Volume 46, Issue 10, March 6, 2015

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SPRING HIGHLIGHTS!
CRISTINA PATO
Spanish bagpipe/vocal star & Silk Road
Ensemble veteran in an electrifying blend
of pop, Celtic, Latin, and more
Jessica Lang, artistic director

Sat, Mar 28 at 8pm GW Lisner Auditorium
Co-presented with CityDance
Made possible by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundations
ArtsCONNECT program with the National Endowment
for the Arts, and Reginald Van Lee.
JOSHUA BELL, violin
Foot-stomping jazz in
the spirit of Paris & New
Orleans in the 1920s-40s
Sat, Apr 18 at 8pm
Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
Made possible by the Abramson
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JAZZ AT LINCOLN
CENTER ORCHESTRA
SAM HAYWOOD, piano
Sun, Apr 19 at 7pm

Kennedy Center
Tue, Mar 31 at 8pm Kennedy Center
Made possible by Herbert and Patrice Miller.
Featuring works by BEETHOVEN, GRIEG,

BRAHMS, and BARTK.
Made possible by Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather.
THE PHILADELPHIA
ORCHESTRA
Featuring works by GRIEG and RACHMANINOFF
GALLIM DANCE
Andrea Miller, artistic director
Apr 16-17 at 8pm Lansburgh Theatre
Co-presented with CityDance
Forever: The Love Poems

of Pablo Neruda
Sat, Apr 25 at 8pm
Made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts,
the Amphion Foundation, the Abramson Family Foundation,
and an anonymous gift.
NEW WORLD SYMPHONY

AMERICAS ORCHESTRAL
ACADEMY
Michael Tilson Thomas,
artistic director & conductor
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Made possible by Reginald Van Lee.
Wed, Apr 29 at 8pm Kennedy Center
JULIAN SANDS
Featuring works by SCHUBERT, BERG,

NORBERT MORET, and DEBUSSY.
A Celebration of Harold Pinter
Made possible by the Amphion Foundation and the Van Auken

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*Use the code BLADE and pay no handling fees on these performances. Offer expires Fri, Mar 20 at 5pm.
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LO CA L N E W S
Mikulski to retire from Senate

Md. Democrat voted for
DOMA; OMalley wont run
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) on
Monday announced she will retire from the
U.S. Senate once her term ends in 2016.
Im here today in Fells Point to
announce that I will not be seeking a sixth
term in the United States Senate, the
Maryland Democrat told reporters during
a press conference in Baltimore. This has
been a hard decision to make.
Mikulski said during the press
conference that her decision to retire
from the U.S. Senate has nothing to do
with her health or any frustration she has
with her colleagues.
Theres nothing gloomy about this
announcement, she said.
Mikulski, 78, has served in Congress
longer than any other woman in history.
Voters rst elected her to the House of
Representatives in 1977. She has been a
member of the Senate since 1987.
Mikulski is among the senators who voted
for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.
She later co-sponsored a measure that
sought to repeal the law.
I am proud to co-sponsor legislation
to repeal key provisions of the Defense
of Marriage Act, Mikulski told the
Washington Blade in a 2011 statement. I
believe all Americans are entitled to equal
protection under the law and all of our
citizens deserve to be treated with dignity
and respect.
Mikulski voted against a proposal that
would have amended the U.S. Constitution
to dene marriage as between a man
and a woman. She also backed the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
The Maryland Democrat over the years
has faced persistent speculation about
whether she is a lesbian.
Shes been a powerful force for our
state, U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told
reporters in Baltimore immediately after
Mikulski announced her retirement.
Dana Beyer, executive director of
Gender Rights Maryland, told the Blade on
Monday that Mikulski gave no indication
that she was planning to retire when
she saw her at the annual Montgomery
County Democratic Central Committee
Brunch in Rockville on Feb. 22.
She was in campaign mode, said
Beyer, noting Mikulskis retirement comes
as a surprise. She was talking about last
year. She was talking about next year.
Gay state Sen. Rich Madaleno
(D-Montgomery County) during a telephone
interview with the Blade said that Mikulski
played an incredibly helpful role in the
2012 referendum on Marylands same-sex
U.S. Sen. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D-Md.) this

week announced her retirement from the
U.S. Senate.
marriage law in terms of fundraising and

building support for the statute that voters
ultimately approved.
I dont know few people in Maryland
history who won ve statewide
elections, certainly in modern history,
said Madaleno, who added Mikulskis
announcement also came as a surprise
to him. Having her network and
understanding of the state was critical in
the marriage referendum.
Shes been an incredible gure for
the state of Maryland, for all 30 years
in the Senate, added the Montgomery
County Democrat, noting that Mikulski
had previously chaired the Senate
Appropriations Committee. She has been
passionate and determined in ghting for
every dollar for the state of Maryland.
Observers have already begun to
speculate that Maryland Congressmen
Chris Van Hollen and Elijah Cummings
could seek Mikulskis seat.
Others have noted that former
Lieutenant
Gov.
Anthony
Brown,
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie RawlingsBlake, Congresswoman Donna Edwards
and former state Del. Heather Mizeur
(D-Montgomery County) could also run.
We will have an open Senate seat
and that will create some interest, said
Cardin. We have a great talent pool.
Mizeur, who ran unsuccessfully for
governor last year, did not immediately
respond to the Blades request for
comment about whether she plans to
seek Mikulskis seat in 2016.
Today is a day to reect on Senator
Mikulskis service to the people of
Maryland, not engage in political
speculation, OMalley spokesperson Lis
Smith Smith told the Blade.
Michael Estve, chapter leader of Log
Cabin Republicans of Maryland, also
Former Maryland Gov. MARTIN OMALLEY is widely expected to pursue a run for the White
House and said he would not seek to replace Barbara Mikulski in the Senate.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY
weighed in.
We thank Sen. Mikulski for her years
of service as a erce defender of historic
Baltimore, a mentor to women in the
Senate and a passionate advocate of
LGBT equality, Estve told the Blade.
Her oce especially deserves praise
for years of quality constituent services
as the senator provided much needed
help for veterans pursuing disability and
retirement benets.
While we certainly have policy
disagreements with Sen. Mikulski on
other issues, we appreciate her service to
Maryland and look forward to supporting
a successor who believes as ercely in
LGBT rights as scal responsibility and
pro-market policies, he added.
OMalley wont pursue seat

OMalley on Tuesday said he would not
run for the seat that Mikulski will vacate

once her term expires next year.
Senator Mikulski has done an
outstanding job representing Maryland
in the U.S. Senate for nearly 30 years,
OMalley said in a statement. I am hopeful
and condent that very capable public
servants with a desire to serve in the
Senate will step up as candidates for this
important oce. I will not be one of them.
The former governor is widely expected
to mount a presidential campaign in
2016. Recent polls in early voting states
like Iowa show him with low name
recognition, however, amid anticipation
that Hillary Clinton will walk away with the
Democratic nomination.
We will have an open Senate seat and
that will create some interest, U.S. Sen. Ben
Cardin (D-Md.) told reporters immediately
after Mikulskis announcement. We have
a great talent pool.
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LO CA L N E W S
Md. man accused of killing 95-year-old veteran

A Maryland man accused of stabbing a 95-year-old U.S.
Navy veteran to death told police he killed him after he made
unwelcomed sexual advances.
Charging documents indicate that Eric Dyson, 60, made
the statement to ocers with the Montgomery County Police
Department two days after they found Dan Belvins body inside
his home in the Randolph Village Apartment Complex in Colesville.
The charging documents indicate that Belvin was last known to
be alive on Feb. 19.
They note that someone checked the balance on Belvins credit
card at a 7-11 near his home at 9:04 p.m. on Feb. 19. The charging
documents indicate that $300 was then immediately withdrawn
from his account.
Charging documents indicate that ERIC
The charging documents note that $5,532.39 in fraudulent
DYSON stabbed Dan Belvin to death
charges were made to Belvins credit card at several dierent
inside his Montgomery County home.
locations between Feb. 20-23. They further indicate that store
PHOTO COURTESY MONTGOMERY CO, POLICE
surveillance cameras captured Dyson who lives in the same
senior-living complex as Belvin using it.
Investigators found a note inside Belvins apartment that specically listed his need to obtain his vehicle
keys from Dyson. They also discovered that Belvins car was no longer in the parking lot, according to the
charging documents.
Charging documents indicate ocers arrested Dyson on Tuesday after an apartment complex employee
saw him parking the vehicle in the parking lot.
Eric Dyson alleged that he exchanged sexual favors with Dan Belvin for money and the use of his
vehicle, read the charging documents. Eric Dyson admitted to stabbing Dan Belvin in response to alleged
unwelcome sexual advances.
Dyson faces rst-degree murder and other charges related to the alleged credit card fraud.
He is being held without bail at the Montgomery County Detention Center in Rockville.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
SMYAL launches Youth Leadership Awards

SMYAL this week announced a new Youth Leadership Awards scholarship program for LGBT students
in the D.C. metropolitan area. Selected students will receive a cash award of up to $2,000 during their rst
semester in college that can be used without restriction.
The SMYAL Youth Leadership Award scholarships are a major new initiative for SMYAL to help launch
the next generation of leaders, said Sultan Shakir, executive director of SMYAL. It complements our eorts
supporting Gay Straight Alliances at metro area high schools and conducting leadership boot camps for
upcoming student leaders.
The initial funding for the rst three years of awards was donated by Neil Starkey, a retired IBM engineer
to, as he put it, encourage and embolden that young person who, as a result of coming out, may have had
to deal with adversity or struggled with their identity, family life or academics but has emerged as a leader
and role model to their peers, according to a SMYAL statement.
SMYAL will partner with Team DC, which currently oers scholarships for high school LGBT athletes in the
D.C. metro area to attend institutions of higher education. SMYAL is pleased to partner with Team DC to
launch these awards in an eort to help expand nancial opportunities for LGBT youth, said Shakir.
Brent Minor, executive director of Team DC, noted, With the addition of this scholarship, LGBT youth now
have more support and opportunity to reach their goals.
Visit smyal.org for details; the deadline for applications is April 15 and the awards will be announced in May.
STAFF REPORTS
Black Pride plans coming together

Plans for the 25th anniversary celebration of DC Black Pride are coming together. This years theme is, 25!
Inspiring a Movement, the Mission Continues. Each year, more than 25,000 people attend DC Black Pride,
according to organizers.
The Grand Hyatt Washington, 1000 H St., N.W., will serve as the ocial host hotel. The majority of 2015
DC Black Pride events will occur there beginning May 21. More details and reservations at resweb.passkey.
com/go/dcpr2015.
Black Pride organizers also announced they have selected the Washington Blade to serve as the ocial
media sponsor of this years anniversary event. The Washington Blade has been one of our longtime media
partners and it just made sense to take this relationship to the next level, said Kenya Hutton, DC Black Pride
program director.
Were thrilled to extend our longstanding commitment to Black Pride, said Blade Publisher Lynne Brown.
The Blade will produce the ocial Black Pride Guide, which will be published in early May. Email Brown at
lbrown@washblade.com for more information. A schedule of events can be found at dcblackpride.org.
STAFF REPORTS
Equality Va. found

some wins in 2015
legislative session
The head of Virginias largest statewide advocacy group
on Tuesday categorized the 2015 legislative session that
ended last week a success in spite of continued opposition
to LGBT rights in the Republican-controlled House of
Delegates.
Equality Virginia Executive Director James Parrish
during an interview with the Washington Blade pointed
out members of the House General Laws Subcommittee
in January killed state Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William
County)s so-called conscience clause bill that would have
allowed state licensed or accredited business owners to
deny service to someone based on their religious beliefs.
Parrish noted Republicans were among the committee
members who voted against the controversial measure.
That is a win, he said.
Another legislative success for Equality Virginia came
early last month when the Virginia Senate approved state
Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico)s bill that would
ban anti-LGBT discrimination against state and local
government employees.
Lieutenant Gov. Ralph Northam cast the tie-breaking
vote that allowed the measure to pass.
Employment discrimination in any form is truly
unacceptable, said Northam in a statement after the vote.
The House General Laws Subcommittee later tabled the bill.
The Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee
in January narrowly killed a bill that would have allowed
second-parent adoptions in the state.
Members of the Senate Education and Health Committee
in January also struck down state Sen. Louise Lucas
(D-Portsmouth)s measure that would have banned
conversion therapy to minors in Virginia. The House
Health, Welfare and Institutions Subcommittee later killed an
identical measure that state Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington
County) introduced.
They need to take it a little more seriously, Parrish told the
Blade, referring to the issue of conversion therapy to minors.
The House Militia, Police and Public Safety Subcommittee
in January tabled state Del. Rip Sullivan (D-Arlington
County)s bill that would have required state police to
report hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender
identity and expression. The vote took place roughly a
week after Lamia Beard, a transgender woman of color,
was shot to death in Norfolk.
Lawmakers during the 2015 legislative session killed a
measure that would have repealed Virginias constitutional
amendment dening marriage as between a man and a
woman. They also voted against gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin
(D-Alexandria)s bill that sought to add gender-neutral
language to the commonwealths marriage laws.
We denitely found some wins, Parrish told the Blade.
Youre nding some wins in the context of the reality.
The 2015 legislative session began less than four months
after same-sex couples began to legally marry in Virginia.
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LO CA L N E W S
Anti-LGBT dictator owns $3.5 million mansion in Md.

Neighbors shocked
to learn of Gambian
presidents record
POTOMAC, Md. Vehemently antiLGBT Gambian President Yahya Jammeh
owns a $3.5 million mansion in a wealthy
Montgomery County suburb.
Property records the Washington Blade
obtained indicate that Calbert Cheaney,
a
retired
professional
basketball
player who was once a member of the
Washington Bullets, and his wife, Yvette
Cheaney, sold the mansion on Bentcross
Drive in Potomac to Trustees of the MYJ
Family Trust on Sept. 29, 2010, in an
arms-length improved transaction.
The 8,818-square-foot home in the
Falconhurst subdivision was built in 1991.
Property records indicate the mansion
which is roughly a mile east of downtown
Potomac o of River Road has nine full
bathrooms, two half bathrooms and an
attached garage. It also has a 2,500-squarefoot nished basement.
A fence encloses Jammehs home
that sits on 2.3 acres of land. A security
camera is mounted above the gate to the
mansions driveway.
Property records note the mansions
value as of Jan. 1, 2014, was $3,416,300.
Jammeh took power in his small West
African country in a 1994 coup.
He said during a 2013 speech at the
U.N. General Assembly that homosexuality
is among the three biggest threats
to human existence. The Gambian
president in February 2014 described gay
men as vermin during a speech that
commemorated his predominantly Muslim
countrys independence from the U.K.
Those convicted of aggravated
homosexuality in Gambia face life in
prison under a law that Jammeh signed
last fall.
Reports from human rights advocates
and other observers indicate Gambian
authorities have arrested more than a dozen
people they accused of being gay since the
statute took eect. These include the three
suspected homosexuals the Gambian
High Court last month ordered released on
bail, according to a local newspaper.
The World Bank notes the average per
capita income among Gambians in 2013
was $500. The organizations statistics
further indicate that 48.4 percent of
the countrys population were living in
poverty in 2010.
Fatu Camara, a journalist who was
Jammehs
former
press
secretary
before she ed to the U.S. in 2013 after
authorities charged her with treason,
pointed out during a roundtable late
Gambian President Yahya Jammehs home on Bentcross Drive in Potomac, Md.

WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL K. LAVERS
last year at Robert F. Kennedy Human

Rights Washington oce that some
gay Gambians have ed to neighboring
Senegal and Guinea.
She said during the same event that
many others are afraid to leave their homes
because they fear authorities will arrest
them under the law that Jammeh signed.
Owning a $3.5 million mansion in
Potomac when the average Gambian
cannot aord their three daily meals shows
how unsympathetic and selsh Jammeh
is, Camara told the Washington Blade
on Tuesday. Nobody is safe in Gambia,
including LGBT people, many of whom ed
the country and are living in exile. Jammehs
priority should be safeguarding his people,
promoting human rights and improving
livelihoods instead of looting from us.
Jerey Smith of Robert F. Kennedy
Human Rights agreed.
The fact that one of the worlds most
brutal and unaccountable dictators owns
a multi-million dollar mansion, little more
than 20 miles from the White House, is
unacceptable, he told the Blade.
Jammeh unwelcome
The European Union in 2014 delayed
a 150 million Euro aid package to
Gambia after Jammeh failed to repeal his
countrys death penalty and implement
other reforms.
President Obama faced criticism last
August after Jammeh visited the White
House while attending a summit that drew
dozens of African heads of state to the
nations capital. The White House a few
months later announced Gambia is no
longer eligible to take part in a duty-free
trade program that allows sub-Saharan
African countries to access U.S. markets.
Jammeh in January appeared to sharply
criticize the U.S. and other countries that
have attacked his governments LGBT
rights record.
His comments which he made during

a speech to Gambian troops in Banjul, the
countrys capital came shortly after two

U.S. citizens allegedly tried to overthrow
his government in an attempted coup.
Let me make it very clear that if they
think that they can be homosexuals and
want to impose homosexuality on the
globe, they are doomed, said Jammeh.
The International Gay and Lesbian
Human Rights Commission, the Council
for Global Equality and several other
LGBT advocacy groups in January called
upon the White House to ban Jammeh
from entering the U.S. and freeze his
assets in this country.
The Human Rights Campaign last
month ran a half-page advertisement in
the Gazette newspapers that featured
a picture of Jammeh and described him
as a human rights violator. The adalso
noted the Gambian president has a
home right here in Potomac.
CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Mario Camero dies at 77

Longtime Realtor to be remembered Sunday at event
Mario Camero died Feb. 15 at age
77 according to his partner of many
years, Mark Richter. He suered
various health complications in recent
years including a fall and dementia
that worsened in the last six months,
Richter said.
Camero was born March 8, 1937 in
New York City and was adopted at 18
months by a family that raised him in
Miami. Camero moved to Washington
in 1964 and worked for the Hecht Co.
selling fur coats and shoes before
becoming a Realtor in 1978, which
he did with Coldwell Banker until he
retired in 2014.
Camero and Richter met at a real
MARIO CAMERO
PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHTER
estate event on Sept. 18, 1993 and
spent the remainder of Cameros life
together.
He was just fun to be around, Richter said. He loved to go to the opera, he
had season tickets at the Kennedy Center for years, he loved going to plays. He
was just the life of the party. ... If there was a party, he was there.
His parents died around 1970 within a year of each other and he had no
siblings. In addition to Richter, he is survived by a rst cousin, Gloria Fernandez,
of Tampa, Fla.
Camero lived in a row house on the 1700 block of T Street, N.W. since 1979.
Richter said he enjoyed the neighborhood and especially enjoyed having drinks
at Larrys Lounge.
A memorial cocktail party will be held at Annies Paramount Steakhouse (1609
17th St., N.W.) on Sunday from 3-6 p.m., which would have been Cameros 78th
birthday. Another service is being planned for spring.
JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
MA RCH 0 6 , 2 0 1 5 0 9
Obama seeks inclusive

police policies
Task force recommends
end to proling
Holy smooches! CATWOMAN comes out after same-sex comic kiss.
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
Amid questions that emerged about
racial bias in Americas police forces
following events in Ferguson and New
York, the White House this week issued
a report seeking changes for policies
guiding law enforcement, including
an end to proling and discrimination
against LGBT people.
The Presidents Task Force on
21st Century Policing, established in
December, made public on Monday its
101-page interim report. Among the
major suggested changes are building
trust and legitimacy by treating others
with respect and improved oversight
through data collection, supervision and
accountability.
One chief recommendation is the
creation of a National Crime & Justice
Task Force to review comprehensive
criminal justice reform in addition to
enforcement of federal immigration laws
and regulation of consent searches.
In remarks in the Roosevelt Room
of the White House, President Obama
said the report is based on pragmatic,
common-sense ideas from criminal
justice experts, community leaders, law
enforcement and civil liberties advocates.
A lot of our work is going to involve local
police chiefs, local elected ocials, states
recognizing that the moment is now for
us to make these changes, Obama said.
We have a great opportunity, coming
out of some great conict and tragedy,
to really transform how we think about
community law enforcement relations
so that everybody feels safer and our law
enforcement ocers feel, rather than
being embattled, feel fully supported.
The report was produced following
a 90-day period in which the Task
Force chaired by Philadelphia Police
Commissioner Charles Ramsey and
former Assistant Attorney General Laurie
Robinson undertook listening sessions
in various cities to obtain input on the
relationship between police forces and
their communities.
In terms of LGBT issues, the report
recommends that law enforcement
agencies adopt policies prohibiting
proling and discrimination on the basis
of various characteristics, including on
the basis of sexual orientation and gender
identity or expression.
PHOTO BY ABC TELEVISION; COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
Catwoman comes out as bisexual
PRESIDENT OBAMA unveiled a report to

make police forces adopt pro-LGBT policies.
Invasive searches should never be

used for the sole purpose of determining
gender identity, and an individuals gender
identity should be respected in lock-ups
and holding cells to the extent that the
facility allows for gender segregation, the
report says.
One proposed action is for the Bureau
of Justice Statistics and the Centers for
Disease Control to add on federal surveys
questions about sexual harassment and
misconduct toward LGBT people by law
enforcement ocers.
All human beings have biases or
prejudices as a result of their experiences,
and these biases inuence how they
might react when dealing with unfamiliar
people or situations, the report says.
An explicit bias is a conscious bias about
certain populations based upon race,
gender, socioeconomic status, sexual
orientation, or other attributes. Common
sense shows that explicit bias is incredibly
damaging to police-community relations,
and there is a growing body of research
evidence that shows that implicit bias
the biases people are not even aware
they have is harmful as well.
Another recommendation in the report
is the end to using possession of condoms
as sole evidence of intent to engage in
prostitution, a change transgender and
HIV/AIDS advocates have sought.
In a joint statement, LGBT groups
called on law enforcement agencies
and Congress to implement the
recommendations in the report and for
continued work on the issue with LGBT
advocacy organizations.
NEW YORK One of the worlds most recognizable comic book characters
has revealed that she is bisexual.
CNN reported that Selina Kyle, whose alter ego is Catwoman, comes out in the
latest Catwoman #39 that DC Comics publishes. CNN also notes that Genevieve
Valentine, a comic book writer, wrote on her blog that Kyle kissed Eiko Hasigawa,
who has become Catwoman.
Certainly its no surprise to Selina that she has an attraction to a woman,
wrote Valentine. Is this particular kiss a surprise? Its denitely surprising; this
is the very last thing youre supposed to be getting into on the brink of war, and
they both know it. But this isnt the rst intense moment between them.
GLAAD in 2004 honored Catwoman for openly gay character Holly Robinson.
N.Y. man accused in trans womans murder

NEW YORK Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., on March 3 indicted
a man in connection with the 2013 murder of a transgender woman.
Vance in a press release alleges that James Dixon, 24, punched Islan Nettles,
21, in the head on Aug. 17, 2013, during an argument near the intersection of
West 148th Street and Eighth Avenue in Harlem.
Nettles suered what Vance described as a serious brain injury after the
back of her head hit the pavement after Dixon allegedly struck her.
Nettles died several days later.
Dixon faces charges of rst- and second-degree manslaughter and rstdegree assault.
Over the past 18 months, my oce has exhaustively investigated this
case with the primary objective of making sure that justice is served for Islan
Nettles, said Vance. A grand jury has voted to indict James Dixon on charges
of manslaughter and assault for attacking this young transgender woman on a
Harlem street.
The New York Daily News reported that Dixon has pleaded not guilty to the
charges.
A judge ordered him held without bail until his next court appearance that is
scheduled to take place on March 19.
Pioneering gay Episcopal priest dies

LOS ANGELES Rev. Malcolm Boyd, an Episcopal priest who is among the
rst U.S. clergymen to come out as gay died on Feb. 27 at the age of 91.
Born in Bualo, N.Y., on June 8, 1923, Boyd was a Hollywood publicist until his
ordination in the Episcopal Church in 1955.
The New York Times reported that Boyd supported the Civil Rights Movement
in the 1960s, participating in Freedom Rides and helping black people in
Mississippi and Alabama register to vote. He also led protests against the
Vietnam War.
Boyd came out as gay in 1976.
Frontiers reported that Boyd led his rst Mass for people living with AIDS at
a Santa Monica, Calif., church in 1985. He was also a prolic writer who wrote
about sexuality, religion and other issues throughout his life.
Boyd is survived by his husband, Mark Thompson.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
1 4 M A RCH 0 6 , 2 015
NATIONAL NEWS
Court strikes down Nebraska marriage ban

Governor seeks stay to
block weddings from
taking place
By CHRIS JOHNSON
In the latest ina series of court decisions
in favor of marriage equality, a federal
judge in Nebraska has ruled against the
states prohibition on gay nuptials.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon,
a Clinton appointee, determines in a
34-page decision that Nebraskas ban
on same-sex marriage violates rights
under the U.S. Constitution and issues
a preliminary injunction enjoining
enforcement of the law eective March 9.
Nebraskas Defense of Marriage
Constitutional
Amendment,
Section
29, is an unabashedly gender-specic
infringement of the equal rights of its
citizens, Bataillon writes. The State
primarily oers as its rational basis for
this gender-specic discrimination the
encouragement of biological family units.
The essence of this rationale has been
rejected by most courts and by no less
than the Supreme Court.
Bataillon takes Nebraska to task for failing
to demonstrate any reason to bar same-sex
couples from marriage, noting the stable
relationships of plaintis in the case.
All of the couples have been in
committed relationships for many years,
Bataillon writes. Those that have resided
in Nebraska have not caused damage
to society at large or to the institution
of marriage. The court nds it is in the
Nebraska Gov. PETE RICKETTS is seeking

a stay that would block gay couples from
marrying.
publics best interest to vindicate the

plaintis constitutional rights and
enjoin the States enforcement of its
discriminatory marriage laws.
Once the injunction takes eect on
March 9, the Nebraska decision will make
same-sex marriage available in a total of
38 states and D.C.
On Feb. 19, Bataillon held a hearing
in which Susan Koening, an attorney
for the seven plainti same-sex couples
in the case, litigated against the ban
and Nebraska Attorney General Doug
Peterson argued in favor of it.
The lawsuit, Waters et al v. Ricketts et

al, was led by the American Civil Liberties
Union, the ACLU of Nebraska and the
Omaha-based law rm Koenig | Dunne
on behalf of seven same-sex couples. Six
of the couples were married out-of-state
and are seeking state recognition of the
union; one of the couples sought to right
to wed in Nebraska.
Peterson has the option of appealing
the decision to the U.S. Eighth Circuit
Court of Appeals. Within a short time
after the ruling was handed down,
Peterson led with the district court a
notice indicating his intent to appeal.
Two other decisions overturning
marriage laws in the Eighth Circuit
South Dakota and Arkansas are already
pending before the appellate court.
The ban on same-sex marriage in
Nebraska was ratied as part of the state
constitution in 2000 by 70 percent of the
voters at the ballot.
The Nebraska ruling may be the last
decision at the federal district court
level to decide on the issue of marriage
equality before the U.S. Supreme Court
rules as expected inJune.
It was one of three states with a ban on
same-sex marriage where a court had yet to
rule on the issue of marriage equality. The
other two are North Dakota, where a judge
put litigation on hold until the Supreme
Court rules, and Georgia, where a judge
also indicated he wouldnt rule, but allowed
parties to le an interlocutory appeal.
However, two appellate courts may
issue decisions on marriage equality
before the Supreme Court. The U.S. Fifth
Circuit Court of Appeals could hand down
a ruling at any time on bans in Texas,
Louisiana and Mississippi, and the Eighth

Circuit may deliver a ruling after it hears
oral arguments in May. The U.S. Eleventh
Circuit Court of Appeals has put litigation
on hold in that jurisdiction, including the
lawsuit in Georgia.
At the state level, the Arkansas Supreme
Court is also set to issue a decision soon
on the ban on marriage equality in the
state as the result of state litigation.
Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom
to Marry, said the Nebraska decision is
the latest indication the Supreme Court
should issue a nationwide ruling in favor
of same-sex marriage.
Every day that loving and committed
couples are denied the freedom to
marry in the decreasing number of
states that still discriminate against
same-sex couples and their families is a
day of tangible hardships and indignity.
Wolfson said. Fortunately, Nebraska
may soon no longer be one of those
discriminating states, thanks to todays
strong ruling from yet another court
the 65th in the past two years arming
the freedom to marry. It is time for the
U.S. Supreme Court to bring the country
to national resolution and end marriage
discrimination for all Americans.
On Tuesday, Nebraska Gov. Pete
Ricketts, Peterson and other state
ocials led a 19-page brief with the
Eighth Circuit seeking a stay of the district
courts injunction.
If Nebraskas Constitution is to undergo
the dramatic change Plaintis seek, it
should occur only after the district courts
order undergoes full appellate review,
the ling states. The public interest is not
served by unstable marriage laws.
Ala. court orders halt to same-sex marriages

Justices say state law
unchanged despite
federal rulings
By CHRIS JOHNSON
The Alabama Supreme Court on
Tuesday ordered probate judges to
discontinue for an unspecied time the
distribution of marriage licenses to samesex couples.
In a 7-1 decision, the state high court
ruled Alabama probate judges must refuse
marriage licenses to same-sex couples
pending further order from justices, despite
federal court rulings in January against the
states ban on same-sex marriage.
As it has done for approximately
two centuries, Alabama law allows for

marriage between only one man and
one woman, write the majority in the per
curiam opinion. Alabama probate judges
have a ministerial duty not to issue any
marriage license contrary to this law.
Nothing in the United States Constitution
alters or overrides this duty.
The petition, which the Alabama Supreme
Court agreed to hear last month, was led
by two anti-LGBT groups Alabama Policy
Institute and Alabama Citizens Action
Program as well as Probate Judge John
Enslen of Elmore County.
Although Enslen is the only named
respondent in the case, the order makes
each of the probate judges in Alabama
joined as respondents in place of the
John Does identied in the petition.
Further, the court gives each probate
judge ve days within the issuance of the
order the opportunity to le a response

as to why they should be exempt from
the decision.
The justices who signed the 134-page
decision were Lyn Stuart, Michael Bolin,
Tom Parker, Glenn Murdock, Alisa Kelli
Wise and Tommy Bryan.
Justice James Allen Main wrote an
opinion in which he raises concerns
about the process by which the decision
was reached, but agrees with the result of
the majority.
Consistent with my dissent from the
Courts earlier decision to order answer and
briefs in this matter, I continue to harbor
concerns regarding some of the procedural
aspects of this highly unusual case, Main
wrote. Nevertheless, given the unique
facts of this case and the intervention of
Probate Judge John Enslen, I am persuaded
that Judge Enslen has a sucient interest
in these proceedings to satisfy the criteria

necessary for standing.
The sole dissenting justice was Greg
Shaw, who said he doesnt believe the
court has jurisdiction at this time to hear
the case, citing an upcoming decision on
the issue from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Nonetheless, he takes the federal court
to task for the decision.
It is unfortunate that the federal
judiciary has refused to stay the order
striking down Alabamas marriageprotection laws until the Supreme Court
of the United States can conclusively rule
on the issue within the next few months,
Shaw writes. The federal district courts
order did nothing less than change
the very denition of the institution of
marriage in Alabama. Such a drastic
change in Alabama law warranted the
granting of a stay.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
NATIONAL NEWS
MA RCH 0 6 , 2 0 1 5 1 5
Manchin wont back Dem effort in support of marriage

W.Va. senator remains
opposed to gay nuptials
By CHRIS JOHNSON
The lone Democrat in the U.S. Senate to
oppose same-sex marriage is sticking to
his viewsdespite eorts among members
of Congress in his party to convince the
Supreme Court to nd a constitutional
right to marriage rights for gay couples.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) signaled
Monday he wont sign a friend-ofthe-court brief being prepared by
congressional Democrats in favor of
same-sex marriage. That brief, which Sen.
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is organizing
on the Senate side, is due Friday.
Asked by the Washington Blade if
Manchin would announce support for
marriage equality and add his name
to the brief, Jonathan Kott, a Manchin
spokesperson, replied, No. His position
has not changed.
Now that former Sens. Mark Pryor
and Mary Landrieu have been voted
out of oce, Manchin is the only
Senate Democrat to remain opposed
to same-sex marriage. Hes designated
as an opponent of gay nuptials on the
Human Rights Campaign congressional
Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) remains

opposed to same-sex marriage.
scorecard, which cites a 2012 statement

from a spokesperson saying Manchin
believes marriage is between one man
and one woman.
Although many Americans, including U.S.
senators like Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Mark
Warner (D-Va.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), have since come
to support marriage equality, Manchin

hasnt changedhis view.
On the night of the 2014 State of the
Union address, Manchin declined to
comment when asked by the Blade
on Capitol Hill whether he agrees with
President Obamas remarks that samesex marriage is a civil right and a story
of freedom, saying he didnt recall
hearing Obama say that in his speech.
By opposing same-sex marriage and
refusing to support a constitutional right
for same-sex couples to marry, Manchin
is line with conservative senators like Ted
Cruz (R-Texas), who attacked unelected
judges at the 2015 Conservative Political
Action Conference for overturning state
marriage laws, or Marco Rubio (R-Fla.),
who said on stage he thinks marriage is
between one man and one woman.
Gregory Angelo, executive director of
Log Cabin Republicans, said that even
Democrats have work ahead of them in
building support for marriage equality.
Republicans apparently arent the only
ones who need to get their ranks on the
right side of history, Angelo said.
Marc Solomon, national campaign
director for Freedom to Marry, had
little to say about Manchins continued
opposition to same-sex marriage. Asked
whether he had a reaction, he said,
Honestly, not really.
The Human Rights Campaign didnt

immediately respond to the Washington
Blades request for comment on
Manchins continued opposition to
same-sex marriage and refusal to sign
congressional Democrats brief.
Manchin continues to oppose to samesex marriage even though his state is
among 37 in the country to have marriage
equality. State ocials agreed to let samesex couples marry after the Supreme
Court refused to review a decision in
favor of marriage equality from the U.S.
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which
has jurisdiction over West Virginia.
This week, the time period before
friend-of-the-court briefs in favor of
marriage equality are due before the
Supreme Court, is arguably the last
opportunity to voice support for samesex marriage and make a dierence.
The Democratic Party has made an
endorsement of same-sex marriage part of its
2012 national political platform. The document
says, We support marriage equality and
support the movement to secure equal
treatment under law for same-sex couples.
We also support the freedom of churches and
religious entities to decide how to administer
marriage as a religious sacrament without
government interference.
Gay attorney named head of DOJ civil division

Holder praises Mizer
as gifted lawyer
By CHRIS JOHNSON
A gay attorney will head the division
of the U.S. Justice Department charged
with representing the United States in
civil and criminal matters, the U.S. Justice
Department announced Monday.
Outgoing U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder named Benjamin Mizer
as principal deputy assistant attorney
general and acting assistant attorney
general for the civil division. According to
the Justice Department, Mizer started in
his new role Monday.
Ben Mizers unassailable integrity,
sound
judgment
and
steadfast
commitment to the mission of this
department are just a few of the reasons
hes been chosen to serve as the new
principal deputy assistant attorney
general and acting assistant attorney
general for the civil division a critical and
demanding post, and one in which he will
undoubtedly thrive, Holder said.
BEN MIZER is interim head of DOJs civil

division.
Mizer, 38, former solicitor general for

Ohio, is one of more than a dozen openly
gay lawyers Holder and the Obama
administration have appointed to senior
positions at the Department of Justice,

according to Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund.
Hes not the rst openly gay person to
head the civil division. Stuart Delery,
who led the administrations eorts
against the Defense of Marriage Act, also
occupied that role.
I am indebted to Stuart Delery and
Joyce Branda for their recent stewardship
of the civil division, Mizer said. Both are
exceptional public servants and even
better people, and I am honored to be
joining a division that is stronger than
ever because of their leadership.
Prior to his new role, Mizer served as a
senior adviser to Holder on matters related
to constitutional law, national security, civil
rights, civil litigation, anti-trust law and the
Supreme Court. Mizer received his law
degree from the University of Michigan
Law School and his undergraduate degree
from the College of Wooster.
Mizer is now the second most
senior openly gay ocial at the Justice
Department. Delery, whos serving as
acting associate attorney general, is
the highest-ranking out ocial in the
department.
Bens work here in Washington and
as solicitor general for the state of

Ohio has put him in some of the most
challenging and demanding positions a
lawyer can encounter, Holder said. But
in every instance, Ben has repeatedly
demonstrated that he is both a gifted
lawyer and a capable leader. I am condent
that his stewardship of the Civil Division
will build on the exceptional record he has
already established and reect the high
ideals that have animated him from the
very beginning of his career.
Holder is expected to remain head
of the Justice Department for only a
brief period longer. Late last year, he
announced he would step down from
his role as attorney general. Obamas
nominee to replace him is Loretta Lynch,
U.S. attorney for the Eastern District
of New York. The Senate Judiciary
Committee approved her nomination last
week, but the timing for the full Senate
vote on conrmation remains in question.
Sarah Warbelow, legal director for
the Human Rights Campaign, praised
Mizer upon news he would head the civil
division of the Justice Department.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
1 6 M A RCH 0 6 , 2 015
I N T E RN A T I O N A L N E W S
Slovenian lawmakers approve marriage bill
Cuban advocate meets with

U.S. officials in Havana
An LGBT activist is among the Cuban human rights
advocates with whom House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other members of the U.S. House
of Representatives met during their trip to the country
last month.
Juana Mora Cedeo of Proyecto Manos and other
members of Cubas civil society who work independently
from the government met with Pelosi and U.S. Reps.
David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), Rosa DeLauro
(D-Conn.), Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Ana Eshoo (D-Calif.),
Nydia Velzquez (D-N.Y.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and
Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) on Feb. 20 at the U.S. Interests
Section in Havana, the Cuban capital.
Mora told the Washington Blade during a telephone
interview from Havana on Monday that she spoke
about education, health care and what she described as
the lack of medication for Cubans with HIV during the
meeting.
U.S. Chief of Mission Jerey DeLaurentis invited Mora
and the other advocates to meet with members of the
delegation at their request.
We spoke about the LGBTI community, the rights
JUANA MORA CEDEO (left) in an undated
the community needs to have, but does not have, said
photo with independent Cuban LGBT rights
Mora.
advocates.
Proyecto Manos is a federation of Cuban advocacy
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIO JOSE DELGADO GONZALEZ
groups that are not aliated with the National Center
for Sexual Education or CENESEX, which has become the
public face of the countrys increasingly visible LGBT rights movement.
CENESEX Director Mariela Castro, the daughter of Cuban President Ral Castro who is also a member
of the Cuban Parliament, has received praise from many of the islands LGBT rights advocates and
others around the world. These include Malcolm Lazin, executive director of the Philadelphia-based
Equality Forum, who honored her in 2013 at his organizations annual dinner amid blistering criticism
from U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and other critics of the Cuban government.
CENESEX is not really representative, Mora told the Blade, describing the work of LGBT rights
advocates who are not aliated with Mariela Castros organization. We combined forces for the defense
of human rights of our people because the Cuban government has never passed a law in our favor.
Cuban lawmakers in 2013 approved a proposal to add sexual orientation to the countrys labor law,
although Mariela Castro voted against it because it did not include trans-specic provisions.
Mariela Castro has publicly supported marriage rights for gays and lesbians in the Communist
country. Her supporters also frequently note that trans Cubans are able to obtain free sex reassignment
surgery under the countrys national health care system.
Mariela Castro was president of the local committee that organized a May 2014 conference that
drew hundreds of LGBT rights advocates from across the Americas to Havana and the beach resort of
Varadero. She also attended the 2014 ILGA World Conference that took place last fall in Mexico City.
Cuban LGBT rights advocates who publicly criticize Mariela Castro and her fathers government maintain
they continue to face harassment from the authorities under the countrys public assembly laws.
Maro Jos Delgado Gonzlez of the Divine Hope LGBTI Christian Group, which seeks to promote
acceptance of LGBT Cubans in the countrys churches, told the Blade last week in an e-mail that he was
unable to attend a meeting with members of a Code Pink delegation in Havana on Feb. 13 because the
security of the Cuban state prevented me from going.
The entire Code Pink delegation, which numbered around 150 people, the day before met with
Mariela Castro.
Security forces of the Cuban state arbitrarily detained me, Delgado told the Blade in a follow-up
e-mail, noting two ocers from the Cuban Interior Ministry and a state security ocial drove him to
an area on the outskirts of Havana to prevent him from attending the meeting with the Code Pink
delegation. They are afraid that these U.S. LGBTIQ organizations will reach out to us and decide to
support us nancially.
Mora and Delgado on Feb. 9 met with Ellen Sturtz, a Washington-based LGBT rights advocate, and
seven other members of the Code Pink delegation at a Cuban activists apartment in Havana.
This meeting took place ve days before Delgado said security ocials detained him.
Delgado told the Blade that Mariela Castro claimed the advocates did not want to meet with her,
which is a lie.
Neither Mariela Castro, nor the Cuban government responded to the Blades request for comment.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
Lawmakers in Slovenia on Tuesday approved a bill that would

extend marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples in the
Central European country.
The measure passed in the Slovenian Parliament by a 51-28 margin.
The Associated Press reported that thousands of people
protested against the bill before the vote.
Slovenias anti-discrimination laws include sexual orientation.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally register their
partnerships in the country since 2006.
A 2011 law extended many of the same rights that heterosexual
couples receive through marriage to gays and lesbians. Slovenian
voters the following year repealed the statute in a referendum.
Matej Knic and Mattej Valencic, co-founders of PinkWeek.eu, a
website that promotes LGBT tourism in the former Yugoslav republic,
described Tuesdays vote to the Washington Blade as a huge step.
It is a milestone in history, they said.
ILGA-Europe Executive Director Evelyne Paradis also applauded
the vote and Slovenian LGBT rights advocates.
The tireless eorts of the LGBTI community and their allies in
Slovenia have ensured that equality was the winner in last nights vote,
she said. They are providing us all with inspiration this morning.
The measure awaits the signature of the countrys president,
Borut Pahor.
Egyptian police arrest seven transsexuals

Reports indicate that Egyptian police late last week arrested
seven transsexuals in an area of Cairo that is popular with
tourists.
Al-Youm al-Sabah, an Egyptian newspaper, reported members
of the countrys Morality Police arrested the seven people who
were part of what it described as a network of debauchery in
Cairo.
Major Gen. Magdy Moussa of the Morality Police told Al-Youm
al-Sabah that his investigators had proof the seven people who
were arrested had published nude photos of themselves on
their social media networks. The newspaper further reported the
ocers also created fake websites to follow up on the activities
of the perverts, according to what former Human Rights Watch
staer Scott Long wrote on his blog.
Moussa told Al-Youm al-Sabah that his ocers coordinated
meetings with the seven people who were arrested at a nightclub
along Al-Haram Road in Giza. Long wrote the television station
reported they were told at the end of the evening they would be
taken to apartments to participate in debauchery.
Al-Youm al-Sabah broadcast a video that shows the video of the
seven people talking with the police.
The newspaper blurred the faces of those who were arrested,
but it did not attempt to obscure their identities in a picture it
posted on its Facebook page.
The arrests took place less than two months after a court
acquitted 26 men who were charged with debauchery in
December after police raided a Cairo bathhouse.
Edgar Vasquez, a spokesperson for the State Department, told
the Blade his agency is following the case closely and seeking
additional details.
We condemn any violence, discrimination, or legal action
against individuals based on their perceived sexual orientation
or gender identity, said Vasquez. The United States places great
importance on the protection and promotion of the human rights
and fundamental freedoms of all people, including lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender persons, around the world.
The U.S. during the 2014 scal year gave $1.5 billion in aid
to Egypt, with the majority of it going to the countrys military.
The State Department in January told the Blade that more than
$7 million of this allotment went to other security assistance
programs.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
BA L T I MO RE N E W S
M A R C H 06, 2015 17
HoCo to change denition of sexual orientation

Howard County was one of the
rst counties in the nation to add
nondiscrimination protections on
the basis of sexual orientation
to its Human Rights Law when it
passed the County Council and
was signed into law in 1977. In
2011, the county added similar
protections based on gender
identity and expression to that
law two and a half years before
the statewide law, the Fairness for
All Marylanders Act, was passed.
Recently, County Executive
Allan H. Kittleman proposed
a bill aimed at restructuring
Howard County Executive ALLAN H.
the countys Human Rights
KITTLEMAN supports a change in denition
Commission
that
through
of the term sexual orientation.
amendments would update the
denition of sexual orientation.
Equality Maryland was asked to
provide the best language for the change in denition.
The current denition states, Sexual orientation means the preference or
practice of an individual as to male or female homosexuality, heterosexuality
or bisexuality. The proposed bill would update it to replace preference or
practice with identication and insert actual or perceived.
Testifying on behalf of proposed Amendments to Council Bill No. 4-2015,
Keith Thirion, director of advocacy and programs for Equality Maryland, made
the case to change the denition.
The current denition of sexual orientation reects outdated misconceptions
that being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is a choice and a lifestyle, Thirion said.
Updating this denition to include identication is more accurate and respectful
of who lesbian, gay and bisexual people are.
He continued, Equality Maryland also supports adding actual or perceived
to the denition because discrimination caused by negative attitudes or beliefs
about lesbian, gay and bisexual people can occur because of the perception of
another persons sexual orientation, regardless of if they identify as lesbian, gay
or bisexual.
Kittleman said the amendment is more consistent with the communitys
current philosophies. The measure is expected to pass.
PFLAG to host discussion of youth challenges

At the PFLAG-Columbia/Howard County general meeting on March 10,
Diana Philip will present Living in the Margins, a report on LGBTQ Youth in
Maryland, which briey outlines the current challenges facing LGBTQ youth as
they navigate three systemseducation, foster care and the juvenile justice
systemsand proposes specic and realistic recommendations for addressing
these challenges.
The report, released in August 2014, was produced by the Youth Equality
Alliance (YEA), a statewide coalition of various service providers, nonprot
organizations, government agencies and individual advocates who seek to
identify policy and regulatory solutions to problems faced by LGBTQ youth in
Maryland. The full report can be found at freestatelegal.org.
Formed in May 2013, YEA includes such groups as ACLU of Maryland, the Public
Justice Center, Equality Maryland, PFLAG, Planned Parenthood of Maryland,
Homeless Persons Representation Project, GLSEN, Star Track and the Baltimore
Child Abuse Center.
When youth enter spaces in which they are to be supervised as well as
protected by adults, they expect that professionals will be knowledgeable about
individual youth rights and needs, as well as sensitive, respectful, and eective in
their interactions with all youth, Philip, then Policy Director for FreeState Legal
Project, told the Blade upon release of the report. LGBTQ youth in Maryland
are no dierent.
The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center,
7246 Cradlerock Way in Columbia. All meetings are free, condential and open
to the public. For more information, visit pagmd.org.
STEVE CHARING
washingtonblade.com
BA L T I MO RE N E W S
M A R C H 06, 2015 17
HoCo to change definition of sexual orientation

Howard County was one of the
first counties in the nation to add
nondiscrimination protections on
the basis of sexual orientation
to its Human Rights Law when it
passed the County Council and
was signed into law in 1977. In
2011, the county added similar
protections based on gender
identity and expression to that
law two and a half years before
the statewide law, the Fairness for
All Marylanders Act, was passed.
Recently, County Executive
Allan H. Kittleman proposed
a bill aimed at restructuring
Howard County Executive Allan H.
the countys Human Rights
Kittleman supports a change in definition
Commission
that
through
of the term sexual orientation.
amendments would update the
definition of sexual orientation.
Equality Maryland was asked to
provide the best language for the change in definition.
The current definition states, Sexual orientation means the preference or
practice of an individual as to male or female homosexuality, heterosexuality
or bisexuality. The proposed bill would update it to replace preference or
practice with identification and insert actual or perceived.
Testifying on behalf of proposed Amendments to Council Bill No. 4-2015,
Keith Thirion, director of advocacy and programs for Equality Maryland, made
the case to change the definition.
The current definition of sexual orientation reflects outdated misconceptions
that being lesbian, gay, or bisexual is a choice and a lifestyle, Thirion said.
Updating this definition to include identification is more accurate and respectful
of who lesbian, gay and bisexual people are.
He continued, Equality Maryland also supports adding actual or perceived
to the definition because discrimination caused by negative attitudes or beliefs
about lesbian, gay and bisexual people can occur because of the perception of
another persons sexual orientation, regardless of if they identify as lesbian, gay
or bisexual.
Kittleman said the amendment is more consistent with the communitys
current philosophies. The measure is expected to pass.
PFLAG to host discussion of youth challenges

At the PFLAG-Columbia/Howard County general meeting on March 10,
Diana Philip will present Living in the Margins, a report on LGBTQ Youth in
Maryland, which briefly outlines the current challenges facing LGBTQ youth as
they navigate three systemseducation, foster care and the juvenile justice
systemsand proposes specific and realistic recommendations for addressing
these challenges.
The report, released in August 2014, was produced by the Youth Equality
Alliance (YEA), a statewide coalition of various service providers, nonprofit
organizations, government agencies and individual advocates who seek to
identify policy and regulatory solutions to problems faced by LGBTQ youth in
Maryland. The full report can be found at freestatelegal.org.
Formed in May 2013, YEA includes such groups as ACLU of Maryland, the Public
Justice Center, Equality Maryland, PFLAG, Planned Parenthood of Maryland,
Homeless Persons Representation Project, GLSEN, Star Track and the Baltimore
Child Abuse Center.
When youth enter spaces in which they are to be supervised as well as
protected by adults, they expect that professionals will be knowledgeable about
individual youth rights and needs, as well as sensitive, respectful, and effective in
their interactions with all youth, Philip, then Policy Director for FreeState Legal
Project, told the Blade upon release of the report. LGBTQ youth in Maryland
are no different.
The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center,
7246 Cradlerock Way in Columbia. All meetings are free, confidential and open
to the public. For more information, visit pflagmd.org.
STEVE CHARING
Keep your promise to protect each other.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
18 M A R C H 06, 2015
H E A LT H N E W S
New Castro health center debuts next month

SAN FRANCISCO A new health and wellness center from the San Francisco
AIDS Foundation is set to open in the citys famed Castro District next month.
Located at 474 Castro Street, the center will be home for the Foundations
existing programs and will also oer services tailored to the needs of the
neighborhoods demographics such as the DREAAM Project for black LBT men
18-30, the 50-Plus Network and other groups, Hoodline, a neighborhood news
agency there, reports.
The new building will be an expansion of what Magnet has provided
for nearly 12 years, a warm and welcoming place for gay men to take care of
their health and nd opportunities to connect with each other through social
and cultural events as well as a variety of discussion groups representing the
diversity of our community, said Steve Gibson, director of Magnet, one of the
existing programs there.
The projects origins date to 2011 when the Foundation conducted an
extensive study that found thousands of gay men there are HIV-positive and
unaware of their status, not on anti-retroviral medication and thousands more
who are HIV-negative but who engage in high-risk sex, Hoodline reports.
After reviewing the data, it was determined that if a quarter of these men
increased their frequency ofSTI/HIV testing, reduced sexual risk-taking, and in
the case of those who are already positive, adhered to their medications (or
started taking medication), the instances of new HIV infection in San Francisco
willbe cut by 25 percent, the article said.
Wills & Trusts

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LOS ANGELES A new study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
found that more than 90 percent of new HIV infections in the U.S. are passed on
from HIV-positive people who are not in medical care or treatment, the Journal
of the American Medical Association reports.
The study, published Feb. 23, estimates that 91.5 percent of new HIV
infections in 2009 were attributable to people with HIV who were not in medical
care, including those who didnt know they were infected. In comparison, less
than six percent of new infections could be attributed to people with HIV who
were in care and receiving antiretroviral therapy, the Journal reports.
We were shocked to see that the number was as high as it is nine out
of 10 new HIV infections in 2009 occurred this way over 91.5 percent said
Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation President. Such o-thecharts numbers suggest that HIV/AIDS resources, funding and energies must
be directed toward far more aggressive and proactive HIV testing, linkage to
medical care and antiretroviral treatment for those already infected rather than
to the more expensive and esoteric HIV prevention methods such as PrEP. Weve
known for over four years that treatment as prevention works. Until this study,
we just didnt know how great the need was for us to fully deploy treatment as
prevention to get as many HIV-positive individuals in care and on treatment as
possible in order to break the chain of infection.
Gay married Floridians can access leave
LICENSED IN DC, MD AND VA
A D V E R T I S I N GFORT
P RLAUDERDALE,
OOF
Fla. Florida workers who are gay and married in the state
Serving Our COmmunity fOr 31 yearS
can now apply to their employers for leave to care for their spouses with a health
condition, under the revised Family and Medical Leave Act, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of
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This is wonderful news. It ends what had been a nightmare for our families
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payment and insertion schedule.
and warranties.
Pollitzer said. You wouldnt tell them you had a partner because you were afraid
you would be red.
Under a new Department of Labor rule, workers in legal, same-sex marriages
FAMILY | ESTATE PLANNING | EMPLOYMENT | IMMIGRATION
now have the same rights as those in opposite-sex marriages to federally
COMPLEX LITIGATION | CIVIL RIGHTS | LGBT | ADOPTION | BUSINESS
protected job leave. The rule also allows all married couples to have the same
rights, no matter which state they live in, the article said.
That means a same-sex couple who marries in Florida would still be eligible
for family leave, should they get transferred or move to a state that doesnt
AT TO R N E YS AT L AW D C | M D | VA
recognize gay marriage, said Jurate Schwartz, senior associate at Proskauer
Rose, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
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M A R C H 06, 2015 19
Be part of the community in

a proud and rewarding way.
Bone your way to health?
Cosmetic, Implants, Sleep Apnea, Sedation

Call Today Weekend Hours MulTilingual
We believe we can make the

dental experience better.
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accepting applications for an
advertising sales associate.
Latest healthy
diet trends a bit
unorthodox
When we think of staying hip
and trendy, many of us start
thinking about what was the latest
see through, polka dot, gaping
V-neck to grace New York fashion week and so on.
In my profession, I get just as excited about the latest trends in healthy foods.
We know last year everyone threw away all their rice in exchange for quinoa,
electrolyte and cocoanut water replaced our Britas, and if you dont know what
kale is then you must have been under a rock. Well baby, its 2015 now and there
are some new health food trends on the horizon that you must know about, in
order to look cool at the next cocktail party. As usual, Coach G has got the scoop
for you on two of the latest in the healthy eating trend department.
Bone broth Yeah, its exactly what it sounds like, a broth made of bones.
Which bones you use really depends on what you like, but this is most commonly
found with chicken, sh and beef bones.
Though you can nd many dierent recipes for bone broth, the basics are:
pre-roast bones to provide extra avor, add bones and carcass to your slow
cooker, add avorful herbs, spices and vegetable scraps to the slow cooker, add
vinegar to taste and top with lots of water. Once all the ingredients are in the
slow cooker, cook on low heat for 24 hours or until the bones crumble between
your thumb and nger.
Strain the broth through a ne mesh sieve and enjoy! Now I know what
youre asking, why on earth would I want to drink a boney, herby, 24-hour soup?
Advocates say that it helps with inammation, joint health, digestive health,
leaky gut syndrome, weight loss and even can help ward o colds. Though none
of this has been proven through a peer-reviewed study, heres what I say.
Eating soup is good, eating soup with lots of unprocessed foods like vegetables
and meat o the bone is better and eating soup instead of pizza is best. Overall
its a healthy meal and we know that eating healthy, unprocessed foods help our
bodies in every way possible. I constantly recommend slow-cooked soups as a
great low calorie meal option for my weight loss clients, so I can denitely see
including this into your diet as great way to launch you into losing weight for the
summer. If eating more bone broth helps you to avoid the gourmet cupcake line,
then Im all for it.
Gluten-free our Whether youre a big baker or just like to make a mean
gravy, our has been a long-time friend of yours. Despite its deliciousness, recent
studies have shown us that white our is not great for us. High consumption
has been linked to weight gain, internal body inammation, diabetes and heart
disease. But fear not, there now is a healthier alternative that is becoming more
and more mainstream: gluten-free ours.
If you have celiac disease then you have been using these ours for years,
but now more and more health-conscious people are substituting normal white
our for popular coconut our, almond our and chickpea our. Unlike the old
school our, these ours bring new avors to the game, while adding in more
ber and protein. Overall you get a healthier our option with a more avorful
dish. Though in the past you could only nd these options in specialty stores,
with the high demand from customers to have healthier choices, look for these
ours to grace your local grocery stores in no time.
New healthier food trends like bone broth and gluten-free our are becoming
more and more mainstream. People are looking for ways to get an edge up on
their health and are willing to pay a premium for it. As you jump onto the latest
trend, always remember that the basics of adding in more fruit and veggies and
less processed foods are trends that will never go out of style. It doesnt cost a
lot to give your body what it deserves, just a little love.
DentalBug.com
Patient of the Week Hayley & lauren-dental Hygienist
You should be organized, well

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and present in a professional
manner. Competent on MAC.
Knowledge of social
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trainer. Reach him via @CoachGFit or coachg@
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Not so fast, Mikulski fans

Retiring senator voted for
DOMA, spent career in the closet
KEVIN NAFF is editor of the Washington Blade

and can be reached at kna@washblade.com.
As usual, when a prominent Democratic

politician or public gure makes headlines,
LGBT advocacy groups develop a case of amnesia about that persons record.
This weeks example: Sen. Barbara Mikulski,
the iconic Maryland Democrat who has indisputably blazed a trail for women in the U.S.
Congress.
But her record on LGBT issues is far from
heroic, though you wouldnt know it from the
barrage of press releases hailing her supposedly long record of support.
Sen. Mikulskis work has improved virtually every facet of life for LGBT Americans, the
Human Rights Campaign trumpeted. the
LGBT community will miss working with her.
For a more complete, rounded view of her

legacy, consider that she voted for the Defense of Marriage Act. She spent her entire
life hiding in the closet and refusing to answer
questions about her sexual orientation, even
as she was casting horribly anti-gay votes. And
the tales from her staers about the abusive
environment she cultivated in the oce would
make Anna Wintour blush.
The rumors about Mikulskis sexual orientation go back to the 1980s, when Linda Chavez
described her as a San Francisco-style Democrat while running against her for the Senate.
Mikulskis relationship with congressional aide
Teresa Mary Brennan the two briey lived
together also raised eyebrows. After her vote
for DOMA, Mikulski was ambushed in New
York while on a book tour by LGBT activists who
rightly demanded to know how she, as a closeted lesbian, could support DOMA and come to
the heart of the citys LGBT community to plug
a book. She refused to answer their questions
about her sexual orientation. She was similarly
targeted by activists in other cities and always
ran for cover, refusing to engage.
In 2004, as Congress prepared to vote on
the Federal Marriage Amendment, which
would have barred same-sex marriage, Mikulskis position was unclear. It was a stressful
time and bloggers and LGBT media outlets,
including the Blade, were working to out hypocrites on Capitol Hill.

I confronted Mikulski at a Baltimore event in
2004 and asked her directly about her intent
with regard to the FMA vote and whether or
not shes gay. Per usual, she ducked the questions and scurried to a waiting car.
The FMA failed and Mikulski ultimately did
the right thing and voted against another
marriage ban eort in 2006. She nally came
around on LGBT issues and co-sponsored the
Hate Crimes Prevention Act, ENDA and a repeal of DOMA.
All of that is good and appreciated but truly
supportive and courageous politicians stand
up before its safe and popular, as some of her
colleagues did in opposing DOMA in 1996.
The mindless praise of politicians like Mikulski by HRC and others ignores history and
does a disservice to LGBT people. Now that
shes freed from having to run another campaign for re-election, perhaps Mikulski will
sit down and nally answer all the questions
about her long career and not just the selfserving ones. No one disputes Mikulskis great
achievements, especially the work shes done
on behalf of her Baltimore constituents and
her role as the Dean of the Senate Women.
But theres more to the story and so far its not
being told.
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V I E W PO I NT
MA RCH 0 6 , 2 0 1 5 2 1
Obama must be consistent on LGBT rights

Use trade talks to push change
in Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia
By SHANE LARSON & LORI PELLETIER
Surrounded on three sides by Senegal
and the Atlantic Ocean on the fourth, the
Republic of the Gambia is home to almost
2 million people in an area about the size
of Massachusetts. According to statistics
from the Oce of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Gambia is our 186th
largest trading partner with $37 million in
traded goods as of 2013.
So it was with some fanfare that on
Christmas Eve of 2014 the USTR announced it was terminating Gambia as
a beneciary of the African Growth and
Opportunity Act due to deepening concerns about the lack of progress with
respect to human rights, such as the
countrys persecution of its LGBT population.
Less than a month later, during his
State of the Union address, President
Obama called on Congress to grant him
Fast Track trade promotion authority so
that he could try to conclude a decade
of talks on the Trans-Pacic Partnership
(TPP). The TPP would cover nearly 40 percent of global GDP among the 12 negoti-
ating countries, including known human

and LGBT rights abusers Brunei, Malaysia
and Vietnam.
For the LGBT community, the debate
around Fast Track and the TPP is not
about tari levels on agricultural and
manufactured goods. It is not about
undermining U.S. sovereignty by allowing corporations to sue in secret foreign
trade tribunals. It is not about environmental protections, the safety of our
food or the aordability of our medicine.
Those are all important issues worthy
of honest and open debate in Congress
and around the country. And they are
beginning to happen.
But for the LGBT community, this is
an issue about our basic rights as human beings regardless of where in the
world we call home. While we still have
a lot of work to do here in the U.S.,
we are making amazing strides in our
struggle for full and equal protection
under the law. But, as with the important eorts being made for the rights of
women, religious minorities and other
persecuted groups, America must also
ght for LGBT rights in other countries.
In fact, President Obama has made Advancing and Protecting the Rights of
LGBT Persons around the World a key
bullet point on his administrations ofcial LGBT record.

When countries gain better trading
privileges with the U.S. they are gaining
better access to one of the worlds strongest and most robust economies. Every
nation wants that special access so it is
not something that should be granted
easily.
Brunei is our 121st largest trading
partner with $576 million in trade. Malaysia is our 20thlargest trading partner
at $40.3 billion. And Vietnam is our 27th
largest at almost $30 billion. Their inclusion in the TPP means those numbers
are only going to grow if it is passed,
rewarding their authoritarian governments and making it even harder to
pressure them to change how they treat
their citizens.
It is easy to make an example out of
Gambia, but if President Obama is serious about advancing the cause of LGBT
rights around the country then the TPP is
his chance to show it.
Recently, ve members of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus sent a letter
to President Obama asking for clarication on the continued inclusion of Brunei
and Malaysia in TPP negotiations in light
of severe human rights abuses, includ-
ing adopting penal codes permitting the

imprisonment and physical harm of LGBT
people. We join our communitys representatives in Congress by asking why
are these two countries continuing to be
included in a trade bill granting special
trade privileges that the President lobbied for in a national televised address to
Congress less than a month after excluding Gambia from a similar trade agreement for similar behavior?
In their letter, the representatives
called on Obama to bring consistency
to the Administrations foreign and trade
policy, and continue this record of
equality by removing Brunei and Malaysia from the TPP if they neglect to address
these abuses. We hope that the rest of
our LGBT community will join in this call
for President Obama to bring consistency
to his policy of Advancing and Protecting
the Rights of LGBT Persons around the
World.
This may not be the easy or convenient
thing to do but, as President Obama
should know, the ght for equality seldom is.
SHANE LARSON and LORI PELLETIER are copresidents of Pride at Work.
I N S I DE LGB T W A S HING TON
CPACs right-wing Republican horror show

Speeches reveal a sad state
of affairs for GOP
PETER ROSENSTEIN is a D.C.-based LGBT rights

and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly
for the Blade.
The Conservative Political Action Committee held its annual horror show last
week outside D.C. This year, it featured
many of the same characters who entertained the right-wing in the past, including Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum and a host of others.
They used the same laugh lines as in
the past and the only thing that makes
it really scary is they didnt intend to
be funny. Most of the Republicans who
flirt with running for the White House

every four years arent in it to get to
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue but rather
to sell a book, raise their speaking fee
or, in the case of Trump, tout a reality
TV show.
Among those who think they can get to
the White House is Jeb Bush. McKay Coppins wrote in BuzzFeed, When Bush ofcially launches his presidential bid later
this year, he will likely do so with a campaign manager who has urged the Republican Party to adopt a pro-gay agenda;
a chief strategist who signed a Supreme
Court amicus brief arguing for marriage
equality in California; a longtime adviser
who once encouraged her minister to
stick to his guns in preaching equality for
same-sex couples; and a communications
director who is openly gay.
But then Bush pandered to the CPAC
audience saying, I believe in traditional
marriage, when Sean Hannity asked him
whether hes changing his position on the
issue. So inclusive conservatism to Jeb
Bush means lets pretend were friends of
the LGBT community but no way do they

deserve full equality.
Then there is Rand Paul, who isnt even
a board certied ophthalmologist, who
opined that Congress is dysfunctional
without accepting any blame for that. He
calls for a nimble and strong military and
wants a tax cut across the board. Who
pays for his military is left to the imagination. He was asked about his stand on
foreign policy and said national defense
is important yet never mentioned any
crucial foreign policy issue the nation is
facing today.
This years more elitist candidate is
Ben Carson. He talks about President
Obamas failures and tries to defend his
own views on choice (he is against it) and
gays and lesbians (he is for traditional
families). He is against all anti-poverty
programs and says we need to use our
intellect to allow the poor and downtrodden to climb out of poverty but doesnt
suggest how. He is against the Aordable Care Act and for health savings accounts, suggesting we could end Med-
icaid and fund $5,000 savings accounts

for each person. He might want to look
at the bills his patients receive from his
surgical practice and see what $5,000
covers.
Then there is Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, who said, If I can take
on 100,000 protesters in Wisconsin, I can
do the same across the world. He compared his ght with the unions to ghting
ISIS and suggested he could use the same
tactics. What else needs to be said about
him?
This is the current crop of Republicans who want to be president. It is a
sad state of aairs for a Republican Party that once was the home of Abraham
Lincoln. It will be a wild 16 months as
they pander their way through the labyrinth of primaries and caucuses. Those
of us who are political junkies will be
glued to our newspapers and TVs to see
which of them can be more outrageous.
The winner will earn the right to face,
and lose, to the likely Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
2 2 M A RCH 0 6 , 2 015
O U R BU SI N E SS MA T T E RS
Time to pull the plug on trolley folly

D.C. likely to abandon
streetcar project, should
dismantle initial line
MARK LEE is a long-time entrepreneur

and community business advocate. Follow
on Twitter: @MarkLeeDC. Reach him at
OurBusinessMatters@gmail.com.
Transit hipsters convinced the D.C.

trendiness-sensitive public ocials who
once feared them to spend a trainload
of cash on the equivalent of garage-sized
vacuum-tube-driven punch-card-reading
UNIVAC computers. In the 21st century.
Indications are newly inaugurated D.C.
Mayor Muriel Bowser is bravely inclined
to pull the overhead electrical plug on the
citys ludicrously grandiose scheme to construct a nearly 40-mile network of streetcar lines threading through the District.
She should, along with the D.C. Council.
Trolley-mesmerized transportation advo-
cates, now mortied by the functional testing performance of an initial 2.2-mile streetcar line on the slowly revitalizing H Street,
N.E., commercial corridor, are able to oer
no more than a mued whimper in protest.
In recent months their prior success
in selling politicians on streetcars has
evolved to an embarrassment, both for
them and city ocials. In the public mind
the plan has come to symbolize the epitome of bad judgment and is a too-easy
punchline about government missteps.
Frequent news reports of periodic trialrun crashes into cars, a recent trolley-top
electrical re, trac obstruction and even
blocking bus movement during an extended testing period only remind D.C. residents that the initial streetcar line along
the typically narrow roadway in Northeast
Washington has yet to provide transportation to a single passenger. Worse, there is
no announced timetable to do so, despite
a lengthy start-up testing phase and multiple missed service initiation deadlines.
Streetcars were sold to a passively
skeptical public as partly a marketing tool
to promote economic development in a
long struggling and still somewhat tumbleweed tainted area that is on the verge
of an explosion in additional housing construction and commercial development.
At best, thats what they have proven to

be a novelty gimmick to focus attention on a neighborhood poised for potential growth and business investment.
Their actual intrinsic value is primarily
attracting tourists and eventually encouraging bar-hopping at numerous and future bars and restaurants along a short
stretch.
Confronting city ocials are simple
questions: Should this boondoggle be
abandoned and the H Street trolley also
dismantled? The answer to both is yes.
Other than serving as a moving monument to a retro-transit idea gone wrong
and memorial to expensive mistakes easily made, there is little reason not to entirely end the thing. If nothing else, the streets
would be made safe from the turtle-paced
lumbering of xed-position bus-like behemoths with slow response times and meager trac reaction abilities.
Uprooting the tracks and dismantling
this trolley folly would end the crashing into cars, blocking of vehicular trafc, delaying of business deliveries and
screeching to a stop the bus lines more
eciently serving the area. Why should
the city spend more money to maintain
and operate a single short line that essentially connects to nothing and gets no one
anywhere faster or more eciently than

existing expandable transit options?
Whether city ocials have the courage to
admit this mistake and utilize commonsense
will soon become apparent. D.C. Council
members might consider replacing their Wilson Building dais with one of the streetcars
to conduct their legislative sessions while
peering out the windows. It would serve as
a useful reminder to not fall prey to similar
nonsensical proposals the next time theyre
asked to imitate another trendy notion.
The absurdly astronomical cost of what
little has been built, totaling upwards of
$200 million, and the future expense of
the envisioned network at a lot more than
a trillion bucks, would be a stupid choice.
Especially given the urgency of improving
and expanding existing transportation infrastructure, maintenance and operations.
The city needs to totally call it quits on
trolleys.
D.C. needs to be more forward thinking in accommodating modern-era transit needs. Local politicians should also
get smarter about the limited streetscape
and better at spending the limited funds
available.
We cant waste the time, or squander
the money, to bring back the horse and
buggy.
VIEWPOINT
Dont tread on our rights in West Virginia

Bipartisan defeat of antiLGBT bill bodes well for future
By STEPHEN SKINNER
Many of the desks in the West Virginia
House of Delegates have miniature yellow
Dont Tread on Me ags that signal the
desk is occupied by a Tea Party sympathizer. Many LGBT Americans particularly
in the South might be inclined to share
the righteous sentiment of the Tea Party
when confronted with bigoted and petty
bills designed to roll back hard-won rights.
The reaction to the proposed preemption
of all local LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances in West Virginia is evidence of that.
For more than 80 years, Democrats controlled both houses of the West Virginia Legislature, and it was often dicult for equality
activists to believe Democrats were doing
anything for the LGBT community. Although
a state employment and housing discrimination act made it onto an agenda a time or
two, there was little advancement. Although
a statutory mini-DOMA quickly and quietly
passed in 2001, Democrats successfully prevented constitutional amendments against

marriage equality. The Democrats generally
kept regressive bills o agendas, and were
able to keep West Virginias constitution
clean and free of bigotry.
Everything changed with last Novembers election where, in the lowest turnout
in 60 years, the GOP won historic victories
in both houses of the legislature. Equality
activists suspected that bills that had been
bottled up and kept o agendas would
begin appearing. It did not take long. The
deceptively named West Virginia Intrastate Commerce Improvement Act was
jammed through committee in the House
of Delegates in a two-day period. The bill
purported to promote uniformity among
non-discrimination laws. What it really
proposed was rolling back non-discrimination ordinances in the states largest cities,
undoing decades of work. A retread of the
Colorado law struck down by the Supreme
Court in Romer v. Evans in 1996, this bill
is being peddled across the country by organizations like the West Virginia Family
Policy Council that have dressed it up as a
commerce bill.
The backlash was swift. From all across
the state, but particularly from the affected municipalities, there was a cry of
discontent. The bill attacks two fundamental principals: the right to self-governance
of municipalities and the need to ensure
equal protections for LGBT citizens. Mayors and councils expressed their fury.
At the public hearing two days later, the
mayor of Huntington, West Virginias second largest city and the home of Marshall
University, said his city doesnt have the
time or luxury should we ever be inclined
to exclude anybody from the table ... We
need all hands on deck. Generation West
Virginia, a statewide organization promoting young professionals across the state
was unequivocal: The last thing West Virginia needs is another reason for talented
young professionals to leave the state.
The good news is that West Virginia
communities, businesses and citizens reacted in a way that reinforces what is great
about this state. The bill was so repellant
that the GOP majority leader in the Senate said, We have no appetite for any type
of a bill that discriminates, provides prejudice or preferences to any type of class in

West Virginia. At the public hearing on
the bill, many invoked West Virginias state
motto: Montani Semper Liberi or Mountaineers are Always Free. Opponents of
the bill pointed out that the passage was
in direct contradiction to the motto.
West Virginia can be conservative to
be sure, but there has always been a distinct live-and-let-live attitude. This cynical
attempt to roll back protections struck
many as more than petty; it is contradictory to our core values. As quickly as it
began, the bill was sent back to committee where it was immediately killed in a
procedural move. That the opposition to
the bill was bipartisan, both in the public
sphere and ultimately in the legislature,
bodes well for our future.
Dont tread on us either.
STEPHEN SKINNER (D-Jeerson) is West
Virginias rst and only openly gay legislator.
Prior to winning election, he founded Fairness
West Virginia, the states LGBT advocacy
organization. He is a trial lawyer and lives in
Shepherdstown, W.Va., with his partner.
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Virginia Opera
DIRECT FROM BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
20th Anniversary Tour

FRIDAY, MARCH 6 AT 8 P.M.
To celebrate 20 years of spirited music-making, this awardwinning band from the Emerald Isle, along with two of its former
band mates, returns to the CFA stage to perform a glorious
blend of ancient Irish music and fresh new songs. Impressive,
immersiveand unmistakably Irish. (Strings Magazine)
$46, $39, $28 ff
Tango Buenos Aires
La Traviata
Song of Eva Pern

SATURDAY, MARCH 7 AT 8 P.M.
Warm up your winter with some sizzling Tango! Its in the 70s
and 80s in Buenos Aires this month, so come share some of that
heat with Tango Buenos Aires, one of Argentinas great tango
companies. With their graceful skill and sometimes playful,
sometimes dramatic sensual couplings (The Washington Post),
Eva Perns story has never been so passionately told!
$48, $41, $29
SATURDAY, MARCH 21 AT 8 P.M.

SUNDAY, MARCH 22 AT 2 P.M.
The Fallen Woman. One of the most dearly loved operas,
Verdis is an age-old tale of true love and sacrifice, set to gorgeous
music. Violetta, the most desirable courtesan in Paris, falls in
love with Alfredo and gives up her glamorous life for him. But,
Alfredos father objects her past is ruining the family name,
so Violetta selflessly leaves Alfredo. Alfredo is angry and bereft.
How will it all turn out? Sung in Italian with English supertitles.
Saturday $86, $72, $44
Sunday $98, $80, $48
ff = Family Friendly performances that are most suitable for families with younger children
TICKETS 888-945-2468 OR CFA.GMU.EDU
Located on the Fairfax campus, six miles west of Beltway exit 54 at

the intersection of Braddock Road and Rt. 123.
Not everyones happily ever after

involved a princess...
A sassy, campy, nostalgic review of

music from the world of animation
March 13 at 8pm
March 14 at 3pm (ASL) & 8pm
Lincoln Theatre
1215 U Street NW
Tickets: 1-877-435-9849 or www.GMCW.org

ASL tickets or groups of 10 or more: Call 202-293-1548
SPRING ARTS
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
MARCH 06, 2015 25
Aint life Grand
All American Boy on funneling

fame into something sustainable
have a team, no manager, label, it was

just something I did all myself with my
own money made from playing bars on
weekends. It gave me a good jumpstart
and exposed my music to a lot of people
right o the bat and connected with a lot
of people. I have to be grateful for that
but it has a dark side too, for sure.
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Steve Grand says its become trendy for
gay celebs to come out in an oh-by-theway-type manner. The 25-year-old singer/
songwriter says that was never his style.
People say this is no big deal anymore,
who cares, he says. You know who cares?
The kids who are still really struggling with
this. The kids who feel like they would
still rather be dead than live life as a gay
person. Im thinking about them all the
time when Im doing these things because
deep down, we all just want to be loved.
We want to feel valued and understood.
In 2013, the Chicago native took $7,000 of
his own money to make a music video for his
song All American Boy. The now-famous
clip nearly 4 million YouTube hits logged
found him jamming roots-rock style (many
called it country) and pining for a straight
friend. Now having raised $325,000 from
5,000 fans through a Kickstarter campaign,
Grand is releasing a 13-track album of the
same name. The Aaron Johnson-produced
project is slated for a March 24 release. We
caught up with Grand from his Chicago home
by phone. His comments have been slightly
edited for length.
WASHINGTON BLADE: Nobody sets
out to be a one-hit wonder. You seem
PHOTO BY JOEM BAYAWA
Singer S T E V E G R A N D says he is not driven by nancial payo when making music.
like youre on a logical path to spinning

the attention from the video into a
sustainable career. How easy or hard has
that been so far?
STEVE GRAND: I think I did a good
job of keeping my feet on the ground. I
went through the whole viral Internet
star thing and that was big for a short
time. I fumbled a bit in interviews and
was trying to gure out if I was going to

do shows right away, work on an album.
There really was no plan and looking
back it seems almost like a hindrance
that the video and song came together so
beautifully because I dont think people
realized it was really just me doing all
that. People suddenly had all these really
high expectations right away and I didnt
BLADE: Obviously the video wasnt

just something you did o the cu. How
calculated was it?
GRAND: I really wanted to start a
grassroots kind of thing and I thought if
I put it out there and people responded,
that would be a good start to establishing
myself as an artist so I just started asking
around, nding people who did videos
and eventually I met up with (director)
Jason Knade. I think I really stretched
everyone and got a lot for my money. I
was very passionate about it and I really
cared about getting that song and video
out to the world but no, it wasnt
calculated in terms of anything after. Ive
said this a few times and it doesnt seem
to really stick, but I really did just upload
it to YouTube and put it on Facebook
and then the Internet did its thing. I
wasnt even sure who to reach out to. I
remember thinking, Oh, maybe I should
e-mail Davy Wavey or something, but it
just did its own thing. Buzzfeed got it the
next day and said I was the rst openly
gay country singer and I was like, What?
CONTINUES ON PAGE 34
26 MARCH 06, 2015
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
20 GAY QUESTIONS FOR X-JAY/CHRIS JENNINGS
How long have you been out and

who was the hardest person to tell?
I have been out since I was 18. I think
the hardest person to tell was someone
I never got to tell. I wish I told my
Grandmother before she passed away.
She was my closest friend and she never
knew the real me.
Whos your LGBT hero?
Ellen. She has managed to become

an icon beyond her sexual orientation. I
admire that. I hope that one day we all
can live beyond our labels.
Whats Washingtons best

nightspot, past or present?
Phase 1 was a place I learned to be

myself. That bar helped me become
comfortable in my own skin. Plus I met
my amazing girlfriend there.
Describe your dream wedding.
My dream wedding will be on the

beach. I want to rent a big beach house
and have my close friends and family
there to celebrate over a weekend! The
ceremony will be at sunset with my
guests armed with paper lanterns (biodegradable) to be lifted after the big kiss.
I just want my wedding pictures to be
amazing and that would make a great
shot!
What non-LGBT issue are

you most passionate about?
PHOTO BY CHRIS JAY
X-JAY/CHRIS JENNINGS
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
The D.C. Kings, Washingtons drag king troupe, is celebrating its 15th anniversary
this month.
The group performs at Scandal at Comet Ping Pong (5037 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) on
March 6 at 10 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door. And on March 20, the Kings will be
at the Lodge (21614 National Pike) in Boonsboro, Md., for an 11 p.m. show. Details
at dckings.com.
Over 15 years, more than 400 kings have performed with the group in more than 500
shows including monthly performances over 180 consecutive months. Ken Vegas, the
groups founder, says the Kings are known for their gender-variant performance art
that includes everything from male impersonation, singing, lip syncing, skits and more.
X-Jay started coming to Washington a year and a half ago when he photographed the
D.C. Kings. He works by day as Chris Jennings and is co-producer of Chocolate City
Burlesque and Cabaret.
The 34-year-old Columbia, Md., native is in a relationship with Che Monique and lives
in Hyattsville, Md. X-Jay enjoys Instagram and Netix in his free time.
I have a growing concern about the

ongoing issues surrounding our safety
in regards to the police. I know that
with social media these instances have
been brought to a broader audience
and we are receiving the information
quicker than before, but this is not new.
It is not an emergent social issue. These
situations have existed since the end of
the Civil War. We need to refocus our
perception of minorities in this country.
We should not live in a state of fear of
one another.
What historical outcome

would you change?
I wouldnt change anything. Good or

bad, its our history that denes us.
Whats been the most

memorable pop culture
moment of your lifetime?
Its a tie between Michael Jacksons

death and the birth of the Internet.
On what do you insist?
That my people are treated well. I love

people. I want everyone to nd success
and I hate bullies. I have a high respect
for my close friends and family and I
want what is best for them.
What was your last

Facebook post or Tweet?
Last Facebook post: I need to make a

hashtag for the stories about my mom.
Ideas?
If your life were a book,

what would the title be?
This Is Just The Beginning
If science discovered a way to

change sexual orientation, what
would you do?
Nothing. I think the path that was
given to us at birth is a path worth
traveling. Im gay and I want to ride it out.
I wouldnt change anything.
What do you believe in beyond the

physical world?
If you mean a higher power, then yes I

believe in God.
Whats your advice for LGBT

movement leaders?
Dont forget that classism exists in our

community. Sometimes I feel like we
dont advocate for the minorities within
our community.
What would you walk

across hot coals for?
Love
What LGBT stereotype

annoys you most?
That butch lesbians want to be men.

I do not want to be a man. I love the
person I am becoming and I wouldnt
change a thing.
Whats your favorite LGBT movie?
But Im a Cheerleader will always be

one of my favorites!
Whats the most overrated social

custom?
Getting jumbo slices after getting

drunk at the bar. I think some people do
it just because its the thing to do.
What trophy or prize

do you most covet?
2015 Best of Gay D.C.

Best Visual Artist!
What do you wish youd known at 18?
I wish I would have known the person

I am today.
Why Washington?
I feel like we are in the center of

everything here. I love this city!
MA RCH 0 6 , 2 0 1 5 2 7
PART Y
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PRESENTED BY
MARCH 19, 2015

7 PM
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GIANT PANDA GUERILLA

DUB SQUAD
W/ JANKA NABAY & THE BUBU GANG,

COCKTAIL PARTY PHENOMENON
THEHAMILTONDC.COM
PHOTO BY LESLIE VAN STELTEN; COURTESY OF ILDK MEDIA
By MARIAH COOPER
Antigone Rising returns

All-female rock band Antigone Rising gives a performance at Jammin Java (227 Maple
Ave E., Vienna, Va.) with opener Christine Havrilla Friday night at 8 p.m.
Antigone Risings Kristen Ellis-Henderson, who plays bass and sings vocals, is a lesbian
and appeared on Time Magazines cover kissing her wife Sarah Kate Ellis-Henderson.
The band has performed shows with Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones, Joan Jett and other
rock legends. Their latest EP Whiskey and Wine, Vol. 1 was released last year.
Advanced tickets are $15 and day-of-show tickets are $18. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
This is an all-ages show. For more information, visit jamminjava.com.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PROJECT PUBLICITY
Drag Race vets duke

it out at 9:30 Club
RuPauls Drag Race: Battle of the
Seasons tour stops by 9:30 Cub (815 V
St., N.W.) on Sunday.
The top favorites from various seasons
of RuPauls Drag Race perform in one
night. Performers include Alaska 5000,
BenDeLaCreme, Darienne Lake (pictured
here), Ivy winters, Jiggly Caliente, Jinkx
Monsoon and Pandora Boxx. Cary NoKey
will also make a special guest appearance.
VIP ticket holders should arrive at 6:45
p.m. for the 7 p.m. meet and greet.
General admission tickets are $35.
VIP tickets are $65 and include a meet
and greet with the performers. For more
details, visit 930.com.
Otter Crossing
goes Freddie
PHOTO COURTESY OF STRATHMORE
Strathmore launches new venue
M-Th 11:30aM-10pM F-saT 11:30aM-11pM

suN. bruNch 11aM-3pM / diNNer 3-10pM
322 Mass. ave. Ne 202.543.7656
cafeberlindc.com
Strathmore celebrates the opening of its new venue AMP (11810 Grand Park Ave.,
North Bethesda, Md.) with an all-lesbian concert featuring Toshi Reagon, Allison Miller
and Be Steadwell on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Reagons music style is folk and blues. She has opened for Lenny Kravitz and
performed alongside Ani Difranco. Miller is a drummer and singer and has also
performed alongside DiFranco among others. Be Steadwell is a queer singer-songwriter
and lmmaker.
Tickets are $35. For details, visit ampbystrathmore.com.
Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.)

hosts Otter Crossing: Night of a 1000
Freddies tonight at 10 p.m.
DJ Shea Van Horn will play music from
Freddie Mercurys era of the 70s, 80s,
90s disco, house and classic rock. Drink
specials are $5 Stoli drinks, $4 Fireballs
and $3 Bud Lights. Guests who arrive with
mustaches and other Freddie-related
clothing get free admission. There will
also be live performances.
Cover is $5 after 10 p.m. For more
information, visit greenlanterndc.com.
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DC S15- WA Blade Series_Layout 1 3/4/15 10:53 AM Page 2
HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR

SPRING SEASON!
More info and events at nglive.org/dc
Mar 10 JUNGLE TREASURES,

TROPICAL TALES
Apr 21 EVOLUTION OF A PHOTOGRAPHER
Tue 7:30 PM
Tue 7:30 PM
TALK
TALK
Travel to the tropics with photographer and ecologist

Christian Ziegler as he documents endangered species.
Apr 23 MARCUS OFF DUTY
Mar 19 ERIC MOE FILM AWARDS
Thu 7:30 PM
FILM + CONVERSATION
Thu 7 PM
CONVERSATION,
RECEPTION +
BOOK SIGNING
See Silent River and other films created to change

how we think about our planet.
Mar 26 MONSTER FISH:
Thu 7:30 PM
TALK
Thu 7:30 PM
TALK
Tue 7:30 PM
TALK + BOOK SIGNING
KAYAKING ASIAS WILDERNESS
TALK + BOOK SIGNING
Join river guide Amber Valenti and extreme sports

photographer Krystle Wright on their 2,700-mile kayak
expedition to one of the most remote areas of Asia.
TALK
TALK
Join photographer Matthieu Paley as he travels the

world in search of our ancestral ties to the food we eat.
BOB POOLE
TALK
FPARRKEINEG
Jun 9 AN EVENING OF
EXPLORATION + DISCOVERY
CONVERSATION
A DIGITAL EXPEDITION
Explorer Albert Lin combines digital technology

with on-the-ground exploration to solve both
historical and modern mysteries.
Most events $24 and under

17th & M Streets
Metros: Farragut N & W
A CAMERAMANS JOURNAL
Cinematographer Bob Poole documents a conservation

project in Mozambiques Gorongosa National Park.
Tue 7 PM
Apr 16 CHASING ANCIENT MYSTERIES:
Thu 7:30 PM
Dive into the worlds wildest marine environments with

underwater photographer Thomas Peschak.
May 21 GORONGOSA REBORN:
Thu 7:30 PM
Apr 15 WE ARE WHAT WE EAT
Wed 7:30 PM
Be inspired by activist and adventurer Shannon Galpin,

the first woman to mountain bike in Afghanistan.
May 19 WILD SEAS, SECRET SHORES
Tue 7:30 PM
Apr 2 NOBODYS RIVER:
Award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson in conversation

with National Geographic Studios executive producer Pam
Caragol Wells. Followed by a reception featuring some of
his favorite recipes.
May 5 BIKING AFGHANISTAN
MY SEARCH FOR FRESHWATER GIANTS
Take a fishing trip with aquatic ecologist Zeb Hogan,

Nat Geo explorer and star of the Nat Geo WILD series
Monster Fish.
Follow photographer Robert Clarks career from

newspaper to National Geographic.
National Geographic personalities and the next generation

of explorers reveal their stories, discoveries, and ongoing
pursuits.
@NatGeoLive
facebook.com/natgeolive
202.857.7700 | nglive.org/dc
30 MARCH 06, 2015
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
HOT HITS & HIDDEN JEWELS
FROM CULTURECAPITAL.COM YOUR LINK TO THE ARTS IN METRO D.C.
AMP BY STRATHMORE. OPENING MAR 6.

301-581-5100. ampbystrathmore.com.
Located at Pike & Rose on Rockville Pike and powered by Strathmore, AMP brings great
music and food under one roof. Opening performances include Jay Farrar: Mar 6-Mar 7,
Toshi Reagon & Allison Miller: Mar 8, Lower Dens: Mar 12.
IBERIAN SUITE: GLOBAL ARTS REMIX. THRU MAR 24.

KENNEDY CENTER. 202-467-4600. KENNEDY-CENTER.ORG.
Highlighting the arts and culture of Portuguese and Spanish speaking peoples with
performances by the regions best contemporary music, dance, and theater artists
including: Concha Buika (Spain) with Ivn Melon Lewis & Continuum Quartet (Cuba):
Mar 8, Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras (Spain): Voces, Suite Flamenca: Mar 9, Companhia
Portuguesa de Bailado Contemporneo (Portugal): Fado: Mar 10-11. See full schedule
at CultureCapital.com.
GOOD KIDS BY NAOMI IIZUKA. THRU MAR 7. THE

CLARICE. 301-405-2787. CLARICESMITHCENTER.UMD.EDU.
Good Kids explores a casual sexual encounter gone wrong, and its very public aftermath.
This play responds to actual events that went on to generate a national dialogue.
THIRTY YEARS OF DISCOVERIES: PAINTING,

CALLIGRAPHY AND CERAMICS BY STEPHEN ADDISS
THRU APR 18. ROBERT BROWN GALLERY.
202-338-0353. ROBERTBROWNGALLERY.COM.
Stephen Addiss began studying calligraphy and ink painting in 1969 with Asian scholars,
later studying in Japan and Taiwan. This exhibition features over thirty years of ink
paintings, calligraphy, and ceramics.
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMP BY STRATHMORE
ARTS & CULTURE
THEATRE
Mary Stuart. Thru Mar 8. Folger. 202544-7077. folger.edu.
Kid Victory. Thru Mar 22. Soon. Mar
10-Apr 26. Signature. 703-820-9771.
signature-theatre.org.
Godspell. Thru Mar 15. Grounded.
Godspell
Thru Mar 22. Olney. 301-924-3400.
olneytheatre.org.
Cherokee. Thru Mar 8. Woolly Mammoth.
Cherokee
202-393-3939. woollymammoth.net.
Laugh.
Laugh Mar 11-Apr 19. Studio Theatre.
202-332-3300. studiotheatre.org.
Madness.
Ongoing.
Shear
Shear
Madness
Madness. Kennedy Center. 800-444-1324.
shearmadness.com.
Look.
Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival: Closer Look
JESSA. Mar 6. Wits End Puppets. Thru
Mar 6. JESSA
Mar 7. dog & pony dc.
dc Thru Mar 7. Deane,
Goldie.
Goldie. Mar 6-Mar 7. City at Peace. Mar 7.
Atlas. 202-399-7993. atlasarts.org.
Upright Citizens Brigade Touring
Company. Mar 6-Mar 7. BlackRock
Center for the Arts. 240-912-1058.
blackrockcenter.org.
Maz Jobrani: Im Not A Terrorist But Ive
Played One On TV. Mar 6. Warner Theatre.
202-783-4000. warnertheatredc.com.
The Lieutenant of Inishmore. Thru
Mar 8. Constellation. 202-204-7741.
constellationtheatre.org.
Sunset Boulevard. Thru Mar 21. Reston
Community Players. CenterStage. 703476-4500. restonplayers.org.
Back to Methuselah. Thru Mar 15.
Washington Stage Guild. Undercroft
Theatre. 240-582-0050. stageguild.org.
Much Ado About Nothing. Thru Mar 22.
866-811-4111. synetictheater.org.
Time Stands Still. Mar 7-Mar 29. Peters
Alley at Theatre on the Run. 202-6439274. petersalley.com.
Press Play Hump Day. Mar 11-Apr 8.
DCAC. 202-462-7833. dcartscenter.org.
DANCE
Tango Buenos Aires: Song of Eva Pern.
Mar 7. GMU. 888-945-2468. cfa.gmu.edu
Rueda All Stars (from Cuba). Mar 6. Dance
Place. 202-269-1600. danceplace.org.
Atlas
INTERSECTIONS
Festival:
MOVEIUS Contemporary Ballet. Mar
6-Mar 7. Mark H Taiko & Uprooted
Dance. Mar 7. SOLE Dened. Mar 7. Gin
Dance Company. Mar 7. Pace Setters
Dance. Mar 7. Atlas Performing Arts
Center. 202-399-7993. atlasarts.org.
MUSIC
Dialogues of the Carmelites. Thru Mar
10. The Flying Dutchman. Mar 7-Mar 21.
WNO. NSO with Lang Lang in recital.
Mar 7. Kennedy Center. 202-467-4600.
kennedy-center.org
Mulatu Astatke. Mar 6. GW Lisner
Auditorium. 202-994-6800. lisner.gwu.edu.
Dan: 20th Anniversary Tour. Mar 6.

George Mason Universitys Center for the
Arts. 888-945-2468. cfa.gmu.edu.
Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival: All
Points West. Thru Mar 6. RAJAS. Mar 6.
Olayimika Cole and LIfe Productions.
Mar 7. Imani. Mar 7. Atlas Performing
Arts Center. 202-399-7993. atlasarts.org.
The Axelrod String Quartet Spring
Concert Mar 7 & 8. TSA. American
History
Museum.
202-633-3035.
smithsonianassociates.org.
Luciano. Mar 11. Howard Theatre. 202803-2899. thehowardtheatre.com.
Faur Requiem. Mar 8. Cathedral Choral
Society at Washington National Cathedral.
202-537-2228.
cathedralchoralsociety.
org.
Till Fellner, piano. Mar 6. The Embassy
Series. Embassy of Austria. 202-625-2361.
embassyseries.org.
Altan. Mar 6. Vatsala Mehra. Mar 7.
Buckwheat Zydeco. Mar 11. The Barns
at Wolf Trap. 877-965-3872. wolftrap.org.
The
Westerlies,
Brass
Quartet.
Mar 7. The Clarice. 301-405-2787.
claricesmithcenter.umd.edu.
MUSEUMS
National Gallery of Art. Piero di Cosimo:
The Poetry of Painting in Renaissance
Florence. Thru May 3. 202-737-4215. nga.
gov.
National Museum of Women in the
Arts. Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother,
Idea. Thru Apr 12. Doris Lee: American
Painter and Illustrator. Thru May 8. 202783-5000. nmwa.org.
National Geographic. Spinosaurus: Lost
Giant of the Cretaceous. Thru Apr 12.
202-857-7000. nglive.org.
GALLERIES
Artisphere.
WPA.
SELECT
2015:
Exhibition. Thru Mar 7. 703-875-1100.
wpadc.org.
BlackRock Center for the Arts. Donna
Radner and B.D. Richardson. Thru Mar
28. 301-528-2260. blackrockcenter.org.
The Art League Gallery. Claudia
Cappelle. Thru Apr 6. 703-683-1780.
theartleague.org.
District Architecture Center. Cover
Stories. Thru Apr 4. 202-347-9403. aiadac.
com.
Zenith Sculpture Space. Woman of
Zenith Who Have Reached the Zenith!
Thru Apr 26. zenithgallery.com
Fisher Art Gallery. Clive and Virignia
Pates. Thru Mar 29. 703-534-5726. nvcc.
edu/schlesingercenter/gallery.
DCCAH. Visual Arts 2015 Artist Fellowship
Program. Thru Mar 27. 202-724-5613.
dcarts.dc.gov.
DCAC (DC Arts Center). Dis/Satisfaction.
Thru Mar 8. 202-462-7833. dcartscenter.org.
MA RCH 0 6 , 2 0 1 5 3 1
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THE REVELATION
OF BOBBY
PRITCHARD
BY RICH ESPEY
MARCH 13-28, 8 PM
Spurred on by vivid dreams of the late Bobby Pritchard, Marta

returns to her childhood home, a rural and religious community
she fled decades ago. Now, with her wife at her side, Marta
encounters Hank, a brother she barely knows, and Oren, a
nephew struggling with his sexuality.
Tough decisions, painful secrets and shots fired make this
a powerful new addition to Espeys growing collection of
acclaimed dramatic works.
IRON CROW THEATRE
TICKETS: General Admission $22.00

ironcrowtheatre.org/bobby
PRIDE NIGHT:
MARCH 13
Kid Victory contains explicit content.
Viewer discretion is advised.
25
Photo of Jake Winn by Christopher Mueller.
Iron Crow Theatre presents the world premiere of The

Revelation of Bobby Pritchard, a poignant and lyrical new
play from Maryland playwright Rich Espey, three-time winner
of the Award for Best Play at the Baltimore Playwrights Festival.
32 MARCH 06, 2015
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
CALENDAR
TODAY
TUESDAY, MARCH 10
D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.)

hosts Bear Happy Hour tonight from 6-10
p.m. Drink specials are $4 rail drinks,
$2 bud and bud light drafts and $2 o
everything else. There is no cover charge.
For more details, visit dceagle.com.
Greater HRC D.C. and Washington
Prodigy Womens Tackle Football host
Sing For Equality night at Nellies Sports
Bar (900 U St., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m.
Duos, groups and singles can all perform.
The winner will be determined by judges
and audience applause. Admission is
free. A $5 donation will extend happy
hour prices. For more information, visit
facebook.com/hrcgreaterwashingtondc.
D.C. Kings, a male impersonation
performance group, celebrates its 15th
anniversary with its show Spring Fling
at Comet Ping Pong (5037 Connecticut
Ave., N.W.) tonight at 9 .m. D.C. Kings
will perform at 10 p.m. DJ Floorgasm
and DJ Deedub will play tracks for the
night. Tickets are $12. For details, visit
scandalcometpingpong.eventbrite.com.
Touchstone Gallery (901 New York
Ave., N.W.) opens two new exhibits
this month. First is Sprout, an exhibit
by Touchstone member artists who
showcase works of color and pattern
in springs early light through collage,
painting, sculpture, photography and
other mediums. The second exhibit is
a series of paintings that incorporates
yarn dipped in acrylic paint that acts as
a ne brush. For more information, visit
touchstonegallery.com.
Overeaters Anonymous, an LGBTfocused meeting, will meet at St.

Georges Episcopal Church (915 Oakland
Ave., Arlington, Va.) tonight at 7 p.m.
Newcomers welcome. For details, call
703-521-1999 or 703-307-9517.
D.C. Bi Women hosts its monthly
meeting in the upstairs room of Dupont
Italian Kitchen (1637 17th St., N.W.) from
7-9 p.m. tonight. For more details, visit
thedccenter.org.
SATURDAY, MARCH 7
Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer
organization, volunteers for Food and
Friends (219 Riggs Rd., N.E.) today from
8-10 a.m. Volunteers will chop vegetables
and pack groceries. To volunteer, email
jonathan@burgundycrescent.org.
For
more details, visit burgundycrescent.org.
Glorious Health Club (2120 West
Virginia Ave., N.E.) hosts Code Redux
Play Party tonight at 10 p.m. Fetish dress
is required but full nudity will be allowed.
There will be a clothes check. Admission
is $20 and $15 for Crucible members. For
more details, visit codedc.com.
Stadium Club (2127 Queens Chapel Rd.,
N.E.) hosts Ladies Day today from 4-10
p.m. Slim Jenkins will perform. Admission
is free before 4 p.m. Cover is $10 before 7
p.m. and $15 after 7 p.m. There will be an
open bar from 4-6 p.m. Drink specials will
be throughout the day. DJ Adot Net and DJ
Mim will play music for the party. For details,
visit facebook.com/onyx.entertainment.
The Respect Yourself Project presents
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11
IMAGE COURTESY OF TOUCHSTONE GALLERY
Gold by Mary D. Ott is on display now at Touchstone Gallery.
Project Red HIV and AIDS concert and

fundraiser at Joes Movement Emporium
(3309 Bunker Hill Rd., Mount Rainier, Md.)
tonight from 6-9 p.m. Performers include
Darren The Soul Entertainer, MJ Harris,
Caleb Hacker and more. There will be
red carpet photography, hors doeuvres
and a dessert buet. Mike Gary Jr. will
host the night. Tickets are $25. Proceeds
will benet Denim an HIV/STI prevention
program for men who have sex with men
of color between the ages of 18-29. For
more information, visit facebook.com/
therespectyourselfproject.
SUNDAY, MARCH 8
Rainbow Theatre Project presents
Torch: Songs from the Gay Life at the
Bier Baron Tavern (1523 22nd St., N.W.)
tonight at 8 p.m. This cabaret show
celebrates songs from gay life including
music from Judy Garland, Cole Porter,
Little Richard, David Bowie, Donna
Summer, Boy George and many more.
Tickets are $25. For more details, visit
rainbowtheatreproject.com.
Perrys (1811 Columbia Rd., N.W.) hosts
its weekly Sunday Drag Brunch today
from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The cost is $24.95
for an all-you-can-eat buet. For more
details, visit perrysadamsmorgan.com.
Nellies Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.)

hosts a drag brunch today with shows at
10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Brunch buet
is $26 and the rst mimosa or Bloody
Mary is free. For more information and to
purchase tickets, visit nelliesdragbrunch.
eventbrite.com.
MONDAY, MARCH 9
Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts Monday
Nights a Drag tonight from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.
Roxxy Andrews and Trinity K Bonet will
perform. Kristina Kelly will host the night.
There will be a showing of RuPauls
Drag Race season seven at 9 p.m. The
drag show starts at 11 p.m. For more
information, visit cobaltdc.com.
The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W..)
hosts coee drop-in hours this morning
from 10 a.m.-noon for the senior LGBT
community. Older LGBT adults can
come and enjoy complimentary coee
and conversation with other community
members. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.
Us Helping Us (3636 Georgia Ave.,
N.W.) holds a support group for gay
black men to discuss topics that aect
them, share perspectives and have
meaningful conversations. For details,
visit uhupil.org.
The Lambda Bridge Club meets

tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center
(721 8th St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge. No
reservations required and new comers
welcome. If you need a partner, call 703407-6540.
Rainbow Response, an LGBT intimate
partner violence prevention group, meets
in the third oor conference room at 5
Thomas Circle N.W. today from 6-7 p.m.
For details, visit thedccenter.org.
SMYAL (410 7th St., S.E.) hosts a
Rap Group, a support group for LGBT
youth, today from 5-6:30 p.m. For more
information, visit smyal.org.
The Big Gay Book Group meets
tonight at 7 p.m. at 1155 F St., N.W. to
discuss There Goes the Gayborhood
by Amin Ghaziani. Newcomers welcome.
Details at biggaybookgroup.com.
THURSDAY, MARCH 12
Human Rights Campaign (1640 Rhode
Island Ave., N.W.) presents a screening
and discussion of Living in the Overlap
tonight at 7 p.m. This documentary
chronicles the true story of two women
who grow up together in the 1940s an
end up falling in love and building a life
together for over 40 years. Co-director
Mary Dalton will be present for a panel
discussion about issues LGBT seniors
and couples face. Admission is free.
For more details, visit facebook.com/
humanrightscampaign.
SMYAL (410 7th St., S.E.) hosts Womens
Leadership Institute, a group for LBT
women and their straight allies ages 13-21
to discuss female sexuality, relationships
and womens rights today from 5-7 p.m.
For more information, visit smyal.org.
E-mail calendar items to calendars@washblade.

com two weeks prior to your event. Space is
limited so priority is given to LGBT-specic events
or those with LGBT participants. Recurring events
must be re-submitted each time.
MA RCH 0 6 , 2 0 1 5 3 3
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34 MARCH 06, 2015
SPRING ARTS
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
M y w a y o f r e b e l l i n g w a s t a k i n g o f f m y c l o t h e s
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 25
I never really stood by that title but I was

glad people were seeing it.
BLADE: When was it lmed and how
long did it take?
GRAND: We lmed it in June of 2013
and shot it over three days. It was really
hard trying to nd a yard that we could
bring all my friends as extras and have
a place that looked like open roads and
a campre and light o reworks and
not get in trouble. I had so much trouble
getting a place. No one wants to lend
their place to a bunch of 23 year olds with
cameras, reworks and alcohol, but we
did end up nding a place in Wisconsin
through a friend of a friend. I invited like
200 people knowing maybe 30 would
show up and I was right. We shot two
days back to back, then a week later shot
the stu in a friends yard where it looks
like the morning after with the re and
the garbage. Then we edited it right away.
BLADE: I guess people were skeptical
because it looked so professionally done.
So many essentially homemade videos
end up looking so cheesy. How did you
avoid that?
GRAND: Well, I insisted on looking
at all the footage we shot even though
nobody wants to do that because its so
crazy, but I insisted. I was like, Give me
the footage. I wanted to be sure we had
absolutely the best shot of everything so
I spent hours and hours going through
it. I also really needed it to be up by the
Fourth of July, that was my plan, me being
calculating I guess. I thought that was the
best time to release it so we had a very
limited amount of time. The editor had
his rst edit, then we spent eight hours
going over everything making tweaks.
I really just knew exactly how I wanted it
to look and I knew the feeling I wanted
people to have and how to achieve that.
I was very inspired and very determined
and also lucky to have some very talented
people to help. I drove myself nuts,
though. My parents were starting to get
really worried. They were like, Its a little
scary how youre so intense about this. I
wasnt sleeping or eating, which honestly
is why I look so ripped in the video. I was
really going over every last detail right up
until the last minute.
PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER FREE
S T E V E G R A N D says he knew his All American Boy video would be successful.
BLADE: When hip-hop made its mark

on pop, country started sounding a lot like
where pop/rock was in the 90s. Do you
think thats why you got the country sticker?
GRAND: Yeah, live drums, acoustic
guitar now, people think country. And
also the storytelling style and a lot of
the visuals with American ags, old cars,
friends by the re, whisky those are
very country images I guess. I just think of
them as Americana. Ive never gotten too
hung up on what its called. If it sounds
country to you, thats ne. Im just all
about making the song really shine and
bringing out the beautiful raw elements
of the song.
BLADE: Theres a lot of industry hand
wringing about whether albums are
obsolete. Why was it important to you to
make one?
GRAND: It was something I always
wanted to do. After All American Boy
came out people were like, You made
it, you made it. Im like, I havent done
anything yet. Until I have an album out
and have played all over the country and
the world, then Ill feel Ive done what
Ive wanted to do since I was 12. Right
after All American Boy, all these oers
came in, all this stupid shit like reality TV
and you know, people saying you have
to decide today what you want your
career to be like. My thinking all along
was if Im a good songwriter and a good
performer and I think theres an audience
out there for me, if that is all true, then
there should still be something left when
this moment fades away.
BLADE: Will you tour?

GRAND: Yeah, later in the spring. Were
doing this thing in Europe for two weeks in
June and the rest is being put together now.
BLADE: How did you feel watching Sam
Smith at the Grammys?
GRAND: It was amazing and a
testament to where we are today, which
is a beautiful thing. I thought about what
it would have meant to me as a young
person to have seen something like that
Sam Smith just owning the Grammys,
that was amazing. Hes obviously just
so, so good and the industry has really
embraced him. People everywhere just
seem to really like him.
BLADE: What album did you wear out
when you were 12-13-14?
GRAND: Fall Out Boy, Take This to
Your Grave. I listened to that like crazy.
Thats when that whole pop-funk-emo
thing was happening.
BLADE: You played a lot in clubs and
churches. What did you learn?
GRAND: How to be in front of people
and give them an experience even when I
wasnt feeling it. You learn to perform and
be on whether youre having a bad day,
hung over, sometimes sick, whatever.
I learned it was my job to still play and
make people happy.
BLADE: Theres no money in having a
huge YouTube hit and not that I sense
youre doing all this for the money but
surely in time you want to be able to
sustain yourself doing this. You put a lot

of money into the video. Was it worth it?
GRAND: Anytime somebody thinks
Im doing this for the money, I just laugh
forever. I actually moved out of my
apartment and back into my parents
basement because I wanted to keep
investing in myself and not throwing
hundreds of dollars away for an
apartment I was barely at anyway because
I was spending so much time traveling to
L.A. and recording. People have all sorts
of priorities and so far, mine has been
putting out something beautiful in the
world, something people will connect to
and giving people an experience. I dont
care about living a glamorous life.
BLADE: Youve done a lot of scantily
clad photo shoots. Do all the underwear
shots risk undermining a serious career?
GRAND: Those were all done when I
was 19, so like six years ago. I didnt do
drugs or anything. My way of rebelling
was taking o my clothes. I dont own
them and dont choose my Google search
so theres nothing I can do about it. Im
not ashamed of them and I dont feel like
theyre any big deal but most of the time
now I dont care how I look. Sometimes
Ill do a show now and people say, Take
o your shirt. The only time I did that
was for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in
Lake Superior. But now, I dont really care
about showing o my body.
BLADE: Whatever ingredients are
needed to launch a successful pop career
in 2015 whatever combination of looks,
talent, and so on, to say nothing of drive,
it would seem you were dealt a pretty
good hand in life. Would you concur?
GRAND: Oh yeah, Im never one to
downplay that, absolutely. Were not all
dealt the same hand. I think Im lucky to a
certain extent but also lucky to have work
ethic and passion and to care about what
I do. You really have to be in this for the
right reasons because if youre not, its
just not worth it.
BLADE: Youve said before in interviews
you were not dating but focusing on
career development. Is that still the case?
GRAND: Absolutely. And even if I was, I
wouldnt say. I like to keep some things to
myself. I love life and sex and all that, but
thats for me.
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36 MARCH 06, 2015
THEATER
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Blithe theatrical season
Hookers, grand dames and

a gay president coming soon
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
Spring is the season of growth and
renewal and the Rainbow Theatre
Project
(rainbowtheatreproject.com)
is sprouting out all over. Helmed by
out artistic director H. Lee Gable and
managing director Michael Kelley, who
is bisexual, Rainbow is committed to
being D.C.s premier theater for the LGBT
community. Last season (Rainbows rst),
the company focused on staged readings
of new works, but now the edgling
company is expanding with a one-night
cabaret extravaganza titled Torch:
Torch:
Songs from the Gay Life! (Sunday at
Bier Baron Tavern near Dupont Circle),
featuring professional LGBT talent.
And in June, Rainbow is presenting a
fully staged production of out playwright
Paula Vogels The
The Oldest Profession
Profession
(June 4-21) at Flashpoint. An early Vogel
work, this play with music charts the
professional decline of a senior madam
and her stall of aging hookers during the
Reagan era.
Baltimores Iron Crow Theatre
presents The Revelation of Bobby
Pritchard, by Rich Espey March 13-28.
Its billed as a contemporary exploration
of the clash between religious conviction
and modern LGBT issues contained within
the tumultuous dynamics of a typical
American family. It will be performed
at the Baltimore Theatre Project (45
W. Preston St., Baltimore). Details at
ironcrowtheatre.org.
At Fords Theatre (fords.org), out
director Je Calhoun is staging Freedoms
Song: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil
War, (March 13-May 20) an epic musical
featuring the words of Lincoln and music
inspired by the letters of those who lived
through the war. Fords is developing this
work as part of the Fords 150, a series
of events commemorating the 150th
anniversary of Lincolns assassination. The
cast features talented local actor Stephen
Gregory Smith as a Confederate private.
Smiths husband Matt Conner is
directing Once on This Island (May
8-31), Lynn Ahrens and Stephen
Flahertys Caribbean-set, one-act musical
at Creative Cauldron (creativecauldron.
PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS; COURTESY OF CENTER STAGE MARKETING
A N G E L A L A N S B U R Y in Blithe Spirit.
org) in Falls Church.

At Arena Stage (arenastage.org), out
actor Jeerson Farber is playing Spike
in Christopher Durangs Tony-winning
Chekhov-inspired comedy Vanya and
Sonia and Masha and Spike (April
3-May 3). The script describes Spike as an
aspiring actor, 29, sexy, self-absorbed.
Spike spends much of the comedy
shirtless and even treats audiences to a
reverse strip tease.
Factory 449 (factory449.org) will
present Radha Bharadwajs Closet
Land (April 16-May 20) at Anacostia
Arts Center. Staged by out director Rick
Hammerly, it centers on the interrogation
of a childrens book author who is accused
by the government of inciting anarchy in
her work. The timely two-hander features
talented company members Sara Barker
and out actor David Lamont Wilson.
At MetroStage (metrostage.org) in
Alexandria, out actor Michael Russotto
stars opposite Susan Lynskey in John W.
Lowells The Letters (May 7-June 7). Set
in early 1930s Russia, Lowells suspenseful
drama is inspired by the Soviets removal
of all hints of homosexuality from
composer Tchaikovskys letters and
papers. Out director John Vreeke helms

the production.
Studio Theatre (studiotheatre.org)
presents Jumpers for Goalposts (May
13-June 21), a comedy about an amateur
gay soccer team called Barely Athletic
competing for a trophy in a LGBT league
in the British working-class city of Hull. Its
a U.S. premiere of both the play and its
out playwright Tom Wells, who is getting
a lot of attention in England. There is a
special Blade night planned for May 27.
This
spring,
National
Theatre
(thenationaldc.com) plays host to two great
ladies of the stage. First its the remarkable
Angela Lansbury in the tour of gay genius
Noel Cowards classic comedy Blithe
Spirit (March 17-29). Lansbury plays the
outlandish Madame Arcati, a medium who
unwittingly summons up novelist Charles
Condomines dead wife Elvira, much to his
current wife Ruths dismay.
And then Barry Humphries brings his
cat-eyed, lavender-haired lady from down
under to the National in Dame Ednas
Glorious Goodbye the Farewell Tour
(April 21-26). So possums, get tickets. This
may be your last chance to see the rapier
witted dame on a local stage.
At
Woolly
Mammoth
(woollymammoth.net) is the world
premiere of Lights Rise on Grace
(Marcy 30-April 26) by Chad Beckim.
Billed as an examination of race, sexuality
and family, its the story of a shy Chinese
American who falls in love with Large, an
outgoing African-American classmate.
But their romance ends abruptly when
Large is sent to prison for six years where
he becomes lovers with Riece, a white
fellow prisoner. Following his release,
Large reunites with Grace but continues
to have sex with men.
Then its Zombie: The American
(May 25-June 21), a world premier from
the marvelously talented out playwright
Robert O Hara. The year is 2063 and the
rst openly gay president of the United
States is dealing with imminent civil war,
the threat of an African invasion, an
adulterous First Gentleman, and zombies
in the basement of the White House.
What to do? Zombies four-person cast
includes the seriously funny, out actor
Sarah Marshall.
Theater J celebrates 30 years of gay
actor/writer Charles Busch with a revival
of Tale of the Allergists Wife June
3-July 5. Details at washingtondcjcc.org.
At Signature Theatre (signaturetheatre.org), its another busy spring
for out director Matthew Gardiner. Hes
staging Nick Blaemires new musical
Soon (March 10-April 26), the quirky story
of Charlie, a 20-something woman who
seems to have given up on life. Following
Soon, Gardiner tackles Cabaret (May
12-June 28), the Weimar-set John Kander
and Fred Ebb musical based on gay writer
Christopher Isherwoods biographical
novel Goodbye to Berlin. Wesley Taylor
(NBCs Smash, Broadways The Addams
Family and Rock of Ages) stars as the
Emcee and award-winning local out actor
Bobby Smith plays Ernst, a likable guy
whos revealed to be a Nazi.
Nu Sass Productions (nusass.com),
a D.C.-based female driven theater
company is presenting Tony Kushners A
Bright Room Called Day (March 12-April
5) at Caos on F Street, N.W. One of the gay
playwrights early works, Bright Room
depicts the lives of a group of friends
during the fall of the Weimar Republic
and the rise of the Nazi Party in Berlin.
Angela Pirko directs.
MA RCH 0 6 , 2 0 1 5 3 7
JOIN US FOR AN EXCITING SEASON

AT OLNEY THEATRE CENTER!
Come Sing About Love...
NOW PLAYING
THRU
MARCH 15
NOW THRU MARCH 24

A three-week, multidisciplinary, international festival showcasing the many cultures
of Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking peoples, and their impact around the world
A CO-PRODUCTION WITH EVERYMAN THEATRE
NOW PLAYING
THRU
A Play by GEORGE BRANT
MARCH 22
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
PICASSO CERAMIST AND THE MEDITERRANEAN
Exclusive U.S. exhibition!
APR. 15 MAY 10
Now thru Mar. 22 | Atrium & Atrium Foyers
GRUPO CORPO (BRAZIL)
Mar. 6 & 7 | Eisenhower Theater
BUIKA (SPAIN) WITH IVN MELON LEWIS &

CONTINUUM QUARTET (CUBA)
Mar. 8 | Concert Hall
COMPAA MARA PAGS (SPAIN)
Utopa
MAY 13 JUNE 21
EUGENIA LEN (MEXICO)
Eugenia Len y Las Voces de Mujeres, Voces del Pueblo
CARMEN SOUZA (CAPE VERDE)
Live at Lagny Jazz Festival Tour
Mar. 16 | Eisenhower Theater
MEL BROOKS
JUNE 24 JULY 26
Plus, more dance, music, theater, literature panels, forums,

installations, and culinary offerings.
IBERIAN SUITE: global arts remix is curated by Alicia Adams, Vice President of International Programming
Tickets on sale now!
(202) 467-4600 kennedy-center.org

Tickets also available at the Box Office | Groups (202) 416-8400
For complete festival information, visit

KENNEDY-CENTER.ORG/IBERIA
O L N E Y T H E AT R E C E N T E R
IBERIAN SUITE: global arts remix

Presented in cooperation with the governments of Portugal and Spain
Presenting Underwriter
HRH Foundation
Festival Benefactors include the Portuguese Secretary of State for Culture, Ambassador Elizabeth F. Bagley,
Natalia and Carlos Bulgheroni, Amalia Perea Mahoney and William Mahoney, and David and Alice Rubenstein
For Tickets & Info:

301.924.3400 olneytheatre.org
WERE CLOSE BY! Just 30 mins. from DC, 15 mins. from Rockville and Columbia and 40 mins. from Baltimore!
Major Sponsors include Arte Institute, Caixa Geral de Depsitos, Cames Instituto da Cooperao e da Lngua,
EDP, Fundao Luso-Americana, Marca Espaa, SPAIN arts & culture, ThinkFoodGroup, and Wines of Portugal
38 MARCH 06, 2015
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
FILM
Flaming flicks
From silents to I MAX 3-D, docs,

indies, Oscar winners and beyond
By BRIAN T. CARNEY
Journey to Space, the new I MAX 3-D
feature opening today at the Smithsonian
Air and Space Museum, can be either a
nice romantic outing, a wonderful way
to impress out-of-town visitors or a great
way to help kids burn o cabin fever.
Featuring amazing images, a soaring
soundtrack and the dulcet narration of Sir
Patrick Stewart, the monumental lm tells
the amazing stories of the Space Shuttle
and the creation of the International
Space Station and looks at the challenges
of planning a human mission to Mars. For
more information, go to si.edu/imax.
The Smithsonian is opening JeanMichel Cousteaus Secret Ocean on
March 20 at the National Museum of
Natural History and Living in the Age of
Airplanes on April 10 at the National Air
and Space Museum.
Also opening today at the Landmark
E Street Cinema is the remarkable
documentary Ballet 422. Director
Jody Lee Lipes follows emerging young
choreographer Justin Peck, a 25-year
old dancer with the New York City
Ballet, as he creates a new work for the
company. With unprecedented access,
the lm follows Peck as he collaborates
with musicians, designers and his fellow
dancers to create Paz de la Jolla, the
companys 422nd new ballet. Ballet 422
is an unembellished vrit portrait of
dancers hard at work.
The spring lm season also includes
several other interesting documentaries.
The Mind of Mark DeFriest (March 13)
examines the controversial incarceration
of the Houdini of Florida. Directed and
produced by the award-wining team of
Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, The Hunting
Ground (March 27) is scorching expos of
the startling prevalence of sexual assault
on college campuses across the country.
Today is also opening day for The
Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
at AFI Silver which continues the comic
and bittersweet stories of British
pensioners relocating to India. While the
gay character was conveniently killed o
in the rst movie, the sequel includes
glorious footage of India, the spectacle of
PHOTO COURTESY OF MAGNOLIA PICTURES
J U S T I N P E C K in the documentary Ballet 422.
a traditional Indian wedding and crackerjack performances by such screen

luminaries as Dames Judi Dench and
Maggie Smith, Richard Gere, Bill Nighy
and Penelope Wilton.
In addition to a strong slate of
international and indie lms, AFI Silver
in downtown Silver Spring also features
classic lms from Hollywood and world
cinema, as well as silent lm classics
accompanied by original live music. This
spring the spotlight is on The Leading
Ladies of Hollywoods Golden Age. LGBT
audiences can delight in powerful bigscreen performances by Ingrid Bergman
(Casablanca plays this weekend), Clara
Bow (It), Mae West (Im No Angel),
Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce), Gloria
Swanson (Sunset Boulevard) and the
all-star cast of The Women, directed
by gay director George Cukor. For a full
schedule, go to a.com/silver.
In an exciting development, Reel
Armations, D.C.s LGBT lm festival,
has announced that the annual event will
be making a comeback in August 2015 at
the Tivoli Theater. Submission deadlines
are March 15 (early bird) and April 15
(regular) and lots of sponsorship and
volunteer opportunities are available.
Go to reelarmations.org for application
forms and more information.
In the meantime, out Program Director
Kimberley Bush will continue with the

monthly Reel Armations XTRA series.
On the slate there are:
Appropriate Behavior (March 20),
written and directed by Desiree Akhaven
(HBOs Girls), the movie looks at the life
of Shirin who is juggling multiple identities:
an ideal Persian daughter, politically correct
bisexual and hip young Brooklynite.
Tiger Orange (April 17). Following the
death of their father, two estranged gay
brothers return to the small California
town where they grew up. Written and
directed by Wade Gasque, the movie stars
Mark Strano (who shares screenplay credit)
as the dutiful son Chet who stays at home
and Frankie Valenti (also known as Johnny
Hazard) as Todd, the son who ran away.
Eat With Me (May 15) is written and
directed by David Au, and stars Sharon
Omi as a wife and mother who runs
away from her boring life. She ends up
at the struggling Chinese restaurant run
by her estranged son Elliot, who is gay,
and the two try to rebuild their tangled
relationship. The cast also includes Nicole
Sullivan (Mad TV) and George Takei.
LGBT lmmakers will have the chance
to strut their stu in the 2015 D.C. Shorts
lm festival. Under the direction of
openly gay lmmaker Jon Gann, the
festival champions short lmmaking
though their annual showcase and a
series of classes. The 2015 Film Festival

and Screenplay Competition will be held
from September 10-20, but preparations
are already underway. Submissions are
due by April 30. The Mentors program,
presented in collaboration with Arlington
Independent Media and Women in Film
& Video, oers classes for lmmakers
at all skill levels. On May 14-15, D.C.
Shorts Presents Popcorn & Pasties,
a debauched evening of cinema and
sideshow with short icks and even
shorter skirts. For more information,
head to dcshorts.com.
Also be sure to note the Our City
Festival, a celebration of D.C. through
lm, music and literature that will
highlight D.C. beyond the monuments
and politics. It runs June 5-7. Details at
theourcityfestival.com.
Moving from the small screen to the
big screen, Entourage (slated for a June
6 opening) picks up the story of Vincent
Chase and his devoted posse. Playing a
key role in the plot is openly gay actor Rex
Lee as super-agent Ari Golds exasperated
gay assistant.
Finally, while we wait for the July
1 opening of Magic Mike XXL, the
sequel to the popular movie about
male strippers, there are some other
mainstream movies that may appeal to
LGBT cinephiles this spring.
Danny Collins (March 27) is the
story of a debauched aging rocker (Al
Pacino) who has abandoned his artistic
ideals to become a pop star. When his
long-suering manager and best friend
(Christopher Plummer) discovers a letter
that John Lennon wrote to his young fan,
Collins decides to drop out of his protable
tour to rediscover his art and reconnect
with the son he abandoned. Despite some
slow pacing, strong performances by
Pacino, Plummer and Annette Bening turn
this sleeper into a charmer.
Spy (March 22) stars Melissa McCarthy
as a CIA analyst who has to go undercover to
locate missing agents. Hot Pursuit (May 8)
stars Soa Vergara and Reese Witherspoon
as women who are being pursued by both
gangsters and corrupt cops.
On a more serious note, Casey Mulligan
stars in Far From the Madding Crowd.
the lush adaptation of the Thomas Hardy
novel about a woman who must choose
between three very dierent suitors.
tony award-wInnIng CoMedy
Vanya anD Sonia

anD MaSha anD Spike
Spring is
Fabulous
212-675-4106
WASHINGTON BLADE
MARCH 6, 2015
4.75 x 11.5" 4C NP
New York Times
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Publication:
Insertion date:
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delIrIously funny.
MA RCH 0 6 , 2 0 1 5 3 9
March is Orchid Month

Surround yourself with the warmth and
fragrance of Hillwoods greenhouse
and enjoy hundreds of orchids blooming
in concert.
Now on view
Dont miss the special exhibition,
Splendor and Surprise: Elegant
Containers, Antique to Modern
By Christopher Durang | DireCteD By aaron posner
BegIns aprIl 3
order today!
202-488-3300 | www.arenastage.org
Now open every Sunday Hours: Tues Sun 10am 5pm HillwoodMuseum.org
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HIL-0027_Blade_4.75x11.5_Mar6_4CNP_v2.indd 1
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40 MARCH 06, 2015
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
TELEVISION
One Big Happy lineup
Lily and Jane team up,

Looking and Orange return
while Mad Men signs o
By SANTIAGO MELLI-HUBER
Produced by Ellen DeGeneres, One
Big Happy stars Elisha Cuthbert as a
lesbian who carries her best friends (Nick
Zano) baby. The show premieres March
17 on NBC at 9:30 p.m.
Empire,
, created by Danny Strong
and Lee Daniels, who is openly gay, airs
Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Fox. Taraji P.
Henson steals the show as Cookie, the
ex-wife of Terrance Howards character, a
music mogul pitting his three sons, one of
whom is gay, against each other for control
of the company. The show, which is based
partly on Shakespeares King Lear, is
enjoying extremely high ratings and has
been renewed for a second season.
The third season of Netix hit House of
Cards was released Feb. 27 (all 13 episodes)
and continues Frank Underwoods (Kevin
Spaceys) shady dealings.
Ellie Kemper and Jane Krakowski star
in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,
available on Netix today (March 6). The
show, created by Tina Fey, also stars
Titus Burgess (DFwan, 30 Rock) as a gay
singer working as a Times Square robot.
Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda star in
Grace and Frankie, a new Netix show
about two long-time rivals who come
together when their husbands announce
they plan to marry each other.
Another Netix Show, Marvels
Daredevil, premieres April 10. The
show stars Charlie Cox as the titular
blind superhero as well as True Bloods
Deborah Ann Woll and PFLAG supporter
Rosario Dawson.
Season four of Girls continues on
HBO Sundays at 9 p.m. and has been
picked up for a fth season. The season
nale will air on March 22.
Looking airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on
HBO. Daniel Franzese (Damien, Mean
Girls) joined the cast for season two. The
show focuses on a group of gay friends
living in San Francisco.
Winter is coming in the middle of
spring when season ve of Game of
Thrones premieres April 12 at 9 p.m.
on HBO. Catch all of the drama, dragons
PHOTO BY DAVID GIESBRECHT; COURTESY OF NETFLIX
K E V I N S P A C E Y in House of Cards.
PHOTO BY BARRY WETCHER; COURTESY OF NETFLIX
A scene from Marvels Daredevil.
PHOTO BY ERIC LIEBOWITZ; COURTESY OF NETFLIX
A scene from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
and unexpected deaths of your favorite

characters (probably).
Orange is the New Black returns
to Netix on June 12. The websites
juggernaut show has been praised for its
groundbreaking representation of LBT
women of color.
Jonathan Knight of New Kids on the
Block and his boyfriend Harley Rodriguez
are contestants on Season 26 of The
Amazing Race. All teams this season are
couples, including ve teams meeting for

the rst time on the show as blind dates.
One such team is composed of two young
men named Bergen and Kurt. The show
airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on CBS.
Season 20 of Dancing with the Stars
premieres March 16 at 8 p.m. Contestants
include out athlete Michael Sam, actress
Suzanne Somers and soul legend Patti
LaBelle, who recently appeared in
American Horror Story: Freak Show.
Zachary Quinto and Uma Thurman

star in The Slap, narrated by Victor
Garber. Quinto plays a man dealing
with the aftermath of slapping someone
elses misbehaved child. The miniseries
currently airs Thursdays on NBC at 8 p.m.
Reign airs on the CW at 9 p.m. on
Thursdays. The historical ction focuses
on the early years of Mary, Queen of
Scots. It features several intimate scenes
between female characters. Caitlin
Stasey, a star of the show, describes
herself as mostly gay.
The Last Man On Earth premiered
last weekend on Fox. The show stars Will
Forte searching the country for signs of
other living humans after earths entire
population is wiped out. The cast includes
Kristen Schaal and Mary Steenburgen. It
airs Sunday nights at 9:30 p.m.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at
9 p.m. on AMC. A recent episode of the
show featured its rst gay male character,
Aaron, kissing his boyfriend Eric. The
90-minute season nale will air March 29.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as President
Selina Meyer, following her characters
political ascension at the end of the
previous season of Veep. Season four
premieres on HBO April 12 at 10:30 p.m.
Penny Dreadful returns to Showtime
for season two on May 3 at 10 p.m.
Season one of the show featured a kiss
between star Reeve Carneys character
Dorian Gray (yes, that Dorian Gray) and
Josh Hartnetts character.
Greys Anatomy and Scandal
continue to dominate Twitter on Thursday
nights on ABC at 8 and 9 p.m., respectively.
Both shows feature racially diverse casts
and several queer characters, as does
How To Get Away With Murder, the third
Thursday night Shondaland show, which
recently ended its rst season.
The second half of the nal season of
Mad Men premieres April 5 at 10 p.m.
on AMC. Throughout its run, the show
has featured several gay characters. The
series nale will air May 17.
The sixth season of Community, a
consistently doomed show with a cult
following, will premiere April 17 on Yahoo!
Screen, which will fulll half of fans rallying
cry of six seasons and a movie. Martin
Mull and Lesley Ann Warren (Clue costars) will reunite when they appear as the
parents of Gillian Jacobss character Britta.
MA RCH 0 6 , 2 0 1 5 4 1
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42 MARCH 06, 2015
CONCERTS
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Sounds of spring (and beyond)
GMCW, Jane Lynch, Bette and

more coming to region
By MARIAH COOPER
The Gay Mens Chorus of Washington
has its When You Wish show, Disney
songs with a gay twist, March 13-14 at
Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.). For
tickets and details, visit gmcw.org.
Out singer/songwriter and GLAAD
Award-winner Mary Gauthier plays
Jammin Java (227 Maple Ave., E. Vienna, Va.)
March 19. Shes touring behind Trouble &
Love, her rst studio album in four years.
Visit jamminjava.com for tickets.
A capella group Pentatonix performs
at the Patriot Center (4500 Patriot Cir.,
Fairfax, Va.) on March 19 at 8 p.m. Their
Christmas album Thats Christmas To Me
was a hit album over the holiday season
reaching No. 2 on the Billboard chart.
They have performed on The Today
Show and Macys Thanksgiving Parade.
Tickets range from $29.50-49.50. Doors
open at 6:30 p.m. For more details, visit
patriotcenter.monumentalnetwork.com.
Soul singer Ledisi comes to DAR
Constitution Hall on March 21 at 8
p.m. Singers Raheem DeVaugn and
Leela James will also be performing.
Tickets range from $85-110. For more
information, visit dar.org.
British
songstress
Jessie
Ware
performs at 9:30 Club (815 V St., N.W.)
on March 31. Her album Tough Love
includes her latest single release
Champagne Kisses. Ware will be joined
by alternative R&B singer Jesse Boykins
III. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $30.
For more details, visit 930.com.
Broadway legend Audra McDonald
will play the region twice in the coming
months. Shes at the Strathmore (5301
Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md.)
on March 27 then plays Wolf Trap (1551
Trap Road, Vienna, Va.) on June 22 with
the National Symphony Orchestra.
Details at strathmore.org and wolftrap.
org respectively.
Out concert pianist Stephen Hough
returns to the Kennedy Center on April
1 to play a mostly Debussy recital in the
Terrace Theater. Tickets are $49. Details
at kennedy-center.org.
Trans folk artist Eli Conley and his band
play Ebenezers Coeehouse (201 F St.,
PHOTO COURTESY OF STRATHMORE
Though she wont be singing, locals get a rare chance to see J U L I E A N D R E W S live on April 25
at the Strathmore.
N.E.) on April 2. Tickets are $10. Details at

ebenezerscoeehouse.com.
The Philadelphia Orchestra under
the baton of out music director Yannick
Nezet-Setuin plays the Kennedy Center
Concert Hall on April 7. On the program
are the Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor
and the Rachmanino Symphony No. 2
in E minor. Tickets are $35-105. Details at
kennedy-center.org.
Singer and actress Jane Lynch
performs her musical comedy show Sing
Jane Sing at the Birchmere (3701 Mount
Vernon Ave., Alexandria, Va.) March 24-25
at 7:30 p.m. Lynch, best known for her
portrayal of Sue Sylvester on Glee, will
perform both American standard songs
and show tunes. Tickets are $89.50.
Singer Neil Diamond performs at the
Verizon Center (601 F St., N.W.) on April 4
at 8 p.m. Diamonds latest album Melody
Road was released last year. Diamond
will perform songs from Melody Road
as well as classic favorites. Doors open
at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $65-175.
For more details, visit verizoncenter.
monumentalnetwork.com.
Legendary
actress
and
singer
Julie Andrews joins Music Center at
Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Ln., North
Bethesda, Md.) for An Evening with
Julie Andrews on April 25 at 9 p.m.
Andrews will be joined by moderator
Peter Marks and Strathmore Childrens

Chorus will perform. The show will be
part conversation, stories and clips. The
performance is part of Strathmores 10th
anniversary Spring Gala. Andrews will not
sing. Tickets range from $58.50-157. For
more information, visit strathmore.org.
Drummer and percussionist Sheila E.
comes to the Howard Theatre on April 30
at 8 p.m. Sheila E has worked with Prince,
Lionel Ritchie, Beyonce and many more.
She has released seven albums to date.
Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $37.50 in
advance and $42 day of show. Seating is
rst come, rst seated. There will be a full
dinner menu available. For more details,
visit thehowardtheatre.com.
Alternative indie dance duo Matt and
Kim perform at 9:30 Club (815 V St., N.W.)
on May 11-12. Their well known singles
include Lets Go and Daylight. Doors
open at 7 p.m. The May 11 show is sold
out. Tickets for the May 12 are at 930.com.
Aretha Franklin plays the Strathmore
(5301 Tuckerman Ln., North Bethesda,
Md.) on May 13. Details at strathmore.org.
Howard Theatre presents Salute to
the Divas: Girl Groups and Ladies of Hip
Hop, a concert drag show headlined by
drag performer Shi-Queeta-Lee on May
24 at 8 p.m. Impersonations will include
Nicki Minaj, Diana Ross and the Supremes,
Queen Latifah, Missy Elliot and many
more. This show is a part of Black Pride.

General admission tickets are $49.50.
General admission tickets are $20 in
advance and $25 day of show. There will
be a full dinner menu available. For more
information, visit howardtheatre.com.
Lesbian singer-songwriter Jonatha
Brooke performs at the Birchmere (3701
Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria, Va.) on
May 29 at 7:30 p.m. Brooke has released
11 albums and has toured internationally.
Tickets are $29.50. For more information,
visit birchmere.com.
And to peek ahead slightly to summer,
some huge names are on the calendar.
Pop-country hybrid singer Taylor Swift
performs a two-night show at Nationals
Park (1500 S Capitol St., S.E.) on July 13-14
at 7 p.m. The rst night is sold out. Swifts
opening acts will be alternative rock group
Vance Joy and pop singer Shawn Mendes.
Tickets range from $54.50-134.50. VIP
tour packages range from $199-399 and
include a limited edition set of Taylor
Swift 1989 tour lithographs among
other perks. For more information, visit
Washington.nationals.mlb.com.
Bette Midler brings her tour to the
Verizon Center (601 F St., N.W.) on June
22 at 8 p.m. Midlers latest album release
Its the Girls! is a musical tribute to
famous girl groups in history from the
Andrews Sisters to TLC. Doors open
at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $55-290.
For more details, visit verizoncenter.
monumentalnetwork.com.
Sam Smith performs at Merriweather
Post Pavilion (10475 Little Patuxent
Pkwy., Columbia, Md.) on July 24 at 8
p.m. Smith, who is gay, has won four
Grammy awards from his rst album In
the Lonely Hour. Tickets range from $4597.50. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. This is an
all-ages show. For more information, visit
merriweathermusic.com.
Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett perform
at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.)
on July 31 and Aug.1 in promotion for
their new collaborative jazz album Cheek
to Cheek. Songs from the album include
both solo and duet performances. Songs
from the album include classic jazz songs
such as the title track Cheek to Cheek,
But Beautiful and I Wont Dance.
Tickets range from 4125-275. Tickets go
on sale March 11. For more information,
visit kennedy-center.org.
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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
ART
Artistic Anticipation
Spring exhibits vary in medium,

subject, scale and scope
By JUSTIN PELIGRI
Touchstone Gallery (901 New York Ave.,
N.W.) hosts Sprout in galleries A and C,
with member artists presenting works of
color and pattern illuminated by spring light.
Color: Painting by Mary D. Ott in
Gallery B is a new series of paintings
created using embroidery yarn dipped in
acrylic paint. Both exhibits take place from
March 4-29, with an opening reception
March 6 from 6-8:30 p.m. and coee and
cake on March 22 from 2-4 p.m.
In April, the gallery hosts Connect/
Disconnect, featuring new paintings by
Marcia Coppel, as well as Slow Walking
in New York, a collection of photographs
in which the artist uses his own disability
advantageously to look at things slowly
on the streets of New York City. Both
April exhibits are open from April 1-26,
with an opening reception April 10 from
6-8:30 p.m. and an encore reception April
25 from 2-4 p.m. For more information,
emailinfo@touchstonegallery.com.
Foundry Gallery (1314 18th St., N.W.)
hosts Anticipation, a series of mysterious
watercolor scenes from around the world
by Katherine Blakeslee from March 4-29
with an opening reception March 6 from
6-8 p.m. For more information, visit
foundrygallery.org.
The Freer Gallery of Art (1050
Independence Ave., S.W.) hosts Seasonal
Landscapes in Japanese Screens in
Gallery 5 starting March 7. The exhibit
features blooming cherry trees in a
selection of folding screen paintings
that combine 16th- and 17th-century
ink painting techniques from China with
vibrant colors from Japanese painting.
For more information, visit asia.si.edu.
The George Washington University
Museum and the Textile Museum
(701 21st St., N.W.) will ocially open
its doors March 21 and features the
following exhibits: Unraveling Identity:
Our Textiles, Our Stories includes
more than 100 pieces of clothing and
fabrics demonstrating the power and
prestige of textiles. Seat of Empire:
Planning Washington, 1790-1801 uses
historical maps to share stories about
the early experiment in D.C. urban layout,
IMAGE COURTESY OF WAVERLY STREET GALLERY
Days End by Barbara French Pace.
designed in the 1790s by Pierre LEnfant.

The Civil War and the Making of Modern
Washington tracks the citys evolution
over time through maps, prints and
illustrations. For more information, visit
museum.gwu.edu.
The Art Museum of the Americas
hosts two exhibits this spring. The F
Street Gallery (1889 F St., N.W.) presents
Fordlandia: The Lost City of Henry
Ford on view March 11 through May 1
with an opening reception on March 11
at 6 p.m. The exhibit marks the rst in
the series, Megalomania. The photos,
completed in 2012, depict the remnants
of Fordlandia, an American town coming
back to life built by Henry Ford in the
Brazilian rainforest. The museum also
presents Libertad de Expresion, on
display from Feb. 19 through June 7, an
exhibit exploring cultural diplomacy and
Cold War politics through contemporary
Latin American art. For more information
about the museum and its art exhibitions,
visit museum.oas.org.
New additions to the National Portrait
Gallerys collection, American Origins
(8th and F streets N.W.) continue to be
on display through Nov. 1. The pieces
include paintings of Ted Turner, Maya
Angelou, Marvin Hamlisch and William
Dunlap, a bronze sculpture of Richard

Morris Hunt photographs of Domingo
and Carmen Ghirardelli, Gary Cooper,
Busby Berkeley, B. B. King, Quincy Jones
and the Jackson 5. Also on display at
the gallery starting March 13 are Elaine
de Koonings portraits of friends and
family. The exhibit includes depictions of
well-known Americans including poets
Frank OHara and Allen Ginsburg and
choreographer Merce Cunningham. For
more information, visit npg.si.edu.
The Waverly Street Gallery (4600 EastWest Highway, Bethesda, Md.) presents
Transitions featuring nature-inspired
abstract prints and print constructions by
Barbara Bickley. The exhibit is open from
March 10- April 4. The opening reception
takes place March 13 from 6-9 p.m.,
and an artist demo takes place March
28 from 3-5 p.m. For more information,
visit waverlystreetgallery.com or email
Barbara Bickley atamcamrec@msn.com.
The gallery also presents Cadence, an
art exhibit featuring minimalist, rhythmic
photography by Barbara French Pace
from April 7-May 2. Gallery hours are
noon-6 p.m. from Tuesday through
Saturday. An opening reception will be
held April 10 from 6-9 p.m. For more
information, visitbarbarapace-art.comor
emailinfo@barbarapace-art.com.
The National Museum of Women
(1250 New York Ave., N.W.) continues
its exhibit on the Virgin Mary, Picturing
Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea, through
April 12. It brings together many facets
of Marys identity and features art from
renowned international art museums
including the Vatican Museums and the
Uzi Gallery. For more information,
visitnmwa.org.
Man Ray-Human Equations: A Journey
from Mathematics to Shakespeare is an
exhibit at the Phillips Collection (1600
21st St., N.W.) open now that runs through
March 10 and explores the intersection
of art and science that dened art at the
beginning of the 20th century. This exhibit
marks the rst time that the original
plaster, wood, papier-mache and string
models from the Institut Henri Poincare
in Paris, Man Rays photographs, and the
Shakespearean Equations paintings they
inspired will be displayed side by side. Man
Rays work was created in Hollywood in the
late 1940s. For more information about this
exhibit, visit phillipscollection.org.
The Zenith Gallery (1429 Iris St., N.W.)
hosts Culture Cluster to celebrate its 37th
anniversary through March 28. There
will be two opening receptions to meet
the artists today (March 6) from 4-8 p.m.
and Saturday from 2-6 p.m. For more
information, visit zenithgallery.com.
The
Hirshhorn
Museum
and
Sculpture Garden (700 Independence
Ave., S.W.) continues to host Days of
Endless Time, an exhibit on the second
oor including 14 installations oering
prismatic vantage points to counter
todays 24/7 ow of information and
digital media obsession. The exhibit
closes April 6. Themes include escape,
solitude and enchantment. For more
information, visit hirshhorn.si.edu.
The Library of Congress (101
Independence Ave., S.E.) continues to
host The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A
Long Struggle for Freedom through the
spring and summer, closing Sept. 12.
The exhibit commemorates the ftieth
anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and
features audiovisual stations throughout
the exhibit presenting archival footage
and interviews with contemporary
interviews with civil rights leaders. For
more information, visit loc.gov.
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washington blade newspaper. This includes but is no
46 MARCH 06, 2015
DANCE
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Movement, motion and meaning
Picasso, stardom and

Chinese history among
regions dance themes
PHOTO BY TAKAO KOMARU; COURTESY OF BUCKLESWEET MEDIA
By MARIAH COOPER
The Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance
Company, a gay-helmed company,
performs the world premiere of Picasso
Dances, inspired by a series of works by
the famed artist at the Kreeger Museum
(2401 Foxhall Rd., N.W.), also the location
of the performance, on March 26. Tickets
are $45. Details at dtsbdc.org.
Washington Performing Arts presents two
dance showcases this spring. Jessica Lang
Dance is at George Washington University
Lisner Auditorium (730 21st N.W.) on March
28 at 8 p.m. Jessica Lang Dance company
is relatively new, founded in 2011, but has
already performed at Jacobs Pillow Dance
Festival. Tickets range from $25-38.
Brooklyn company Gallim Dance
performs at Lansburgh Theatre (450 7th
St., N.W.) on April 16-17 at 8 p.m. Gallim
Dance infuses Israeli contemporary
dance in their productions led by Artistic
Director Andrew Miller. Tickets are
$30. For more information on these
shows and to purchase tickets, visit
washingtonperformingarts.org.
The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.)
has several oerings slated.
Iberian Suite: Mara Muoz, Mal
Pelo and Tania Prez-Salas Compaa
de Danza is on March 13-14. Muoz will
premiere her solo piece Bach for the
rst time in the U.S. Tickets are $26.
Apertamente S.r.l. presents Being
Leonardo da Vinci: An Impossible
Interview on April 2 at 7:30 p.m. The
performance is a one-act two-scene
play that show cases da Vincis life. The
plays prologue includes a contemporary
ballet dance performance inspired by
da Vincis painting Vitruvian Man and
choreographed by Michela Lucenti.
Tickets range from $24-30. The play will be
performed in Italian with English subtitles.
Bowen McCauley Dance presents the
world premiere of Victory Road on April
10-11. The show uses Jason Ringenbergs
music to create dances that bring his stories
and songs to life in a story about a boy who
leaves home in the 1980s to become a
music star. Tickets range from $40-45.
Jessica Lang Dance.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DISSONANCE DANCE THEATRE
Black to Silver returns in April.
PHOTO BY FRANZISKA STRAUSS; COURTESY OF BUCKLESWEET MEDIA
Gallim Dance.
Washington Ballet presents Swan

Lake at Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.)
on April 8-12. Tickets range from $45-145.
For more information and to purchase
tickets, visit washingtonballet.org.
Shen Yun, a classical Chinese dance
and music company, presents Shen Yun
2015: Reviving 5,000 Years of Civilization
from April 17-26. The dance performance
chronicles ancient legends, modern stories
and more in 5,000 years of Chinas culture
and history. Tickets range from $50-250.
For more information on Kennedy Centers
dance shows and to purchase tickets, visit
kennedy-center.org.
Dissonance Dance Theatre presents
Black to Silver: A Black LGBT Experience
at Joy of Motion Dance Center (5207
Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) on April 11-12. The
show explores interpersonal relationships,
identity and love inside the African-American
LGBT community. The show also focuses
on homoeroticism, acceptance, armation
and more. Its D.C.s rst theatrical platform
for African-American LGBT dance artists. For
ticket information, visit ddtdc.org.
BalletNova presents Firebird and
Other Works at Thomas Jeerson
Community Theatre (125 S. Old Glebe Rd.,
Arlington, Va.) on May 1 at 7:30 p.m., May
2 at 7:30 p.m. and May 3 at 3 p.m. The
performances use dance to tell the story
of Prince Ivan and the Firebird who battle
the evil wizard Katschai. Tickets range
from $8-30. The May 2 performance
includes a dance talk with BalletNova
teacher Irina Wunder at 6 p.m. For more
details, visit balletnova.org.
Dakshina/Daniel
Phoenix
Singh
Dance Company, a gay-helmed local
company, performs Persistent Voices,
a work that explores the eects of AIDS,
at Dance Place (3225 8th St., N.E.) May
2-3 and at the Reston Community Center
at Hunter Woods (2310 Colts Neck Rd.,
Reston) on May 6. Tickets are $15-30.
Details at danceplace.org.
If youre the one who wants to dance,
there are several chances to do that
as well. DJ Matt Bailer is at Town this
weekend. Other highlights there include
Dirty Pop with DJ Drew G on March 14,
DJ James Anthony on March 21, CTRL
on March 28, Madonnarama on April
11, the Cherry main event with DJ Tom
Stephan on April 18 and more. Details at
towndc.com.
MA RCH 0 6 , 2 0 1 5 4 7
48 MARCH 06, 2015
MUSIC
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Spring spotty for albums
Mya, Marina, Madonna and

a bunch of maybes
By MARIAH COOPER
Madonna releases her 13th studio
album, Rebel Heart today (March
6). She worked closely with Diplo to
produce the album, along with several
other collaborators such as Nicki Minaj
and Kanye West. Her Rebel Heart Tour
begins in August and the pop legend has
been using Grindr to help promote her
album and tour.
Before we get to the upcoming stu, a few
more just-out releases you may have missed.
Ma, a gay rights and homeless LGBT
youth advocate, released Love Elevation
Suite on Feb. 14, her second Valentines
Day EP, through her independent record
label Planet 9. In the past, she has appeared
in a NOH8 campaign and in Cyndi Laupers
True Colors: Give A Damn PSA.
Kelly Clarkson released her seventh
studio album, Piece by Piece, on Feb. 27.
The lead single is Heartbeat Song and
two of the albums tracks were written
in part by Sia. Clarkson is an active LGBT
rights supporter.
RuPaul released Realness, his eighth
studio album, on March 2, the same day
as the season seven premiere of his show
on Logo, RuPauls Drag Race.
British R&B group Blue released
Colours on March 2. Duncan James,
a member of Blue, has identied as
bisexual in 2009 and as gay in 2013.
PHOTO BY MERT & MARCUS
Its a big year for M A D O N N A fans. Her album is out today and she plays the Verizon Center
on Sept. 12.
Welsh singer-songwriter Marina and

the Diamonds will release her third
album, Froot, on March 16.
English folk singer Laura Marling will
release Short Movie in the UK on March 23.
Bjrks ninth album, Vulnicura, was
released Jan. 20 and Bjrk: Archives,
a retrospective book on her career,
will be released March 30. One of the
albums tracks features vocals by Antony
Hegarty, a transgender English singer.
An exhibition of Bjrks work will take
place at the Museum of Modern Art
(MoMA) from Saturday-June 7, and her
Biophilia apps were featured as part of
the museums permanent collection, the
rst app showcased in MoMAs collection.
DC-native Wale will release The Album

About Nothing on March 31.
Reba McEntires 27th studio album,
Love Somebody, will come out April 14.
Deluxe reissues of Tori Amoss rst two
solo albums, 1991s Little Earthquakes
and 1994s Under the Pink, will be rereleased in deluxe double-CD editions
packed with B-sides, live cuts and other
rarities on April 14. Both albums will also
be issued on 180-gram vinyl for the rst
time in the U.S.
Shawn Mendes will release his debut
album, Handwritten, on April 28. The
teenage singer-songwriter will open
up for Taylor Swift during the North
American leg of her 1989 World Tour.
Brandon Flowers will release The

Desired Eect, his second studio album,
on May 18. Along with his band, The
Killers front man annually releases a
Christmas-themed song and video to
support Product Red.
Faith No More will release Sol
Invictus on May 19, the bands seventh
studio album. Roddy Bottum, the bands
keyboardist, came out as gay in 1993. Hes
said that as a gay teen, he never imagined
he would play in a hard rock band.
Florence and the Machine will release
their third album on May 29. In February,
the band released What Kind of Man,
the rst single o of How Big, How Blue,
How Beautiful.
Several artists have announced the titles
of their 2015 releases but have not yet
announced release dates. Adam Lambert
will come out with The Original High this
year. Ciara will release Jackie, and Emeli
Sand will release Who Needs the World.
Lana Del Rey is coming out with
Honeymoon, which will include a song
called Music to Watch Boys to as well as
a cover of Nina Simones Dont Let Me Be
Misunderstood.
Still more artists have conrmed 2015
albums but have not yet announced
release dates or album titles. Look out for
new releases by Adele, Becky G, Britney
Spears, Carly Rae Jepsen, Christina
Aguilera, Demi Lovato, Duran Duran, Ellie
Goulding, Gwen Stefani, Grimes, Haim,
Iggy Azalea, Kylie Minogue, Macklemore,
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50 MARCH 06, 2015
SPORTIN IN D.C.
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Fun without the pressure
Several local gay leagues

welcome all ability levels
By KEVIN MAJOROS
Even though it may not feel like it
yet, spring will be here soon and the
opportunities to nd a place to play in
the LGBT sports community of D.C. will
become even greater.
Most of the coverage in this column
is dedicated to competitive sports, but
there is another side of the community
social sports.
While it is true that anyone can join a
competitive team and go to the practices
without competing, many people may
still nd that environment intimidating.
So heres a list of LGBT sports clubs that
oer athletic adventures without having
to join a league or compete.
The D.C. Rock Jocks are a group
who rock climb outdoors locally and in
West Virginia. They also meet indoors at
Earth Treks in Rockville and Sportrock in
Alexandria. The group oers participants
a fun way to stay in shape and to develop
better climbing techniques and skills.
The Outriders are a cycling group that
rides in D.C. metro area with weekend
rides that range from 25-60 miles. They
also host casual after-work rides during
the week and there are no member fees.
Their special interest rides have included
Cycling through Virginia Horse Country,
Washington and Old Dominion Rail-toTrail and the Arlington Evening Bike Rides.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HERTZENDORF
D.C. Pride Volleyball has just emerged

as a club and in addition to the league
that will begin soon, organizers will also
oer open play. For three months starting
March 18, the group will be at Thomson
Elementary School on Wednesday nights.
The cost will be $7 prepaid and there
will be a weekly cap of 48 players. Skill
development and drills will run for one
hour starting at 6:30 p.m. and games will
begin at 7:30 p.m.
The D.C. Lambda Squares welcomes
singles, couples and those on the rebound
to their square dancing club. Their
mission is to promote smiles, friendship
and square dancing. The group dances at
National City Christian Church.
Adventuring is an outdoor club for the

LGBT community of D.C. that is mostly
known for its weekly hikes on the historic
trails in the area. When volunteers are
available to lead the group, they also
oer things such as bike rides, camping,
backpacking and canoeing.
The Rainbow Spinnakers Sailing
Club oers the chance to explore the
local waterways and see wildlife up close.
You can choose to just ride along as a
passenger or learn some skills through
the informal instruction of the skipper.
From April through October, a two-hour
trip is oered on Sundays from noon-2
p.m. It departs from Belle Haven Marina
in Alexandria.
The D.C. Rawhides host Town &

Country every other Saturday at Town
Danceboutique. Lessons in country
western dancing such as two-step or
line dancing run from 7-8 p.m. and open
dancing is from 8-10:30 p.m. The cost is
$5.
The Atlantic States Gay Rodeo
Association sponsors monthly trail rides
on horseback at the Piscataway Stables
in Clinton, Md. They are held on the rst
Sunday of every month and for $30, you
get a horse and a tack for an hour-long
ride.
The D.C. Front Runners oer a
series of runs and walks for people of
all ages and abilities. The runs are held
on Tuesday and Thursday nights as well
as Saturday and Sunday mornings. The
walks are held on Tuesday nights and
Saturday mornings. The group utilizes
dierent routes and the most attended
gathering is on Saturday mornings.
Lambda DanceSport oers training
for social dancing in ballroom, Latin,
swing, two step and line dancing.
Members dance at Church of the Pilgrims
near Dupont Circle and have training for
beginners to advanced.
In addition to the above mentioned
clubs, you can ice skate with D.C. Ice
Breakers, ski and snowboard with Ski
Bums, golf with Lambda Links, learn to
row with the D.C. Strokes Rowing Club
and play pick-up games with the Federal
Triangles Soccer Club and the D.C.
Sentinels basketball team.
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52 MARCH 06, 2015
BOOKS
Staying on Course
IMAGE COURTESY OF BEACON PRESS
Olympic rower, House legend

among seasons memoirists
By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER
If you cant get enough politics, youll
want to nd Frank: A Life in Politics from
the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage
by Barney Frank (March 17). This book
takes readers on a ride, from Franks early
life when he realized he was gay and the
implications he knew his sexuality had
for the career he wanted, to the slow
acceptance in this country for LGBT people
and Franks own coming out. Of course,
what would a Barney Frank bio be without
passages about the people hes known?
Politicos might also like Speak

Now by Kenji Yoshino (April 21), who
was a constitutional law scholar when
Hollingsworth v. Perry was led. This is
a lively look at gay marriage, specically
in California but in a case that resonates
around the country and in homes both
LGBT and straight. Its also about Yoshinos
own marriage to the man of his dreams.
Another memoir I cant wait to read is
Bobby Wonderful by Bob Morris (June).
Its a bit of a follow-up to his hilarious and
heartfelt Assisted Loving from a few
years back and if you remember that one,
you know youre in for a treat. This time,
both of Morriss parents are ailing and
its up to him to see that their nal days
are lled with the best he can oer them.
Its a book about something many of us

will face soon enough, and its told with
Morris signature humor and poignancy.
For a feel-good memoir, try Course
Correction by Olympic rower Ginny
Gilder (April 14). Growing up at a time when
girls were discouraged to participate in
sports, Gilder dreamed of athletic stardom,
partially as a means of working through
personal family problems. She found her
sport when she attended Yale, just as she
found the ability to accept her sexuality.
For the person whos just come out
and for the people who love him This
Book is Gay by James Dawson (June) is
an honest book thats easy to read with
tons of sidebars and short, browse-able
paragraphs. Meant for LGBT teens, this
book is also highly recommended for

straight kids who want to be informed
allies, for parents who want to support
their just-out kid and for adults who want
to help guide a youngster who may need
the help.
And nally, what would a new books
list be without something from Bruno
Gmunder on it? And whats more perfect
than pictures? Pictures by David Vance,
for instance, and in Masculine Beauty
(May), youll be treated to photography
that focuses on men, muscles and
masterful poses. Oh, and you also might
like taking a peek at Play with Me!
by Alex Neustaedter. Its a book about
sexual role-playing; how to do it safely
and sexy. Bonus: more pictures!
PFLAG promotes the equality and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual,

and transgendered persons, their families and friends through:
Support to cope with an adverse society.
Education to enlighten an ill-informed public.
Advocacy to end discrimination and secure equal civil rights.
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Trained facilitators lead the Arlington Support Group and confidentiality is maintained. For
further information about the Arlington Support Group, contact us at arl.pflag@gmail.com.
Our groups meet on the second Sunday of each month, from 3 4:30pm at the Unitarian
Universalist Church in Arlington, at George Mason Drive & Route 50.
A.L.Y. is a group for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning Youth and Allies in
grades 7-12. Our goal is to give LGBTQ youth a safe place to gather. Trained facilitators lead the
youth group. Confidentiality maintained. For more info, contact: aly.pflagdc@gmail.com.
Our Washington DC Chapter of PFLAG may be reached at 202-638-3852.
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PEPCO AND EXELON:
Powering
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Future
The proposed merger of Pepco and Exelon will bring exciting
benefits to families, communities, businesses, our economy,
and the District of Columbia, including:
Improved reliability for Pepco customers, with enhanced performance commitments
resulting in fewer and shorter power outages and additional resources to speed
storm restoration
$33.75 million for the Districts Customer Investment Fund that may be used
for bill credits, low income assistance or energy efficiency programs
$51.2 million in projected merger savings over 10 years, which will flow back to Pepcos
D.C. customers through electric rates that are lower than they would be without the merger
$168 million to $260 million in economic benefits to the District
Continued annual charitable contributions and local community support
exceeding Pepcos 2013 level of $1.6 million for 10 years following the merger
More than 1,500 new jobs in the District and the region
The merger will maintain Pepcos local presence and local leadership, while bringing together Exelons three
electric and gas utilities (BGE, ComEd and PECO) and Pepco Holdings three electric and gas utilities (Atlantic
City Electric, Delmarva Power and Pepco) to create the leading mid-Atlantic electric and gas utility.
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54 MARCH 06, 2015
EVENTS
WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
Notes to self
D.C.s LGBT spring social

calendar is swirling as always
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
Some upcoming events dont t in our
regular spring arts categories. Here are a
few to mark on your calendar.
The Miss Gaye Universe D.C.
Ball is Sunday at 4 p.m. at Town
(2009 8th St., N.W.). Details at
theacademyofwashingtoninc.com.
The Capital Area Gay and Lesbian
Chamber of Commerce (CAGLCC) has its
seventh annual mega networking event
on March 25 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Town
(2009 8th St., N.W.). Its free. Details at
caglcc.org.
Allied in Pride, an LGBT group at
George Washington University, hosts
Trans Day of Visibility with Laverne
Cox on March 31 at 7 p.m. at the Lisner
Auditorium (730 21st St., N.W.). The event
is sold out.
Brother Help Thyself has a town hall
meeting on March 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the
Hyatt Place Baltimore Inner Harbor (511
South Central Ave.). Another is planned
for Washington. The mission is to discuss
community needs and available resources.
Details at brotherhelpthyself.net.
Family Equality Council and the
D.C. Center are co-hosting a family
dance on April 3 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
at the Center (2000 14th St., N.W.). Its
part of the Councils family weekend in
D.C. event running April 3-5. Details at
D I N I N G O U T F O R L I F E is April 30.
familyequality.org.
The Helen Hayes Awards for
local theater are April 6. Details at
theatrewashington.org.
The Victory Fund National
Champagne Brunch is April 19 at
11 a.m. at the Marriott Marquis (901
Massachusetts Ave., N.W.). Details at
victoryfund.org.
The
Equality
Virginia
Commonwealth Dinner is April 18 in
Richmond. Details at equalityvirginia.org.
The Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance
has its annual Distinguished Service
Awards on April 23 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at
Policy Restaurant and Lounge (1904 14th
St., N.W.). Tickets are $55. Chuck Hicks,
Alexandra Andrea Beninda and Anne
Phelps will be honored. Details at glaa.
org/anniversary.
Comedian Judy Gold will headline the

CAMP Rehoboth Womens FEST April
9-12. Details at camprehoboth.com.
Cherry is April 16-19 at various
locations. Details at cherryfund.org.
Pride at Work has its third LGBT
Labor Leadership Training April 17-18 at
the AFL-CIO Building (815 16th St., N.W.).
Details at a.salsalabs.com.
Dining Out for Life is April 30.
Details on participating D.C. restaurants
at diningoutforlife.com.
Gay Day at the Zoo is May 3 at
the Smithsonians National Zoo (3001
Connecticut Ave. N.W.). Details at
gaydayatthezoo.com.
Youth Pride is May 3 from noon5 p.m. in Dupont Circle. Details at
youthpridedc.org.
The Blades annual Rehoboth
summer kick-o party is May 15. Details

coming soon.
Hagerstown Hopes Pride 2015 is
May 16 from noon-4 p.m. at Doubs Woods
park (1307 S. Potomac St., Hagerstown,
Md.). Details at hagerstownhopesmd.org.
Miss Gay Maryland America is May
16 at the Hippo (1 W. Eager St., Baltimore).
Details at missgayamerica.com.
Capital Trans Pride is May 16 from
10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Reeves Center (2000
14th St., N.W.). Details at capitalpride.org/
transpride.
The 53rd annual Gay Golden Boy
Awards for the Academy of Washington
are June 6 at Town (2009 8th St. N.W.) at 4
p.m. Details at theacademyofwashington.
com.
The GenOUT Chorus, a new youth
chorus spin-o of the Gay Mens Chorus
of Washington, makes its debut May 1516 at the Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St.,
N.W.). Details at gmcw.org.
D.C. Black Pride weekend is May
21-25. Details at dcblackpride.org.
Wet Dreamz 2015 from Daryl Wilson
Promotion and Omega Entertainment
is the same weekend. Details at
omegapartydc.com.
The Capital Pride Heroes Gala is
June 3 at 7 p.m. at the Carnegie Library
(801 K St., N.W.). Many other Pride-related
events are also planned for June 5-14.
Details at capitalpride.org/pride-2015.
The Capturing Fire Queer Spoken
Word Summit & Poetry Slam is June 4-6.
Details at capturingre.org.
Memorial Service for
MARIO CAMERO
Sunday, March 8th 2015 3 to 6 pm.
Annies Paramount Steakhouse
1609 17th Street NW
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REALESTATE
How to ensure a successful design

Consult with experts,
family members and
trust your judgment
By JOSH BAKER
A successful remodeling project is one
that improves your familys enjoyment of
your home long after the project is completed and the process starts with a great
design. BOWAs team of trained and registered architects and designers weighs in
on tips for helping to ensure a successful
design and how to get your remodeling
experience started on the right foot.
Collect your Ideas: While tearing pages out of magazines is one option, a great
online and mobile tool for collecting and
sharing ideas for your home renovation
is Houzz.com. Houzz features more than
5 million photos uploaded by remodeling
and design professionals that can be ltered by room, style and geographic location. Photos you love can be noted and
organized in online Ideabooks, then
shared with others. Its a great way to visually communicate what youre looking
for and collaborate with members of your
design team.
Brainstorm with All Parties: Include
your spouse or partner and family in developing a list of needs and wants, as well
as a list of what challenges youre experiencing in your existing home. You may
not all be on the same page and you dont
need to gure out the solutions, but pre-
senting all of the information to the design team will help them to work with you
to develop the best strategy given the set
parameters.
Wait for the Aha: We tell people that
when the design is right youll know it. If
you nd yourself questioning various aspects of the layout, scope or features then
communicate with your team and keep
at it. Making design changes on paper is
cheap and your team should be willing to
rework the details until the design feels
right for your family. The additional time
spent will ensure a smoother construction process and fewer costly changes.
Make Decisions Based on Your Family: Surrounding yourself with a team of
experts is key, but at the end of the day
the decisions that are made have to be
whats best for your family. We often
advise against making a decision strictly
based on resale value or always deferring

to an interior designer for nishes. While
you certainly want to consider the input
of your team, ultimately you know what
will serve your family best and you should
trust yourself to make that your top priority to ensure maximum enjoyment.
Work with a Respected Design Build
Partner: An experienced design build
professional will serve as your single
point of accountability for the entire process, from project feasibility and needs
assessment to drawing, selecting and
budgeting on through to construction.
During this process, construction professionals are working alongside the architectural team and other specialists to
ensure reliable materials are specied,
drawings are clear, and challenges are
addressed to lay the ground work for a
smooth production process. Most impor-
tantly, they are ensuring that the project

that is being designed aligns with the
homeowners budget goals nding areas
of eciency and appropriate cost savings
wherever possible.
Last, but certainly not least, the most
valuable advice we can give is to enjoy
the process. It really can and should be a
pleasure to go through the remodeling experience. When the project is successfully
completed it is an accomplishment your
whole family can share for years to come.
DAVE LLOYD & ASSOCIATES
SIMPLE
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JOSH BAKER is founder and co-chair of BOWA,

an award-winning design and construction
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feel like a new person! Stretching,
Swedish & Sports massage. Dupont.
Marcio (202) 271-9440. www.
MarciosMassage.com.
LGBTQ AFFIRMING THERAPY at

Dupont Circle Individuals, couples,
families, adolescents. Over 15
years serving the community. Mike
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mike.giordano.msw@gmail.com.
www.WhatIHearYouSaying.com.
JOIN US. New Psychotherapy
Group for Montgomery County
LGB Adults. Affirmative & safe
space to connect & explore issues.
Coming out of marriage, parenting,
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COUNSELING FOR GAY MEN.
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202-580-8861. gaymenscounseling.
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professionals.Insurance
reimbursable.Washington
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washingtontherapyguild.com.
DELIVERY DRIVERS WANTED need

own auto. Good compensation. Busy
Floral shop in NW Washington. Call
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HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER,
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com with cover letter outlining why
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LEGAL SERVICES
FULL SERVICE LAW FIRM
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employment. (301) 891-2200.Silber,
Perlman, Sigman & Tilev, P.A. www.
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ADOPTION & ASSISTED
REPRODUCTIVE Law Attorney Jennifer
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matters.301-221-9651,JFairfax@
jenniferfairfax.com.
HANDYMAN /
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PHOTOGRAPHY
STEVE OTOOLE PHOTOGRAPHY
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weddings & dating photos for the
internet. Call (703) 532-3031. www.
steveotoolephotography.com.
CLEANING
TOO NEAT GUYS INC. Residential
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SALE / MD
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LARRY PERRIN REALTOR
(301) 983-0601
LJPerrin@aol.com.
SALE / ELSEWHERE
1 & 2 BR CO-OPS for sale. $135,000
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3 blocks from the beach. Contact
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floridamoves.com Web: www.
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MA R CH

Jessica Lang, artistic director

JOSHUA BELL, violin

SAM HAYWOOD, piano

Sun, Apr 19 at 7pm

Tue, Mar 31 at 8pm Kennedy Center

Made possible by Herbert and Patrice Miller.

Featuring works by BEETHOVEN, GRIEG,

Featuring works by GRIEG and RACHMANINOFF

Forever: The Love Poems

NEW WORLD SYMPHONY

Made possible by Reginald Van Lee.

Wed, Apr 29 at 8pm Kennedy Center

Featuring works by SCHUBERT, BERG,

A Celebration of Harold Pinter

Made possible by the Amphion Foundation and the Van Auken

TICKETS: WashingtonPerformingArts.org (202) 785-9727

Sat, Apr 18 at 2pm and 8pm

Tue, Apr 7 at 8pm Kennedy Center

Yannick Nzet-Sguin, music director

JESSICA LANG DANCE

Made possible by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundations

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Anti-LGBT dictator owns $3.5 million mansion in Md.

Gambian President Yahya Jammehs home on Bentcross Drive in Potomac, Md.

last year at Robert F. Kennedy Human

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