JUNE 09, 2017 VOLUME 48 ISSUE 23 AMERICAS LGBTQ NEWS SOURCE WASHINGTONBLADE.

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W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 03

0 4 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
Record crowds expected for Capital Pride, Equality March
Protest group plans
separate events; fedl
agencies continue
to participate
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
Organizers of D.C.s annual Capital
Pride parade and festival scheduled for
June 10 and 11 and more than a dozen
related events such as dance parties, art
exhibits and D.C. Latino Pride events that
began June 3 were expected to draw as
many as 200,000 people or more from
the Mid-Atlantic region.
And with the national Equality March
for Unity and Pride scheduled to kick o
near the White House on Sunday, June 11,
many local activists say the total number
of people participating in all of these
events could swell to several hundred
thousand or more.
As of early this week, organizers of the
Equality March said they were uncertain
about how many people would turn out
for that event and continued to make
appeals to supporters for nancial
contributions to pay for the logistical
arrangements needed for a rally on the
Mall, where the march will end.
Equality March organizers announced
on Wednesday a plan to hold a rally
at the conclusion of the march on the
National Mall. During the rally, speakers
will address the marchs various platform
issues, from racial justice and liberation
for transgender individuals to youth
empowerment and reproductive justice.
Speakers and introducers at the rally
include: Sara Ramirez, actor, singer and
activist; Asia Kate Dillon, actor; Mandy
Carter, co-founder of the National Black
Justice Coalition; Dr. Imani Woody,
founding director and CEO, Marys House
for Older Adults; Aurora Lloyd, True
Colors Fund Youth Fellow; Doug Kimmel,
founder of SAGE; Chase Strangio, sta
attorney with the ACLUs LGBT & AIDS
Project; Charlie Carver, actor; Jason
Collins, NBA player, activist; NBA Global
Ambassador; Nicole Murray Ramirez,
National Co-Chair, International Court
System, U.S.A., Canada and Mexico. More
speakers and introducers were expected
to be announced later in the week. Visit
washingtonblade.com for updates.
David Bruinooge and the other
Equality March co-chairs announced on
Tuesday that the march would be holding
a Queer Resistance Bootcamp on the day
of the march to train march participants
from other cities as well as local activists
in skills for community organizing and
resistance needed to keep their activism
going long after the march.
With this Bootcamp, attendees will
This year could see record crowds as the Equality March for Unity and Pride dovetails with
Capital Pride.
receive evidence-based information from
seasoned, successful activists to organize
their communities to win full equality,
said Khadijah Tribble, a D.C.-based activist
involved in organizing the Equality March.
In a statement released on Tuesday,
organizers said the Queer Resistance
Bootcamp would be held in two sessions,
from 12-1 p.m. and from 3-5 p.m. at 755
8th St., N.W. in D.C.
Another potential unknown this year
is the size and amount of support for
several events planned by the recently
formed group No Justice No Pride, which
has criticized Capital Pride organizers
for not changing their events from a
celebration to a protest to reect the
changing political scene in 2017.
The group, which has called on Capital
Pride to drop many of its corporate
sponsors and to ban uniformed D.C.
police from participating in the parade
and festival, has announced plans for its
own march on Friday night, June 9, and
a 3 p.m. rally on Saturday, June, 10, at
McPherson Square in downtown D.C.
Postings on the groups Facebook
page show that a breakout group was
expected to leave the rally at 3:30 p.m.
and march toward the Capital Pride
Parade route, which will travel from
Dupont Circle through various streets to
its destination at 14th and R Streets, N.W.
One source familiar with No Justice No
Pride said the intention is not to disrupt
the Capital Pride Parade but to show
support for No Justice No Pride along the
parade route.
One night earlier, on June 9, No
Justice No Pride plans to lead another
march that will pass through the
most homonormative and wealthy
neighborhoods in D.C., according to one
of the groups Facebook postings. This is
a family friendly march, the posting says.
As of earlier this week the posting did
not disclose the route of the planned
march on Friday, June 9.
Capital Pride President Bernie Delia,
meanwhile, said he and his fellow
organizers of the Capital Pride events are
expecting a larger turnout than last year.
I think were in great shape, Delia told
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
the Washington Blade. We have a strong
team. Things have been well planned
and well executed and I think its going to
come o beautifully, he said.
He said he doesnt think people
will stay away due to concerns about
protesters led by No Justice No Pride or
others who have expressed objections to
what they said was business as usual
by Capital Pride in the face of fears of
assaults on LGBT rights from the Trump
administration.
I think people want to come, Delia
said. They want to participate. They want
to be together. We saw that last year. On
the day of the festival we had an increase
in the number of people. And I suspect
that we will have a larger number this
year than we did last year.
He was referring to the shocking news
on the night before last years Capital
Pride festival that a gunman had shot and
killed 49 people and wounded 53 more at
the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando. The
killer, who was shot to death by police on
the scene, made it known in phone calls
that he had targeted the nightclub in a
planned terrorist attack.
Some last year asked whether Capital
Pride should cancel its festival on grounds
that such a large gathering of LGBT people
so soon after the Pulse shooting rampage
could present a danger to participants.
But Delia announced that the festival
would take place as planned to give the
LGBT community a place to rally and
collectively mourn the loss of fellow LGBT
people in Orlando.
Although D.C. police stepped up their
presence at the festival, no incidents or
problems occurred and, as Delia said, a
greater number of people turned out.
This year, with the change over
from the strong LGBT support shown
in the past eight years of the Obama
administration to the uncertainty of the
Trump administration, Capital Pride
organizers have said a strong turnout
and a continued display of LGBT unity
and pride would deliver a strong message
that the community continues to demand
its full equal rights.
Delia has said those sentiments are
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
LO CA L N E W S
being carried out, among other ways, by
the selection of Unapologetically Proud
as the theme of this years Capital Pride
events.
Capital Pride Executive Director Ryan
Bos said well over 250 contingents were
expected to participate in Saturdays
parade, including a wide variety of LGBT
rights groups, both local and national.
Among the groups marching in the
parade for the rst time, Bos said, is
the local LGBT group Check It, whose
members had been involved in an LGBT
youth gang with that same name and who
transformed themselves into a business
enterprise to produce and sell clothing.
In whats being billed as a Capital Pride
rst, a Pride Block Party is set to take place
at 15th Street between Church Street and
P Street, N.W., along the parade route.
Entertainment, food and a beer garden
will be among the features of the block
party, according to an announcement in
the Pride Guide, a free publication that
lists all Pride events.
Similar to the past several years, a
number of U.S. government agencies will
have booths at the June 11 festival, which
will be on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.,
between 3rd and 7th St., N.W. Among
them are the FBI, the CIA, the Department
of Justice, the Oce of the Director of
National Intelligence and the Smithsonian
Institution. In past years, as was expected
this year, representatives of those
agencies displayed literature seeking
to recruit people attending the festival
to consider working for the agencies, a
development that many activists said was
unthinkable in the earlier years of the
LGBT rights movement.
Delia and Bos said they have not
seen a drop o in the number of federal
agencies participating in the parade or
festival this year because of the new
administration in the White House.
In addition to the exhibitors booths,
the festival this year will be the site of
the annual Capital Pride concert on the
festivals main stage near the U.S. Capitol.
Among the headliners scheduled to
perform are Miley Cyrus, Tinashe, Vassy
and The Pointer Sisters.
A full list of all the Capital Pride related
events can be viewed at capitalpride.org.
PRIDE COVERAGE INSIDE:
Pointer Sisters, Tinashe, VASSY to perform,
PAGES 41-52
Parade and festival maps,
PAGE 58
Festival stage schedule,
PAGE 62
Guide to Equality March for Unity and Pride,
CENTER SPREAD
No Justice No Pride plans events,
PAGE 66
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 05

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0 6 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
Pro-LGBT Delaware teacher forced out:
They were out to get her
Outraged students,
parents believe anti-LGBT
bias was motive
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
LEWES, Del. A highly acclaimed
teacher and theater director at a high
school in Delaware near Rehoboth Beach
who served as faculty adviser for the
schools Gay-Straight Alliance Club was
forced to submit her resignation earlier
this year based on what students and
parents believe to be anti-LGBT bias.
Martha Pfeier, who heads the theater
department at Cape Henlopen High School
in the city of Lewes, is scheduled to end
her seven-year stint at the school when the
spring 2017 semester ends on June 16.
Her departure follows a stormy two-
year period in which students, parents
and others who know Pfeier say she was
hounded by school administrators for what
her supporters say was her outspoken
support for the schools LGBT students in
her role as a committed straight ally.
They were out to get her for years, said
a former school employee who spoke on
condition of not being identied. I think
it was pretty much a trumped up charge
against her.
The former employee was referring
to a decision by the superintendent
of the Cape Henlopen School District,
Robert Fulton, to charge Pfeier with
negligence and other alleged violations
for not escorting a group of nine theater
students on a bus trip home from New
York City last December, where she took
them to see a Broadway play.
Parents who know Pfeier said she was
also charged with disloyalty and willful
and persistent insubordination, charges
that the parents believe are linked to
Pfeiers past actions supporting LGBT
students in a manner deemed overly
aggressive by the school administration
and school district in conservative-leaning
Sussex County, which was won by Donald
Trump in last years presidential election.
Pfeier declined to be interviewed
for this story, saying she fears further
repercussions from school district
ocials if she were to talk to the media.
But students and parents who know
her, including Linda Gregory, president
of the Lewes-Rehoboth Beach chapter
of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and
Gays, or PFLAG, told the Washington
Blade the superintendents allegations
were inaccurate and misleading.
According the parents and students
MARTHA PFEIFFER (right) was forced to resign from her position as a teacher and the GSA
adviser at Cape Henlopen High School in Delaware.
familiar with the New York trip, Pfeier
became stricken with severe back pain
while in New York that was linked to a
serious injury from a car accident that
occurred several years earlier.
When she determined she could not ride
on the bus going back to Delaware, students
and parents said, Pfeier arranged for an
adult chaperone and another teacher to
accompany the students from the theater
PHOTO COURTESY OF PFEIFFER
to the bus, which was parked a little over a
block away, and on the bus for the return
trip to Delaware.
There was a group of parent
chaperones and they had another
teacher with them, Gregory told the
Blade. And so she was in pain and she
told the mother chaperone who was
in her group, Im in pain. I need to take
medication and I know you will be able to
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
LO CA L N E W S
nd the bus and get the kids back on the
bus, Gregory recalled Pfeier telling her.
So she did not ride home on the bus
with the students because she couldnt,
Gregory said. She was in that much pain.
And these were 17 year olds and 18 year
olds anyway, said Gregory, who noted
that at no time were the students left
unescorted by an adult.
Gregory and other parents familiar
with the New York trip said they were
shocked when they learned that at
Fultons request, the Cape Henlopen
district school board voted to re Pfeier
for cause at a school board meeting in
January. The vote to re her came after
Fulton suspended her while ocials
were conducting an investigation into her
handling of the New York trip, sources
familiar with the school said.
Sources familiar with the school also
said that Fultons action came after the
schools principal, Brian Donahue, looked
into the New York trip matter and did not
recommend that Pfeier be red.
After consulting with representatives
of the Cape Henlopen Education
Association, which serves as a teachers
union, Pfeier reportedly agreed to an
oer by the school district that allowed
her to resign and retain her benets and
teaching license, which could have been
in jeopardy if she were red.
The resignation oer came while Pfeier
was suering from sharp abdominal
pain that a few days later was diagnosed
as acute appendicitis that required
emergency surgery for an appendectomy.
Friends said that in the midst of the
appendicitis attack she had to decide
whether to accept the resignation oer or
reject it and request a hearing to appeal
the ring by a deadline one day later.
Under what Pfeier considered duress
she accepted the resignation oer, people
familiar with the situation said.
Fulton initially wanted her to leave
immediately, but according to parents
and others who know Pfeier, Pfeier
argued that if she left in January there
would be no one available to direct and
coach the students for the plays and
shows that were planned for the spring
semester, including the musical Aida.
In the past year other shows performed
by the students under Pfeiers direction
included Romeo and Juliet, Laramie
Project, and The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow: An Evening with Poe.
Shortly before the school board voted
to re Pfeier, one of her theater students
won rst place in the Delaware state
CONTINUES ON PAGE 08
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM T:7.25 JUNE 09, 2017 07

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0 8 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
Pro-LGBT teacher forced to resign from Rehoboth-area school
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 06
division of the English Speaking Unions
National Shakespeare Competition, which
was held Jan. 28 at Cape Henlopen High.
Pfeier has been credited with successfully
coaching the student, senior Hannah Lowe,
who became the third Cape Henlopen
theater student in the past six years, under
Pfeiers coaching, to win rst place in the and they dont like it and they dont like
state ESU Shakespeare competition.
School ocials a short time later
agreed to allow Pfeier to retain her
job until the end of the spring semester,
prompting some parents of theater
students to question the legitimacy of the
forced resignation.
Ginny Collins, the mother of two
daughters who have attended Cape
Henlopen High School, called the allegations
that Pfeier was negligent for allegedly
abandoning students on the New York eld
trip a complete and utter falsehood.
This is a teacher who goes above and
beyond in her job to help these kids, said
Collins. She stands up for these kids, gay
and transgender and bisexual.
Kathryn Robinson, another parent of a
student at Cape Henlopen High, said she
got to know Pfeier over the past year
since her son became involved in the
theater program.
When it comes to the theater, shes
done so much for the kids, Robinson
said. These kids look up to her. I cant
even express how much that teacher
means to a lot of those students, and the
reason why theyre where they are and
the colleges theyve been accepted to are
because of her.
Added Robinson, And you know
they denitely 100 percent have it in for
her. They just absolutely dont like her.
Robinson was referring to the school
administration and school district ocials.
When asked by the Blade to respond to
claims by parents and students that Pfeier
was forced to resign over false allegations
in connection with the New York eld trip,
Fulton said he could not disclose details
surrounding the resignation due to privacy
rules related to personnel matters.
Ms. Pfeier submitted a letter
requesting to resign from her teaching
position and our Board of Education
approved her request, Fulton said in an
email. The resignation will occur at the
end of the school year, he said.
Your additional questions are related
to district personnel and because of the
privacy rights of employees, I cannot
comment on them, Fulton said.
Students come to
Pfeiers defense
More than a half-dozen students
currently enrolled at Cape Henlopen High
School who identify as LGBT and who
know Pfeier as theater students or in her Earlier in the school year she asked
role as faculty adviser for the Gay-Straight the class, Who is gay? Lets get it out in
Alliance Club reached out to the Blade the open, Jones told the Blade. I raised
to express their concern over Pfeiers my hand and a friend raised her hand,
impending departure from the school. she said.
I believe their actual reason for ring She then said I should get electro
her is because all of the support she shock therapy because homosexuality
gives for all of us, that she advocates leads to pedophilia and murder and that
for us, that she always sticks up for us its wrong, Jones continued. She said
being a lesbian is one of the most disease-
her, said Nathaniel Nate Linton, a 10th- ridden lifestyles. She said that to me, too.
grade theater student at the school who She also told me I should not be gay
identies as gay. because God would not want it.
And theyre against her, Linton Justin Jones, a psychiatrist and father
continued. And frankly I feel like they of Bella Jones, a Cape Henlopen High
are against us. So I feel them ring Ms. freshman who are not related to Sondra
Pfeier is a way of kind of silencing us, Jones, said he decided to contact school
trying to put us down, condemning us. ocials after his daughter and other
Lintons boyfriend, Scott Nye, a Cape Cape students he talked to told him
Henlopen senior and theater student similar stories about Aikens alleged
who escorted Linton to the senior prom disparaging remarks about LGBT people
last month, said he agrees with Lintons in the classroom.
assessment but acknowledged he has not He said that at one point earlier this
personally experienced discrimination year Bella Jones became so distressed
for being gay from his fellow students. over Aikens views on a number of issues,
I dont really feel like anyone attacks including abortion, that she skipped
me for being gay except for certain Aikens class and got into trouble with the
teachers, he said. school administration. Justin Jones said
Nye and Madison Couture, a ninth- that prompted him to drive to the school
grade student who identies as a and ask to speak to Principal Donahue.
transgender woman, are among several These are the kinds of things Im
Cape Henlopen High students who concerned about, he said in discussing
expressed concern that while forcing Aikens reported comments in class.
Pfeier to resign, school ocials have Shes making these very outlandish
failed to take any action against other connections between lifestyles that she
teachers who make disparaging remarks disagrees with on moral grounds and
about LGBT people. connects them to the sort of perversities
They keep teachers that make like pedophilia, Jones said.
homophobic, racist and transphobic My child has values. I have values. We
remarks to the students but they can take have beliefs in high powers and being
away a teacher thats actually ghting for good, decent people, he told the Blade.
whats right and ghting for her students in But you know at school, I want my child
any way possible, Couture told the Blade. to be taught facts. Im not sending her
It really hurts me and it makes me there to be preached to, to be necessarily
really emotional, she said. Im not going moralized and certainly not given an
to be able to go to her for the next two unbalanced view on these issues.
years of my high school life. If I have a Jones said that since the claims by the
problem I dont know who I will conde students about Aikens alleged remarks
in and go to. are allegations that he has not heard rst
Couture, Nye and at least three hand he asked the school administration
other Cape students have identied to conduct an investigation.
the schools Family and Consumer There are enough students
Sciences Department teacher Alayna complaining that they should take it
Aiken, who teaches a class called seriously, he said. They were very nice
Human Development, as someone who and they heard me out and they asked
has made disparaging remarks about me to write a letter, and so I did. Its been
homosexuality and LGBT people. six weeks or something like that and they
Couture said Aiken insisted on havent responded, Jones said.
calling her by her birth name after she Aiken couldnt immediately be reached
transitioned as a trans woman, a gesture for comment this week. In June 2014
that Couture considers disrespectful, when the Blade interviewed other Cape
hostile and discriminatory based on her Henlopen students who told similar
gender identity. stories about Aikens alleged classroom
Sondra Jones, a ninth grade student comments about homosexuality, the
who identies as a lesbian, said she was Blade reached her by phone at the
startled when Aiken singled her out for school. She strongly denied making
negative remarks in the classroom, telling inappropriate or disparaging remarks
her she should consider undergoing shock about any students.
therapyto change her sexual orientation. Im not sure what youre talking about
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
LO CA L N E W S
because students are allowed to express
their own thoughts, she said. There
are no disparaging comments. I have a
very open dialogue in my classroom and
freedom of ideas. I facilitate classroom
discussions.
Aiken added that she encourages students
to express competing ideas on a wide range
of topics. It is what it is, she said.
Arianna Carpenito, a Cape Henlopen
senior who identies as a lesbian, said she
was suspended from school last month
for wearing a T-shirt she made bearing
the words, Cape condones racism,
homophobia, sexism and bullying.
She said the suspension, which came
after she initially declined to put on
another shirt and remove the T-shirt,
demonstrates that the school does not
allow a free exchange of ideas.
Carpenito said she was prompted to
make and wear the T-shirt after hearing
about an incident in which a female
student wrote the N word on a lab table
in a science class that appeared to target
a black student in the class. The students
friends reportedly posted the racial slur
on social media.
Although the student was suspended
for several days, Carpenito and some
of the other LGBT students who spoke
with the Blade said they dont believe the
school responded in a forceful enough
way to the incident.
The Cape Gazette newspaper published
an editorial on May 22 supporting
Carpenitos right to wear the shirt she
made, saying she stood up for herself
and others by wearing her shirt and by
bringing her concerns directly to the
school and the school district.
The LGBT students and their parents,
meanwhile, said the banning of Carpenitos
T-shirt, which other students wore and
were ordered to take o, the forced
resignation of Pfeier, and the apparent
tolerance by the school administration of
Aikens anti-LGBT comments in class for
the past three years or longer show that
the school is at best insensitive to the
concerns of LGBT students.
Principal Donahue, who is retiring at the
end of the spring semester this month, has
disputed such claims, saying the school
prohibits anti-LGBT discrimination and
supports its LGBT students. He has pointed
to the schools welcoming of the Gay-
Straight Alliance Club when it was formed
several years ago as a clear sign that LGBT
students are welcome at the school.
Im really sad that Mrs. Pfeier wont
be at the high school next year because
she has been a tremendous advocate
and support for the kids, said Gregory of
PFLAG. And Im just worried about who
will be that person for them. Who is that
safe person that they can go to and talk
with? Who will champion their cause? I
am concerned.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM
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Elegance abounds in this renovated
Kalorama manse with four off-street
parking spaces. Approximately 5,500sf
on four levels. Grand, wide staircase is
capped by a large skylight, illuminating
the house. Could easily be transformed
into a grand residence.
$4,435,000
Direct:
JUNE 09, 2017 09
PRICE REDUCED!
4520 WESTHALL DR NW
PALISADES
Stunning home offers breathtaking views
of the Potomac River. Over 6,500sf of
living space, with exceptional main level
floor plan. Luxurious flagstone terrace
with fire pit on garden level and deck
with outdoor living/dining rooms on main
level. 2-car garage. Elevator.
$2,650,000

1 0 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
Northam, Perriello to face off in Va. gubernatorial primary
Election seen as
referendum on Trump
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
Lieutenant Gov. Ralph Northam and
former Congressman Tom Perriello
will face o in Virginias Democratic
gubernatorial primary on June 13.
Both candidates told the Washington
Blade in separate interviews this week that
the race to succeed Gov. Terry McAulie
is a referendum on President Trump.
Northam and Perriello also highlighted
their support of LGBT-specic issues.
Virginians want someone who will
stand up to his hatred and bigotry, said
Northam.
Perriello told the Blade that Trumps
election was the rise of something much
scarier than Republicans gaining control
of the White House and maintaining their
majorities in Congress. Perriello added
Virginia is the rst big move to rebuke
the president.
Trump and his allies have gured out
progressives know how to march and
resist, Perriello told the Blade. This is
the rst serious statewide test.
Northam, 57, was born on Virginias
Eastern Shore. He became a second
lieutenant in the U.S. Army after he
graduated from the Virginia Military Institute.
Northam completed a pediatric
residency at Brooke Army Medical Center
in San Antonio and child neurology
fellowships at Walter Reed Army Medical
Center in D.C. and Johns Hopkins Hospital
in Baltimore. He was among the doctors
at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in
Germany who treated wounded soldiers
during Operation Desert Storm.
Northam served eight years of active
duty, rising to the rank of major. He
began to practice pediatric neurology at
Childrens Hospital of the Kings Daughters
in Norfolk after Operation Desert Storm.
Northam told the Blade he decided
to run for the Virginia Senate in 2007, in
part, because he had a lot of frustrations
with the insurance companies. He also
noted cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay
was among the other issues about which
he was concerned.
I gured I could be a bystander or
make a dierence, he said.
Northam has been Virginias lieutenant
governor since 2014.
He cast the tie-breaking vote in the state
Senate that allowed the passage of a bill
that sought to ban discrimination against
state and local government employees
because of their sexual orientation or
gender identity. Northam has repeatedly
criticized North Carolinas House Bill 2,
which banned transgender people from
using public bathrooms consistent with
Va. Lt. Gov. RALPH NORTHAM
PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTHAM
their gender identity and prohibited
municipalities from enacting LGBT-
inclusive nondiscrimination measures.
Northam attended the 2015 wedding
of Tim Bostic and Tony London, two
men from Norfolk who are among the
same-sex couples who led a federal
lawsuit against Virginias constitutional
amendment that denes marriage as
between a man and a woman.
Northam told the Blade he is very
proud of what McAulie has done to
advance LGBT-specic issues in Virginia,
which includes vetoing a bill earlier this
year that critics contend would have
allowed discrimination against gay and
lesbian couples. Northam also said
Attorney General Mark Herring who
announced in 2014 that he would no
longer defend the marriage amendment
has done courageous work in Virginia.
We have worked very hard on
equality, Northam told the Blade, while
noting anti-LGBT discrimination persists
in Virginias schools and in the workplace.
Perriello, 42, was born and raised in
Charlottesville.
He was a special adviser to the
Prosecutor of the Special Court for
Sierra Leone that prosecuted former
Liberian President Charles Taylor for
war crimes he committed during the
West African countrys civil war from
1991-2002. Perriello later worked for
the International Center for Transitional
Justice, the Century Foundation and the
National Council of Churches of Christ.
Perriello represented Virginias 5th
Congressional District in the U.S. House
of Representatives from 2009-2011.
He became president of the Center for
American Progress, a liberal D.C. think
tank, in 2011.
Then-President Obama in 2015
Former Rep. TOM PERRIELLO
appointed Perriello as the Special U.S.
Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa.
He was in the position when Congolese
President Joseph Kabila agreed to step
down by the end of this year as part of an
agreement he reached with opposition
parties in the Central African country.
Immigrant rights and criminal justice
reform are among the issues that
Perrielloscampaign highlights.
Perriello noted to the Blade he voted
for the Matthew Shepard and James
Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in
2009 that added sexual orientation and
gender identity to the federal hate crimes
law and the bill that repealed Dont Ask,
Dont Tell.
Perriello ina GayRVA op-edsaid Trump
took us backwards earlier this year when
herescinded the Obama administrations
guidance on how public schools should
accommodate transgender students.
He also praised Gavin Grimm, a trans
student at Gloucester County High School
who led a federal lawsuit against his
school districts bathroom policy.
He has displayed leadership and
sacrice that too many fail to show over
a lifetime, wrote Perriello in theGayRVA
op-ed.Because of his courage to tell his
story and stand up against injustice, he
is now leading a movement of people
from all across the country who believe
ours is an inclusive nation. I am proud
to be one of them, and I am proud to
#StandwithGavin.
Equality Va. PAC
backs Northam
Equality Virginias political action
committee last monthendorsed Northam.
James Parrish, the groups executive
director, said Northam and Equality
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
LO CA L N E W S
Virginia have a shared vision of Virginia
that is free from discrimination. Parrish
also noted the lieutenant governor has
stood side-by-side with our community
every day since his election to the
Virginia Senate.
Virginias statewide nondiscrimination
bill does not include sexual orientation
and gender identity.
Northam said there is still a lot of work
to do to combat anti-LGBT discrimination
in Virginia. He told the Blade these eorts
begin with good leadership.
I will be a brick wall and stand against
any type of legislation that discriminates
against anyone, particularly against the
LGBT community, said Northam.
Perriello praised Equality Virginia,
even though its PAC endorsed Northam.
Perriello told the Blade he would veto
hateful legislation on bathroom access
and bills that would discriminate against
LGBT Virginians.
Former Republican National
Committee Chair Ed Gillespie, state Sen.
Frank Wagner (R-Virginia Beach) and
Corey Stewart are the Republicans who
are vying to succeed Gov. Terry McAulie.
U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have both
endorsed Perriello. McAulie, Herring and
U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner (D-
Va.) are among those who have endorsed
Northam.
Its all about relationships, Northam
told the Blade as he discussed Perriello.
This is something that I have fought for
for 10 years. There are continued attacks
coming from the other side of the aisle.
Northam further suggested Perriello
does not fully understand the issues
and lacks the relationships in order
to eectively govern Virginia. Perriello
described Northam as a very good man,
but dismissed his criticism.
As a sitting lieutenant governor he has
a tougher ability to go with that message,
Perriello told the Blade.
Trans woman challenging
Bob Marshall
Danica Roem, a trans journalist, is
among the Democrats who are challenging
state Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William
County) in the 13th District.
Marshall, who has been in the Virginia
House of Delegates since 1992, is
among the General Assemblys most
vocal opponents of LGBT rights. Roem
would become the rst openly trans
person elected to the General Assembly
if she defeats the Prince William County
Republican in November.
People like Bob Marshall, they need to
go, Northam told the Blade.
He described Roem as courageous.
Im totally supportive of her, said
Northam.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 11

YOUR STYLE, ITALIAN

ONE CHOICE.
SMART DESIGN
SINCE 1923

GEORGE TOW N | CAD Y S AL L E Y

3 3 2 8 M STREET N O RTHWEST WA SHI N GTO N, D C 2 0 0 0 7

(2 02 ) 244 - 5 5 44

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wa shing tondc.ca lliga ris.us | ca llig a ris.co m

1 2 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

I was only 16 years old when I discovered that I was born with HIV. My mother passed away from the disease, but
until getting tested at a community health fair, I had no idea, that I too, was living with HIV. Within a few months of
my diagnosis, I got on treatment to control my viral load. Since then, Ive stayed on treatment and in good health.
Getting tested saved my life and Ive used my experience to help youth learn about HIV prevention, testing and
fighting stigma. Today, I enjoy friends, family and living life to the fullest. Christopher 1, HIV 0.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 13

HIV, lifes a game, and

with treatment, Im
winning it day by day.
Christopher - Washington, DC
Living with HIV since 1987.

HIV
TREATMENT
WORKS

Get in care. Stay in care. Live well.

cdc.gov/HIVTreatmentWorks

1 4 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
DC Allen and Ken Flick: Partners in life,
business and LGBT community growth
D.C. duo pioneered
a local gay business
while empowering
advocacy groups
By MARK LEE
As the Washington region celebrates
the annual Capital Pride parade and
festival this weekend, the contribution
that D.C. businessmen and Crew Club
founders DC Allen and Ken Flick have
made to the growth and development
of the LGBT community in the nations
capital is particularly noteworthy.
Flick and Allen, partners in life and
business, highlight through their
exemplary leading role a legacy of gay
business owners who have fueled local
advocacy groups, community-building
initiatives, and direct service projects.
The entrepreneurial duo, a longtime
couple that married at the District
courthouse in 2012, has quietly
and consistently contributed to the
development and growth of a broad and
diverse range of local and national LGBT
groups of all types and sizes.
During the past two decades, the
continuing nancial benefactions of Allen
and Flick on behalf of multiple business
ventures have totaled nearly $650,000
in direct funding.
Co-owners of the Crew Club, a gay-
oriented gym and spa located in the
bustling Logan Circle neighborhood at
1321 14th St., N.W., south of P Street,
Allen and Flick launched the business
in 1995. At the time, the now-bustling
commercial area was a desolate strip of
largely vacant and underutilized buildings
with scant enterprise destinations.
Allen recalls a local resident stating at a
community meeting during the early days
of operation, Ive never seen so many
men in suits in the neighborhood.
Also distinguishing the venue from
its inception and reected in a major
recent refurbishment is the attractive
interior design, high-end appointments,
comfortable ambience, signature attention
to detail, and patron service standards at
the well-run and award-winning facility. The
Crew Club has earned a national distinction
for oering a full-range of amenities and
representing the highest hallmarks of
quality within the industry.
Flick, who primarily manages the
administrative aspects of the business
and other enterprise engagements from
the couples Fort Lauderdale home when
not at their D.C. residence, shares the
KEN FLICK and DC ALLEN have contributed to the development and growth of a broad and
diverse range of local and national LGBT groups
warm gregariousness and easygoing
manner for which the couple is known.
A Washington-born native who grew
up in suburban Maryland, Flick earned
an undergraduate degree at Georgetown
University and masters of Urban
Planning from the University of Virginia.
He worked at the Maryland Department
of Transportation for more than 20
years and served as state liaison to the
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Authority beginning with the creation of
Metrorail in the 1970s, also working with
the regions Council of Governments.
Allen, who cuts an outsized stature
with an even bigger personality, grew
up in the Boston suburbs, where he
studied hotel management. He worked
in the restaurant and bar industry in
both Boston and Manhattan, the latter
while achieving success and prominent
theater, musical and movie roles as a
New York actor, singer and dancer.
After subsequently opening a coee
shop with friends in Boston, a series of
brutal gay bashings in the Fenway cruising
area angered Allen and led him to open a
social club with a gym and spa. Inspired by
attending a Quentin Crisp lecture regarding
his being gay at a time in history when it
was dangerous to be so, Allen discerned
a community need for a social place and
a center for community HIV education, as
he had seen throughout Europe. I wasnt
going to let anyone stop me, Allen recalls,
We needed a place to go.
It was this motivation, and a move
to D.C., that prompted the Crew
Club development as an activist and
community supported space with a
mission to build a positive view of gay
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLEN
men and their sexuality, Allen says.
The Crew Club has long been committed
to working for a safer and healthier local
gay community, providing on-site testing
for HIV, syphilis and other sexually
transmitted infections since opening. The
business funded, and was instrumental in
initiating, a $40,000 advertising campaign
in local LGBT media promoting awareness
of a resurgence of syphilis. That eort
was widely credited with reducing the
rate of infections among gay men in the
metropolitan area, alongside nancing
safer-sex Tool Kit distribution expenses.
The Crew Club also supported the
formation and development of the award-
winning Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit
(GLLU) of the D.C. Metropolitan Police
Department, and has forged strong ties
with GLLU personnel.
Other beneciaries represent a
comprehensive list of entities engaging
broad swaths of community life.
Four years ago, the Crew Club donated
$25,000 to the then-expanding and
relocating D.C. Center, the Washington
areas LGBT community center, to help
build out new oces and meeting space
at the Reeves Center a few blocks north
of the Crew Club at 14th and U streets.
The Center is a project for which Allen,
in particular, remains passionate. He is
quick to encourage older LGBT residents
to include the organization when planning
for estate distributions.
In each of the past two years, Casa
Ruby has been the recipient of $10,000
donations for its work oering life-
saving services and programs to the
most vulnerable members of the LGBT
community and providing support for
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
LO CA L N E W S
transgender individuals. Two months
ago, 14 Crew Club sta members toured
Casa Ruby when delivering a check to
support the facility.
Allen is adamant and articulate
regarding what motivates the couples
charitable giving-back. Its an illusion that
we have all of our rights and dont have
to ght for them anymore, he points
out, adding that this is the reason that
he and Flick have split our philanthropic
activities between service and activism.
Other recipients have included Food
and Friends, the Gay and Lesbian Activists
Alliance (GLAA), Us Helping Us, the D.C.
governments Oce of GLBT Aairs,
and Whitman-Walker Health. They have
also lent their support to Team D.C.,
D.C. Sentinels Basketball Team, Federal
Triangles Soccer Club, We Are Everywhere
Bowling League, D.C. Gay Flag Football
League, Gertrude Stein Democratic Club,
Reel Armations, Miss Adams Morgan
Pageant, Centaur Motorcycle Club,
Federation for All D.C. Families, and the
Imperial Court of Washington, D.C.
Their municence also extends to
national LGBT organizations such as the
NAMES Project and AIDS Memorial Quilt,
Lambda Legal, CenterLink, Stonewall
Museum and Library, National LGBTQ
Task Force, and SAGE Advocacy and
Services for LGBT Elders. Allen and Flick
also support organizations in the Fort
Lauderdale area, where they maintain
a home, including SunServe, Equality
Florida, the Gay Mens Chorus of South
Florida, Our Fund, and the Pride Center of
South Florida.
Allen has been presented the
Distinguished Service Award by the
Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, the
Distinguished Service Award by the D.C.
Center, and an Outstanding Volunteer
Service Award by Brother, Help Thyself
Allen was the recipient of the Capital Area
Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
Business Leadership Award in 2012. He
received the Washington Blade Best
Business Person designation in 2014.
Crew Club was also named Best Place
to Meet Men Other Than Grindr two
years ago. Were retro in that regard,
notes Allen, seeking human interaction,
battling to be sex positive and promoting
healthy behaviors.
Additional information on the Crew
Club is available online at crewclub.net.
MARK LEE is a long-time entrepreneur and
community business advocate. Follow on Twit-
ter: @MarkLeeDC. Reach him at OurBusiness-
Matters@gmail.com.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 15

1 6 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
Del. gay man who alleged police abuse found guilty
Anti-gay bias allegation
not mentioned in trial
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
GEORGETOWN, Del. A 66-year-
old gay man who led a complaint
against a police ocer in Lewes, Del., for
allegedly using excessive force to arrest
him in January during an altercation at
a hospital emergency room was found
guilty by a Delaware judge on Tuesday
on misdemeanor charges of disorderly
conduct, menacing, and resisting arrest.
Judge Rosemary Beauregard of the
Sussex County Court of Common Pleas
announced at the conclusion of a non-
jury trial in Georgetown, Del., that a state
prosecutor proved beyond a reasonable
doubt that Robaire G. Lizama engaged
in hysterical and abusive behavior at
the hospital that justied his arrest and
conrmed he committed the three oenses.
In a development that court observers
said was routine for a misdemeanor
case like this one, Beauregard handed
down an immediate sentence for Lizama
that included a 30-day suspended jail
term, six months of court-monitored
probation, and a $600 ne plus $57 in
court reimbursement costs.
In another development likely to
surprise LGBT activists familiar with the
case, Lizamas public defender attorney
Heather Lingo made no mention during
the trial of Lizamas written complaint to
the Lewes Police Department in February
alleging that the arresting ocer singled
him out because hes gay.
When approached by the Blade after
the trial Lingo declined to comment,
saying she would have nothing more to
say about the case.
I dont think he would grab a straight
man, bear hug him and then body slam
him to the ground and try to tell him
hes being arrested, Lizama told the
Washington Blade at the time he led
his complaint with Lewes Police Chief
Thomas Sell in February.
Lizama, a former D.C. resident who
lives in Lewes, has accused Ocer Tyrone
Woodyard of fabricating the charges
against him after throwing him to the
oor, causing a head injury during a
Jan. 25 incident at Beebe Healthcare, a
hospital in Lewes.
The arrest report prepared by Woodyard
says Lizama had been acting in a disorderly
manner after he accompanied a female
friend to the emergency room who had
been experiencing chest pain. Lizama
testied at the trial that he was concerned
that nurses who admitted and began to
treat his friend werent being compassionate
in their handling of the situation.
ROBAIRE G. LIZAMA was found guilty of several misdemeanor charges.
He denied he acted in a threatening or
menacing way or that he refused to leave
the emergency room when asked to do
so by one of the nurses.
Jaqueline Marshall, the emergency room
nurse who participated in the treatment
of Lizamas friend, and hospital security
ocer Julian Peacock testied that Lizama
while understandably upset that his friend
may have been suering from a heart
attack behaved in such an aggressive
and hysterical way that the nursing sta
became alarmed and felt threatened.
Marshall, Peacock and Ocer
Woodyard each testied that Lizama
lunged at Woodyard while Woodyard
and Peacock were escorting Lizama out of
the emergency room area to the hospitals
lobby, where they told him he would have
to wait while his friend was treated.
Woodyard told the court he couldnt
immediately determine whether Lizama
was armed when Lizama suddenly turned
toward him in an aggressive way. He said
he decided to taken him down on the
oor out of concern that Lizama could have
harmed the nurses and others walking
through the emergency room area.
Woodyard and Peacock testied that
when Woodyard tried to handcu Lizama
after telling him he was under arrest,
Lizama resisted the ocers attempts
to place cus on one of his hands and
struggled with the ocer and Peacock on
the oor. This prompted another nurse
to enter the fray and assist in restraining
Lizama, the two testied.
Lizama testied that he turned toward
Woodyard because he was trying to nd
his way to the entrance to the hospital
lobby and in no way was attempting to
attack or harm Woodyard. He said he didnt
resist the ocers attempt to handcu him
but was moving about because he was in
pain and was trying to place his hand over
his forehead above his eye, which was
bleeding after his head struck the oor
when Woodyard knocked him down.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
LO CA L N E W S
case, presented as evidence a video
recording taken from the hospitals
security cameras that shows Lizama and
his friend enter the hospitals emergency
department. The video footage shows
Lizama moving about and raising his
arms in what appeared to be an agitated
state as he talked to one of the nurses at
the admissions desk.
Beauregard said she based her
verdict on what she called credible
and consistent testimony by Marshall,
Peacock and Woodward. She said the
three witnesses along with the video
recording at the trial convinced her that
Lizamas behavior was, in fact, posing a
potential danger to the hospital sta and
other visitors and proved he committed
PHOTO COURTESY OF LIZAMA
the misdemeanor oenses of disorderly
conduct, menacing and resisting arrest.
In response to questioning by Lingo, The judge called Lizamas testimony at
Marshall and Peacock acknowledged that the trial inconsistent and contradictory.
Lizama was admitted to the emergency All three of those witnesses thought
department for treatment after his arrest. something bad was going to happen, she
Lingo presented a photo of Lizama as said. He put the public at risk and he put
evidence that showed a gash over his eye his friend at risk, said Beauregard, saying
and pointed to Lizamas testimony that the disturbance Lizama was creating could
the injury required a plastic bandage to have interfered with the nurses and doctors
stop the bleeding, eort to diagnose and treat the friend.
Assistant State Attorney General
Paul Seward, the lead prosecutor in the CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Suspect in trans murder rejects plea offer
One of four suspects charged with
rst-degree murder while armed in
the July 4, 2016 shooting death of D.C.
transgender woman Deeniquia Dee
Dee Dodds has rejected an oer
by prosecutors to plead guilty to an
undisclosed lesser charge, according
to D.C. Superior Court records.
The records show that an attorney
representing Jolonta Little, 26, of
Southeast D.C., who was arrested for
the murder last September, made a DEENIQUIA DEE DEE DODDS was killed
counter oer for another possible on July 4, 2016.
PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK
guilty plea which was also rejected by
prosecutors with the U.S. Attorneys
oce.
Little has been held in jail without bond since the time of his arrest. Court
records show a jury trial has been scheduled for him and co-defendant Monte
Johnson, 21, also of Southeast D.C., for June 11, 2018. Both men are scheduled
to appear in court for a status hearing on July 20 of this year.
A trial date has yet to be scheduled for the other two defendants, Shareem
Hall, 22, of District Heights, Md.; and Cyheme Hall, 21, of Southeast D.C.
D.C. police led an arrest adavit in court last September disclosing that four
men later who were later charged in Dodds murder were implicated in a series
of armed robberies of transgender women, including Dodds, in two locations in
D.C. in the early morning hours of July 4.
Neither police nor prosecutors have said whether the two Halls charged in the
case are related or which of the four men shot Dodds in the neck, which led to
her death nine days later.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 17

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Trump declines to issue Pride proclamation
Silence ends tradition
under Clinton, Obama
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
President Trump declined to issue
a proclamation designating June
as a time for celebration of Pride,
breaking with an eight-year tradition
of the Obama administration.
By the end of the last weekday in May,
President Obama each year during his
two termsin the White House issued a
proclamation recognizing Pride. Trump,
on the other hand, has issued no such
proclamation or even recognized
June as Pride month from his Twitter
account.
Trump on the last day of May
issued five separate proclamations
recognizing June as National
Caribbean-American Heritage Month,
African-American Music Appreciation
Month, National Homeownership
Month, Great Outdoors Month and
Trump to address anti-LGBT leaders days before Equality March
President returns to Faith &
Freedom Coalitions annual
confab
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
Days before the LGBT community plansto
demonstrate at the Equality March for Unity
and Pride, President Trump is set to speak
Thursday at a conference hosted by the
Faith & Freedom Coalition, an organization
consisting of anti-LGBT leaders.
Ralph Reed, chair of Faith & Freedom
Coalition, announced Tuesday in a statement
Trump would headline the organizations
annual Road To Majority conference at the
Omni Shoreham Hotel in D.C.
President Trump won an overwhelming
plurality of voters of faith last year and in
the opening months of his administration
faith-based voters remain his most loyal
supporters and we are extremely excited
that President Trump will once again
address thousands of conservative activists
from across the country at Road To
Majority, Reed said.
Reed, who has compared court rulings in
favor same-sex marriage to the U.S. Supreme
Court decision in favor of slavery in the
Dred Scott case, added Trump has already
demonstrated his commitment to social
conservatives over the course of his brief
administration.
National Ocean Month. Absent from
the list was anything related to Pride.
The White House last month
didnt rule out the possibility that
Trump would recognize Pride, telling
the Washington Blade the decision
would be announced at the time of
the June proclamations. But after the
White House omitted Pride from its
series of proclamations on Wednesday,
the White House didnt respond to a
request on whether a recognition of
Pride would be forthcoming.
The tradition of presidential
Pride proclamations started under
President Clinton, although President
George W. Bush discontinued that
practice during his time in office.
Obama renewed that tradition
for each of his eight years in the
White House, recognizing not only
Pride in his proclamations but also
achievements in LGBT rights, such as
Dont Ask, Dont Tell repeal and the
U.S. Supreme Court ruling for same-
sex marriage nationwide.
Obama also started a tradition
RALPH REED, chair of Faith & Freedom Coalition, announced Tuesday Trump would headline
the organizations annual Road To Majority conference.
His administration has delivered
on his campaign promises with the
conrmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch to
the U.S. Supreme Court, his appointment
of hosting annual receptions at the
White House recognizing June as
Pride month. It seems unlikely Trump
would continue that practice and hold
a similar reception after declining to
issue a Pride proclamation, not to
mention his unpopularity with the
LGBT community after policies such
as revoking Obama-era guidance
assuring transgender kids have access
to school bathrooms consistent with
their gender identity.
Instead, a group of former LGBT
Obama administration officials, led
by former White House LGBT liaison
Gautam Raghavan and Aditi Hardikar,
are planning a NOT the White House
Pride Party, taking a cue from
Samantha Bees Not the White House
Correspondents Dinner event.
The event is scheduled to take place
June 10 to coincide with Capital Pride
and the 2017 Equality March. Set
to attend are Valerie Jarrett, former
senior adviser to President Obama, and
former Army Secretary Eric Fanning.
Proceeds will go to Casa Ruby, a D.C.-
PHOTO BY GAGE SKIDMORE; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
of the most socially conservative Cabinet
in our nations history, and a number of
executive and legislative accomplishments
that conrm his commitment to be a pro-
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
based shelter and center for trans
women of color and immigrants.
Meanwhile, LGBT affinity groups
for federal agencies are continuing
their traditions of holding events to
observe Pride. Agencies known to
the Blade that are hosting events
are the Pentagon, the Small Business
Administration, the Department of
Housing & Urban Development and
the Justice Department.
A representative of HUD GLOVE told
the Blade HUD Secretary Carson was
invited to speak at the HUD event.
It remains to be seen whether hell
take that opportunity given an anti-
LGBT record that includes comparing
homosexuality to bestiality and calling
transgender people abnormal.
For the Pentagon event on June 12,
DOD Pride invited Defense Secretary
James Mattis to speak. A DOD
spokesperson said the departments
leadership instead will send a lower
level official, Tony Kurta, acting under
secretary of defense for personnel
and readiness.
life president, Reed said.
It wont be the rst time Trump has
addressed the Faith & Freedom Coalition. Last
year during his presidential campaign, Trump
addressed the confab, calling his Democratic
opponent Hillary Clinton as crooked as they
come. Without saying anything explicitly
anti-LGBT, Trump made references to certain
issues in ways that could be considered code
for support for undermining LGBT rights.
In addition to Trump, speakers with
anti-LGBT reputations scheduled to
attend are Vice President Mike Pence, Sen.
Ted Cruz (R-Texas), House Majority Whip
Steve Scalise (R-Ohio) and James Dobson.
In the past, the coalition has honored the
late Phyllis Schlay, a social conservative
activist who despite having a gay son took
anti-LGBT positions.
On the Faith & Freedom Coalitions
website, the organization doesnt explicitly
articulate any anti-LGBT goals, but makes
clear one of its principles is respect for
the sanctity and dignity of life, family, and
marriage as the foundations of a free
society. Those words could be considered
code for undermining LGBT rights.
The Faith & Freedom Coalition
announces Trump will speak before
attendees at its conference days before
Equality March and Pride celebrations
throughout the country. Trump is set to
make an appearance at the event after
scrapping a tradition under the Obama
administration of issuing a proclamation
recognizing June as Pride month.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 19

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2 0 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
Orlando to mark one year since Pulse massacre
Gunman killed 49 people at
LGBT nightclub
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
EDITORS NOTE: The Blade will report from Or-
lando from June 11-13.
Monday marks one year since a
gunman killed 49 people and injured
53 others inside the Pulse nightclub in
Orlando, Fla.
The city of Orlando and Orange
County have designated Monday as
Orlando United Day A Day of Love
and Kindness. The Orlando United Day
website says June 12 will be dedicated to
honoring the memory of the 49 innocent
Pulse victims, supporting survivors and
recognizing the compassion and love
that was displayed by the Central Florida
community following the tragedy.
The gunman opened re inside Pulse
shortly after 2 a.m. on June 12, 2016.
The massacre, which took place during
One year later, Pulse underscores challenges of extremism
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
Ahead of the one-year anniversary of
the deadly shooting at Pulse nightclub that
left 49 dead and 53 wounded, national
security experts say lessons ofthe attack
have goneunheeded as similar incidents
inspired by violent extremism continue
across the globe.
The issue of whether eorts to contain
extremism are sucient has risen to the
fore after a spate of attacks in the United
Kingdom one at an Arianna Grande
concert in Manchester that left 22 dead and
another attack on London Bridge that left
eight dead. Those incidents are consistent
with violence in Kabul, Paris, Istanbul,
Brussels, Berlin and San Bernadino as well
as the Pulse shooting on June 12, 2016.
Omar Mateen, the perpetrator of the
Pulse shooting, gunned down patronsof
the LGBT nightclub with an assault
weapon and a semi-automatic pistol after
pledging allegiance to ISIS on social media
and on a 911 phone call. Even during the
attack, Mateen made Facebook posts in
support of the Islamic extremist group.
According to CBS News, one of his
posts read, You kill innocent women and
children by doing us airstrikes..now taste
the Islamic state vengeance...In the next
few days you will see attacks from the
Islamic State in the usa.
Although the Islamic State of Iraq &
Syria took credit for the massacre, theres
no evidence the terrorist group directly
June 12 marks one year since a gunman
killed 49 people and injured 53 others when
he opened re inside the Pulse nightclub in
Orlando, Fla. The club never reopened.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL K. LAVERS
the gay clubs weekly Latino night, is the
deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S.
coordinated the attack.
Ned Price, whos gay and worked under
the Obama administration at the CIA
and the National Security Council, said
the shooting echoed shootings in San
Bernardinoand Ft. Hood in Texas, which
he called incidents of people who have
been inspired by extremist ideology.
I think what Orlando did was really
reinforce the scale and scope of the
challenge that we face combatting this
ideology, Price said.
Mike Sexton, whos gay and a D.C.-
based national security analyst for a
prominent security and risk management
rm, said making conclusions about the
Orlando shooting is dicult because the
shooterwas killed during the attack, but
the cumulative incidents of terrorism
speak volumes about the need for
improved security.
The takeaway from that shooting
and other attacks like on the Brussels
airport and on Ariana Grandes concert in
Manchester, to me, is that we arent doing
enough to secure soft targets that lightly
trained or untrained ISIS operatives can
strike with relative ease, Sexton said.
That takeaway is more tactical and
the burden falls upon individuals and
companies operating these facilities as
well as their governments.
For the attacks in the United States,
one aspect of the Pulse shooting that gun
control advocates continue to decry is the
ease with which individuals can procure
rearms. The assault rie used byMateen
history.
Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs
and others will attend a memorial at the
Orange County Administration Center
on Monday at 10:30 a.m. A ceremony to
honor the massacres victims and those
who survived it is scheduled to begin at
Pulse at 11 a.m.
Olga Tan, a Grammy-award winning
Puerto Rican singer, and Sisaundra Lewis,
a semi-nalist on the sixth season of
The Voice, are among those who are
slated to perform at the Orlando Love
Remembering Our Angels tribute that will
take place at the Lake Eola Amphitheater
at 7 p.m. A second gathering will take
place at Pulse at 10 p.m.
The University of Central Florida will
also pay tribute to the Pulse victims
on Monday. Churches and community
organizations in Orlando and throughout
Central Florida are scheduled to hold
their own vigils and memorials.
What happened at Pulse was the
darkest day in our citys history, and we
continue to grieve for the victims and
was banned in the United States until that
statute expired in 2004.
Price said the Orlando shooting as
well as incidents in San Bernardino and
Ft. Hood demonstrates the ease with
which terrorists and would-be terrorists
can get their hands on rearms.
Just in the past several weeks, weve
seen horric incidents in places like
London and Manchester, but what
distinguishes the incidents were seeing
in the United States, by and large at least,
is the fact that extremists here have
ready access to weapons, including semi-
automatic weapons that are essentially
weapons of war turned against civilians
in recreation centers and nightclubs and
on military bases, Price said.
As the Blade reported six months after
the Pulse shootings, eorts to institute
gun control regulations even modest
proposals like enhanced background
checks seem dead in the water with
President Trump in the White House and
Republicans allied with the National Rie
Association in charge of Congress.
One initiative the Obama administration
pursued was seeking cooperation from
social media companies in shutting down
accounts from ISIS. After all, Twitter
banned gay conservative provocateur
Milo Yiannopolous for life after making
snide remarks about comedian Leslie
Jones, but ISIS is still able to propagate its
messages through the platform.
In the aftermath of the San Bernardino
shooting, Obama White House Press
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
ght for those who are still suering,
said Orlando City Commissioner
Patty Sheehan in a press release that
announced the Lake Eola tribute. This
June 12, our entire LGBTQ community
and our allies need to stand together and
continue to show that we are a strong,
united city that responds with love.
Nearly half of the 49 people who died
inside Pulse were LGBT Puerto Ricans.
A memorial to the Puerto Rican victims is
scheduled to take place in San Juan on June
22. The Hispanic Federation and Proyecto
Somos Orlando on June 13 are scheduled
to hold a meeting in Orlando that will
focus on how the Latino LGBT community
continues to recover from the massacre.
This tragedy was the worst in our
communitys history, Pedro Julio Serrano,
founder of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, a
Puerto Rican LGBT advocacy group, told
the Washington Blade. Were still healing,
mourning, resisting.
A candlelight vigil to honor the
massacre victims is scheduled to take
place in Dupont Circle on June 12 at 7 p.m.
Secretary Josh Earnest articulated the
request from the U.S. government for
greater help from Silicon Valley.
Surely we can have a discussion about
ways to create, publish, and amplify content
from credible sources that counteracts the
radicalizing messaging from ISIL and other
extremists, Earnest said. Given the way
that technology works these days, there
surely are ways that we can disrupt paths
to radicalization, to identify recruitment
patterns, and to provide metrics that allow
us to measure the success of our counter-
radicalization eorts.
Nearly one-and-a-half years later and
on the anniversary of the Pulse shooting,
national security experts commended
eorts from companies like Twitter and
Facebook in deleting the social media
accounts of ISIS, but noted the inherent
challenges in containing the threat.
Price said even though the U.S.
government has no special leverage over
social media companies, they have made
good progress on their own consistent
with First Amendment and technological
limitations.
Twitter, Facebook, other social
networking sites have taken some positive
steps in this regard, Price said. Thats not
to say that we all couldnt do more.
Among the steps Price identied was
taking down ISIS-linked accounts and
establishing new mechanisms to block
extremist content.
CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 21

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2 2 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
Trump budget assailed for cuts to civil rights
Proposal would zap
agency charged with
enforcing LGBT order
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
President Trumps commitment to
upholding civil rights for LGBT people
has come into renewed question in the
wake of a budget proposal that makes
substantial cuts to agencies enforcing non-
discrimination laws and cumulative actions
over the course of his administration
undermining those statutes.
Trumps $4.1 trillion budget proposal
for scal year 2018 unveiled late
last month calls for major cuts from
Obama-era levels to civil rights agencies
within federal departments across the
board, including the Justice Department,
the Department of Health & Human
Services and the Education Department.
Also, the budget proposes the
elimination of the Labor Departments
Oce of Federal Contract Compliance
which is charged with enforcing President
Obamas executive order barring anti-
LGBT workplace discrimination among
federal contractors and merging
it with the U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, the U.S. agency
that enforces federal employment non-
discrimination law.
Sharita Gruberg, associate director of
LGBT research and communications for
the Center for American Progress, said the
proposed cuts are really troubling for the
continued enforcement of laws barring
discrimination against LGBT people.
There are cuts across every single
federal agency charged with enforcing
civil rights laws and it would undo a lot of
the gains that weve gotten over the last
administration in ensuring that civil rights
arerobustly enforced, Gruberg said.
A White House Oce of Management
& Budget ocial pointed to other aspects
of the Trump budget the administration
says demonstrates a commitment to
civil rights, such as $2.7 million for the
Education Departments Civil Rights Data
Collection program, which is three times
more than what was planned for FY-17.
The presidents budget proposal
maintains the administrations
commitment to the enforcement of the
nations civil rights laws, the ocial Division, the Trump budget proposes the
said. It straightlines funding for DOJs
Civil Rights Division, supporting eorts
to combat human tracking; prosecute
hate crimes; protect the rights of U.S.
workers, service members, and veterans;
safeguard the voting rights for all
Americans; and promote fair housing and
educational opportunities.
For the HHS Oce of Civil Rights, the
Trump budget proposes a 15 percent cut
down from an estimated $53 million
from FY-17 to $44 million in FY-18 and a
10 percent sta reduction, from 177 to 161.
That oce is charged with enforcing
Section 1557 of the Aordable Care
Act, which bars discrimination on the
basis of sex in health care. The Obama
administration issued a rule clarifying that
provision applies to transgender people,
ensuring access to transition-related care
and gender reassignment surgery.
Although U.S. District Judge Reed
OConnor in Texas issued an injunction
barring the Obama administration from
applying the Section 1557 to cases of
transgender discrimination, Gruberg said
the HHS Oce of Civil Rights presumably
should still be investigating complaints
from LGBT people of discrimination in
health care and the cuts would be harmful.
These are complaints that would not
get the resources or stang needed to
ensure that they are investigated and
that LGBT people are getting the health
care that theyre entitled to without
discrimination, Gruberg said.
For the Education Departments
Oce of Civil Rights, which is charged
with enforcing Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972, the funding is
maintained between FY-17 and FY-18 at
$107 million. However, with the same
level of funding the proposed budget
calls for a seven percent reduction in
sta, from 569 employees to 523.
Courts are beginning to construe Title
IX, which bars discrimination on the basis
of sex, to apply to LGBT students. The
Obama administration issued guidance
indicating schools that bar transgender
kids from the restroom consistent with
their gender identity may lose funding
under this law, but U.S. Attorney General
Je Sessions and Education Secretary
Betsy DeVos revoked the guidance.
Even though the Trump administration
rescinded the guidance, Gruberg said the
Education Departments Oce of Civil
Rights is still charged with investigations
under Title IX, citing a 75 percent increase
in complaints from 2009 to 2015.
The law is still the law and this would
hurt the oces ability to provide technical
assistance about what their obligations
are under the law even without the
guidance in place, Gruberg said.
For the Justice Departments Civil Rights
elimination of 121 sta positions. That
division is responsible for upholding civil
rights laws, including Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, which bars employment
discrimination based on sex, and the
Violence Against Women Act, which
specically bars anti-LGBT discrimination
in domestic abuse relief programs.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
Under former U.S. Attorney General EEOC, the budget calls for the elimination
Loretta Lynch, the civil rights division of 130 full-time sta positions from
led a lawsuit against North Carolinas the latter agency since FY-17, although
anti-LGBT House Bill 2 based on the funding would be atlined at $364 million.
laws before the litigation was withdrawn Gruberg said the cuts were shocking
under Trump. and the proposed merger spells trouble
At a time when they led the most because OFCCP has oversight authority
criminal civil rights complaints and to investigate federal contractors for
tracking complaints ever, this stang violations unlike EEOC, which generally
cut will severely diminish the ability of DOJ awaits discrimination complaints led by
civil rights to le and prosecute criminal employees before taking action.
and civil rights violations, Gruberg said.
In addition to merging OFCCP with CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Tillerson acknowledges Pride month
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on
Wednesday issued a statement that
acknowledges Pride month.
The Department of State arms
its solidarity with the human
rights defenders and civil society
organizations working around the
world to uphold the fundamental
freedoms of LGBTI persons to live
with dignity and freedom, he said.
We also recognize that LGBTI
persons continue to face the threat of
violence and discrimination, added
Tillerson in his statement. Violence
and discrimination targeting any
vulnerable group undermines
our collective security as well as
American values. When all persons
are protected on the basis of equality
and with dignity, global stability is
strengthened. We will continue to
support the human rights of LGBTI
persons together with like-minded
governments, businesses, and civil
society organizations globally.
Tillerson also said the U.S. remains
committed to human rights and Secretary of State REX TILLERSON on
fundamental freedoms for all Wednesday issued a statement that
acknowledges Pride
persons. Dignity and equality for all WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
persons are among our founding
constitutional principles, and these
principles continue to drive U.S. diplomacy.
Tillersons statement comes less than a week after the State Department
conrmed to the Washington Blade that embassies and consulates have
received guidance that allows them to recognize Pride month.
President Trump has yet to issue a proclamation that ocially recognizes Pride
month, although Ivanka Trump on June 2 wished everyone a joyful #Pride2017
and said she is proud to support my LGBTQ friends and the LGBTQ Americans
who have made immense contributions to our society and economy. Neither
the White House nor Tillerson have yet to publicly comment on the ongoing
crackdown against gay men in Chechnya.
Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz last month told
participants of the World OutGames Miami Human Rights Conference in Miami
Beach, Fla.,that Secretary of State Rex Tillersons assertion the U.S. may have
to set aside human rights in the name of promoting U.S. interests abroad is
morally repugnant and unacceptable.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
 W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 23

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2 4 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 I N T E RN A T I O N A L N E W S

Gay man poised to become next Irish prime minister

A gay man is poised to become
Irelands next prime minister.
Members of the ruling Fine
Gael party on June 2 elected
Leo Varadkar, who is of Indian
descent, as their next leader.
Varadkar, 38, will likely succeed
outgoing Prime Minister Enda
Kenny when the Irish Parliament
Supporters of Mariela Castro, daughter of Cuban President Ral Castro, take part in an
votes later this month. International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia March in Havana last month.
Varadkar, who is currently WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Irelands Minister of Social

Protection, would be the countrys
rst openly gay prime minister. Anti-gay crackdowns overshadow
global Pride commemorations
His father was born in India.
Varadkar would also become
Irelands rst prime minister of
Indian descent.
If my election of leader of Fine Madrid, Kiev among cities Education, and other LGBT rights
Gael today has shown anything, advocates participated in marches and
it is that prejudice has no hold holding parades, marches other events across Cuba last month that
in this republic, Varadkar told commemorated the International Day
supporters after his election as By MICHAEL K. LAVERS Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
leader of Fine Gael, according to mlavers@washblade.com Advocates in the Salvadoran capital of San
the Irish Times. Salvador are scheduled to commemorate
Members of Fine Gael elected Advocates around the world plan to Pride later this month.
Varadkar as their partys leaders LEO VARADKAR is poised to become Irelands celebrate Pride month with parades, More than 70 countries around the
rst openly gay prime minister.
slightly more than two years after PHOTO BY INFOMATIQ; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA marches and other events. world criminalize consensual same-sex
Ireland became the rst country More than three million people are sexual relations. Homosexuality remains
in which same-sex couples expected to attend the World Pride punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, Iran,
received marriage rights through a popular vote. Madrid 2017 Parade on July 1. Mauritania and a handful of other nations.
Gays and lesbians have been able to legally marry in Ireland since November 2015. The worlds rst bisexual-themed Pride This years Pride season will take place
Ireland decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations in 1993. parade will take place in the Israeli city of against the backdrop of ongoing anti-gay
A law that allows transgender people to legally change their gender without Tel Aviv on June 9. Kyiv Pride an eight- crackdowns in Chechnya and Indonesia
medical intervention took eect in September 2015. day series of events in the Ukrainian and mounting international criticism of
Varadkar is poised to become the fourth openly gay or lesbian person to head capital that ends with an LGBT and the Trump administrations foreign policy.
a government. Jhanna Sigurardttir was the prime minister of Iceland from intersex rights march on June 18 is Discrimination and violence based on sexual
2009-2013. Elio Di Rupo was the prime minister of Belgium from 2011-2014. scheduled to begin on the same day. orientation and gender identity remain
Xavier Bettel has been the prime minister of Luxembourg since 2013. Kyiv Pride is a peaceful human rights pervasive in several parts of the world.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS demonstration that appears as (the) Given the current atmosphere, I dont
realization of the freedom of peaceful think its safe to hold Pride marches in
assembly, freedom of speech and Indonesia, Dd Oetomo, an LGBT rights
Man arrested for planning attack at Tel Aviv Pride expression for (the) LGBTI community advocate from the Indonesian city of
and stands for drawing attention to the Surabaya, told the Blade earlier this week.
Israeli police on June 3 arrested a man who allegedly threatened to carry out problems faced by LGBTI people, reads Helem, a Lebanese LGBT advocacy
a terror attack during this weeks Tel Aviv Pride parade. the Kyiv Pride website. group, last month held a series of events
The Times of Israel reported the 20-year-old man from Bnei Brak, a primarily Tens of thousands of people took that marked the International Day
ultra-Orthodox city that is located a few miles east of Tel Aviv, made the threat part in an Equality Parade in the Polish Against Homophobia and Transphobia,
on his Facebook page. The newspaper said the man wrote in Hebrew, Whos capital of Warsaw on June 3. London, which commemorates the World Health
coming with me to carry out a terror attack at the Pride march? Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Athens are Organizations decision to declassify
Ynetnews, an Israeli news website, reported the man wrote in another among the other European cities in which homosexuality as a mental disorder.
Facebook post that he was bored. Pride events are scheduled to take place The Beirut venue at which the events
More than 200,000 people are expected to attend the parade on Friday. in the coming weeks and months. were originally scheduled to take place
The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality fully sponsors the parade, which is the largest Panamanian rst lady Lorena Castillo de abruptly cancelled them because
Pride celebration in the Middle East. This years event will be the worlds rst Varela is among those who are expected Lebanese authorities said they could not
bisexual-themed Pride parade. to participate in a Pride march in Panama guarantee participants safety.
Yishai Schlissel, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, killed Shira Banki, a 16-year-old, and City on July 1. The event will take place LGBT activists in Tunisia last month held
injured six others during the 2015 Jerusalem Pride parade. Schlissel stabbed against the backdrop of two same-sex a public event that commemorated the
three people during the same event in 2005. marriage cases that are currently before International Day Against Homophobia
The 2015 attack took place less than a month after Schlissel completed a 10- the Panama Supreme Court. and Transphobia.
year prison sentence in connection with the 2005 stabbings. A Jerusalem court The Movement for Homosexual A Tunisian activist with whom the Blade
last June sentenced Schlissel to life in prison plus 31 years for the 2015 attack. Integration and Liberation, a Chilean spoke on Tuesday said the police took a
We face hate against LGBT people all year long, but as Pride month is here, LGBT advocacy group, on June 24 will poster that advertised the event and
the level of hate is on the increase, the Aguda, the Israeli National LGBT Task hold a march in the countrys capital of demanded to talk with the organizer
Force, told the Washington Blade on Tuesday. Santiago in support of marriage for same- before they left. The activist said there are
We will continue to march with pride and with no fear for our rights, equality sex couples and a transgender rights law. no Pride-related events scheduled to take
and freedom for ourselves and all those dierent in our society, said the Aguda. Mariela Castro, daughter of Cuban place in the North African country.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS President Ral Castro who directs the
countrys National Center for Sexual CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 25

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a d v i C 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

FamiLY | eState PLaNNiNG | emPLoYmeNt | immiGratioN

ComPLeX LitiGatioN | CiviL riGHtS | LGBt | adoPtioN | BuSiNeSS

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 Extraordinary Environment for Learning WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

26 J U N E 09, 2017 BA LT I MO RE N E W S

Members of the Frederick Center following Pride proclamation ceremony at City Hall.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FREDERICK CENTER

Serving students Frederick mayor issues Pride proclamation

age 18 months
through Grade 12 Frederick City Mayor Randy McClement and the Board of Aldermen on June 1 issued
a proclamation naming June 2017 as LGBTQ Pride Month during a ceremony at City Hall.
The proclamation was presented to representatives of The Frederick Center, a ve-year-
old non-prot dedicatedto support, educate, link, organize, and provide outreach to the

Enroll now for fall 2017!

LGBTQ community of central Maryland and its allies.
In the proclamation, McClement states, the [LGBTQ] community is encouraged to
observe the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that celebrate
diversity and recognize those whose many and varied contributions have enriched our
society. Be it further proclaimed, that we, as a community, will work to build a bridge
Limited spaces available to understanding and acceptance, so that all people are aorded the same rights and
responsibilities.
in select grade levels. Kristopher Fair, board chair of The Frederick Center and a candidate for alderman in
Frederick, recognizes the signicance.
The City Of Frederick continues to be a beacon in western Maryland for how to arm
our LGBTQ community, Fair told the Blade. This proclamation speaks to all citizens that
the city recognizes the history of our communities and that they stand arm-in-arm with us
to celebrate LGBTQ culture and against agents of bigotry and hate.
Frederick Pride will take place June 24. For more information about The Frederick
Center, visit thefrederickcenter.org.

Call for a Baltimore community center seeks board members

tour today!

@
New board members are being sought for the 40-year-old GLBT Community Center
of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB). The centers leadership notes that a full and

(301) 576-2800 productive board is critical in maximizing the centers growth.

GLCCB is on the upswing of a remarkable transformation some thought was
impossible, former executive director and current board president Jabari Lyles told
the Blade. We listened to our community, owned up to our criticisms, and re-laid the
foundation for the community center Baltimore needs.
Lyles explained that the GLCCB performs services for community members who need
it most and that a strong board will make decisions that will help reach out to the LGBT
communities.
Our sta serves hundreds of family members each month with events, seminars
and case management, Lyles said. Each year, we produce Marylands largest LGBTQ
event, Baltimore Pride. Every day our doors are open is a day an intentional, safe space
is available to those who need it. We will only be able to continue this work with a strong,
resourced board of directors.
He added, We are looking for innovative, experienced individuals who are poised to
address the priorities of our community and our city.
If interested in a position on the GLCCB board of directors, contact the center for a link
to an online application.

Baltimore to remember Pulse victims

13500 Layhill Road, Silver Spring, MD
Minutes from ICC & Glenmont Metro
Bus Transportation & Extended Day Available
On the one-year anniversary of the horric shooting spree by Omar Mateen at
Orlandos Pulse nightclub that killed 49 people, Baltimore will join other cities throughout
the U.S. to remember the victims.
On Monday, there will be a silent procession that will originate at Homewood Friends
(3105 N. Charles Street in Baltimore) at 7 p.m. and proceed to The Cathedral of the
Incarnation (4 East University Parkway). Participants will stand in silent vigil as the names
of the 49 victims are read.

barrie.org
Last year following the massacre, several vigils took place in Baltimore as well as in
Columbia, Westminster, Frederick and other areas of Maryland.

STEVE CHARING
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 27

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 WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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Insertion date:
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4.75" x 11.5" 4C NP
JUNE 9, 2017
WASHINGTON BLADE
212-675-4106
Mumps outbreak hits gay Los Angeles men

LOS ANGELES More than 40 people in Los Angeles County and surrounding
regions have been diagnosed with mumps, prompting public health ocials
Thursday to declare an outbreak and issue an alert to physicians and providers
to be aware of it, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
In the alert, public health ocials said many of the cases were initially
misdiagnosed and there was a reliance of using false negative results. Its unclear
when this occurred. Health ocials also did not release the conditions of those
who were diagnosed. A response from Los Angeles County public health ocials
was not immediately forthcoming last week, the Daily News reported.
But health ocials said most of the patients are men who have sex with men,
and the majority of the cases were linked to patients being at large venues
such as gyms, bars, theaters and nightclubs. Some of the patients are women
and straight men who have social connections to men who have sex with men,

MGM
health ocials noted.
The majority of cases have had no documentation of complete vaccination;
however, some cases were fully vaccinated, according to the alert.
Mumps is highly infectious and spreads among those living in close quarters

Divas Outdoors
or at social settings.
In March, seven men in L.A. County were diagnosed with mumps as part of two
dierent clusters and occurred in men who have sex with men. It was unclear if
presents those cases were related to the recent outbreak, the Daily News reports.
A major factor contributing to outbreaks of mumps is being in a crowded

Singin in the Rain

environment, according to the alert. Also, certain behaviors that result in
exchanging saliva, such as kissing or sharing utensils, cups, lipstick or cigarettes,
may increase the spread of the virus.
Friday, June 16 Symptoms include fatigue, body aches, headache, loss of appetite, a low-
grade fever and swelling of the salivary glands, according to health experts. In
adult men, mumps can sometimes lead to sterility.
Nationwide, 2,570 people have been diagnosed with mumps from January
to April of this year, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and
See this classic film under the stars Prevention.
The agency reports that mumps is no longer common in the United States,
like nowhere else in DC! but some outbreaks have been reported. Last year, there were 5,833 cases, the
Daily News reports.
Let Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds sweep you off your feet. Before the U.S. mumps vaccination program started in 1967, about 186,000 cases
Come early and set out your elaborate spread for the picnic were reported each year, but the actual number of cases was likely much higher due
contest. (Hint: our judges love connections to the film.) to underreporting, according to the CDC. Since the pre-vaccine era, there has been a
more than 99 percent decrease in mumps cases in the United States.
78:30pm: Mansion and special exhibition
Spectacular Gems and Jewelry open. Syphilis rates skyrocket in London
79:45pm: Hillwood Caf open for wine, beer,
sandwiches, and more. LONDON Syphilis cases have reached the highest level since 1949 following
Picnicking on the Lunar Lawn. a rise in unsafe sex as fears about HIV have faded, new gures suggest, the
88:30pm: Best picnic spread judging and winners Telegraph reports.
announced. The data shows the number of diagnoses has doubled in ve years, with most
cases occurring in gay and bisexual men.
Film begins around 8:45pm. It follows warnings from health ocials that risky sexual behaviors including
unprotected activity, chem sex, the use of hookup apps such as Grindr and
Presented rain or shine. In the event of rain, the screening will be moved poz parties where HIV-positive men select sexual partners are fueling the
to fabulous indoor locations. rise, the Telegraph reports.
Divas Outdoors is part of the Dina Merrill Film Program and is The gures from Public Health England show 5,920 syphilis diagnoses in
presented in partnership with Art Deco Society of Washington. 2016, a rise of 12 percent in one year, and a near doubling from 3,001 cases in
2012. PHE said that the cases were mostly associated with transmission in gay,
bisexual or other men who have sex with men.
Syphilis is a bacterial infection thats usually caught by having sex with someone
whos infected. It can usually be treated with a short course of antibiotics, but if
left untreated can cause serious long-term problems.
Last year ocials warned of increasing outbreaks after a historical decline in
the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the specter of HIV pandemic encouraged
safer sex.
Since then, advances in treatment mean young people with HIV now have
near normal life expectancy, while game-changing preventive drugs reduce the
chance of transmission by 90 percent, the Telegraph reports.
Now open every Sunday Hours: Tues Sun 10am 5pm HillwoodMuseum.org But the rise in unprotected sex has left increasing numbers exposed to other
4155 Linnean Ave. NW, Washington DC Free parking sexually transmitted infections, experts warn.

HIL-035-WashingtonBlade_4.75x11.5_Jun9_v2.indd 1 6/5/17 11:52 AM

W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 29

Life is about balances. We like

to have fun, but we take steps to stay

healthy, too. Were testing for HIV.

WERE
DOING
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Stop by our booth at Pride.

As a leader in LGBTQ care in the D.C. region,
we want to stay informed about your health
care needs. Stop by our booth to complete a
survey and learn about our new LGBTQ resource,
nurse, childbirth services and other programs.
We hope to see you there!

5255 Loughboro road, N.W. , WashiNgtoN, d.c. 20016 sibLey.org

 WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

30 J U N E 09, 2017 F I T N E SS

Up and at em
Advantages abundant to an early morning workout
Summer Exercise at any time of day is
benecial. It improves your physical

Concert Series
DAVID MAGIDA is founder of Elevate Interval Fit-
ness, a member of the Reebok Spartan Race Pro
Team and author of The Essentials of Obstacle
Racing: A Beginners Guide. You can catch a class
health, your mental well-being and
your eciency. But when you knock
out your training in the morning, it
takes your life to a whole new level.
Your work eciency improves, your
happiness reaches new heights and
your likelihood of training increases.
Morning exercise can leave

Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
with him at Elevate on 14th Street or at its new you more awake, more satised
location in the Mosaic District in Fairfax, Va. throughout the day and free up
more time for your social life. A

U.S. Capitol West Steps

solid morning workout routine is your rst step toward improving your life.

START YOUR DAY WITH ROUTINE

Exercising in the morning provides so many benets. Morning exercise helps
you establish a routine, which is one of the keys to success in life. When you
wake up and knock out your workout early, it allows you to get something
signicant o of your plate and allows you to shift your focus to your job or

Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

other obligations quickly. We all love checking something important o the list.
Avoiding the worry of whether you will get your workout in alleviates stress
throughout the day and allows you to focus on things that matter. You wont

Air Force Memorial have to worry about whether something will come up later in the day that
interferes with your exercise plans.

IMPROVE YOUR EFFICIENCY

After a morning workout, youll most likely nd yourself more awake, aware
and focused. Eciency goes through the roof. For the rst few hours after a
workout, the synapses in your brain are ring on all cylinders. Your focus

Saturdays at 7 p.m. throughout the day will likely never be higher. Work that normally takes two
hours can be completed in less than one. This mental clarity enables you to
nish your work without having to stay late, possibly even allowing you to get

National Harbor out of work on time, a luxury most people rarely seem to have. Of course, being
able to leave work on time means being able to catch happy hour with your
friends, spend time with your kids or cook yourself that healthy dinner instead
of needing to grab something on your way home.

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Outdoor concerts subject to cancellation.
For more info, please visit our website.
SLEEP BETTER
When you train in the morning and then complete a long days work, youll
most likely be exhausted. Physical exertion before the mental strain of work
will add a new element of fatigue that should enable you to get a quality nights
sleep. While exercise in the evenings can also wipe you out, many people
struggle to sleep for the rst few hours after a training session. Theyre just too
amped up (see previous point). So instead, knocking out that training session
in the morning allows you to come home, relax and just get ready for bed. And

May 26 August 29
once your head hits the pillow, youll probably sleep like a baby.

CONQUERING CHALLENGES BRINGS SATISFACTION

If life were easy, happiness would be hard to come by. Its human nature to

FREE!
seek out challenges, to test ourselves, even to make ourselves a little miserable,
because when we do, we nd a deeper level of satisfaction and accomplishment.
If youve ever heard of the idea that happiness cannot exist without sadness,

No tickets youll probably nd that the same can be said for struggle.
Many people feel unhappy because theyre unhappy with the purpose of

needed.
the tasks they have to deal with in their lives or havent felt as though they are
accomplishing anything signicant. Tough workouts often make you question
yourself at the time, but as soon as you nish them you nd an overwhelming
sense of pride and accomplishment. That pride leads to a much more enjoyable
day and even life. Simply knowing youve taken the time to improve your overall
health can take lift a weight o of your shoulders and even make you feel

www.usafband.af.mil accomplished. And that is one of the keys to happiness.

CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 31

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3 2 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
Stop eating our own
Resisting Trump should
bring us together at
Equality March
KEVIN NAFF is editor of the Washington Blade
and can be reached at kna@washblade.com.
At a time when theres so much to unite
the LGBT+ community, weve gotten re-
ally good at eating our own.
Its not a new phenomenon. In 2014,
when Ellen DeGeneres hosted the Oscars
telecast, I remember watching with a tear
in my eye as Jared Leto accepted the Os-
car for best supporting actor for his role
in Dallas Buyers Club. Ellen did a terric
job; Leto rightly acknowledged those who
died from AIDS in his beautiful speech.
The next morning when I opened my
email, there was a long thread of mes-
sages on an LGBT listserv I once read re-
ligiously. To my surprise, the messages
were almost uniformly critical of DeGe-
neres (deemed transphobic because of
a joke she made about Liza Minnelli) and
Leto (labeled a trans mammy). It was as
though wed all watched a dierent ver-
sion of the Oscars. Did these folks really
think Ellen was our enemy? I never post-
ed to that listserv again.
Fast-forward to today and a similarly
unfortunate scenario is playing out as a
protest group called No Justice No Pride
is criticizing Capital Pride for its perceived
lack of diversity, its reliance on corporate
sponsors and its inclusion of D.C. police
representation in the Pride parade.
No Justice No Pride has argued that D.C.
police have targeted LGBT people of color,
especially trans women forced to engage
in sex work, for arrest and harassment.
They have called on Capital Pride to ban
uniformed police from participating in the
Pride parade and festival, including mem-
bers of the police LGBT Liaison Unit, as the
Blade has reported. Its an unfortunate
demand that overlooks some important
history. Community activists have worked
hard for decades to educate local police
about LGBT concerns and to enlist the
police as our allies. We take it for granted
that the police will march in solidarity with
us, but it wasnt always so. In fact, the very
rst issue of the Blade in October 1969 in-
cluded a warning about police harassment
of visitors to Dupont Circle-area bars. The
Stonewall riots were triggered by police
harassment. Today, D.C.s LGBT Liaison
Unit is an award-winning project led by a
transgender sergeant.
Just one year ago, it was Orlando police
E DIT OR IA L C A R T OON
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
VIEWPOINT
who ran toward the gunre at Pulse night-
club when our community was attacked. If
something similar were to happen in D.C.,
the same people who denounce the police
today would be dialing 911 as fast as their
ngers allow. Demonizing police in D.C.
doesnt advance understanding. Many ad-
vocates, like Brett Parson in Washington and
Steve Elkins in Rehoboth Beach, have spent
countless hours educating law enforcement
and helping to change the culture.
Thats not to suggest No Justice No
Pride isnt making some valid points. Cap-
ital Pride leaders have said they would
conduct a reassessment of how corporate
sponsors are approved for 2017 and be-
yond. Thats a positive step. Corporations
play a key role in advancing LGBT equal-
ity; weve enlisted their help in Indiana
and North Carolina to combat religious
freedom laws. Indeed, corporations have
frequently led on LGBT equality while
state and federal laws and protections
for workers lagged. Alienating and de-
monizing corporate allies is short sighted
and ignores the powerful leverage they
often have over anti-LGBT lawmakers. Of
course, some companies walk the walk
all year, while others give us a one-week
rainbow embrace at Pride season. Capital
Pride should do a better job of screening
its sponsors and has pledged to do so.
At a time when theres so much at stake
amid the Trump administrations assault
on progress, its disappointing were ex-
pending valuable time and energy ght-
ing with each other and eating our own.
We have plenty of real enemies who are
now empowered to undermine President
Obamas important legacy. Thats why we
are marching this weekend in D.C. and
around the country. The Blades contin-
gent will march in support of press free-
doms and LGBT equality.
As we prepare to also mark the one-
year anniversary of the Pulse massacre,
lets honor the words of Pastor Brei, who
runs an arming ministry in Orlando and
who lost several parishioners in the attack.
She told me last year, Have faith and be-
lieve that evil and hate can be eradicated
one person at a time. How do you treat
someone? How do you embrace someone
who treats you wrong? We all bleed, laugh,
hope and have great victories and major
defeats. And so, you know me, even if you
dont know my name Im you.
Good advice as we consider how to re-
spond to Trumps supporters and to
each other. Have a safe Pride and be sure
to join the Equality March on Sunday.
VOLUME 48 ISSUE 23
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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
V I E W PO I N T
The euphoria of Pride, the tragedy of Pulse
This year, 33,000
Americans will lose
their lives to gun violence
By JASON LINDSAY
It was only last year that the story was
unfolding. Just one year ago that the horror
was being told. Only 12 months ago that
lives were ended, the country wept, and the
way we look at everything changed.
On June 12, 2016, 49 individuals were
murdered in the most gruesome mass
attack of gun violence in U.S. history.
That it occurred at a celebration at
Pulse nightclub in Orlando during a Pride
Month Latin Night party made it even
more hurtful. Gay bars are safe spaces
for the LGBTQ community, a place where
you can be who you are, or who you want
to be, without judgment.
This violence shattered the notion of
safe spaces, at least temporarily. It cast
a dark cloud over the City of Orlando,
and its LGBTQ and Latin communities,
as death touched everyone there. And it
thrust the issue of gun violence once
again onto the national agenda, as pol-
iticians and policymakers, legislators and
lobbyists debated how to respond.
V I E W PO I NT
Commemorating our dead celebrates our lives
New lm shines light on NY
Times obituary department
KATHI WOLFE, a writer and poet, is a regular
contributor to the Blade.
I dont want you to die. But, Im dying to
read your obit when you do.
Since seeing Obit, a new documentary
about the New York Times obituaries de-
partment, Ive been thinking about obits.
How morbid, you might feel, to think about
obituaries, especially during Pride season.
But, as odd as it might seem, youd be wrong.
In the hands of good writers, obits
are the best reads. By telling our stories,
though often in only 700-1,000 words,
they help to make us, famous or not, a
part of history. Until recently, obituaries
The tragedy at Pulse forever intertwines
June as both Pride Month and National
Gun Violence Awareness Month,
two recognitions at competing purposes.
Gun violence is not new, of course.
But the increase in mass shootings in re-
cent years from Columbine to Fort Hood,
from Virginia Tech to Sandy Hook, from
Charleston to now Orlando has raised
the stakes. People are being targeted be-
cause theyre gay, or African American, or
children. People are being targeted for
who they are, for just being.
Just a year earlier, our Pride Month was
centered on marriage equality, and joy of
being treated equally across the country,
in courthouses as well as cafes. Now, we
shared with other communities that have
endured senseless violence that equality
the shared sorrow of grief.
For the LGBTQ community, our sense of
purpose ourished. This deadly violence
invaded Pride Month, our time when we
celebrate being free, being Americans,
being able to show our love and share
our love with others. This intrusion solidi-
ed our resolve to ght.
often failed to truthfully tell the stories of
many LGBTQ lives. When my life partner
Anne died in 2001, her Washington Post
obit referred to me as her companion.
Obit, directed by Vanessa Gould, is an
engaging look at the Times Obits desk.
Through interviews with editors, writers
and researchers, the lm depicts what its
like to write the story of the life of some-
one whos died (from Philip Seymour Ho-
man to Betty James who named the Slinky
toy) under deadline pressure. Je Roth,
who runs the Times morgue, shows us
the room where clips (photos, reviews, ar-
ticles, etc.) documenting the lives of those
whove died have been kept for decades.
Roth says that in the morgue, he found
a photo of Pete Seeger, age 2, with his
parents, who were musicians, perform-
ing at an open-air concert. Literally life is
there from the very beginning, he says.
Theres never a dull moment in the obit
section. Literally, I show up in the morn-
ing and say, Whos dead? a writer says.
A fortunate death is one you hear
about at 9 a.m, jokes another writer, al-
luding to relentlessly looming deadlines.
The Pride Fund to End Gun Violence
was born out of the Pulse tragedy, and
works at the intersection of LGBTQ equal-
ity and support for sensible gun reforms.
Since our founding weve focused on mo-
bilizing the LGBTQ community and our
allies; raising funds to elect pro-LGBTQ
candidates who support sensible gun re-
forms; and serving as the voice of the LG-
BTQ community in the movement to stop
senseless gun tragedies.
This year alone, 33,000 Americans will
lose their lives to gun violence, includ-
ing mass casualty shootings, accidents
and suicide. When will we reach the tip-
ping point? The Pride Funds gun reform
platform is non-controversial and achiev-
able although maybe not in the short
term, given the political realities: Expand
background checks to cover all gun sales.
Prohibit suspected terrorists from pur-
chasing guns. Restrict access to assault
weapons and high capacity magazines.
The movie uses video to bring the sub-
jects of some Times obits to life. We see
fascinating images from Elinor Smith, a
record-setting aviatrix named female pilot
of the year in 1930, to the John F. Kennedy
and Richard Nixon presidential campaign
debates. In 1931, the Times fearing that
Smith might not survive her ying exploits,
interviewed Smith for an advance obit.
(The Times interviews some people about
their lives while theyre still alive.) Smith
gave the Grim Reaper a run for his money:
she lived until 2010. William P. Wilson, who
died in 2014, advised JFK on how to use TV
in the 1960 election debates.
Its counterintuitive, perhaps, but obit-
uaries have next to nothing to do with
death and absolutely everything to do
with life, says writer Margalit Fox.
Unfortunately, far too often, LGBTQ
people have not been brought fully to life
in obituaries. Take James Beard. As the
New York Times columnist Frank Bruni
noted in a recent column, the Times obit
(along with the AP and many other pa-
pers) didnt say that the cookbook writer
James Beard, who died in 1985, was gay.
JUNE 09, 2017 33
Support federally funded research on
gun violence. And prevent those convict-
ed of committing hate crimes from pur-
chasing guns.
For too long, lawmakers have failed in
their responsibility to ensure the public
safety by not taking action to reduce gun
violence. No other country faces the daily
onslaught of shootings and murders that
the United States does, and yet an-
other 93 people will be killed today, and
another 93 will be killed tomorrow, and
so on. Every day.
The tragedy at Pulse forever inter-
twines June as both Pride Month and Na-
tional Gun Violence Awareness Month,
two recognitions at competing purposes.
That alone shows how much more work
we have to do.
To get involved, volunteer or donate to
help enact real gun reform, visit our web-
site at PrideFund.org. Like us on Facebook
and follow us on Twitter @Pride_Fund.
JASON LINDSAY is founder and executive
director of Pride Fund to End Gun Violence,
a political action committee that will support
state and federal candidates who will act on
sensible gun policy reforms and champion
LGBTQ equality. Lindsay is a seasoned political
operative with 13 years of experience working
in politics, government and campaigns. He
served for 14 years in the U.S. Army Reserve
and was deployed to Iraq in 2003.
Beard is just the tip of the iceberg. The
writer Susan Sontag died in 2004. Though,
she was briey married to Philip Rie, pho-
tographer Annie Leibovitz was her long-
time partner. Sontags New York Times
and Los Angeles Times obituaries didnt in-
clude her relationship with Leibovitz. (Fox
wrote Sontags New York Times obit.)
Who could count the number of people
who died at the height of the AIDS epi-
demic whose obits omitted any mention
of their being gay?
When astronaut Sally Ride died in 2012,
few of her obituaries said that she was
lesbian and had a partner.
In Obit, Fox says that as the cultural cli-
mate has begun to change for people of color
and women, more women and minorities
are being written about in Times obituaries.
I wish that Fox and the others interviewed in
Obit, had talked about whether more obitu-
aries are being written at the Times that in-
clude the sexuality of LGBTQ people.
Despite this caveat, Obit is well-worth
checking out. During Pride season, its a
fab reminder that commemorating our
dead celebrates our lives.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
I N S I DE LGB T W A S HING TON
Join the Equality March on June 11
Standing up for those most
marginalized among us
PETER ROSENSTEIN is a D.C.-based LGBT rights
and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly
for the Blade.
On June 11, we put aside our dierences
for at least one day, join hands, and speak out
together in the Equality March for Unity and
Pride. We know within the LGBTQ+ commu-
nity there are many of the same issues as in
the greater community; issues such as racism,
transphobia, economic inequality. But for one
Sunday let us believe in the possibility of build-
ing and ghting for a better future together. To
achieve that better future we must be able to
talk to each other and learn from each other,
as much as we need to talk to and change the
community around us.
On June 11 in D.C., and in sister marches
O UR B USI NES S MATTERS
LGBT Pride events are celebrations and nothing less
Business allies have
well-earned participation
in these community events
MARK LEE is a long-time entrepreneur
and community business advocate. Follow
on Twitter: @MarkLeeDC. Reach him at
OurBusinessMatters@gmail.com.
There is an axiom utilized by D.C. Capital
Pride to encapsulate the spirit and value of
the annual LGBT festivities held each June, this
week for the 43rd time in the nations capital.
Every Pride is someones rst Pride. ness owner.
In cities and towns across America, in
places both large and small, the early sum-
mer heralds local Pride events that enjoy
either a long legacy or a short history. Pe-
rusing photos and reading reports of the
parades, festivals, concerts, street fairs and
other community events either grand in
scale or simply small in size held in a con-
around the world, we ask all those who sup-
port human and civil rights to join with us
and speak out. We will march in unity and
with pride, demanding fairness and equal-
ity for those most marginalized among us
and for those most marginalized in the
greater community.
The focus of the march must be to chal-
lenge those who have made themselves the
enemy of decency and justice. That enemy
today is represented by the president of the
United States and many around him, includ-
ing Steve Bannon and others who would
gladly take away the rights we have fought
so hard for. The Republican leaders in Con-
gress who refuse to bring to the oor and
debate the Equality Act. The presidents cabi-
net represented by Betsy DeVos, secretary
of education, who has stated under oath
she wouldnt ght any state wanting to dis-
criminate against the LGBTQ+ community
and other minorities.
We recognize the LGBTQ+ community can-
not stand alone. We will march with women
when they march; we will march with immi-
grants when they march; we stand with those
demanding action on climate change; and we
will continue to stand with those who are de-
nied access to their voting rights and denied
stantly growing number of locales is both
inspiring and instructive.
LGBT Pride events are celebrations, and
nothing less.
These signature events are the communi-
ty-building occasions common to the fabric
of hometown LGBT life across the country.
They provide opportunities for assembling
together, coalescing as a group while expand-
ing interactive connections, commemorat-
ing achievements and advocating additional
advancements, welcoming new members
and honoring those no longer present, and
above all else having a good time.
These celebratory events wouldnt be possi-
ble, or even come to exist, without the backing
of businesses and corporate allies. Financial
support from the business community is es-
sential to these undertakings, and always has
been. Everywhere.
In D.C., the local Pride celebration rst
began in 1975 and was organized by a busi-
equal treatment.
That businessperson, now-retired Dea-
con Maccubbin, told the Washington Busi-
ness Journal two years ago when honored
as parade grand marshal alongside his hus-
band Jim Bennett, that Capital Pride is very,
very large and very, very corporate its
done with very, very large donations, from
very, very big businesses.
a fair chance in our justice system. It is only
when we stand together that we make prog-
ress and secure all our rights.
The idea for this march began with one
activist watching the success of the womens
march. Then a small group of dedicated in-
dividuals came together to begin planning.
They bent over backwards to ensure the
public face of the march would be diverse.
That it would be representative of grass-
roots activists. Mistakes were made. There
were the usual ghts over whether corpora-
tions and our national organizations should
be approached for support and debates
over what constituted enough diversity. The
feelings enunciated at those early meetings
were real and heartfelt. In the end, the name
of the march was decided on to represent
what we all came to believe; it was impor-
tant to make a statement about being proud
of who we are and the need to unite our
community in shared goals.
Recently, a small group of activists decided
to attack Capital Pride for some of its policies.
I dont know about other cities and states but
in the District of Columbia we celebrate out
members of the Metropolitan Police Depart-
ment (MPD) and celebrate that an out trans-
gender sergeant was named head of the LGBT
And thats progress, emphasized the
founder of Pride events in D.C.
That progress has allowed Pride to become
an iconic major annual city event attracting
both supporters and dollars from substantial
components of the business community. Con-
tinuation and growth rely on further enhanc-
ing that support, as producing Pride is now a
seven-gure business itself.
The world has watched while both small
businesses and large corporations have stood
with the LGBT community in localized skir-
mishes and national battles alike. More often
than not, it is corporate support turning the
tide and winning political victories.
In contemporary gay culture, it is well
established that corporate commerce now
serves as the primary force in the advance-
ment of LGBT equality nationwide. Business
allies and the engagement of enterprise
pioneer the path toward lesbian, gay, and
transgender acceptance, civil protection and
objectors seems to think businesses hire out-
Businesses have well earned their wel-
comed participation in LGBT events and the
vast majority of the community embraces
their support of Pride festivities.
There are multiple ironies in the complaint
of the tiny contingent of self-avowed anti-capi-
talist No Justice No Pride naysayers who have
this year whined about business involvement
JUNE 09, 2017 37
Liaison Unit. We can do that and still speak
out and ght the horric injustices faced by
African Americans, trans women and other
minority communities perpetrated by some
members of police forces across the nation.
Hopefully those activists will join with others,
including Capital Pride, which supports the
very diverse group of co-chairs and honorary
chairs of the June 11 march recognizing we are
stronger when we stand together.
If we are to move forward as a community
we cannot sweep our own dierences under
the rug. We need to face them head on, talk
about them, and work to create change. While
that work goes on we must respect the desire
of various communities to celebrate Pride in
the way they choose and do so in safe spaces.
We must respect and support Black Pride,
Trans Pride, Youth Pride and any group that
feels they want to celebrate Pride within their
own community and how they choose. Each
of us is entitled to that.
But on June 11 let us join with one voice
speaking to power and proudly march, Mo-
bilizing LGBTQ+ communities, our loved ones
and our allies with particular focus on those
who have been actively silenced and neglect-
ed in the ght to arm and protect our rights,
our safety and our full humanity.
with Pride celebrations.
First, they dont appear to know much
about the history of Pride events in D.C., and
even less about the nancial requirements of
staging these events.
Second, they prattle on about pipelines,
prisons, and public policies that are not
LGBT related, while refusing to accept the
communitys divergent perspectives on non-
LGBT issues.
Third, they fail to recognize that these cor-
porate sponsors are the businesses forging
fundamental change. A nancial institution
that has been a perennial Pride sponsor, and
which these radicals seek to pillory and pro-
hibit from participating, is a longstanding lead-
er in adopting both LGBT-friendly workplace
policies and marketplace practices beginning
in 1987 and expanded in 2004. This record has
earned the bank a perfect rating for LGBT cor-
porate policy.
Even more oddly bizarre, this small group of
of-work actors to populate parade contingents
or sta festival booths when it is employees,
often part of large and robust workplace asso-
ciations and industry networks, who do.
With any luck, the little band of pouty far-left
protesters wont prove how unpopular they
are among the rank-and-le by blockading the
Pride parade or disrupting the festival.
3 8 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 39
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The Pointer Sisters today are RUTH POINTER, center, with daughter ISSA, left, and granddaughter
SADAKO.

PHOTO COURTESY LEFT OF CENTER PRODUCTIONS

So Excited for Pride

POINTER SISTERS 2.0 TO HEADLINE FESTIVAL MAIN STAGE ON SUNDAY
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com

Theres a lot more to the Pointer Sisters
than their most well-known hits.
Originally, sisters June and Bonnie
Pointer started singing as a duo in 1969.
By 1972, they were a quartet with sisters
Anita and Ruth having joined them. Their
eponymous debut album came out the
following year and they worked as a
quartet until 1978 and were known for
highly eclectic musical experimentation.
They even won a 1975 Grammy in a
country category for their song Fairytale.
Their biggest songs came in the 80s
with June, Ruth and Anita releasing
monster chart hits like Slow Hand,
Jump (for My Love) and Im So Excited.
For about the last eight years, the group
has continued with Ruth singing with her
daughter Issa Pointer and granddaughter
Sadako Pointer. June died in 2006. Anita
occasionally sang with them until the last
few years.
The Pointer Sisters will headline at
the Capital Pride concert on the Capitol
Concert Stage at 3rd & Pennsylvania
Ave. on Sunday, June 11 at 4 p.m. Ruth
Pointer, 71, took a few minutes last week
from her home in Massachusetts where
she was helping her granddaughter move
into a new apartment to talk with the
Washington Blade.
WASHINGTON BLADE: Your memoir
Still So Excited! last year was noted
for being unusually candid. What kind
of reception did you get to it overall?
RUTH POINTER: You know, it was
very positive. I think that Im just among
a group of people that are writing these
types of memoirs most recently just about
a life of recovery and redemption and
experience, especially in this business.
I really, really appreciate the response I
got. Im sure there were some negative
ones as well from what Im told but I dont
read that stu.
BLADE: You were up front with your
drug and alcohol use in the 80s. Do you
agree that male rock stars seem to get
more of a free pass on this kind of thing
than women? With somebody like, say,
Keith Richards, its treated as just part
of his renegade persona whereas with
Stevie Nicks, everybody acts so forlorn
like, Oh, she had a serious problem,
and shes asked about it ad nauseam.
POINTER: In a way I think I do, but
thats sort of what I think is a gender bias
in almost everything. You know, its just
the way of the world.
BLADE: Youve said how strict your
parents were when you were growing
up. Did they sort of gradually accept the
kind of music the group was doing? Did it
take them a long time to come around?
POINTER: Yes, they did loosen up. I
think it comes from getting to a place
where youre just exhausted from ghting
and disagreeing and being rigid and I
know I nd that in my own life with my
own children. You know, after a while I
just try to gure out how I can love them
for who they are as opposed to how I
want them to be and I think my parents
came to that realization and just decided
to just love us as opposed to trying to
mold us and make us into these starch
Christians that they were. It just wasnt
going to work (laughs). I mean you know,
I consider myself a Christian today but I
think a lot of religions and practices have
changed over the years. You just want to
kind of t in a little bit with the world. So
things are a little dierent now.
BLADE: I imagine gay issues were
thought of as the ultimate sin, right?
POINTER: I didnt even know anything
about that when I was a kid. I had no clue.
BLADE: Do you recall when you rst
realized that was a thing?
POINTER: You know, I really dont
know a specic time. Ive always had, you
know, friends that were a little dierent in
dierent ways, but I never thought it was
anything wrong with them. They were just
dierent.
BLADE: Im sure your views evolved
on that over the years like most other
folks, right?
POINTER: Yeah, oh absolutely.
BLADE: Have the Pointer Sisters
played many Pride events? Do you
remember the rst?
POINTER: I dont remember the rst
one but weve always had a huge, you
know, audience, gay audience, being
from the Bay Area, San Francisco, you
know, Haight-Ashbury. Sylvester, the
Cockettes, Pristine Condition, you know,
it was always just a good time. Just fun,
which is what we always set out to do, just
have a good time.
BLADE: What do you have planned
for your D.C. performance?
POINTER: Well, we just want to have a
really good time at any event. Where were
CONTINUES ON PAGE 70
4 2 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 43

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4 4 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
Kristine W.s triumphant return
Many artists who are lucky to chart
hits on the Billboard charts at all often
see the law of diminishing returns
kick in gradually over time, even with
consistently good material.
Somehow, though, Kristine W. has
managed to maintain a staggeringly
impressive record on the U.S. Dance
charts. Shes had 14 no. 1 singles over a
nearly 20-year period. Of the 19 singles
shes charted there, the lowest she ever
peaked at was no. 4. She had another
smash last summer with Out There,
which made it to No. 3.
Shes in D.C. this weekend to headline
at the Distrkt C Pride Indoor/Outdoor
Festival & Concert. She spoke by phone
with the Blade, her rst interview with
us since 2012, last week, from her home
in Las Vegas. Her comments have been
slightly edited for length.
WASHINGTON BLADE: Howve you
been?
KRISTINE W.: Its been a challenging
year. It just seems like a lot of people
around me are going through some
transition. Its a time of change. It could
be life, jobs or relationships. Last year I
wrote the song Out There which is really
strange because now Im going through
a divorce. Its really strange how I keep
writing this music and it ends up being
real life. Land of the Living was one of
Dance diva readies new album, Distrkt C appearance
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
those albums. It was like I wrote it then I
had to live it.
BLADE: Are the songs more universal
than you originally realized or do you
have a sixth sense?
KRISTINE W.: I think theyre more
universal than I really thought, although
my grandfather had this gift of kind of
seeing into the future and so did his
mother, my grandmother, Elizabeth who
Im named after. I dont know if I didnt get
some of that too. Sometimes I get certain
signs in dreams or Ill get this really
weird epiphany. I ght it all the time but
sometimes it just kind of overtakes me.
BLADE: What was your favorite
remix of Out There, your latest hit?
KRISTINE W: I think the Moto Blanco
mix. But I also like the original mix thats
going to be on the album because it takes
you on a journey. That album mix as far
as watching a crowd having a good time
but at a Pride event, the Moto Blanco
mix is so uplifting, you can just see
everybody get lifted up from it. Its a very
happy production.
BLADE: Do you collaborate on the
remixes at all?
KRISTINE W.: Oh yeah. So many of
them have known me enough years that
we kind of know each others audiences,
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
P RI D E
PHOTO COURTESY OF BOBBY BLACK
we play a lot of big events, we know came out. Whats the status on that?
what kind of works, we have personal KRISTINE W.: The album is nished.
relationships and its very cool. I try Were probably going to put out a couple
to use the remixes to cover as big of singles, then drop the album or maybe
a territory as possible. The Loop Soop put it on pre-order. Were looking into
version is like a tropical, Miami kind of that right now. But its gonna be amazing.
vibe so thats kind of like sipping cocktails
and chilling at your house. If you pick em
right, they can aord you a chance of CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
reaching a wider audience than if you just
put out a couple versions.
DISTRKT C PRIDE
BLADE: Tell us about your upcoming An indoor/outdoor music festival and concert
single Stars.
KRISTINE W.: Stars is really special. Its Saturday, June 10
10 p.m.
a song I wrote a couple yars ago and kind Ocial mens party of Capital Pride
of sat on but in a strange way, its kind of DJs Jared Conner and Joe Gauthreaux
Grind
mirroring my life right now and what Im Inaya Day
going through. But not just for me, its
universal. Everybody who listens to it Sunday, June 11
5 p.m.
its like theres a piece of them in it. You Outside: disco and classics with Billy Carroll
can just see it in their reaction. Were
Concert starts at 8:30 p.m.
working on some really cool remixes of it Crystal Waters
right now. Kristine W
Kim English
BLADE: When will it be out? INSIDE: T DANCE AT 6 P.M.
KRISTINE W.: Were shooing for WITH ROLAND BELMARES
Independence Day but its a little crazy right 10 p.m.
now. We have to get it in the queue. Its X Gonzalez
gonna come down to how soon I can get Twisted Dee
Morabito
pushed through the line. Amuka
D.C. EAGLE
BLADE: You were talking about a new 3701 Benning Rd., N.E.
album last summer when Out There distrktc.com
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 45

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4 8 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 P RI D E

TINASHE says she cant wait to perform at Capital Pride this weekend and really bring it.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CHAMBER GROUP

Tinashe time
RISING STAR REALLY EXCITED FOR CAPITAL PRIDE PERFORMANCE
By MARIAH COOPER
mcooper@washblade.com

Rising pop/R&B star Tinashe has been
steadily making a name for herself from
the charts to her unwavering support
for the LGBT community. The 24 year
old became a radio hit with her debut
single 2 On from her freshman album,
Aquarius. Since then, she has released
her second album Nightride and
opened arena tours for Nicki Minaj, Katy
Perry and Maroon 5.
She has collaborations with big-name
artists like Britney Spears, Chance the
Rapper and Usher under her belt. Tinashe
also holds the honor of being chosen by
Janet Jackson to perform a tribute for the
veteran pop star at the BET Awards.
Tinashe, who has stated she doesnt
like to label her sexuality and is attracted
to everyone, has been known to send
supportive tweets to her LGBT fans. The
songstress spoke with the Washington
Blade about her upcoming album Joyride,
her dream collaborations and why
performing at Capital Pride is special to her.
WASHINGTON BLADE: Youve been
posting on social media how excited
you are to be in the studio this
summer. Can you tease what youre
working on? Is it part of Joyride or
something else?
TINASHE: Im always just being creative
and working on new music. So I feel like
Im just continuing the creative process
whether it ends up on Joyride or
something else.
BLADE: Whats your creative process
like?
TINASHE: You cant really box the
creative process. Its really dierent all
the time. I go with it depending on the
day, the mood and the environment Im
in. All those factors play into it.
BLADE: Do you ever get frustrated when
your fans ask, Wheres the new music?
TINASHE: Oh, denitely. But I
understand where it comes from. I
appreciate their tenacity.
BLADE: You had a huge collaboration
with Britney Spears on Slumber
Party. Is there anyone else youd love
to collaborate with?
TINASHE: In my brain, the top of my life
would be Sade and Janet Jackson. Those
are the ultimate goals. Aside from them, Id
love to work with Little Dragon. Theres just
so many dierent people. I really love the
collaborative process so for me thats always
fun. Im down to work with a lot of people.
BLADE: Whats the sound going to
be like for Joyride? Similar to your
previous work?
TINASHE: I think it always has an essence
of where Ive been. Thats always important
to me. But at the same time, theres a lot of
growth. I think thats really exciting as well.
It does sound like where Ive been but at the
same time theres an evolution.
BLADE: Youre performing at Capital
Pride and youve performed at other
Prides as well. Why is being a supporter
of the LGBT community so important
to you?
TINASHE: Im just a huge believer in
equality everywhere. Ive been a supporter
of the LGBT community for a really long time.
For me, it just seems like a basic human right
that everyone should be able to love whoever
they want to love. I feel like its always an
important cause to stand for equality.
BLADE: Is the vibe dierent from
your regular concerts when you
perform at Prides?
TINASHE: Yeah. The last Pride show I
did was amazing, the energy was insane.
Everyone was singing along. Im really
excited hopefully to get back on that
stage and get a lot of their support again.
BLADE: Have you ever performed in
D.C.?
TINASHE: I think I performed there on
my tour but its been awhile so Im excited
to come back.
BLADE: What can people expect from
your performance?
TINASHE: Im going to perform songs
from my debut album Aquarius as well
as new stu from Nightride. Im always
so ready to bring a very high-energy
performance so I cant wait to get up on
stage and really bring it.
BLADE: Any message youd like to
share with your LGBT fans?
TINASHE: I would say just live in
condence. Dont ever live in fear and
just enjoy your life to the fullest. Dont let
anybody tell you that your love is wrong.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 49

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5 0 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 51

5 2 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
VASSY has been dominating the dance
music scene since her 2014 collaboration
with David Guetta and Showtek on the
seven times double-platinum single,
Bad.
The Australian music artist had another
hit in 2015 with her collaboration with
Tisto and KSHMR on Secrets, a track kept going.
that went to No. 1 in 20 countries. She
also released her solo single Nothing to
Lose in 2016 that has received more than
three million views on YouTube.
Her LGBT advocacy includes being an
ambassador for the NOH8 Campaign,
an organization that promotes LGBT and
human equality in marriage, education,
social media, among other avenues. A
Pride event veteran, shell be at Capital
Pride this weekend with a performance
planned between 2-4 p.m. on the Concert
Stage (3rd & Pennsylvania Ave.) at the
Capital Pride Festival on Sunday, June 11.
The 34 year old chatted with the
Washington Blade about her Australian
work ethic, her favorite part about Pride
and helping her best friend come out at
14 years old.
WASHINGTON BLADE: How did you
get started making music and getting
into the dance music scene?
VASSY: My career started in Australia
a few years ago. I had success out there
VASSY says she considers herself an ambassador for equal rights and human rights.
Sassy VASSY
AUSSIE DANCE DIVA SAYS PRIDE ALWAYS HAS A SPECIAL VIBE
By MARIAH COOPER
mcooper@washblade.com
in the indie-pop world. My success in the
dance world started just a couple years
ago because I had a record with David
Guetta that did extremely well. That
record launched me into the dance world
and put me on the map. A year later I had
a really big record with Tisto and it just
BLADE: What about the dance music
scene is dierent from the indie-pop
scene?
VASSY: Essentially, its the same in
terms of songwriting for me. Although,
theres more emphasis on the hook. It
doesnt change too much for me in terms
of an artist and writing.
BLADE: The song Bad with David
Guetta became a huge dance hit. Did
you expect the song to blow up like it
did?
VASSY: You know, no. It really took o.
That record did so freaking well. We had
a good feeling about it but I didnt expect
all that.
BLADE: What are some upcoming
projects youre working on?
VASSY: Ive got a couple new releases
coming out in the summer. I cant say
yet with who but there is some cool new
music coming up.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CAPITAL PRIDE ALLIANCE
BLADE: Only a few Australian artists
like Kylie Minogue, Sia and Iggy Azalea
have made names for themselves in
the U.S. Whats it been like for you an
an Australian artist breaking into the
U.S. music industry?
VASSY: Ive been based here in America,
so its cool. I feel like Australians are
pretty hard working and were laid back.
We dont feel entitled so we are very, We
gotta earn it. We gotta put the work in.
Thats the Australian ethic.
BLADE: Youre an ambassador for the
NO8 Campaign. Why did you decide to
become apart of that?
VASSY: Ive been an ambassador for
a lot of campaigns in regards to human
rights and equal rights. Its been a
passionate area of mine for many years.
So naturally, I was approached by them.
As a public gure, its always my duty
to any organization that I think is doing
good. So if I can attach myself to that and
then help them with their cause and get
the word out.
BLADE: Do you notice a dierence
when you perform at Pride events
versus non-LGBT events?
VASSY: Yeah. Prides are awesome
because everyone comes together for the
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
P RI D E
same reason. Theres a real celebration.
The energy in the air is very special. I
really enjoy doing Pride festivals. Its
a completely dierent energy. Theres
so much love in the air. Theres no
judgement. Its really special actually.
BLADE: Why are you a LGBT ally?
VASSY: I have very close friends and
family who are part of that community.
I helped my best friend come out at 14.
This is a community thats close to me,
its around me, its my world. Theyre my
family and friends. These are people I
love and Ill do anything to protect people
I love.
BLADE: Whats your Capital Pride
performance going to be like?
VASSY: Its going to be fun. Im going
to perform all my big hits that everyone
loves and knows the lyrics to. Im really
excited for a Capitol Hill sing-along to
that. Im gonna have some dancers who
are part of the local gay community. So
I want to give them that platform. Its
about celebrating that day. Its a very
monumental year with politics and where
things are at. I think its really important
for us all to come together to just keep
reminding people that its important to
embrace and accept people and give
everyone a fair go.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 53

THE EVERY DAY GUIDE

to Events in the Capitol Riverfront

FRIDAY NIGHT CONCERTS

Yards Park | 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm

MAY 26 Jimi Smooth & HitTime JUL 21 Bachelor Boys Band

JUN 02 The Morrison Brothers JUL 28 Covered with Jam
JUN 09 Jeff From Accounting AUG 04 Party Like Its
JUN 16 DC Jazz Fest AUG 11 Sam Grow
JUN 23 Moose Jaw AUG 18 Pebble to Pearl
JUN 30 Jah Works AUG 25 19th St Band
JUL 07 The Reagan Years SEP 01 Burnt Sienna
JUL 14 Justin Trawick SEP 08 Rain date

PRESENTING SPONSOR: STAGE SPONSOR:

THURSDAY NIGHT COMMUNITY GET

MOVING
MOVIES EVENTS Free Daily Fitness
Canal Park | Sundown FRESHFARM May 30 - Aug 31
CAPITOL RIVERFRONT MARKET
JUN 01 Ghostbusters (2016) Sundays May - Sept SUN Specialty Class
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JUN 08 Me Before You Canal Park South Block MON Boot Camp
JUN 15 Sister Act
ROCKIN THE BLOCK CONCERTS 7:00 pm | Canal Park
JUN 22 Doctor Strange May 31, Jun 7, Jul 12, TUE Yoga
Aug 2, & Sep 6 6:30 am | Canal Park
JUN 29 Secret Life of Pets
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm Conditioning
JUL 06 Grease Canal Park Middle Block 7:00 pm | Yards Park
JUL 13 Moana WED Resistance Training
BARD IN THE PARK WITH 6:30 am | Yards Park
JUL 20 Rogue One FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY Zumba
JUL 27 Arrival Jun 14, 20, 28
7:00 pm | Yards Park
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
AUG 03 La La Land THUR Boot Camp
Canal Park Middle Block
6:30 pm | Yards Park
AUG 10 Fantastic Beasts FRI Boot Camp
PADDLE NIGHTS &
AUG 17 Beauty & The Beast BOAT/CANOE TOURS WITH 6:30 pm | Canal Park
AUG 24 Rain date ANACOSTIA WATERSHED SOCIETY SAT Yoga
www.anacostiaws.org for details 8:00 am | Yards Park
Jazzercise
9:00 am | Yards Park

See more event details at www.capitolriverfront.org/calendar

Follow: @CAPITOLRIVERFRONT | @YARDSPARKDC | @CANALPARKDC | #CAPRIV
 5 4 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

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 EQUALITY MARCH FOR UNITY AND PRIDE
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04 JUNE 09, 2017 EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride

Heres how Trump has

undermined LGBT rights (so far)

PRESIDENT TRUMP declined to recognize June as Pride month and has revoked Obama-era
protections for trans students.

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

From revoking trans
protections to ignoring
Pride month
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
Critics of President Trump claim hes a
disaster for LGBT equality. The White House
asserts Trump is respectful and supportive
of LGBTQ rights. So, whos right?
To the surprise of many, the start of
the administration saw limited support
for LGBT rights. The White House
within days of the new administration
issued a statement declaring Trump is
respectful and supportive of LGBTQ
rights and would keep in place an
executive order signed by President
Obama in 2014 that barred federal
contractors from engaging in anti-LGBT
workplace discrimination.
The Trump administration also defied
the wishes of anti-LGBT advocates seeking
to purge the State Department of LGBT
rights supporters by keeping in place
Randy Berry in his role as special envoy
for global international LGBT rights.
In terms of anti-LGBT actions, the
most concrete actions have undermined
transgender rights. Most prominently,
that came in form of U.S. Attorney
General Jeff Sessions and Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos revoking Obama-
era guidance instructing schools that
discrimination targeting trans kids,
such as denying them access to the
restroom consistent with their gender
identity, is unlawful.
Under Sessions, the Justice
Department also withdrew litigation
against North Carolinas anti-LGBT law
CONTINUES ON PAGE 06
EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride JUNE 09, 2017 05

...BI G LY R LAW Y E R S
WIN WE AR E YO U

JUNE

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06 JUNE 09, 2017 EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride
Trump declines to
recognize Pride month
ContinueD FROM pag e 04
after it was replaced despite assertions
from civil rights groups the new law is
discriminatory. The department also
missed a deadline to appeal a court
injunction barring enforcement of an
Obama-era regulation assuring trans
people have access to health care,
including gender reassignment surgery.
Another metric for presidential
commitment to LGBT rights has been
making openly LGBT appointments, an
effort Obama undertook, which led to a
record number of openly LGBT appointees.
By contrast, Trump has yet to make
a single high-profile, openly LGBT
appointment.
Meanwhile, Trump appointments
include Roger Severino as assistant
secretary of civil rights at the Department
of Health & Human Services, which
essentially places an anti-transgender
activist in charge of defending trans
health. LGBT advocates helped derail the
confirmation of Trumps first choice for
Army secretary, Mark Green, who has
taken anti-LGBT positions during his
career as a state legislator and said being
trans is a disease.
Many LGBT advocates breathed a
sigh of relief after learning that a long-
awaited religious freedom executive
order issued by President Trump in
May did not include specific anti-LGBT
provisions that media reports said were
included in an earlier draft of the order.
But officials with several national
LGBT advocacy organizations expressed
concern that the two-page executive
order, called Promoting Free Speech
and Religious Liberty, gives U.S.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions authority
to interpret existing federal laws and
regulations in a way that could result in
discrimination against LGBT people.
In essence, the executive order
punts the question of how and
where the administration will permit
discrimination against LGBT people
to Jeff Sessions, a man who has
consistently denied LGBTQ people
equality under the law, the Human
Rights Campaign said in a statement.
This sweeping approach could
result in an unprecedented expansion
of religious exemptions affecting
employment, services and programs,
the HRC statement says.
But Gregory Angelo, president of
Log Cabin Republicans, disputed that
assessment, saying the text of the order
makes absolutely no mention of anything
to do with the LGBT community.
Not only is the text of the
executive order completely agnostic
on LGBT-related matters, the Trump
administration has now explicitly
asserted that there were no plans for
a separate order that addressed LGBT
issues, said Angelo.
The main provision of the order directs
the IRS to use maximum enforcement
discretion to ease restrictions on
churches and religious organizations
with a tax-exempt status that would
allow them to engage partisan politics,
including possible endorsement of
candidates running for public office.
In addition, President Trump declined
to issue a proclamation designating
June as Pride month, breaking with
a tradition started under the Obama
administration. Trump on the last day of
May issued five separate proclamations
recognizing June as National Caribbean-
American Heritage Month, African-
American Music Appreciation Month,
National Homeownership Month,
Great Outdoors Month and National
Ocean Month. Absent from the list was
anything related to Pride.
Trumps budget proposal is another
source of concern for LGBT advocates.
Proponents of funding to combat HIV/
AIDS continue to express alarm over
cuts to federal programs, which in
some cases are massive, in the budget
proposal that President Trump unveiled
last month amid questions of whether
Congress will agree to the reductions.
Carl Schmid, deputy director of the
AIDS Institute, said the decrease in
funding for HIV/AIDS proposed in the
Trump administrations $4.1 trillion
budget request was pretty shocking
after years of bipartisan agreement to
confront the disease.
We always think there are ways to
improve, ways to change things, were
open to that, Schmid said. Were not people in Chechnya, although Trump
one of the people that say, No, no, no.
But I dont think cutting the budget this
drastically is a way to change things.
The budget blueprint unveiled in
March by the White House Office
of Management & Budget indicated
proposed cuts for HIV screening and
research, but Schmid said the extentof
cuts in the budget was a surprise.
Among the more drastic cuts is a $186
million reduction in Centers for Disease
Control funding for HIV/AIDS, Viral
Hepatitis, STIs, and TB prevention. A full
$150 million of the reduction wouldcome
from HIV/AIDS prevention programs.
For research, on the chopping block is
the National Institutes for Health, which
handles HIV/AIDS research for the federal
government and was working on a cure
under President Obama. The budget seeks
a massive $7.2 billion reduction to NIH
generally and a $550 million reduction to
HIV/AIDS research specifically, according
to the AIDS Institute.
On international LGBT rights, the
Trump administration has already
seen a human rights crisis after the
emergence of reports of arrests and
torture of gay and bisexual men in
Russias semi-autonomous Republic
of Chechnya. More than 100 men have
been tortured and at least four killed
in what media reports are calling
concentration camps.
After some prodding, U.S. Ambassador
to the U.N. Nikki Haley has said the U.S.
government is disturbed by reports
of kidnapping, torture and murder of
himself has remained silent.
When asked by the Blade at the
100-day mark of the administration to
grade Trumps performance, all major
LGBT rights organizations with the
exception of Log Cabin Republicans
gave Trump an F.
EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride JUNE 09, 2017 07

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08 JUNE 09, 2017
Participants denounce
Trump, seek to preserve
Obama-era gains
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
The Equality March for Unity and Pride
is set to bring LGBT rights into focus
after a series of anti-Trump marches on
a range of issues, but some participants
say LGBT rights are just one motivating
factor for their decision to march.
After all, President Trump has taken
not only controversial actions against
LGBT rights, such as making anti-LGBT
appointments and withdrawing guidance
protecting transgender students, but has
riled the progressive community with
actions such as a travel ban on Muslim
countries and threats to undermine
abortion rights and the decision to
abandon the Paris climate accord.
For a president who has declined
to sign a religious freedom order
enabling anti-LGBT discrimination and
pledged to keep in place the Obama-
era executive order against anti-LGBT
workplace discrimination, the attempts
to undermine LGBT rights may seem
small in comparison.
Sian Lewis, a lesbian D.C. resident,
said LGBT issues are the No. 1 reason
for her participation in the march, citing
progress made during the Obama years
and just seeing it being rolled back
slowly but surely under Trump.
One particular action with which Lewis
took issue is the weakening of guidance
at the Department of Housing & Urban
Development prohibiting discrimination
in housing against LGBT people.
There used to be protections for
LGBT people for housing under HUD,
and all that was just taken away under
Ben Carson, who was appointed by
Trump, Lewis said. And thats a big
deal because its been my experience that
its really difficult to find housing when
youre an LGBT person. People can be
discriminatory and to have our federal
government be discriminatory with
federal housing, thats not a good sign.
Why they march
JOHN FLUHARTY, former chair of the Delaware Republican Party, said hes a speaker at the event in
Delaware to demonstrate Republicans can be in support of LGBT rights.
In March, HUD issued two agency
notices aimed at protecting LGBT
people who are homeless. One sought
to notify residents of HUD-funded
facilities their right to be free from
anti-LGBT discrimination under HUD
regulations; the other announced a
survey to evaluate the impact of HUDs
youth homeless prevention initiative.
The underlying rule prohibiting
discrimination in housing against LGBT
people remains in place.
Lewis also criticized Trump for his
inaction on North Carolinas anti-LGBT
law. Last year, former North Carolina Gov.
Pat McCrory signed a law barring cities
from enacting pro-LGBT ordinances
and transgender people from using the
bathroom consistent with their gender
identity. After defeating him in the
election on the promise of repeal, Gov.
Roy Cooper signed a replacement to the
law critics say is still discriminatory.
My wife is from North Carolina. We go
down there a lot, Lewis said. What has
happened to transgender folks is really
terrible, and we all know that, and to have the
president not step in and the president really
not take a stance and allow discrimination to
continue really doesnt set a [good] precedent
for the rest of the country.
Trump. during his presidential
campaign, took a variety of stances on
the North Carolina law, saying at first
transgender people should use the
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY DAMIEN SALAS
restroom they think is right for them
and later that hes with the state on
the law. Under questioning from the
Washington Blade, White House Press
Secretary Sean Spicer had no comment
on the new law signed by Cooper, saying
it doesnt merit federal attention.
Asked in what contingent shed take
part in during the march, Lewis jokingly
said it would be the contingent of
people who are terrified, justifiably
so, adding it would likely be with her
friends. Lewis said shell hold up a sign
on protecting LGBT rights, especially
the right to marry and fair housing, and
her spouse will hold up a sign reading,
Restore Justice in North Carolina.
I think more than anything, were
going to bring LGBTQ communities
together, which is something that
really needs to happen, Lewis said.
I went to the womens march, I went
to this march, I went to that march. I
think what marches are doing now is
becoming more than a one-time event.
After the climate march, folks got
instructions on how to go back home
and organize in their community. So Im
looking forward to that for this march.
The LGBT march is the latest in a
series of marches in D.C. that started
with the Womens March on Washington
the day after the inauguration and has
included the march for science, march
against climate change and the tax
EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride
march encouraging the president to
issue his tax returns.
Chris Cormier Maggiano, a gay
D.C. Democratic activist, said he sees
participation in the march as the next
step after taking part with his spouse,
Chase Maggiano, in protests and marches
nearly each week since the inauguration.
We were able to get married in
September in large part because LGBT
people and our allies fought hard for
decades to win the freedom to marry,
Cormier Maggiano said. If we dont
have our voices heard now, Trump and
Republicans will dodamage to our
community and our families including
taking away our healthcare and gutting
vital government programs. Thats why
we changed our plans for a family trip to
make sure we are in D.C. for the march.
The march in D.C is but one LGBT
demonstration on June 11. Other marches
are planned in cities across the country
ranging from New York to Chicago to Los
Angeles. The annual Pride parade in Los
Angeles has been converted to a resist
march in protest of Trump.
John Fluharty, whos gay and former
chair of the Delaware Republican Party,
said hes a speaker at the event in
Delaware to demonstrate Republicans
can be in support of LGBT rights.
I was a hardcore conservative
growing up I mean a hardcore
conservative so this has as much to do
with authenticity on my part as it does
with anything else, Flurharty said.
Theres no reason why the Republican
Party should not be pro-LGBTQ rights.
Theres no reason, and the more
Republicans that are engaged in these
sorts of activities, the better.
Fluharty said his remarks will focus on
the importance of being authentic even
if that takes courage as owning who you
are and being able to stand up for it and
those that you love regardless of party.
I think its part of a larger narrative,
Fluharty said. You got this going on in
Wilmington. I think theyre going in a
couple other cities also sort of mini-
marches. So its part of a large narrative.
The larger narrative is intolerance,
bigotry is no longer acceptable.
EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride JUNE 09, 2017 09

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10 JUNE 09, 2017 EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride

For us, this is step one

Organizers stress
diversity, representation
for Equality March

By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com

So just how did the Equality March

for Unity and Pride come about?
David Bruinooge, a producer who
handles branded entertainment for
music video service Vevo, had been
wanting to get more involved in political
activism the last few years and says in
January watching the Womens March
on TV from his Brooklyn home, he
thought something similar was needed
for LGBT issues.
I was just really blown away and
inspired by what I was seeing,
Bruinooge says, and I thought, Why
isnt the LGBT community doing
something like this?
He threw the idea out on Facebook as
a status update and almost immediately
friends agreed it was a great idea. It
didnt take long for him to make it
official.
Coming from producing, I knew
this would require a tremendous
commitment, so I thought about it for
a couple hours and then said, Lets do
this. This is that opportunity of how ANIKA SIMPSON says she wanted to be sure there was diverse representation among organizers.
I can be more active so I created the
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
Facebook event page and from there,
the reaction was almost immediate.
Bruinooge was soon talking to rights have been held in 1979, 1987, Trump hootenanny. transgender rights, transphobia, racial
Washington residents and activists and 1993, 2000 and 2009. Crowd sizes are We want to put the focus on members injustice, income inequality, LGBT
very quickly, he says the train was notoriously hard to accurately gauge of our community who dont necessarily elder and disability rights, LGBT youth
rolling. Online meetings were held but outlets reported between 150,000- get the spotlight and on the issues that issues, homelessness, bi-phobia, HIV/
and Bruinooge started making nearly 500,000+ at previous marches. Activists affect them, Bruinooge says. We want AIDS issues and much more are part of
weekly trips to D.C. From the start, he point to legislative victories such as the march to put those people and those the dialogue.
says, organizers had an open-door, the Matthew Shepard Act and the end issues truly at the center. Personally as a The time felt right to re-energize
open-table policy. of Dont Ask, Dont Tell as having cis-gay white male of privilege, I realize our community at large to make sure
The Equality March for Unity and been partially spurred by the National there are members of our community, that everyones on board, we all have
Pride will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Equality March of October 2009. our allies and even the public at large each others backs and to make sure
on Sunday, June 11 on the National Mall. So what exactly is this years march who sort of thought the fight is over that everyone gets full equality, equity,
So far, 38,000 have RSVPd on Facebook all about and what do organizers hope because gay marriage passed, but that access and inclusion.
that theyre going. Another 122,000 are to accomplish? Bruinooge and others couldnt be further from the truth. Anika Simpson coordinates the
interested. Other D.C. marches for gay say its much more than a big anti- Bruinooge says issues like CONTINUES ON PAGE 12
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EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride

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12 JUNE 09, 2017 EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride

Organizers on how the

march came to be
CONTINUED FROM PAG E 10

Womens and Gender Studies program

at Morgan State University. Shes a
D.C. resident and self-described queer,
black feminist. She got involved with
the organizing committee in February
as one of 13 co-chairs and says after
consulting with local African-American
D.C. residents, she agreed the march
needed people of color involved in a
leadership capacity.
Simpson says the mission has evolved
slightly over the last few months.
Its not just an anti-Trump, anti-
administration effort, she says.
Were trying to mobilize our various
communities to address the tremendous
needs that we have. Theres a continued
assault on our rights and our dignity
as human beings thats coming from
multiple fronts and its not just the
federal government. This is a vehicle
to deal with our internal concerns,
our intersectional concerns and the
external issues were facing.
Planning meetings have been tense at
times, Simpson says, but to her, thats
not a bad thing.
I actually would be skeptical if anyone
said, Yeah, everythings been great,
because that means no real work is being
done, she says. If youre gonna talk
about anti-black racism and transphobia, DAVID BRUINOOGE says the time felt right for a national LGBT march.
those are hard conversations to have. PHOTO COURTESY OF BRUINOOGE

Ive stuck around because we have a

leadership team that is majority people
of color. Our voices have been heard
and our white co-chairs are listening
and learning and theres an openness
to come of our concerns which is great
because its not easy or comfortable.
The march was purposefully timed
to coincide with the Capital Pride
festivities. Pride organizers were
involved with march planners within a
day or two of the event being posted on
Facebook, says Bernie Delia, president
of the board of directors of the Capital
Pride Alliance.
We consider the march to be similar
to many other partner events that occur
during the Pride celebration, Delia
wrote in an e-mail. Its part of the
weekends narrative that this year is
not business as usual.
In addition to being a chance for
march attendees from out of town to
mingle with D.C.-based activists and
Capital Pride attendees, Delia says
he hopes locals can inspire visitors to
reach out to organizations back home
and get involved in ways that make
a positive difference for the LGBT
community.
Marchers will gather at 17th and I
streets., N.W., walk south on 17th, turn
left on Pennsylvania Avenue, walk in
front of the White House, then turn
right and head south on 15th Street,
N.W. to Constitution Avenue, and end
on the National Mall at 7th Street, N.W.
Bruinooge says logistical matters
such as portable toilets, water, sound,
permits, stage mechanics, medics
and more have been challenges. He
says there have been both pros (being
able to move quickly) and cons (lack
of infrastructure and connections) to
mobilizing as a grassroots effort as
opposed to working with national LGBT
rights groups to plan the march. About
60 solidarity events are being held in
various cities around the country for
those who cant make it to Washington.
He says its impossible to guess how
many may show up.
For us, this is step one, Bruinooge
says. We cant accomplish everything
we want in one day, but hopefully
our community and our allies will
be affected by this and will build off
the march and have action items that
they can follow up with, much like the
womens march model. That would be
a successful day to me.
EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride JUNE 09, 2017 13
14 JUNE 09, 2017 EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride
EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride JUNE 09, 2017 15

Our history of marching

on Washington
A look back at the previous
five major national LGBT demonstrations

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. & MICHAEL KEY

As thousands descend on Washington for the Equality March for Unity and Pride,
its important to remember that the LGBT community has quite a bit of experience
executing national demonstrations. Here, we take a look back through the
photographic archives of the Blade at five previous major LGBT demonstrations in
D.C. Text by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.; photos compiled by Michael Key.

1979
WASHINGTON BLADE ARCHIVE PHOTO BY JOHN M YANSON

CONTINUES ON PAGE 16
16 JUNE 09, 2017 EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride

CONTINUED FROM PAG E 15

1979
National March
on Washington
for Lesbian and
Gay Rights
In what LGBT advocates and political
observers considered an historic first,
LGBT people from throughout the
country came to the nations capital
on Oct. 14, 1979 for the nations first
National March on Washington for
Lesbian and Gay Rights.
The idea of a gay march on
Washington similar to the famous 1963
March on Washington for African-
American rights initiated by Martin
Luther King, Jr. had been pushed by
San Francisco gay Supervisor Harvey
Milk shortly before his assassination in
1978. New York gay activist Steve Ault
and New York lesbian activist Joyce
Hunter have been credited with moving
Milks plans forward.
1979
Similar to the four LGBT Washington WASHINGTON BLADE ARCHIVE PHOTO BY LEIGH MOSELY
marches that followed in subsequent
years, there were conflicting reports
on the size of the turnout. The U.S.
Park Police, which at the time gave
crowd estimates for public events,
initially estimated the turnout for
the march to be 75,000 but later said
between 25,000 and 50,000 people
turned out.
Organizers of the march insisted that
more than 100,000 people turned out.
Whatever the turnout, the event
drew national media attention to the
LGBT rights movement and, according
LGBT advocates, motivated thousands
of LGBT people to become active in the
movement to secure their rights who
were not involved before.
A five-point platform for the march
called for passage by Congress of a
comprehensive lesbian and gay civil
rights bill; a presidential executive order
banning discrimination based on sexual
orientation in the federal workforce, the
military, federally contracted private
employers; repeal of all anti-gay/lesbian
laws; an end to discrimination in child
custody disputes for gay and lesbian 1979
CONTINUE S ON PAG E 17 WASHINGTON BLADE ARCHIVE PHOTO BY FARRIS ALLREAD
EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride
1987
WASHINGTON BLADE ARCHIVE PHOTO BY DOUG HINKCLE
1987
WASHINGTON BLADE ARCHIVE PHOTO BY DOUG HINKCLE
JUNE 09, 2017 17
CONTINUED FROM PAG E 16
parents; and protections for gay and
lesbian youth against discrimination at
home or in schools.
The march began near the Capitol
and traveled along Pennsylvania
Avenue to the White House before
ending on the grounds of the
Washington Monument, where a rally
with speakers was held.
1987
National March on
Washington for
Lesbian and
Gay Rights
Activists familiar with the Oct. 11,
1987 march say that while it called
for some of the same LGBT rights
advances as the 1979 march, it was
prompted by two major developments
the widespread belief that the
administration of President Ronald
Reagan had failed to adequately
respond to the AIDS epidemic and
the 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision
upholding state sodomy laws, which
made it a crime for consenting adults
of the same gender to engage in
sexual relations.
This time, U.S. Park Police
estimated the turnout to be at least
200,000. Organizers declared the
turnout to be well over 300,000,
making the 1987 march and rally the
largest LGBT demonstration ever held
in the U.S.
Media coverage of the march and
rally was heightened by the decision
by creators of the AIDS Memorial
Quilt to display the quilt for the first
time on the National Mall on the same
day as the march.
During the days following the
march, some participants staged a
civil disobedience demonstration on
the steps of the Supreme Court to
protest the sodomy law ruling that
resulted in arrests.
Among the speakers at the march
rally, which was held on the grounds of
CONTINUES ON PAG E 18
18 JUNE 09, 2017 EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride

CONTINUED FROM PAG E 17

the U.S. Capitol, where gay U.S. Reps.

Barney Frank and Gerry Studds, both
Democrats from Massachusetts; former
National Organization for Women
president Eleanor Smeal; United
Farm Workers Union president Cesar
Chavez; and civil rights leader and
then-presidential candidate Rev. Jesse
Jackson.
Items added to the platform beyond
those included for the 1979 march
included a call for legal recognition of
lesbian and gay relationships; repeal
of sodomy laws applying to consenting
adults; an end to discrimination against
people with HIV/AIDS; reproductive
freedom for women; and an end to racism
in the U.S. and an end to apartheid in
South Africa.

1993 1987

March on WASHINGTON BLADE ARCHIVE PHOTO BY DOUG HINKCLE

Washington for
Lesbian, Gay and
Bi-Equal Rights
and Liberation
Plans for the third march on
Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi-
Equal Rights and Liberation, as it was
officially named, began prior to the 1992
presidential election while George H. W.
Bush was president.
By the time the march took place
on April 25, President Bill Clinton,
who expressed support for gay rights
during his election campaign, had
been in office for just over two months.
While march organizers were generally
optimistic over a Clinton White House,
some expressed concern that the new
president appeared to be backing down
from his promise to lift the ban on gays
in the military following opposition to
the proposal by many in Congress.
Thus a major theme of the 1993
march and its large rally at the site of
the U.S. Capitol was the call to lift the
ban. Among those playing a visible
role in the march were gay and lesbian
veterans, some of whom wore their 1993
CONTINUES ON PAG E 19 WASHINGTON BLADE ARCHIVE PHOTO BY KRISTINA CAMPBELL
EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride JUNE 09, 2017 19

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18

military uniforms.
Another vocal message delivered
at the march was strong opposition
to Colorados Amendment 2, a ballot
measure passed by voters that banned
cities and counties in the state from
adopting anti-discrimination laws
protecting gays and lesbians.
AIDS activists and members of
the AIDS protest group ACT UP also
emerged as highly visible participants
in the march, which traveled from the
White House to the Capitol.
By 5 p.m., hours after the march began,
marchers could be seen at the far end of
the National Mall near the Washington
Monument still streaming onto the Mall,
which appeared to be completely filled
with people involved in the march. This
prompted organizers to declare they had
reached their goal of drawing a turnout
of a million people. As with the previous
1993
WASHINGTON BLADE ARCHIVE PHOTO BY DOUG HINKCLE two gay marches, U.S. Park Police issued
a significantly lower figure, putting the
turnout at 300,000.
Some participants expressed
disappointment that Clinton declined an
invitation to speak at the rally and also
didnt agree to record a video message
to be shown at the rally. Instead, he sent
a written message to be read at the rally
expressing strong support for LGBT
rights and increased funds for the fight
against AIDS.
Then-D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt
Kelly, then-New York City Mayor David
Dinkins, and U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone
(D-Minn.), were among the speakers at
the rally.

2000
Millennium March
on Washington
for Equality
Held on April 30, 2000, the fourth
national LGBT march on Washington,
named the Millennium March on
Washington for Equality, drew
hundreds of thousands of LGBT people
and their supporters despite a rocky
2000
PHOTO BY ELVERT BARNES; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA CONTINUES ON PAGE 20
20 JUNE 09, 2017 EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride

CONTINUED FROM PAG E 19

start that sparked strong divisions

among LGBT activists.
In a break from the first three gay
Washington marches, which were
initiated by individual activists, the
Millennium March was initiated by the
Human Rights Campaign, the nations
largest LGBT civil rights group, and
the Rev. Troy Perry, leader of the
Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Churches.
Rather than seek input from
grassroots activists and local LGBT
groups, HRC and Perry formed a march
committee on their own and hired
lesbian comedian and events producer
Robin Tyler, who had been calling for
another gay march, as the marchs
executive producer. In a press release
announcing the march, the committee
boasted that corporate sponsors were
being lined up to help finance the march
and a long list of celebrities, most of
whom were gay or lesbian, would be
performing at a concert during the
weekend of the planned march.
Infuriated over what they called a top
down, undemocratic structure, many
LGBT activists denounced the proposed
march and vowed to organize a boycott. 2000
PHOTO BY ELVERT BARNES; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
But as criticism mounted, HRC and Perry
agreed to make changes to broaden the
organizing committee and vowed to
make the march the most diverse LGBT
event ever held. Transgender activists
and LGBT people of color were brought
into leadership positions.
With the November 2000 presidential
election approaching, many LGBT
activists agreed a national LGBT march
would be an important showing of
LGBT political clout. Similar to the 1993
march, the National Mall appeared
filled with march participants on April
20, 2000, prompting organizers and
many observers to estimate the turnout
to be 800,000. A short time before the
Millennial March was held, U.S. Park
Police discontinued making crowd
estimates for events on the Mall.
Meanwhile, this time President
Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, who
was running for president, spoke to the
crowd through a large video screen on
the Mall near the Capitol, where the
rally was held. 2000
CONTINUES ON PAG E 22 PHOTO BY ELVERT BARNES; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride JUNE 09, 2017 21
22 JUNE 09, 2017 EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20

An array of entertainers and

celebrities, including Melissa Etheridge,
Martina Navratilova, and actress Anne
Heche, appeared on the stage at the
rally. On the evening before the march,
an HRC-produced concert at D.C.s RFK
Stadium called Equality Rocks, drew a
sold-out crowd, which saw performances
by Etheridge, George Michael, Pet Shop
Boys, and k.d. Lang.
All of this drew extensive media
coverage that for the most part omitted
any mention of the internal LGBT strife
surrounding the march and portrayed
the event as a successful demonstration
for LGBT equality.

2009
National Equality
March 2009
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Held on Oct. 11, 2009 on National

Coming Out Day, the National Equality
March is believed to have attracted
about 150,000 people to Washington on
a relatively short notice.
Longtime gay rights advocate David
Mixner is credited with initiating
the march in an effort to build on the
groundswell of LGBT activism on social
media generated by the approval by
California voters of Proposition 8, a
ballot measure that overturned the
states same-sex marriage law.
San Francisco gay rights leader
Cleve Jones, founder of the Names
Project that created the AIDS
Memorial Quilt, became involved as
one of the lead organizers along with
lesbian activist Robin McGehee and
gay activist Kip Williams.
Similar to the previous LGBT
Washington marches, the 2009 march
traveled from the White House to the
U.S. Capitol, where about two-dozen
speakers, including mainline civil rights
leaders, LGBT leaders, and supportive
elected officials spoke in support of
marriage equality, a federal LGBT non-
discrimination bill, and repealing the
militarys Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy.
The march took place during President
Barack Obamas first year in office, and 2009
CONTINUES ON PAGE 23 WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
EQUALITY MARCH for unity & pride
2009
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
2009
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
JUNE 09, 2017 23
CONT INUED FROM PAGE 22
some of the march speakers expressed
concern that he wasnt moving fast
enough on his campaign promises to
back LGBT rights legislation.
Among those who spoke and
performed at the rally was bisexual
singer and LGBT rights supporter
Lady Gaga.
Unlike the previous LGBT Washington
marches, that mainly closed their books
in debt, the 2009 march generated a
surplus in funds that organizers gave
to existing grassroots LGBT rights
organizations.
Among the key goals of march
organizers was to put in place a network of
grassroots LGBT organizers in each of the
nations 435 congressional districts to push
for LGBT equality under the auspices of a
new group called Equality Across America.
But activists familiar with the group
acknowledge that goal was never reached
and the group is no longer active.
1979
WASHINGTON BLADE ARCHIVE PHOTO
BY FARRIS ALLREAD


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6 0 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

Please join Pride Fund to End Gun

Violence, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser,
and the Gay Mens Chorus of
Washington on Monday, June 12th
at 7pm in Dupont Circle as we On June 12, 2016, the LGBTQ community was
commemorate the one year mark targeted. A man lled with hate and armed
since the shooting. Join us as we with an assault rie murdered 49 people and
come together to honor the
victims and demand action from injured 53 others at Pulse nightclub in
our elected ofcials. Orlando, Florida.

HONOR
About Pride Fund to
End Gun Violence

In the wake of the shooting

massacre at the Pulse nightclub, the

THE 49.
worst mass shooting in modern U.S.
history, the LGBTQ community was
motivated to take action to prevent
future gun tragedies. Pride Fund was
created and exists to create a safer
future for generations to come. We
ght for laws that make our communities
safer from guns. We ght for policies
that protect LGBTQ individuals from
discrimination and violence. We
support candidates for ofce
who do the same.

To learn more about our efforts, please visit www.

pridefund.org and our Facebook page https://
www.facebook.com/pridefund/

Paid for by the Pride Fund to End Gun Violence PAC and
not authorized by any candidate or candidates committee.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 61

PRIDE PACKAGES this June 2017

Book the GLISTEN PRIDE PACKAGE, available
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6 2 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
Note to self
Pride events run all weekend in D.C.
Uproar Lounge & Restaurant hosts
Happy Pride Week, an extended happy
hour, on Friday, June 9 from 5 p.m.-3 a.m.
For more information, visit facebook.
com/uproarloungedc.
The Dirty Goose (913 U St., N.W.) hosts
Ladies of Pop: Pride Edition on Friday,
June 9 from 5 p.m.-3 a.m. There will be
surprise drink specials all night. Music
playlist will be the biggest hits from
pop divas. For more information, visit
facebook.com./thedirtygoosedc.
D.C. Front Runners hosts its sold-out
Pride Run & Walk 5K at Congressional
Cemetery (1801 E St., S.E.) on Friday, June
9 at 7 p.m. There will be a Finish Line
Party following the run. For more details,
visit dcfrpriderun.com.
The Washington Blade hosts Kate
Clintons stand-up comedy show Knock!
Knock! Whos There? Zombie Apocalypse!
at Studio Theatre (1501 14th St., N.W.) on
Friday, June 9 from 7-8 p.m. VIP tickets are
$100 and include front-row seating and a
meet and greet. General admission tickets
range from $40-60. For more information,
visit washingtonblade.com/kate.
Capital Pride and Brightest Young
Things hosts the ocial Pride 2017
opening party, Rainbow Resistance,
at the Rainbow Warehouse (1585 New
York Ave., N.E.) on Friday, June 9 from
9 p.m.-2 a.m. The Star Wars-themed
party will feature live performances from
Tiany, Ultra Nat and Cupcakke. DJ Will
Eastman, DJ Lemz and DJ Rosie will spin
tracks. Tickets are $30. Day-of tickets will
be available. For more information, visit
capitalpride.org/opening.
Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.)
hosts Otter Crossing Pride on Friday,
June 9 from 10 p.m.-2:30 a.m. Bright Light
Bright Light will headline the event. Cover
is $10. A portion of proceeds will benet
Immigration Equality. For more details,
visit greenlanterndc.com.
Capital Pride Parade kicks o at 22nd
Street and P Street on Saturday, June 10
from 4:30-7:30 p.m. The route travels
through the Dupont Circle and Logan
Circle neighborhoods. The parade will
include Capital Pride Heroes, Engendered
Spirit awardees, oats, walkers, dancers,
entertainment, politicians and more.
There will be a Pride Parade VIP viewing
stand on the corner of 14th Street and
From STAFF REPORTS
P Street. VIP tickets are $25. For more
details, visit capitalpride.org.
Capital Pride Block Party will be on
15th Street N.W. between P Street and
Church Street on Saturday, June 10 from
4-10 p.m. There will be a beer garden,
food and entertainment. Entry is free. For
more information, visit capitalpride.org.
Resist This hosts No Justice No Pride:
D.C. Day of Action, a day of multiple
events in resistance of Capital Pride, on
Saturday, June 10. Direct Action March
will be from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Location is to be
determined. The Night March will follow
that evening from 7 p.m.-1 a.m. on 18th
Street. Resist This and Trans Women of
Color Collective host QT Night of Healing
and Resistance at the Festival Center
(1640 Columbia Rd., N.W.) from 7-10 p.m.
There will be food, art, entertainment and
an open mic for people to share their
talents or reections. For more details,
visit facebook.com/ResistThis.
Capital Pride hosts Crack of Noon
Pride Brunch at the Showroom (1099
14th St., N.W.) on Saturday, June 10 from
11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. The Crack of Noon
Pride Brunch is from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
It includes a brunch buet, open bar and
meet and greet with Pride VIPs. Liquid
Brunch is from 1-4 p.m. and features an
open bar, light food and entertainment.
DJ Matt Bailer will play music. Both
events include bottomless champagne,
mimosas, Bloody Marys, cocktails and
beer. Crack of Noon Brunch is $105 and
includes access to the Liquid Brunch.
Liquid Brunch tickets range from $70-80.
For more information, visit capitalpride.
org/events/parade-brunch-2017.
Lure D.C. hosts Fuse: Capital Prides
Main Womens Event, at the Howard
Theatre (620 T St., N.W.) on Saturday, June
10 from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. DJ Jai Syncere, DJ
Tezrah and DJ Elet()x will play music. The
DystRucXion Dancers will perform with
special guest Fierce Collabo. Drink specials
all night. Admission is $15. For more
information, visit facebook.com/lurewdc.
Distrkt C hosts a two-day music festival
and dance party at the D.C. Eagle (3701
Benning Rd., N.E.). On Saturday, June 10
the party is from 10 p.m.-8 a.m. DJ Jared
Conner, DJ Joe Gauthreaux and DJ Grind
will play music. Inaya Day will perform.
On Sunday, June 11, doors open at 5 p.m.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
P RI D E
2017 Pride Concert presented by HOT 99.5
Sunday, June 11
2-8 p.m.
Pennsylvania Ave. and 3rd St.,
in front of the U.S. Capitol
Festival hours: noon-7 p.m.
Monument Stage: noon-7 p.m.
Dupont Dance Tent: 12:30 p.m.-8 p.m.
Capitol Sunset Dance Party: 8-10 p.m.
Full details at capitalpride.org
Capitol Concert Stage (3rd & Pennsylvania)
There will be a live concert outside with 2-4 p.m.
Gay Mens Chorus of Washington
Crystal Waters, Kristine W and Kim English VASSY
at 8:30 p.m. Amuka will perform inside at Ella Fitzgerald
10 p.m. DJs for the day evening include Michelle Raymond Band
Team Peaches
DJ Billy Carroll, DJ X Gonzalez, DJ Twisted Ladies of Town
Dee Martello and more. Ms. Brittany Lynn
4-6 p.m.
hosts both days. Saturday tickets are Mykul Jay Valentine
$80 and Sunday tickets are $85. Two-day Pointer Sisters
passes are $150. For more details and to Freddies Follies
RuPauls Drag Race nalist TBD
purchase tickets, visit disrktc.com. Mr. and Miss Capital Pride
Mixtape hosts its Pride Party at 9:30 Demarcko Pride presents Enkore
Club (815 V St., N.W.) on Saturday, June 6-8 p.m.
10 from 11 p.m.-4 a.m. DJ Shea Van Horn RuPauls Drag Race nalist TBD
and DJ Matt bailer will play a mix of indie Tinashe
Miley Cyrus
dance, electronic and house. Cover is $15.
Event is all ages. For more details, visit 8-10 p.m.
DJ Tracy Young
mixtapedc.com.
DCMJ hosts Cannabis Pride All- Monument Festival Stage (6th & Constitution)
Nighter at Dupont Circle (1 Dupont Circle,
1-2 p.m.
N.W.) on Saturday, June 10 at 9 a.m. until Kenisha Coleman
Sunday, June 11 at 9 a.m. The 24-hour Jordon Bolden
Capital Cabaret Drag
event will feature speakers, DJs and a
Liberty Pole to support cannabis pride. 2-3 p.m.
For more information, visit facebook. Billy Winn
Russell Elliot
com/dcmj2014. Capital Cabaret Drag
The Equality March for Unity and
3-4 p.m.
Pride is on Sunday, June 11 from 10 a.m.- Brenna Sinclaire
2 p.m. The route begins on I Street and D.C. Gurly Show
17th Street N.W. and will head south on D.C. Front Runners
Cobalt Pride Idol Winner
15th Street N.W. to Constitution Avenue. Oasis Dance Co.
The march ends on the National Mall at
4-5 p.m.
Seventh Street N.W. Line-up begins at Capital Cabaret Drag
9 a.m. on I Street between 14th Street Posh Hammer
and 17th Street. For more details, visit Erick Blu
The Boy Band Project
equalitymarch2017.org.
Capital Pride Festival is on 5-6:30 p.m.
Robert Ball
Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. between Capital Cabaret Drag
Third Street and Seventh Street N.W. on Heather Mae
Sunday, June 11 from noon-7 p.m. There Alise King
will be 300 exhibitors featuring local and Dupont Dance Tent (6th & Pennsylvania)
community groups, businesses, food
noon-1 p.m.
vendors and more. Exhibit hours are from Keenan Orr
noon-7 p.m. The Capital Pride concert
will feature performances from Miley 1-2 p.m.
DJ Mike Reimer
Cyrus, the Pointer Sisters, Tinashe and
VASSY. Concert hours are from 1-9 p.m. 2-3 p.m.
DJ Andre Gutarra
Admission is free. For more information,
visit capitalpride.org. 3-4 p.m.
Pride Fund to End Gun Violence holds Lemz
a candlelight vigil to remember Pulse at 4-5 p.m.
the fountain in Dupont Circle (1 Dupont Vodkatrina
Circle, N.W.) on Monday, June 12 from 5-6 p.m.
7-8 p.m. Attendees are asked to bring The Barber Streisand
their own candle as there will be a limited
6-7 p.m.
supply. For more information, visit Nick Ayler
facebook.com/pridefund.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 63

The Dirty Goose is Excited for Our

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Pushing boundaries. You Are All Weekend Long

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You face challenges every day. Saturday 6/10 Pre-Pride Parade

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them. At Johns Hopkins, our priority Saturday 6/10 Deep Eddy Night
Free Deep Eddy Vodka Drinks
is to care for you as a whole person, from 9:30pm-10pm and 10:30pm-11pm
inspiring a level of courage that can Sunday 6/11 Liquid Brunch
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from 12pm-4pm. $30 if you bring
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6 6 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
How long have you been out and who
was the hardest person to tell?
I feel like there was never a out for
me. My entire life people knew I was a
queerido. Even was beat up a few times
at school for it. I think it was as early
as third grade that I knew I wasnt a
he when my teacher insisted on over
gendering me. It just wasnt until I was 20
that I fully came to terms with me being
a she.
Whos your LGBT hero?
Can I be my own hero? Do I need to have
just one hero? In a world full of mentors,
lovers, history experts, teachers all
contributing to my growth, there are too
many to name.
Whats Washingtons best nightspot,
past or present?
Malcom X Park, Zeba or any place with a
rooftop and a small crowd.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
Describe your dream wedding.
QUEERY: Emmelia Talarico
Forget the wedding, I just want to
delegate at the reception.
What non-LGBT issue are you most
passionate about?
The local organizer answers 20 gay questions This question is frustrating. The
LGBTQ2S community is diverse as hell.
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
Its reductive to assume that there are
joeyd@washblade.com
any non-LGBT issues. That aside, Ive
been a labor organizer since I was young.
Pride season isnt all just beads, feather boas and feel-good debauchery. We might have I even worked on a worker campaign for
started protesting society in general, but over the decades, a movement has emerged in a few years that focused on leveraging
which sometimes factions under the LGBT umbrella have beefs with each other. President Obama to raise the federal
Thats the premise behind the No Justice, No Pride movement, which as of this contractor wage to $10.10. I grew up
week, has nearly 800 members on Facebook. The group will hold its Night March working class and my mother died from
on Friday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Logan Circle for a family-friendly event where D.C.s a drug overdose when I was young. So,
queer and trans community is uniting to march against the corporatization of Pride. Ive been working all my life to support
On Saturday, June 10 at 3:30 p.m., the group will gather in McPherson Square to protest myself and labor organizing is the one
the LGBT movements collusion with systems of oppression that further marginalize thing that keeps calling me back.
queer and trans individuals. Look for the events on Facebook for further details.
Emmelia Talarico, a self-described coordinator, organizer, agitator, disruptor and lover What historical outcome would you
says shes had issues with Wells Fargo being a sponsor of Capital Pride for a few years change?
but during inauguration protests in January, she realized she and her cohorts had the Im not much for presidential elections
potential to make this the most eective year yet at showing Capital Pride the damage because I believe real change is most
that their sponsors do to queer and trans people, particularly those of color, she says. eective locally but I would like to have
Were the backbone of the LGBTQ community, but were often tossed aside, seen Bernie not get cheated.
ignored and told to work within a system that is killing us, Talarico says. While our
cis gay and lesbian counterparts use these statistics to work for their own trans- Whats been the most memorable pop
exclusive liberation. We cannot be idle and allow cis gay and lesbian activists to culture moment of your lifetime?
speak for us only when it is politically useful for them to do so. We must ght back Pop culture is not revolutionary.
and bring Pride back to its roots. Its not just a party to celebrate how comfortable
cis, white gay men of a certain socioeconomic level have become. The reality is we On what do you insist?
are being attacked on all sides and enough is enough. Im conscious of the impact non-native
Talarico is from Bridgeport, Conn., and has also lived in New York and San Francisco. D.C. residents have on native D.C.
Shes been in the D.C. area for about six years o and on. She and husband Brian Perera residents. They often get pushed out and
live in Silver Spring, Md., after being homeless for a time in the District. Aordable city I think about that daily. Despite my faults,
housing is also an issue for Talarico, whos trans. She works for Americans for Transit, a its been a personal goal and belief of
national non-prot for transit rider organizations where she works to organize riders to mine to keep organizing and doing what
stand up to WMATA (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority). I can to make this city a better place for
Talarico enjoys cycling, DJing, organizing and art in her free time. those who have lived and struggled here.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
P RI D E
What was your last Facebook post or
Tweet?
Asking if someone can give me a ride
this afternoon up the street with some
equipment that I have with me for a
training that I am doing tonight.
If your life were a book, what would
the title be?
You Really Want to Read This Book. This
Shit Actually Happened
If science discovered a way to change
sexual orientation, what would you do?
Laugh
What do you believe in beyond the
physical world?
Life and death.
Whats your advice for LGBT
movement leaders?
Stop taking money from snakes.
What would you walk across hot coals
for?
My feet are baby soft, Ill pass!
What LGBT stereotype annoys you
most?
That trans women are gay men.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?
I really liked Tangerine aside from it
being trauma porn for cis people.
Whats the most overrated social
custom?
Bio families.
What trophy or prize do you most
covet?
I am a humble person, I dont need a
prize.
What do you wish youd known at 18?
That you could get mones in D.C.
Why Washington?
D.C. (I will not call it Washington; you
must be thinking of Congress) has
become a home to me. As someone who
had to move yearly in their youth when
their mom was still alive, I dont know
what long-time friends are. Every year
I would have to leave my relationships
and move to new city and sometimes
state. D.C. is where Ive had the longest
relationships, friends and families. D.C.
allowed me to transition, D.C. gave me a
support network (even if its a small one)
while I transitioned.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 67

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7 0 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
Ruth Pointer says sisterly harmonics came naturally
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41
playing determines what were going to
have, what were going to wear. Its just
things that we want to be appropriate for
the engagement were doing. Were just
excited about it. Its always an exciting
time to play for a gay audience. Its always
just so much fun.
BLADE: Mary Wilson has had several
exhibits of the Supremes gowns in
recent years. I know the Pointer Sisters
were a whole dierent kind of act but
do you have all your stage clothes from
over the years and would you ever
exhibit any of that stu anywhere?
POINTER: No, we havent kept
everything. I know my sister Anita keeps
most everything. She has things that I
dont have. But we still have some things,
we dont have everything. I dont know
what she has because we were given a
lot of things. Especially, like when we did
The Carol Burnett Show and Bob Mackie
was making all of our wardrobe for those
shows. Carol was so gracious and just let us
keep the costumes that were made for us.
BLADE: Wow.
POINTER: Yes, I know, I know!
BLADE: How is Anita? Do you see her
often?
POINTER: I dont see her that often
because Im on the East Coast and shes
on the West Coast. You know, when Im in
L.A. we try to get together and see each
other so thats when I can see her. We talk
occasionally. My sister Bonnie and I text
and talk on a regular basis and thats just
kind of the way we live our lives. I have two
older brothers and we talk all the time. So
we stay in touch pretty much like most
families would. Nothing exceptional.
BLADE: Are you still friendly with
(former Temptations lead singer)
Dennis Edwards? (ex-husband and
father of Pointers daughter, Issa.) Do
you ever see him?
POINTER: I dont see him. Hes in Saint
Louis, I believe, and we have a daughter
together whos singing with me now and
shes in touch with him and his current
wife, Brenda. But hes in the hospital, you
know, trying to recover from meningitis
and now pneumonia. So were sort of
praying every day that he makes a full
recovery but we just dont know. Its really
quite serious.
BLADE: Whats it like singing and
traveling with your daughter and
granddaughter? Did that just sort of
come about organically?
POINTER: It was kind of a natural thing
only because they were pretty much born
into this business with me. I was pregnant
with Issa on stage for eight months before
she was born and my granddaughter has
just always been around our music all her
life. We had to make some adjustments in
the music because unlike my sisters, they
didnt grow up singing together so that
instinct that me and Anita and Bonnie and
June had didnt exist between Issa and
Sadako. We had to teach them the notes
and the moves whereas it was so easy for
me and my sisters because we just kind
of automatically moved together and
automatically knew what we were going
to do. It was a little bit of a challenge but
they got it down.
BLADE: How long have they each
been in the group?
POINTER: Issa has been with us since
2002. Sadako came in about eight years
ago when Issa got pregnant with my rst
grandson. They know what theyre
doing by now.
BLADE: Back in the 70s and 80s, if a
group won a Grammy, did you each get
one or was it just one trophy for the
group?
POINTER: We each got one, yeah.
BLADE: What memory stands out
most in your mind from We Are the
World?
POINTER: The fact that I realized that
there would never, ever be that group of
people together in one room ever again.
My God, when I look back and think of
all the people that were in that room.
People I admired before I even got in the
business and people that I will forever
admire Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones,
Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder,
Al Jarreau, Janet, no wait, LaToya, Bette
Midler, Tina Turner, Dionne (Warwick),
oh, I could go on and on. Its just like,
wow. I was in awe of everybody.
BLADE: So even though you all were
huge stars, you were still starstruck?
POINTER: Absolutely, oh yeah. Im a fan
of everybodys.
BLADE: Were there a lot of egos on
display?
POINTER: There was a banner placed
across the top of the studio as we came
in that said, Leave your ego at the door.
BLADE: Did it work?
POINTER: I think everybody did that
except maybe Waylon Jennings (laughs).
BLADE: Of all people.
POINTER: It was like all of a sudden
Stevie Wonder wanted to try to put in
some kind of African lyric in the song and
Waylon went o and he said, Im outta
here. Came down out of the bleachers
where we were all standing and said, I
aint singing no Kumbaya bullshit, Im
outta here. We all just laughed, you know?
BLADE: Do you think Bonnie felt left
out when you all went through the
roof after she left?
POINTER: We werent even in touch
with her during those years. Bonnie was
estranged and away from us for almost
30 years. We didnt talk, we didnt speak,
there was nothing, no communication.
And I really think that it had a lot to do
with the man that she was with. So I dont
know what she was feeling but Im sure
she might have felt that way.
BLADE: How did it come about that
Im So Excited was remixed and
became a much bigger hit than it had
been before?
POINTER: We had an album called
Im So Excited and the song was kind
of overlooked and we had put so much
love and eort into writing that song, so
when the album Breakout came up, we
told Richard Perry, our producer, we said,
Look, we need to re-release this song.
We said, Its just a shame that its been
so overlooked and we know its a hit. And
thats kind of how it happened.
BLADE: Labels can be funny about
stu like that. Did it take any arm
twisting?
POINTER: No, they really didnt, you
know, argue with us on that issue. They
accepted it and were willing to put it on
the next album. And the rest is history.
BLADE: How did you decide who
would sing lead?
POINTER: We knew that Anita had a
lot to do with initiating that song, the
writing with Trevor Lawrence and we all
felt equally agreeable that her voice was
well suited for that song so it wasnt really
a big issue or argument.
BLADE: But in general how would
you divvy up lead vocal duties?
POINTER: We would go through a
series of trying out dierent voices.
Richard would take each of us to sing a
certain song and then we would all decide
which one we liked the best. So thats just
how we did it.
BLADE: The Pointer Sisters are
heavily known for dabbling in many
genres. Did you ever get label pushback
for that?
POINTER: We never really got much
pushback. We always knew we didnt
want to be pigeonholed. We liked singing
everything and I just think we just were
lucky and blest enough that the producers
we worked with liked that kind of variety.
We were willing to try things and they
were willing to try things with us.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
A RT S & E N T E RT A I N ME N T
BLADE: Do you think much about the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? I know its
not just based on fame or chart stats,
but there are many acts inducted that
had a lot fewer hits than you guys did.
POINTER: Of course I think about that.
Are you kidding me? Yes, yes indeed! But
you know the other thing is that there are
a lot of groups that I admire that arent
in there either, you know? That when
I hear the names come up on a yearly
basis of the people going in, a lot of times
Im thinking, God, I thought they were
already in there. So, you know, it is what
it is.
BLADE: Is it political? Maybe because
your biggest hits were 80s pop hits,
that era isnt taken as seriously
perhaps?
POINTER: I really dont know.
BLADE: Do you miss recording?
POINTER: I do, I do.
BLADE: Do you think you would ever
do any recording with your daughter
and granddaughter?
POINTER: I hope we can but right
now, you know, its interesting. Ive heard
people talk about wanting to try out new
material but the audience really loves the
old stu. You know, I remember even
years ago, wed try out new material and
they just sit there looking at you like a
deer in headlights so then you pull out
something old and they go crazy. So we
just stick with what we love and what they
love.
BLADE: About what percentage of
the year do you spend traveling these
days?
POINTER: Hmmmm, I dont know. I
never tried to gure that out but I know
its a lot. More than I ever expected it to
be at this age, at this time in my life. But
its OK because I appreciate it so much
and I enjoy it so much. I think I enjoy it
now more than I did then.
BLADE: What would you say to
someone struggling with addiction?
POINTER: First of all just admit that
you have a problem. People just dont
want to admit theres a problem or they
think they can handle it on their own. Im
so saddened with the deaths of Prince,
Michael Jackson and I was just noticing
this thing even with Tiger Woods the
other day and I was saying, God, they just
dont get it. These opioids are gonna kill
them and theyve got to get a handle on it
and realize they cant beat the drug, you
know? You gotta get help and you gotta
admit that its an issue that you cant just
play around with and think, Oh well, this
wont hurt me. You gotta get help.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 71
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 WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

7 8 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 THEATER

Actor MAULIK PANCHOLY says he enjoys ndings ways to give back via art.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY

Will on the Hill unites actors, politicians

Monday night event is benet for Shakespeare Theatre Company
By PATRICK FOLLIARD

The last time Maulik Pancholy graced
the stage at Shakespeare Theatre
Companys Harman Hall, he wore a
dress. Last summer, the out actor best
known from TVs Weeds and 30 Rock,
played the title role in companys all-male
production of The Taming of the Shrew.
Now hes returning presumably in pants
as special guest of Will on the Hill, STCs
one-night-only annual fundraiser.
When asked to participate, I
immediately accepted, says Pancholy
whos based in New York where he lives
with his husband, chef/caterer Ryan
Corvaia. I have great respect for Michael
Kahn (STCs out artistic director) and want
to do what I can to help support this
beautiful, mostly Shakespeare-dedicated
venue and its many programs.
The popular bipartisan event brings
together both political and theater
heavyweights. Its a reliably lively show
infused with comedic references to
contemporary politics. Penned by
Peter Byrne with assistance from D.C.s
West Wing Writers and directed by STC
Associate Artistic Director Alan Paul, this
years playette titled Met By Moonlight
is loosely based on A Midsummer Nights
Dream and features 20 Members of
Congress, 31 notable Washingtonians
and professional actors including Emily
Swallow, Ian Kahn, Veanne Cox and
Pancholy as mischievous Puck.
Set in hot, sticky D.C. summer, the
story follows government bigshots futile
attempt to escape the city for cooler
environs. When circumstances prevent
them from exiting the city, these mortals
decamp to nearby woods where they
meet Shakespearian fairies Oberon,
Puck and the King of Fairyland. Summer
madness ensues and lessons are learned
all around.
Proceeds from this event support STCs
many education, artistic and community
engagement programs, including in-
school workshops and educational
resources that inspire new and diverse
audiences and deepen the connection to
classical theater in learners of all ages.
Pancholy is no stranger to politics. Prior
to his involvement with STC, he served on
the Presidents Advisory Commission on
Asian Americans and Pacic Islanders.
He was appointed during the Obama
administration, but after President Trump
took oce, Pancholy and other appointees
resigned citing his immigration policy and
disturbing campaign rhetoric.
While it lasted, the Commission
brought me to Washington for meetings.
I met a lot of people. It was interesting
to learn how the White House and
Washington politics work. I havent
abandoned the causes I care about,
mostly LGBT and Asian American
nonprots. Its important. I know how it is
to grow up being dierent.
He was born in India but grew up in
Ohio, Indiana and Tampa, Fla. He majored
in theater at Northwestern University,
where he received his bachelors degree
in 1995. He then attended the Yale School
of Drama, where he received his Master
of Fine Arts in 2003. His career has been a
combination of theater, TV and lm work.
As his star rose, the non-prots reached
out to him. And he responded. I like to
do more than attend a dinner or write a
check, he says.
Of course politics are especially
personal these days, Pancholy says. Will
on the Hill brings people together in a fun
non-pressured way and raises awareness
about funding for the arts, a timely cause
and important cause.
Theres more D.C. in his future. Next
season Pancholy is slated to star in the
world premiere of playwright Ken Urbans
The Remains at Studio Theatre. Studios
Artistic Director David Muse is directing.
Im looking forward to it a lot. Both
David and Ken are friends, he says. Its a
project that Ive been involved with from
the start and has become an ongoing
collaboration.
WILL ON THE HILL
June 12
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Sidney Harman Hall
610 F St., N.W.
$50
Shakespearetheatre.org
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 79

Impeccable Blisteringly funny

Washington Post Washington City Paper

A searing and Unsettling and

uproarious masterwork exceedingly well-acted
MD Theatre Guide Washington Blade

BY TAYLOR MAC
DIRECTED BY SHANA COOPER
NOW PLAYING THRU JUNE 18

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

JUNE 13 // 8PM // WOOLLY MAMMOTH LOBBY
Act Out is a monthly Theatrical Action Series created to give artists a chance to embrace, engage, or
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massacre one year ago, Act Out will focus on perspectives from the LGBTQIIA community.

Act Out is produced by founders Natalie Ann Piegari, Amanda Zeitler, and Annalisa Dias.

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8 2 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 F I LM

RACHEL WEISZ in My Coustin Rachel, a sumptuous mystery based on material by Daphne du

Maurier, an author known for works that were adapted to the screen by Alfred Hitchcock.
PHOTO BY NICOLA DOVE; COURTESY OF FOX SEARCHLIGHT

Mystery lady
Suspenseful new lm My Cousin Rachel keeps viewers guessing
By BRIAN T. CARNEY

Did she?
Didnt she?
Was she?
Did you understand?
Whos to blame?
In My Cousin Rachel, people keep
asking questions. And one of the great
delights of this ne movie is that there
are no denitive answers just hints
and clues and shifting perspectives.
Every audience member will have to
make up his or her own mind about what
happened and why, and about the true
nature of the mysterious title character.
Based on the novel by bisexual author
Daphne du Maurier, who also wrote
Rebecca and The Birds, My Cousin
Rachel centers on young Philip Ashley who
has been raised by his uncle Ambrose on
the large family estate in Cornwall. Except
for the occasional visitor, the only females
allowed in the house were the dogs. One
of the rare female visitors is Louise Kendall,
the daughter of Philips godfather Nick.
Because of his ill health, Ambrose is
forced to spend his winters in warmer
climes. On a trip to Italy, he writes that he
has met their cousin Rachel Sangalletti.
Ambrose and Rachel are quickly married,
but Ambrose soon falls ill and suspects
that he is being poisoned by his new wife.
Philip travels to Italy to investigate, but
discovers that the only inhabitant of the
Villa Sangalletti is the mysterious (and
amboyant) Rainaldi, who tells Philip that
his uncle is dead and that Rachel has left.
Director Roger Michell, who also
adapted the screenplay, handles this
intrigue with a deft touch. The moody
psychological drama moves along at a uninterested in the events unfolding
quick pace, and Michell and company
provide enough excitement and
information to keep audiences thoroughly
engaged in the action and guessing
about everyones motives and intentions.
Working closely with composer Rael Jones
and cinematographer Mike Eley, Michell
creates a passionate period mystery/
romance that is both lovely and deadly.
As the enigmatic Rachel, Rachel Weisz
is sublime. Weisz, who won the Academy
Award for her performance in 2003s The
Constant Gardener, gives an amazingly
subtle performance that keeps both her
castmates and the audience o balance.
Its great fun to watch the character and
the actor play with 19th century sexual
mores, sometimes rebelling against
them, sometimes using them as a shield.
The supporting cast is strong, although
the servants and farm sta all seem
at and one-dimensional and rather
around them. Sam Clain (Their Finest
and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay)
gives a well-grounded performance as
the innocent and earnest young heir who
wavers between devotion and doubt. Iain
Glenn is a strong presence as Kendall,
Philips godfather and later guardian.
Pierfrancesco Favino is delightful as the
wily Rainaldi and Simon Russell Beale
makes a signicant impact during his
brief appearance as the lawyer Couch.
The real discovery in this cast, however,
is Holliday Grainger as Louise Kendall
(Lucrezia Borgia in the Showtime series
The Borgias) who makes a wonderful
foil to Rachel. Dressed in light colors
that nicely contrast Rachels somber
mourning, Louise seems to be the
devoted childhood friend of Philip and a
model of English womanhood. While she
is wary of Rachels motives, she defends
her against Philips dark accusations.
With powerful performances from
Weisz and Grainger and a probing
exploration of sexuality, gender roles and
sexual mores, My Cousin Rachel is highly
recommended for LGBT audiences. Its a
sumptuous period drama that serves as a
mirror into our own times.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 83

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8 4 J UNE 0 9 , 2 0 1 7
When employees of DC Brau, the
brewery that helped fuel the rebirth of
Washingtons beer and spirits industry,
started participating in the annual Capital
Pride Parade two years ago, there was
one thing that they wanted to drink more
than anything else: water.
Its been really hot out on the parade
route every year, says Brandon Skall,
CEO and co-founder of D.C. Brau. We
bring kegs of water out there, not beer.
However, when Skall does want to have a
beer on a hot summer day, his preference
is a German-style pilsner. Pilsner is the
perfect kind of beer for that weather, Skall
says. Its easy-drinking, crisp and light and
only about 4.5 percent alcohol.
So when the Washington Blades director
of marketing, Stephen Rutgers, approached
DC Brau about making a branded beer for
Pride Week, Skall and head brewer and co-
founder Je Hancock knew exactly which
beer they wanted to use. The trick was in
guring out how much they could actually
produce and how to give it a uniquely
Pride-focused spin.
In the early part of this year, Rutgers
says, DC Brau wasnt even sure it was
possible because of the logistics involved
in producing just a small run of beer, so I
kind of thought wed just have to try again
for next year.
We were already behind on production
for our agship brands, Skall says, plus
Demand has been heavy for a new limited-edition beer from DC Brau that will be sold in local
restaurants and grocery stores during Pride week.
Pride in a can
Blade, DC Brau collaborate on limited-edition new beer
By KRISTEN HARTKE
we were planning on brewing three beers
for the Craft Brewers Conference. But we
still wanted to make it happen.
Rutgers was surprised when DC Brau
did indeed gure out how to make it
happen, coming back to him in February
with a plan to brew 200 cases of its
signature Brau Pils, a lightly hoppy brew
with notes of pepper, lemon and grass,
and then wrap the cans with a custom
image. Within a week, a contest was
announced, looking for original designs
for the limited-edition can.
I wasnt really sure what to expect,
says Rutgers of the design competition.
We just wanted to give people a chance
to express themselves. We ended up with
over 30 submissions, from a wide range of
people, which we then narrowed down to
12 before opening it up to a public vote.
More than 5,000 votes came in, with
the winning design depicting a unicorn
sporting a purple mane and waving a
rainbow ag. Josette Matoto, a graphic
artist and video producer for the
environmental non-prot organization
Friends of the Earth, says of her design,
I always imagine unicorns as naturally
unapologetically proud creatures that
give zero Fs what people think of them.
For Rutgers, Matotos playful design
accomplished one of his main goals: We
wanted a can that would look good on the
shelves of Whole Foods and other stores,
IMAGE COURTESY OF JOSETTE MATOTO
so that people will want to buy it.
Wanting people to buy the beer is an
important goal of the whole project,
say both Rutgers and Skall, because
all proceeds from sales of Pride Pils
have been earmarked for LGBT youth
empowerment program, SMYAL, and the
Washington Blade Foundation, which
supports journalism projects and the
next generation of LGBT journalists.
It was important to us that this beer be
a real vehicle for fundraising, Skall says.
Matoto was particularly drawn to
enter the contest because SMYAL was a
beneciary, saying, One of SMYALs goals is
to help LGBTQ kids build condence. Thats
what this image is about, too that and
nding some lightness and fun in 2017.
Rutgers also felt the need for a
community-driven project during a time
when the LGBT community has real
concerns about the current political
climate and possible repercussions
from a conservative agenda. I think this
year, especially after the election, that I
really wanted to create something that
would showcase what our community
has to oer, he says. There are a lot of
emotions out there around Pride.
In fact, the local Washington community
embraced the Pride Pils concept so
quickly that Skall realized that 200 cases
of beer was not going to come close to
satisfying the demand. We increased
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
DINING
the run to 350 cases, Skall says, but
then Whole Foods came in and said they
wanted 250 cases for their D.C. stores.
We nally ended up at 782 cases total,
and we even gave up the last 100 cases
that we were going to have on hand at
the brewery because we were getting so
many requests.
Some of the stores, bars and
restaurants where Pride Pils can be found
in June include Glens Garden Market,
Dacha Beer Garden, Pizzeria Paradiso,
Rock and Roll Hotel and Schneiders of
Capitol Hill, and the colorful can may
become quite a collectors item.
If people do choose to display the can,
whether as a piece of artwork or a political
statement, artist Matoto is hopeful that
the message she wanted to convey with
her design has a lasting impact.
I like to draw unicorns because I think
theyre a reminder that our uniqueness
makes us special, she says. Its great
to see people speaking up about pride
this year and working to make sure that
everyone who identies as queer feels
elevated and celebrated by our events.
Were not there, yet, but the more we
celebrate the things that make us all
unique unicorns, the closer well be.
KRISTEN HARTKE is a D.C.-based food
and beverage writer. Follow her kitchen
adventures on Twiiter, @khartke.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 85

SILLY, SWEET, and SEXY. Entertainment Weekly

by David Ives
adapted from Le Misanthrope by Molire

directed by Michael Kahn

newly extended through July 9!

ORDER TODAY ShakespeareTheatre.org
202.547.1122

The School for Lies is sponsored by the Robert and Arlene Kogod Family Foundation.
Additional support provided by Dr. Paul and Mrs. Rose Carter.
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Photo of Gregory Wooddell by Scott Suchman.

8 6 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

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W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 89

CARROLL CREEK LINEAR PARK | SATURDAY, JUNE 24 | 11AM-6PM

Kid friendly Food & beverages available or bring a picnic Beer & wine tent
Music, entertainment & speakers Booths with info, products, & services Bring a folding chair or blanket
Free Buy Pride bracelet for discounts at area businesses AND MUCH MORE!

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LIVE
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
90 JU N E 09, 2017 O U T & A BO U T

WALLY KINGS & DOCTOR DREAD PRESENT

REGGAE
FOREVER
FEAT. ETANA
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SUNDAY JUNE 11

A-WA
THURSDAY JUNE 15
By MARIAH COOPER
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEAN HAMER
FRI, JUNE 16
MARSHALL CRENSHAW
Y LOS STRAITJACKETS Lady Eva short screens at AFI
W/ SARAH BORGES & THE FEAST OF SNAKES
SAT, JUNE 17 AFI Docs screens transgender documentary Lady Eva as part of its Great
Loves selection at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center (8633 Colesville Rd.,
MELODIME Silver Spring, Md.) on Friday, June 16 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
W/ WYLDER AND SUNBATHERS
Lady Eva is produced by D.C. residents Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson. The
SUN, JUNE 18 10-minute short lm tells the story of a transgender girl from Tonga who is
RONNIE BAKER BROOKS looking to discover her true self. Other documentaries screened as part of the
Great Loves selection include Culci, Havana House, Balanc, The Tables
MON, JUNE 19 and Life, Death and Cheerleading.
LIVE: SIRIUS XMS BUDDY & JIM RADIO SHOW Tickets are $12. For more information, visit a.com/silver.
BUDDY MILLER,
FEATURING
JIM LAUDERDALE,
AND PATTY GRIFFIN
W/ SPECIAL GUESTS SCOTT MILLER AND
DC MAGICIAN OF THE YEAR ERIC HENNING
WASHINGTON BLADE ARCHIVE PHOTO BY KRISTI GASSAWAY

TUES, JUNE 20
MAJOR & THE MONBACKS
W/ AZTEC SUN With the sound of Trumpets
WED, JUNE 21
THE BAND OF HEATHENS Former gay bar Trumpets hosts a pop-
up reunion at Quarter+Glory (2017 14th St.,
W/ REED FOEHL
N.W.) on Saturday, June 10 from 7-10 p.m.
THURS, JUNE 22 David Hagedorn and Janet Williams will
BOKANT host and DJ Kostas will spin tracks. Former
Trumpets bartenders Jeanne Topper and
FRI, JUNE 23 Francki DiFrancesco will mix up drinks.
FLOW TRIBE Tickets are $20 with 100 percent of the
proceeds from ticket sales will benet the
SAT, JUNE 24 Human Rights Campaign. Fifty percent of
START MAKING SENSE proceeds from the speciality cocktail, the
W/ N.E.W. ATHENS PHOTO COURTESY OF 18TH STREET SINGERS Trumpets Reunion Signature Cocktail, will
also be donated to Human Rights Campaign.
THURS, JUNE 29 For more details, search Trumpets
AN EVENING WITH LOVE CANON Pop-Up Reunion on Facebook.
18th Street Singers oer spring concert
SUN, JULY 2
BJ BARHAM OF AMERICAN AQUARIUM The 18th Street Singers present their annual spring concert, The Key of Life,
Night Out game
W/ CHARLEY CROCKETT at Luther Place Memorial Church (1226 Vermont Ave., N.W.) on Saturday, June 17 is Tuesday evening
at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 18 at 2 p.m.
THURS, JULY 6
PUMPSTATION ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS The ensemble will sing a mix of contemporary classical, spirituals, pop music Team D.C. hosts its 13th annual Night
and more. The group will sing selections from Imogen Heap, Dave Matthews Out at the Nationals at Nationals Park
JESSE ROYAL Band, Emilie Sande, Eric Whitacre and Bach. They will also perform the D.C. (1500 S Capitol St., S.E.) on Tuesday, June
FRI, JULY 7 premiere of What Do You Think I Fought For at Omaha Beach? by Melissa 13 starting at 4 p.m.
Dunphy and a movement from Seven Last Words of the Unarmed by Joel At 4 p.m. there will be a happy hour
SWEAR & SHAKE Thompson. The show closes out with an arrangement of Glory from the lm, until the pre-game ceremonies start at
Selma. Words Beats and Lifes D.C. Youth Poet Laureate Kenneth Kenny 6:30 p.m. The Nationals game against
Carroll III will join in for the nale performance. the Atlanta Braves kicks o at 7:05 p.m.
Early bird tickets before Monday, June 12 are $12. Senior tickets are $10 and Proceeds from ticket sales benet Team
students are free. There is also an option to pay what you can. For more details, D.C.s Student-Athlete Scholarships to help
visit 18thstreetsingers.com. LGBT student-athletes. Tickets are $28.
THEHAMILTONDC.COM
For more information, visit teamdc.org.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 91

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9 8 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 1 7 CA LE N D A R

E-mail calendar items to calendars@washblade.
com two weeks prior to your event. Space is lim-
ited so priority is given to LGBT-specic events
or those with LGBT participants. Recurring
events must be re-submitted each time.
TODAY
The Imperial Court of Washington
D.C. hosts D.C. Beer Bar Takeover at the
D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) tonight
at 10 p.m. There will be a 50/50 rae
and draft beer and Jell-O shots. Funds
raised will benet the Imperial Court of
Washington D.C. and the Fallen Heroes
Fund. For more details, visit facebook.
com/imperialcourtdc.
Bet Mishpachah and GLOE host National
Pride Shabbat at Sixth and I Synagogue (600
I St., N.W.) tonight from 6:15-9 p.m. Rabbi
Shira Stutman will lead the service. Before
the service there will be a kosher meal,
light refreshments and LGBT trivia hosted
by a drag yenta. For more information, visit
facebook.com/betmish.
Capturing Fire Slam, a collective that
promotes queer and transgender artists,
hosts Queer Squared: An Evening of
after party will feature a moon bounce
slip-slide. For more information, visit
facebook.com/balancegymdc.
Catharsis on the Mall hosts a party
at Dupont Underground (19 Dupont
Circle, N.W.) tonight from 9 p.m.-3 a.m.
Music lineup includes e.yore, Meegs, Mr.
Jennings and v:shal kanwar. Robin Bell
will give a visual presentation. Funds
will be raised for the free annual vigil
Catharsis on the Mall in November. No
alcohol will be served. Tickets start at
$35. For more details, visit facebook.com/
catharsisonthemall.
Womens Strength Coalition hosts Pull
for Pride D.C. at Balance Gym (1339
Green Ct., N.W.) today from 10 a.m.-1
p.m. The deadlift-only event will benet
Casa Ruby and is open to everyone.
All lifters will have free entry into a
silent rae with prizes including gym
memberships and training packages from
Balance Gym. Registration is required.
For more details, visit facebook.com/
womensstrengthcoalition.
Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) and Capital
Pride host Smells like Queen Spirit,
a gay dance party, today from noon
until close. DJ Mikey Mo will play music
Race alum Roxxxy Andrews will perform.
DJ Trayze spins tracks. General admission
tickets are $75. VIP tickets are $95 and
include patio-access for front-row viewing
of the Pride parade. For more details, visit
prideandshine.eventbrite.com.
SUNDAY, JUNE 11
Capital Pride and the Cherry Fund
host Rise, the ocial Capital Pride
afterhours party, at Flash (645 Florida Ave.,
N.W.) in the early morning from 4 a.m.-9:30
a.m. DJ Isaac Escalante and DJ X Gonzalez
play music. Tickets are $50 online and $60
at the door. For more information, visit
facebook.com/cherryfund.
National Air and Space Museum (600
Independence Ave., S.W.) presents a
special screening of Wonder Woman
in IMAX and 3D today from 5:50-8:20
p.m. The actual costume from the lm
will be on display. There will be an
Awesome Con ticket giveaway following
the screening. Youth tickets are $13.50,
senior tickets are $14 and adult tickets
are $15. For more details, visit facebook.
com/smithsoniantheaters.
Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts the PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETE ALLY

Dynamic Duos at Coy Caf (3310 14th
St., N.W.) tonight from 9-10 p.m. Queer
songwriting duos All Her Muses and
#BlackTransMagick will perform Tickets
are $10. For more details, visit facebook.
com/capturingreslamocial.
Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) and Capital
Pride presents Harmony tonight from
10 p.m.-2 a.m. DJ MadScience and DJ
Keenan Orr will spin tracks. There will
be drink specials. Cover is $10. For more
information, visit facebook.com/cobaltdc.
Promoter Joe Fiore presents Furball
at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.)
tonight at 10 p.m. DJ Seth Breezy from
Atlanta and D.C.-based DJ Strikestone
will play music. Ticket information still to
come. For more details, visit dceagle.com.
GAMMA, a peer-supported, self-help
group for gay or bisexual men who have
been involved with women, meets at
Luther Place Memorial Church (1226
Vermont Ave., N.W.) tonight from 7:30-
9:30 p.m. For more details, visit meetup.
com/gammaindc.
SATURDAY, JUNE 10
Rainbow Crosswalks Community
Paint Party is at JR.s Bar and Grill (1519
17th St., N.W.) today from 11 a.m.-1:30
p.m. D.C. residents and members of the
LGBT community will gather together
to paint eight temporary rainbow and
trans ags on cross walks on 17th Street.
Volunteers can sign up to paint, coordinate
painting, fundraise, photograph or be a
sign language or Spanish interpreter. Visit
rainbow17th.org to sign up or donate.
Balance Gym (1339 Green Ct., N.W.)
hosts a Pride parade and rooftop
after party today from 9 a.m.-midnight.
Volunteers are asked to help pull the
Balance van in the parade. The rooftop
from 3-10 p.m. and DJ Steve Sidewalk
spins tracks from 10 p.m.- close. DJ
Pacico will also play music. There will
be drink specials. Cover is free until 10
p.m. and then $10 afterwards. For more
information, visit facebook.com/cobaltdc.
VIDA Fitness (1612 U St., N.W.) and
Athlete Ally host a meet the athletes
photo-op reception today at noon.
Participating athletes include Colin Shaw,
Cooper Robinson, Lori Lindsey, Michael
Martin, Anthony Covell, Ashley Dai and
Shamilia Kohestani. For more details, visit
facebook.com/athleteally.
The New Wave Singers of Baltimore
perform at Grace United Methodist
Church (5407 N. Charles St., Baltimore)
tonight at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20. For more
information, visit newwavesingers.org.
Comedian Fay Jacobs performs
her stand-up comedy show Aging
Gracelessly: 50 Shades of Fay at Cedar
Lane Unitarian Universalist Church (9601
Cedar Ln., Bethesda, Md.) tonight at 7 p.m.
Tickets are a suggested $20 donation.
Its a rare D.C.-area performance for
the Rehoboth Beach-based lesbian
entertainer and author. For more details,
visit fayjacobs.com.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture
Garden (Independence Ave., S.W.) hosts
Shadow/Casters, an after-hours art
performance, on the Hirshhorn Plaza tonight
from 7:30-11 p.m. Performers include
Jason Barnes (Pussy Noir), Alexandra Rex on the importance of inclusion, diversity
Delafkaran, Kunj and Hoesy Corona. There
will be a cash bar. Other performances
including dance and drumming start at 9:15
p.m. Tickets are $18. For more information,
visit facebook.com/hirshhorn.
Kimpton Hotels hosts Pride & Shine, a
Capital Pride party, at Urbana (2121 P St.,
N.W.) today from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Brunch
will be served all day. RuPauls Drag
Ocial Pride Closing Party tonight from
10 p.m.-2 a.m. DJ Power Inniti will spin
tracks and DJ MadScience will play music
videos. Kitty Meow will give a special
performance. Cover is $5 and will benet
Capital Pride. For more information, visit
facebook.com/cobaltdc.
MONDAY, JUNE 12
ASL Trivia D.C. hosts a LGBT Pride night
at Ivy City Smokehouse Tavern & Market
(1356 Okie St., N.E.) tonight from 7-9 p.m.
Prizes include a bar tab paid up to $150, $50
gift cards or free shots. Voice interpreters
will be provided. For more information,
visit facebook.com/asltriviadc.
TUESDAY, JUNE 13
Story District presents Seduce Me:
Stories About Persuasion and Temptation
at Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) tonight from
8-10 p.m. The stories will focus on the
themes of fame, passion, good lucks
and charm. Featured storytellers will
include David Wolkin, Emily Tedesco,
Taylor Williams-Durant, Len Kruger, Anne
Thomas and more. Ticket prices are $15.
Outside food is welcome but outside
drink is not allowed. For more details,
visit storydistrict.org.
DanceForInclusion holds a ash
mob in the District to raise awareness
party at Knight Center at the Newseum
and accessibility. At 9 a.m. there will be
registration and a meet & greet breakfast
at Dance Exchange (7117 Maple Ave.
Takoma Park, Md.). Rehearsals take
place from 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. From 2:30-
3:30 p.m. volunteers will travel to Upper
Senate Park (200 New Jersey Ave., N.W.).
Flash mob takes place at 4 p.m. To
register and for more information, visit
Athlete Ally Founder HUDSON TAYLOR.
Athlete Ally has an event Saturday at VIDA
Fitnesss U Street location.
inniteowdance.org.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14
The Lambda Bridge Club meets at 7:30
p.m. tonight at the Dignity Center (721 8th
St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge. No reservations
required and newcomers welcome. If you
need a partner, call 703-407-6540.
The Big Gay Book Group meets at Trio
Restaurant (1537 17th St., N.W.) tonight at
7 p.m. to discuss I Left It on the Mountain,
a memoir by Kevin Sessums. For more
details, visit biggaybookgroup.com or
email biggaybookgroup@hotmail.com.
THURSDAY, JUNE 15
Eddie Izzard brings his Believe Me
Memoir Tour to the Lincoln Theatre
(1215 U St., N.W.) tonight from 7-10 p.m.
Izzard will discuss his book Believe Me,
share personal photos, perform stand-
up and answer questions from the
audience. Tickets range from $50-60 and
include a copy of Izzards book. For more
information, visit thelincolndc.com.
Lambda Legal celebrates the opening
of its sixth oce in D.C. with an opening
(555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) tonight
from 6:30-9 p.m. U.S. Sen. Christopher
Coons will give the opening keynote. U.S.
Senator Cory Booker will be honored at
the event. Special guests include Sharon
McGowan, director of strategy at Lambda
Legal, and Lambda Legal CEO Rachel B.
Tiven. Tickets are $175. For more details,
visit lamdalegal.org/dc.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM JUNE 09, 2017 99

Friday, June 16th

at 6:30 pm
(dinner will be served)
Concert at 7:30pm
Dinner reception/wine/valet parking-
all inc. $195

Emmanuel Ceysson, virtuosic harpist,

Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera
Belmont Mansion
1618 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
One of the most magnicent in Washington

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arpeggios and glissandi, but is reinstated as a melodic, indeed polyphonic instrument.

Pull Your Pride

ADVERTISING
PROOF #2 ISSUE DATE: 170609 SALES REPRESENTATIVE:

REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of
proof. Proof will be considered nal and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of
REVISIONS the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts
omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is
REDESIGN responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users
TEXT REVISIONS can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or
any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any
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copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair
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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 contr

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 of any of the foregoing representations payment and insertion schedule.
and warranties.

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 1 0 0 J UN E 0 9 , 2 0 17 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

Gregg Busch
Vice President
First Savings
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Congratulations Capital Pride 2017

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REALESTATE
Taking Pride in our homes, yards and country
How to make positive
contributions to the
environment
By VALERIE M. BLAKE
On Thursday, June 1, our president an-
nounced the withdrawal of the United
States from the Paris Climate Agreement,
resulting in reactions ranging from disbe-
lief to sadness to anger from scientists,
environmentalists and their followers
around the country and abroad.
Ironically, World Environment Day 2017
fell on the following Monday, June 5, with
groups and individuals worldwide being
encouraged to spend time outside enjoy-
ing nature, wildlife and local biodiversity.
As we celebrate Pride weekend, I
thought it appropriate to discuss ways we
can take pride in our homes, our yards
and our country by making positive con-
tributions to the environment, so here
are my suggestions.
Reuse and recycle. Most of us now
have a recycling bin and are conscien-
tious about sorting cans, bottles and pa-
per for recycling. We are also painfully
aware that we must bring our own bags
to the grocery store or incur extra cost.
But did you know that the DC Depart-
ment of Public Works will accept other re-
Happy Pride
Attorneys that are OUTthinking |OUTspoken |OUTdoing
cycling at theFt. Totten Transfer Station?
Check their schedule at www.dc.gov to
learn when you may bring outdated elec-
tronics, household hazardous waste, and
personal documents for shredding.
Continue reducing paper in your life
by printing on two sides, paying bills on-
line, contacting junk mail issuers to be
removed from their mailing lists, and us-
ing opt-out features for printed advertis-
ing. Whenever possible, use e-tickets for
flights, movies and concerts.
Transport yourself. Reduce pollu-
tion by limiting automobile use. Use the
Metrorail or bus, ride your bicycle, or
walk whenever you can. You might even
find that keeping the Earth healthy has a
side benefit of keeping yourself getting
healthy too.
If you must have a car, look for one that
gets good gas mileage. A hybrid or even
an electric car may be a good option.
Bone up on the EPA specifications before
making a purchase, keep tires properly
inflated and take the car for its scheduled
maintenance to keep emissions low.
Re-energize your home. Start with a
do-it-yourself home energy audit by walk-
ing around the exterior looking for cracks
and holes where caulk or mortar could be
used to reduce drafts. An older home will
likely not have the same level of insula-
tion as todays buildings, so an insulation
upgrade may be needed to cut down on
heating costs and associated energy con-
sumption.
You may also choose to have a profes-
sional energy audit. The auditor may per-
form an air pressure test by using a fan to
pull air out of the house and determine
whether the lowered air pressure inside
identifies cracks and leaks. He or she
may also use an infrared video camera to
determine whether additional insulation
is needed. Think of it as playing a war-
time video game where, armed with your
trusted infrared goggles, you can spot the
enemy approaching.
Have your HVAC system checked for
backdrafting and make repairs as recom-
mended by your contractor. If you still
use oil to heat your home, budget for
conversion to natural gas and investigate
solar panels to provide additional energy
resources at a lower cost. Set your ther-
mostat lower in the winter and put on a
(recycled) sweater.
Use Energy Star appliances, turn com-
puters off when not in use and change to
compact fluorescent or LED light bulbs
throughout your home. Reduce your
water usage by fixing faucet leaks and
running toilets. Take shorter (or cooler)
showers and install a low-flow show-
erhead. Reduce the heat setting when
washing clothes from hot to warm and
THINKING OF BUYING IN REHOBOTH?
Now is the time. Call Joe, Your Working Broker.
JUNE 09, 2017 107
put a blanket on your water heater.
Keep your yard green. Why not have
a shade tree planting party and use wa-
ter you have harvested from a rain barrel
water capture system? And while youre
planting, consider growing your own veg-
etables or creating a composting area.
Look to yards in Arizona and New Mex-
ico for ideas on Xeriscaping and other
ways to reduce your dependence on ir-
rigation. Try your hand at a rock garden
or stone patio and, at minimum, turn on
your sprinklers at night or when others
are not using theirs.
If youre lucky enough to have an out-
door pool or hot tub, be sure to keep a
cover on it when not in use. It will stay
cleaner, the filter wont have to work as
hard and the water wont evaporate as
quickly.
And for my final recommendation: To
keep from making your blood boil and
your temperature rise, turn off cable
news and stay hydrated. An adult bever-
age or two should do the trick.
VALERIE M. BLAKE is a licensed Associate Bro-
ker in D.C., Maryland & Virginia and Director
of Education & Mentorship at Real Living| At
Home. Call or text her at 202-246-8602, email
Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com, or follow her on
Facebook at TheRealst8ofAffairs.
LICENSED IN DELAWARE & MARYLAND
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