JANUARY 27,

2017

VOLUME 48

Log Cabin emerges

as lead LGBT group
in Trump era
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
In another sign of how the political
landscape has changed in Washington,
the gay GOP group Log Cabin
Republicans appears to have emerged
as the lead LGBT organization expected
to have access to the administration of
President Donald Trump.
With most of the longstanding
national LGBT advocacy groups,
including the Human Rights Campaign,

ISSUE 04

AMERICAS LGBT NEWS SOURCE

strongly supporting or tilting toward

Democratic presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton in the November
election, many political observers
expect them to have little if any access
to the Trump White House and federal
agencies that oversee LGBT-related
issues.
Log Cabin President Gregory Angelo
points to an email message from HRC
to its supporters shortly before the
Trump inauguration calling on the
LGBT community to defy Trump.
The HRC message said the group
had created a new defy logo and
encouraged supporters to resist
action by Trump that would harm

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly and Kathleen
Matthews, a former WJLA anchor who ran unsuccessfully for
the U.S. House of Representatives last year, were guests on
Mondays News Talk with Bruce DePuyt on News Channel 8,
one of the last broadcasts of the show, which was recently
canceled.
The rst days of President Trumps administration and
the Womens March on the National Mall were among the
topics that Connolly and Matthews discussed with DePuyt.
They also praised him for the way that he has hosted the
program since it rst aired on News Channel 8 in 2002.
Great to be with a former colleague, Matthews told

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

DePuyt at the beginning of her segment. Congratulations

on your 14 years here with News Talk.
Thank you very much, said DePuyt in response to
Matthews compliment. Its been a really fabulous run.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, which purchased News
Channel 8 and WJLA from Allbritton Communications in
2014, notiedDePuyt on Jan. 10 that his contract had not
been renewed. He also learned that News Talk had been
cancelled.
Long-time WJLA anchor Maureen Bunyan and Alex Parker,
the stations executive sports editor who hosts Sports Talk
on News Channel 8, are among those who have also been
let go in recent weeks.
A spokesperson for WJLA and News Channel 8 did not
return the Washington Blades request for comment
on News Talks cancellation. DePuyts last broadcast is
scheduled to take place on Jan. 31.
CONTINUES ON PAGE 15

WHAT A WEEKEND
D.C. hosted a subdued inauguration followed
by a joyful (and peaceful) Womens March.
PAGES 8 & 12

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

Log Cabin Republicans is the only LGBT advocacy organization that is committed to
working with Donald Trump, said Log Cabins GREGORY ANGELO.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 14

Gay host Bruce DePuyt

is one of the best

BRUCE DEPUYT signs o for the last time

from his show on Jan. 31.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

0 2 J A NUA RY 2 7 , 2017

W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

E V E R Y H O M E H A S A S T O R Y. L E T U S T E L L Y O U R S .

1 0 1 2 H A RVA R D ST N W
THE SKYLINE

LUXURY CONDOMINIUMS IN COLUMBIA HEIGHTS

O P E N H O U S E : S U N D AY 1 / 2 9 , 1 - 4 P M

The Skyline is a collection of 10 stunning two bedroom, two bath condominiums nestled together at the corner of Harvard St
and Sherman Ave. With the expansive windows and city views, custom designed cabinetry by Anna Kahoe of GoodWood, these
modern and fresh residences will be the next level of luxury. Design decisions were made to create open spaces that feature
large living areas with windows that allow natural light to flood through. Every element of The Skyline homes was built with
attention to detail from the site selection, design layout, quality control, to the modern faade, to the choice of exceptional
finishes and features.
Each residence enjoys open-chefs kitchen, elfa closet systems, quartz waterfall countertops, porcelanosa tile, custom- built
bathroom vanities, designer tile, and restoration hardware mirrors and lighting.

AVAILABLE UNITS
UNIT 3
2bd/2ba
925 sqft
$575,000

UNIT 4
2bd/1ba
875 sqft
$550,000

UNIT 7
2bd/2ba
940 sqft
$615,000

UNIT 8
2bd/2ba
940 sqft
$635,000

Rob Sanders, Vice President

+1 202 744 6463
rsanders@ttrsir.com
Brent Jackson, Vice President
+1 202 263 9200
bjackson@ttrsir.com

www.robandbrentgroup.com
Facebook.com/RobandBrentGroup

1515 14th Street NW

Washington, DC 20005
+1 202 234 3344

MMXVI TTR Sothebys International Realty, licensed real estate broker. Sothebys International Realty and the Sothebys International Realty logo are registered service marks used with permission. Each Office Is
Independently Owned And Operated. Equal housing opportunity. All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Price and availability subject to change.

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

J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 0 3

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

0 4 J A N UA RY 2 7 , 2017

LO CA L N E W S

Aucoin said he and Miller hope to model the new group after ACT UP, the AIDS protest
group credited with carrying out creative, attention-grabbing protests and non-violent
civil disobedience actions in the 1980s and 1990s to draw attention to discrimination
against people with AIDS and the governments slow response to the epidemic at that
time.
A Rise & Resist group that formed in New York City last fall has already carried out
several protests, including a cough in at a restaurant at Trump Tower in Manhattan,
according to New York gay activist Tim Murphy, who helped organize the protest.
Further information about the meeting to organize a D.C. Rise & Resist group can be
obtained by contacting Aucoin at daucoin308@aol.com.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.

A gunman red shots inside Comet pizza in December.

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Prosecutors offer plea deal

to Comet Pizza gunman
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorneys oce oered a plea bargain on Tuesday
to the North Carolina man arrested on Dec. 4 for entering D.C.s Comet Ping
Pong pizza restaurant with an assault rie, claiming he was investigating whether
a child sex ring operated there.
During a Jan. 24 status hearing at the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia, Assistant U.S. Attorney Demian Ahn told a federal judge a plea oer
had been made to Edgar Maddison Welch, 29, who has been charged with
multiple federal and D.C. gun-related oenses in connection with the Comet
pizza case.
Ahn did not disclose the terms of the plea oer, and the oer was not entered
into the public court records as of late Tuesday.
The oer was not made public, William Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S.
Attorneys oce, told the Washington Blade
U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson scheduled another status
hearing for Feb. 10, when Welch and his Public Defender Service attorney are
expected to disclose whether Welch accepts the plea oer. If he does, the terms
of the oer will be publicly disclosed.
At a court hearing on Dec. 16, Welch pled not guilty to a federal charge
of interstate transportation of a rearm and ammunition and D.C. charges
of assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a rearm during the
commission of a crime of violence.
D.C. police said Welch red his rie at least three times inside the restaurant
after frightened customers and employees ed the premises when they saw him
enter with the rie strapped to his shoulders.
Police said no one was injured and Welch surrendered to police peacefully
after he determined there were no signs that a child sex ring reportedly linked
to Hillary Clinton was operating in a hidden room at the restaurant. Welch told
police he became convinced such a ring was exploiting children at the restaurant
after reading what authorities say were fake news stories posted online.
Comet Ping Pong, which is owned by gay businessman James Alefantis,
became the target of harassing phone calls, including death threats, after the
fake stories linking it to a pedophile ring were posted on social media outlets
and viewed by hundreds of thousands of people across the country.
At Tuesdays hearing, Judge Brown said Welch, who has been held in jail since
the time of his arrest, will remain in jail until at least the time of his trial.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.

New LGBT group Rise & Resist to meet

A meeting to discuss plans for launching a new D.C. LGBT direct action group called
Rise & Resist, which is aimed at protesting possible discriminatory actions by the
Trump administration, is scheduled to take place Feb. 6 at the D.C. Center for the LGBT
Community at 14th and U streets, N.W.
The meeting is scheduled to take place from 6-7:30 p.m. Its being organized jointly
by gay activist Donald Aucoin and transgender activist Willem Miller.

LGBT march on Washington

planned for D.C. Pride weekend

A gay activist in New York City has set in motion plans for a mass LGBT march on
Washington on June 11, which he hopes will be similar to last weeks Womens March on
Washington that drew hundreds of thousands of people.
David Bruinooge, 42, a Brooklyn, N.Y., resident who has friends and relatives in the
D.C. area, said he was inspired to create a Facebook page announcing the march on Jan.
21 while he was watching the Womens March on Washington at home on television.
I was watching the events unfold on TV and I was very proud and inspired by all the
women, the strong women in our country who were kind of taking this to the street and
getting their voices heard, he told the Washington Blade. And in the back of my mind
as an openly gay man I thought the gay community should be doing something like this
to follow up on the momentum, he said.
He said he intentionally chose June 11 for the march because its the same day that
D.C.s Capital Pride Festival is scheduled to be held on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. near
the U.S. Capitol. Bruinooge said his thought was the march would start in the morning
and end at the site of the Pride festival.
Ryan Bos, executive director of the Capital Pride Alliance, which organizes the D.C.
Pride events, including the Pride Parade set to take place on June 10, said he has spoken
with Bruinooge and expects that Capital Pride ocials will collaborate with the march
organizers so the march and the D.C. Pride events will complement each other.
Bruinooge said that at Boss suggestion, he has changed the name of the march
from Gays on the Mall, which he initially announced on Facebook, to the National Pride
March.
He acknowledges he and others working on the march will have a signicant amount
of work to do logistically, including obtaining permits for street closings. He said hes
hopeful that Capital Pride ocials will provide support and consider the march to be a
joint Capital Pride project.
My intention was never to undermine what was going on with D.C. Pride, Bruinooge
said. They obviously have the infrastructure and the mass support to help this become
a reality.
More information on the proposed march can be obtained at facebook.com/
NationalPrideMarch/.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.

SBAs LGBT project wins Harvard award

An LGBT project from the U.S. Small Business Administration has won a prestigious
award from Harvard University.
The SBA Oce of Field Operations LGBT Business Builder Outreach Initiative was
honored by the Ash Center for Democratic Government and Innovation at the John F.
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard with its 2017 Bright Ideas in Government
award.
The SBA partnered with the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in 2015
to establish the LGBT Business Builder, an education and outreach initiative on SBA
programs and services and the NGLCCs LGBT certication.
The LGBT Business Builder seeks to highlight the benets of the LGBT Business
Certication, increase the number of rms that are certied and raise awareness of SBA
programs and services, said Mark Gibson, National LGBT Communications Director for
the SBA.
Harvard praised the program in a statement.
These programs demonstrate that there are no prerequisites for doing the good
work of governing, said Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Innovations in American
Government program at the Ash Center. What makes government work best is the
drive to do better, and this group proves that drive can be found anywhere.
STAFF REPORTS

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

CUSTOMIZATION SALE
CHOOSE FROM HUNDREDS OF LEATHER & FABRIC OPTIONS

THE AREAS LARGEST SELECTION

OF MOST CUSTOMIZABLE
FURNITURE BRANDS
HamiltonsSofaGallery.com

J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 0 5

Tysons

703.556.3900
Falls Church
703.820.8000
Chantilly
703.766.8000
Rockville
301.881.3900

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

0 6 J A N UA RY 2 7 , 2017

LO CA L N E W S

Former Whitman-Walker official named White House health adviser

Trump appointee Talento
not homophobic at all
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
In a little-noticed development, then
President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 5
named former Whitman-Walker Clinic
associate director Katy French Talento as
his White House health policy adviser.
Talentos LinkedIn page and other
biographical information on her shows
that she served from December 1998 to
November 2000 as a Whitman-Walker
program evaluator and later as its associate
director for contracts and grants.
The biographical information shows
that Talento began work at WhitmanWalker, which is widely known as an
LGBT community healthcare facility,
shortly after she received a masters
in science degree in Infectious Disease
Epidemiology at the Harvard University
School of Public Health.
She was excellent at what she did,
said Patricia Hawkins, a lesbian who
served as Whitman-Walkers Associate
Executive Director at the time Talento
worked there. She was very talented.
In the 17 years since leaving WhitmanWalker Talento has worked in public
policy and health-related positions for
ve U.S. senators as well as two Senate
Committees. During her tenure with the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor
and Pensions she advised Sen. Judd
Gregg (R-N.H.) on public health and HIV/

Former Whitman-Walker Clinic associate director KATY FRENCH TALENTO is now a key
domestic policy adviser to President Trump.
SCREENCAPTURE COURTESY OF CSPAN

AIDS issues.
In 2010 she left the Senate to enter
the realm of politics when she worked
as director of speech writing for the
Republican National Committee during
the 2010 election cycle. She returned to
Capitol Hill in 2011 to work as deputy sta
director to the Republican oce of the
Senate Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Aairs.
Two years later, she became Vice
President for Corporate Aairs for

Mosquito Zone International, a company

that provides protection against malaria
for workers of energy companies in Africa
and Asia.
Talento returned once again to the
Senate in 2013 to become legislative
director for Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
before being named by Trump this month
to the White House health policy adviser
position, which makes her a member of
the White House Domestic Policy Council.
Its a very important job, said Carl Schmid,

associate director of the AIDS Institute,

a national AIDS advocacy organization.
Schmid said Talento also served on Trumps
presidential transition team.
She has always been a very strong
supporter of HIV issues, both globally and
domestically, Schmid said.
Talento is also known as a political and
scal conservative who is pro-life and who
has taken controversial positions on oral
contraceptives for women. In a 2015 article
in The Federalist blog she cites studies
showing that prolonged use of birth control
pills among women can lead to infertility
and other serious health problems.
But Schmid said Talento appeared
to break ranks with some conservative
groups by speaking out in favor of
needle exchange programs as a means
of preventing the spread of HIV among
injection drug abusers.
I dont think she made a secret of that
and she made it well known that she worked
at Whitman-Walker and was supportive of
those programs, Schmid said.
Hawkins said Talento worked well
with the mostly progressive Democratic
leaning sta at Whitman-Walker.
She was coming from a dierent place,
said Hawkins. She was very religious, a devout
Christian, and conservative and a Republican.
But she was not homophobic at all.
Talentos appointment by Trump comes
at a time when LGBT rights leaders have
expressed alarm that many of his other
high-level appointments, including cabinet
nominees, have records of strong opposition
to LGBT rights and have supported antiLGBT laws in state legislatures.

2 top directors leaving FreeState Justice

Paschall, Welter to depart
for new opportunities
By STEVE CHARING
In separate decisions, Patrick A.
Paschall, executive director of FreeState
Justice, a Baltimore-based nonprot
statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization,
and its deputy director and managing
attorney Jer Welter, announced plans to
leave the organization.
FreeState Legal Project, as it had been
called, merged with longtime LGBT civil
rights organization Equality Maryland
in January 2016 and became known as
FreeState Justice eective last June.
Paschall, 32, a Hyattsville, Md. resident,
told the Blade he wants to spend more
time with his two young children and work
in public policy. Currently, he spends twoand-a-half hours commuting to and from
work each day. He has been the executive

director since March 2015.

He notied the board that he plans to
leave by the end of March and hopes that
a replacement will be hired by then.
We have very good applicants so far,
Paschall said.
Welter, 39, was at the forefront of
many of FreeStates legal victories. He
plans to depart at the end of January
to work in appellate litigation as an
Assistant Attorney General for the State
of Maryland but will remain as part of
FreeStates pro bono panel.
An LGBTQ ally, Paschall has had a varied
career in LGBTQ activism that included
working for the National LGBTQ Task
Force where he was senior policy council,
the National Center for Transgender
Equality, Lambda Legal, Family Equality
Council and Pride at Work. Paschall is
also an elected ocial, serving on the
Hyattsville City Council since 2013.
I am incredibly proud of the contributions
I have brought to FreeState merging

organizations, rebranding and launching a

new strategic plan while continuing to serve
hundreds of clients every year and winning
groundbreaking legal cases and policy
changes in our state, Paschall told the Blade.
FreeState Justice is at a pivotal point in
our history as weve built the model for
other states to follow by combining direct
legal services with policy advocacy to
create a comprehensive statewide LGBTQ
civil rights organization. And now that we
have completed our merger and strategic
plan, this is a great time to hand the
organization o to the next leader who
will take this organization, and LGBTQ
rights in Maryland, to new heights.
As managing attorney, Welter has had a
direct involvement in the recent legislative
and legal successes in Maryland for LGBT
residents.
I am extraordinarily proud of the
organization and of what we have
accomplished during my time here from
our legislative victories on gender identity

non-discrimination and birth certicate

modernization, to our achievements
in litigation on insurance coverage for
transition-related care, transgender inmate
rights, and of course in the Conover case on
legal recognition of family relationships,
Welter told the Blade.
Those are just some of the higher
prole issues, but there have also been
hundreds of individual community
members who we have represented in
life-changing legal matters.
He adds, I am also excited to enter a
new phase of my legal career in public
interest, working exclusively in appellate
litigation as an Assistant Attorney General
for the State of Maryland. And although
transitions are always a challenge, I
think that now is a good time for the
organization to bring in new and energetic
legal talent to face what we know will be
many challenges in the Trump era.
For more information about FreeState
Justice, visit freestatejustice.org.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

0 8 J A N UA RY 2 7 , 2017

NATIONAL NEWS

Trump takes dim view of America in inauguration speech

Says no room for prejudice
in hearts of patriots
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
Just as President Trump took to the
podium to deliver his inaugural address
last Friday, a light rain began to fall on the
U.S. Capitol and those on the National
Mall watching his rst moment as the
45th president of the United States.
Consistent with the drizzle, much of
Trumps speech echoed his campaign
messages of doom and gloom. But now
with the start of his presidency, Trump
promisedbright days ahead.
Todays ceremony...has very special
meaning because today, we are not
merely transferring power from one
administration to another or from one
party to another, but we are transferring
power from Washington, D.C. and giving
it back to you, the people, Trump said.
Trumps dismal view of America included
rants about rampant crime, drugs and
gangs; a crumbling infrastructure; an
education system thats ush with cash
but doesnt prepare students for the
future and a foreign policy that defends
other nations borders while refusing to
defend our own.
We assembled here today are issuing
a new decree to be heard in every city,
in every foreign capital, and in every hall
of power, Trump said. From this day
forward, a new vision will govern our
land. From this day forward, its going to
be only America rst, America rst.
In a possible signal the new president
would seek to shift the nations alliances,
such as embracing stronger ties with
Russia, Trump said he would seek to build
new partnerships, while keeping the old,
to thwart Islamic extremism.
We will reinforce old alliances and
form new ones and unite the civilized
world against radical Islamic terrorism,
which we will eradicate from the face of
the Earth, Trump said.
Trump also predicted expansion in
what he called the birth of the new
millennium, saying progress will consist
of national unity and scientic advances.
We stand at the birth of a new
millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries
of space, to free the earth from the
miseries of disease, and to harness the
energies, industries and technologies of
tomorrow, Trump said. A new national
pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights and
heal our divisions.
In this new America, Trump said the
nation will be protected by the great
men and women of our military and
law enforcement, but also and more
importantly, protected by God.

President DONALD TRUMP delivered his inauguration speech after being sworn in as 45th
president of the United States.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Protection will lead to great prosperity

and strength, Trump said. I will ght for
you with every breath in my body and I will
never ever let you down. America will start
winning again, winning like never before.
Franklin Graham, an evangelical
leader who endorsed Trump, delivered
one of the closing benedictions at the
inauguration ceremony and said the
falling rain was a good sign.
In the Bible, rain is a sign of Gods
blessing, and it started to rain, Mr. President,
when you came to the platform, Graham
said. And its my prayer that God will bless
you, your family, your administration and
may he bless America.
After being sworn in by U.S. Chief
Justice John Roberts, Trump waved from
his spot on the U.S. Capitol steps and
shook his st in the air to rally his
supporters. Trump embraced his family
who stood by him as he took the oath of
oce, then shook the hand of now former
President Barack Obama and former Vice
President Joseph Biden.
Moments earlier, Vice President Mike
Pence was sworn into oce by U.S.
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, which
relieved Biden of his role as vice president.
Other prominent guestsincludedformer
Presidents Jimmy Carter and George
W. Bush as well as former President Bill
Clinton and Hillary Clinton in her capacity
as a former rst lady.
Chad Grin, president of the Human
Rights Campaign and steadfast supporter
of Hillary Clinton during the election, said

in a statement his organization intends to

hold the new administration accountable.
When Donald Trump took the oath of
oce today, he vowed to be a servant for all
Americans. We will hold him to that oath,
Grin said. It is more important now than
ever before for us to organize, mobilize,
and ght in solidarity against hate and any
attempts to roll back the rights of LGBTQ
people. No matter who sits in the Oval
Oce, HRC wont back down an inch in the
ght for full equality and the equal dignity
of each and every American. Forward.
Unlike the inauguration of Obama
in 2009, whose swearing-in packed the
National Mall, noticeably fewer people
braved the January rain to witness the
beginning of the Trump presidency.
An estimated attendance of 700,000 to
900,000 people was expected for the
transition of power from Obama to Trump.
Trump
supporters
demonstrated
solidarity on the National Mall by wearing
Make America Great Again hats and
pro-Trump material from his presidential
campaign. At the same time, others
attending the inauguration in protest
held up portraits of people of color and
the message We the People.
Shortly after Trump began his
inauguration
speech,
a
female
protester was escorted out of the event
before members of the press were seated.
Carrying a sign in opposition to Trump,
she shouted as she was taken away Trump
is a racist and not legitimate.
Four years after Obama made history

during his second inaugural address

by comparing the Stonewall riots to
the march on Selma and asserting the
nations journey isnt complete until gays
are treated equally under the law, Trump
made no reference to LGBT rights during
his speech.
For LGBT inclusion during the inaugural
event, one would have to look to Senate
Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)
in remarks he delivered as part of his
introductionofthe event.
We Americans have always been
a
forward-looking,
problem-solving,
optimistic, patriotic and decent people,
whatever our race, religion, sexual
orientation, gender identity, whether we
are immigrants or native born, whether
we live with disabilities or do not, in wealth
or in poverty, we are all exceptional in our
commonly held, yet erce, devotion to
our country, Schumer said.
In the aftermath of defeat for
Democrats on Election Day, Schumer
sought to strike a populist tone not unlike
Trumps as he decried a system he said
leaves people behind and a fractured
media. Nonetheless, Trump supporters
on the National Mall could be heard
jeering the New York Democrat as he
delivered the introduction.
After coming to power in a campaign
that stirred racist sentiment and was
embraced by white supremacists, Trump
appeared to tamp down the perception
his ascendance is a triumph for bigotry,
asserting in hearts that are open to
patriotism there is no room for prejudice.
Its time to remember that old
wisdom our soldiers will never forget,
that whether we are black or brown or
white, we all bleed the same red blood of
patriots, Trump added. We all enjoy the
same glorious freedoms and we all salute
the same great American ag.
But Trump didnt forget his supporters,
nor did they fail to support him in his
remarks. Those in attendance on the
National Mall could be heard shouting
Trump! Trump! as the event began
and perhaps in response to visible
protests happening away from the stage
chanting USA! USA!
Trump closed his address with a refrain of
variations on his campaign theme of Make
America Great Again, and his supporters
could be heard joining him in his last words,
which were identical to the slogan.
Your voice, your hopes, and your
dreams will dene our American destiny,
Trump said. And your courage and
goodness and love will forever guide us
along the way. Together, we will make
America strong again. We will make
America wealthy again. We will make
America proud again. We will make
America safe again. And yes, together we
will make America great again.

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

J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 0 9

Its Like Retirement, Only Better

Ingleside at Rock Creek and Ingleside at King Farm are now expanding your possibilities for engaged
retirement living. Creekside at Ingleside at Rock Creek and Gardenside at Ingleside at King Farm, our
upcoming additions, represent even more choices for discerning people 62 years of age or better. Both
communities offer an exceptional, independent lifestyle with upscale offerings, modern amenities and the
security of five-star rated, on-site health services.

Dont miss your opportunity to take advantage of priority choice locations!

An Ingleside Community

An Ingleside Community

For more information call 202-470-3413

For more information call 240-380-2678

3050 Military Road NW Washington, DC

www.ircdc.org

701 King Farm Blvd. Rockville, MD

www.inglesidekingfarm.org

Ingleside at Rock Creek and Ingleside at King Farm are CARF accredited, not-for-profit, continuing care retirement communities.
Ingleside at King Farm is expanding with the proposed building of 125 new independent living apartments, 32 private assisted living memory support suites, and a Center for Healthy Living subject to approval by the Maryland Department of Aging.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

1 0 J A N UA RY 2 7 , 2017

NATIONAL NEWS

Inauguration protesters charged with felony rioting

Lawsuit claims police
arrested journalists,
legal observers
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
Many of the 230 people who were
arrested in D.C. on Friday during protests
near President Trumps inauguration
have been charged with felony rioting.
Charging documents indicate ocers
with the Metropolitan Police Department
were monitoring a planned assembly
of individuals that were known to be
associated with an anarchist group.
They note more than 300 people were
gathered at 13th and O Streets, N.W., at
around 10 a.m.
Charging documents indicate the group
began walking south on 13th Street,
N.W., and started dragging trashcans and
newspaper boxes into the street before
setting them on re. Police ocers also

said they observed members of the

group smash out the windows of a D.C.
Fire and EMS vehicle that was parked in
front of a re station on 13th Street, N.W.
Members of the group also allegedly
smashed the windows of a nearby
Starbucks, SunTrust and Wells Fargo
Banks. The Washington Blade also
observed broken glass panes on a bus
shelter on 13th Street, N.W.
One individual was seen smashing
the windows with a baseball bat and
another used a hammer, reads one of
the charging documents.
The charging documents indicate
members of the group also set a
limousine on re. The group reportedly
caused more than $100,000 in damage
The charging documents indicate
several police ocers were injured near
the intersection of 12th and L Streets,
N.W., when they tried to arrest those who
allegedly committed the vandalism.
A D.C. police ocer was treated for
injuries at a hospital after a piece of
concrete struck him in the head. The

charging documents also indicate one

of those who was arrested was seen
swinging a metal pole at ocers.
Members of the group were observed
throwing objects at the ocers, they note.
Police on Friday also arrested George
Herdeg, 21, of San Antonio after he
allegedly aimed a laser pointer at a U.S.
Park Police helicopter as it ew above
Franklin Park at around 3:41 p.m.
Hundreds of people were in and around
the park when the alleged incident took place.
The Blade saw a man who was sitting in a
tree inside Franklin Park throw a large stick at
police ocers in riot gear who were blocking
K Street between 13th and 14th Streets, N.W.,
shortly after 4:30 p.m. An ocer used pepper
spray to disperse the crowd.
Felony rioting is punishable with up
to 10 years in prison and a ne of up to
$25,000.
The majority of those who were
arrested have been released on their
own personal recognizance and ordered
not to get arrested in D.C. again. They
are scheduled to appear again in D.C.

Superior Court next month.

A class-action lawsuit that was led on
Friday accuses the Metropolitan Police
Department and the U.S. Park Police of
using excessive force against those who
were arrested. It also alleges journalists,
attorneys, legal observers and medical
personnel are among those who were
falsely taken into custody.
None of the plaintis who are members
of this class destroyed or attempted to
destroy property, assaulted or attempted
to assault any individuals, rioted, or in any
way would have appeared to the police to
have been breaking the law, reads the
lawsuit, according to Politico. Further,
many of the members of the class were
peacefully protesting.
The vast majority of those who
protested in D.C. during Trumps
inauguration did so peacefully.
Hundreds of thousands of people
attended the Womens March that took
place on the National Mall on Saturday.
Nobody was arrested during the event that
took place a day after Trumps inauguration.

Inauguration sparks renewed concern overseas

New administration
lacks clear stance
on LGBT issues
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
LGBT and intersex advocates around
the world have greeted President Trumps
inauguration with concern.
OutRight Action International Executive
Director Jessica Stern is among those
who have expressed concern that the
new administration will end U.S. eorts
to promote LGBT rights abroad.
If the U.S. reverses course and
rolls back the proactive approach that
President Obama has taken, LGBTIQ
people around the world will suer rst,
said Stern in an email she sent to OutRight
Action International supporters on Jan.
19, the day before Trumps inauguration.
They live under despots and dictators
who would be emboldened to enforce
draconian laws if we dont continue to
advance equality.
scar Rementera, spokesperson for
Movimiento de Integracin y Liberacin
Homosexual, a Chilean advocacy group
known by the Spanish acronym Movilh,
told the Blade that Trump does not have a
clear stance towards LGBT-specic issues.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley told
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) during her

A protester expresses opposition to President Trump during a demonstration in Mexico City on

Jan. 21.
PHOTO BY PACO ROBLEADO

conrmation hearing on her nomination

to become the next U.S. ambassador
to the U.N. that American values do
not allow for discrimination of any kind
to anyone. Haley did not specically
mention LGBT people in her response to
the New Jersey Democrats question on
U.S. eorts to combat discrimination and
persecution around the world based on
sexual orientation and gender identity.
Former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson
who Trump has nominated to become

the next secretary of state raised

eyebrows among LGBT rights advocates
when he declined to specically say
whether gay rights are human rights
during his conrmation hearing. It also
remains unclear whether the Trump
administration will eliminate the position
of special U.S. envoy for LGBT and
intersex rights that former Secretary of
State John Kerry created in 2015.
With Trump, there will be a big setback
in terms of human rights for sexual

diversity, Erika Montecinos, coordinator

of Agrupacin Lsbica Rompiendo el
Silencio, a lesbian advocacy group in
Chile, told the Blade.
Montecinos said Trumps statements
are clearly homophobic and racist.
She also noted U.S. embassies and
foundations supported LGBT advocacy
eorts throughout Latin America during
the Obama administration.
William
Hernndez,
director
of
Asociacin Entre Amigos LGBTI, an
advocacy group in El Salvador, told the
Blade that organizations throughout the
region have benetted from the Obama
administrations eorts to promote health,
economic development and human
rights. He also noted Asociacin Entre
Amigos had a close relationship with the
U.S. Embassy in El Salvador and former
Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte.
Not knowing how dicult it will be to
maintain strategic political relations (with
the U.S.) in relation to LGBTI issues aects
us, Hernndez told the Blade.
Ambar Alfaro, an LGBT and intersex
activist in El Salvador who is a member
of Asociacin Solidaria Para Impulsar el
Desarrollo Humano, shares Hernndezs
concerns about the relationship that
advocacy groups in the Central American
country will have with the U.S. Embassy
under the Trump administration.
We hope that this will not change,
Alfaro told the Blade, noting the U.S. has
a lot of inuence in El Salvador.

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

J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 1 1

M O N U M E N TA L

SALEH
*

HURRY! ENDS FEBRUARY 20TH !

PICK 3 BIG OPTIONS FOR FREE*!

High Tech Package Hardwood in Rec & Family Rooms 3 Years of HOA Fees**
Upgraded Cabinets Spa Bath Closing Costs Assistance***

KENSINGTON OVERLOOK KENSINGTON, MD

2-CAR GARAGE TOWNHOMES WITH LUXURIOUS
APPOINTMENTS FROM THE UPPER $500s
WALK TO THE WHEATON METRO STATION ON THE RED LINE!
Close to Westfield Wheaton mall
Near MARC, restaurants & entertainment
Close to the I-270 corridor
Just 4 miles north of Washington, D.C.

GPS: 1166 Findley Road, Kensington, MD 20895

301-683-6462 khov.com/KensingtonOverlook
/khov.MD
/khov_MD
*Pick 3 options are based on availability, subject to change without notice, valid only for new contracts on to-be-built homes purchased by February 20, 2017 (Presidents Day). See Community Sales Consultant for current
list of available community-specific Pick 3 options. **Seller contribution limits apply. Seller may pay up to 36 months of the Buyers Homeowners Association fees. ***When used as part of the Pick 3 incentive, closing costs
assistance may vary, not to exceed $15,000 or 3% of contract prices, and is subject to final negotiation of contract terms and all RESPA guidelines. Seller contribution limits apply, may be subject to restrictions or cancellations,
requires financing through K. Hovnanian American Mortgage, LLC or cash purchase. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Not available on previously ratified contracts. See Sales Consultant for details. Prices, terms,
features, incentives and savings subject to change without notice. See Sales Consultant for details. K. Hovnanian American Mortgage, LLC, 3601 Quantum Boulevard, Boynton Beach, FL 33426. NMLS #3259 (www.
nmlsconsumeraccess.org). Licensed by the Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation. We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. We
encourage and support an affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. MHBR #3149, 6943.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

1 2 J A N UA RY 2 7 , 2017

NATIONAL NEWS

Womens March draws hundreds of thousands to D.C.

Politicians, Madonna
among those who
spoke on National Mall
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
More than 500,000 people attended
the Womens March on Washington last
Saturday.
Madonna, actresses Ashley Judd and
Scarlett Johansson, singer Alicia Keys,
Gloria Steinem, Planned Parenthood
President Cecile Richards, Melissa HarrisPerry and lmmaker Michael Moore are
among the dozens of people who spoke at
the march that took place on the National
Mall. Cher and actor Jake Gyllenhaal are
among the other celebrities who attended.
U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.),
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Tammy
Duckworth (D-Ill.) and U.S. Reps. Maxine
Waters (D-Calif.) and Luis Gutirrez (D-Ill.)
are among the members of Congress
who also took part.
Imperfect as we may be, I believe we
are a great country, said Harris.
LGBT rights, statehood, climate change
and public education are among the
issues about which D.C. Mayor Muriel
Bowser spoke. Virginia Gov. Terry
McAulie, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and
Attorney General Mark Herring stood
behind her as she spoke.
The best thing the federal government
can do for us is leave us alone, said Bowser.
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
Executive J. Bob Alotta, transgender
author Janet Mock, American Federation
of Teachers President Randi Weingarten
and Raquel Willis, a trans activist and
writer from Atlanta, also spoke.
We chose to come together today in
all of our power, said Alotta. We do not
and we will not choose one neighbor over
another. We do not and we will not choose
to deny our queerness, our lesbian gay or
trans selves in order to be a march for
women or a country for everyone.
We do not and we will not deny
the beauty and power and joy in our
blackness and brownness as it would
make us more safer or any more sane in
a country that has proven otherwise over
and over again, added Alotta. We will
not hide behind our whiteness.
Organizers predicted around 200,000
people would attend the march that
took place a day after President Trumps
inauguration.
An estimated 250,000 people attended
the inauguration, even though White
House Press Secretary Sean Spicer
dismissed this statistic on Saturday
during a tense press brieng in which he
sharply criticized reporters.

Hundreds of thousands attended the Womens March on Washington on Jan. 21.

WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Thousands of people who attended

the march were along the Ellipse as
Spicer spoke. Many of them were still in
downtown D.C. on Saturday night.
I will respect the presidency, but I will
not respect this president of the United
States of America, said Womens March
National Co-Chair Linda Sarsour. I will
not respect an administration that won
an election on the backs of Muslims and
black people and undocumented people
and Mexicans and people with disabilities
and on the backs of women.
Actress America Ferrera, whose parents
are from Honduras, said it has been a
heart-wrenching time to be both a woman
and an immigrant in this country.
A platform of hate and division
assumed power yesterday, but the
president is not America, she said.
Madonna agreed.
Good did not win this election, but
good will win in the end, she said.
Madonna also had a blunt message to
those who have criticized the march.
To our detractors that insist that this
march will not add up to anything, fuck
you, she said to enthusiastic applause.
The D.C. march was among more than
600 marches that took place throughout
the country and around the world.
Hundreds of thousands of people took
to the streets in Chicago, Denver, New

York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle

and other cities.
U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) spoke at
marches in Boston and Montpelier, Vt.
Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who
Trump criticized last week after he said he
would not attend his inauguration, spoke
to the tens of thousands of people who
attended the march in Atlanta.
We cannot aord to be silent, said Lewis.
Marches also took place in London,
Paris, Mexico City and Santiago, Chile. A
gay-friendly coee shop in the Jordanian
capital of Amman on Saturday hosted an
event in solidarity with those who were
taking part in marches in the U.S.
Many of those who took part in the
D.C. march carried rainbow ags and proLGBT banners.
Jana Uebele of Champaign, Ill.,
marched with a hand-written sign on
her back that said, Proud mom to
trans & lesbian daughters. She told the
Washington Blade she decided to take
part because she is disgusted with the
Trump administration.
I am marching for my girls, said Uebele
as she and a group of other women from
Illinois slowly marched past the National
Gallery of Art on Madison Drive.
Richard Morales of Los Angeles was
among the thousands of people who

were standing on the steps of the National

Gallery of Art during the march.
Morales, who arrived in D.C. on
Thursday, was holding a sign that read
electile dysfunction and depicted Trump
as a piece of excrement. Morales told the
Blade the march had wonderful energy.
There are a lot of people of dierent
races, colors, shapes, sizes that are
coming together with positivity, he said.
Keshia Morris of D.C. was among
the dozens of Human Rights Campaign
supporters and staers who took part in
the march. She described it to the Blade
as resistance of hateful rhetoric that was
spoken during the campaign as she walked
from Judiciary Square to the National Mall.
Im marching today to stand in
solidarity with every person across the
United States that feels like the Trump
presidency disqualies them from the
American dream, said Morris.
David Goldberg, who is a student at
the University of Bualo, described the
march as really beautiful as he stood
near the Judiciary Square Metro station.
His friend, Lucius Campany of Rochester,
N.Y., who attends George Washington
University, was wearing a rainbow ag
around his shoulders.
Its important just to speak out for
women, the community, trans people,
Campany told the Blade.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

NATIONAL NEWS

J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 1 3

Future of U.S. LGBT envoy remains unclear

The Trump administration has not publicly commented on whether it plans to
eliminate the position of special U.S. envoy to promote LGBT and intersex rights abroad.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry in 2015 announced the creation of the position
within the State Departments Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
Randy Berry, who is a career Foreign Service ocer, has been in the position since
April 2015. He has traveled to Jamaica, Uganda and more than 40 other countries over
the last two years.
The State Departments website currently identies Berry as deputy assistant
secretary and special envoy for the human rights of LGBTI persons. It also says his term
is from Jan. 20 the day that President Trump took oce to present.
He currently serves as deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights and Labor, reads Berrys bio. Concurrently, he also serves as the State
Departments Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons, a position he has
held since April 2015.
CatholicCitizens.org, a Catholic Citizens of Illinois newsletter, on Jan. 22 posted an
article to its website that says the Obama administration positioned their top U.S.
homosexual rights diplomat into a key position within the State Department which will
make it harder for the Trump administration to change current U.S. policy opposing
traditional values on human sexuality.
CatholicCitizens.org cited an informed source who said Berry was moved to the
State Departments Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. It also said he had
become a career DAS (deputy assistant secretary.)
The State Department has not responded to the Washington Blades request for
comment on the CatholicCitizens.org report.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Mizer exits DOJ proud of service as gay appointee

The nal weeks on the job for Ben Mizer, who until last week headed the U.S. Justice
Departments civil division, were extremely busy.
In a phone interview with the Washington Blade during the nal hours of his job
Thursday, the gay assistant attorney general said his division continued to win important
victories on behalf of the American public. Among the achievements in the past couple
weeks: A resolution with Volkswagon in which the company agreed to pay a $2.8 billion
criminal penalty for cheating on emissions tests and other big settlements in equities
and credit fees cases.
So I think that we were able to the very end to do the best we could to protect the
American people, including from nancial fraud, Mizer said.
Mizer, 40, was one of the more than 300 openly LGBT appointees in the Obama
administration. The strides President Obama as well as U.S. attorneys general Eric
Holder and Loretta Lynch made for LGBT rights made that particularly important for
him.
Certainly as an openly gay man, I have been incredibly proud to be an appointee
of this administration and to work for Attorney General Holder and Attorney General
Lynch because they have done so much to protect LGBT individuals in so many ways,
Mizer said.
A native of New Philadelphia, Ohio, Mizer started his tenure in 2015 as Principal Deputy
Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division, the arm of the Justice Department that
defends the federal government in court, which includes commercial issues such as
fraud and debt collection. Prior to his tenure at the civil division, Mizer was counselor
to former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and served in the Oce of Legal Counsel.
From 2008 to 2011, Mizer was Ohio solicitor general.
Among the cases in which Mizer represented the U.S. government was litigation
defending the Obama administrations position in favor of transgender rights. Mizers
name can be found on briefs in defense of the Obama administrations guidance barring
discrimination against transgender students in schools, such as by denying them access
to restrooms consistent with their gender identity, and the Department of Health &
Human Services rule ensuring transgender people have access to health care, including
gender reassignment surgery.
Our job at the civil division is to defend administrative policies, to defend congressional
statutes whatever the statutes and policies might say as long as there are defenses
to be made, Mizer said. And so, we discharge those obligations every day on behalf of
Congress or on behalf of the president, or on behalf of executive agencies and I am sure
that tradition will carry forward in the next administration.
The civil rights division, not the civil division under Mizer, was responsible for U.S.
Attorney General Loretta Lynchs lawsuit against North Carolina over the anti-LGBT
House Bill 2, a law that bars cities from enacting pro-LGBT non-discrimination ordinances
and bars transgender people from using the restroom in schools and government
buildings consistent with their gender identity.

White House Press Secretary SEAN SPICER

SCREENCAPTURE COURTESY OF CSPAN

Spicer unsure if Trump will

undo LGBT executive order
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Monday he doesnt immediately know
whether President Trump will keep the previous administrations executive order in
place that bans anti-LGBT workplace discrimination among federal contractors.
During his rst news conference, Spicer made the remarks in response to a
question from the Washington Blade about a white paper Log Cabin Republicans
delivered to the Trump transition team last week urging President Trump to
maintain the executive order former President Barack Obama signed in 2014.
I dont know on that one, Spicer said. I have to get back to you on that. I dont
know that weve gotten that far in the list of executive orders, but Id be glad to
get back to you.
Asked more generally about Trump possibly rescinding executive actions on
LGBT rights, Spicer said, Again, its not I just dont know the answer. Ill try to
get back to you on that.
The Blade has placed a request with the White House seeking verication
about whether Trump would keep Executive Order 13672, which covers an
estimated 34 million workers and many thousands who are LGBT.
Log Cabin Republicans submitted a white paper to the Trump transition team
last week along with a petition signed by about800 supporters of the executive
order urging the new president to keep the directive in place.
Gregory Angelo, president of Log Cabin Republicans, said he wouldnt read too
much into Spicers response because the Trump administration is just getting o
the ground.
The Trump transition team has told me that they are in the process of
conducting a full review of all of President Obamas executive orders, which
corresponds with Mr. Spicers statement that that the new administration has
yet to consider the LGBT non-discrimination executive order, Angelo said. I
wouldnt read anything into Spicers response besides his pure candor.
On the campaign trail, Trump said hed rescind executive orders he thinks are
unconstitutional, but hasnt explicitly stated a position on the LGBT executive order.
JoDee Winterhof, senior vice president for policy and political aairs for the
Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement there was only one right answer
for Spicer during the brieng.
Lets be clear: The Trump administration was unable to answer whether or
not they would maintain basic protections for LGBTQ workers, Winterhof said.
The only good answer to that question is yes, of course we will.
CHRIS JOHNSON

Mizer said he couldnt speculate about what would happen to transgender rights
cases now that the Trump administration is running the Justice Department. Mizer also
declined to comment on whether those cases had come up during conversations with
the Trump transition team on the basis he couldnt disclose information about any talks
he had with them. Continues at washingtonblade.com.
CHRIS JOHNSON

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

1 4 J A NUA RY 2 7 , 2017

NATIONAL NEWS

Log Cabin emerges as lead LGBT group with access to Trump

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01

LGBT people or roll back LGBT supportive

policies put in place by President Barack
Obama.
While I can be sympathetic to any
eorts to oppose the rollback of LGBT
protections and I dont anticipate
that in a Trump administration an
organization as prominent as the Human
Rights Campaign that is committed to
defying anti-LGBT actions should also
be committed to praising pro-LGBT
action, which I fully anticipate the Trump
administration to take on short order,
Angelo said.
But Im seeing no such promises from
the Human Rights Campaign or any other
LGBT advocacy organization on the gay
left, he said.
I would just add that Log Cabin
Republicans is the only LGBT advocacy
organization that is committed to
working with Donald Trump that has
been invited to advise the president on
LGBT issues and that has had an ongoing
dialogue with his transition team and the
incoming administration, Angelo told the
Washington Blade.
Log Cabin ocials said the Trump
administrations overtures to Log Cabin
during the transition period were
backed up on Jan. 21 when a high-level
transition team ocial, David Blair, and
two Republican U.S. House members
who served as Trump campaign ocials
attended a Log Cabin Inaugural T Party
held at the Capitol Hill Club, which is part
of the Republican National Committee
headquarters.
Angelo told the more than 150 LGBT
Republicans attending the Log Cabin
event that he expected Log Cabin to play
an important role in advising the Trump
administration on LGBT issues from a
conservative Republican perspective in
2017, as the group celebrates its 40th
anniversary.
He noted that Log Cabin, at the
invitation of the transition team,
submitted a white paper calling on Trump
to retain an executive order issued by
Obama banning discrimination against
LGBT employees of federal contractors.
Earlier this week, White House Press
Secretary Sean Spicer told Washington
Blade White House correspondent Chris
Johnson, that he wasnt sure of Trumps
position on the executive order and
would seek to nd out where the new
administration stands on that order.
Beyond that we are going to be working
toward federal LGBT non-discrimination
legislation that includes responsible
protections and exemptions for churches
and religiously aliated organizations,
Angelo said.
In a break with nearly all other LGBT
advocacy groups, Angelo said Log Cabin

If President Trump appoints an LGBT person

supportive of the entire community, that is
welcome, said a skeptical AISHA MOODIEMILLS, the Victory Funds president and CEO.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

doesnt support the Equality Act, the

latest version of a federal LGBT nondiscrimination bill pending in Congress.
He said the group would soon push
for a dierent version of an LGBT nondiscrimination bill that would likely gain
more support among GOP lawmakers in
Congress.
And then there is a greater agenda
we are pursuing together with the
Trump administration involving making
a case as LGBT conservatives for
traditional conservative issues, Angelo
said, emphasizing further Log Cabins
dierences from most other LGBT
advocacy groups.
Log Cabin would be speaking out,
he said, for gun owners rights through
preservation of the Second Amendment,
to repeal Obamacare and to replace
it with a common sense conservative
solution, repeal of the death tax, which
is a tax that Log Cabin Republicans has
fought against since time immemorial,
and eradication of the threat of Islamic
terrorism that poses an existential threat
to the LGBT community as the Orlando
terrorist event showed us.
He noted that at the request of the
Trump transition team earlier this month,
Log Cabin wrote letters to wavering U.S.
senators expressing support for Trumps
nomination of Betsy DeVos to be the
Department of Education Secretary
and in support of the nomination of the
controversial former Exxon-Mobile CEO
Rex Tillerson to become Secretary of
State.

Angelos remarks come at a time when

a newly formed New York City-based
LGBT group called Rise and Resist has
called on the LGBT community to oppose
the Trump administration on all issues.
In a statement on its website, the group
has threatened to work for the defeat
of Democratic members of Congress,
including Senate Minority Leader Charles
Schumer (D-N.Y.), a longtime LGBT rights
supporter, if they take any action making
them collaborators with the Trump
administration.
With that as a backdrop, some LGBT
activists have expressed concern that
national LGBT groups like HRC could face
pressure to avoid having any interaction
with the Trump administration, even if a
situation arises where those groups could
push for LGBT supportive policies.
JoDee Winterhof, HRCs senior vice
president for policy and political aairs,
told the Blade this week that while HRC
plans to speak out against any eort by
the new administration to reverse existing
LGBT rights protections, it has already
made contact with the administration.
To be clear, weve already started
doing that, said Winterhof. Thats
already been started.
Although she didnt say with whom
within the Trump administration HRC has
been in touch, she noted that HRC, the
nations largest LGBT advocacy group,
doesnt plan to discontinue its longtime
practice of lobbying for LGBT equality
before both Democratic and Republican
presidents.
There are nominees at agencies
that could impact our issues, she said.
For us not to communicate with those
folks would not be the best approach,
Winterhof said, adding, So of course we
do those sorts of things. Thats what we
do.
At the same time, Winterhof said, HRC
isnt nave and knows a large number
of Trump appointees, including cabinet
appointees, have records hostile to LGBT
rights.
In an apparent reference to Log Cabin,
she added, If others in the movement
have information where we should all
rest easy, that our protections and gains
are in place and theyre solid, then thats
fabulous news. But so far we dont have
information that tells us that.
The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund,
which helps elect LGBT people to public
oce on the local, state and national
levels and also lobbies for presidential
appointments of LGBT people, issued a
strongly worded statement on the day
following the election leaving no doubt
about its opposition to Trump.
Today I am heartbroken that racist,
xenophobic, sexist and transphobic
demagoguery won last nights presidential
election, said Aisha Moodie-Mills, the

Victory Funds president and CEO.

The devastating results hit the
LGBT community particularly hard
because we are unique in spanning
all the demographic groups targeted
by the president-elect throughout his
campaign, she said.
In a separate statement to the Blade
this week, Moodie-Mills said Victory
Fund and its aliated group, the Victory
Institute, would continue to push hard for
LGBT rights advances through the large
number of openly LGBT elected ocials
it regularly works with. But she said she
was doubtful that the Victory Institutes
Presidential
Appointments
Initiative
would continue in a meaningful way
during the Trump administration.
The
Presidential
Appointments
Initiative exists to advance equality for
the entire LGBT community including
LGBT immigrants, women and people of
color, she said. We will not use resources
to secure LGBT appointments just for the
sake of there being LGBT appointments,
she continued.
If President Trump appoints an
LGBT person supportive of the entire
community, that is welcome, she said.
But we are clear-eyed and realistic about
the inuence such an appointee may
have on LGBT issues.
D.C.
gay
public
aairs
and
communications company executives
Robert Raben, who heads the Raben
Group, and Je Trammell, who heads
Trammell & Company, each said LGBT
groups whenever possible should
attempt to advocate for LGBT-related
issues within the Trump administration.
Its the wrong question engage
or not, Raben told the Blade. People
should engage when they need to, ght
when they need to, and be somewhere in
between when they need to, he said. Its
an enormous waste of peoples energy to
ght among ourselves about whether to
engage or not.
Added Raben, We have one president
at a time, one government at a time.
Abdicating the responsibility to get in
there and ght for what you want just
turns your power over to those who will,
to your detriment.
Trammell, who has also been a longtime
Democratic Party activist, said he is
skeptical about Log Cabin Republicans
ability to sway either the Republican Party
or the Trump administration on LGBT
issues based on what he says has been
the groups record.
My point is I will applaud any LGBT
Republican and any LGBT-supportive
Republican who does things on behalf
of the LGBT community, said Trammell.
But the burden is on them at this time
because there has been so much talk
before and very little delivery, he said.
So if they will do it, more power to them.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

N A T IO NA L NEW S

J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 1 5

Bruce DePuyt on 14 years of News Talk

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01

DePuyt, 55, joined News Channel 8 in

1993 as a general assignment reporter.
He covered the Maryland State House,
politics in Montgomery and Prince
Georges Counties and transportation,
among other things. News Talk rst aired
on Dec. 10, 2002.
DePuyts rst guests were thenMaryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich and thenLieutenant Gov. Michael Steele, who
were elected roughly a month earlier.
DePuyt told the Blade on Monday during
an interview after News Talk aired that
he discovered Steele, who was chair of
the Republican National Committee from
2009-2011, in the late 1990s when he
was the head of the Republican Central
Committee for Prince Georges County.
I was covering Prince Georges County
politics and I was interviewing all these
Democrats and I started thinking what
can I do to get some dierent voices into
my reporting, recalled DePuyt. I found
out this guy named Michael Steele is
trying to breathe some life into the party.
I called him up, interviewed him and
literally I was the rst person to ever put
him on TV.
DePuyt told the Blade that he estimates
11,000 guests have appeared on the
3,300 episodes of News Talk that have
aired over the last 14 years. He described
transportation, land use, education and
other non-political local issues are in
many ways the sweet spot for us.
Theres not a lot of coverage of those
issues, but theyre very important in
terms of peoples lives, said DePuyt.
This is one of the most dynamic
communities anywhere, he added. At a
minimum we are looking at 4 million people
and there is a tendency for those issues
to be crowded out by whats happening
at the national level just because of the
sexiness of national politics.
Former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and
former D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier are
among the myriad former and current
local ocials who have frequently
appeared on News Talk. DePuyt said he
also sought to have a variety of viewpoints
on News Talk.
Ive tried to use the platform of News
Talk as sort of a shared opportunity, he
told the Blade. It might have my name
on the door, but I wanted viewers and
candidates for oce, not just incumbents,
and people with dierent approaches to
land use or transportation or whatever
to be able to put their idea out there and
get it into the bloodstream and to see if it
would take root.
I wanted people to have their shot at a
platform where others would hear that,
added DePuyt.
Many D.C. reporters also had their rst

From left, BRUCE DEPUYT, STEVEN VANGRACK, SHARRARNE MORTON and JOHN MASON on the set of News Talk on Jan. 24.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

television appearances on News Talk.

There are reporters out there who
are doing shoe leather reporting who are
really knowledgeable about important
things who arent big names, said DePuyt.
Theyre less likely to get the call to go to
do radio or TV, but I see their work and I
know what theyre doing.
DePuyt grew up in Ridgewood, N.J.,
which is roughly 25 miles northwest of
Midtown Manhattan.
DePuyt came out during his sophomore
year at the University of Maryland in
College Park in the early 1980s. He told
the Blade he initially wanted to become a
sportscaster, but he decided to focus on
news because it involved less travel and no
coverage of games with lopsided scores.
I guess maybe in the back of my
mind, given that this was the 80s, I didnt
know whether a gay man could be a
sportscaster, said DePuyt.
DePuyt told the Blade he couldnt really
think of any examples of discrimination
that he has faced during his career
because of his sexual orientation.
National Organization for Marriage
President Brian Brown, former NOM
President Maggie Gallagher and former
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli
are among the opponents of LGBT
rights who have appeared on News Talk.
Former GetEQUAL Co-Director Heather

Cronk and myriad local advocates have

also been guests.
Weve had people across the
spectrum, said DePuyt.
He told the Blade that people in
this region are really smart and really
sophisticated. DePuyt added its great
to know that you can put information
on LGBT-specic issues out there and let
people decide for themselves.
People listen and they see and they
hear, he said. I dont need to tell them
what they just heard.
DePuyt told the Blade the massacre at
the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., on
June 12, 2016, that left 49 people dead
and dozens of others injured is one of the
more dicult stories he has covered.
He and his partner were at church
when the minister received a text
message about the shooting and made
an announcement before the closing
prayer. DePuyt nearly became emotional
on air the following morning when he
was speaking with this reporter who had
called into News Talk from Orlando.
I remember that one because it did hit
home, said DePuyt. It hit home more on
air.
Connolly is among those who
have praised DePuyt and expressed
disappointment
over
News
Talks
cancellation.

To take it o the air is a huge loss,

Connolly told the Blade on Monday after
he appeared on News Talk.
Cronk agreed.
Bruce is one of the best, she told
the Blade. He asks tough questions, he
gives a fair read of the political landscape
and he has always been an impartial
reporter.
Ken Jost, author of the Supreme Court
Yearbook and a blogger at Jost on Justice,
also appears regularly on News Talk.
He described DePuyt as a complete
professional
who
was
always
knowledgeable, always fair and balanced.
He asked good questions and gave
every guest the time to try to give good
answers, Jost told the Blade. Its a real
loss for everyone in the viewing area to
lose this program.
Tom Sherwood and Mark Segraves of
NBC Washington are hosting a reception
in DePuyts honor at the Midlands Beer
Garden (3333 Georgia Ave., N.W.) on Feb. 2.
In the meantime, DePuyt told the Blade
that he is looking to take some time o
after his last show. He said he doesnt
know what he will do after that.
I feel like I have a real skill at doing
this, said DePuyt. But the question is
Im 55, would I be better served having a
dierent experience going forward. And I
think the answer to that may be yes.

Keep your promise to protect each other.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

16 J A N U A R Y 27, 2017

BA LT I MO RE N E W S

Baltimore Trans Alliance marches on

One day after the inauguration of Donald Trump as president, millions of
anti-Trump protesters and womens rights advocates demonstrated all over the
world including at the protests epicenter in Washington, D.C. Baltimore was well
represented in the Womens March in D.C. and among them was a contingent
from The Baltimore Transgender Alliance.
There were 15 individuals as part of the group including representatives from
other local trans organizations like Sistas of the T. Additional people joined the
contingent as the march progressed. They chanted, Black Trans lives matter
and Hey hey, ho ho, transphobia has got to go.
On day one of the new administration we saw the current face of womens
liberation, Ava Pipitone, the executive director of The Baltimore Transgender
Alliance, told the Blade. (Its) a more inclusive and self-reective movement that
can only continue to grow. The visible transgender participation was powerful,
though none of the organizers were transgender. And while the crowd was
majority white and cis, I am hopeful this momentum continues to inspire action
and inclusion.
Lee Kennedy, a UMBC student and trans activist who was part of the
contingent, told the Blade, Yesterday, I felt the presence of those feminists who
dene womanhood by the presence of a vagina. But I also marched and spoke
with visible trans people, people of color, and others who were advocating for
the rights of all of us who are oppressed. If all of these voices are to unify further
into one force, further education, listening, and inclusion is absolutely necessary.
But I am hopeful.

Wills & Trusts

Powers of Attorney Living Wills
Partnership & Prenuptial Agreements

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

www.PartnerPlanning.com

Serving the LGBT Community

in DC/MD/VA since 1983
Lawrence S. Jacobs/McMillan Metro, PC

HoCo superintendent sues,

alleges anti-lesbian remarks

Renee A. Foose, the superintendent of the Howard County Public Schools

System, led a lawsuit in Howard County Circuit Court on Jan. 11 against the
Board of Education and its individual members alleging unlawful conduct in
creating chaos preventing her from fullling her job responsibilities, which is a
direct threat to the orderly administration of the school system.
Of the complaints listed within the lawsuit, one alleges anti-gay remarks made
by a board member toward Foose. Within the lawsuit document, Complaint
Number 52 states:
Dr. Foose is aware of at least one board member who, upon information
and belief, has a personal animus against her based on her sexual orientation.
Reg Avery, who has served in numerous capacities, including president, in the
Parent-Teacher Association Council of Howard County since 2012, observed
that Board member Christina Delmont-Small had an unusual animus toward
Dr. Foose. On numerous occasions he heard her make disparaging comments
about Dr. Foose, such as questioning the ability to support our kids if we have a
lesbian Superintendent and commenting that she thought Dr. Foose could get
what she wanted from the Board (all of whom were women at the time) because
she is probably sleeping with them. Ms. Delmont-Small also told Mr. Avery that if
she were elected to the Board, she would get Dr. Foose red.
ADVERTISING
PROOF
Delmont-Small
denied the allegations during a phone call with the Blade. Dr.
SALES REPRESENTATIVE: BRIAN PITTS (bpitts@washblade.com)
Fooses sexual orientation is a private matter and has nothing to do with her
qualications and ability to carry out the role of superintendant, she said.

~
202.319.8541 www.lgbtc.com Se habla espanol

Serving Our Community for 35 years

ISSUE DATE: 10.26.12

REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of
proof. Proof will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of

adviC
e m e d iat i o N L i t i G at i o N a P P e a L S C o L L a B o r at i o N
the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts
NS
omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is
responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users
GN
can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or
EVISIONS
any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any
copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair
/LOGO REVISIONS
competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation,
or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the
ADVERTISER SIGNATURE
SIONS
washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless from any and all
By signing this proof you are agreeing to your contract obligations with the

Chase Brexton names new CEO

liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred
by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertisers breach of any of the foregoing representations
and warranties.

FamiLY | eState PLaNNiNG | emPLoYmeNt | immiGratioN

ComPLeX LitiGatioN | CiviL riGHtS | LGBt | adoPtioN | BuSiNeSS

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

at tor N e YS at L aw d C | m d | va

3 0 1 . 8 9 1 . 2 2 0 0 S P - L aw. C o m

Patrick Mutch, who had been the interim president and CEO at St. Agnes
Hospital, was hired to be the new president and CEO of Chase Brexton Health
Care.
Mutch succeeds Richard Larison who stepped down after being accused of
orchestrating the ring of ve managers at Chase Brexton in retaliation for their
support of an employee unionizing eort. Community protests followed the
rings.
I am keenly aware of the important role that Chase Brexton has served in
Baltimores LGBT community over the past 40 years, Mutch said in a statement.
These roots run deep, and I commit to honor and uphold them.
STEVE CHARING

washington blade newspaper. This includes but is not limited to placement,

payment and insertion schedule.

6 9 3 0 C a r r o L L av e , S u i t e 6 1 0 ta k o m a Pa r k m d

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

HE A LTH NEW S

J A N U A R Y 27, 2017 17

LGBT senior care network debuts in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS A new health care provider network for LGBT seniors in New
Orleans launched this week, Best of New Orleans reports.
The Greater New Orleans LGBT Elders Provider Network, launched Jan. 26, is
designed to help address the health needs of the estimated 20,000 LGBT seniors
who live in the region. As more people have come out over the years, LGBT
senior needs are expected to be signicant in coming years as the population
of those 65 and older is expected to nearly double in the next 20 years as Baby
Boomers reach retirement age.
The network targets therapists, case workers, doctors, business owners and
health care students who may come in contact with LGBT seniors. Jim Meadows,
director of New Orleans Advocates for GLBT Elders (NOAGE) told Best of New
Orleans that LGBT seniors often struggle with isolation and are less likely to
share information about their sexuality or gender identity with doctors.

Study nds CDC Truvada guidelines inadequate

LOS ANGELES A new study from the Los Angeles LGBT Center and UCLA
concludes that government guidelines for determining who should take an HIVprevention drug dont go far enough, Southern California Public Radio reports.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends those at high risk
take Truvada, a once-a-day pill that greatly reduces the risk of infection. The CDCs
guidelines say those at higher risk include gay and bisexual men who are in a
sexual relationship with an HIV-positive partner or who in the past six months
have had unprotected sex or been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection.
The researchers from the LGBT Center and UCLA identied several additional
factors associated with elevated HIV risk. They include use of methamphetamines
and amyl nitrate, domestic violence and race and ethnicity as African-American
and Latino gay and bisexual men were also found to be at higher risk.
The team analyzed ve years of medical data from nearly 10,000 gay and
bisexual men who were HIV negative at the time the study began to identify
which characteristics distinguished those who later tested positive for HIV from
those who did not.
Lead researcher Matthew Beymer, a postdoctoral scholar at the UCLA School
of Medicine who also works with the Los Angeles LGBT Center, was quoted as
having said that while some of the characteristics associated with higher HIV
risk were expected, like methamphetamine use, the fact that domestic violence
emerged as a risk factor was a little bit more surprising.
No single factor in isolation increases risk, but the interaction of all these
factors together ... really gives someone a higher risk prole, he told Southern
California Public Radio.
The CDCs guidelines are a good start, Beymer said, but he argues that the
agency should expand them to capture the more ancillary behaviors that put
people at risk of HIV.

want a quickie?

quick & free hiv testing

free safe sex kit
info about PrEP
locations in baltimore,
columbia, glen burnie, &
easton

Gays fear moving into assisted living: study

MELBOURNE, Australia A new Australian study found older gay men fear
moving into assisted living facilities because of the threat of being ostracized by
residents and family, Australian Aging Agenda reports.
Some of the men said they expected to nd homophobic residents, care
workers or management in aged care facilities.
The fear of homophobia is not necessarily from the sta, the greater fear
can be from other residents and their families, said the studys author Peter
Robinson, a senior lecturer in sociology and history at Swinburne University,
according to the Agenda.
The men in the study spoke of their concerns regarding care workers and the
possible eect of a culture in which opposite-sex relationships are seen as the
norm, he said.
The study, published in the journal Quality in Aging and Older Adults, is based
on interviews with 25 men age 60 and older in Melbourne, Auckland, London,
Manchester and New York.
While drawing on a small sample, Robinsons ndings echo previous studies
that have documented the concerns of many older LGBT people about moving
into aged care.
Funding for the national training program to train aged care workers to provide
inclusive care to LGBT seniors in Australia expired last June, the Agenda reports.

chasebrexton.org/POWER
410-837-2050 x8813

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

1 8 J A NUA RY 2 7 , 2017

C OM MU N I KA T E

VOLUME

48

ISSUE

04

ADDRESS

PO Box 53352
Washington DC 20009
PHONE

Resisterhood is powerful
Sage cleansing wont be
enough for this ght

During the Republican National Convention, I

found a sage bundle, lit it and slowly wanded my
friends as they watched Trumps speech.

KATE CLINTON is a humorist who has

entertained LGBT audiences for 30 years. Her
monthly column appears exclusively in the
Blade. Reach her via kateclinton.com.

In 2007, George W. Bush visited our

southern hemisphere. Message: he cared
about the neighbors the U.S had ignored
since 2000. As part of that eort, Bush visited Iximche, a one-time capital of an ancient Mayan kingdom subdued by Spanish conquest in 1524.
His visit angered many Mayans. One
spokesman said, That a person like Bush
with the persecution of our migrant
brothers in the United States, with the
wars he has provoked is going to walk
in our sacred lands is an oense for the
Mayan people and their culture. After
the brief visit, Mayan priests were called
in to spiritually cleanse the archeological
site of bad spirits.

I started joking that perhaps we should

sage the White House after Bush left.
Heres the thing: never say something
like that in front of my girlfriend. In 2008,
when Barack Obama was elected president, she dared me to make the joke
practical. We sent the word out that we
were going to sage the White House the
night before Obamas inauguration.
Heres the other thing: props to actual
event organizers who knew we couldnt
get anywhere near the White House? That
we needed a permit to gather in Dupont
Circle? That a sound system might be a
good idea? No need for the back story,
but thank you Code Pink. Somehow we
pulled it o.
A rabbi, a comic and a shaman go into Dupont Circle. There were 2,000 people there.
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum welcomed
everyone. I adapted the Catholic litany
form into a white persons version of calland-response. With the distant hum of
E DIT OR IA L C A R T OON

shredders working overtime in the White

House, I chanted some of the sins of the
previous eight years stolen elections,
voter suppression, my pet goat, WOMD,
the Patriot Act, Abu Ghraib, the drowning of New Orleans, faith-based nance,
the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, socialized
losses and privatized prots. After each
lament, the crowd sang, Hey, hey, hey,
good-bye!
Mamma Donna Henes, an urban shaman, performed the ritual cleansing of
the bad spirits. Michele Lanchester led us
in singing, We shall not be moved. We
cranked up the borrowed sound system.
My girlfriend DJd the last few minutes of
our permitted hour. We danced and dispersed into the freezing, sage-laden night.
The next day we joined thousands in
the bright, joyful, jostling gridlock of Inauguration Day. We never made it to
that promised land of the purple ticket
section. Instead we watched in the welcomed warmth of a friends home. When
President Obama stood to the podium to
speak, he looked ashen, as if someone
had nally shown him the real books. I
was glad we had saged the White House
and had done what we could to help him
transition into his new job and new home.
This summer, during the Republican
National Convention, about halfway
through Trumps rant, before I really knew
what I was doing, I got up, found a sage
bundle wedged in the back of a drawer,
lit it and slowly wanded my friends as
they watched the speech. I did not want
all that hateful slime to get on them. I
passed it over myself for good measure.
The call went out the day after the Rejection Election for a Womens March to
focus and amplify resistance. The preexhausting condition called PresidentElect Trump was sworn in. The PTSD of
President Trump Stress Disorder ocially
began. We marched.
Let the size queens debate. I have never seen a larger crowd in all my years of
marching. As one sign said, Resisterhood
is powerful.
Youll be happy to know that you can
now order sage sticks by the gross online.

202-747-2077
E-MAIL
news@washblade.com
INTERNET
washingtonblade.com
PUBLISHED BY
Brown Na Pitts Omnimedia, Inc.
PUBLISHER
LYNNE J. BROWN
lbrown@washblade.com ext. 8075
EDITORIAL
EDITOR
KEVIN NAFF
kna@washblade.com ext. 8088
FEATURES EDITOR
JOEY DIGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com ext. 8081
SR. NEWS REPORTER
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com ext. 8079
NEWS REPORTER
CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com ext. 8083
REPORTER & INTERNATIONAL NEWS EDITOR
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
POP CULTURE REPORTER
MARIAH COOPER
PHOTO EDITOR
MICHAEL KEY
mkey@washblade.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
PETER ROSENSTEIN, MARK LEE,
LATEEFAH WILLIAMS, KATE CLINTON,
KATHI WOLFE, RICHARD J. ROSENDALL,
MAXIMILLIAN SYCAMORE
CREATIVE DESIGN/PRODUCTION
AZERCREATIVE.COM
SALES & ADMINISTRATION
DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING
STEPHEN RUTGERS
srutgers@washblade.com ext. 8077
SR. ACCT. EXECUTIVE
BRIAN PITTS
bpitts@washblade.com ext. 8089
ACCT. EXECUTIVE
SIRIWAT PATHARAPANUPATH
spath@washblade.com ext. 8078
JOE HICKLING
jhickling@washblade.com ext. 8094
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION
PHILLIP G. ROCKSTROH
prockstroh@washblade.com ext. 8092
NATIONAL ADVERTISING
RIVENDELL MEDIA
212-242-6863; sales@rivendellmedia.com
For distribution, contact Lynne Brown at 202-747-2077,
ext. 8075. Distributed by MediaPoint, LLC
All material in the Washington Blade is protected by federal copyright law
and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the Washington Blade. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, writers
and cartoonists published herein is neither inferred nor implied. The
appearance of names or pictorial representation does not necessarily
indicate the sexual orientation of that person or persons. Although the
Washington Blade is supported by many ne advertisers, we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers. Unsolicited editorial
material is accepted by the Washington Blade, but the paper cannot take
responsibility for its return. The editors reserve the right to accept, reject
or edit any submission. A single copy of the Washington Blade is available
from authorized distribution points, to any individual within a 50-mile radius of Washington, D.C. Multiple copies are available from the Washington
Blade oce only. Call for rates. If you are unable to get to a convenient
free distribution point, you may receive a 52-week mailed subscription for
$195 per year or $5.00 per single issue. Checks or credit card orders can be
sent to Phil Rockstroh at prockstroh@washblade.com. Postmaster: Send
address changes to the Washington Blade, PO BOX 53352 Washington,
DC 20009. The Washington Blade is published weekly, on Friday, by
Brown Na Pitts Omnimedia, Inc. Individual Subscriptions are $195
per year for 52 issues (only $3.75 per issue mailed to you USPS). Rates
for businesses/institutions are $450 per year. Periodical postage paid
at Washington, D.C., and additional mailing oces. Editorial positions
of the Washington Blade are expressed in editorials and in editors
notes as determined by the papers editors. Other opinions are those
of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
Washington Blade or its sta. To submit a letter or commentary: Letters should be fewer than 400 words; commentaries should be fewer
than 750 words. Submissions may be edited for content and length,
and must include a name, address and phone number for verication.
Send submissions by e-mail to kna@washblade.com.

2017 BROWN NAFF PITTS OMNIMEDIA, INC.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

I N S I DE LGB T W A S HING TON

J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 1 9

Step one, march. Step two, organize.

Fighting Trump requires
commitment, planning

PETER ROSENSTEIN is a D.C.-based LGBT rights

and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly
for the Blade.

We have a new president and are beginning to see how he will handle himself.
Immediately after his swearing in he gave
his inaugural address. To me it was the
most negative inaugural speech I have ever
heard and I have heard every one since
John F. Kennedy said, Ask not what your
country can do for you, ask what you can
do for your country.
Trumps speech will be remembered
here as the Carnage speech in which he
belittled America when he said, But for
too many of our citizens, a dierent reality exists: Mothers and children trapped

in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out

factories scattered like tombstones across
the landscape of our nation; an education
system ush with cash, but which leaves
our young and beautiful students deprived
of all knowledge; and the crime and gangs
and drugs that have stolen too many lives
and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential. This American carnage stops
right here and stops right now.
The world will know it as the America First
speech. They havent heard those words since
before World War II when they were used
to, Galvanize a mass populist movement
against U.S. entry into the war in Europe,
even as the German army rolled through
France and Belgium in the spring of 1940.
A broad-based coalition of politicians and
business leaders on the right and left came
together as the America First Committee to
oppose President Franklin D. Roosevelts support for France and Great Britain. The movementgrew tomore than 800,000 members.
While the America First Committee attracted
a wide array of support,the movement was
marred by anti-Semitic and pro-fascistrhetoric. Its highest prole spokesman, Charles
Lindbergh said, The British and the Jewish
races for reasons which are not American,
wish to involve us in the war.

On day one the president signed executive

orders ocially nominating his cabinet and
participated in the inaugural parade. Then
he went to the Oval oce to sign additional
orders, including one directing the Department of Health and Human Services to work
toward dismantling the Aordable Care Act.
Day two, the president and his entire family awoke in the White House to see and hear
half a million women and men at the Womens March on Washington give notice they
will ght any eorts to move us backwards in
the area of civil and human rights and equality for all people.
The president went to the CIA to tell our
intelligence community he actually supports them 1,000 percent, something called
into question by his recent statements and
tweets. Instead of sticking to that mission he
went o on an awkward and embarrassing
tangent. He talked about the military voting
for him and attacked the press for allegedly
lying about the number of people who attended his inauguration.
Trump had his new press secretary, Sean
Spicer, hold his rst press brieng, a diatribe
against the press on this same issue repeating the new presidents lies that senior adviser
Kellyanne Conway later termed alternative
facts. Trump tweeted under his new twit-

ter handle @POTUS the press was giving all

its attention to the womens march, millions
marched across the nation and on all seven
continents, and questioned if they would give
the same press to the pro-life march in D.C.
next week?
Its clear Trump is still in campaign mode
and hasnt transitioned or understood what
being president entails and how to use the
power he now has. It might be a long learning curve.
I am a member of the loyal opposition.
Trump unfortunately is my president. But in
no way does that hinder me from speaking
out and ghting for what I believe in. Step one
was marching. If we are to be eective in protecting and maintaining our rights and moving forward to gain those we still dont have
we must do more than march.
We must organize at the community level. I
will do so as a Democrat. Our party tent is big
and we need to build on it, not tear it down.
Nearly 66 million Americans voted for us. We
need to both expand and better explain our
policies and reach out eectively so 10 million more will join us in 2018. If successful, we
will be able to take back governorships, state
legislatures, and win school boards and town
councils. Our mantra must be equality and
economic opportunity for all.

V I E W PO I NT

Outside Trumps bubble, resistance looms

The gaslight that failed

RICHARD J. ROSENDALL is a writer and activist.

Reach him at rrosendall@starpower.net.

Our fake presidents inaugural speech on

Jan. 20 was a one-man orgy of gaslighting.
Trump spoke of restoring American greatness while painting an absurd caricature of
American carnage. He crowed about the
people after losing the popular vote. He
spoke of unity while spewing insults. He
spoke of politicians who are all talk and
no action despite his own refusal to stop
boasting and feuding and focus on his job.
He cried America rst while happily serving
as a Russian asset. He decried the export of
American jobs despite the Made in China
labels on his own clothing line. He decried
the state of education after naming a cabinet secretary opposed to public education.

He decried dilapidated infrastructure that

Republican obstruction made worse. He
lied about our military being weak and our
borders being undefended. He rhapsodized
a calamitous and hypocritical neo-isolationism. He is the fox rebuilding the henhouse.
On Jan. 21, while upwards of half a million protesters gathered near the National
Mall and in large numbers in cities across
the world, Trumps prayer service at National Cathedral featured anti-gay Bishop
Harry Jackson. Later, misusing the CIA Memorial Wall as a backdrop, Trump claimed a
massive crowd for his swearing-in, ignored
the photographic evidence, attacked the
news media, and boasted of his appearances on the Time magazine cover. Still later,
Press Secretary Sean Spicer echoed him at
a combative and dishonest press brieng.
On Sunday, Trump counselor Kellyanne
Conway brazenly described Spicers lies as
alternative facts.
Back on Planet Earth Saturday morning,
a merry pussy-hatted mob lined up at my
local coee shop. They embodied the festive spirit and youthful energy of the masses streaming to the Mall for the Womens
March on Washington, in what became a
rare demonstration of collective will.

My sister Ann attended the march with her

family. Later she texted me: It was awesome!
We were like sardines on Metro and on the
Mall and I was completely at ease. We even
sang a round of Lean on Me on the train. So
many great signs. We couldnt hear any of
the speeches. We couldnt get close enough.
The crowd was just so loud. There were a
lot of women but also a lot of men. Maybe
a 65/35 ratio. [Another suggested 80/20.]
Several men had signs like, Quality men are
for equality and Real men ask for consent.
Some women were dressed as vaginas, others fallopian tubes. Weird, but funny.
Cher had trouble reaching the stage, so
she hung out in the crowd. One happy moment onstage was when Ashley Judd cut
o the rambling Michael Moore. Someone
led a chant, I am a revolutionary, which
made me wonder what exactly she had in
mind. Anarchists on Friday had disrupted
peaceful protests and clashed with police.
By contrast on Saturday, a friend watched
a pair of Trump supporters in their red hats
walk through the crowd without receiving so
much as a mean glance.
Friday night I argued on Twitter with a
teacher from Detroit who said I had no understanding of progressive activism because

I said breaking shop windows and setting

re to trash cans was harmful to our cause.
But our social media spats faded to nothing
the next day amid the ebullient crowd.
Looking ahead, the threats by Trump and
his minions are so varied, from healthcare to
climate to minority rights to press freedom
to national security, we will be forced to divide our labors in building a multifaceted resistance. We are dealing with predators who
will require all our boldness and creativity to
defeat. We must not lie down with them.
Resistance takes many forms, some loud
and visible and some quiet and behind the
scenes. It lives wherever someone stands up
against the #LiarInChief. The positive energy
of the Womens Marches around the world
(including Antarctica), along with their numbers, signies no mere reactive energy but
a depth of feeling that, if harnessed productively, oers hope for our republic. Meanwhile, #NotMyPresident hides in his bubble.
The reins of our national government
have been handed to a reckless and destructive crew. Our values and freedoms
are under grave threat. The #Resistance
has just begun.
Copyright 2017 by Richard J.
Rosendall. All rights reserved.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

2 0 J A NUA RY 2 7 , 2017

VIEWPOINT

Why inmates need gender-affirming surgery

An insiders perspective
forged by years in prison
By MICHELLE-LAEL NORSWORTHY
When it comes to genital reassignment
surgery, a lot of the population questions
its validity as a necessary medical procedure, especially for the incarcerated. But
doctors worldwide now recognize gender
dysphoria, a conict between your physical gender and actual gender, as an actual
medical condition. Treatment options
vary from hormone therapy to surgery,
but just like any other medical condition,
doctors are the ones prescribing drugs
and procedures.
What does this have to do with inmates?
It wasnt until I won my case against the
state of California in April 2015 that incarcerated individuals were even eligible
for this type of surgery. The decades-long
struggle I faced with my identity, coming
to terms with my gender dysphoria and
then ghting for my rights despite being behind bars paved the way for other
transgender men and women like me.
Its important to note that when you live
behind bars in the United States, youre

still a human being with rights. You dont

give up those rights to being human because youre serving time. If an inmate
needed a medical procedure to be physically or emotionally healthier, once a
doctor deemed it necessary it would be
carried out. Because gender dysphoria
is a medical condition, this type of procedure is no dierent. Yet its faced with
incredible opposition.
My story is just one example of how challenging it is for a transgender individual to
receive genital reassignment surgery, especially while incarcerated. I came out as
transgender in 1994 after talking to a priest,
various doctors and years of self-questioning. I began trying to express my true identity as I could with limited resources; I wore
tighter clothes, grew my hair out and used
makeshift makeup I was able to create. As
Im sure you can imagine, these changes
didnt make life with other inmates safe,
either. While living as a trans woman behind bars I was a target for ongoing verbal
and physical abuse, and was brutally gangraped, left suering from Hepatitis C, PTSD
and Stage 4 Liver Fibrosis.
Once I was ocially diagnosed with
gender dysphoria in 2000, I began asking
about surgery, requesting it over and over
again. I wasnt able to make any progress

until a Department of Corrections doctor

deemed it medically necessary. He submitted 13 pages about it, but was suddenly transferred to another prison. I led an
appeal as they were denying me a surgery
their own doctor deemed necessary, citing Michelle Kosileks similar case in Massachusetts. The powers that be continued
to deny appeals, refusing to take me seriously and sending people that didnt have
the authority to make the necessary decisions to the prison, so I sued the state of
California. I won the case in April 2015 and
the surgery was scheduled, but before it
could take place I was suddenly paroled.
When I was released from prison, I approached the Transgender Law Center to
help me navigate the path to receiving my
surgery, but they refused to help me as
their representation ended as soon as the
case ended. I was left feeling completely
alone in a world vastly dierent from the
one I left 30 years prior, and needed to gure it out and advocate for myself yet again.
I started by calling the doctors scheduled to provide the surgery while I was in
prison and they did a consult with me, explaining what type of insurance I needed.
I made countless phone calls, went to the
oces in person and ultimately navigated
my way through so I could receive the

insurance I needed for my surgery. I am

looking forward to it nally taking place
this February.
Along the way, I was very disappointed by the lack of support from advocacy
groups that are supposed to be on my
side; instead of giving me the help I needed, they just wanted to use me to advance
their agenda. Ive used this to fuel my mission, though. My dream is to open a home
called Joans House, a safe place for other
transgender men and women to become
their true selves. I want to use my experience navigating through the confusing
system to help others as they seek the
medical care they need for their own gender dysphoria.
Im truly grateful for a few organizations
that are helping, specically Bend Law
Group, Three Girls Media and Healthright
360, which have kept me o the streets,
helped give me a voice and shown me the
path to form a 501c3 non-prot.
Ultimately, the core of our identity is
whats truly at stake. My story is similar to so many other transgender men
and women, and theyre why I continue
to advocate.
MICHELLE-LAEL NORSWORTHY is a trans
rights advocate based in California.

VIEWPOINT

Trump, the media, and the lack of civility in politics

Bullying, cruelty must not
become the new normal
By LATEEFAH WILLIAMS
Last Friday, Donald Trump was inaugurated
as our nations 45th president. He showed a
tremendous lack of civility during the campaign and, unfortunately, he is continuing it
into his presidency. Trump has been making
racist, sexist, xenophobic, ablest and homophobic remarks since he began his candidacy
for president. Many people thought those remarks would cost him the election. However,
Trumps bad behavior was rewarded with
massive amounts of free media coverage.
The media promoted Trump for ratings and
only started to have buyers remorse when it
became clear that it helped create a monster
that it could no longer control.
Now, the same media that jumped at the
opportunity to constantly display Trumps
disgusting antics wants the public to help ensure its right to freedom of the press. And, you
know what, while some of us may believe that
the country would not be in this situation if the
media handled Trump dierently during his

campaign, it is imperative, for our sake, that

the media have the access to provide an accurate portrayal of the Trump administration.
Trumps ascendancy goes far beyond the
media. The publics acceptance of and desire to
watch Trumps boorish behavior also played a
major role. There are high-prole anti-bullying
campaigns throughout the nation and many
adults tell children not to bully other children,
but those same adults have no problem bullying other adults. Then they act surprised when
the youth emulate their behavior and use the
same bullying tactics.
Trumps bullying has already impacted
both our youth and society as a whole. Immigrant children are being bullied because of
Trumps xenophobic comments about Mexicans and Muslims. Transgender people are
being bullied due to irrational fears concerning bathroom access, when all of the folks
who are suddenly scared have been using
restrooms with transgender people, without
incident, for years.
Politics brings out an inordinate amount
of bullies at the federal, state, and local levels. This may be due to the disproportionate
amount of brash personalities that it attracts.
While Trumps bullying is so over the top that
it is impossible to miss, most political bullying

is not as obvious to the public, but just as cruel

and mean-spirited to its targets.
The ability to make jokes at others expense
does not apply equally, however. While comedian Larry Wilmore was allegedly red from
his Comedy Central show for poor ratings,
his dismissal shortly after making jokes about
members of the press at the White House
Correspondents Dinner appears to be more
than coincidental. Keep in mind that tonguein-cheek commentary about politicians is a
common part of the speeches/comedy routines at this dinner the only dierence is
that Wilmore made his jokes at the expense
of the media and not the politicians. For some
reason, members of the press were not able
to laugh at themselves as easily as politicians
are expected to laugh at themselves.
People of color and women cannot get
away with the same things as white men. My
personal experience, as well as years of observing politics tells me this. The double standard in the way Hillary Clinton was treated versus previous male presidential candidates was
astounding. The same qualities that would
have conferred strength, competence and
leadership in a man were seen as negative
and attracted irrational hatred toward Clinton.
Some folks who previously attacked Hillary

are now commenting about her grace during

Trumps inauguration and wondering where
those attributes were during her campaign for
president. They were always there. Folks just
did not want to see it because it did not t the
narrative that they believed based on years of
unwarranted attacks and character assassination. Belittling and dehumanizing people is the
way that society makes it acceptable to bully,
intimidate, or harass people who are deemed
to be dierent.
The increasing acceptance of bullying is
now impacting the children of politicians.
While it has always been policy that the First
Children are o limits and should be given
privacy, this standard is not being aorded to
Barron Trump. It was not always aorded to
Malia and Sasha Obama, either. This reects
our societys failure to police itself and to hold
adults who bully children accountable.
We must ght to ensure that bullying
and cruelty do not become the new societal
norm. However, all signs indicate that it already is occurring.

LATEEFAH WILLIAMS is a periodic contributor

to the Washington Blade. Reach her at
Lateefah_Williams@msn.com.

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

J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 2 1

Health Insurance Issues? Claim Denied?

Confused about what your plan covers?
c all the

HEALTH CARE
OMBUDSMAN
202.724.7491 or 877.685.6391 toll free
We are here Monday Friday | 8:15am 4:45pm
HealthcareOmbudsman.dc.gov

The Knowledge to Guide You.

GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

MURIAL BOWSER, MAYOR

ITS GOOD
TO BE HOME

HISTORIC CONDOMINIUMS
SELLING SPRING 2017
FROM THE 300S TO OVER 1 MILLION

Chapman Stables ushers in an era of historic living with an elegant

restoration of an industrial-age icon. Here, modern amenities
are infused with early Americas irrepressible spirit.
Return home to your next chapter at Chapman Stables.

CHAPMANCONDOMINIUMS.COM

2 2 J A NUA RY 2 7 , 2017

W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

GREAT PERFORMANCES AT MASON

CFA.GMU.EDU

From Danny Boy to opera arias

Direct from Dublin, Ireland

Perfect for Valentines Day!

Rarely performed opera

VIRGINIA OPERA

WALNUT STREET THEATRE

DER FREISCHTZ

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28 AT 8 P.M.

By Carol Maria von Weber

LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS

This performance is also at the Hylton Performing Arts Center on

Sun., Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. Information at HyltonCenter.org.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4 AT 8 P.M.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5 AT 2 P.M.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12 AT 7 P.M.

THE FIVE IRISH TENORS

TICKETS

888-945-2468 OR CFA.GMU.EDU

By Neil Simon

Located on the Fairfax campus, six miles west of Beltway exit

54 at the intersection of Braddock Road and Rt. 123.

Rushing GWUs gay fraternity

DELTA LAMBDA PHI WELCOMES ALL MEN AT LOCAL COLONY
By MARIAH COOPER
mcooper@washblade.com

ARTS

AND

ENTERTAINMENT

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

VOLUME

48

ISSUE

04

JANUARY

27,

2017

PAGE

23

DAVID LANGE at George Washington University. He says a new gay fraternity on campus has
experienced no backlash.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

When David Lange started his freshman

year at George Washington University, he
found himself surrounded by a plethora
of clubs, organizations and fraternities
that catered to a wide range of student
interests. However, none specically
targeted the interests of a young, gay
man who wanted a sense of community
outside of advocacy groups or nightclubs.
Langes friend told him about Delta
Lambda Phi, a fraternity for gay, bisexual,
transgender and progressive men that
had been established at Vanderbilt
University. He found himself wanting to
learn more.
I had never really considered Greek
life, Lange, 20, says. It was never
something that particularly appealed
to me, but this idea of a group of gay
men that could just get together in
brotherhood and camaraderie really
impressed me.
Founded in 1986 by Vernon L.
Strickland, Delta Lambda Phi was created
in Washington as a community chapter
for students from universities in the
D.C. area to join. While Strickland was a
George Washington University student
himself when he founded the community
chapter, there had never been an
established chapter at the university.
Until Lange decided to put in some
grunt work.
The
international
aairs
major
contacted
Delta
Lambda
Phis

headquarters and GWs Greek life

department back in October 2015 to get
the ball rolling. After learning the logistics
of how to proceed and presenting to
the fraternity council, the council voted
on letting Delta Lambda Phi become a
colony at GW.
GWs colony joins four other colonies at
schools in the United States and Canada.
Overall there are 30 chapters in North
America, including at schools such as
Purdue University, New York University and
the University of California at Los Angeles.
Now a sophomore, Langes eorts have
led to the rst recruitment season and
pledge class beginning this spring. While
still early, Lange says that gay, bisexual
and straight men have shown interest
and there are eight members preexisting
from before the recruitment period,
which runs Feb. 1-10.
He credits the interest to the experience
Delta Lambda Phi oers that is hard to
nd on campus.
I nd that as far as queer spaces out
there, a lot of them are either advocacy
based or there are bars or clubs. And this
provides a third way and an opportunity to
create some real community, some lasting
friendships and brotherhood, Lange
says. A big part as to why we exist is to
provide a sense of community for gay men
in college. Its something thats very much
lacking, so thats a big part of it. But its also
a fraternity so we do a lot of social events

to create that sense of camaraderie.

Even though the group is not a
service fraternity, Lange says it would
be hard to miss out on the LGBT service
opportunities D.C. has to oer. While
just in the brainstorming stages, Lange
says he hopes to work with organizations
such as SMYAL, Casa Ruby and the Trevor
Project. A large network of Delta Lambda
Phi alumni are also in the city, which will
be a great source of contact and support
for the colony.
Lange says that even though the
fraternity is aimed at gay and bisexual
men, there is no discrimination about
who wants to join.
Its more of a niche fraternity. Its not
for everyone, Lange says. I mean anyone
can join, but a lot of people might want
a more traditional collegiate, fraternal
experience, which is totally ne, but we
provide an alternative to that.
A fraternity that is so blatantly open
for gay and bisexual men has not been
a problem for George Washington
Universitys larger college community.
Lange says from what he has heard, there
hasnt been any backlash.
Everyone seems to be either neutral
or in support and thats all we can really
ask for, I suppose. Its gotten a pretty
warm welcome from what Ive heard,
Lange says.
Delta Lambda Phi will be a part of
the college community for a while as

it usually takes three pledge classes

before a colony can apply to become a
chapter, according to Lange.
Mentors will be a crucial role as Delta
Lambda Phi moves from colonization to
ocial chapter. Law student Nicholas
Simons, 25, is one. He says his role
includes holding educational events for
the colonists to ensure the traditions of
Delta Lambda Phi are upheld and the
colony has a smooth transition.
Simons experience with colonizing
Delta Lambda Phi traces back to when
he joined the fraternity during his rst
semester as a freshman at University of
Central Florida. Simons says the fraternity
was just founding its own colony as
George Washington University is now.
Simons echoes the sentiment that
Delta Lambda Phi is meant to combine
the elements of Greek life for the LGBT
community.
It was meant to be a traditional Greek
organization that provided a space for
friendship, brotherhood and community
that wasnt provided in other LGBT
spaces, Simons says. I think its very
important on a college campus because
everyone wants to nd LGBT community
through political activism, not everybody
wants to nd LGBT community through
some of the other social outlets that are
available. I think it provides a unique,
positive and supportive experience for all
of our members.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

2 4 J A N UA RY 2 7 , 2017

Q U E E RY : 2 0 Q U E ST I O N S F O R A N D RE W MCCA RT Y

ANDREW MCCARTY
How long have you been out and who
was the hardest person to tell?
I have been out since I was 18. Yes
kiddos, that was in 1990.
Whos your LGBT hero?
The men and women of the community
who came before me.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MCCARTY

By JOEY DiGULIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Brother Help Thyself gathers this weekend for its annual grant awards
reception at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.).
The organization provides nancial and other support to local non-prots
serving HIV/AIDS and LGBT organizations. Takoma Wellness Center has
sponsored this years reception. Recipients will be announced at the event.
Doors open at 2 p.m. The presentations run from 2:45-4:30 p.m. Details at
brotherhelpthyself.net.
Andrew McCarty is Brothers current vice president. Hes also commissioner
for the Mayors Commission on HIV in Baltimore, where he lives. He works by
day as a hairdresser at Matthew Johns Hair Salon.
The 44-year-old Houlton, Maine, native has been in Baltimore for 15 years
after stints in Atlanta and San Francisco. Hes single and lives in Mt. Vernon
with his Doxies Jake and Hattie Marie.
McCarty enjoys cooking, movies and hiking in his free time.

Whats Baltimores best nightspot,

past or present?
The Hippo. Not much of a bar person
anymore.
Describe your dream wedding.
Hmm dont think I will be going there.
What non-LGBT issue are you most
passionate about?
Being clean and sober seven years
now, I work tirelessly with the addiction
community here in Baltimore.
What historical outcome would you
change?
One just happened that I would like
to change, but hey we cant have
everything and it isnt going to stop the
work I do.

Whats your advice for LGBT

movement leaders?
Never forget those of us who came
before whove worked very hard so
youre able to be as vocal as you are
today. Celebrate those who fought hard
and risked everything.
What would you walk across hot coals
for?
My parents.
What LGBT stereotype annoys you
most?
The assumption that every gay person
wants to be the opposite sex.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?
Its My Party (grab your tissues)

Respect

Whats the most overrated social

custom?
I honestly dont think there are any
overrated social customs. I believe one
should make eye contact, shake hands,
hold the door for the next person. Saying
that ones social custom is overrated
is like saying that I am above the next
person and that isnt who I am.

What was your last Facebook post or

Tweet?
Had to be something positive. Living life
always negative gets you nothing.

What trophy or prize do you most covet?

I most respect being asked to serve
Baltimore, the city I love, on the Mayors
Commission for HIV.

If your life were a book, what would

the title be?
The Art of Being ME!

What do you wish youd known at 18?

That I can and will make a dierence in
the world and that I will make it through.

If science discovered a way to change

sexual orientation, what would you
do?
Hmmmmmmm .

Why Baltimore?
Baltimore to me is the greatest city
ever so rich in history and beauty. Yes
there are issues in the city, but I love her
for all of her bumps and bruises.

Whats been the most memorable pop

culture moment of your lifetime?
The night Princess Diana died.
On what do you insist?

202.747.2077

What do you believe in beyond the

physical world?
I was raised believing in God and the
higher power. Today my relationship
is more on the end of doing good and
living the best me I can.

T H E U.S. A I R F O R C E BA N D

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

T HE ATE R

J A N U A R Y 27, 2017 25

PHOTO COURTESY OF ARENA STAGE

MARSHA MASON, star of stage and screen, says theater oers something electric that cant be
found in lm.

Stage and screen star

Marsha Mason relishes
Rhine role
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
Stage and screen star Marsha
Mason had never seen a production of
Lillian Hellmans Watch on the Rhine
before agreeing to take on the role of
complicated matriarch Fanny Farrelly in
Arena Stages upcoming production.
For several years (Arena Stages artistic
director) Molly Smith and Id been talking
about working together, says Mason, 74.
A year ago we did a reading of Watch on
the Rhine in New York. When she oered
me the part, I jumped at it. Fannys back
story is deep and rich in terms of human
relationships and human emotion. Shes a
well-educated woman from a good family
who moves in D.C.s most rareed circles.
She has a rigid attitude toward certain
behaviors and what is correct for women.
And shes also a mother who hasnt seen
her daughter for 20 years.
Directed by Jackie Maxwell, Watch on
the Rhine (1941) is the second of two
full productions that are part of Arenas
Lillian Hellman Festival. The rst was The
Little Foxes earlier this season.
Set on the brink of the U.S. entering
World War II, Fannys daughter Sara Muller
(Lisa Bruneau) escapes to her wealthy
mothers Washington, D.C. home with
her children and her German husband
Kurt Muller (Andrew Long) whos involved
in anti-fascist movements. Tensions
rise when Fannys creepy houseguest,
Teck de Brancovis (J. Anthony Crane), an
impoverished Romanian count, makes it
clear no ones safety can be guaranteed
either at home or abroad.
Fanny is similar to the playwright in
various ways, Mason says.
Theyre both originally southern. Fanny
has a line in the play about the magnolias
having come of the tree. Hellman loved
magnolias from her youth and she
planted them wherever she lived. Theyre
both sharp minded. Of course Fanny is

older than Lillian was when she wrote the

play. Shes from a dierent time and cant
express herself as openly and ercely as
Hellman did.
A longtime Democrat, Mason is acutely
aware that shes arrived in Washington at
a sensitive time.
There are lines about fascists in the
play. The description is extraordinary. It
denitely resonates.
Though not an activist, Mason says
she feels strongly about causes including
breast cancer, college campus rape and
equal pay for women.
This is a time when women and men too
cant aord to let anything get by. I think we
all have to be terribly vigilant. Its time to
speak out when something isnt right.
Born, raised and educated in Missouri,
Mason sought success in 1960s New
York where she worked in theater before
landing a TV soap opera role playing a girl
reporter. Dissatised with the part, she
left the cushy gig to do theater with A.C.T.
Theatre in Seattle. Soon after, she says, a
movie career sort of fell into her lap.
An appealing actor adept at comedy and
drama, Mason was a popular movie star in
the 70s and 80s, garnering four Academy
Award nominations (Cinderella Liberty in
1973, The Goodbye Girl in 1977, Chapter
Two in 1979, and Only When I Laugh in
1981), and frequently collaborating with her
then-husband playwright and screenwriter
Neil Simon. After the career cooled, she has
continued to do movies, TV, and theater
(both acting and directing).
Ive always loved the work, but the
stardom came too fast, she explains in
her warm, utterly non-diva way. I just
wasnt ready for it it sent me back to
therapy. But my professional relationship
with Neil (Simon) was always good, very
rewarding.
CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
WATCH ON THE RHINE
Feb. 3-March 5
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth St., S.W.
$40-90
202-488-3300
Arenastage.org

FREE CONCERTS
schlesinger concert hall
nova community college
alexandria, virginia

world-renown singer

nnenna freelon
thursday, february 9
award-winning drummer

peter erskine
thursday, march 23
legendary saxophonist

jimmy heath
thursday, april 20
for FREE tickets, please visit:

www.usafband.eventbrite.com
all concerts begin at 8 p.m.

www.usafband.af.mil

LIVE
BRONZE

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

26 JAN U A R Y 27, 2017

O U T & A BO U T

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

RADIO

RETURN

W/ AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER

THURSDAY JAN 26

the

ALTERNATE

ROUTES
W/ ME AND MY BROTHER

SATURDAY JAN

28

SUN, JAN 29

ALL GOOD PRESENTS

ERIC KRASNO BAND

AND THE MARCUS KING BAND
MON, JAN 30

AN EVENING WITH

PHOTO COURTESY OF STUDIO THEATRE

JEFF DWYER

By MARIAH COOPER

Studio Theatre presents gay bestie drama

TUES, JAN 31

J BOOG

W/ JO MERSA MARLEY AND JEMERE MORGAN

FRI, FEB 3

RHETT MILLER OF THE OLD 97S

AND JOE PURDY

Studio Theatre (1501 14th St., N.W.) presents I Wanna Fucking Tear You
Apart Feb. 1-19.
I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart tells the story of a girl and her gay best
friend who are roommates. A new friend enters their lives and changes their
close relationship. Morgan Gould wrote and directs this production. Nicole
Spiezio, Tommy Heleringer and Anna ODonoghue star.
Tickets range from $20-45. For more details, visit studiotheatre.org.

THEHAMILTONDC.COM

DentalBug.com
Cosmetic, Implants, Sleep Apnea, Sedation
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY VLAYSLAV REKHOVSKYY

CALL TODAY WEEKEND HOURS MULTILINGUAL

We believe we can make the

dental experience better.

Masquerade Ball to benet

Rainbow Families et. al.
The Imperial Court of Washington
hosts its annual Mardi Gras Masquerade
at Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) on Saturday,
Feb. 4 from 7-10 p.m.
Cocktails begin at 7 p.m. and the show
starts at 8 p.m. There is a suggested $5
donation. Proceeds benet CrossOver
Healthcare
Ministries,
Pets
with
Disabilities and Rainbow Families.
For more information, visit facebook.
com/imperialcourtdc.

DentalBug Sta 2016-2017

WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Jeanette Suh
DMD
Maria Hodas
DDS

John Tsaknis
DDS

Indra Mustapha
DDS, MS

1221 Mass. Ave, NW 202.628.7979 (Free Parking)

703 D Street, NW 202.628.1288
LEnfant Plaza,SW Promenade #325 202.628.2177

D.C. Winter Restaurant Week starts Jan. 30

Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week runs Jan. 30-Feb. 5 at participating
restaurants.
Guests can enjoy a special three-course, prix-xe meal from restaurants.
Specials include a $22 lunch and brunch and a $35 dinner. Restaurants
participating include Rasika, Sushi Taro, Doi Moi, Restaurant Eve, Iron Gate, the
Melting Pot, Ambar and many more.
For a complete list of restaurants and more information, visit ramw.org/
restaurantweek.

Capital Pride theme

unveils Feb. 9
Capital Pride hosts its 2017 Pride Reveal
party at Sax Restaurant and Lounge (734
11th St., N.W.) on Thursday, Feb. 9 from
7-10 p.m. The theme for the 2017 Pride
celebration will be revealed as well as the
schedule of events.
Tickets include two complimentary
specialty cocktails. There will also be hors
doeuvres and performers. Tickets are
$30 in advance and $50 at the door. For
more information, visit capitalpride.org.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

FI L M

J A N U A R Y 27, 2017 27

Mariinsky Ballet
The Little Humpbacked Horse
(Konyok Gorbunok)

DANIEL ARMANDO was inspired by French New Wave movies of the 1960s for his current lm,
Daddys Boy.

Tangled gay relationships

explored in Daddys Boy
By BRIAN T. CARNEY
Writer and director Daniel Armando
says his new lm Daddys Boy is
an exploration of male identity and
relationships between men.
The out director adds, it deals with
four young men and their issues with
their fathers and brothers and how thats
shaped who they are now. Their stories
collide in the low-budget world of gay
male porn in New York City.
The New York-based director will be in
Washington to discuss his lm as part of
the monthly Reel Armations XTRA Film
Series (reelarmations.org). The movie
will screen at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 27 at
the HRC Screening Room (1640 Rhode
Island Ave., N.W.).
Armando is looking forward to a lively
discussion after the movie.
Men tend to hide their feelings, he
says. With this lm, he wants to create
a conversation about how men relate to
each other.
The story kicks o with Max (Alex Miro),
a regular in the adult lm scene whos
traveling from Canada to New York for a
shoot with Manuel (Jonathan Iglesias), a
rugged cowboy from Arizona. In his hotel
room, Max struggles to nish a letter to
his estranged father. Cruising the city, he
later meets up with Fabian (Joe Lopez),
a young Puerto Rican man from Queens
whos dealing with his own challenges: his
attraction to men, becoming a father and
hearing an unexpected revelation from
his own father.
Meanwhile, Manuel reaches out
to his estranged older brother Jorge
(James Koroni), a dancer trapped in a
loveless relationship with an abusive
photographer.
In presenting the lives of these
characters, Armando says he wanted
to, explore the dierent ways you can
visually present a character and tell a
story. I wanted to paint portraits of these
characters in their space and capture
a mood. I wanted to examine how they
react to other characters and their
surroundings.

Armando admits this can sometimes

be dicult for audiences.
Were just watching these guys in their
spaces as theyre dancing or posing for the
camera or jerking o. It can be awkward.
Theres nothing romantic about this world.
Theres no kissing. I wanted to show male
nudity in a way that wasnt overtly sensual
or romantic or lustful.
In creating this world, Armando
was inuenced by the lmmakers of
the French New Wave, an inuential
movement that swept European art
cinema in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Inspired by the social and political
upheavals of the time and constrained by
tight budgets, critics and directors called
for a break with traditional lmmaking.
They championed shattering traditional
narrative
structures,
highlighted
existential themes and references to
other lms and used techniques such as
ling shots and rapid editing.
Armando was introduced to these lms
by his cinematographer, Ryan Andrew Balas.
He showed me movies like Truauts
400 Blows and Goddards Breathless,
as well as Ingmar Bergmans Persona. I
loved the feel of it and the energy of young
directors exploring what cinema can do.
The inuence of the French New Wave
can be seen throughout the movie, from
the crisp black and white photography to
the costume design to the distinctive style
of the credit sequence.
Armando also wanted to set up a
dialogue between the New Wave and
contemporary queer audiences. He
enjoys introducing the world of LGBT
cinema to new styles, and he also
enjoyed bringing the New Wave out of
the closet. He replaces the barely hidden
homoeroticism of movies like Jules et
Jim with a proud and open exploration of
gay male sexuality.
When hes not traveling the LGBT lm
circuit with Daddys Boy, Armando is
busy on two new projects with Dane
Joseph, his partner at Novo Novus
Productions. Hes directing a script by
Joseph that explores, relationships,
indelities and fetishes. Armando and
Joseph are also producing bwoy, a new
lm by festival favorite John G. Young.
The lm stars Anthony Rapp (Rent) and
is slated for release later this year.

with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra

Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
Music by Rodion Shchedrin

Fresh as a daisy bubbling

over with high spirits
The New York Times

Photo by Natasha Razina

PHOTO COURTESY OF NOVO NOVUS PRODUCTIONS

For its annual engagement, the legendary Mariinsky brings

Alexei Ratmanskys charming contemporary take on the classic
Russian fairy tale in a D.C. premiere showcasing plenty of personality,
humor, and creativity with a score by Rodion Shchedrin.

January 31February 5 | Opera House

Support for Ballet at the Kennedy Center is generously provided by Elizabeth and Michael Kojaian.
International Programming at the Kennedy Center is made possible through the generosity of
the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

2 8 J A N UA RY 2 7 , 2017

A RT S & CU LT U RE

This Week in the Arts provided by CultureCapital.com

theaterj.org.
Silencio Blanco: Chin, el silencio
del carbon. Feb 2-Feb 3. The Clarice.
theclarice.umd.edu.
Shear Madness. Jan 31-Apr 15.
Kennedy Center. shearmadness.com.

DANCE

Pilobolus
Jan 28-29. Washington Performing Arts at GW Lisner
Auditorium.
washingtonperformingarts.org.

Experience the mind-bending world of Pilobolus with the D.C. premiere of

Shadowland, an evening-length piece which incorporates moving screens,
projected images, and front-of-screen choreography all set to a rhythmic
original score by American lm composer David Poe.

John Cleese Live

Jan 27. Strathmore.
strathmore.org.

Living comedy legend John Cleese hosts a live and truly unforgettable evening
of conversation and audience Q&A (absurd and/or ridiculous questions only,
please). Before Cleese silly walks his way on to the stage, you will have the
opportunity to watch cult classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail in its entirety
on the big screen.

Mack, Beth
Thru Feb 11. Keegan Theatre.
keegantheatre.com.

A modern retelling of Shakespeares tragedy by an award-winning local

playwright. Mack, Beth is current and razor-sharp, with nely crafted, complex
characters, taut storytelling, and all the intrigue audiences expect from this
classic tale of greed and power. A world premiere.

Flamenco Vivo
Jan 28. The Alden.
mcleancenter.org.

Flamenco Vivo brings an exciting evening of amenco to the stage featuring

accomplished artists from the U.S. and Spain.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS

THEATRE
Johnny Watson & Herbie Gill. Feb 2.
AMP. ampbystrathmore.com.
As You Like It. Thru Mar 5. Folger
Theatre. folger.edu.
Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Thru
Feb 19. Fords Theatre. fords.org.
Yo tambin hablo de la rosa (I Too
Speak of the Rose). Feb 2-26. GALA
Hispanic Theatre. galatheatre.org.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha
and Spike. Jan 27-Feb 4. Reston
Community Players. CenterStage at
RCC. restonplayers.org.
Catch Me: A Magic Duel. Jan 28Feb 25. Catch Me! Mayower Hotel.

catchmeshow.com.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber
of Fleet Street. Feb 1-Mar 5. Olney
Theatre. olneytheatre.org.
Titanic: The Musical. Thru Jan 29.
Signature Theatre.
signature-theatre.org.
The Magic of Irving Berlin. Thru Jan 28.
In Series. Source Theatre. inseries.org.
Baby Screams Miracle. Feb 1-26.
Woolly Mammoth.
woollymammoth.net.
The Hard Problem. Thru Feb 19. I
Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart. Feb
1-19. Studio Theatre.
studiotheatre.org.
Copenhagen. Thru Jan 29. Theater J.

ABT: Swan Lake. Thru Jan 29.

Mariinsky Ballet. Jan 31-Feb 5.
Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.
Spilling Ink. Jan 28-Jan 29. Dance
Place. danceplace.org.
Second Season: The Weeping
Philosophers. Jan 27-Jan 28. Company
Wayne McGregor. Jan 28. The Clarice.
theclarice.umd.edu.

MUSIC
Chaise Lounge. Jan 27. James
Blood Ulmer. Jan 28. AMP.
ampbystrathmore.com.
Danish String Quartet. Feb 2.
Washington Performing Arts. UDC.
washingtonperformingarts.org.
NSO: Shostakovichs Eighth
Symphony. Thru Jan 28. NSO:
Beethovens Eighth Symphony/
Tchaikovskys Serenade for Strings.
Feb 2-Feb 4. The Crossroads Club.
Jan 28. Mason Batess KC Jukebox:
Ravishment. Jan 30. Kennedy Center.
kennedy-center.org.
Rachmaninos Piano Concerto No.
2. Jan 28-29. National Philharmonic.
Strathmore. nationalphilharmonic.org.
Cuarteto Latinoamericano. Jan 29.
Marcolivia (violin/viola duo). Feb 1.
National Gallery of Art. nga.gov.
The Five Irish Tenors. Jan 28. GMU
Center for the Arts. cfa.gmu.edu.
Maarja Nuut. Feb 2. Arlington
Cultural Aairs. Rosslyn Spectrum.
arlingtonarts.org.
Michael Cameron, bass with Andrew
Simpson, piano. Jan 30. The Clarice.
theclarice.umd.edu.
Crystal Bowersox with Ken Yates.
Jan 28. International Guitar Night.
Feb 1-Feb 2. The Barns. wolftrap.org.

MUSEUMS
National Archives. Amending
America. Thru Sep 4.
archivesfoundation.org.
National Gallery of Art. Barbara
Kruger. Thru Jan 29. Los Angeles to
New York: Dwan Gallery, 19591971.
Thru Jan 29. Photography Reinvented:
The Robert E. Meyerho and Rheda
Becker Collection. Thru Jan 29. nga.gov.
Library of Congress. 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 Geographic. @NatGeo: The
Most Popular Instagram Photos. Thru
Apr 30. nglive.org.
National Museum of Women in
the Arts. Wanderer/Wonderer: PopUps by Colette Fu. Thru Feb 26. Bold
Broadsides and Bitsy Books.
Thru Mar 17.
National Portrait Gallery,
Smithsonian. Jazz Portraits by Herman
Leonard. Thru Feb 20. Bill Viola: The
Moving Portrait. Thru May 7. Lincolns
Contemporaries. Thru May 19.
npg.si.edu.

GALLERIES
Strathmore. Crossfade. Thru Feb
19. La Vie en Bleu. Thru Feb 19.
strathmore.org.
District Architecture Center. The
Awards Show. Thru Jan 28. aiadac.com.
gallery Neptune & Brown. Ben
Tolman: Weltschmerz. Thru Feb 25.
galleryneptunebrown.com.
Glen Echo Park. Patti Francis. Thru
Feb 4. Dalya Luttwak. Thru Feb 5. Artful
Attire. Thru Feb 5. glenechopark.org.
Goethe-Institut. Privacy on Display.
Thru Mar 7. goethe.de.
Hill Center. Hill Center Galleries
Exhibits. Thru Feb 26. hillcenterdc.org.
JCC of Greater Washington. Sherry
Zvares Sanabria. Thru Jan 29.
jccgw.org.
The Art League Gallery. Habits.
Thru Feb 5. Member 25. Thru Feb 5.
theartleague.org.
Torpedo Factory. Connecting the
Dots: The DMV. Thru Jan 31. Ipseity.
Thru Mar 5. torpedofactory.org.
Waverly Street Gallery. Kate
Stillwell & Wil Scott. Thru Feb 4.
waverlystreetgallery.com.
Zenith Gallery. Something for
Everyone: Holiday Cheer. Thru Jan 28.
zenithgallery.com.

AND MORE...
Mario Batali on Regional American
Cooking. Jan 28. Connie Britton:
Actress as Advocate. Jan 31.
Smithsonian Associates. Baird
Auditorium. smithsonianassociates.
org.
Humanitini: DC Culture & the Michelin
Guide. Feb 2. HumanitiesDC. Busboys
& Poets @ 5th & K.
Rosebud Film Festival. Jan 27-29.
Arlington Cultural Aairs. Rosslyn
Spectrum. arlingtonarts.org.
Movie Night: Suck me Shakespeer
(Fack Ju Ghte). Jan 27. Goethe Book
Club: Wolfgang Herrndorfs Tschick
(Why We Took the Car). Feb 1. GoetheInstitut. goethe.de.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

M US I C

J A N U A R Y 27, 2017 29

PHOTO COURTESY OF INVISIBLE HANDS MUSIC

ASTRID PLANE and BILL WADHAMS have reunited as Animotion.

Long-dormant 80s popsters

reunite for fun new album
By CHRIS GERARD
Los Angeles-based synthpop group
Animotion became part of the fabric of
80s pop culture with their iconic 1984
single Obsession.
Built on Princely synths pulsing with
electricity like something o 1999 with
a touch of new wave weirdness for good
measure, the infectious single reached
no. 6 in the U.S. and has remained a staple
of 80s nights the world over ever since.
They werent quite a one-hit wonder,
although they are often seen as such.
The follow-up to Obsession, the less
immediately catchy Let Him Go, stalled
at no. 39. The bands second album
Strange Behavior (1986) was a op,
with lead single I Engineer struggling to
only no. 76. A major-lineup shift followed,
including the ring of lead vocalists Astrid
Plane and Bill Wadhams who were was
replaced by Cynthia Rhodes, an actress
and dancer known for her role in Dirty
Dancing, and Paul Engemann. The new
lineup scored one hit in 1989 with Room
to Move, but that was it. Animotion was
relegated to the dustbin of 80s history.
Twenty-eight years later, Animotion is
back with its original vocalists and rst
album since its precipitous dissolution.
Raise Your Expectations, out Jan. 20,
is an apt title for a band returning from
the dead after so long away, and by and
large they exceed whatever expectations
anybody may have had. Just hearing
Astrid Plane and Bill Wadhams again on
new material is a strange exercise in time
travel that is a pure retro delight. First
single Last Time is a synth-heavy melding
of 80s sensibilities with a modern sheen.
Its big melodic hook and rich layers of
keyboards are at once familiar and fresh.
The rest of the album continues in much
the same vein. Animotion stays grounded

in its trademark sound of the past but

updates it for a new millennium. Not
Your Lover is a hard-driving synth-rocker
with distorted vocals and jolts of guitar
that give it an almost industrial vibe. They
Cant Touch You is a melodic mid-tempo
gem with a sweet vocal by Wadhams. Bad
Review dives us right back into the bands
glory days, beamed straight from their
33-year-old debut, with an energetic very80s sound. The song is a wry reection on
the quick ups and down of success, a topic
that Animotion is perhaps more suited to
address than anyone.
Everything is a complete departure, a
gorgeous acoustic-guitar based ballad with
sublime vocal harmonies. The tempo amps
back up quickly with the club-ready title
track, a song that if given a chance would
be a prime candidate for a series of hot
remixes. Trust Me is a more experimental
track with a vast electronic soundscape,
Astrid Planes voice sounding just like
we remember it from Obsession but
somehow transported far into the future.
You Love It is another high energy danceoor stomper, and the lovely Surrender is
an old-school synth ballad with perhaps
Planes nest vocal on the album. Raise
Your Expectations closes with a dynamic
re-imagining of their old hit Let Him Go,
a futuristic hard-throbbing banger thats
injected with far more pep than the original.
No, Raise Your Expectations doesnt
tread any new ground, its not going to
be on year end best of lists and it wont
spawn any additional Top 10 hits to
add to the bands legacy, but it doesnt
need to. Obsession will always ensure
that Animotion holds a place in 80s pop
lore, deservedly so. Hearing them back
again with new music is an unexpected
pleasure not only as an album but in what
it represents: its never too late to start
anew, take a risk and follow your drive
and passion wherever it may lead. Kudos
to Animotion for having the fortitude to
come back strong after so many years out
of public awareness.

Daily Power Lunch $20.95

Three-Courses from the menu!
All Month
Ideal For Office Gatherings

Martinis Are Back!

Voted Among the 2016
TOP TEN Best Brunches
In Metro DC by OpenTable Subscribers

Weekend Unlimited
Champagne Brunch

Saturdays A-La-Carte - $29.95

Sunday - Buffet - $38.95

Show Tunes and Cocktails

Monday, January 23
No Cover Charge Ever
Just great Sing-A-long

202-872-1126 BBGWDC.com
17th & Rhode Island Ave. NW

$5-$7-$10

Happy Hour Cheer

Apps and Drink Selections -5-7PM

Daily Pasta Dinner

Two Courses
Soup or Salad &
Chefs Daily Featured Pasta
$18.95 Per Person
5:00 PM to Close Mon Sat
Participating In

Restaurant Week
January 30 - February 5 2017
Private Events Ask About Our
Simple Solutions Menus

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

3 0 J A N UA RY 2 7 , 2017

CA LE N D A R

E-mail calendar items to calendars@washblade.

com two weeks prior to your event. Space is limited so priority is given to LGBT-specic events
or those with LGBT participants. Recurring
events must be re-submitted each time.

TODAY
Human Rights Campaign hosts ladies
karaoke at Nellies Sports Bar (900 U St.,
N.W.) tonight from 7-10 p.m. Purchase
a wristband for $5 to receive extended
happy hour specials until 9 p.m. There
will be prizes for the top three singers.
For more information, visit facebook.
com/hrcgreaterwashingondc.
Club Glow presents DJ Victor
Calderone at Soundcheck(1420 K St.,
N.W.) tonight from 10 p.m.-4 a.m. There
is no dress code. Guests must be 18 or
older to attend. Tickets are $20. For more
details, visit clubglow.com.
Breakfast Club hosts an 80s dance
party at 18th and U Duplex Diner (2004
18th St., N.W.) tonight from 9 p.m.2 a.m. Music will be a mix of 80s hits
including George Michael, Madonna,
Prince, Whitney Houston and more. For
more information, visit facebook.com/
breakfastclubduplex.
Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.) hosts
Dark and Stormy, an alternative dance
party, tonight from 9:30 p.m.-2 a.m. DJ Shea
Van Horn and Mike Kangal will play a mix of
electronic, goth, industrial, retro and other
dark, dance sounds. Admission is $5. For
more details, visit blackcatdc.com.
Reel Armations presents a screening
of Daddys Boy at Human Rights
Campaign (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.)
tonight at 7 p.m. The lm, directed by
Daniel Armando, tells the story of four
young men whose lives intersect in New
York City. There will be a question-andanswer session with a catered cocktail
reception hosted by Rayceen Pendarvis.
General admission tickets are $12. VIP
tickets are $25 and include VIP seating, one
complimentary cocktail beer or wine and
movie candy or popcorn. It also includes
admission into the reception. For more
information, visit reelarmations.org.
Women in Their 20s, a social
discussion group for LBT and all women
interested in women, meets today at
the D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.)
from 8-9:30 p.m. All welcome to join. For
details, visit thedccenter.org.
Bear Nonsense hosts a Bear Happy
Hour at Rock and Roll Hotel (1353 H St.,
N.E.) today from 6-10 p.m. There will
be drink and food specials. There is no
cover charge. For more information, visit
bearnonesense.com.

SATURDAY, JAN. 28
Brother Help Thyself hosts its annual
grant awards reception at the D.C. Eagle
(3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) today from 2-4:30
p.m. Brother Help Thyselfs board of
directors will present grants and awards

PHOTO COURTESY OF WOLF TRAP

Out singer CRYSTAL BOWERSOX performs at the Barnes at Wolf Trap Saturday night.

to those working in or for the LGBT

community. There will be hors doeuvres
and a cash bar. For more information,
visit facebook.com/brotherhelpthyself.
The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.)
presents Rough Trade, a gay dance party,
tonight from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. DJ Sharon
White will spin tracks. Cover is $10. For
more details, visit dceagle.com.
Crystal Bowersox performs at the
Barns at Wolf Trap (1635 Trap Rd., Vienna,
Va.) tonight at 8 p.m. The bisexual singer
and American Idol alum will perform
with musician Ken Yates. Tickets range
from $26-28. For more information, visit
wolftrap.org.
Pilobolus presents Shadowland,
a multi-media performance, at George
Washington Lisner Auditorium (730 21st
St., N.W.) tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Jan.
29 at 2 p.m.The performance tells the story
of a teenage girls dreams using moving
screens, projected images and front-ofscreen choreography. Out director Mark
Fucik leads the creative direction. Tickets
range from $25-45. For more details, visit
washingtonperformingarts.org.
Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts CTRL
tonight from 10 p.m.-3:30 a.m. DJ Adam
Koussari-Amin, DJ Je Prior and DJ Devon
Trotter will play a mix of disco, pop, hiphop and 90s. Drag show starts at 10:30
p.m. Cover is $12. For more information,
visit towndc.com.

SUNDAY, JAN. 29
Fantom Comics (2010 P St., N.W.)
hosts a queer book club today from
2-4 p.m. The club will be discussing Kim

& Kim, a comic featuring queer and

transgender women. The club will also
Skype with writer Magdalene Visaggio.
For more information, visit facebook.
com/fantomcomics.
Nellies Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.)
hosts a drag brunch today with shows
at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. For more
information, visit nelliessportsbar.com.

MONDAY, JAN. 30
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.

TUESDAY, JAN. 31
SMYAL (410 7th St., S.E.) hosts a
transgender and non-binary support
group today from 5-7 p.m. For more
details, visit smyal.org.
Number Nine (1435 P St., N.W.) hosts
a two-for-one happy hour today from
5-9 p.m. Admission is free. For more
information, visit numberninedc.com.
Republic (6939 Laurel Ave., Takoma
Park, Md.) hosts Alegre Happy Hour,
an LGBT happy hour, today from
5-7 p.m. For more information, visit

republictakoma.com.
The Harlem Gospel Choir sings Adele at
Howard Theatre (620 T St., N.W.) tonight
at 8 p.m. The choir brings together a
group of singers and musicians from
black churches in the Harlem, New York
and Tri-State areas. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Show begins at 8. General admission
tickets are $22 in advance and $25 day
of show. VIP seating is $45. Details at
thehowardtheatre.com.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1
SMYAL hosts an open mic night today
from 5-7 p.m. Gay youth can come to talk
openly about the issues they face with their
sexual orientation or gender identity. For
more information, visit smyal.org.
Bookmen D.C., an informal mens
gay literature group, discusses What
Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell at
the Tenleytown Library (4450 Wisconsin
Ave., N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. All are
welcome. For details, visit bookmendc.
blogspot.com.
The Tom Davoren Social Bridge
Club meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the
Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for social
bridge. No partner needed. For more
information, call 301-345-1571.

THURSDAY, FEB. 2
Bachelors Mill (1104 8th St., S.E.)
presents Wow Factor, a weekly dance
party, tonight from 6-10 p.m. There will
be drink specials all night. DJ Money will
spin tracks. There is no cover. For more
details, visit bachelorsmill.com.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

S P O RTI N I N D. C.

J A N U A R Y 27, 2017 31

PHOTO BY KEVIN MAJOROS

ADEBAYO KATIITI, front row, right, with teammates and friends at the International Gay & Lesbian
Aquatics world championships in Edmonton in August, 2016.

Ugandan athlete receives

refugee status in Canada
By KEVIN MAJOROS
Over the past year, the Washington
Blade has followed the story of ve LGBT
Ugandan swimmers who were chasing the
dream of representing their country at the
International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics world
championships in Edmonton last August.
During the many new conferences and
panels that the swimmers attended after
arriving in Edmonton, it became clear
that despite the challenges they faced at
home in the Ugandan LGBT community,
they were focused on raising awareness
and creating change in their country. They
would take their new life experiences
back with them and continue to ght the
persecution that is rampant in Uganda.
However, when it was time for the
Uganda Kuchus Aquatic Team to return to
Uganda after a week of competition, only
four swimmers showed up at the airport.
Just a few days before the group left to
y to Edmonton, two of the swimmers had
been sitting in a jail cell in Uganda after
being arrested at a Pride event. Adebayo
Katiiti was one of those swimmers
and after he arrived in Edmonton, the
threatening messages from family
members began to arrive from home.
Katiiti, who is a trans man, was told
that if he returned to Uganda, he would
be killed. It wasnt until the morning of his
ight that he decided to stay in Canada
and request asylum.
After receiving support and assistance
from multiple churches and the LGBT
community of Edmonton, Katiiti received
refugee status last November. His work
permit has also been secured and he
will begin the process of obtaining
permanent residency which will take up
to 18 months.
A lifelong athlete, Katiiti has immersed
himself in the Edmonton sports
community while the process is ongoing.
He is playing in a womens rec soccer

league and is the top scorer on the team.

He is also still training in the swimming
pool and has tried his hand at two new
sports, handball and oor hockey.
I havent found work yet though I am
trying to nd something sports related,
Katiiti says. I was working with a sports
association before and I would like to
do the same here, especially with LGBTfriendly people.
In the meantime, he is receiving a
stipend from the Alberta government
which is enough to cover his rent and
bus pass with the remaining help coming
from St Pauls United Church and the
LGBT community.
I am still looking for my path, Katiiti
says. I eventually will need to go back to
school to make myself more employable.
Finding that path in a new country
will be dicult, but Katiiti has remained
positive. He is dating and has just started
attending meetings with a trans support
group. He is also playing co-ed soccer with
the Edmonton Sport & Social Club where
he sometimes gets to play as a male.
Though the LGBT community, St Pauls
United Church and the Mennonite Centre
for Newcomers have been champions in
his journey thus far, he has not received
the same support from other locals. A
recent story that appeared on Global
News was lled with negative rhetoric in
the comments section.
I hear things like, You are not supposed
to be here, Katiiti says. Go back to your
own country.
He is not deterred by those comments
though as Canada has oered him an
opportunity to be free and start a new
life. He has dreams like anyone else
and one day hopes to be able to create
an organization to help refugees in
Edmonton as well as to oer hope to the
LGBT community in Uganda.
As for that long Canadian winter, he is
still adjusting and making the best of it.
I had never seen snow before and
there is so much of it here, Katiiti says,
laughing. At 22 years old, I have made
my rst snowman and it wont be my last.

Sign up for one of our knit or crochet classes!

Fairlington United Methodist ChUrCh

3900 King Street, Alexandria, VA fairlingtonumc.org

Join Us for Reconciling Ministry Sunday

Guest Preacher: David McAllister-Wilson
President, Wesley Theological Seminary
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2017
9:30 a.m. and 11:00a.m.

Celebrating Four Years as a Reconciling Congregation

Welcoming Everyone No Exceptions!

Visit www.RWDMV.com for Menus, Reservation, & Diner Rewards

Enjoy Fine European Wines During

Winter Restaurant Week!

JANUARY 30FEBRUARY 5, 2017

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

3 2 J A NUA RY 2 7 , 2017

P H O T O S BY MO N I CA BA U T I ST A

The Washington Blade held its Love Trumps Hate Rainbow Bash at Town Danceboutique on Thursday, Jan. 19.
Proceeds from the event were slated to go to the Anacostia Watershed Society, La Clinica Del Pueblo and the Washington Blade Foundation.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

A D V I CE

Since Trump won, I feel

like we are getting
sucked back in time

MICHAEL RADKOWSKY, Psy.D. is a licensed

psychologist who works with gay individuals
and couples in D.C. He can be found online
at personalgrowthzone.com. All identifying
information has been changed for reasons
of condentiality. Have a question? Send it to
Michael@personalgrowthzone.com.

DEAR MICHAEL,
Im 16 years old, gay, a junior in high
school and scared about what is going to
happen to us under this new government.
Ive lived in a red state my whole life,
not the most gay-positive atmosphere
even in my hometown but my public
school has a gay-straight alliance that
has been a lifesaver. It gave me a safe
and protected place to come out. Having
other kids to talk to and also our advisor
(a teacher) helped me feel Im just ne.
I got a lot of support from them that
helped me come out to my parents, who
have been supportive.
Even if some people in town are
homophobic, for as long as Ive known Im
gay (ve years) Ive known its really ne to
be gay from TV and from our government,
starting with the President. Of course Ive
heard stories of the old days when people
had to be in the closet and faced all kinds
of discrimination. Im grateful to have
been growing up in a time when weve
gotten equal rights.
My phone screensaver is a picture of
the White House lit up in rainbow colors
for the legalization of gay marriage.
Since Trump won I feel like we are
getting sucked back in time. Its so scary to
hear about all these homophobic people
he is appointing to run the government.
If the federal government is against gays,
Im afraid that America will turn against
us again and we will no longer be able to
live openly in peace. Im thinking theyd
denitely shut down our group at school.
I cant really focus and Im not sure
what to do.
MICHAEL REPLIES:
Good news: Youre in for an adventure
that is going to help you become a
stronger, more resilient human being.

J A N U A R Y 27, 2017 33

McLEAN COMMUNITY

LAYERS

COMPANY

And, you have the opportunity to

learn some lessons that are way more
valuable than anything you can learn in
a classroom.
Going forward, your job isnt to be a
compliant kid who does whatever the
grownups tell you to do. Your job is
to start guring out what you believe
is the right thing to do, regardless of
what others around you may think and
whether or not they say its OK.
If you take this path, youre going
to develop a strong sense of integrity,
Book By
meaning you will have an internal guide
GeorGe Furth
for living a decent life, a life that you
Music and Lyrics By
respect. This is a recipe for having selfesteem, which, not incidentally, is exactly
stephen sondheiM
what anti-gay bigots want to take from
aLden theatre
you.
McLean coMMunity center
So do your best not to panic. Theres
no point in being afraid of bigots. You
dont want to give them any power over
www.McLean pLayers.orG
you. Remind yourself that they are lying,
hateful fools (because, really, they are).
Stay standing and keep moving forward.
If anyone tries to shut down your
gay-straight alliance, continue to meet.
Dont let administrators or anyone else
block you from banding together and
supporting each other. Im sure you know
that when LGBT youth absorb the hateful
Some think I should dress more like
message that you are defective, you are
a woman. Some think I should dress
at high risk for depression, self-harm and
more like a man.
suicide. Having a supportive peer group
helps inoculate you from self-destructive
thoughts and behaviors. So stay united.
If your school gives you a hard time,
call the local paper. And then call a
national paper. Do not stay silent in the
face of hate. Put bigotry on the defensive.
Non-violent resistance can be a tool of
awesome power.
And remember that you are not
facing this alone. You have many, many
allies across the United States. But its
ADVERTISING
up to you and me and all of us to keep
#1
ISSUE DATE:
SALES REPRESENTATIVE:
everyones eyes openPROOF
by speaking
up for
Please treat me the same way any
honesty, decency and tolerance.
REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must
be submitted
within 24 hours
of theto
datebe
of treated:
person
would
want
proof.
Proof
will
be
considered
final
and
will
be
submitted
for
publication
if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of
You also have an ally in GLSEN (glsen.
the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week
of publication.Brown
naff
pitts respect.
REVISIONS
with
courtesy
and
omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is
org), an amazing organization
that works
responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users
REDESIGN
can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or
Discrimination
on gender
TEXTanti-LGBT
REVISIONS
any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations
as infringement or based
misapporpriation
of anyidentity and
to keep schools free from
copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair
IMAGE/LOGO REVISIONS
expression
is illegal in law
theorDistrict
competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation
of anti-discrimination
regulation,of Columbia.
bullying and harassment.NO
If REVISIONS
you need
or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the
ADVERTISER SIGNATURE
washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington
harmless
from any
and allthe target
By signing
If blade)
you think
youve
been
of this proof you are agreeing to your cont
help, reach out to them.
liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred
washington blade newspaper. This includes but is n
by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertisers breach ofdiscrimination,
any of the foregoing representations
payment and insertion schedule.
visit
www.ohr.dc.gov
and warranties.
You, along with so many of us, are being
or call (202) 727-4559.
handed an opportunity to decide how we
want to respond to tough, threatening
circumstances. Standing up for what you
believe in isnt always easy, but at times
GLBT
AFFAIRS
like these, its what living an authentic life
is really all about. Yes, a new wave of antigay policy is rolling in, but we certainly
dont have to drown. We dont even have
Show your support! Spread word of the #TransRespect
campaign by photographing this ad and sharing on Twitter.
to let ourselves be knocked o balance.
Stay strong. We are all in this together.

FeB. 3-19

I may not fit some

ideas about gender,
and I am a proud
part of DC.

OFFICE OF

3 4 J A NUA RY 2 7 , 2017

W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

MOVE TO.....SAN DIEGO WHERE YOU ARE WELCOMED WITH OPEN ARMS!
Check out this fabulous beach side Villa Monaco perched high on a private corner lot Approx. 4,000 Sq.
Ft. 4 plus bedrooms and plenty of room for the in-laws or extended family to come visit. Close to downtown,
airport, and the best San Diego has to offer. Price ranged from $2,495,000 to $2,695,000
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGR_tAYlUg
For more info, contact Anna Marie, Sand and Sea Realty, your San Diego expert!

ANNA MARIE BARNARD

619-504-7129 | annamarie@sandsearealty.com
www.sandsearealty.com
Women Owned Real Estate Brokerage, 25+ Years Experience

LOCAL
LOU ChIbbARO JR. has reported
on the LGBT civil rights movement
and the LGBT community for
more than 30 years, beginning as a
freelance writer and later as a staff
reporter and currently as Senior
News Reporter for the Washington
Blade. He has chronicled LGBT-related developments
as they have touched on a wide range of social, religious,
and governmental institutions, including the White House,
Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, the military, local
and national law enforcement agencies and the Catholic
Church. Chibbaro has reported on LGBT issues and LGBT
participation in local and national elections since 1976.
He has covered the AIDS epidemic since it first surfaced
in the early 1980s. In June 2011, Chibbaro became the
first reporter from the LGBT press to be inducted into the
Society of Professional Journalists D.C. Professional Chapter
Hall of Fame, which recognizes journalists of distinction who
have worked in the news business for 25 years or longer.

POLITICAL/NATIONAL
ChRIS JOhNSON is Chief Political
& White House Reporter for the
Washington Blade. Johnson attends
the daily White House press briefings
and is a member of the White House
Correspondents Association. Hes
worked with the Washington Blade
since 2008 and was a founding employee of the paper
when it relaunched under local ownership in 2009. Before
coming to the Blade, Johnson covered defense issues for
Inside Washington Publishers and previously wrote for
MIRS newsletter, a Lansing-based publication covering
state political news in Michigan. A Michigan native,
Johnson graduated with honors from the University of
Michigan in 2003 with a degree in English and Creative
Writing. In 2013, the Blade was admitted to the White
House Press Pool with Johnson taking the lead in
covering the president. This marked the first time a gay
newspaper has been invited to join ranks of mainstream
outlets covering the president.

INTERNATIONAL
MIChAEL K. LAVERS has been
a staff writer for the Washington
Blade since May 2012. The
passage of Marylands samesex marriage law, the HIV/AIDS
epidemic, the burgeoning
LGBT rights movement in Latin America and the
consecration of gay New Hampshire Bishop V.
Gene Robinson are among the many stories he
has covered since his career began in 2002. Lavers
work has appeared in the EDGE Media Network,
Fire Island News, Village Voice, Huffington Post
and other media outlets. He has also discussed
LGBT-specific issues on the BBC, New York
Times, News Channel 8, WNYC in New York City
other mainstream and LGBT publications. Lavers
holds a degree in journalism and Spanish from
the University of New Hampshire.

W A SH I NGTO N B LA DE.C OM

J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 3 5

REALESTATE

Renovation litigation: Heres how to avoid it

Gather information,
compare bids for
best results
By LARRY JACOBS
Ive been a lawyer for 42 years now and
I have represented thousands of individuals and businesses. But among the people
who know me well, the real milestone is
the fact that I have bought and renovated
eight houses during that same time. During just the past 17 years, my husband
and I have owned three of the houses on
that list and are getting ready to start our
downsizing odyssey by renovating a condo. That will make it number nine.
Not surprisingly, Ive learned a lot about
the renovation process and how all too frequently it can intersect with the legal system. Ive represented many homeowners
in their disputes with contractors and suppliers, as well as many suppliers and contractors that have gotten into disputes with
homeowners. It just goes with the territory.
Part of the reason for these problems
is that home renovations are not only expensive. They are an area in which most
people do not have in-depth technical
knowledge. (Quick: what are the three
main types of kitchen cabinets and what
are the differences?) Friends talk to me
about renovating kitchens (my particular
specialty), and ask me how much it should
cost. My standard response is pick a number between $5,000 and $500,000 and you
can spend that amount. The trick is to
figure out what you really need, who can

There are laws governing the home

improvement industry, but they vary by
state.

supply it at a reasonable price, and get the

job done on the schedule that you want.
The lack of clarity and specificity on those
three points is what frequently leads to
disputes and sometimes to litigation.
1. What do you really need? The rise of
HGTV has broadened awareness of design
choices, while creating the false impression that renovation is easy. If that were
the case, many of the shows wouldnt
feature professional interior designers
guiding customers through the process.

Starting with a knowledgeable designer

and having a clear understanding of that
persons capabilities and costs is the best
way I know of to avoid problems down the
road. Far too many people start the process in a big box store where the level of
skill and attention to detail is just not the
same. Frequently, the resulting contract
is not explicit and does not even comply
with home-improvement law. Maryland,
for example, prohibits any company or
individual providing home-improvement
materials that are going to be installed or
related labor from demanding a deposit
of more than one-third of the total cost of
the project. I have seen this law violated
by big and small companies alike. Its in
place for your protection and could cost
them their license. Run for the door if a
store or contractor asks for more down
and/or if they dont include their homeimprovement license number on everything. Of course you should deal only
with a licensed contractor. If youre not
sure, you can check their status online.
In Maryland, the agency is DLLR, in D.C.
DCRA and in Virginia its DPOR.
2.
Home-improvement
contracts
should state the cost for the materials
and the labor separately. Dont let the
supplier lump those two numbers together or you will have no way of knowing whether the charges are reasonable.
While its difficult to compare the cost of
labor, its very easy to do that for materials. Virtually every component, whether
its a light fixture, an appliance or a piece
of tile has a model number. You should
always insist that they be specified.
3. Home-improvement contracts are

also required to specify the start date and

at least an estimated completion date.
Of course, if youve been through this
before, you already know that construction schedules are virtually meaningless.
Ive been involved in dozens of projects
myself and I actually cant remember one
that was finished on schedule. Its just
the nature of the beast. However, if your
contract is open-ended and provides no
penalties for running significantly over
schedule, then youre sunk. Contractors
hate penalty clauses but it is the best way
of holding their feet to the fire. However,
if you specify Italian cabinets or some
other exotic material, you must allow for
the fact that it may take months to arrive
through no fault of your contractor. Sure,
Jonathan and Drew can seemingly complete the largest whole house renovation
in a mere seven weeks, but that is not the
real world. If thats what you expect, you
are bound to be sorely disappointed.
Take the time to gather information,
compare bids, understand every item on
the proposal, and ask questions before
you sign a contract. Its the best way to get
you into your renovated home with minimal hassle and stay out of court.
This column is not intended to provide legal
advice, but only general guidance that may or
may not be applicable to your specific situation.

Larry Jacobs has helped hundreds of samesex 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 D.C. Learn more at www.
PartnerPlanning.com.

A NEW HOME FOR A NEW YEAR!

REMODELING CONTRACTING BATHROOMS KITCHENS DECK DESIGN STAIRWELLS

Convenient to Transportation
TRANSLATION:
Located on I-395 entrance ramp.

SARATOGA CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION - Alan Korobkin (Contractor)

Office: 703-734-6350 Fax: 703-734-6351
Email: ak@saratogaconstructioncorp.com www.saratogaconstructioncorp.com

VALERIE M. BLAKE, Associate Broker, GRI

Dupont Circle Ofce 202.243.7700 (o) 202.246.8602 (c)

Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com www.DCHomeQuest.com

3 6 J A NUA RY 2 7 , 2017

W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

920 I ST R EET, N W # 6 1 1

Beautiful apartment at CityCenter! Stunning corner unit 2BR/2BA

apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows, wide-plank white oak floors,
Molteni closet systems, and caesarstone countertops throughout. 2
private terraces and 2-car reserved parking plus storage. The building
features 24-hr concierge, 2 rooftop areas, large fitness room, yoga
room, and party room with wine bar. Offered at $1,532,000

1177 22N D ST, N W # 1 E

Gorgeous 2BR+Den/2.5BA 2-level apartment at 22West w/ private

garden patio on the New Hampshire Ave side of the building. Features a
gourmet kitchen w/ granite counters, a LR with soaring 2-story ceiling,
floor to ceiling windows, 2BR suites, and a separate den. Reserved
2-car parking. The building offers 24-hr concierge, rooftop pool, and
fitness room. Offered at $1,349,900

1177 22N D ST, N W # 3 H

Beautiful 1BR/1.5BA apartment at 22West renovated in 2013 with new

marble kitchen countertops, marble baths, and refinished hardwood
floors. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room and bedroom face
the preferred New Hampshire Ave side of the building. 1-car reserved
garage parking. Building has 24-hr concierge, rooftop pool, fitness
room, and party room. Offered at $995,000

1155 23R D ST, N W # 3 M

Beautiful 1BR+Den (or second bedroom)/2BA Ritz apartment featuring

floor-to-ceiling windows, Brazilian cherry wood floors, kitchen with
granite counters and top-of-the-line appliances, closets with custom
built-ins, custom moldings, and marble baths. Building offers 24-hr
concierge, doormen, and valet parking. Offered at $929,000

PAT R I C K C H A U V I N
BRAD HOUSE

MOBILE: 202.256.9595
OFFICE: 202.448.9002
PAT R I C K @ C H A U V I N H O U S E . C O M

Compass is a licensed real estate brokerage that abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws.
All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is
compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in
price, condition, sale, or withdraw without notice. All measurements and square footages
are approximate. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Compass is licensed
as Compass Real Estate in DC and as Compass in Virginia and Maryland.
202.386.6330 | 301.298.1001 | 202.545.6900 | 202.448.9002

DEADLINES

All Classified Ads

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

SHARE ADS ARE FREE.

Place your housing to share
ad online at washingtonblade.com
and the ad prints free in the paper and online.*
*25 words or less prints free - anything more is $1/word.

W A SH I N GTO NB LA DE.C OM
J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 3 7

Place your
housing to share
ad online at
washingtonblade.com
and the ad prints free in
the paper and online.*
*25 words or less prints free - anything more is $1/word.

MASSAGE / CERTIFIED
VOTED #1 BEST Of Gay DC
Thank you for support!
CMT in Arlington Sun-Tue
and DCWed, Fri, Sat. Call
or text Gary at 301-7041158 or visit http://www.
mymassagebygary.com/.
BEST MASSAGE by male
certified therapist.
Soothing Swedish; deeptissue; stress & pain
release. Safe Atmosphere
in Annandale, VA, almost
right off I-395. Days/Eve/
Wkend. In/Out calls.
Hotels welcome. Happy
Holiday! Call Marval (703)
568-6348.

COUNSELING
LGBTQ AFFIRMING
THERAPY at Dupont Circle
Individuals, couples,
families, adolescents.
Over 15 years serving
the community. Mike
Giordano, LICSW. 202/4606384 mike.giordano.
msw@gmail.com. www.
WhatIHearYouSaying.
com.

COUNSELING FOR
GAY MEN. Individual/
couple counseling
w/ volunteer peer
counselor. Gay Mens
Counseling Community
since 1973. 202-580-8861.
gaymenscounseling.
org. No fees, donation
requested.

REAL ESTATE

EMPLOYMENT
Hiring Reentry Coach
- Northern VA nonprofit seeking qualified
candidates for Reentry
Coach position. Contact
info@oaronline.org for
more information.
WHOLISTIC SERVICES,
INC. seeking Full
Time Direct Support
Professionals to assist
intellectually disabled
adolescents & adults
with behavioral health
issues in group homes &
day services throughout
DC. Requirements 1
year exp., valid drivers
license, able to lift 50-75
lbs, complete training
program, become DDS
Med Certified within 4
months of hire, ability to
pass security background
check. Associates
degree preferred. For
more information,
please contact the
Human Resources (HR)
Department at
(202) 347-5334.

LOCKER ROOM ATTENDANTS

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

LEGAL SERVICES
ADOPTION & ASSISTED
REPRODUCTIVE Law
Attorney Jennifer
Fairfax represents
clients in DC, MD & VA.
interested in adoption
or ART matters.301221-9651,JFairfax@
jenniferfairfax.com.
FULL SERVICE LAW FIRM
Representing the GLBT community
for over 35 years. Family adoptions,
estate planning, immigration,
employment. (301) 891-2200.Silber,
Perlman, Sigman & Tilev, P.A. www.
SP-Law. com.

TELLEM YOU saw their ad

in the Blade classifieds!

PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIEDS ONLINE

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIEDS ONLINE

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

CLEANING
LIMOUSINES
KASPERS LIVERY
SERVICE Since 1987.
Gay & Veteran Owner/Operator.
2016 Luxury BMW 750Li Sedan.
Properly Licensed &
Livery Insured in DC.
www.KasperLivery.com.
Phone 202-554-2471.

FERNANDOS CLEANING:
Residential & Commercial
Cleaning, Reasonable
Rates, Free Estimates,
Routine, 1-Time, Move-In/
Move-Out. (202) 234-7050,
202-486-6183.

PHOTOGRAPHY
STEVE OTOOLE
PHOTOGRAPHY Fine
Art Photographer
for Portraits &
Weddings.Check out
my new website - www.
steveotoolephotography.
com. Specializing in
Bears & Big men.
Steve 703-861-4422.

MAID TO CLEAN Gay owned,

awesome, trustworthy & reliable!
Serving Alexandria & Arlington.
Mention this ad for $50 off.
Maidtoclean.com. (703) 299-0101.

SIMPLE
AFFORDABLE
PROVEN RESULTS
CALL TODAY TOPLACE YOUR AD

202.747.2077

DAVE LLOYD & ASSOCIATES

Top 1% Nationwide
NVAR Life Member Top Producder

703-593-3204

WWW.DAVELLOYD.NET
ENTHUSIASTICALLY
SERVING DC & VIRGINIA

DEADLINES

SHARE ADS ARE FREE.

Place your housing to share
ad online at washingtonblade.com
and the ad prints free in the paper and online.*
*25 words or less prints free - anything more is $1/word.

3 8 J A NUA RY 2 7 , 2017

ENHANCE YOUR
AD WITH OUR
UPGRADES
PICTURES
BOLD TEXT
LARGE TEXT
COLOR
AND MORE
CONTACT US AT
202-747-2077

All Classified Ads

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

W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

Always FREE to listen and reply to ads!

MOVERS
OUR GUYS AROUND
TOWN MOVERS.
Professional Moving
& Storage. Let Our
Guys Do The Heavy
Lifting. Mention the
Blade for 10% off of
our regular rates. Call
today 202.734.3080. www.
ourguysatmovers.com.

Playmates or soul mates,

youll find them
on MegaMates
Washington:

TREE SERVICE

TOP RATED MASSEUR

BRANCHES TREE EXPERT

Company. Full service
certified arborists,
pruning, insect &
disease diagnosis,
treatment & removal.
301-589-6181. www.
BranchesTreeExperts.
com. Angies List
Award Winner.

Custom bodywork!
Exceptional deep tissue
& sensual bodywork
for total stress relief in
private studio on the Hill.
Call Erik 202-544-5688. In
calls only! No texts! Intro
Special $99.00.

SHARE / VA
DUMFRIES PRIVATE ROOM with
bath in townhouse, utilities included,
kitchen privileges, laundry, includes
internet hookup, poz friendly, off
street parking. $500.00 plus deposit
and references. Email: wmenear@
gmail.com.

LINDEN, VA GWM,
Prefer mature,

male. 3 BR/2 BA home

on Blue Mountain with 2
LRs, WIFI, small pool and
hot tub soon, 2 garages,
carport. Great outdoor
living area.
rphlipper@aol.com.

BODYWORK
AFFORDABLE MASSAGE by
friendly, intuitive Latin male, in
relaxing, priv. studio just 15 min
from DC inArlington. Plenty of
Parking.Same day appts, 703-4019093 or a2006mx@yahoo.com.

EROTIC SWEDISH MASSAGE

- healthy clean cut guy, 61, 160 lbs,
Dupont Circle, massage table, noon
to 1:00 a.m., indulge your body. $70
for 1 hour. Bill 202-728-0238. No text
messages.

THE MAGIC TOUCH: Swedish,

Massage or Deep Tissue. Appts 202486-6183, Low Rates, 24/7, In-Calls.

LUCAS IS BACK
5 9, 170 lbs, 36 yo, Latino Masseur
offering Swedish to Sensual massage
on my heated table, in a private
atmosphere. In/out, Hotels welcome,
Parking Available, 24/7. Call Lucas,
240-462-8669.

(202) 448-0824
www.megamates.com 18+

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

proud winner of
a 2013 & 2014
american graphic
design award

J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 3 9