOODBYE TO DAVID BOWIE, PRINCE
Legendary musicians David Bowie and Prince died this year leaving behind legacies
that experimented with sound, toyed with androgyny in fashion and left their mark on
culture.
Bowie rocked the charts beginning in 1969 with his hit Space Oddity, but fully emerged
as his glam rock, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust in 1972 with his hit Starman.
As Ziggy Stardust, Bowie donned face paint and exuberant costumes. He confessed to
being both gay and bisexual before admitting he was a closet heterosexual in a 1983
interview with Rolling Stone. The British singer died from liver cancer on Jan. 10 just two
days after the release of his nal album Blackstar.
Princes death from an accidental fentanyl opiod overdose on April 21 shocked the
world with the loss of one of the best-selling artists of all time. Considered a sex symbol
since his breakout album, Prince consistently mixed his sexually explicit lyrics, soft voice
and androgyny to create a music persona unlike any other. The music from his 1984
musical lm Purple Rain earned him two Grammys and an Oscar. The singer stayed
active in music until his death, performing show dates for his Piano & a Microphone
Tour up until a week before his death.
HONORABLE MENTION: Violet Chachkis grand-yet-decadent gown at the season
eight nale of RuPauls Drag Race in May had the whole world gagging.
DISHONORABLE MENTION: The Real ONeals star Noah Galvin (he plays gay and is gay
himself) stumbles big time in a June Vulture interview in which he trashed Colton Haynes,
Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) and director Bryan Singer. He later apologized.
D E CE MBE R 3 0 , 2 0 1 6 2 3
KICK OFF THE

NEW YEAR IN
BALTIMORE.
Celebrate African American heritage,
give your taste buds a week to remember,
experience our second annual festival of
light and embrace a whole new year of
fun in Baltimore.
WINTER RESTAURANT
WEEK
Throughout Baltimore
January 1322, 2017
The most delicious week of winter is back! Dine your

way through Baltimore and enjoy specially selected
three-course brunch, lunch and dinner prix fixe menu
options at participating restaurants.
AFRICAN AMERICAN
HERITAGE
Throughout Baltimore
January 16February 28, 2017
Celebrate Baltimores incredible wealth of African

American history, culture and heritage with special
events, exhibits and programs that kick off with the
17th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade on
January 16 and continue through Black History
Month in February.
LIGHT CITY BALTIMORE
Inner Harbor & Beyond

March 31April 8, 2017
Baltimore shines during Light City, the free, familyfriendly festival of light, music and innovation.
Stroll the 1.5-mile BGE Light Art Walk along the
Inner Harbor to enjoy illuminated sculptures,
projections, live music, food vendors and an
interactive childrens area.
YUMMM! THE HISTORY,

FANTASY AND FUTURE
OF FOOD
American Visionary Art Museum

Through September 3, 2017
Whet your appetite with this imaginative exhibition

of food-centric paintings, tasteful embroideries,
delectable installations and mouthwatering films.
Peruse the menu, but please, do not eat the art.
AMERICAN CRAFT
COUNCIL WINTER SHOW
Baltimore Convention Center

February 2426, 2017
Join more than 650 top contemporary jewelry,

clothing, furniture and home dcor artists from
throughout the country for the largest juried indoor
craft show in the country. Feel, touch and explore
high-quality American crafts and meet the makers
behind the work at this flagship event.
161003_VISIT_9.75x11.5_WB.indd 1
Plan your visit today at

BALTIMORE.ORG
12/13/16 2:50 PM
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
QUEERY: 20 QUESTIONS FOR ERIKA FEINMAN
How long have you been out and who was

the hardest person to tell?
Two years. If Im being completely honest,
the hardest person to tell was myself. I knew
my family would be accepting, but I was
dealing with a lot of health issues for many
years and was very focused on getting out
of my small town and going to college. My
sexual orientation and gender identity felt like
the least important things for me to deal with
so I just pushed it down until everything else
felt like it settled down.
Whos your LGBT hero?
Alison Bechdel. I met her once. She gave
me a high ve and told me that the work
Im doing is important. That was one of my
proudest moments.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
ERIKA FEINMAN
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Erika Feinman made history this year upon being elected Student
Association president at George Washington University. Feinman is the rst
gender non-binary person to be elected to such a role in the country to the
best of their (Feinman prefers gender-neutral pronouns) knowledge.
Its a signicant distinction each March, the entire student body of
27,000 is eligible to vote and endorsements, town hall meetings, speeches
and more are held just like any campaign for public oce. The Association
advocates on behalf of the student body by passing legislation and working
with administrators to improve the student experience. The universitys
500 student organizations receive nearly $1.4 million for their various
programming and events.
Feinman says winning was an indescribable, overwhelming feeling.
So much hard work went into the campaign and I actually wasnt out about
my gender identity when we kicked it o. I came out pretty publicly during
our debate after there was much speculation around whether or not I was
trans. I didnt originally set out to make history, but throughout the campaign
I realized that it would be wrong for the school to elect me without knowing
all of me.
Feinman arrived in D.C. for college in August 2013 and plans to graduate
in the spring. The 21-year-old Slingerlands, N.Y., native double majored
in womens, gender and sexuality studies and political science and hopes
to eventually become a professor of gender studies. Feinman says the GW
campus has been welcoming overall.
GW is known for being a really LGBTQ-friendly university but of course,
theres always room for improvement, Feinman says. I denitely get
misgendered a lot, which can be hard, but Ive found that its not often that
someone does that maliciously.
Feinman lives on campus in Foggy Bottom and enjoys cooking, singing,
learning and obviously Netix to relax.
Whats Washingtons best night spot, past

or present?
I dont like to go to the same place over
and over, so really anywhere with good music
and no cover charge. I went to the Madhatter
for Halloween with a big group and that was
really fun!
Describe your dream wedding.
My favorite season is autumn so denitely
an autumn wedding. I dont have an exact
vision, but I want it to be beautiful with a
focus on bringing together our two families
and merging our lives.
What non-LGBT issue are you most

passionate about?
Sustainability.
What historical outcome would you

change?
Trump winning the election.
Whats been the most memorable pop

culture moment of your lifetime
Beyonc declaring she was not just a
feminist, but a FEMINIST.
On what do you insist?

Be a good citizen.
What was your last Facebook post or
Tweet?
All of my posts and tweets are related to
stu happening on campus, but my latest
re-blog on Tumblr was a funny picture of a
really uy dog.
If your life were a book, what would the

title be?
Volume 1
If science discovered a way to change

sexual orientation, what would you do?
Ask scientists why they didnt spend
their time discovering a way to change the
minds of racists and bigots and homophobic

people.
What do you believe in beyond the

physical world?
Im a strong believer in G-D and in Heaven.
Im a Jew and my faith has always served as
an important foundation for everything I do.
Whats your advice for LGBT movement

leaders?
Dont give up, never stop educating
yourself, organize and build strong coalitions.
What would you walk across hot coals for?
My family, my partner, tickets to a
Broadway musical and probably ice cream if
Im being completely honest.
What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?

I dont know if this is a stereotype or more
so a misconception, but that trans doesnt
include nonbinary and that nonbinary
means androgynous and androgynous
means masculine.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?

As much as I enjoy movies, Im denitely
more of a theater person. So, my favorite
LGBTQ+ show is Fun Home. If I had to pick a
movie though, denitely Rent.
Whats the most overrated social custom?

Asking, how are you? when you dont
actually want to know. Its really weird that
our automatic greeting is Hi, how are you?
when a majority of the time, you arent talking
to someone to nd out how they are. We
need to take a more genuine interest in the
lives of others instead of asking because
were on auto-pilot.
What trophy or prize do you most covet?

Who doesnt want to win the lottery?
What do you wish youd known at 18?

Well that wasnt too long ago for me,
but I guess I wish I knew what internalized
homophobia and transphobia was because I
had to deal with a lot of that.
Why Washington?
My parents really wanted me to go to
college in New York or Boston. Even though
Ive gone to New York City a million times,
it always felt too big for me to navigate. On
the other hand, Boston always felt too small.
I rst came to D.C. for a high school eld
trip and it felt like the perfect size. D.C. is big
enough to explore and small enough to feel
comfortable navigating on my own. Now that
Im more experienced living in a city, I am
denitely more open to moving to New York
and I feel like I could handle it now, but I really
love D.C. and hope to stay here.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
CALENDAR / OUT & ABOUT
DECEMBER 30, 2016 25
By MARIAH COOPER
Charm play honors trans

Chicago advocate
C&O Faceo, a painting by Maureen Ward, is part of the Local Color exhibit that runs through Jan.
28 at Gallery B in Bethesda, Md.
PHOTO COURTESY GALLERY B
TODAY
The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.)
presents Drenchd Party Series: the
Wonder Woman Party tonight from 10
p.m.- 3 a.m. DJ Theo Storm will spin the
greatest hits from the greatest female
singers. Come dressed as your favorite
super hero to win free tickets to Distrkt C:
New Years Eve. Cover is $5 all night. For
more information, visit dceagle.com.
Petworth Citizen (829 Upshur St.,
N.W.) hosts Literary Cocktails: PostApocalyptic and Punk tonight from 7
p.m.-midnight. Craft drinks served will
be inuenced by post-apocalyptic ction
with punk inuences. There is no entry
free and reservations arent needed.
For more details, visit facebook.com/
petworthcitizen.
SATURDAY, DEC. 31
Bar Pilar (1633 14th St., N.W.) hosts a
New Years Eve bash this evening from
6 p.m.- 2 a.m. There will be a tasting
menu with multiple courses and a
complimentary glass of champagne.
Tickets are $75 and reservations are
highly encouraged. For more information,
visit barpilar.com/reservations.
SUNDAY, JAN. 1
House DJ Jamie Jones plays an
extended DJ set at A.I. (1720 I St., N.W.)
tonight from 10 p.m.-4 a.m. Tickets range
from $25-35. For more information, visit
facebook.com/aiexperien ce.
Lincoln (1110 Vermont Ave., N.W.)

hosts a New Years Day pajama brunch
today from 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Tickets
are $49 for chicken and waes, omlets,
shrimp and grits, two sides and unlimited
mimosas, bellinis or Bloody Marys. The
best dressed customer in pajamas will
receive a $100 gift card.
7-9 p.m. tonight. For more details, visit

thedccenter.org or greenlanterndc.com.
The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.)
has free zumba today from 6-7 p,m.
Salsa, merengue, samba, amenco, hip
hop and more will be practiced. No tickets
required. For more information, visit
kenendy-center.org.
MONDAY, JAN. 2
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 4
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.
Busboys and Poets Brookland (625
Monroe St., N.W.) hosts an open mic
night featuring Asha Santee from
9 p.m.- 2 a.m. Jerey the Artist is the
spotlight artist of the night. Charity Joyce
Blackwell will host. If youd like to perform
arrive by 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $5. For
more information, visit busboysandpoets.
com.
Gallery B (7700 Wisconsin Ave.,

Bethesda, Md.) presents its exhibit Local
Color today through Jan. 28. It features
work from The Seven Palettes, a group
of female artists dedicated to immersing
themselves in art. Sara Becker, Nancy
Brown Butler, Helen Gallagher and more
will be on display from noon- 6 p.m.
TUESDAY, JAN. 3
The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.)
hosts its FUK!T Packing Party from
THURSDAY, JAN. 5
Grassroots Comedy D.C. hosts Super
Spectacular: Pro Choice Comedy
Showcase at the Bier Baron Tavern
(1523 22nd St., N.W.) tonight from 7:309:30 p.m. Comedians performing include
Franqi French, Alussa Cowan, Kasha
Patel and many more. Tickets are $10
at the door or online. All proceeds will
be donated to Planned Parenthood of
Metropolitan Washington with further
donations also accepted. For more
details and to purchase tickets, visit
grassrootscomedy.com.
SMYAL (410 7th St., S.E.) hosts Fight 4 Yr
Rights Activist Night today from 5-7 p.m. LGBT
youth can come to learn about historical
activist movements. For details, visit smyal.org
Gender-uid actor BEllana Duquesne

stars in the Mosaic Theater Companys
Charm at the Atlas Performing Arts
Center (1333 H St., N.E.) in the Lang
Theatre Jan. 5-29.
Charm tells the story of Mama
Darleena Andrews, played by Duquesne,
a transgender woman and etiquette
instructor at a Chicago homeless and
LGBT youth center. The play is based on
the true story of Chicago transgender
LGBT advocate Miss Gloria Allen. Natsu
Onoda directs. The Thursday, Jan. 5 and
Friday, Jan. 7 performances will be at 8
p.m. and include a post-show discussion
with the artistic sta.
Tickets range from $9-30. For more
details, visit mosaictheater.org.
PHOTO OF SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT.) BY NICK SOLARI; COURTESY

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS.
Sanders-inspired march set

for Jan. 9
The Internets for Bernie Sanders hosts

a What Would Bernie Do March at the
United States Capitol (East Capitol St.,
N.E. and 1st St., S.E.) on Friday, Jan. 9
from 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
The march will be a pro-Sanders event.
Attendees will march for recognition that
Sanders is their preferred presidential
candidate, stand against fracking, among
other issues. This will also be the day
the Congress counts the votes of the
Electoral College.
For more information, visit facebook.
com/internetsforbernie.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
YIR: EVENTS
Should old acquaintance be forgot

D.C. gay bars plan New Years Eve festivities
By MARIAH COOPER
mcooper@washblade.com
NEW YEARS EVE

The Yards (355 Water St., S.E.) hosts a
noon countdown today from 10 a.m.-1
p.m. There will be music, dancing, balloon
artists, face painters, kids crafts and a big
balloon drop. Admission is free. For more
details, visit theyardsdc.com.
The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.)
hosts Distrkct C: New Years Eve from 10
p.m.-8 a.m. DJ hannah and DJ Josh Whitaker
will play music all night. Tickets are $40. For
more information, visit dceagle.com.
The QREW hosts New Queers Eve: All
That Glitters is Gold, a queer womens
party, at Old Engine 12 Firehouse
Restaurant (1626 N Capitol St., N.W.)
tonight from 9 p.m.-3 a.m. There will be
a red carpet photo booth, free party hats,
noisemakers and other New Years Eve
swag. Dress code is dapper. Tickets are
$8 in advance and $12 at the door. For
more details, visit facebook.com/qrewdc.
Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) presents Edge
of Seventeen, a New Years Eve party,
from 10 p.m.- 4 a.m. DJ Chi Chi LaRue and
DJ MadScience spin tracks. Miss Kristina
Kelly and Mister Cobalt 2016 Jason Elliott
host the event. General admission tickets
are $25 and include a free champagne
toast at midnight. Tickets for $75 include
open bar all night and a champagne toast
at midnight. Tickets for $150 include an
all night open bar with top-shelf liquor
and a champagne toast at midnight. For
details, visit cobaltdc.com.
Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) presents New
Years Eve at 9 p.m. Ed Bailey and Alyson
Calagna will play a DJ set. Drag show
starts at 9:30 p.m. The Ladies of Town and
the Firm will perform. Tickets are $25. For
more information, visit towndc.com.
Ziegfelds/Secrets (1824 Half Street,
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY DAMIEN SALAS
S.W.) hosts a New Years Eve party from

9 p.m.- 4 a.m. There will be champagne
and a cash balloon drop at midnight. For
details, visit ziegfelds.com.
Sauf Haus Bier Hall & Garden (1216
18th St., N.W.) hosts Eyes Wide Shut:
A Secret Society New Years Eve from
9 p.m.- 3 a.m. There will be a ve-hour
premium open bar from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. DJ
Nick Names will play top 40, pop, punk,
hip hop and more. Local jazz vocalist st
Sharn Clark will perform with pianist
Chris Grosso. Dance troupe DystRucXion
will also perform. There will be heavy
hors doeuvres served all evening and a
hand-rolled sushi station. Complimentary
champagne will be served upon entry and
for a toast at midnight. Dress code is black
tie or cocktail. Masquerade or venetian
masks are required. Tickets range from
$90-280. For more details, visit squadup.
com/events/shnye2016.
Catch 15 (1518 K St., N.W.) holds an
Italian NYE Masquerade dinner and party
today from 4:30 p.m.-4 a.m. There will be
one four-course dinner from 4:30-7:30
p.m. for $59 per person and another from

7:30-close for $78 per person. The dinner
includes a champagne toast, party favors,
a live DJ and dancing. The party is from 11
a.m.-4 p.m. Entrance to just the party is
$30 and includes a glass of champagne.
For more information, visit facebook.
com/catch15dc.
Flash (645 Florida Ave., N.W.) hosts a
32-hour New Years celebration party. The
festivities begin at 8 p.m. on Saturday,
Dec. 31 and continue until 4 a.m. on
Tuesday, Jan. 2. Wristband guarantees
entry into the party at all hours. Bar
service will continue until 4 a.m. on Jan.
1 and resume at 8 a.m. Steve Bug, Delano
Smith Detroit, Matthew Dekay, no regular
play, Patrice Scott and more will spin
tracks. Tickets range from $40-50. For
more details, visit ashdc.com.
Mead Center for American Theater
Arena Stage (1101 6th St., S.W.) hosts a
cocktail countdown tonight from 9 p.m.-2
a.m. Bartenders will mix a new signature
cocktail every hour. There will also be
an open bar, cigar bar and a midnight
champagne toast. VIP admission is $199

and includes a private bar, espresso bar,
oyster bar and more. General admission
tickets are $169 and include a mashed
potato bar. For more information, visit
cocktailcountdown.com.
Lindy Promotions hosts a Downtown
Countdown at the Washington Hilton
(1919 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) at 9 p.m.
Bowling for Soup, EC Twins and The
Rockets will perform. There will be a vehour premium open bar, buet dinner
and a balloon drop at midnight. Tickets
range from $119-159. For more details,
visit lindypromo.com.
The Mansion on O Street (2020 O
St., N.W.) hosts NYE Secrets and Spies
Masquerade party tonight from 9 p.m.1 a.m. There will be a DJ, a chocolate
fountain, kissing booth and a treasure
hunt. There will also be a midnight
champagne toast and a cash bar. Tickets
are $175. For more information, visit
omansion.com.
NEW YEARS DAY

Las Chicas Locas D.C. (701 7th St.,
N.W.) hosts a New Years Day party
starting at 7:30 p.m. The Latin dance
party will include ve DJs, two rooms for
salsa and bachata and performances by
Cadence Dance Company and Luis and
Alba Spain. From 8-8:45 p.m. there will be
bachata lessons and rom 8:45-9:30 p.m.
there will be salsa lessons. Cover is $12
before 10 p.m. and $17 afterwards. For
more details, visit facebook.com/lclwdc.
Disclosure spins a New Years Day DJ
set at Echostage (2135 Queens Chapel
Rd., N.E.) tonight from 9 p.m.-4 a.m.
Tickets range from $40-50. There is no
dress code. For more information, visit
echostage.com.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
YIR: BOOKS
Here comes the Rain again

Haunting Dust Bowl novel by Annie Bell among years best books
By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER
Got books?
Yep, if you were me, the answer would
be, Ohhh, yeah! Shelves of them, in fact,
over the last 52 weeks. Here are some of
the better choices I read in 2016, in no
particular order:
FICTION
Im not sure why, but I couldnt stop
touching I Will Send Rain by Rae
Meadows when I rst got it. The cover
pulled at me, but the story? Oh my, its the
tale of a family of four during the Dust Bowl
years. The mother, Annie Bell, is trying
desperately to hold her family together
while her daughter dreams a dangerous
dream, her son is mute and her husband
slowly goes mad. Theres a surprise in
here, a fth main character, and thats the
dust. Do. Not. Miss. This. Book.
Not normally a big fan of ctionalized
biographies, Mrs. Houdini by Victoria Kelly
nonetheless captivated me with its magic.
Its a tale of love and illusion, believing, trust,
and it includes a gauzy ending that might
seem implausible but who knows? Hint: if
you can bear it, save your gift card. This book
comes out in paperback in March.
Generally speaking, Ill read anything
by out author Emma Donoghue. She has
a way of turning a tiny, true event into a
novel that sticks in your head and The

Wonder is no exception. Its the story of
a very condent, almost haughty nurse
who served with Florence Nightingale
and seems to think that stint confers
some sort of specialness. When shes
hired to watch a child who claims not to
eat or drink, the nurse thinks the girl is a
scammer, but, of course, theres so much
more to the story and an ending thats
so perfect, its stunning. Write this title
down. Its another book you cant miss.
A vision of the apocalypse is at root in
The Fireman by Joe Hill. Its a novel about
a virus thats infected the world, and if you
catch it, you burn. Poof, up in ames, and
its pitting neighbor against neighbor and
husband against wife. Theres a surprising
romance in this book, thrills, a chase, humor
and horror, and heres a hint: there are
shades of Hills father in here. Guess who?
For my fth pick, I debated: BrittMarie Was Here or And Every
Morning the Way Home Gets Longer
and Longer, both by Fredrik Backman?
I nally decided on the latter, the story of
life and loss, forgetting and trying hard
not to. But heres the thing to know: the
rst go-around wont make much sense.
Turn around and read it again its really
short, so no problem and bring tissues
that time. Its truly a lovely book.
Hint: Britt-Marie is a close, very close

second-pick.
NONFICTION
As I was looking over the list of things
I read, I was surprised to remember
how much I enjoyed Neither Snow nor
Rain by Devin Leonard. Overall, this
book is about the U.S. Postal Service and
its history. The thing that makes this book
so much fun, though, is that Leonard
also includes so many side stories that it
becomes more of a general history thats
light and fun. Fans of Bill Bryson, take
note and nd this book.
Another something thats informative
and a little on the light side is Playing
Dead by Elizabeth Greenwood. I mean,
how many times a week does the average
person wish they could chuck it all and
disappear somewhere? Greenwood looks
into that: how its done, what its like and
the impacts it has on loved ones. You
might change your mind. Or you might
want to disappear even more. Either way,
this is a cant miss.
As a Baby Boomer, They Left Us
Everything by Plum Johnson particularly
resonated with me, which is why it really
has to be on this list. Johnsons parents
were both elderly and had lived in their
oversized house for decades. When they

died in relatively fast succesion, Johnson
and her brothers were tasked with cleaning
up, but not just the house. They also had
memories to examine and scrub. This is a
book for daughters, particularly, but also
for anyone whos facing the downsizing of
a home or end-of-life caretaking.
In a political year, you might guess
that an abundance of political books
might be published, and youd be right.
My pick for the best in that category is
Nixons Gamble by Ray Locker, who
takes a brief look at Nixons early career
before digging into the moves that the
President made, starting on the day of his
inauguration. Even if you think you know
what happened nearly half a century ago,
you dont. For history lovers of any age or
place, this is an eye-opener.
I dont think I would have liked Another
Day in the Death of America by Gary
Younge quite as much if it had been laserfocused. Nope, Younge took one random
day in recent years, and he writes about the
10 children who died of gunshot wounds in
the U.S. on that day. Its that randomness
thats so shocking, especially when you
consider the statistic he cites: an average
of seven children die by gun every day in
America. The circumstances Younge found
make this book even more impactful.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
2 8 DECE MB ER 3 0, 2016
A RT S & CU LT U RE
This Week in the Arts provided by CultureCapital.com

Straight White Men. Thru Dec 31.
Studio Theatre. studiotheatre.org.
The Second Citys Black Side of the
Moon. Thru Jan 1. Woolly Mammoth.
woollymammoth.net.
Charm. Jan 5-Jan 29. Mosaic Theater
Company. Atlas. mosaictheater.org.
Someone is Going to Come. Jan 9-Feb
5. SCENA Theatre. Atlas. scenatheater.
org.
A Christmas Carol. Thru Dec 31.
Fords Theatre. fords.org.
An Irish Carol. Thru Dec 31. Keegan
Theatre. keegantheatre.com.
King Ubu. Thru Jan 7. Pointless
Theatre. Mead Theatre Lab:
CulturalDC. pointlesstheatre.com.
DANCE
Wicked
Thru Jan 8. Kennedy Center.
kennedy-center.org.
Called the best musical of the decade and Broadways biggest blockbuster,
Wicked is the winner of 35 major awards, including a Grammy and three Tony
Awards. Travel back to Oz with this must-see musical spectacular!
Copenhagen
Jan 5-Jan 29. Theater J.
theaterj.org.
In 1941, the German physicist Werner Heisenberg traveled to Copenhagen to

meet his Danish counterpart, Niels Bohr. Old friends and colleagues, now they
nd themselves on opposite sides in a world war and embroiled in a race to
create the atom bomb. Michael Frayns Tony Award-winning play about this
historic meeting is a classic of modern dramaa meditation on friendship and
moral responsibility, intellectually dazzling, and deeply moving that journeys
through the realm of science and beyond.
Scientist Turned Comedian: Tim Lee (2017)

Jan 5-7. Atlas.
atlasarts.org.
Tim Leeis a comedian with a PH.D. who has become an international sensation
from hit Youtube videos to selling out shows from Boston to Sydney, Australia.
Lees comedy uses scientic phenomena and tools to explain everything from
the hair that collects on a bar of soap to how his standards drop rapidly with
abstinence.
Photography Reinvented: The Robert E. Meyerho and Rheda

Becker Collection
Thru Jan 29. National Gallery of Art.
nga.gov.
The Robert E. Meyerho and Rheda Becker Collection brings together works
of critically important artists who have changed the course of photography
through their experimentation and conceptual scope. Thirty photographs from
this collection, including seminal works by Thomas Demand, Thomas Struth,
Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Je Wall are on view.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KENNEDY CENTER
THEATRE
The Second Citys A Christmas Carol:

Twist Your Dickens. Thru Dec 31.
Into The Woods. Thru Jan 8. Kennedy
Center. kennedy-center.org.
A Christmas Carol. Thru Dec 31. Mary
Poppins. Thru Jan 8. Olney Theatre.
olneytheatre.org.
The Secret Garden. Thru Jan 8.
Shakespeare Theatre Company. Sidney
Harman Hall. shakespearetheatre.org.
Silver Belles. Thru Dec 31. Titanic:
The Musical. Thru Jan 29. Signature
Theatre. signature-theatre.org.
Step Afrika!s Magical, Musical,

Holiday Step Show. Thru Dec 30. Step
Afrika! Atlas. stepafrika.org.
New Years Eve Cirque du 2017
International Celebration of
Many Nations. Dec 31. Embassy
Experiences. Omni Shoreham Hotel.
embassyexperiences.com.
MUSIC
2017 New Years Eve Grand Foyer
Party. Dec 31. yasiin bey with Special
Guests. Dec 31-Jan 2. Kennedy Center.
kennedy-center.org.
Carolyn Malachi. Dec 30. Shannon
Gunn and the Bullettes. Dec 31.
Jamal Gray & Nag Champa Tribute
to yasiin bey. Jan 1. Wes Felton &
Asheru. Jan 2. Jayme Stones Lomax
Project. Jan 4. The Ladybugs. Jan
5. Millennium Stage at The Kennedy
Center. kennedy-center.org.
MUSEUMS
National Gallery of Art. Intersections:
Photographs and Video from the
National Gallery of Art and the
Corcoran Gallery of Art. Thru Jan 2.
Drawings for Paintings in the Age of
Rembrandt. Thru Jan 2. In the Tower:
Barbara Kruger. Thru Jan 29. Los
Angeles to New York: Dwan Gallery,
19591971. Thru Jan 29. Stuart Davis:
In Full Swing. Thru Mar 5. nga.gov.
Kreeger Museum. Selected Works:
Sam Gilliam and Simmie Knox. Thru
Dec 30. Smith|Paley. Thru Dec 30.
kreegermuseum.org.
Library of Congress. #Opera Before
Instagram: Portraits, 1890-1955.
Thru Jan 21. World War I: American
Artists View the Great War. Thru May
5. Mapping a Growing Nation: From
Independence to Statehood. Thru Sep
1. loc.gov.
National Archives. Amending

America. Thru Sep 4.
archivesfoundation.org.
National Geographic.
FotoWeekCentral Exhibitions. Thru
Apr 30. @NatGeo: The Most Popular
Instagram Photos. Thru Apr 30. nglive.
org.
National Museum of Women in the
Arts. NO MANS LAND: Women Artists
from the Rubell Family Collection.
Thru Jan 8. Wanderer/Wonderer: PopUps by Colette Fu. Thru Feb 26. Bold
Broadsides and Bitsy Books. Thru Mar
17. nmwa.org.
National Portrait Gallery,
Smithsonian. In the Groove: Jazz
Portraits by Herman Leonard. Thru Feb
20. One Life: Babe Ruth. Thru May 21.
npg.si.edu.
GALLERIES
DAC. Wonderland 2016: Accumulate.
Thru Jan 6. The Awards Show. Thru Jan
28. aiadac.com.
Goethe-Institut. Exhibition: Light from
the Other Side - Shadowgraphs by Tim
Otto Roth. Thru Jan 13. goethe.de.
Hill Center. Hill Center Galleries
Exhibitions. Thru Dec 30. hillcenterdc.
org.
JCC of Greater Washington. Light and
Shadow: A Retrospective of Paintings
by Sherry Zvares Sanabria. Thru Jan 29.
jccgw.org.
Strathmore. Ctrl+P. Thru Dec 31.
Perspective Jennifer Kahn Barlow
Capital Palette. Thru Dec 31. The 83rd
Exhibition of Fine Art in Miniature.
Thru Dec 31. strathmore.org.
The Art League Gallery. December
Open Exhibit. Thru Dec 31. Dennis
Crayon: That Which Was Once Whole.
Thru Jan 1. Habits. Jan 3-Feb 5.
theartleague.org.
Arlington Cultural Aairs at Theatre
on the Run. Artists of the Sequoia
Roundtable Exhibition. Thru Jan 15.
arlingtonarts.org.
Torpedo Factory. Material as Medium.
Thru Jan 15. torpedofactory.org.
Waverly Street Gallery. The Holiday
Show - New Work by Gallery Artists.
Thru Jan 7. waverlystreetgallery.com.
Zenith Sculpture Space. STEEL the
SHOW. Thru Jan 14. zenithgallery.com.
Anacostia Arts Center. Sweet Air of
Liberty: Freedom in More Than 3 Acts.
Thru Jan 27. anacostiaartscenter.com.
AND MORE...
Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art.
Thru Dec 30. Barbara Kruger Selects:
Duel. Dec 31. National Gallery of Art.
nga.gov.
D E CE MBE R 3 0 , 2 0 1 6 2 9
PRESENTED BY
january 1315, 2017
40+ outstanding dealers guided walks & dealer talks special events
Preview Night:
Thursday, January 12
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YIR: FILM
Rich year for gay lm
Whether central or peripheral, LGBT screen themes ourished in 2016

By BRIAN T. CARNEY
It was a rich year for gay movie fans.
The standouts just kept coming.
The two movies on the top of my
list were gender-bending and genrebreaking movies released early in the
year. With a brilliant ensemble cast,
outstanding writing and directing by
Jocelyn Moorhouse, a cross-dressing
police sergeant and couture to die for,
The Dressmaker was a delightful
feminist take on the spaghetti Western
(and a timely antidote to 2015s
hateful The Hateful Eight.) A Bigger
Splash, written by gay lmmaker Luca
Guadagnino, starred Ralph Fiennes
and Matthias Schoenaerts as ex-lovers
ghting over rock star Tilda Swinton.
Other contenders included three lms
from the year-end Oscar race: Isabelle
Hupperts mesmerizing performance
in Paul Verhoevens provocative Elle,
Natalie Portmans stunning work in
Jackie and Amy Adams transcendent
portrayal of a linguist who saves the
world in Arrival.
The best LGBT movie of the year was
the outstanding Being 17 by the French
auteur Andr Tchin. Without a wasted
word or shot, the lm is a master work
that oers a complex portrait of two
teens and their families as the boys deal
with both coming out and coming of age.
A close runner-up is the powerful
Moonlight, written and directed by
Barry Jenkins and based on a play by
Tarrel Alvin McCraney. While the pacing
occasionally stumbles and the female
characters are rather stereotypical, the
lm is a stunning portrayal of a young
black man at three stages of his life
and features sizzling performances by
an amazing ensemble cast and lush
cinematography by James Laxton.
Other LGBT titles of note were The
Handmaiden based on a novel by Sarah
Waters but transported to 1930s Korea by
director Chan-wook Park; Little Men by
Ira Sachs; and, Florence Foster Jenkins
which found not only the obvious comedy
but an unexpected tenderness in the tale
of a tone-deaf diva (Meryl Streep), her
supportive husband (Hugh Grant) and
her gay accompanist (Simon Helberg).
Despite its terrible title (which does
get explained during the lm), the best
documentary of the year was Norman
Lear: Just Another Version of You.
Directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
use some innovative techniques to
create a multi-faceted portrait of a man
whose groundbreaking television series
challenged Americas ideas about gender,
race, class and sexuality.
MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS and RALPH FIENNES in A Bigger Splash.
ALEX BIBBERT and MAHERSHALA ALI in Moonlight.
PHOTO COURTESY STUDIOCANAL
PHOTO BY DAVID BORNFRIEND; COURTESY A24
HUGO WEAVING and KATE WINSLET in The Dressmaker.
CORENTIN FILA and KACEY MOTTET KLEIN in Being 17.
PHOTO BY BEIN KING; COURTESY AMAZON STUDIOS AND BROAD GREEN PICTURES
The best LGBT documentary of 2016

was HBOs richly layered Mapplethorpe:
Look at the Pictures, an intricate
examination of the provocative artist and
his enduring legacy.
Other outstanding LGBT documentaries
of the year included Tickled,
Southwest of Salem: the Story of the
San Antonio Four, Check It and The
Witness.
The best foreign lm of 2016 was Pedro
Almodvars heartfelt Julieta. Working
with three short stories by Canadian
author Alice Munro, the openly gay
Spanish auteur moves from the worlds
of camp and melodrama to a sharplydetailed gritty tale of grief and loss.
The best animated movies of 2016
were Finding Dory, starring Ellen
DeGeneres as a delightful blue tang with
memory issues, and Moana, about a
Polynesian girl who saves her island while
singing some great songs by Lin-Manuel
Miranda (Hamilton), Mark Mancina and
Opetaia Foai.
The oddest cinematic trend of the year
was playing with the gender and sexuality
of characters in established franchises
in an attempt to bring fresh blood to
stale stories. In one case, it worked.
Despite some horrible Internet trolling
by the likes of Milo Yiannopoulus, the
all-female remake of Ghostbusters
oered a fresh and fun spin on the classic
testosterone-fueled comedy and featured
Chris Hemsworth as a dim-witted himbo,

delightful cameos by cast members from
the original movie, and a wonderful
breakout performance by lesbian comic
Kate McKinnon.
On the ip side of the trend, three
ailing franchises suddenly discovered
that already established characters were
gay, revelations that did little to generate
box oce or critical notice. Neighbors
2: Sorority Rising outed frat boy
Dave Franco. Independence Day:
Resurgence revealed that Brakish Okun
(Brent Spiner) was still alive and was in
a long-term relationship with partner
Milton Isaacs (John Storey). To the dismay
of George Takei, a brief scene in Star
Trek Beyond reveals that the rebooted
Sulu (John Cho) has a partner and child.
The 2016 Hall of Shame includes two
movies that tried to erase LGBT lives.
The leaden Will Smith fantasy Collateral
Beauty went to great lengths to depict
a diverse Manhattan, except for the fact
that no openly LGBT people are visible
anywhere in the lm. The turgid courtroom
drama Denial focused on the legal
battle between a renowned historian and
a Holocaust denier, but failed to mention
the LGBT victims of Nazi hatred.
D.C.s expanding lm culture is
supported by a variety of ne presenters
across the region, including the four
Landmark Theatres, the two Angelika
theaters and the Avalon Theatre. D.C.s
PHOTO COURTESY STRAND RELEASING
vibrant lm festival scene has become

increasingly diverse, with great LGBT
oerings this year at the D.C. Independent
Film Festival, the Maryland Film Festival
and Filmfest D.C., among others. As
usual, strong support for the LGBT
community was displayed by D.C. Shorts,
the Washington Jewish Film Festival, AFI
Docs and the Middleburg Film Festival,
which brings a little Hollywood glamour
to Virginias wine and horse country every
fall.
Reel Armations, D.C.s international
LGBT Film Festival, continues to bring
excellent queer programming here
through its monthly XTRA lm series
(which included the excellent debut lm
Fair Haven) and its annual festival
(which included LOEV by the talented
Indian lmmaker Sudhanshu Suds
Saria). AFI Silver in downtown Silver
Spring regularly includes outstanding
LGBT programming in its amazing blend
of contemporary independent lms,
stunning showcases weaving together
classic lms from Hollywood and world
cinemas, and fascinating showcases of
the latest international lms.
To round out the list of the years best
movies, here are some other great movies
to catch on DVD or VOD (Eye in the Sky,
Maggies Plan, Love and Friendship
and The Lobster) and some great
performances to enjoy in theaters (Loving,
Manchester by the Sea and La La Land.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
YIR: THEATER
A dazzling year for theater

La Cage, Blackberry among regions stage highlights
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
The past year in theater was surprisingly

eclectic, often satisfying and sometimes
thrilling. There were splashy musicals,
quiet dramas and a lot in between. Below
are a few standouts.
Signature Theatre kicked o summer
with a smashing production of Jerry
Hermans life- and family-arming
musical La Cage aux Folles. Local out
actor Bobby Smith hit all the right notes
comic and otherwise as Albin/Zaza, a
cabaret illusionist who dons drag ostage
to save the day when his lovers son
marries into a far-right political family.
It was a good year for womens roles.
Out actor Holly Twyford was quietly
splendid in Forum Theatres production
of out playwright Steve Yockeys
Blackberry Winter, an exquisitely
penned work about a womans experience
caring for a mother who suers from
Alzheimers. Sensitively directed by
Michael Dove, Twyford delivered an
endearing performance rife with humor
and insight. Lets hope she and the
piece are remembered when awards are
handed out.
Signatures The Gulf by local
playwright Audrey Cefaly tells the
story of a mismatched but passionate
lesbian couple forced to examine their
relationship when their shing boat
breaks down on a remote back waterway.
The premier production was beautifully
directed by out director Joe Calarco and
From left, FELICIA CURRY, NATASCIA DIAZ, KATE RIGG and BETH HYLTON in Collective Rage: a Play in Five
Boops, one of the years best local productions
PHOTO BY SCOTT SUCHMAN
stunningly acted by Rachel Zampelli and

Maria Rizzo.
Before Trump put the p-word in the
New York Times, women were bandying it
about in Jen Silvermans Collective Rage:
A Play in Five Boops. Of course, the ve
characters (all named Betty and mostly
gay) use it in a far more empowering
and funny way that the president elect.
This quirky tale staged by Mike Donahue
follows the lives of ve entangled
sometimes romantically New Yorkers.
The stellar cast featured Felicia Curry,
Natascia Diaz, out actor Kate Rigg, Beth
Hylton and Dorea Schmidt.
This year also saw some interesting
reimagining of the Bards controversial
play The Taming of the Shrew.
Shakespeare Theatre Companys all-male
take on the classic staged by out director
Ed Sylvanus Iskandar was an entertaining
and inventively immersive piece. Out

actor Maulik Pancholy (TVs Forty Rock)
played it straight as the shrew, Katherina.
The cast also included out actors Oliver
Thornton as the modelesque Bianca,
Broadways Andr De Shields as the
lascivious Cardinal and other parts,
and local favorite Rick Hammerly as a
cougarish Countess.
And more recently at WSC Avant Bard,
emerging playwright Jonelle Walkers
TAME turned the old tale on its ear.
Walkers take is set in small town Texas
circa 1960 where a young lesbian named
Cat played by Jill Tighe is ung together
with Patrick (Brendan Edward Kennedy),
a shady youth minister entrusted with
ridding her of homosexuality and bringing
her back to Jesus via cruel means.
In early autumn, GALA Hispanic
Theatre presented Cervantes, The Last
Quixote, a thrilling and perfectly made

retelling of the beleaguered Spanish
writers life. Led by out director, Jos
Luis Arellano, whose staging of Yerma
at GALA last season won a 2016 Helen
Hayes Award, the excellent cast included
Oscar de la Fuentes in the title role, the
reliably astounding Luz Nicols, and out
Eric Robledo and Erick Sotomayor.
At Mosaic Theater, out director Serge
Seiden staged Cori Thomas refreshing
When January Feels Like Summer, a
Harlem-set romantic comedic that plays
out in a world in which the improbable
becomes probable. Thomas uplifting
work featured real life, diverse characters
played by a diverse cast adeptly led by
Seiden in his debut with the company.
Round House Theatre and Olney
Theatre very memorably collaborated on
a formidable production of Tony Kushners
Angels in America: Part One and Two,
the out playwrights seminal piece about
politics and the explosion of the AIDS crisis
in 1980s New York City. Out actor Tom
Story gave a deeply aecting performance
as Prior, a gay man sick with AIDS who
emerges as a sort of prophet of his times.
In late January Round House continues
its Celebration of Tony Kushner with his
musical Carolyn, Or Change, starring
Nova Y. Peyton as an African American
cleaning working for a white family in
Louisiana during the height of the Civil
Rights Movement.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
YIR: MUSIC
Countdown to years best

Mould, Beyonc, Ocean, Bowie deliver stellar albums
By CHRIS GERARD
10. RAY LAMONTAGNE OUROBOROS
conning lines of standard pop, R&B or

hip-hop. Its an uncompromising step
forward for a gifted artist who will surely
continue to surprise.
Produced by Jim James of My Morning

Jacket, Ray LaMontagnes sixth album
is a 70s-style throwback to the astral
prog-rock of Pink Floyds best work.
Ouroboros is a tokers opus, an
expansive head-trip deep into a world
much less tense than our own. The
album is meticulously crafted, a slowly
swaying melding of piano, guitar and
eects, with LaMontagnes voice oating
above like a distant dream. Ouroboros
is made for late nights, great headphones
and allowing the real world to fade into
oblivion for a while, where it belongs.
2. RADIOHEAD A MOON SHAPED POOL
9. BOB MOULD PATCH THE SKY

Veteran alt-rocker Bob Moulds latest
release is perhaps his tightest since 1992s
landmark album with Sugar, Copper
Blue. As with Sugar, Mould fronts a
blistering power trio that bashes out
his tunes with explosive repower. The
vocals are down in the mix, the melodies
seeping through a stinging barrage of
guitars and a ferocious rhythm section.
Voices in My Head is the standout cut,
but there are no weak links. Lean, mean
and sparked with the same fervor that
made Hsker D such an inuential band,
Patch the Sky is the latest in Moulds
long string of essential recordings.
8. PET SHOP BOYS SUPER
It seems apt that 30 years since West
End Girls topped the charts, Pet Shop
Boys would deliver one of the nest
albums of their career. SUPER exhibits
Neil Tennants whip-smart lyrics spiked
with his usual dry wit, and Chris Lowes
electronic wizardry is as inventive and
exciting as ever. SUPER mixes retro 90s
grooves with ultra-modern danceoor
bangers. The highlight is TwentySomething, a piercing commentary
on the millennial generations restless
anxiety over the pressures of trying to
keep up with the expectations of an
increasingly cynical world beholden to
money, status and technology. SUPER is
smart, edgy, and irrefutable evidence that
great pop music has no age limit.
7. SUEDE NIGHT THOUGHTS
The veteran British rockers second
album since their long hiatus is as good
as anything theyve done, on par with
their 1994 masterpiece Dog Man Star.
Suede has always brought a sense of dark
theatricality to their work, but with Night
Beyonces Lemonade was a seminal album this year. Decades later, it will be seen as a touchstone of the
era.
PHOTO COURTESY PARKWOOD/COLUMBIA
Thoughts they up the ante with a full

string section bolstering their brooding,
cinematic rock. Night Thoughts is a work
of ambitious grandeur, Brett Andersons
expressive vocals soaring above a jagged
and melancholy foundation.
4. LUCINDA WILLIAMS THE GHOSTS OF

HIGHWAY 20
It took 16 years, but the Australian

electro-mindbenders Avalanches nally
released the follow-up to their classic
Since I Left You this year. Like their
debut, Wildower is a dizzying swirl
of samples and electronic eects that
whiz in, out and around the listeners
consciousness like lights ashing through
a smoky herbal haze. Highlights include
the trippy aural excursions Subway,
Colours and the sublime Sunshine, a
dazzling ray of light that reminds us why
we loved Avalanches so much in the rst
place.
Interstate 20 stretches from Conway,

S.C., to Kent, Texas, running through
most of the South. It is indeed a trail
through a vast and haunted land wrought
by a dark and bloody history, and Lucinda
Williams draws on those ghosts for her
second two-CD masterpiece in a row,
The Ghosts of Highway 20. Following
2014s extraordinary Down Where
the Spirit Meets the Bone, Williams
continues in the same vein with many
of the same musicians, including guitar
great Bill Frisell. The production is spare
and the raw swamp-rock vibe places the
listener right alongside the Highway itself.
Williams writing is masterful and her
ability to convey genuine emotion and
vulnerability in her well-worn, beautifully
rugged voice brings these songs to
powerful life.
5. BEYONC LEMONADE
3. FRANK OCEAN BLOND
Lemonade is a bold and relentlessly

innovative fusion of modern R&B/pop
with undercurrents of classic soul and
gospel slashed with elements spun from
a wildly diverse musical palette. Decades
from now when listeners point to music
that most sharply reect the turbulent
times in which we now exist, Lemonade
will be at the top of that list. Its a deeply
personal journey that chronicles a
complex relationship riven by distrust,
rage and anxiety that is echoed in the
context of an America roiled by blazing
social upheaval.
The eagerly awaited follow-up to

Frank Oceans stellar debut Channel
Orange, Blond doesnt disappoint.
Oceans slow-burning, oddly structured
compositions fall between the cracks
of any traditionally denable genre.
Blond is built on fragmented dreams,
an intimate night of mind travel thats
languid and shrouded in smoke, mellow
and contemplative but also immediate
and potent. Oceans hypnotic tone poems
wander in unexpected directions, looping
a kaleidoscope of samples and vocal
eects with complete disregard for the
6. AVALANCHES WILDFLOWER
A Moon Shaped Pool is Radioheads

most lushly beautiful and deeply
personal album, on par with their very
best work. Burn the Witch, with its tense
paranoia and gripping col legno battuto
strings that build to a feverish climax,
captures the mood of 2016 as well as
any other song this year. Daydreaming
is a soul-wrenching reverie on the end
of a long relationship, which is the
overarching thread that ties the album
together. It closes with the melancholy
True Love Waits, Thom Yorkes forlorn
vocal gliding over the sparse electronic
accompaniment, pleading, Dont leave
just dont leave. It seems a futile
gesture. A Moon Shaped Pool is an
album of subtle melodies and intricate
arrangements that unfurl majestically,
another glistening gem in Radioheads
already peerless body of work.
1. DAVID BOWIE BLACKSTAR
David Bowie released Blackstar on
his 69th birthday, and it was immediately
hailed as a bold modern classic. It was
only two days later, as the world learned
of Bowies shocking death, that the
full context and profound meaning of
Blackstar became innitely more clear.
Keeping his terminal cancer secret, Bowie
and longtime producer Tony Visconti
worked with ace jazz musicians that
provide a tight and sophisticated canvas
for a spacey trip through the chilling
nal mythologies and expressions of a
dying man. Lazarus, with its ragged,
breathless vocals and wrenching lyrics,
remains a painful listen. The grief is still
raw. Its staggering to contemplate the
determination and artistic vision that
David Bowie possessed to create one
last towering masterpiece as those last
months and weeks ticked away. He closes
with I Cant Give Everything Away, a
rueful acknowledgement of what weve
always known: through his ve-decade
career, his many personas and an endless
inventory of classic songs, weve never
known exactly where the real David Jones
is lurking. The truth is that every album
is a facet of a man with many faces. In all
its glorious darkness, Blackstar is the
last puzzle piece, the image complete, the
ending to an extraordinary journey nally
revealed.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
YIR: SPORTIN IN DC
The thrill of victory

Local LGBT sports leagues celebrate banner year
By KEVIN MAJOROS
Members of the Washington Scandals celebrate their historic wing at the Bingham Cup rugby tournament
in Nashville in May where they won their rst match as a team. Other sports leagues in the region that
had active years include the Capital Tennis Association, D.C. Aquatics, Federal Triangles and Washington
Wetskins.
PHOTOS AQUATICS AND WETSKINS PHOTOS BY KEVIN MAJOROS; OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY THE RESPECTIVE TEAMS
It was another successful year for

the LGBT sports teams and clubs in the
Washington metro area. Whether they
were playing locally or competing in cities
around the world, our local LGBT athletes
continue to be a force to be reckoned
with.
In June, it was announced that Team
D.C., the information clearinghouse for
roughly 35 local LGBT sports teams, would
be bidding for the 2022 Gay Games.
Six months later, the bidding process
continues and the list has been whittled
down to nine cities; Washington, San
Francisco, Dallas, Los Angeles, Denver,
Austin, Salt Lake City, Guadalajara
and Hong Kong. Three nalists will be
announced on March 1.
Look for multiple D.C. teams to
compete at the Sin City Shootout (25
sports) in Las Vegas in January and the
World OutGames (32 sports) in Miami in
May.
The Federal Triangles Soccer Club
traveled to Portland in August where
they captured the Division 1 title at the
International Gay & Lesbian Football
Association World Championship XXII.
The Washington Wetskins water polo
team snagged the silver medal in the rec
division at the International Gay & Lesbian
World Aquatics Championships in August
in Edmonton, Canada.
In July, players from the Capital Tennis

Association won their second straight
title at the 25th Atlantic Cup by defeating
players from Philadelphia, New York City
and Boston.
The D.C. Titans of the Chesapeake
and Potomac Softball League notched
second place in the D Division at the 40th
annual Gay Softball World Series in Austin
in August.
The District of Columbia Aquatics
Club won the medium-team title in
Edmonton, Canada in August at the
International Gay & Lesbian World
Aquatic Championships.
At the Bingham Cup (rugby) in Nashville
in May, the Washington Renegades B
Team won their division to take the Mark
Bingham Shield.
At that same Bingham Cup, the
Washington Scandals won their rst
match as a team.
Along with their successes at out-oftown tournaments, many of the teams
hosted their own tournaments in D.C.
and ran their own leagues. Registrations
for new seasons will begin for many of
the teams in January 2017.
The LGBT sports community of D.C.
continues to evolve and thrive and this
years new additions included Stonewall
Yoga, Baltimore Flamingos Rugby and the
relaunch of Lambda Divers Scuba.
3 4 DE CE MB ER 3 0, 2016
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D E CE MBE R 3 0 , 2 0 1 6 3 5
LEGAL
Who actually owns your home?

Check that deed for
common mistakes
By LAWRENCE JACOBS
Far too often, couples that live in
homes together married or unmarried
dont understand how the ownership
of their homes is actually structured. In
the hundreds of times that Ive sat down
with same-sex couples to review their estates, weve uncovered ownership issues
as often as not. Many of those less than
ideal situations can be updated or repaired easily enough. But I have also seen
too many cases in which one half of the
couple becomes homeless after a breakup or the death of a partner or spouse.
The problems typically center around
unequal ownership stakes. See if any of
these scenarios sound familiar. Maybe
one of you owned the house before you
met. Or, when it came time to buy, one
of you had the down payment and the income to pay most of the carrying costs.
Now youre living together and treating
the home like it belongs to both of you,
but still only one name is on the deed.
Other times, the lopsided arrangement
happens because one of you has a less
than sterling credit history and a lender
advises you to put just one name on the
deed for that condo or townhouse. Even
if youre splitting the costs down the middle, the person on the deed is the one
and only owner.
None of those setups are wrong, per
se. It may be the arrangement that makes
If you bought a house together before marrying, talk to a lawyer about the best way to title
your deed.
you most comfortable. But you must

understand the risks. Even if thats how
your home-owning relationship started,
it doesnt have to stay that way. Typically,
the costs to re-deed property from one
person to two people are minimal. You
can protect the interests of the original
owner with a partnership agreement or a
pre- or post-nuptial agreement. But making sure that the surviving spouse or partner of someone who has died has a place
to live (in my opinion) overrides almost
every other concern.
I believe that one of the shockers in
the real estate industry is just how often
well-intended property deeds have builtin title problems. Youd imagine that all of
the people who handle that part of the
transactional process could come up with
the right structure with their eyes closed.
And you would be wrong. There are
THREE ways that couples can hold title to
real estate together and each generates a
different result when one co-owner dies.

Tenants-in-common means that the
share left by a deceased partner goes
straight into that persons estate. If there
is no will, that share gets divided among legal heirs, whoever they may besay, your
partners estranged brother from Kansas.
Even if there is a will, the deceased coowners share goes through probate.
Joint tenants with rights of survivorship
is betterand until the legalization of
same-sex marriage, it was the best most
of us could do. If your home is titled in
this way, the survivor inherits the property automatically, though you still have
to satisfy any outstanding judgments or
liens against the property.
Tenants by the entirety is available only
to married couples. It provides the greatest level of protection because it guarantees that the property will go to the
surviving spouse automatically, free and
clear of most liens that were only against
the interest of the person who died.

Even if the terminology makes your
head spin, the process of understanding
and cleaning up the ownership structure of your home is reasonably simple.
First you tackle the practical question of
whose name or names should be on the
deed. Then you work with an attorney to
be sure the deed is drafted properly, that
the nature of the relationship between
the parties is portrayed correctly, and
that the property is described accurately.
If you are preparing to purchase a
home, do not assume that settlement
agents will automatically title the property in the best way for your circumstances.
If you already own a home together, dont
take it for granted that it is titled in the
best wayespecially if you are married
now, but werent married back when you
made the purchase. I see deeds that are
conspicuously wrong almost every week.
They are easy and inexpensive to correct,
but only if the error is found while both
parties are alive and well. If you have a
question about any of the real estate topics covered in this column, please dont
hesitate to call me or send me an e-mail.
(This column is not intended to provide legal advice, but only general guidance that may or may
not be applicable to your specific situation.)
Lawrence Jacobs has helped hundreds
of same-sex couples and LGBT singles in the
Washington area protect their assets and loved
ones through partnership planning. He is a
partner at McMillan Metro, P.C. and has practiced law for 42 years. He is admitted to the bar
in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Learn more about Larry and his practice at
www.PartnerPlanning.com.
Rosie ODonnell
on Exterior Maintenance:
Go paint my house.
VALERIE M. BLAKE, Associate Broker, GRI
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3 6 DE CE MB ER 3 0, 2016
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DECEMBER

Americas LGBT News Source

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Top 10 local stories of 2016

D.C. submits bid to

Police end midnight

Trump campaign courts

A representative of Donald Trumps presidential campaign in February called the

Chase Brexton roiled

Furies House named

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 04

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

at high risk for violent attacks and murder.

One-third of LGB students

DEENIQUIA DODDS was shot to death on July 4.

Trans women murdered

PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

LGBT allies win most

Life terms for

In an eort to form a comprehensive, statewide direct legal services and policy

Baltimore shows its

Baltimore Eagle eyes

Trans woman shot,

The ring of ve professionals for alleged eorts in support of employees who

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Top 10 national stories of

Gavin Grimm case moves

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Stonewall Inn named

The arrival of religious

With varying success, state legislatures advanced measures aimed at allowing

Oregon Gov. KATE BROWN was a ray of hope on Election Night.

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Kate Brown elected

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Eric Fanning conrmed

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 08

Pentagon lifts ban on

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO

Antonin Scalia dies

N.C. passes HB2;

DONALD TRUMPs win is the biggest story of 2016.

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY