SEPTEMBER 01, 2017 VOLUME 48
COM
Trans ban brings confusion, lawsuits
Military prepares to
implement Trumps
discriminatory policy
By CHRIS JOHNSON & KAREN OCAMB
Nearly one month after announcing via
Twitter he would ban transgender people
from the U.S. military, President Trump
made good on his promise in a memo to the
Pentagon late last week enacting a ban on
their service.
The move triggered a urry of lawsuits from LGBT
advocacy groups and the situation was confused
further when Defense Secretary James Mattis
released a statement on Tuesday announcing a
study of how to implement the policy.
In the statement, Mattis says in consultation
with the Department of Homeland Security
and soon arriving senior civilian leadership of
DOD, he is convening a panel of experts to
provide advice and recommendations on the
Harveys catastrophic impact
LGBT relief funds launched
to help hurricane victims
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
Houstons LGBT community center on
Mondaylaunched a special relief fund to help
LGBT people who are among the thousands
of people in Houston and surrounding
jurisdictions who have lost their homes over
the past week to catastrophic ooding caused
by Hurricane Harvey.
The catastrophic and historic impact of
Hurricane Harvey will be felt by the LGBTQ
community of Houston, Texas, for days,
CONTINUES ON PAGE 19
ISSUE 35 AMERICAS LGBTQ NEWS SOURCE WASHINGTONBLADE.
implementation of the presidents direction.
Panel members will bring mature experience,
most notably in combat and deployed
operations, and seasoned judgment to this
task. The panel will assemble and thoroughly
analyze all pertinent data, quantiable and
non-quantiable. Further information on the
panel will be forthcoming.
In the interim, Mattis says, current policy
with respect to currently serving members
will remain in place. I expect to issue interim
guidance to the force concerning the
presidents direction, including any necessary
interim adjustments to procedures, to ensure
the continued combat readiness of the force
until our nal policy on this subject is issued.
In a memo to the Pentagon and Department
of Homeland Security dated Aug. 25, Trump
asserts the Obama administration failed to
identify a sucient basis to end the ban on
transgender military service in June 2016 and
directs the U.S. military to put the prohibition PRESIDENT TRUMP last week sent a memo to the Pentagon outlining his
ban on trans service members.
CONTINUES ON PAGE 18 GAGE SKIDMORE; COURTESY OF FLICKR
Hurricane Harvey slammed the Texas Gulf coast this week, causing catastrophic ooding in Houston and elsewhere
elsewhere.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
0 2 S EPTE MB ER 01, 2017 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M
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0 4 SEPTE MB ER 01, 2017 LO CA L N E W S

HRC official killed in D.C.

Charles Houston Elementary School and
graduated from George Washington High

motor scooter crash School in 1968, the write-up says.

She entered the workforce after attending
a trade school and later began work at
the Communications Department of the
Cassidy Karakorn hailed as champion of LGBT rights American Bar Association.
Wandra loved to travel domestically and
internationally, play the slots at casinos
By LOU CHIBBARO JR. and cook for family, friends and anyone
lchibbaro@washblade.com who was in need of a home cooked meal,
the biographical write-up says. She was
Cassidy Karakorn, the Director of Consumer a lifelong fan of the Washington Redskins Wandra Woo Woo Spruell died at age
Marketing for the Human Rights Campaign, through their good and bad seasons, it says. 66.
was killed Saturday night, Aug. 26, when the Her larger than life personality attracted PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL STRATTON

motor scooter she was driving on Florida
Avenue, N.E. crashed into a Volkswagen SUV
after the driver of the SUV attempted to make
a U-turn from the wrong lane, according to a
statement released by D.C. police.
The HRC family is mourning the loss of
our beloved colleague and friend, Cassidy
Karakorn, HRC said in its own statement
on Tuesday.
Over her 17-year career at the Human
Rights Campaign, Cassidy tirelessly CASSIDY KARAKORN was killed in a
championed civil rights for the LGBTQ motor scooter accident.
community, the HRC statement says. As COURTESY OF KATE WARREN; PHOTO COURTESY HRC
Director of Consumer Marketing, Cassidys
eye for fashion and art made a transformative
impact on HRC and helped us reach more people than ever before.
The police statement says the crash that took Karakorns life took place at about 11:17
p.m. on Aug. 26 when her Piaggio scooter was heading eastbound on the 1100 block of
Florida Avenue, N.E. It says the driver of a Volkswagen Touareg SUV was also traveling
eastbound in the same location in the far right lane.
The driver of the Touareg attempted to make a U-turn from the far right lane to go
westbound on Florida Avenue, Northeast, the statement says. As the Touareg crossed
the left lane of travel, the scooter struck the drivers side rear of the Touareg, it says.
Directly following the crash, the driver of the Touareg stopped his vehicle and,
along with other witnesses, attempted to assist the operator of the scooter, the police
statement says. D.C. Fire and EMS arrived on the scene and transported the operator
of the scooter to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The statement identied the scooter operator as Karakorn, 39, of Northeast D.C.
The case is currently under investigation by the Major Crash Investigation Unit, the police
statement says. Anyone with information regarding this case should call 202-727-9099.
The HRC statement says Karakorn earlier this year worked with artist Meghan Geckler
to bring to life an eight-story public art installation remembering the 49 lives taken in
the Pulse Nightclub shooting and other victims of hate violence.
The statement adds: Cassidy was a vibrant and energetic force for change in the world.
Her talents were boundless. Her creative genius and passion were unmatched. She was
fun, caring and her positivity was contagious. We loved her and loved working with her.
A biography of Karakorn on the website Asia After Dark says she was also well known
and admired in her role as a DJ spinning an eclectic mix of international indie and
electro dance selections. It says she has DJed in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles,
supporting artists including Ladytron, The Faint, Cut Copy, and the Presets prompting
the D.C. entertainment industry to take notice of her.
Womens events organizer Spruell dies at 66
Wandra Woo Woo Spruell, a legal secretary at the American Bar Association in
Washington, D.C., for more than 20 years and an organizer of womens events associated
with D.C.s Black Pride celebration, died Aug. 15 from complications associated with a
heart attack, according to her friend and colleague Michael Stratton. She was 66.
Stratton said Spruell played an active role in D.C.s black LGBT community in past
years, focusing on social events for women during the early years of Black Pride.
A biographical write-up distributed at a memorial service for Spruell on Aug. 25 says she and
her friend and business partner Willette Grin founded and operated the WW Connection, an
events organization that hosted womens parties and other events for more than a decade. The
write-up says the events were held along the East Coast from New York through the Carolinas.
Stratton said Spruell also worked as a bartender at the Bachelors Mill bar during the 1980s
when it was located in its original building on Capitol Hill thats now the home of the Banana Caf.
Spruell was born and raised in Alexandria, Va., where she excelled academically at
her to people from all walks of life which
explain the host of adopted children who
she welcomed, consoled and cared for with open arms, the bio says. Her smile and
distinctive laugh could warm the coldest of hearts.
It says she rededicated her life to Christ at the House of Praise Church in Northeast
D.C. and spent her later years as a prominent gure volunteering her time, heart, spirit
and culinary skills whenever she was needed.
She is survived by her life partner, Carolyn Thompson; her son, Damien Spruell; daughter,
Kimberly Grin-Muschette; sisters Della Nesbitt and Kathy Grin; brothers Shawn Grin
and Mark Christin; and numerous other loving relatives and friends, the write-up says.
A memorial service was held Aug. 25 at House of Praise Church. She was interred at
Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland, Md.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
D.C. cops accused of joking
about gay burglary victim
D.C. police are investigating an Aug. 8 incident in which two ocers who were
investigating the burglary of a house in Southeast Washington were captured
on video from home security cameras joking that the resident might be gay
because of name brand clothing found at the scene.
NBC4 News reported that the owner of the burglarized home, Clarence Williams,
showed the TV news station his video security footage. The video footage, which
included an audio recording, shows one of two ocers who entered his house while
he was out of town saying, Armani, Dolce and Gabbana hes probably gay.
According to NBC4 News, a few minutes after the ocer made reference to
Williams possible sexual orientation another ocer started dancing, which Williams
considered disrespectful in light of the home break-in that had just occurred.
A police spokesperson said Williams led a complaint against the ocers after
he returned home, discovered his house had been ransacked, and viewed the
video recordings.
We are aware of the complaint that was led against two Seventh District ocers for
their actions on the scene of a residential burglary in the 400 block of Woodcrest Drive,
Southeast earlier this month, police spokesperson Aquita Brown said in a statement.
The ocers were placed on non-contact status for misconduct following the
initial complaint, however, our internal investigation remains ongoing at this
time, the statement says.
Their behavior is not representative of the inclusive environment we work
tirelessly to uphold on a daily basis for residents and visitors of D.C., Browns
statement continues. We remain committed to providing positive interactions
with all and hold the trust of the community in high regards.
Williams told NBC4 News the Aug. 8 burglary was the second time someone
had robbed his home in less than a month.
The surveillance video played on the air by NBC4 shows an unidentied male
suspect breaking open the rear door of Williams house by throwing a rock
though a glass section of the door.
Once inside, the suspect(s) ransacked the entire house, a police report of the
burglary says. Williams told the TV news station a computer, clothes and shoes
were taken from the house.
Williams didnt respond to a request by the Washington Blade for comment.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
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0 6 SEPTE MB ER 01, 2017
Delaware school district forms committee to address bullying
Rehoboth-area activists
seek to address LGBT
students concerns
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
In a development that surprised some
LGBT activists, the superintendent of the
Cape Henlopen School District in the city
of Lewes, Del, which is next to Rehoboth
Beach, approved the creation of the Cape
Henlopen LGBTQ Outreach Committee.
Superintendent Robert Fulton told the
Washington Blade the committee was
formed following media reports of concerns
expressed by students at Cape Henlopen
High School, also located in Lewes, that
school ocials were not adequately
addressing longstanding concerns of anti-
LGBT bullying at the school.
Reports of the bullying and complaints
by LGBT students that school ocials
were ignoring their appeals for help
surfaced at a June 19 community forum
in Rehoboth Beach held at the LGBT
community center CAMP Rehoboth.
About 25 of the more than 75 people
attending the CAMP Rehoboth meeting,
most of whom are LGBT community
advocates, agreed to form a committee
to address the students concerns. They
named the committee The Council of
Elders and designated Rabbi Beth Cohen,
religious leader of the LGBT supportive
Seaside Jewish Community in Rehoboth,
to serve as its coordinator.
Members of the Council of Elders said
they learned about the school districts
LGBTQ Outreach Committee when school
district ocial Michael Young contacted
them and invited them to attend the
committees rst meeting in July. Among
those invited to attend were CAMP
Rehoboth Executive Director Steve Elkins
and Cohen.
The committee was formed as a result
of information in the media and other
sources that students were reaching out
to members of the greater community
to share concerns about situations at
school, Fulton told the Blade in an
email. We saw this as an opportunity to
partner more closely with organizations
trusted by our students to help improve
communication about concerns in the
future, he said.
There seemed to be an immediate need
because several of the statements shared by
students were serious accusations that we
rst heard of through the media, said Fulton.
He was referring to stories about the June
community meeting at CAMP Rehoboth in the
Washington Blade and the Cape Gazette, a
newspaper that covers news in Sussex County,
where Rehoboth and Lewes are located.
The school districts decision to form
The new LGBTQ Outreach Committee was formed following media reports of inadequate
response to bullying at Cape Henlopen High School.
the committee also came at a time
when many LGBT students and parents
expressed deep concern over what they
believe was the forced resignation of
Cape Henlopen High Schools popular
theater teacher Martha Pfeier allegedly
because of her outspoken support for
LGBT students.
School ocials have declined to
comment on the circumstances
surrounding Pfeiers resignation,
saying personnel matters must remain
condential under school district policies.
Elkins and Salvatore Seeley, who
coordinates CAMP Rehoboths
community outreach programs, said they
were hopeful that the school districts
committee would work in tandem with
the Council of Elders group to address the
concerns raised by LGBT students.
Elkins said he was informed by school
district ocial Young that the next
meeting of the school district committee
would be held in mid-September.
We want to be there as a resource
for them, Seeley told the Blade. But we
wanted to remain an independent group of
LGBTQ members who are concerned about
the youth in our community, he said.
So were hoping to work together with
them but we realized we have dierent
objectives on some issues than what they
have, Seeley said.
Several LGBT students from Cape
Henlopen High School, including a
transgender student, told the CAMP
Rehoboth meeting in June that their
repeated attempts to persuade the
school administrators and teachers to
address bullying targeting LGBT students
have been ignored.
We have to fend for ourselves, gay
student Adrian DAntoni, who graduated
from Cape in June, told the meeting. Its
the worst feeling on the face of the planet.
Lesbian student Sarah Ross, who begins her
senior year when the school year begins Sept.
5, said one of her lesbian friends at the school
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY LOU CHIBBARO JR.
led a bullying report with the administration
as part of a procedure set up by school ocials
to respond to bullying incidents.
Nothing happened, Ross told the
meeting. Boys on the sports teams were
doing the bullying. She was so upset she
stopped going to class.
Several of the LGBT students and LGBT
advocates who attended the CAMP Rehoboth
meeting expressed surprise and anger
when one of the speakers at the meeting,
Gary Colangelo, who serves as a school-
approved mentor for Cape Henlopen Highs
Gay-Straight Alliance club, wrote a letter to
the editor of the Cape Gazette disputing the
students claims that school ocials were
unresponsive to their concerns.
According to Colangelo, the students
claims that the school administration
was unresponsive were not backed up by
sucient evidence, rendering what they
were saying to hearsay.
He criticized the Cape Gazettes reporter
who wrote the story about the CAMP
Rehoboth meeting for taking at face value the
students allegations without investigating
whether the allegations were accurate.
Similar to the Blades story on the
meeting, the Cape Gazettes reporter
contacted Superintendent Fulton and
reported his response to the students
concerns. He said the school thoroughly
investigates all reports of bullying and
harassment and responds by enforcing the
school districts student code of conduct.
At least one former Cape Henlopen High
School student who had served as president
of the Gay-Straight Alliance during the 2015-
2016 school year, Richard Sommereld,
posted a readers comment taking strong
exception to Colangelos letter to the editor.
Sommereld said Colangelo did not attend
a number of meetings between GSA members
and school administrators and appears not
to have a clear understanding of the actions
taken by LGBT students to substantiate what
he called the schools sluggish or non-existent
response to bullying reports.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
LO CA L N E W S
Rather than further investigate claims
from concerned and scared students, you
seem to invalidate them, Sommereld
wrote. But if there wasnt a problem at
Cape, then we wouldnt be hearing this
much outcry, would we? Be careful because
your good intentions in your letter paint
you the same color as the bullies.
Colangelo responded to Summerelds
and a half dozen or more other posted
comments objecting to his letter by saying
he doesnt dispute the fact that bullying at
the school is taking place. Instead, he said
he disputes claims that school ocials
are not being responsive, saying he has
observed they have been responsive.
Seeley of CAMP Rehoboth questioned
the decision by Colangelo to publicly criticize
LGBT students personal testimony of
inaction by school ocials. Seeley said that
Colangelo, in his role as a mentor to the
schools Gay-Straight Alliance club, may be
interacting this fall with some of the same
students he accused of not substantiating
their claims about the schools response to
bullying reports.
Colangelo was among those invited to
be a member of the school districts LGBTQ
Outreach Committee and among those
who attended its rst meeting in July.
In his statement to the Blade, Fulton
said the three main areas of focus of the
committee are to build greater mutual respect
and trust among stakeholders; build stronger
relationships and connections with the greater
community; and promote transparency.
He said those invited to attend the rst
meeting included people involved in civic,
social, governmental and community groups.
The organizations represented
included The Rehoboth Bears, the
religious community, student mentors,
the Rehoboth Independent Film Society,
CAMP Rehoboth, the City of Rehoboth, the
City of Lewes, PFLAG, local retailers, and
the Rehoboth Beach Art League, he said.
Additionally, [school] District employees
who attended were the high school
psychologist, the GSA Club advisers, the high
school principal, a middle school teacher,
and Dr. Young, according to Fulton.
He said no students were invited
because the rst meeting was intended to
reach out to community leaders to begin
a dialogue with the school district.
In the future we may want to invite
students, parents and/or guest speakers
but that has not been decided as of this
time, he said.
Seeley said the Council of Elders group
plans to serve as a source of information and
support for LGBT students and their parents.
Theres such a bad history between LGBT
students and that school, Seeley said. And
we want to give them a place where they can
go, especially the parents, he said. Our goal is
to work with these students and parents and
help them get the resources that they need.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM SE P T E MBE R 0 1 , 2 0 1 7 0 7

0 8 SEPTE MB ER 01, 2017
Trump invokes Manning to justify Arpaio pardon
President apparently
misgenders
controversial gure
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
Amid criticism from Republicans and
Democrats alike over his pardon of Joe
Arpaio, President Trump on Monday
invoked his predecessors clemency for
Chelsea Manning to justify the decision.
Trump made the comparison at
the White House during a joint news
conference with Finland President Sauli
Niinist in response to a question about
the criticism from Fox News John Roberts
deriding her as a criminal leaker.
President Obama commuted the
sentence of Chelsea Manning, who
leaked countless sensitive and classied
documents to Wikileaks, perhaps, and
others, but horrible, horrible thing that
he did, Trump said. Commuted the
sentence and perhaps pardoned.
Trump apparently misgendered
Manning as male by referencing the
horrible, horrible thing that he did,
although arguably that pronoun could be
a reference to Obama and the horrible
thing was the pardon of Manning.
One dierence between Arpaio and
Manning, a transgender woman who
LGBT envoy to remain in State Department overhaul
Tillerson to eliminate
climate, other issue-
specic positions
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson this
week indicated the special U.S. envoy for
the human rights of LGBT and intersex
people will remain in place under a State
Department overhaul.
Tillerson in a letter to U.S. Sen. Bob
Corker (R-Tenn.), who chairs the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, said the
position will be retained and continue
to be organized under the State
Departments Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights and Labor. Tillerson wrote
the position will continue to be held by a
deputy assistant secretary.
Then-Secretary of State John Kerry
announced the positions creation within
the departments Bureau of Democracy,
Human Rights and Labor in early 2015.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Randy
served nearly seven years in a mens
prison before receiving commutation
from Obama, is Manning served time in
prison. Arpaio had yet to be sentenced
when Trump pardoned him.
Arpaio, who served as Maricopa County
Sheri until last year before being voted
out of oce, was found guilty of criminal
contempt of court for engaging in racial
proling despite an order instructing
him to cease that activity. The U.S.
Justice Department under the Obama
administration found he unfairly targeted
Latinos in conducting trac stops
although Arpaio long before that had
been accused of police misconduct.
Manning is also a controversial gure,
but in a dierent way. Many consider
her a whistleblower for leaking a video
of a Baghdad airstrike that exposed U.S.
activities during the Iraq war. Others
point to a subsequent dump of 251,287
State Department cables as evidence she
was indiscriminately leaking information
and potentially jeopardized the lives of
undercover operatives.
Trump also invoked to justify his Arpaio
pardon former President Clintons pardon
of Mark Rich, who received clemency after
his wife donated to the Clinton Library,
Susan Rosenberg and Carlos Vignali as
well as Obamas pardon of Oscar Lopez
Rivera, a militant leader of the Puerto
Rico independence movement.
Berry, who is a career Foreign Service
ocer, has been in the position since
April 2015.
A State Department spokesperson in
February told the Washington Blade that
Berry continues in his role under the
current administration. Berrys bio on
the State Department website currently
notes in the past tense that he served
as the State Departments Special Envoy
for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons
beginning in April 2015.
Tillerson plans to eliminate special
envoys for climate, the Colombian peace
process that has begun to take eect,
the Great Lakes Region of Africa and the
Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan
and South Sudan and dozens of other
positions. Existing State Department
agencies or the U.S. Agency for
International Development will assume
their responsibilities.
Ambassadors-at-large for womens
issues, the global ght against HIV/AIDS
and religious freedom are among the
positions that will remain in place.
Over the past four decades of
President DONALD TRUMPinvoked CHELSEA MANNINGto defend his pardon of JOE ARPAIO.
PHOTOS OF TRUMP AND ARPAIO BY GAGE SKIDMORE, PHOTO OF MANNING BY TIM TRAVERS HAWKINS; COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Trump also had high praise for Arpaio,
who supported the president in the 2016
election and stumped for him at the
Republican National Convention.
Sheri Joe is a patriot, Sheri Joe loves
our country, Sheri Joe protected our
borders and Sheri Joe was very unfairly
treated by the Obama administration,
especially right before an election, an
election that he would have won, and he
was elected many times, Trump said.
In response to assertions from
U.S. diplomacy, Congress and the
president have utilized these positions
to assert U.S. leadership abroad
and address emerging challenges,
wrote Tillerson in his letter to Corker,
noting U.S. efforts to broker the
1998 Good Friday peace accords and
restoring full diplomatic relations
with Burma in 2012. Today, nearly 70
such positions exist within the State
Department, even after many of the
underlying policy challenges these
positions were created to address
have been resolved.
The department will be able
to better execute its mission by
integrating certain envoys and special
representative offices within the
regional and functional bureaus,
and eliminating those that have
accomplished or outlived their original
purpose, added Tillerson. In some
cases, the State Department would leave
in place several positions and offices,
while in other cases, positions and
offices would be either consolidated or
integrated with the most appropriate
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
Republicans like Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.) and 2016 Republican presidential
candidate Jeb Bush the pardon was the
wrong thing to do, Trump replied, A lot of
people think it was the right thing to do.
Trump also acknowledged he issued
the pardon at the same time Hurricane
Harvey was striking Texas, referencing
the high ratings he assumed TV would
have at the time.
CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
bureau. If an issue no longer requires
a special envoy or representative, then
an appropriate bureau will manage any
legacy responsibilities.
Corker in a statement welcomed
Tillersons plan, noting the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee last
month approved a State Department
appropriations bill that would require it
to tell Congress which special envoys it
would like to maintain. The U.S. Senate
would also have to approve each special
envoy nomination.
Through the years, numbers of special
envoys have accumulated at the State
Department, and in many cases, their
creation has done more harm than good
by creating an environment in which
people work around the normal diplomatic
processes in lieu of streamlining them,
said Corker in his statement. That is one
reason our committee took bipartisan
action last month to require Senate
conrmation of special envoys while
empowering the secretary to reduce
bureaucracy by reining in these often
unnecessary positions.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
Law schools weigh bans on military recruiters over trans policy
Solomon Amendment
blocks fedl funds to
such universities
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
With President Trump directing the
U.S. military to enact a prohibition on
transgender military service, at least two
law schools the Vermont Law School
and Mitchell Hamline School of Law
are considering whether to enact a ban
on military recruiters in response, which
would be similar to policies they had
under Dont Ask, Dont Tell.
Maryellen Apelquist, a spokesperson for
the Vermont Law School, said in response
to a Washington Blade inquiry the school
will consider banning military recruiters in
the aftermath of Trumps memo.
President Trumps ban on
transgender people joining the military
is of grave concern, Apelquist said.
TheVermontLawSchooladministration
will take a hard look at the details of the
policy to determine if our discrimination
policy will allow military recruiters on the
VLS campus.
The other school to ban military recruiters
under Dont Ask, Dont Tell, William Mitchell
College Law School, has since merged with
its longtime rival, the Hamline University
School of Law to become the Mitchell
Hamline School of Law.
Doug Belden, a Mitchell Hamline
School of Law spokesperson, said the
school was discussing Wednesday
whether itll ban military recruiters as a
result of Trumps transgender policy, but
didnt have more details.
A senior Mitchell Hamline faculty
member, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said nothing has been
decided, no meetings have taken place on
the issue and discussion has been limited
to one or two emails.
With the nation poised to enact a policy
similar to Dont Ask, Dont Tell except
a ban on transgender service members as
opposed to openly gay service members
all the challenges and opposition to the now-
repealed 1993 law may soon reemerge.
One question is whether law schools with
non-discrimination policies will continue
to cooperate with military recruiters if the
armed forces refuse to allow transgender
people in its ranks. Such discrimination
would conict with non-discrimination
policies that ban anti-transgender
discrimination and arguably those that ban
discrimination on the basis of sex.
In the early days of Dont Ask, Dont
Tell, many law schools under guidance
from the Association of American Law
schools, which bars its members from
discriminating on the basis of sexual
Justice ELENA KAGAN tried to nd a
compromise on banning military recruiters
in the days of Dont Ask, Dont Tell.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
orientation, allowed military recruiters
on campus, but didnt facilitate meetings
between recruiters and students, provide
on-campus meeting spaces or allow
recruiters access to the roster of law
school students.
That changed in 1996 after passage of
the Solomon Amendment, which allows
the secretary of defense to withhold
federal funding to schools not just
from the Pentagon, but from other
arms of the U.S. government, including
the Department of Education, the
Department of Health & Human Services
and the National Nuclear Security
Administration if those schools inhibit
military recruiters, or even deny them
access to lists of law students.
The Solomon Amendment was
challenged in federal court on the basis
it violated rights to free speech and
freedom of association an argument
that prevailed before the U.S. Third Circuit
Court of Appeals. However, the U.S.
Supreme Court upheld the law in 2006
as constitutional in a unanimous decision
written by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts.
The law schools object to having to treat
military recruiters like other recruiters, but
that regulation of conduct does not violate
the First Amendment, Roberts wrote. To
the extent that the Solomon Amendment
incidentally aects expression, the law
schools eort to cast themselves as just
like the schoolchildren in Barnette, the
parade organizers in Hurley, and the
Boy Scouts in Dale plainly overstates the
expressive nature of their activity and the
impact of the Solomon Amendment on it,
while exaggerating the reach of our First
Amendment precedents.
Despite the Solomon Amendment and
the Supreme Court decision upholding
the law, two schools the Vermont Law
School and William Mitchell College of
Law were adamant in outright refusing
to cooperate with military recruiters. That
position came at the expense of federal
funds, although the schools had less in
federal funding to begin with compared
to large research universities.
(As then-dean of Harvard Law School,
U.S. Associate Justice Elena Kagan tried
to walk a middle line, writing in email
to students she abhor[s] the militarys
discriminatory recruitment policy, but at
the same time working out a compromise
that enabled a veterans organization to
sponsor military recruiters on campus as
opposed to the U.S. military itself. After
the Supreme Court upheld the Solomon
Amendment, she allowed military
recruiters full access to Harvards campus.
Kagan explained her position at the time
and views against Dont Ask, Dont Tell
during her 2010 conrmation hearing.)
For a brief time in 1998, the Vermont
Law School and William Mitchell College
Law School reversed itself and allowed
military recruitment on campus when the
Departments of Defense and Education
determined the U.S. government could
withhold federal student loan aid as a
result of the Solomon Amendment. Gay
former Rep. Barney Frank in 1999 pushed
through Congress a two-sentence law
clarifying the law doesnt apply to students,
allowing the Vermont Law School and
William Mitchell College Law School to
resume its ban on military recruitment.
After Dont Ask, Dont Tell was lifted in
2011 under former President Obama, the
Vermont Law School and William Mitchell
College Law School resumed cooperation
with military recruiters. It remains to be seen
whether those schools will resume their bans
or if other schools will begin new ones
now that Trump has directed the U.S. military
to engage in anti-trans discrimination.
If Vermont Law School or Mitchell
Hamline School of Law resume their bans
on military recruiters, the schools could
once again forfeit federal funds.
Apelquist said the school lost between
$300,000 and $500,000 as a result of
the Solomon Amendment in the days
of Dont Ask, Dont Tell, but doesnt yet
have an estimate of current federal funds.
The Association of American Law
Schools didnt respond to multiple
requests from the Blade to comment on
whether it would have any guidance to
schools in the wake of Trumps order to
ban transgender service members.
It should be noted those schools sought t
to allow military recruiters on campus after
Dont Ask, Dont Tell repeal even though
the ban on transgender service from the
1980s was still in place arguably a signal
that anti-transgender bias didnt warrant
SE P T E MBE R 0 1 , 2 0 1 7 0 9
a ban on military recruiters. Trumps ban
essentially puts the transgender ban back
in place after it was lifted during Obamas
nal year in oce.
LGBT military groups seeking to
challenge Trumps transgender military
ban said theyd welcome eorts from law
schools against the new policy, but were
optimistic that would be unnecessary
based on pending litigation. Three
lawsuits two led this week, one before
the Trump memo are now calling on
the federal court system to block the
transgender ban from going into eect.
Matt Thorn, executive director of
OutServe-SLDN, said law schools
should decide their own policy, but
the transgender ban does warrant
discussion on their part and with their
respective governing bodies.
OutServe-SLDN feels condant that
we will persevere in federal court, Thorn
said. Hopefully it doesnt come to barring
recruiters from nding young, bright and
dedicated individuals who want to serve
in our armed forces, including those who
are transgender.
Ashley Broadway-Mack, president of
the American Military Partner Association,
predicted federal courts would take
action against the ban before law schools
would need to act.
Any qualied American should be
able to serve their country, regardless of
their gender identity, Broadway-Mack
said. Donald Trumps directive telling
the military to single out and discriminate
against transgender service members
and qualied recruits is unconstitutional,
and we are hopeful the courts will reverse
his abominable and unpatriotic action.
We believe that justice will prevail and law
schools will not feel compelled to restrict
military recruiters access.
DArcy Kemnitz, executive director
of the National LGBT Bar Association,
said shes not yet ready to call for action
from law schools based on a statement
this week from Defense Secretary
James Mattis, who said despite the ban
transgender people currently in service
will be able to stay pending a review.
The LGBT Bar is grateful to the U.S.
military and those who serve bravely
and without reservation every day,
Kemnitz said. Asking law schools to
prevent recruitment on their campuses is
premature, especially in light of Secretary
Mattis statement on Tuesday on the
continued service of trans individuals.
Kemnitz added the National LGBT
Bar Association itself has allowed Judge
Advocate Generals Corps military
recruiters to come each year to the
annual career fair hosted by the National
LGBT Bar Association, and those eorts
make the armed services more diverse,
not less.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM SE P T E MBE R 0 1 , 2 0 1 7 1 3

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1 4 SEPTE MB ER 01, 2017
143 Dems to Trump: Reconsider indefensible trans ban
Lawmakers make
the case policy wont
hold up in court
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
In the wake of President Trump making
good on his pledge to ban transgender
people from the U.S. military, 143 House
Democrats led by Rep. A. Donald McEachin
(D-Va.) are calling on him to reconsider
the ill-advised and indefensible policy.
In a letter dated Aug. 29, the lawmakers
dispute assertions transgender people
would be a disruption to the military
service an argument Trump made in
his memo directing the Pentagon to enact
the ban.
Rather, their sacrices have made
our nation safer and stronger, the letter
says. Transgender service members
wear the same uniform and complete the
same missions as their cisgender peers.
In combat, their lives are in equal peril.
They serve with equal distinction; they
are equally deserving of our gratitude
and respect.
CVS exposes patients HIV status in mailings
4,000 envelopes
conned to Ohio
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
CVS Caremark, a division of the CVS
pharmacy and healthcare company,
abruptly discontinued a mailing last week
to patients in Ohio receiving HIV-related
medication from the company after it
learned that a reference to HIV appeared
above the patients names in the window of
the envelopes sent to about 4,000 people.
The inadvertent showing by CVS
Caremark of an HIV reference on the
outside of an envelope mailed to people
with HIV came less than a month after
the AETNA health insurance company
accidently revealed the HIV status of its
clients in a nationwide mailing to about
12,000, including some living in D.C.
AIDS activist Eddie Hamilton of
Columbus, Ohio sent the Washington
Blade a photocopy of the envelope he
received from CVS Caremark on Aug. 24,
which includes the notation PM 6402
HIV directly above his name and address
Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) is leading
House Democrats in calling on President
Trump to reconsider his trans military ban.
Signers of the letter include members
of the Democratic caucus: House Minority
Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Assistant
Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.)
and Chair of the Democratic Caucus
Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.). Other signers
in full view in the window of the envelope.
CVS Health places the highest priority
on protecting the privacy of our patients
and we take our responsibility to
safeguard condential patient information
very seriously, said Michael J. DeAngelis, a
spokesperson for CVS Health.
In a statement to the Blade, DeAngelis
said CVS Caremark, which serves as the
parent companys pharmacy benets
manager, recently mailed pharmacy
benet information to about 4,000
participants in Ohios AIDS Drug Assistance
Program, or ADAP. ADAP is a federally
funded program administered by the
states to pay for life-saving HIV medication
for low-income people who cant aord
health insurance or who are underinsured.
A reference code for this assistance
program included a serious of letters and
numbers (PM 6402 HIV) that were visible
within the envelope window, DeAngelis
said in his statement. This reference
code was intended to refer to the name
of the program and not to the recipients
health status, he said.
No other protected health information
was exposed, he continued. As soon as
we learned of this incident, we immediately
are Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-Mass.),
chair of the Transgender Task Force,
and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.). No
Republicans are among the signers.
Implicitly, your ban denies the value
of transgender service members, and it
questions the professionalism of those
who serve beside them, the letter says.
Our Armed Forces have grown more
equal and more inclusive over time,
often in the face of strident opposition. In
1948, when President Truman moved to
racially integrate the military, voices were
raised in protest. They were raised again
in 2010, when Congress at last repealed
Dont Ask, Dont Tell. At every turn, those
voices have been proven wrong.
The House Democrats objection to
Trumps transgender military ban is
consistent with unied opposition from
the caucus to an amendment proposed by
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) that would have
barred U.S. military payments for transition-
related health care, including hormone
therapy and gender reassignment surgery.
The amendment was defeated on the
House oor on a bipartisan basis before
Trump banned transgender people from
the military outright.
halted the mailings and are currently
taking steps to eliminate the reference to
the plan name in any future mailings.
The D.C. Department of Insurance,
Securities and Banking on Aug. 29
announced it has opened an investigation
of AETNA Health in response to the privacy
breach caused by its showing of the HIV
status of 12,000 AETNA policy holders
across the country. The announcement
says AETNA oers health insurance plans
to residents of D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
As the Districts nancial services
regulator and consumer advocate, it is
our responsibility to make certain that
the Districts insurance policyholders
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
Trump issued his memo directing the
U.S. military to ban transgender people
from the armed forces on Friday, making
good on his pledge via Twitter to bar
them from the military in any capacity.
Three lawsuits from LGBT legal groups
are now pending before various federal
courts seeking to overturn the policy.
With litigation underway, the letter
from Democrats makes the case the trans
military ban wont hold up in court, calling
the policy indefensible.
We are deeply concerned about the
clear unconstitutionality of your ban, the
letter says. As existing case law makes
clear, the government cannot discriminate
against transgender people on the basis of
their status or sex and the military is not
exempt from constitutional requirements.
It is not clear to us that your administration
has reckoned with these realities.
A White House spokesperson had no
comment in response to the letter and
said Trump stands behind his memo.
Trump has defended his plan to ban
transgender people by saying hes doing
the military a favor while making the
(incorrect) claim he enjoys considerable
support from the LGBT community.
health rights are protected, said Stephen
C. Taylor, the DISB Commissioner.
In addition, DISB will reach out directly
to the 390 aected District policyholders
to provide them with details of the breach
and the investigation, Taylor said in the
departments statement.
Hamilton said he has been directing
ADAP clients in Ohio who contacted him
after receiving the CVS Caremark mailing
to call the Ohio ADAP coordinator to
report what he considers a breach of
clients privacy.
He said he has also led a complaint about
the mailing to the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services Civil Rights Division.

1 6 SEPTE MB ER 01, 2017
MCC founder reects on Cuba trip
Mariela Castros
group honored Rev. Troy
Perry in Havana
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
HAVANA It was shortly after 6 p.m.
on May 13 when Rev. Troy Perry, founder
of the Metropolitan Community Church,
sat down with the Washington Blade at
Havanas iconic Hotel Nacional.
Perrys husband, Phillip De Blieck, and
Rev. Hector Gutirrez, an MCC elder
from the Mexican city of Guadalajara,
joined Perry in his suite in the hotel that
overlooks the Cuban capitals oceanfront
promenade and the Florida Straits. Perry
spoke with the Blade hours after he and
De Blieck rode alongside Mariela Castro,
daughter of Cuban President Ral Castro
who directs the countrys National Center
for Sexual Education, in a 1950s-era car
during a march that commemorated the
International Day Against Homophobia
and Transphobia.
I dont ever want us in America to think
were better than other people because,
said Perry.
More than 2,000 people took part in
the march the National Center for Sexual
Education, which is known by the Spanish
acronym CENESEX, organized.
Perry told the Blade he received a
standing ovation from the more than
5,000 people who attended a CENESEX
gala at Havanas Karl Marx Theater on May
12. He said CENESEX honored him with
what he described as an international
human rights award.
Im deeply honored by that, said Perry.
I am a little boy from North Florida.
Perry, 77, met Mariela Castro in 2015
when he traveled to Cuba for the rst
time. He told the Blade his father a
former bootlegger who owned a tobacco
farm visited the island in the 1930s.
That was a part of my speech last
night, said Perry, referring to the
CENESEX gala.
Perry founded MCC in Los Angeles
in 1968. It now has more than 200
congregations around the world.
MCC has congregations in Havana and
in the cities of Santa Clara and Matanzas.
Perry noted MCC provided housing to
gay men who were among the more than
100,000 Cuban refugees Marielitos
in Spanish who arrived in the U.S.
during the 1980 Mariel boatlift after then-
President Fidel Castro allowed them to
leave the country.
Some of the Marielitos who arrived
in the U.S. were criminals or people
with mental illness who Fidel Castro had
released from prisons and institutions.
A lot of them werent good people as I can
TROY PERRY, founder of the Metropolitan Community Church, takes part in a march in Havana on May 13 that commemorated the
International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
testify because we housed 10,000 of them in
MCC houses all over the country, Perry told
the Blade. Scripture tells me I am to help
aliens. Youre an alien one time, Hebrew
scripture told the Jews. So as a Christian I
believe that, so we housed people.
Mariela just like the Kennedys
Fidel Castro, who was Mariela Castros
uncle, in the years after the 1959
revolution that brought him to power
sent gay men and others to work camps
known by the Spanish acronym UMAPs.
Cuba in 1979 decriminalized consensual
same-sex sexual relations.
The Cuban government until 1993
forcibly quarantined people with HIV/
AIDS in state-run sanitaria. Fidel Castro,
who died last November, apologized for
the UMAPs in 2010 during an interview
with a Mexican newspaper.
He apologized nally, Perry told the Blade.
Mariela Castro over the last decade
has spearheaded LGBT-specic issues
on the Communist island, with her
supporters noting the country since 2008
has provided free sex-reassignment
surgeries through its national health
care system. They also highlight Mariela
Castro, who is a member of the Cuban
Parliament, in 2013 voted against a
proposal to add sexual orientation to
Cubas labor law because it did not
include gender identity.
Mariela Castro earlier this year during
an interview with Hatzel Vela, a Havana-
based reporter for the South Florida
television station WPLG, that her father
is supportive of her LGBT-specic work.
Perry noted to the Blade that Mariela
Castros mother, Vilma Espn, who was
the president of the Cuban Federation
of Women, taught her at a young age to
respect gay men.
Her mother . . . instilled that into her,
said Perry.
Independent Cuban activists with
whom the Blade has spoken say the
face harassment and even arrest if they
publicly criticize Mariela Castro or her
fathers government.
Perry told the Blade in response to
a question about Cubas human rights
record that he wants to be able to talk
about human rights.
He said CENESEX never asked to
look at the speech he delivered at the
organizations gala. Perry also told the
Blade that Mariela Castro has problems
when people threaten her family, noting
the CIA tried to kill Fidel Castro and
sponsored the failed Bay of Pigs invasion
in 1961.
She is just like the Kennedys, said
Perry, referring to Mariela Castro. People
have tried to kill her uncle and her name
is Castro. She cant even go to South
Florida really. She would probably be hurt
and I understand that.
There are emotions about the Castro
family to this day as we Americans know.
Perrys rst visited Cuba roughly six
months after then-President Obama
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
I N T E RN A T I O N A L N E W S
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
began the process of normalizing
relations between the U.S. and the
Communist island. President Trump in
June announced the reinstatement of
travel and trade restrictions with Cuba.
Perry repeatedly criticized the U.S.
embargo against Cuba during the interview.
He said a Cuban pastor told him his
congregation couldnt buy Bibles, so
it broke it up into separate books and
checked them out to his parishioners.
Perry told the Blade parishioners would
receive another book once they returned
the one they had checked out.
What I saw when I came here, I could not
believe what that embargo has done to this
country, he said. We have been awful.
Perry also told the Blade the Cuban
people are increasingly concerned
about Trump.
They have never seen a more erratic
president, said Perry. The Cuban
people are afraid of him. They are
worried more about what is going to
happen now with the embargo, with the
opening we have started.
Perry said Mariela Castro told him
that Fidel Castro once told the Cuban
people, I dont care if we have to eat
grass, no country is going to bully us
again. Perry also said the Cuban people
want their freedom.
They love Americans, he said. But
on the other hand I dont see any signs
about Trump.
The government is waiting to see
whats going to happen, added Perry.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM SE P T E MBE R 0 1 , 2 0 1 7 1 7

1 8 S EPTE MB ER 01, 2017
Mattis working on implementing trans ban
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01
back in place.
I am directing the Secretary of
Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland
Security with respect to the U.S. Coast
Guard, to return to the longstanding
policy and practice on military service
by transgender individuals that was in
place prior to June 2016 until such time
as a sucient basis exists upon which
to conclude that terminating that policy
and practice would not have the negative
eects discussed above, Trump writes.
Citing dubious concerns openly
transgender service will have a negative
impact on military eectiveness and
lethality as well as unit cohesion, Trump
concludes further study is needed to
ensure that continued implementation of
last years policy change would not have
those negative eects.
Under the Obama administration,
former Defense Secretary Ashton Carter
lifted the longstanding medical regulation
barring transgender people serving in the
armed forces. The guidance from the White
House eectively reverses that decision.
The Trump memo has two major
components. The rst continues the
Pentagon practice of barring openly
transgender people from enlisting in
the armed forces. Although the Obama
change allowed transgender people to
come out in the military without fear
of discharge, it delayed transgender
accession until a later time. That delay
already extended by Defense Secretary
James Mattis to continue until 2018 will
now be continued indenitely.
The second part of the memo bars
U.S. government resources to fund sex
reassignment surgical procedures for
military personnel except in case wheres
the procedure is necessary to protect the
health of an individual already undergoing
transition. The memo gives the Pentagon
until March 23 to implement this change.
Its not immediately clear whether
this policy means dependents of U.S.
service members are also ineligible
for U.S. government funds for gender
reassignment surgery.
The memo also instructs the Pentagon to
prepare by Feb. 21 an implementation plan
for the instituting policies aimed at blocking
transgender people from open service.
With respect to transgender people
who began serving openly in the military
after the Obama-era change, the memo
gives signicantly leeway to the Pentagon
and the Department of Homeland
Security, which operates the Coast Guard.
An estimated 15,000 transgender people
currently serve in the U.S. armed forces,
according to the Williams Institute at the
University of California, Los Angeles.
As part of the implementation plan, the
Defense Secretary JAMES MATTIS is working
on a plan to implement President Trumps
ban on transgender service members.
COURTESY US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Secretary of Defense, in consultation with
the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall
determine how to address transgender
individuals currently serving in the United
States military, the memo says.
LGBT groups le lawsuits
A coalition of LGBT groups immediately
led two separate lawsuits against Trump
over the policy.
One complaint was led in federal
court in Seattle by Lambda Legal and the
LGBT military group OutServe-SLDN. The
plaintis in the lawsuit,Karnoski v. Trump,
are two transgender people who wish to
serve in the military Ryan Karnoski and
an unnamed high school student as
well as Sta Sergeant Cathrine Schmid, a
transgender woman currently in the U.S.
Army who has served for more than 12
years; the Human Rights Campaign; and
the Seattle-basedGender Justice League.
Sarah McBride, whos transgender
and serves as national press secretary
for the Human Rights Campaign, said in
a statement the U.S. military is stronger
when any qualied American willing
to defend our country is able to serve,
regardless of their gender identity.
The other complaint was led in federal
court in Maryland by the American Civil
Liberties Union and the D.C.-based
law rm Covington & Burling LLP. The
plaintis in that lawsuit, Stone v. Trump,
are ve transgender troops currently
in the military representing each of the
military branches: Petty Ocer First Class
Brock Stone, Senior Airman John Doe,
Airman First Class Seven Ero George,
Petty Ocer First Class Teagan Gilbert,
and Marine Corps Technical Sergeant
Tommie Parker.
Stone, the lead plainti in the lawsuit,
has served in the U.S. Navy for nine years,
including a nine-month deployment to
Afghanistan. According to the lawsuit,
Stone was awarded an achievement
medal for his deployment as well as
multiple other commendations, including
a ag letter of commendation and multiple
recommendations for early promotion.
Both lawsuits led Monday contend
Trumps transgender military ban violates
the equal protection and due process
rights of transgender people under the
Fifth Amendment.
The ACLU lawsuit contends every
component of Trumps ban singles out
transgender service members for dierent
treatment amounting to sex discrimination,
which is subject to, and fails, heightened
scrutiny under the Fifth Amendment.
As a result of the Transgender Service
Member Ban, men and women who
are transgender, including Individual
Plaintis, have suered, or will
imminently suer, a violation of their
right to substantive due process because,
due to their transgender status, and
without any reasoned basis, they are
denied an opportunity to demonstrate
their continued tness for duty; their
ability to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces
despite being t to serve; and/or the
opportunity to receive medical care on an
equal basis as service members who are
not transgender, the complaint says.
But the lawsuit led by OutServe-SLDN
and Lambda Legal argues the military ban
violates not just the Fifth Amendment
right to due process, but also the First
Amendment right to free speech of people
who openly identify as transgender.
The purpose and eect of the Ban
and current accessions bar are to
chill constitutionally protected First
Amendment activity, the lawsuit says.
Indeed, the Memorandum on its face
demonstrates that it is directed at
suppressing the gender expression
and related expressive conduct of
transgender individuals, including that of
the individual plaintis and transgender
members of the organizational plaintis,
and those individuals disclosure of their
transgender status.
Both lawsuits discuss the methodic
detail with which former Defense
Secretary Ashton Carter over the course of
one year under the Obama administration
examined the issue of transgender
service a process that included
commissioning a study by the RAND Corp.
that found no drawbacks either to military
readiness or medical costs.
In contrast, Trump announced on Twitter
hed ban transgender people from the
military after an apparent lack of consultation
with military leaders. According to the lawsuit
from OutServe-SLDN and Lambda Legal,
a White House ocial told news media
President Trump said his announcement
would stop the lawyers from arguing with
him anymore against reinstating a ban on
transgender military service.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
Josh Block, senior sta attorney with
the ACLUs LGBT & HIV Project, said in a
statement all aspects of Trumps proposal
to ban transgender people from the U.S.
military can be easily debunked by the
conclusions drawn from the Department
of Defenses own review process.
Allowing men and women who are
transgender to serve openly and providing
them with necessary health care does
nothing to harm military readiness or unit
cohesion, Block said. Men and women
who are transgender with the courage
and capacity to serve deserve more from
their commander-in-chief.
The lawsuit seeks a court ruling nding
the trans military ban violates the U.S.
Constitution and an injunction ensuring
transgender people can serve in the
armed forces; not be denied promotion
or face adverse treatment solely because
of their gender identity; and have access
to transition-related health care.
The new litigation comes on the heels
of a policy memo from the San Francisco-
based Palm Center, which disputes
reports in the media that Trumps
transgender policy is a watered-down
version of an outright ban.
The memo, drafted by ve military
professors, contends Trumps
transgender policy, in fact, is a total ban
because it reinstates the old policy prior
to the Obama-era change. The only
narrow question left open, the memo
says, is what will happen to transgender
people currently in the armed forces who
came out after that time.
The Secretaries only have a narrow
window of discretion to decide the
individual fates of currently serving
transgender personnel, who in the best
case would be permitted to serve under
separate standards that apply only to
them, under a general presumption
that they are unt to serve, and with
no assurance that their permission to
remain will endure, the memo says.
Trump as well as Mattis are named
defendants in both the lawsuits. Also
named in the ACLU lawsuit are each of the
civilian heads of the military departments.
Lt. Col. Paul Haverstick, a Pentagon
spokesperson, conrmed the Defense
Department is aware of the lawsuits, but
declined further comment.
The Justice Department didnt
immediately respond Monday to
the Washington Blades request for
comment on the lawsuits. A White House
spokesperson declined to comment
on the basis of a general policy of not
commenting on litigation.
Another lawsuit led by the National
Center for Lesbian Rights and GLBTQ
Advocates & Defenders was led before
Trumps directive and remains pending
before a federal court in D.C.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
N A T I O NA L NEW S
LGBT relief funds launched to help Texas hurricane victims
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01
months, and potentially years to come,
the Montrose Center said in a statement.
Help our LGBTQ community members
displaced by the storm today by giving to the
LGBTQ Disaster Relief Fund, managed by
the Montrose Center Houstons LGBTQ
counseling and community center serving
Houston for 39 years, the statement stays.
According to the statement released on
Aug. 28, money raised through the relief
fund would be used to help individuals
and families begin to rebuild their lives
through counseling, case management,
direct assistance with shelf stable food,
furniture, housing and more.
In a related development, the
Transgender Foundation of America, a
Houston-based transgender services and
advocacy organization founded in 1998,
announced it had organized a separate
disaster relief fund to assist Gulf
Coast trans, intersex, and genderqueer
survivors recover from Harvey and its
related ooding.
The Transgender Foundation of America
created this disaster relief fund because
trans, intersex, and genderqueer individuals
have historically experienced signicant
diculties in natural disaster situations, a
statement released by the group says. This
fund will be used to help our historically
underserved community recover from this
catastrophic event, it says.
The creation of the two disaster relief
funds came at a time when ocials
in Houston and many other areas of
southeast Texas reported that a never-
before-seen volume of rainfall rather
than the usual high winds associated
with a hurricane caused massive damage
from ooding in high population centers,
especially those in Houston.
The nations fourth largest city, Houston
has been accustomed to ooding of its
numerous waterways, including bayous,
but ocials said the historic ooding
over the past several days resulted in
serious damage and total destruction
of thousands of homes and businesses
unlike any previous ooding incidents.
Houston is really bad o right now,
said Houston LGBT rights advocate Lou
Weaver, who said he was stranded this
week in Dallas after learning, during a
visit there, that all main roads leading to
Houston were impassible.
Many of my friends have lost everything
they own, he told the Washington Blade.
Some are stranded in their homes.
He said that in addition to the creation
of the LGBT disaster funds many from
Houstons LGBT community were
volunteering their help at the George
R. Brown Convention Center, the citys
largest convention hall that has been
converted into an emergency shelter.
A Houston city spokesperson told
the Washington Post more than 1,500
people had been taken to the convention
center Sunday night. Many of them had
been rescued by boat from the roofs of
their homes as ood waters rose to the
height of their rst oor ceilings, disaster
relief ocials said.
Ocials said the convention center has
the capacity to take in a total of 4,000 people
displaced from their homes by the ooding.
One of the buildings hit hard by the
ooding was Resurrection Metropolitan
Community Church, a mostly LGBT
congregation located in Houstons Inner
Loop near White Oak Bayou. The bayou
surged over its banks during the heavy
rainfall on Saturday night, putting one to
one-and-a-half feet of water into the church.
Rev. Troy Treash, the churchs senior
pastor, said church members were
ripping up carpeting and shoveling out
mud from the church as he spoke to the
Bladeon Monday.
Were just part of a city where everything
is crazy at the moment, he said. Were a
bit awash in feelings at the moment.
Treash said the congregation moved
into its current space in 2000, a year
before Tropical Storm Allison ooded
Houston in 2001.
This is the second ood in this space.
We thought it wouldnt happen again, he
said. We denitely need prayers.
The congregation is looking for ways to
help families forced out of their homes by
the ooding, he told the Blade.
Were looking for ways to put them up,
he said. Were trying to nd spaces that are
safe for them. Were a progressive LGBT
congregation that has a voice in a part of
the world that is sorely missing it right now.
Veteran gay rights advocate Ray Hill, a
longtime resident of Houstons Montrose
neighborhood long known for its high
concentration of LGBT people, said he
is lucky that his street and the street on
which the Montrose Center is located
four blocks away are on higher ground
and had not been hit by ooding as
ofMondayafternoon.
Hill noted that the section of Montrose
where he lives and where the Montrose
Center and a number of popular gay bars
and clubs are located are on the opposite
side of Montroses southern boundary,
which consists of the Bualo Bayou, a
body of water that often oods during
storms far less severe than Harvey.
He said that section of Montrose was hit
by ooding over the past few days, forcing
many residents to seek refuge elsewhere.
The Montrose Center initially had
planned to serve as a place where people
displaced by the storm could to come for
support both LGBT and straight, Hill told
the Blade. But he said the severe ooding
in other parts of the city prevented most
Volunteers rescued thousands of Houston residents this week.
of the centers sta from getting to the
center to organize the relief eort.
Instead, according to Hill, the few sta
people able to make to the center set
up a makeshift information and referral
center in the centers rst oor garage
providing cover from the rain, which was
continuingon Monday.
They are giving directions to other
emergency sites, Hill said. So our Some suered from heat stroke and
community is being responsive. If you
live in a place like Houston part of being a
good citizen is sharing and caring.
Trans rights advocate Monica Roberts, a
longtime Houston resident, said she too is
fortunate to live in a section near downtown
Houston that was not hit by ooding and
retained its electric power service.
But she said he was worried about
additional ooding expected when the
city releases a large quantity of water
from a reservoir behind a dam that has
lled to capacity from the massive rainfall
caused by Harvey. City ocials have said
not releasing the water, which will cause
additional but modest ooding, could
result in the dam bursting, a catastrophe
of unthinkable proportions.
Roberts said she is aware of concern
within the trans community of possible
discrimination against trans people at
city and private shelters for those forced
from their homes due to ooding.
As of now I have not heard of any
cases where LGBT people were turned
away from a shelter, she said.
Roberts and other LGBT activists say
a separate matter raising concern is
what they see as the politicization of the
ooding by some Texas Republican Party
leaders. Among other things, some of the
GOP activists were attacking Houstons
LGBT-supportive mayor, Sylvester Turner,
for deciding not to order most residents
to evacuate the city in the days before the
hurricane hit.
SE P T E MBE R 0 1 , 2 0 1 7 1 9
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Roberts and others supportive of the
mayor point to the attempt to evacuate
the city in 2005 as Hurricane Rita
approached, when 100 or more people
died after being stranded in trac backed
up for miles as 2.5 million people ed the
city at the same time.
It was 95-plus degree temperatures,
Roberts said. People ran out of gas.
emergency responders couldnt get to
them, she said. Roberts noted that had an
evacuation attempt been made this time
the eeing motorists would have been
trapped in ood waters that currently
have submerged nearly all highways and
roads leading out of Houston.
Among those initially calling for an
evacuation was Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
Even if an evacuation order hasnt
been issued by your local ocial, if youre
in an area between Corpus Christi and
Houston, you need to strongly consider
evacuating, Abbott said at a news
conference last Friday.
Turner succeeded two-term Democratic
Mayor Annise Parker, a prominent lesbian
activist and longtime LGBT rights advocate
before becoming mayor. A term limits law
prevented Parker from running for a third
term. Roberts and Hill said Turner is a
strong supporter of the LGBT community.
Gay activist Ryan Wilson said he and
his husband moved to Houston in March
after his husband took a new job there.
He said the severe ooding caused by
Harvey wasnt something he and his
husband expected.
Were kind of like living on an island
right now surrounded by water, he said,
noting that his neighborhood in the citys
midtown section had so far been spared
from ooding. The further out from the
city center you go, the worse it gets.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS CONTRIBUTED
TO THIS STORY.
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Study nds LGB teens more Annual discount on one Potential savings are
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NEW YORK LGB teens are about three times as likely to be depressed than
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Gay Aussie sex site sparks investigation These programs are for DC residents only.

NEW SOUTH WALES, Australia An Australian gay health site that received
federal funding has drawn red ags and negative attention with Health Minister
Greg Hunt ordering an urgent review of the contents, the Australian reports.
But several of the media portrayals of the Emen8 site were awash in suggestive
reporting with anti-gay overtones.
An Emen8 article titled Whos the perfect daddy for you? included the line,
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A spokesman for the Health Minister told the Australian that any associations
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the language resonates, he said, according to the Australian article. The content
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 WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

24 S E PT E M B E R 01, 201 7 F I T N E SS

Training on the go
Its harder to maintain tness
when traveling but it can be done

Traveling has a way of interfering

with your tness goals. You break
from your routine. You dont eat as
well. You struggle to nd the time or
even motivation to train.
But there are a number of tricks
you can employ to maximize your
DAVID MAGIDA is founder of Elevate Interval Fit- training and stick to your routine
ness, a member of the Reebok Spartan Race Pro while you travel. From training early
Team and author of The Essentials of Obstacle in the day, controlling your diet and
Racing: A Beginners Guide. You can catch a class
with him at Elevate on 14th Street or at its new employing high intensity training,
location in the Mosaic District in Fairfax, Va. you can nd ways to stay t while on
the road.
Train early: When traveling, we dont always have the luxury of time to
maintain our current routines. You have a lot to do, a lot to see and not much
time to t it all in. So make exercise your priority in the morning. Things often
come up throughout the day. So if you complete your training session as soon
as you wake up, you wont need to stress about being able to get your workout
in for the day.
On a magical weekend in the country, High intensity training: If you have issues nding the time to train while

anything can happen...

traveling, consider altering your training routine to more high intensity training.
Employ dierent training formats including timed intervals, top-of-the-minute
training and max rep intervals where you repeatedly attempt to complete as
many repetitions of an exercise as possible until you reach muscle failure. These
training styles will provide you with maximum results in the minimum amount
of time so you dont lose the progress youve made during your training sessions
at home. And maybe youll even continue to improve.
Cook your own meals: We tend to dine out often while on the road. And you
know what that means large portions, unbalanced meals, lots of cream or
butter, not enough vegetables. Dining out can disrupt your diet in many ways.
Photo of Bobby Smith and Holly Twyford by Christopher Mueller

So try to cook as many meals as you can. If you dont have the means to do so,
at least pick up healthy snacks to substitute for some meals out, like fruit and
veggies you can store in your hotel room. And if you must dine out, opt for
salads when you can.
Minimize alcohol intake: This one goes hand in hand with trying not to dine
out as much. When we travel, especially when we dine out, we tend to drink more
alcohol. Whether were traveling for pleasure, and we feel free to drink more
alcohol, or we are traveling for work and we feel obligated to a have a drink with
clients or coworkers, the drinks can add up. If you can minimize your alcohol

a little
consumption, you can mitigate your weight gain during your travels. No need
to eliminate your consumption, but just be aware of it. One easy way to pace

night music
yourself is to consume one glass of water before you can have your next drink.
Walk: Walking is an underrated form of exercise. Opt to walk when you can
because walking actually burns a great deal of calories. Youll earn the meals
you get and youll feel better getting a chance to stretch your legs and move
around. Skip the cab and walk if the trip is short enough, take the stairs instead
of the elevator and use any excuse you can just to be on your feet. The time on
Stephen Sondheims musical comedy the legs adds up.
featuring Send in the Clowns Traveling doesnt have to result in a loss of tness. Just because your lifestyle
changes doesnt mean you need to put on weight. You can stay in shape on the
road without having to overwork or overthink it. Just make a few subtle tweaks
Now through October 8 Pride Night: September 15 in your routine and youll nd maintaining your tness is simple.

SigTheatre.org | 703 820 9771

W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM SE P T E MBE R 0 1 , 2 0 1 7 2 5

2 6 S EPTE MB ER 01, 2017
No more purity tests for Dems
Partys Unity
Reform Commission
already in trouble
PETER ROSENSTEIN is a D.C.-based LGBT rights
and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly
for the Blade.
If its recent press release is any indication,
the Democratic National Committee Unity
Reform Commission is having problems.
While the Commission can agree President
Trump is disgraceful and has hateful policies,
reading between the lines of the following
second paragraph shows that rifts continue:
As we wrap up our latest meeting of the
Unity Commission in Chicago, Democrats
have never been more united against this
disgraceful president and his hateful policies.
And we know, the best way to ght back is
to win elections. This last sentence is most
telling. Thats why were working together to
build a Democratic Party that speaks for every
Democrat, that is inclusive and welcoming to
all Americans, and that is working tirelessly to
organize and elect Democrats up and down
the ballot who represent our values.
We know many of the Sanders people
on the Commission are ghting for open
primaries, hence welcoming all Ameri-
cans and we know Our Revolution the
group Sanders began headed by Nina
Turner is saying they wont support Demo-
crats who dont meet their purity test and
support their values. So whose values are
being referred to in the press release?
The DNC should continue to hold closed
primaries, which means only members of the
party get to vote on who will represent the
party in a general election. Why would one
open the primary to those who dont care
enough to be members of the party and work
E DIT OR IA L C A R T OON
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
IN S IDE L G B T W ASH I N G T O N
to develop its values and principles? Demo-
crats have a basic set of values and principles
clearly enunciated in the platform voted on at
the Democratic National Convention in 2016.
Those values call for economic equality and
raising the minimum wage; choice; human
and civil rights for all; aordable healthcare
for all; continuing to ght climate change;
quality public education; and reform of the
judicial system among other tenets of a free
and just society.
The desired result of a Unity Commis-
sion should be an agreement that everyone
there will ght for every Democratic candi-
date representing the party in the general
election. If we listen to Nina Turner and her
quest for a purity test based on her values
the result will be a repeat of what we got in
2016 a Republican Congress and Trump.
The role of the DNC should be to support
building eective state and local Democrat-
ic Parties. The one requirement any orga-
nization or candidate they support should
meet is to say they are proud Democrats
and will support general election Demo-
cratic candidates up and down the ballot.
I have been a Democrat my entire life
supporting candidates from Adlai Steven-
son to John F. Kennedy to Hillary Clinton.
I voted for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama;
stood with Congresspersons William Fitts
Ryan and Bella S. Abzug and supported
Abe Beame, Shirley Chisholm and Chris-
tine Quinn. In not one case did I agree with
every position those candidates held. But
what we had in common was support for
the basic principles of equality, human and
civil rights for all, economic opportunity
and a great public education system allow-
ing everyone the chance to succeed.
The Democratic National Committee and
all Democrats should follow the lead of en-
vironmentalist Tom Steyer, who recently
said he will invest $2 million in the cam-
paign to elect Democrat Ralph Northam
governor of Virginia. While not agreeing
with every Northam position, Steyer reject-
ed the idea of purity saying, We think he is
much better than Republican Mr. Gillespie
on environmental policies in general.
We need Democrats elected as governors
and Democrats elected to state legislatures.
When it comes to Congress, only electing
Democrats across the board we will give
us a Democratic Speaker of the House of
Representatives and a Democratic major-
ity leader in the Senate. If that happens the
progressive agenda has a chance to move
forward. We need to stop calling for purity,
which is asking people to cut o their nose
to spite their face and instead tell people to
vote smart.
Voting smart will eventually regain Con-
gress and the White House for Democrats.
Voting smart is voting only for Democratic
candidates. Expecting purity of all our can-
didates will only doom us to more Donald
Trumps and more Republican congresses.
VOLUME 48 ISSUE 35
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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
B R O CK PA PER SCI SSOR S
D.C. is failing its LGBT seniors
BROCK THOMPSON is a D.C.-based freelance
writer. He writes regularly for the Blade.
No one really knows how long hed been
dead, two weeks maybe. Several days
at least. Alan lived on 16th Street, only a
block from Cobalt, the heart of what many
consider the center of gay life in the Dis-
trict, in a fashionable several-story gothic
building that many still refer to as the gay
dorm. Alan himself was described as a x-
ture in the neighborhood. So how did he
come to die alone in his apartment?
David Mariner, head of the DC Center,
the Districts LGBT community center, knew
Alan. He referred to him as a member of the
greatest generation of gay men those
that fought back at Stonewall, went to the
rst marches, the rst ACT UP protests, or-
ganized the rst Pride celebrations, stood
vigil over the quilt. Sadder still, Alan, during
the worst days of the AIDS crisis, was known
to care for dying friends when their families
wouldnt, even arranging funerals and buri-
als when no one else came forward.
O U R B USI NES S MATTERS
D.C. needs Council member, not mayor, Vince Gray
Mayor Bowser likely
to have easy path to
winning second term
MARK LEE is a long-time entrepreneur
and community business advocate. Follow
on Twitter: @MarkLeeDC. Reach him at
OurBusinessMatters@gmail.com.
Labor Day weekend is traditionally the
launch of the next political campaign season,
with politicians typically announcing next-as-
piration intentions following the holiday.
In D.C., the guessing game regarding
candidate composition for the 2018 may-
oral race has been the subject of increasing
media conjecture in recent weeks. By most
accounts, it may be one of the most predict-
able in the citys electoral history.
Incumbent Mayor Muriel Bowser appears
likely to have an easy path seeking re-election
Mariner described to me the very real prob-
lem of social isolation. For seniors, as you grow
old, you are more likely to be alone, more likely
to fall into isolation. This obviously carries with
it depression and deterioration of mental and
physical health. But for older gay men, men
like Alan, its far more precarious. LGBT seniors
are twice as likely to live alone. Gay men of a
certain age, of a certain generation, are faced
with the duel problems of not having children
to look after them and are less likely to have a
partner to grow old with. This was Alan.
Cities provide various services for ag-
ing populations, either through grants to
local charities or through direct city in-
volvement. Washington, D.C., has the DC
Oce on Aging, but according to Mariner,
the oce has been very reluctant to face
the disparities facing LGBT aging adults,
adding, Im at a loss to say why. senior for the rest of country, and seem well on
One such service the city provides aging
populations is the congregate meal pro-
gram. In short, meals are served at various
locations for seniors throughout the week.
These do more than just meet their nutri-
tional needs, it gives seniors a place to go,
programming, and the opportunity to be
missed. If anyone misses a meal, a social
worker follows up with them. I could pro-
vide more details, but the map showing
the locations of congregate meals in the
District, provided by the DC Oce on Ag-
to a second term. She is expected to have little,
if any, signicant opposition or, put another
way wont encounter a successful challenger.
While Bowsers support is broader than
deep, envious approval numbers for a may-
or provoking less passion than performance
appreciation are at nearly 70 percent.
Bowser has neutralized skeptics who,
based on her rather lackluster tenure as
a D.C. Council member, had ample reason
to wonder if she was well suited for the
task of the Districts top hometown spot.
While she may not have won the whole-
hearted support of those doubters, she
has successfully navigated her role in a city
that plays politics as bloodletting sport.
Beating expectations and being perceived
as over-performing are a politicians best sur-
vival situation. Bowser benets from being
mayor during continued population growth
lling the citys tax coers combined with
strong private sector development generat-
ing growing civic pride, along with satisfaction
regarding public safety statistics. Simply not
interrupting those trajectories, while balanc-
ing such stewardship with signature eorts to
facilitate aordable housing while sheltering
the homeless, has proven a winning formula.
Speculation regarding challenges by for-
mer mayor and now D.C. Council member
ing website, has been down for some time.
Washington does oer culturally specic
programming when it comes to providing
these meals, having them at the Chinatown
Community Cultural Center or one of the
citys centers serving Hispanic seniors. No
such services are oered for the citys LGBT
seniors, although advocates for LGBT seniors
have been pressing for this for years. The
citys website does oer an LGBT-specic
page, but three of the organizations it points
people to no longer exist. Additionally, the
address provided for the DC Center is three
years out of date.
We have nothing against bingo. . . the
cheery, upbeat voice on the other end of the
line told me. Chicagos LGBT center, simply
known as the Center on Halstead, very much
wants to be the template for all things gay and
ing of sorts as our conversation came to
their way to achieving that. On top of dozens
of programs and activities for the community,
its services for seniors leave little to be desired.
Beside meals, where you might be treated to
a drag show, there are classes, health screen-
ings, yoga, organized nights out on the town
to reconnect with spaces and faces, and a
whole host of other programs. Youd be hard
pressed to nd a bingo card anywhere.
This is not to say that the District is com-
pletely failing its LGBT seniors. There are nu-
merous organizations within the District doing
Vincent Gray or rst-elected rst-term D.C.
Attorney General Karl Racine continue to
dissipate. Neither seems disposed to en-
ter the race both likely recognizing their
chances of besting Bowser are unfavorable.
Racine suers low name recognition de-
spite citywide election and evokes even less
enthusiasm. He also lacks possession of a
politicians personality, in addition to ap-
pearing to genuinely relish his current role.
Former Mayor Gray, defeated for re-elec-
tion in the previous Democratic mayoral pri-
mary by Bowser and subsequently elected
to the Ward 7 Council seat, may desire to
avenge that loss and diminish the legacy
of an alleged campaign nancing scandal
never prosecuted but that derailed his win-
ning a second term. Gray, however, seems
smartly moving away from seeking to settle
that score. He is undoubtedly looking at poll-
ing numbers indicating he would not prevail.
Others who may covet becoming may-
or some day know that, in the one-party
town that is Democratic D.C., waiting your
turn is a basic tenet of advancement.
Grays Ward 7 constituents and the city
as a whole greatly gain from his return to
serving on the Council. The former mayor has
been a strenuous and eective advocate for
the often-neglected east end of the District.
SE P T E MBE R 0 1 , 2 0 1 7 2 7
very good work on behalf of aging adults. Iona
is one of them. Like the Center on Halstead,
Iona oers a number of services. Classes, too.
Anything from Coping with Retirement to
seminars on health and wellness. Susan Mes-
sina, Ionas director of Development & Com-
munications, told me that, in a lot of ways, as a
society were just not used to caring for LGBT
seniors. Her organization is certainly trying to
turn that around. She explained that for the
rst time we have an out and proud, vibrant
demographic that expect that to continue as
they get older. Messina also mentioned that
for this demographic, aging solo is a very real
issue. LGBT adults who should be aging with
many, many friends, and arent.
Will that change as resources are re-
allocated and demographics change?
Perhaps. But Messina did oer this warn-
a close, Look around, if all your friends
are your age, plus or minus two or three
years, you could soon be in real trouble.
I was told that Alan had no funeral. His
family from back home held no service in
Washington. They simply didnt think anyone
would come. Whatever the circumstances of
his death, the city and gay community cer-
tainly failed him. Would he have beneted
from congregate meals and programs like
it? Maybe. But we have to ask ourselves: Was
there something else we could have done?
More important is that Gray joins a
small but critical cadre of leaders on the
13-member D.C. Council appropriately
measuring matters so as to balance the
competing interests of all the citys com-
ponents. Like Bowser, he learned the im-
portance of circumspection on issues and
comprehending legislative and regulatory
implications, especially when aecting the
business community.
Gray, also a former Council chair, serves as
a vital component of a valuable brain trust
of experienced civic leadership alongside col-
leagues Jack Evans of Ward 2, Mary Cheh of
Ward 3, and Council Chair Phil Mendelson.
An example of this collective contribution
is that all four seasoned Council members
have proposed variable remedies to revise
gargantuan funding and administrative re-
quirements for planned implementation in
2020 of a massive paid leave mandate. De-
liberations on what is now widely expected
to produce a legislative repair also urged by
Bowser that will reduce the nancial burden
on local businesses while not substantively
aecting benets begin in mid-October.
It may be tough for a former mayor
to nd complete fulllment as a Council
member, but D.C. distinctly benets from
having Gray sitting in that seat.
2 8 S EPTE MB ER 01, 2017 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM VOLUME 48 ISSUE 35 SEPTEMBER 01, 2017 PAGE 29

KYRISHA DESCHAMPS says Honey Groove moved to a new location and month this year out of
necessity.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Honey Groove ventures outdoors

Queer women of color front and center at annual music festival
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com

Sometimes the genesis for a new event,
book, restaurant or whatever is as simple
as its creator pinpointing a void. Thats
how it was for Honey Groove, a D.C.
music and art festival devoted to queer
artists of color now in its third year.
Organizer Kyrisha Deschamps, a 33-year-
old native Washingtonian, always enjoyed
music, art and the festival experience but
felt something was missing.
I always really enjoyed being in those
spaces but remember noticing that while
there were queer people, LGBT people in
the crowd, we werent really on stage,
says Deschamps, who works by day at
a non-prot devoted to veterans and
people with disabilities. I really wanted
to build something where that was the
focal point and to have a space for some
local artists I love, like Be Steadwell and
the CooLots, I wanted to see them again
because I thought they were so great, so
Honey Groove was born.
Deschamps says she appreciates
musical talent because, I dont have
those skills. Musically she enjoys a little
bit of everything and music with a nice,
vibey beat. Kendrick Lamar, Beyonce,
SZA and Rihanna are some of her favorite
big-name acts, but she also loves local
bands, especially those featuring queer
women of color.
Deschamps, who identies as queer,
started the festival with partners Lisa
Gomes, Jonae Davis and Lee Perine
and says its evolved and expanded
somewhat. Now in its third year, Honey
Groove is still mostly centered around
women, but is more trans- and men-
inclusive than it was earlier.
We want everyone to feel included and
were denitely open to our allies, she
says. Its for people who love art, people
who are interested in queer culture. Its a
very warm and inviting environment. Last
year, people were just happy to be there
and there was just this feeling in the air. It
was really, really good.
The event has grown each year and has
now outgrown its previous home at Blind
Whino after maxing out the 700-capacity
space there last year. Deschamps says
about 1,500 are expected this year based
on ticket sales. The event will run from
2-10 p.m. at Dock 5 (1309 5th St., N.E.).
The bands will perform outside. An
indoor space will feature vendors, artists,
a bar and DJs. Food trucks will be on site
as well.
Held in early April in 2015 and 2016,
organizers said moving it to September
made more sense since it will now have
an outdoor component for the rst time.
The bands will perform 20-25-minute
sets except for headliner Big Freedia, the
New Orleans rapper known as the queen
CONTINUES ON PAGE 41

3 0 SEPTE MB ER 01, 2017 Q U E E RY : 2 0 Q U E ST I O N S F O R E RI C P E T E RSO N
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
ERIC PETERSON
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Eric Peterson lives in Washington but has a special place in his heart for How long have you been out and who
Rehoboth Beach, Del. was the hardest person to tell?
He started vacationing there around the time he came out in 1996 when Since 1996. My father, a naval ocer
Rehoboth writer/comedian Fay Jacobs, whom Peterson calls his adoptive who grew up in the Idaho panhandle,
lesbian mom, and her partner Bonnie recruited him. was the hardest to tell. But as soon as I
They brought me to Rehoboth to show me that gay life could be wonderful, did, he told me stories of all the gay men
the 46-year-old son of a U.S. naval ocer says. and women hed ever served with.
Peterson has been volunteering the last two decades with Sundance, CAMP
Rehoboths annual Labor Day weekend event. Whos your LGBT hero?
Rehoboth seemed magical to me, Peterson says. CAMP Rehoboth is James Baldwin. Given what were
a large part of the reason why. Theyve been working to make Rehoboth a currently dealing with in our country,
welcoming and inclusive place for all people for 30 years. hes not just a hero; hes a prophet.
Sundance 2017 Rainbow XXX: Solar NRG is the 30th annual event and
about 1,000 are expected this weekend (Sept. 2-3) at Rehoboth Mall. On Whats Rehoboths best nightspot,
Saturday from 7-10 p.m. a silent and live auction will be held with cocktail past or present?
buet and open bar. On Sunday, Sept. 3 from 8 p.m.-2 a.m. is a dance I remember drag shows at the
party with out DJ Joe Gauthreaux. All proceeds from Sundance go to CAMP Renegade fondly, but these days I love
Rehoboth, a non-prot that works to create a more positive environment in happy hour at AquaGrill.
Rehoboth Beach. Details at camprehoboth.com.
Rehoboth Beach is a little queer oasis but the rest of Sussex County, Describe your dream wedding.
Delaware is not, Peterson says. Trans people, queer youth and those living Id need to nd a dream husband
with HIV are still very much in need of an advocacy organization like CAMP before I worry about planning a dream
Rehoboth and its really heartwarming to see so many people who benetted wedding. If and when the time comes, Ill
years ago continue to give so generously. put my friend Sidney in charge; the only
Peterson, whos single, moved to Washington in 1992 and lives on Capitol thing Id care about are that my loved
Hill. He works by day as a diversity and inclusion consultant and also sings in ones would be present.
the Gay Mens Chorus of Washington and co-hosts the podcast POPeration!
(poperationroom.com). What non-LGBT issue are you most
passionate about?
These days, its resisting the
administration of Donald Trump
however we can.
What historical outcome would
you change?
The 2016 election seems like the
obvious choice.
Whats been the most memorable pop
culture moment of your lifetime?
Seeing Liza Minnelli in concert in the
mid-90s when I was still in the closet. It
might have been the nal straw.
On what do you insist?
Kindness
What was your last Facebook post
or Tweet?
A note of sadness about the
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
#TransMilitaryBan.
If your life were a book, what would
the title be?
Tawdry Tales, vol. 1
If science discovered a way to change
sexual orientation, what would you do?
Destroy the formula with re.
What do you believe in beyond the
physical world?
That almost every person has the
capacity for good.
Whats your advice for LGBT
movement leaders?
Not to forget that the least visible in
our community are the most vulnerable.
What would you walk across
hot coals for?
Im OK over here on the cool
ground, thanks.
What LGBT stereotype annoys
you most?
That anyone still thinks it might be
a phase.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?
Beautiful Thing
Whats the most overrated
social custom?
Asking people youve barely met what
they do for a living.
What trophy or prize do you
most covet?
I wouldnt say no to an Oscar, I guess.
What do you wish youd known at 18?
That being vulnerable is the only path
to being strong.
Why Rehoboth?
Ive been volunteering at the Sundance
auction for almost 20 years; its my Labor
Day tradition. I wouldnt miss it.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM SE P T E MBE R 0 1 , 2 0 1 7 3 1
 WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

32 SEPT E M B E R 01, 2017 O U T & A BO U T

AN EVENING WITH
BEAUSOLEIL
AVEC
MICHAEL
DOUCET
THURSDAY AUGUST 31

SELWYN By MARIAH COOPER

BIRCHWOOD
W/ VINTAGE #18
FRIDAY SEPT 1

SAT, SEPT 2
KEVIN JACKSON BAND
AND ANISSA HARGROVE
THURS, SEPT 7
RHETT MILLER OF OLD 97S PHOTO COURTESY DJ ALEX

W/ ANTHONY DAMATO
Suicide prevention benet is Sept. 9
FRI, SEPT 8
THE JAMES BROWN The Cherry Fund hosts a fundraiser for the Barry Smythers Fund at Town
DANCE PARTY (2009 8th St., N.W.) featuring DJ Alex on Saturday, Sept. 9 from 10 p.m.-4 a.m.
The Barry Smythers Fund was created in honor of Smythers, a Cherry Fund
THE FUNKIEST ALL-STAR TRIBUTE
member who took his life last year. Funds will be donated to mental health and
IN SHOW BUSINESS WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY KEVIN MAJOROS
support group programs. Tickets are $21.99.
SAT, SEPT 9 For more information, visit facebook.com/cherryfund.
D.C. United Night
LUTHER RE-LIVES
W/ DREW OLIVIA TILLMAN OUT returns
SUN, SEPT 10 Federal Triangles Soccer Club and
AN EVENING WITH BRASS-A-HOLICS Team D.C. hosts United Night OUT for the
D.C. United versus Orlando City match at
TUES, SEPT 12 RFK Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 9 from
NICOLE ATKINS W/ THE KERNAL 3-10 p.m.
Tailgate begins at 3 p.m. in Lot 8 with
THURS, SEPT 14 the Screaming Eagles supporters club.
THE FUNKY METERS Tailgate is $10 and includes food and
unlimited beer. United Night OUT tickets
W/ 7COME11
are $25 and include a commemorative
FRI, SEPT 15 scarf. The Gay Mens Chorus of
CHRIS SMITHER W/ MILTON Washington will perform.
For more details, visit dcunited.com/pride.
SAT, SEPT 16
NEWMYER FLYER PRESENTS Fifth annual District
DREAM DISCS: Improv Festival is Sept. 6-9
THE ROLLING STONES
STICKY FINGERS The fth annual District Improv Festival
AND TOM PETTY & featuring LGBT comedy troupe Ugh (seen
THE HEARTBREAKERS here) is at Source (1845 14th St., N.W.)
Sept. 6-9.
DAMN THE TORPEDOS WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY VLAYSLAV REKHOVSKYY
Groups performing are from all over the
D.C. area, the United States and Canada.
SUN, SEPT 17
Performing teams also include the all
PAUL KELLY Imperial Court gala goes Scottish women troupe Wicked City, all-black team
W/ SPECIAL GUEST JESS CORNELIUS Baltimores Minority Report, and Sabado
The Imperial Court of Washington D.C. hosts its Gala of the Americans: A Picante who will perform an all-Spanish
TUES, SEPT 19
Journey to the Scottish Highlands at Washington Marriott at Metro Center (775 telenovela. Cast members attending will
SEUN KUTI & EGYPT 80 12th St., N.W.) on Saturday, Sept. 9 from 6-11 p.m. be Chris Red, John Thibodeaux, Shantira
W/ SAHEL Empress Cookie Dennis B. Childs Von Shigglesworth will pass on the crown to Jackson, Dewayne Perkins, Torian Miller,
Emperor and Empress VI CI Tooker Bottoms and Romeo Dennis Chalet-Twist. among others. Ticket prices vary and some
There will be awards for best individual in theme and best court entrance in shows are free. Ugh performs on Friday,
theme. Formal attire is required. Tickets are $130. Sept. 8 from 9:30-11:30 p.m. along with
For more details and to purchase tickets, visit imperialcourtdc.org. King Bee and TwoSon. Tickets are $12.
For more information, visit
THEHAMILTONDC.COM districtimprov.com.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

BO OK S S E PT E M B E R 01, 2017 33

One of the boys

New book explores ups and
downs of life in a gay gang
list. But its also an interesting take on a
world that never makes the headlines.
Not only did Panl have access to a
group of men who were willing to tell all,
she fully used that access to understand
why a gay man would turn to a group
thats stereotypically anti-gay. This leads
to a bigger picture and larger questions

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER has been reading

since she was 3 years old.She lives in Wisconsin
with two dogs and 12,000 books. Reach her at
bookwormsez@yahoo.com.

Everybody knows that being a teen

isnt easy. Being a gay teen is even harder
which Vanessa R. Panl, a white lesbian and
author of The Gangs All Queer, knew.
Her work in a Columbus, Ohio, LGBT
center for young adults showed her
realities beyond what shed lived herself
and it sparked an interest in gang
membership within the community.
She already knew a handful of gay gang
members. After she gained their trust,
those men introduced her to a web of
people who opened their world to her.
When most people think of gangs, they
picture tattoos and machismo. Panl
found some of the latter, but that was
often used as cover for sexual identity.
Many (though far from all) of the men
she interviewed kept closeted to their
fellow gang members. Panl says there
are three distinct kinds of gangs: all-
gay gangs, of which there arent many;
heterosexual gangs, in which being gay
could be dangerous; and more tolerant,
easy-going hybrid gangs in which the PHOTO COURTESY OF FOCUS FEATURES

mix of gay and straight could be up to

half of each.
Panl points out that most of the men
she interviewed were careful to stress
that they were very masculine. She also
says, despite that more than two out of
three gay men fought someone else over
homophobic harassment, protection was
not the main reason for joining a gang.
Most joined for perceptions of family or
because of deep friendship.
And while there was a certain
amount of crime mostly petty theft,
selling drugs and sex, although erce
violence was not unknown many gay
gangs oered encouragement, a more
democratic atmosphere, job-seeking
help and educational support, thus acting
more as cliques than gangs.
The Gangs All Queer is a bit on the
academic side and probably not on
anyones relax-in-a-hammock-and-read
of violence and closeting, as well as
problems with being black, gay and
gangster. And because her subjects so
casually use a word thats normally a slur,
the comfortableness of such is examined,
as are the issues of sex work.
Even those who might struggle with
the college thesis feel of this book will
ultimately come away with a better
knowledge of a world they mightnt have
realized existed before. Certainly for
scholars, but also for readers interested
in LGBT cultures, The Gangs All Queer is
a pretty safe bet.
THE GANGS ALL QUEER: THE LIVES OF GAY
GANG MEMBERS
By Vanessa R. Panl
New York University Press
$28
312 pages

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This Week in the Arts provided by CultureCapital.com
MUSIC
DCCAH Labor Day Weekend Music
Festival: Friday. Sep 1 Sept 3.
DCCAH. Lincoln Theatre.
dcarts.dc.gov.
Labor Day Capitol Concert 2017 and
Rehearsal. Sep 3. National Symphony
Orchestra. West Lawn US Capitol.
kennedy-center.org.
The Ambassador: Jimi Hendrix
featuring Fishbone, Nona Hendryx,
Judith Hill, Ernie Isley, Liv Wareld,
In The Heights and Brandon Niederauer. Sep 1.
Sep 6-Oct 8. Olney Theatre. Bryson Tiller with Special Guests
olneytheatre.org. H.E.R. and Metro Boomin. Sep 2. I
Olney Theatre Center and Round House Theatre unite to transport Lin-Manuel LOVE THE 90S featuring TLC, Kid
Mirandas beloved Washington Heights from the top of Manhattan to the Olney n Play, Mentell Jordan, Rob Base,
Mainstage. Usnavi, the proprietor of the corner bodega, guides us through C&C Music Factory, and Snap. Sep 3.
his neighborhood of striving immigrants and young lovers, where hip-hop Sting with Joe Sumner and The Last
meets salsa and soul. Starring two-time Tony Award nominee and Original Bandoleros. Sep 5-Sep 7. Wolf Trap.
Broadway cast member Robin de Jess as Usnavi. wolftrap.org.
50th Kensington Parade. Sep
Library of Congress National Book Festival 4. Washington Revels. Town of
Sep 2. Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Kensington, MD. revelsdc.org.
loc.gov. Evolution Band. Sep 5. Gigi
Featuring more than 100 authors, illustrators and poets presenting from Gumspoon. Sep 6. SSTCi. Veterans
the festival stages including David McCullough, Dav Pilkey, Kate DiCamillo Plaza. silverspringdowntown.com.
and Roxane Gay and Alice McDermott. The one-day event is FREE. Hours are Music &. Sep 7. The Den. Anacostia
8:30am-7:30pm. Arts Center. thedenproject.com.
Take a Break Concert Series
Amending America - Barretones. Sep 7. Reston
Thru Sep 4. National Archives. Community Center. Lake Anne Plaza.
archivesfoundation.org. restoncommunitycenter.com.
Explore the National Archives exhibit Amending America to discover the
remarkably American story of how we amended, or attempted to amend, our
Constitution in order to form a more perfect union. Includes amendments
MUSEUMS
about ag burning, school prayer, dueling, drunkenness, voting rights, equality, Folger Shakespeare Library. Painting
and electing the President by lot. Shakespeare. Thru Feb 11. folger.edu.
National Museum of Women in the
Herndon Labor Day Festival - Wine & Craft Beer Tasting Arts. Revival. Thru Sep 10. Equilibrium:
Sep 4. Herndon Parks and Rec at Herndon Town Green. Fanny Sann. Thru Oct 29. Wonder
herndon-va.gov. Women! Thru Nov 17. nmwa.org.
The annual Labor Day Festival features Virginia wine tastings, craft beers, great National Portrait Gallery. Marlene
music, a craft show, outstanding sponsors, delicious food vendors and lawn Dietrich: Dressed for the Image. Thru
games. 11am-5pm. Apr 15. One Life: Sylvia Plath. Thru May
20. Celebrating Fifty Years. Thru Jan 6.
PHOTO COURTESY OF OLNEY THEATRE CENTER
Lincolns Contemporaries. Thru May
19. npg.si.edu.
Dumbarton Oaks Library and
Collection. Ancient Textiles. Thru
THEATRE DC. H Street Comedy Night w/ ET.
Sep 2. Driftwood Kitchen. Mundane
Mar 31. Women in Art. Thru Mar 31.
Ancient Bronzes in the Dumbarton
SigWorks: Gun & Powder. Sep 2. Aight Comedy w/ Adelle and Kevin. Oaks Collections. Thru Mar 31.
Streisand Songbook Cabaret. Sep Sep 4-Sep 25. The Passenger. Phil & doaks.org.
5-Sep 9. A Little Night Music. Thru a Mic with Phil Mike. Sep 5-Sep 26. Library of Congress. Mapping a
Oct 8. Signature Theatre. Bier Baron Tavern. Capital Laughs. Growing Nation: From Independence
sigtheatre.org. capitallaughs.com. to Statehood. Thru Sep 1. Drawing
Skeleton Crew. Sep 6-Oct 8. Studio Shear Madness. Thru Oct 1. Kennedy Justice: The Art of Courtroom
Theatre. studiotheatre.org. Center. shearmadness.com. Illustration. Thru Oct 28. Echoes of the
The Arsonists. Sep 7-Oct 8. Woolly The Devils Music: The Life & Great War: American Experiences of
Mammoth. woollymammoth.net. Blues of Bessie Smith. Thru Sep World War I. Thru Jan 1. loc.gov.
Big Fish. Thru Sep 9. Keegan Theatre. 24. Mosaic Theater Company. Atlas. National Gallery of Art. Edvard
keegantheatre.com. mosaictheater.org. Munch: Color in Context. Sep 3-Jan 28.
First Friday Comedy Showcase. Sep Julius Caesar. Thru Sep 24. SCENA Matthias Mansen: Congurations. Thru
1. U Dont Know Jack w/ Jack. Sep Theatre. Atlas. scenatheater.org. Dec 13. In the Library: Jost Amman
6-Sep 27. Adams Morgan Comedy and Sixteenth-Century Woodcut
Night. Sep 7-Sep 28. Town Tavern Illustration. Sep 4-Jan 4. nga.gov.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
A RT S & CU LT U RE
National Geographic. Insider Tour
with Brian Skerry. Sep 7. Earth
Explorers. Thru Sep 17. Sharks. Thru
Oct 15. nglive.org.
College Park Aviation Museum.
Flying Solo - Exhibit. Thru Sep 3.
collegeparkaviationmuseum.com.
GALLERIES
The Art League. August Open Exhibit.
Thru Sep 2. Aqueduct: Stone Ruins in
Maryland and Virginia. Sep 7-Oct 1.
theartleague.org.
Waverly Street Gallery. An Impending
Silence: Vanishing African Wildlife
Photography Exhibit. Sep 5-Oct 7.
waverlystreetgallery.com.
Zenith Gallery. RESIST: Nationally
Juried Exhibit. Thru Oct 15. Variety
is the Spice of Life. Thru Sep 9.
zenithgallery.com.
District Architecture Center. Wish
You Were Here! Vintage Postcards
from Washington, D.C. Thru Sep 8.
aiadac.com.
gallery Neptune & Brown. Summer
Bounce 2: Contemporary Works on
Paper from Barsha to Puryear. Thru
Sep 2. galleryneptunebrown.com.
Glen Echo Park. Richard Weiblinger:
Unique Visions. Sep 1-Sep 23. Ilya
Gefter: The Architecture of Light. Sep
1-Sep 24. Visions & Voices 2017. Sep
1-Sep 24. glenechopark.org.
Hill Center. Regional Juried Exhibition.
Thru Oct 1. hillcenterdc.org.
ISAAG. Turning A Corner. Sep 6-Sep
19. idbstaassociationartgallery.org.
JCCNV. Jewish Grati. Thru Oct 2.
jccnv.org.
Lee Arts Center. Depths of Strength
by Cherie M. Redlinger and Klaudia
Levin. Sep 1-Sep 30. arlingtonarts.org.
DCAC. 1460 Wallmountables. Thru Sep
10. dcartscenter.org.
AND MORE...
National Archives. Writer, Sailor,
Soldier, Spy: Ernest Hemingways
Secret Adventures, 1935-1961. Sep 6.
American Experience: A Class Apart.
Sep 7. archivesfoundation.org.
Folger Shakespeare Library. Prose,
Drama, and Orality in the 1590s. Sep 7.
folger.edu.
HumanitiesDC. Humanitini: John
Eaton Elementary School and its
Relationship with Cleveland Park. Sep
7. humanitiesdc.org.
Washington National Opera. The
Making of Aida. Sep 7. Kennedy Center.
kennedy-center.org.
Library of Congress. Botkin Lectures:
Peggy Seeger: A Life of Music, Love,
and Politics. Sep 7. Cassinis Grand
Finale. Sep 7. loc.gov.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
FI L M
JULIAN QUINTANILLA and LOLES LEON in The Whole World.
Wide world of Shorts
Annual D.C. lm festival
runs Sept. 7-14
By BRIAN T. CARNEY
What personality shifts happen during
the donning of drag?
What happens to a person in their 70s whos
been suppressing trans urges for a lifetime?
What does an empty swimming pool
like like if used as a personal memory box?
These are just some of the LGBT themes
explored in the reliably gay-themed D.C.
Shorts Film Festival, back for a 14th year
Sept. 7-14 at various venues (details at
festival.dcshorts.com).
Highlights include:
Better Known as Peaches Christ,
directed by Je Dragomanovich and Nate
Visconti, is a fascinating documentary
portrait of the drag icon.
The lm is about the visual
transformation and personal journey of
Joshua Grannell who performs in drag
under the name Peaches Christ.
We asked Joshua and Peaches the
same questions and were struck by the
subtle personality shifts that occurred as
Joshua become Peaches, Dragomanovich
the irony of whose name one cannot
help but notice says. In the edit we
worked to draw that out.
Another LGBT documentary is Little
Potato by Wes Hurley and Nathan
Miller, based on a piece Hurley originally
wrote for the Hungton Post. Hurley
describes the lm as an autobiographical
documentary about growing up gay in the
USSR during Perestroika and my amazing
mom who became a mail order bride and
brought me to the States.
Two narrative shorts focus on trans
issues. Director Brandon Kelley says,
The Real Thing is about Allie, a young
transgender girl who has transitioned
while her father Michael was away on
a tour of duty. He comes home early to
surprise her for her birthday. While hes
already accepted her, hes still worried
that he might say or do something that
S E PT E M B E R 01, 2017 35
PHOTO COURTESY QUINTANILLA
U.S. AIR FORCE
would hurt her feelings.
British lmmaker Jake Graf describes his
latest lm Dusk as the story of a trans
mans life over seven decades. He says
Birthday Concerts
he was inspired to make the movie after
receiving an unexpected email last year
from a woman in her 70s who had lived
life as a gay man but felt a strong female
identity and just needed to tell someone.
Brazilian director Leandro Goddinho
was also inspired by LGBT history. Sparked
by a visit to the Dachau concentration
Friday, September 15
7 p.m.
camp, Goddhino says his lm Pool
juxtaposes recent achievements in LGBT
civil rights with the persecution of gay
people during the Nazi period. In the
movie, a young German lesbian named
Claudia goes on a quest to understand
her grandmothers past and meets
Air Force Memorial
Marlene, an old woman whos created
an homage to her memories inside an
empty swimming pool.
Spanish lmmaker Julin Quintanilla
used his own life as the inspiration for
The Whole World. He says the lm
Saturday, September 16
came about from the need, if only for a
short while, to speak again to someone
who has gone. In the movie, just as in
7 p.m.
National Harbor
real life, the lmmaker makes an annual
trip to visit his dead mother at the village
cemetery. Quintanilla shot the lm in
his hometown and says some of his
old neighbors were taken aback by the
resemblance between actress Loles Len
(Almodvars Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!)
and his deceased mother.
Set during the worst Christmas dinner
ever, Ruby Full of Shit by Canadian
FREE! No tickets needed.
director Jean-Guillaume Bastien is about
the battle of wills between Denis and Ruby,
Celebrate the Air Forces Birthday with concerts presented by
his lovers spoiled 6-year-old niece. The The U.S. Air Force Concert Band and Singing Sergeants!
movie is based on a theatrical monologue
by Sbastian David and Bastien says he
was drawn to the material by the fact
Outdoor concerts subject to cancellation.
that I came from a very Catholic family, For more info, please visit our website.
that my brother is gay and that the rst
grandchild of a family always gets a
monstrous ton of gifts for Christmas.
CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
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3 6 S EPTE MB ER 01, 2017
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
Flash (645 Florida Ave., N.W.) hosts
Ladies of the Underground, a dance
party, tonight at 8 p.m. The Black
Madonna, DJ Keenan Orr, DJ Heather
Fermia, DJ Maegan Wood, DJ Vanniety
Kills, Sol Power Sound, Marc Meistro and
DJ Stylus will spin tracks. Tickets are $15.
For more information, visit ashdc.com.
Silent Dance Society hosts a rooftop
silent disco party at the Embassy Row
Hotel (2015 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.)
tonight from 8-11 p.m. There will be three
DJs playing electronic, disco groove and
top 40 on three dierent music channels.
Tickets include entry and headphone
rental. Tickets are $16. For more details,
visit facebook.com/silentdancesociety.
Gay District meets at the D.C. Center
(1318 U St., N.W.) tonight from 8:30-9:30
p.m. The facilitated group discussion
covers building understanding of gay
culture and personal identity and
awareness of community events for LGBT
men between the ages of 18-35 in the D.C.
area. For more details, visit thedccenter.
org or gaydistrict.org.
The First Friday happy hour social is
tonight from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Pinzimini
Lounge in Westin Arlington Gateway (801
Glebe Rd., Arlington, Va.) two blocks from the
Ballston Metro station for LGBT socializing.
No cover. Details at gogaydc.org.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 2
African American Collective Theater
presents is part of the annual Page to
Stage Festival again this year with a
collection of nine LGBT-themed short
plays, at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St.,
N.W.) in the South Opera Tier Lounge
tonight at 7:30 p.m. The theme of the
performance is What Had Happened
Was Doors open at 7 p.m. Admission
is free. Seating is on a rst-come, rst-
served basis. For more details, visit
kennedy-center.org.
The 2017 National Book Festival is
at the Walter E. Washington Convention
Center today from 9:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
More than 100 authors will gather to
discuss their work including bisexual
author Roxane Gay. For a complete list
of author appearances and a schedule of
events, visit loc.gov/bookfest.
Man Upp hosts DILF Washington D.C.
Cigar and Pipe Men Social at the D.C.
Eagle (3702 Benning Rd., N.E.) tonight
from 8-10 p.m. There will be whiskey
and Fireball drink specials. Guests are
encouraged to enjoy cigars or pipes on the
patio. Tickets are $8. For more information,
visit facebook.com/manuppworld.
Depeche Mode performs in D.C. Sept. 7 at Capitol One Arena (formerly the Verizon Center).
SUNDAY, SEPT. 3
Tagg Magazine celebrates its ve-
year anniversary with a Ladies Tea at
Hanks Oyster Bar (1624 Q St., N.W.)
today from 3-6 p.m. The rst 50 people
receive a complimentary drink courtesy
of the events sponsor, Mervis Diamond.
There will also be complimentary jewelry
cleaning services courtesy of Mervis
Diamond. Admission is free. For more
details, visit facebook.com/taggmagazine.
Flash (645 Florida Ave., N.W.) hosts
Flashy Sunday Labor Day Weekend
tonight from 10 p.m.- 4 a.m. Drink
specials run all night. DJ Twin and DJ Sean
Morris spin tracks on the main oor.
DJ Mike Reimer will play music on the
rooftop and DJ Bill Spieler will play in the
bar. No cover. For details, visit facebook.
com/ashydc.
LGBT Fallen Heroes Fund hosts its
Tupperware FUNdraiser and 70s Disco at
Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) tonight from 8
p.m.-2 a.m. Comedian Dixie Longate hosts
the party. This is an actual Tupperware
party followed by a disco dance party.70s
attire is suggested but not required. All
PHOTO COURTESY DEPECHE MODE
prots benet the LGBT Fallen Heroes Fund.
Tickets are $15. For more information, visit
lgbtfallenheroesfund.org.
D.C. Leather Pride hosts Bluf: D.C. at
the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.)
today from 4-9 p.m. Happy hour specials
run all night. Guests are encouraged to
come in full leather but it is not required.
For more details, visit facebook.com/
dcleatherpride.
Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.) hosts
Church: Labor Day Wknd Sunday Tea
tonight from 6 p.m.-midnight. WesstheDJ,
Rev. Jesse Jackson and DJ Keenan Orr will
play music. Chaz and Salvadora Dali will
perform. Butterknife Decadence hosts
the party. For more information, visit
facebook.com/tradebardc.
MONDAY, SEPT. 4
Monumental Theatre presents The
Talented Mr. Ripley at the Kennedy
Center (2700 F St., N.W.) today at 12:30
p.m. The performance is a musical
adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel
and lm with an original score. Highsmith
is used as the narrator set in a theatrical
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
CA LE N D A R
space similar to Cabaret and Chicago.
Admission is free. For more information,
visit kennedycenter.org.
Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.) hosts Labor
Gay: A Festive Day Party for Working
Gurls today from 2-6 p.m. There will be
drink specials and a rae to win tickets
to Capital Prides Music in the Night
event in October. For more details, visit
facebook.com/tradebardc.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 5
The Imperial Court of Washington
holds its annual general membership
meeting at 2111 Rand Pl., N.E. tonight at
7 p.m. The meeting will select the next
vice president, secretary and member-at-
large. It will also celebrate the end of Reign
V and kicks o Coronation week. Pizza will
be provided. For more information, visit
facebook.com/imperialcourtdc.
Shakespeare Theatre Company (450
7th St., N.W.) presents a screening of the
stage production of Angels in America
tonight at 7 p.m. The play stars Andrew
Gareld and Nathan Lane. Screenings run
through Sept. 12. Tickets are $20. For more
details, visit shakespearetheatre.org.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 6
The Tom Davoren Social Bridge
Club meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the
Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for social
bridge. No partner needed. For more
information, call 301-345-1571.
Bookmen D.C., an informal gay
mens literature group, discusses Song
of the Loon by Richard Amory at the
Tenleytown Library (4450 Wisconsin Ave.,
N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. All are welcome.
For more information, visit bookmendc.
blogspot.com.
The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.)
hosts Alzheimers: Know the Ten
Signs, a presentation of the early signs
of Alzheimers, today from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
The interactive workshop will feature
video clips of people with Alzheimers.
The presentation is in collaboration with
the Alzheimers Association. For more
details, visit thedccenter.org.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 7
Depeche Mode brings its Global Spirit
Tour to Capitol One Arena (601 F St.,
N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. Warpaint opens
the show. Tickets range from $57-389. For
more information, visit ticketmaster.com.
The National Dinner Steering
Committee hosts a HRC National Dinner
Preview today from 5-7 p.m. at Cork
Market & Tasting Room. There will be
a free wine tasting and dinner preview
of this years upcoming event. Guests
can get a sneak peek at items from the
silent auction and can participate in
a rae for a 2018 Lexus. Admission
is free but registration is required.
For more details, visit facebook.com/
hrcgreaterwashingtondc.
W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM SE P T E MBE R 0 1 , 2 0 1 7 3 7

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 Maryland renaissance Festival
Time Travel To...
Fun!
38 S E PT E M B E R 01, 201 7
Vegan treats oered at D.C. VegFest.
Reduced
Sipping out of summer
n
Admissio
through
!
ber 10th
Septem ebsite
rW
Visit Oudetails.
CRownsville, MD
Sample regional wine,
NOW OPEN!
for
vegan creations and more
at area foodie events
open labor Saturdays & Sundays By KRISTEN HARTKE
Day Monday! through October 22
Its astonishing how quickly summer
seems to fade as August segues into
10 am - 7 pm rain or shine September, but here we are, still
800-296-7304 stubbornly holding onto our glasses of
chilled ros and dreading the return of
MarylandRenaissanceFestival.com
pumpkin spice latte.
Of course, the autumnal equinox is still
weeks away and global warming is real, so
theres no reason to think that you cant
September park your ip ops under at a curbside
bistro somewhere and keep working on
Celebrations your tan, glass in hand. And, by the way,
ros is good year-round, so you can keep
enjoying the pink as long as you feel like it.
Show-tunes & Cocktails With that in mind, here are a few ways
Monday, September 11 to enjoy the last gasp of summer:
Featuring Cabaret Style Sing Along District Winery (385 Water St., S.E.;
Live Entertainment districtwinery.com): This shiny new space
A presentation of: Theatre Washington just opened on Aug. 30 in D.C.s Navy
Never A Cover Charge Yard neighborhood with expansive views
of the Anacostia River and a promise of
B runch Season Is Back! District-made wine in the future. The
Champagne Celebrations much-anticipated commercial winery
Unlimited By The Glass is the brainchild of Brian Leventhal and
Saturdays A-La-Carte $29.95
John Stires, founders of Brooklyn Winery,
Sunday Buffet $38.95
Voted 2016 TOP TEN Best Brunches which opened in the New York boroughs Winery just opened, City Winery which
*** Williamsburg neighborhood in 2010.
Recognizing that people love anything
Under $10 - Daily Lunch Specials that has a local focus as have D.C.
Choice of Entres, Pastas, Salads or Burgers entrepreneurs who slap the stars and
*** bars on everything from beer cans to
Happy Hour $3-$4-$5-$6-$7 knee socks Leventhal, Stires and
Appetizers, Martinis & Drinks - 4PM-7PM winemaker Conor McCormack source
*** grapes from across the country and
Sky-Bar - Extending Summer around the world then process them in
$7.00 Champagne & Sparkling Drinks custom urban winemaking operations to
Live DJ Wed-Sat - Different Vibe Nightly create local wine.
*** VegFest D.C. (Yards Park, 355 Water
Chillin Patio Specials St., S.E.; dcvegfest.com): You do not have
Pitchers, Platters, Buckets to be vegan to enjoy this popular annual
*** culinary event on Saturday, Sept. 2 from
Wine Flights 11 a.m.-6 p.m. you just have to be
A Boutique Wine tasting Featured Nightly hungry. The free festival, now in its ninth
To complement your dining experience year and the largest on the East Coast,
showcases dozens of plant-based food
202-872-1126 www.BBGWDC.com 17th & Rhode Island Ave. NW vendors, from Everlasting Lifes authentic Allen Stone, Black Alley, and Aztec Sun.
Outdoor Events Ask About Our Simple Solutions Menus vegan soul food to Vegan Dots (yep, thats Tickets are $49 and up.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
DINING
PHOTO COURTESY D.C. VEGFEST
non-dairy Dippin Dots), along with plenty
of veggie burgers, hot dogs and samples
of vegan cheese.
A large beer garden will be anchored by
Busboys and Poets; the local restaurant
chain already boasts an extremely veg-
friendly menu but owner Andy Shallal
recently hinted the restaurant is heading
toward an entirely plant-based future.
Be sure to bring a group of friends so
everyone can take turns standing in line
for the Vegan Treats Bakery tent the
Pennsylvania-made goodies are world-
renowned, from the not-too-sweet
Boston Cream doughnuts to owner
Danielle Konyas signature Chocolate
Peanut Butter Mousse Bomb.
It could take two hours to get into the
tent (yes, really), so load up on treats to
take home and it will be worth every bite.
Check out a cooking demonstration by
Miyoko Schinner, founder of Miyokos
Kitchen and author of Artisan Vegan
Cheese, whose company makes some
deceptively creamy nut-based cheese,
and a rap performance by Grey, who
took the internet by storm with his Vegan
Thanksgiving freestyle video celebrating
cabbage and greens with no ham in it.
VinoFest D.C. (1356 Okie St., N.E.;
cityvinofest.com): More wine, you say? Here
you go. As if it werent enough that District
already has locations in New York, Chicago,
Nashville, Atlanta and Boston is getting
ready to open its doors in D.C.s Ivy City
neighborhood this winter. In the meantime,
you can get a bit of a preview of their
business model, which combines live music
with housemade wines that are served on
tap straight from the tank along with an
extensive wine list from around the world.
VinoFest D.C. is Saturday, Sept. 9 from
2-10 p.m. and will feature more than 40
wine tastings, along with craft beverages
from local distillers and brewers, including
Atlas Brew Works, New Columbia
Distillers, Republic Restoratives, and One
Eight Distilling. There will be food from
Aris Diner, ProFish, Ivy City Smokehouse,
La Puerta Verde and Timber Pizza Co.,
and live performances include Chromeo,
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
T H E A TER
HOLLY TWYFORD makes her musical debut in A Little Night Music.
Music of the night
Signatures Sondheim revival
features heavily LGBT cast
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
With its production of A Little Night
Music, Signature Theatre once again
does what it does so well revive
Sondheim musicals. Filled with humor,
poignant, gorgeous to hear and see, this
version of the 1973 Broadway favorite,
scintillatingly staged by the companys
artistic director Eric Schaeer, is a hard-
to-top season opener.
A favorite among musical theater fans
with its extraordinary music and lyrics
by Stephen Sondheim done here
by a terric cast of mostly local faces
accompanied by a sparkling orchestra
led by Jon Kalbeisch Night Music
includes many memorable tunes like
the frequently recorded Send in the
Clowns, The Millers Son, Every Day a
Little Death and more. The score shows
o the out composers genius facility
with rhyming and lyrics. In Liaisons a
former courtesan succinctly sums up
her successful career: At the palace of
the Duke of Ferrara, I acquired some
position, Plus a tiny Titian.
Inspired by Ingmar Bergmans 1955
lm Smiles of a Summer Night, librettist
Hugh Wheelers book takes place in
Sweden circa 1900. The action centers
around a group of some well-to-do but
unfullled folks. Middle-aged stage star
Desiree Armfeldt (played with earthy
sophistication by Holly Twyford) is
bored with her lover Count Carl-Magnus
Malcolm (hilariously assayed by out actor
Will Gartshore), a hot-headed dragoon
whos married to the endlessly unhappy
Charlotte (the delightfully wry Tracy Lynn
Olivera). The silly Counts love for Desiree
is based more on pride than love.
When Desiree runs into former ame
Fredrik Egerman (out actor Bobby
Smith), a successful lawyer involved in a
sexless marriage to the much younger
Anne (Nicki Elledge), things begin to
heat up. Fredriks sexually frustrated
son Henrik (Sam Ludwig) unsuccessfully
S E PT E M B E R 01, 2017 39
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER MUELLER; COURTESY SIGNATURE
trysts with lusty housemaid Petra (Maria
Rizzo) while holding a true torch for his
young stepmother. Its an engaging farce
elevated by Sondheims soaring score
and acted by seasoned pros.
Night Music marks veteran out actor
Twyfords musical debut. Not sure why
she waited so long. She holds her own in
a cast lled with some of D.C.s best voices
and her heartfelt interpretation of Send in
the Clowns is revelatory. Also, she looks
every bit the alluring Desiree costumed in
stunning period attire, particularly a second
act waspwaisted red gown, all designed
by the talented Robert Perdziola. Twyford
sparks magically with co-star Smith; their
chemistry is apparent throughout.
The reliably good Florence Lacey plays
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Leonora Armfeldt, a retired courtesan
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Madame Armfeldt keeps an eye on her
granddaughter Fredrika (Anna Grace
Nowalk) sharing her comfortable villa
and what she considers essential nuggets
of wisdom with the girl.
Paul Tate dePoo IIIs set suggests a
ballroom with its expansive shiny parquet
ooring and lit sconces. The space
is backed by dierent sized hanging DentalBug Sta 2016-2017
fragments of picture frame mouldings
that serve as interior walls for a drawing
room, backstage dressing room wall, or a
forest of trees in the countryside. Colin K.
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the enchanting design.
Shaeers direction brings out the
shows formidable music and fun book Jeanette Suh John Tsaknis
DMD
in equal parts. Hes plumbed the work DDS Indra Mustapha
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for bits of farce and tenderness that are DDS
often overlooked. And with his careful
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revival that shouldnt be missed.
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Though Oct. 8
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A R T S & EN TE RTA I NMENT SE P T E MBE R 0 1 , 2 0 1 7 4 1

Big Freedia to headline Honey Groove

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29
of bounce, who will perform a longer set.
Deschamps says the festival has grown
organically (this years budget is about
$80,000) and shes pleased to nd people
traveling sometimes signicant distances to
attend. She knows of no other festival with
the same mission. There is some overlap
of acts that have performed at both Honey
Groove and PhazeFest, the long-time LGBT
music festival born out of now-shuttered
D.C. lesbian bar Phase 1, but says Honey
Groove is totally dierent.
Thats more centered around punk and
were not that at all, Deschamps says.
Its really great that PhazeFest exists, but
they have a very dierent clientele.
About 70 artists have performed at the
event so far and Deschamps says she
and her team are committed to working
exclusively with small, local and/or queer-
owned business to bring the festival to life.
Its denitely important to have these
spaces in general but even more now
with everything going on in the world and
were not really sure how queer people
will be protected, Deschamps says. Its
important to celebrate each other, to
come together. It all starts with us.
HONEY GROOVE
A festival that celebrates LGBT
performing artists, visual artists,
creatives and entrepreneurs
Saturday, Sept. 9 BOOMscat is BOOM (aka ASHA SANTEE; right) and scat, aka JENNIFER PATIENCE ROWE.
2-10 p.m. PHOTO COURTESY THE BAND
Dock5
1309 5th St., N.W.
$60
BOOMscat brings the
honeygroovedc.com
Headliner: Big Freedia

boom to Honey Groove

Queer baby-making music isnt a genre that can be found on Pandora or
Spotify. but D.C.-based duo BOOMscat has got it covered.
Be Steadwell calls Honey Groove The duo consists of BOOM, aka Asha Santee, keyboardist/drummer/producer,

comfortable and safe

and scat, aka Jennifer Patience Rowe, vocalist/songwriter. The pair, who both
identify as queer, met by chance at a show when Santee played drums behind
Rowes poetry. They clicked and soon BOOMscat was born in 2012.
Their day jobs consist of a full-time artist for Santee and a salon owner in Silver
D.C.-based queer performer Spring, Md., for Rowe but during their o hours they play shows throughout the
returning for third annual appearance city. Besides queer baby-making music they call their style peace and body rolls.
Its really peaceful, laid back but it also makes you wanna do a body roll. Its
D.C.-based queer pop singer/ R&B, Neo-Soul-type music, Rowe says.
songwriter Be Steadwell is known The duo has released three projects including its No Life Jacket EP, which
for her live performances with a reached No. 18 on the iTunes R&B album charts. They have performed at SXSW
loop pedal which allows her to add in Austin and embarked on a Peace & Body Roll Tour in Chicago. Their fourth
layers of vocals and build a song album Kinetic will be released this year.
live, as she puts it. BOOMscat performs at Honey Groove alongside big name artists such as Big
Its sort of like a one-person a Freedia and local musicians like Be Steadwell and the CooLots.
cappella group, says Steadwell, 30. The community is tight-knit in D.C. for queer artists of color, according to
This is her third year performing Santee and Rowe. So it was a no-brainer when they were asked to be a part of
at Honey Groove. She heard about the festival.
it as it was being organized the rst Thats our family, Santee says.
year from community buzz. She A family that doesnt always feel represented in the mainstream society. Thats
says returning each year is a joy. where Honey Groove steps in to give D.C. LGBT artists a platform to share their
Its just been such a collection of music and their stories.
love and energy and joy, Steadwell BE STEADWELL says shes thrilled to be D.C. has such a widespread LGBT and queer community across all of those
says. Its a very joyful space. I dont returning to Honey Groove for the third letters, Santee says. It sometimes feels like our music isnt taken as seriously
consecutive year.
know how else to describe it. Its PHOTO COURTESY STEADWELL as mainstream. Sometimes its not accepted because everybody feels like,
unlike any other festival Ive ever Oh, theyre queer so we cant relate to their music. So for us to have our own
played or been to. platform and create our own world, its kind of necessary. Were creating our
Steadwell says D.C.s queer women and lesbian communities are very own mainstream through that.
segregated unfortunately, a trend she nds baing. She guesses the Honey Rowe agrees.
Groove audience the last two years was about 90 percent black whereas For me, there arent a lot of safe spaces for queer folks, especially queer
PhazeFest, which shes also played, was more like 10 percent people of color. folks of color, to be all of our identies at one time, Rowe says. Honey Groove
Stylistically, Steadwell says Honey Groove attendees will encounter a wide gives us that opportunity to be everything that we are in all of our magic and be
variety of musical styles. She calls her own material sort of pop music and says unapologetic in that.
there will be more punk-oriented, R&B, jazz/R&B and more represented. Asha Rowe likens Honey Groove to Afropunk, an annual music and arts festival
Santee, Steadwells girlfriend of four years, will play drums on her set and for in New York, Paris, London and Johannesburg aimed at being a safe space for
some of the other acts as well. people of color to enjoy music.
I think Honey is necessary because we as queer people of color are While Honey Groove is more specically LGBT-focused, the message is similar.
marginalized in so many aspects of our lives and in culture, its just great to be We are there enjoying music, made by us, people that look like us, that have
able to have a space where these artists and musicians are placed at the center similar experiences. Its just a really relatable space that we dont get to have
of the narrative, Steadwell says. Its beautiful and exciting and I think everyone often. Honey Groove is a space where folks can come. Its a mecca, its a home,
who comes to Honey Groove they see the generosity and love thats being its a safe space, Rowe says.
shared and you dont often get that. It just feels so comfortable and so safe. BOOMscats music is available for streaming on iTunes, SoundCloud and Bandcamp.
JOEY DiGUGLIELMO MARIAH COOPER
 WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

4 2 SEPTE MB ER 01, 2017 P H O T O S BY MI CH A E L KE Y

The eighth annual 17th Street Festival was held along Frank Kameny Way on Saturday, August 26.

ackermanbrown.com
W A SH I NGTO N B LA DE.C OM SE P T E MBE R 0 1 , 2 0 1 7 4 3
REALESTATE
Labor Day is just the start of beach fun
Fall is best time to
shop for homes at
the Delaware shore
By LEE ANN WILKINSON
Summer may be fleeting, but enjoy-
ing the beach doesnt have to be. On the
heels of another great Rehoboth Beach
season, hopefully you are planning more
fall excursions to enjoy celebrations like
this weekends Sundance, annual fall
sidewalk sales, tons of 5Ks, the famous
Jazz Festival, Sea Witch, and many more.
Fall is also the best time of year to
shop for real estate. Up to 75 percent of
sought-after in-town inventory within Re-
hoboths city limits hits the market from
mid-August through September, mostly
due to the rental market cycle.
How hot is the market now? As a point
of reference, earlier this week (as of Au-
gust 30), there were78 condos and single
family homes for sale in-town Rehoboth,
ranging in price from $325,000 to over $4
million, depending on the type of proper-
ty, size, condition, amenities and location.
An average in-town price is $1.5 million
for a single-family home.
You can take advantage of this wide
range of options (like our famous local Joe
Biden recently did)!
Downtown Rehoboth offers unques-
tionable appeal with walkability, restau-
HURRY! WONT LAST!
TRANSLATION:
ABOUT TO COLLAPSE .
VALERIE M. BLAKE, Associate Broker, GRI, Director of Education & Mentorship
Dupont Circle Ofce 202-518-8781 (o) 202.246.8602 (c)
Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com www.DCHomeQuest.com
Attorneys that are OUTthinking |OUTspoken |OUTdoing
rants, shopping, and some of the best
beaches in the country. But good news!
If these factors are on your list of must
haves, and you want to stay within a
tighter budget, you have even more op-
tions if you cast a wider net.
The Delaware beaches extend well
beyond the Rehoboth city limits. You
can stretch your dollar if you venture
even a few miles north. Five miles puts
you in downtown Lewes and another
10 puts you in downtown Milton and
there are many great communities and
options in-between.
By now, youve probably visited Historic
Lewes (the First Town in The First State).
Downtown offers an eclectic blend of
charming historic architecture and some
brand-new construction, albeit on a much
smaller scale than Rehoboth. Lewes was
long considered the year-round town;
although thats changed with more busi-
nesses staying open longer in Rehoboth
as more people have moved to the area
full-time. And much of Lewes east of
Route 1 offers easy access to the quiet
Delaware Bay Beach. One major recent
asset is that the Junction and Breakwa-
ter Trail (which starts at the new Lewes
Library) and the Gordons Pond Trail
(between Cape Henlopen State Park and
Gordons Pond) now connect Lewes and
Rehoboth Beaches. Your budget can
stretch a bit more in Lewes - and you still
have easy access to Rehoboth.
To be used at the top of collateral:
To be used at the bottom of collateral:
And if you are willing to go another
five miles north, Milton and its surround-
ing communities offer tremendous value,
compared to Rehoboth and Lewes, offer-
ing increasing dining options and gems
like its renovated Milton Theater and Dog-
fish Head brewery (to name only a couple).
So how much do prices vary, real-
ly?Note: due to our unique and often var-
ied zoning, two homes on the same street
can vary widely in value.
Downtown Rehoboth Beach: condos
fall in the $300,000-$400,000 range, a
quaint cottage in North Rehoboth can
fetch $850,000, beach block property gar-
ners nearly $1.6 million, and totally reno-
vated homes in the beach block are listed
at $2.5 million. Oceanfront studio apart-
ments are selling in the mid $300s and
2+bedroom beachfront condos are list-
ing at $750K+. If you want 3+ bedrooms
facing the ocean, be prepared to spend
$1M+. In-town living is among the most
expensive around and can reap the larg-
est rewards in rental income.
Residential/country club communities
near Rehoboth: from $600K - $900K for
a traditional four-bedroom home and$1-
$2M for a waterfront property
Historic Downtown Lewes: average
home price in-town is around $500K,
inching up to $600s - $900K+ on Lewes
Beach, and includes some new construc-
tion communities. Currently, there are61
properties listed for sale in the Lewes City
THINKING OF BUYING IN REHOBOTH?
Now is the time. Call Joe, Your Working Broker.
Limits, which includes Lewes Beach
Lewes beachfront community: ranges
from $600K - $1.2M a few lots back to
$2M bayfront, which is about half of what
you would pay for Rehoboth beachfront
Adjacent to Lewes: Residential communi-
ties along Gills Neck Road offer newer con-
struction and amenities like pools and tennis
courts and start around $600K and go up.
Five Points (still East of Route 1): Town
Center style living with grocery shopping
and community amenities condos start
in the low $200s, town homes in the low
$300s and single-family homes at $400K
Historic Downtown Milton: average
in the low $300s for a turn key historic
home, and low $200s for something that
might need a little TLC
Adjacent to Milton:communities along
Cave Neck Road average in the high
$200s to high $300s, depending on
square footage.
This is just a glimpse of the many real
estate options available at the Delaware
beaches. The bottom line is that now is
the perfect time to shop in Rehoboth and
surrounding areas with a great selection
of condos, cottages, new construction,
historic homes, and more. Contact a lo-
cal Delaware Realtor and make this Labor
Day the beginning of your endless sum-
mer at the beach.
LEE ANN WILKINSON is with the Lee Ann
Wilkinson Group of Berkshire Hathaway Ho-
meServices Gallo Realty.
LICENSED IN DELAWARE & MARYLAND
4 4 S EPTE MB ER 01, 2017 W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M
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