Ending the Blood Ban - Metro Weekly Magazine - April 9, 2020

CONTENTS

April 09, 2020

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GONE CLUBBING

The hottest new club is your living room, as virtual nightclubbing takes off in the age of social distancing.

By André Hereford

ENDING THE BLOOD BAN

The FDA has reduced its celibacy requirement for gay men wishing to donate blood. Critics say it’s still not enough.

By John Riley

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Volume 26 Issue 46

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BIRTH OF A BUTTERFLY

Shamir metamorphosizes once again on an unannounced, yet perfectly timed new album.

By Sean Maunier

SPOTLIGHT: DOODLES AWAY p.5 STREAMING SHAKESPEARE p.6 VIRTUALLY TOURING THE PHILLIPS p.6 DIGITAL DRAG FEST 2020 p.9 ONLINE STORYTELLING p.9 SPREE: SHOPPING AND BARGAINS p.11 MOURNING A LEGEND p.13 CLOSET CONCERN p.17 ANALYZING TRAGEDY p.18 GOD HATES FLAGS p.19 FILM: BUTT BOY p.26 FILM: SLAY THE DRAGON p.27 SELFIE SCENE p.31 LAST WORD p.32 Washington, D.C.’s Best LGBTQ Magazine for 25 Years Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Online Editor at metroweekly.com Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrators David Amoroso, Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla Patron Saint Karl Landsteiner Cover Photography Greg Courville Metro Weekly 1775 I St. NW, Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 202-638-6830 All material appearing in Metro Weekly is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publishers. Metro Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials submitted for publication. All such submissions are subject to editing and will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Metro Weekly is supported by many fine advertisers, but we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers, nor can we accept responsibility for materials provided by advertisers or their agents. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising in Metro Weekly is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such person or organization.

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Spotlight

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Doodles Away

N NORMAL TIMES, THE ATHENAEUM GALLERY IN Old Town Alexandria is “dedicated to showing excellent artwork made by artists in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia,” says the gallery’s director Twig Murray. Of course, there’s nothing normal about the time of COVID-19, when it has become far more important to “maintain social and physical distance” from certain types of “idiots.”

At least that’s the offhanded way visual artist Patrick Seig has captured the moment in “Dunce Caps of 2020,” included in a new online drawing series launched by Murray and featured on the Athenaeum’s website and social media. Anyone can submit a doodle to be considered for Doodles of These Times, a rotating series that Murray emphasizes is intended to be casual, with doodled images as reflexive as they are reflective. “It’s not supposed to be a judgment about anything. It’s not supposed to be a gallery of fine art. It’s just supposed to be our way of pre-

senting what people are going through right now as expressed visually.”

The series of scribbles is intended to run until whenever the pandemic wanes and the public can return to the Athenaeum’s physical space, which Murray describes as “a gorgeous building built as a bank in 1852 [with] huge soaring ceilings and big windows.” The Greek revival structure now functions as a dramatic and stately site for high-quality art exhibitions as well as the occasional special event.

Next up in the space — hopefully — will be the venue’s fall Invitational, which is being restructured for 2020 as an “open call” exhibition of more serious artworks also reflecting the contemporary zeitgeist. An artist herself, Murray expects today’s “forced isolation [may have] a beneficial effect on artists’ creativity. I am hoping for what surprised people by this?

Is there a silver lining in any regard?” —Doug Rule

The Athenaeum, currently closed to the public, is located at 201 Prince St. in Alexandria.

Call 703-548-0035 or visit www.nvfaa.org.

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Spotlight STREAMING SHAKESPEARE

If you’d like to get lost in the words and the worlds of William Shakespeare, there’s no better place to turn than the Folger Shakespeare Library. The D.C. institution offers, free on its website, every play, sonnet, and poem written by the Bard, along with plenty of supplemental materials about the works.

Better still, aficionados can currently go beyond the page with a few special offerings from Folger Theatre, chief among them a video-recorded performance of the company’s 2008 Macbeth, conceived and directed by Teller (of Penn & Teller) and Aaron Posner, and starring Ian Merrill Peakes in the title role.

Previously only available for purchase from Simon & Schuster, the video comes with special features, such as interviews with the cast and creative teams.

Additionally, Folger has made available full-cast audio recordings of seven Shakespearean classics, produced with Simon & Schuster Audio and featuring professional actors from the company. Titles include everything from A Midsummer Night’s Dream to Romeo and Juliet, from Richard III to another version of that chilling Scottish tragedy also starring Ian Merrill Peakes, just one of several actors reprising their roles from the 2008 production. All video and audio recordings will be available for free through July 1. Call 202-544-4600 or visit www.folger.edu. (DR)

VIRTUALLY TOURING THE PHILLIPS

The Phillips Collection was only a few weeks into a planned three-month run of its latest temporary exhibition when it was forced to close down to wait out COVID-19. Riffs and Relations: African American Artists and the European Modernist Tradition surveyed the important yet complicated influence of, and interplay between, a number of early 20th century European artists — Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, and Wassily Kandinsky among them — and a bevy of African-American artists from last century through today, including Faith Reinggold, Jacob Lawrence, Carrie Mae Weems, and Hale Woodruff.

While the physical exhibition is no longer on public display, its bones and guiding framework can be found online, chiefly through a “Gallery Tour” of six short bursts of video posted to the Phillips’ YouTube channel, and eight longer recordings drawn from the exhibition’s audio tour with insights from the curator, scholars, and artists, plus an excerpt from a Faith Ringgold, Picasso’s Studio piano concert inspired by the 1991, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS WITH PRINTED AND TIE-DYED FABRIC, 73 X 68 IN. WORCESTER ART MUSEUM, MA, CHARLOTTE E. W. BUFFINGTON FUND show. © 2020 FAITH RINGGOLD / ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK, COURTESY ACA GALLERIES, NEW YORK The Phillips’ mobile app is likely the easiest way to wander through that temporary collection. The app makes it easy to take virtual forays through Carrie Mae Weems, After Manet the Phillips’ permanent collection in a treasure trove of audio tours and video guides.

2002 (PRINTED 2015) CHROMOGENIC PRINT, 31 X 31 IN. NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, DC One historical aside worth noting: The museum, which will turn 100 next year, was ALFRED H. MOSES AND FERN M. SCHAD FUND founded by Duncan Phillips to find solace and healing through art in the wake of the one-two punch of his father’s death and then, only one year later, his brother’s, a Click Here consequence of the last major pandemic to ravage the country: the 1918 Spanish Flu. Call 202-387-2151 for Video or visit www.phillipscollection.org. (DR)

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Spotlight DIGITAL DRAG FEST 2020

Last month, Producer Entertainment Group teamed up with Stageit. com to inaugurate a series of online performances mostly featuring drag queens culled from the ranks of RuPaul’s Drag Race. “Drag is about resilience, and this festival is meant to share that message during a challenging time in our world,” PEG’s David Charpentier said in a statement. Set to run through the end of April, the festival features a sizable contingent of queer celebrity creators in an otherwise queen-heavy lineup, with over 100 performances in all. The shows run thirty-minutes and “will never be recorded or re-released.” Most tickets cost $10 and sales are limited to roughly 100 transactions, “to keep audience sizes small and the experience intimate.” (Naturally, viewers will be able to virtually tip the performers, as well as get a chance to interact with them.)

Highlights over the next week that still had ticket availability as of press time include BenDeLaCreme (“Terminally Detained”) on Friday, April 10, at 10 p.m.; Todrick Hall (“Back on Broadway”) on Saturday, April 11, at 2 p.m.; John Cameron Mitchell (“COVIDivinations”) on Sunday, April 12, at 9 p.m.; Manila Luzon (“At Home with the Luzons”) on Monday, April 13, at 7 p.m.; Peppermint Click Here (“Peppermint Unplugged”) on Monday, for Video April 13, at 8 p.m.; Jai Rodriguez (“QueerEyetined”) on Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m.; Sherry Vine (“Let Me Be Your Jukebox!”) on Monday, April 20, at 9 p.m.; and Heidi N Closet (“Heidi’s Closet”) on Wednesday, April 22, 7 p.m. Visit www. digitaldragfest.com. (DR)

Heidi N Closet

ONLINE STORYTELLING

“We’ve always had a show on the second Tuesday of every month since 1997, so we’re not trying to break our streak now,” says Amy Saidman of Story District.

Rather than cancel or postpone the April edition until it can be staged locally, D.C.’s preeminent storytelling organization decided it will make the leap to Zoom.

“It’s an experiment,” says Saidman. “We want to take the opportunity to test how we can keep our shows going but make them virtual and still maintain some of the experience of why people are drawn to this in the first place, which is the storytelling.”

The virtual event “Acting the Fool” will feature seven individuals who have been cast to share rehearsed personal stories all centered on the theme of “mistakes, mishaps, mischief, and mayhem.” The show will be simultaneously livestreamed to YouTube, to allow even more people to watch, in a “give what you can, if you can” fashion.

“If it goes really well, we might even do it more often,” Saidman says, adding that the organization has been having early success online with other offerings, such as a sold-out inaugural run of its “Storytelling 101” class series. “So far, we’re finding that we’re able to fairly easily adapt what we do live virtually and still deliver the same kind of attention and quality.” “Acting The Fool” is set for Tuesday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m. Call 202-630-9828 or visit www.storydistrict.org. (DR)

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! e e r Sp Shop T he A r t Of

pi n

g In

Pl a

By Randy Shulman

Click to Win a Buddha Board

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BOARD GAME

Think of the Buddha Board as an Etch A Sketch for our times. Designed to promote Zen-like tranquility, the water-based, reusable sketch pad helps unleash your “in-the-moment” creativity and then whisks it away moments later to present you with a fresh start. Whether you have artistic inclinations or not (and we most certainly do not, about the best we can do are a series of ink-blotty splotches and penises with smiles), the very act of concocting on the board is at once calming and cathartic. The set-up is fairly simple: A thin, 12” x 9.5” board outfitted with water-absorbent material and set in black frame leans in an elegant stand that also serves as a reservoir for water. Dip the supplied, feather-light paintbrush into the water and “paint” to your heart’s delight. After about two minutes, your creation slowly, gently evaporates, leaving you with a blank slate to start again. The board is perfect for those five-minute mindfulness breaks, as our stay-at-home isolationism threatens to upend our sanity. The original Buddha Board lists for $34.95 and is available Click Here in a variety of sizes and styles at www.Amazon.com to Browse and www.buddhaboard.com.

SEXY TIME

If self-love is your new modus operandi in these times of COVID-19, then Bite the Fruit can give you an assist. Literally. The popular fetish and sex toy shop may have been forced to temporarily close its iconic retail location on Connecticut Avenue, but their online store is open for business and, according to owner Russwin Fransisco, doing gangbusters. Browse the site to find just the right product for you. Perhaps it’s the Loverboy: Boy in Blue ($23.95), a latex-free, exceedingly realistic appendage that has a suction cup for easy placement around the house. Among the store’s hottest sellers is the FemmeFunn Ultra Bullet Massager ($74.95), a 100% silicone massager that has not one, not two, but twenty vibration modes. You’ll never get bored. It’s USB rechargeable and, at .91” x 4.3”, small enough to keep you in a state of transcendent bliss through all those god-awful daily Zoom meetings. Bite the Fruit also sells a variety of 100% cotton bandanas, which, while not medically sound, at least can be used as a face covering.

As a bonus, the astonishing array of colors not-so-subtly conveys to those you pass on the street your individual proclivities for that day that we can touch each other Click Here again in the morning, then just walk away ($3 to Browse each). Visit www.bitethefruit.com.

NOVEL SUPPORT

Days after Mayor Bowser ordered all bars closed, Dave Perruzza, the congenial owner of Pitchers/A League of Her Own, at 2317 18th St. NW, leaped into action and teamed with Limitless Branding, a nearby Virginia company, to create a collector’s edition series of T-shirts. The logo for each bar appears discreetly on the shirt’s front, while the back blares the message — in typical Dave fashion — “I Supported Local During the Coronavirus Crisis.” The classic-fit shirts, made from 100% combed ringspun cotton, cost $25 to $27.50, depending on size.

All proceeds from sales directly support the staff of Pitchers and ALOHO during these challenging times.

Click Here So make a fashion statement now — and for the time to Buy you can wear it out and proudly when Pitchers and ALOHO once again swing open their doors. (As a bonus, Pitchers/ALOHO will hold an open bar for everyone who purchased a shirt after they reopen.) Available at www.limitlessbrandingco.com/pitchersdc.

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Mourning a Legend

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TODD FRANSON

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ERRENCE MCNALLY, THE OPENly gay, multiple-Tony and Emmy Award-winning playwright, died at age 81 on Tuesday, March 24 in Sarasota, Fla., due to complications from the coronavirus, or COVID-19.

McNally, who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, had previously undergone surgeries for lung cancer in the 1990s, costing him part of both his lungs — something that made him especially vulnerable to respiratory ailments like those caused by COVID-19.

Over the course of his life, McNally wrote dozens of plays, nearly a dozen musicals, and several operas, several featuring LGBTQ characters or gay-related themes, and others offering biting social critiques. He won the 1995 Tony award for Best Play for perhaps his best-known work, Love! Valour!

Compassion!, a play centering around eight gay men vacationing at a lake house. He won the award again in 1996 for Master Class, a comic drama about opera diva Maria Callas giving lessons about art and life, and was nominated a third time in 2014 for the play Mothers and Sons.

McNally won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical in 1993 for Kiss of the Spider Woman and in 1998 for Ragtime, and was nominated two more times, in 2001 and 2015, for The Full Monty and The Visit.

He won the 1990 Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Miniseries or a Special for Andre's Mother, a film about a woman's inability to cope with her son's death from AIDS. He also won a lifetime achievement Tony in 2019.

McNally's passing was mourned by various directors, actors, and others in the theater community, several of whom shared with Metro Weekly their thoughts and memories of working with McNally.

"Terrence was my best friend in college Greats from the local and national theater world reflect and we remained friends and colleagues on Terrence McNally’s legacy. By John Riley through the years," Michael Kahn, the former artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, said in an email. "His rich talent, compassion roles for actors will always be the key — the transference and humor illuminated the experiences of LGBTQ American between the actor and the audience will always lie at the heart life not just for the community itself but was an important con- of what matters in the theater." She noted that the Studio Acting tribution to the understanding and acceptance of gay life in the Conservatory uses Frankie and Johnny every semester to teach second half of the twentieth century to the present. His work students about realistic acting. will live." "[McNally's] legacy enlarged the audience for the gay story Joy Zinoman, the director of the Studio Acting Conservatory in our time," Zinoman said. "Because he wrote characters, both and founder of the Studio Theatre recalls a time when Studio straight and gay, through all the years of the AIDS pandemic, he would stage a McNally play annually. Zinoman said that sev- helped us to understand our common humanity and gave succor eral of his works, including Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de to whole audiences."

Lune, The Lisbon Traviata, Love! Valour! Compassion!, and Lips David Muse, the current artistic director of Studio Theatre, Together, Teeth Apart were among the most beloved by Studio said McNally's plays have been central to his time in the theater audiences. world. His first acting job in the late 1990s was a role in what Zinoman said McNally's plays taught her that "within a was at the time considered McNally's biggest Broadway flop, single work, it was possible to be both profound and popular, And Things That Go Bump in the Night, at the former American witty and heartbreaking. And it confirmed that writing great Century Theater, and he now works for a theater company that

has produced at least five McNally plays.

"His plays have been a central part of American theatre for decades, and for good reasons. He was a writer of real humanity, he was ahead of his time in his depictions of gay life on stage, and he made us laugh," said Muse. "His death is the first of the COVID-19 crisis to touch me this directly, and it made the situation feel much more real for me, and sadder."

Eric Schaeffer, co-founder and artistic director at Signature Theatre, called McNally a "giant in the field" who not only told wonderful stories but was exceedingly kind.

"We had the opportunity to have Terrence at Signature Theatre to work on our productions of The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and The Visit," said Schaeffer. "His spirit, generosity, and intelligence in the room was a beacon of light and talent. He will be sorely missed but his words and stories will thankfully live on."

"Terrence McNally is one of our most important contemporary American playwrights," Molly Smith, artistic director at Arena Stage, told Metro Weekly in an email. "Funny, acerbic, brave and emotionally compelling, he was one of our best. His dazzling range from dynamic plays like Master Class and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune to book writing for musicals like Kiss of the Spider Woman and Ragtime is remarkable. Yesterday, I was working on casting at Arena Stage for Catch Me If You Can, which he was the book writer on, and was stunned by the news.

We have lost a giant of American theater."

Others remember McNally for his ability to push boundaries, tackle sensitive subject matter, and offer blistering societal commentary.

"Terrence McNally was never afraid to take chances or be provocative in his art. His first Broadway play, And Things That Go Bump in the Night, which he wrote when he was only 24 years old, is part of the legacy of Woolly Mammoth, as it was produced to great acclaim early on in our history and catapulted us into becoming the Woolly we are today," said Maria Manuel Goyanes, artistic director at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. "He paved the way for so many Woolly writers — it's impossible to overestimate his invaluable contribution to our field."

Philip Crosby, the executive director of the Richmond Triangle Players, in Richmond, Va., recalled producing McNally's Corpus Christi — a 1998 production depicting a Jesus-like figure and his disciples as gay — for the city's annual Acts of Faith Festival, the largest faith-based theater festival in the country.

The play was so highly controversial that when the Triangle Players tried to perform it, they were picketed by Christian organizations, many of whom attempted to "scare" the troupe into canceling the production.

McNally was often praised for tackling the issue of HIV/ AIDS in his writing, but also dedicated his personal life to fighting the disease that he saw ravaging his community, becoming one of the founding fathers of Broadway Cares/Equity Fight AIDS. Lane Beauchamp, the organization's director of communications, hailed McNally's contributions and extended condolences to McNally's husband, Tom Kirdahy.

"Truly among the greatest playwrights in Broadway history, Terrence gave voice to both the voiceless and those who can stand tall, not only through his art but also his actions. He was a steadfast champion for civil and LGBTQ rights onstage and off," Beauchamp said in a statement. "He gave us unforgettable characters who told delicate, brilliant, courageous and unforgettable stories that reflected the lives and dreams, joys and heartbreak of us all.

"Terrence believed the most important function of theatre is to create community. We are so lucky that he included 14

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Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS in his own community by championing us and our work right from the start. He was a loyal and true friend, a champion and member of our Board of Trustees since our earliest days.

"In 1992, Broadway Cares helped publish the book Broadway Day & Night: Backstage and Behind the Scenes. In it, Terrence wrote: 'I am mourning not the Broadway that was but the Broadway that AIDS has seen to it will never be. If this is nostalgia, I don't know how we're expected to handle it except to continue to do the best work we can. It's the only fitting memorial for those we love and have lost.'"

Actor, producer, and writer James Brandon recalled working closely with McNally after the theater company he was working for in Los Angeles did a revival of Corpus Christi in 2006.

"One of the main gifts I got out of it, as a producer and playing the lead part of Joshua, was working directly with Terrence, and getting to know him," Brandon told Metro Weekly. "You knew you were in the presence of a master. He's a master of American theater, but he never projected something like that. There's this idea that someone who's considered a master is full of arrogance and pretentiousness, but Terrence was the absolute opposite of that. He was the most humble, kind, sweet, and generous man I've ever met. He was just so unassuming and accessible to everyone he met."

Brandon gained insight into McNally's character in how the playwright dealt with significant backlash — including having a fatwa placed on his life — over the content of Corpus Christi when it was first released.

"Amongst all of that, he said the greatest thing he' learned in his life is that kindness always prevails," Brandon said. "When he told me that, that became the crux of what Corpus Christi meant to be and how I portrayed the character. But also, it changed my life: it's the lesson I've carried with me through everything I've done in life and everything I will do. That's something I cherish and hold dear, especially now, at this most impossible time that we're dealing with, that the whole world is dealing with."

Actor and author of the young adult novel, The Best at It, Maulik Pancholy, who cut his teeth on Broadway when he appeared in McNally's It's Only a Play, recalled the late playwright as "kind and generous and sharply funny."

"The courage of his work has inspired me as a theater artist, a gay man, and as a human," Pancholy said. "We are all so lucky for the legacy he leaves behind."

Actor Michael Urie said McNally was the first playwright he ever fell in love with, directing a production of Lips Together, Teeth Apart in high school, and later appearing in Sweet Eros and Bringing it All Back Home.

"His plays taught me more than any class," Urie said.

"You can't rehearse a play without mentioning Terrence McNally," added Urie's husband, actor Ryan Spahn. "No matter what play you're working on. His influences saturate everything. He gave voice to the queer experience. Without him, the LGBTQIA community wouldn't be where it is today. He defined the game." l

Click Here to Read Our Terrence McNally Cover Interview From 2010

DJ Matt Bailer

DJ Sammy Jo

Gone Clubbing

The hottest new club is your living room, as virtual nightclubbing takes off in the age of social distancing. By André Hereford

S

OCIAL DISTANCING, SHELTERING IN PLACE, AND staying the fuck at home might have generated a boom for Zoom, and dubious stock profits for some tipped-off elected officials, but it’s been tough on nearly everyone else.

Entire industries have ground to a halt, with bars and nightlife remaining closed for weeks, maybe months.

At a moment that folks might most benefit from getting together with friends to laugh, drink, or dance their masks off, there’s nowhere to go but home. As wise man Stephen Colbert said of our global predicament, “Right now, inside is the place to be.” It’s fortunate then that many of the resourceful professionals who make queer nightlife hum around the world are using technology to bring “going out” back inside to sheltering partygoers. This past weekend, D.C.’s DJ Matt Bailer debuted the virtual version of long-running ’90s dance party Peach Pit, and the D.C. Eagle is teaming every week with its sister bar in San Francisco, along with Cell Block Chicago, for a series of online social events. The virtual party revolution is swiftly turning.

So welcome to Club My House, where the bar is always open, and there is no guest list tonight. On a recent Saturday, we hung out via Instagram Live at Haus of Cumming, where host DJ Sammy Jo spun a set from the Williamsburg apartment of his boyfriends Michael and Ethan — while one or both cleaned house in the background wearing just a jockstrap — and DJ Darren Dryden spun music from the booth at the Haus of Cumming’s NYC home, Club Cumming. Their split-camera video feed beamed loud and proud, from tablet to television, bouncing between video hookups with performers and guest DJs appearing live from their apartments.

Jake Shears dropped in from somewhere in Virginia to bless the party with his latest single “Do the Television,” and

Rod Thomas, a.k.a. Bright Light Bright Light, joined to sing his old-school house track “This Was My House,” featuring backup vocals by Niki Haris and Donna DeLory. Burlesque queen Velvetina Taylor did her shimmy, pups Kenny the Chihuahua and Charlie the Cavalier made cute on-camera cameos, Agave L’Amour served her burlesque accompanied by percussionist jojoSOUL, drag diva Princess Brittney slayed a close-up lip-sync of “Got to Be Real,” and nobody had to leave the house. A sign on Sammy Jo’s laptop encouraged viewers to tip the performers via Venmo.

For a single party from several locations, the night was a success. “The biggest challenge was trying to do it somewhat seamlessly,” says DJ Sammy Jo. “It was just figuring out, okay, this person has to log on and then request to join the feed and then once they log off, the other person has to come in and join.

So we were trying to just make it go pretty smooth, which I think we did okay, all things considered.”

Even for Sammy Jo, who’s been working the turntables for nearly twenty-two years, organizing a virtual club night was a virtual leap into the unknown. It’s a new world for partiers, too, but Sammy Jo says the response, online and on Venmo, has been phenomenal. “We made a bunch of money that we could give to the performers. It was really comforting to see that people would still support us, even if they weren't going to a club and getting drunk. They're just getting drunk at home.”

The LGBTQ community knows well that surviving a pandemic requires not only knowledge, patience, and fortitude, but stores of positive energy. And nightlife helps supply that in abundance.

“We got such a great response from people saying, ‘Oh, we really needed this brightness and cheer and joy and happiness,’” APRIL 09, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Sammy Jo says. “It just brought a bit of joy into people's lives, which sounds really cheesy, but I guess it was what everyone kind of needed. So it was nice to be able to do that, and then to be able to showcase the people that we love, the regular performers at Haus of Cumming. It made us feel like our family is still here.

We can still pull together and do stuff even if we're not in the same room.”

From a distance is how we’re all managing our social lives these days, so, naturally, Peach Pit DJ and promoter Matt Bailer landed on Bette Midler’s sentimental hit as the theme for his ’90s dance party’s first virtual edition, Peach Pit: From a Distance.

As Bailer manned the DJ booth at DC9, taking the virtual dance floor from house classics to pop princesses to Bel Biv Devoe’s “Poison,” the club’s owner/manager Bill Spieler worked the Twitch-hosted live video feed, and Bailer’s friend Corey Baker managed the busy online chat room.

Admitting that he had little idea what to expect of his first virtual club set, Bailer feels the night went great, “even though it was very strange being in an empty club deejaying for no one, and also on camera, which is not something that I'm used to or comfortable with.”

The event left Bailer “intrigued and curious about the kind of possibilities. I'm 42 now and a lot of my friends who aren't going to leave the house after 10 o'clock on a Saturday night tuned in and were basically at Peach Pit. That to me is exciting.... To be able to have that experience while you're at home in your jams, eating ice cream and dancing. That's kind of amazing.... [It] seems like an untapped thing that we've now been forced to tap into that is awesome.”

Even when nightlife patrons are no longer forced to socialize from a distance, Bailer thinks he might consider continuing his

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virtual parties. “I definitely love being in the club with the feedback and the energy in the room, [but] this is an interesting little thing. I don't know if I would have tried if we weren't in this situation where I was kind of forced to.”

DJ Sammy Jo, on the other hand, is enjoying his virtual club nights while they last, but as for continuing after this national shutdown has lifted, he insists, “Absolutely not.”

“It's great to be able to do it now that it's our only option, but standing in a room alone or with my boyfriends? It just feels weird, because then does anyone want to just watch a feed of someone DJing? I'm uncomfortable with that. So I cannot wait to just have live people, and I can hide in the DJ booth and just play my music. But until that moment comes, we're planning on doing it probably like a full-scale event like we did last Saturday, once a month I think.”

Bailer hasn’t planned his next virtual party, but “I would love to do more Peach Pits,” he says. “I would also love to do some Shady Pines, the ’80s party that I started recently on Sundays at DC9. I'm open to whatever and DC9 staff is so great, so easygoing and so good at getting the stuff up and running. I'm grateful to them for whatever they want me to do.”

Like so many other aspects of social distancing, deejaying to a virtual crowd is a major adjustment, says Bailer, but he’s willing to adapt. “So much of what I do is reading the room, reading the crowd. Without a crowd, what? If a DJ falls in the forest and nobody's there to hear it, does he make a sound?

“There's nothing close to actual live people there dancing to it. I'm definitely looking forward to that. Also, of course, there’s the fact that this is my full-time job, so it will be nice to have that back, too. But in the meantime, I also just love any way I can share music with people. So I'll take what I get.” l

theFeed

CLOSET CONCERN

LGBTQ youth should “press pause” on coming out during coronavirus, charity warns. By Rhuaridh Marr

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N LGBTQ CHARITY IS SUGGESTING THAT young people “press pause” on coming out during the coronavirus pandemic. The Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), a British charity that serves homeless LGBTQ youth, said that young people should “think hard” before coming out amid the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 lockdown.

“If you’re a young person and you’re thinking of coming out, press pause on that until you get support,” AKT CEO Tim Sigsworth told Sky News. He noted the potential for a negative reaction from family members, particularly if they are more stressed than usual due to the pandemic. That, in turn, increases the risk for a young person to be rejected and made homeless.

“You can’t predict at these completely unprecedented times how your parents will react,” he advised youth. “They, like you, are under a lot of stress and they may not react in a positive way. We’re all being told to self-isolate, so being on the streets, it has to be the most dangerous place for a vulnerable young person at the moment.”

Sigsworth added: “Talk to somebody, get some advice. Maybe pause for the minute and let’s look at what your situation is.”

LGBTQ youth make up a quarter of young homeless people in the UK, according to AKT, and more than three-quar-

ters of homeless LGBTQ youth said their main reason for being homeless was family rejection. A study led by AKT last year also found that a quarter of adults in the United Kingdom would be “ashamed” to have an LGBTQ child.

Sigsworth noted to Sky News that being rejected by family during the pandemic could leave homeless LGBTQ youth with nowhere to turn to for support.

Councils in England have been ordered to find accommodation for homeless people during the pandemic, but Sigsworth said AKT knew of a young person who, at the start of the pandemic, “was staying in a hostel, but then started to show symptoms and the hostel asked them to leave.”

“They had nowhere to stay and no family; their family had rejected them,” he said. “They had no work, no options other than the street.”

The Human Rights Campaign’s 2018 LGBTQ Youth Report found that less than a quarter of youth in the United States feel they can “definitively” be themselves at home, and two-thirds have heard their families make negative comments about LGBTQ people.

“I’m not out to my parents for safety reasons,” one youth told HRC. “If they found out I was gay, they would kick me out or force me into conversion therapy.” l

ANALYZING TRAGEDY

New documentary profiles lesbian mothers who drove children off cliff in murder-suicide. By Rhuaridh Marr

A

MENDOCINO COUNTRY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

NEW DOCUMENTARY explores the story behind a 2018 tragedy in which lesbian mothers and their six children were killed when their SUV crashed over a cliff on the Pacific Coast Highway.

Thread of Deceit delves into the lives of Jennifer and Sarah Hart, who perished alongside their adopted children Markis, 19, Hannah, 16, Devonte, 15, Abigail and Jeremiah, both 14, and Sierra, 12, after their car plummeted more than 100 feet into the ocean off the coast of California.

The crash was later determined to be a murder-suicide by a coroner’s jury, after Jennifer Hart, who was driving, was found to be intoxicated at the time of the crash with a blood alcohol level over the state’s APRIL 09, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

17

theFeed legal limit.

Sarah and at least three of the children had high levels of diphenhydramine — a component of Benadryl — in their system. Sarah’s levels were toxic, equivalent with at least 42 doses. She had also searched on her phone for ways to end her family’s lives prior to the crash, including, “How easily can I overdose on over-the-counter medication?”

The crash occurred during a last-minute road trip the family had taken — from their home in Woodland, Washington, to Mendocino County, California — after multiple incidents and allegations of child abuse.

Days before the crash, the Harts’ children had been identified as “potential victims of abuse or neglect” by Child Protective Services, and Sarah Hart had previously pleaded guilty to domestic assault and malicious punishment of a child in 2011, after admitting that she had struck one of her daughters, leaving visible bruising.

Documentary Thread of Deceit: The Hart Family Tragedy, from Chris Kobin and Rachel Morgan, delves into the Harts’ backstory, the lead up to the crash, and the reaction and backlash that occurred as the facts surrounding the case

were revealed.

Morgan said in a statement that she knew “a handful of people that were close to the family” prior to making the documentary.

“The thing that struck me the most, aside from it being an absolutely horrific, heartbreaking incident, is how quickly the story was scooped up and spit out in the mainstream and social media with very little compassion and human decency,” she said.

“This is what motivated the documentary. A chance to tell the story without a motive aside from peeling away the layers of something that was unfathomable.

“It was important for us to go into the documentary unbiased and let the story tell itself in any way that it took form,” she said. “I felt it crucial to allow the friends who were silenced by harassment to be able to speak their point of view and I felt it was just as important to share the cold hard facts from the investigation and inquest without sugar-coating it.” l

Watch the Trailer

Thread of Deceit is available now on streaming platforms.

GOD HATES FLAGS

Gay man arrested for planting Pride flag in tent hospital run by anti-LGBTQ preacher. By Rhuaridh Marr

A

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APRIL 09, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

TWITTER

JONATHAN MCINTOSH

GAY MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED AFTER TRY- religious figures and consumerism. ing to plant an LGBTQ Pride flag at a COVID-19 He has been charged with criminal trespass, disordertent hospital in New York City that was operated ly conduct, obstructing governmental administration, and by an anti-LGBTQ preacher. The 68-bed tent hospital resisting arrest, according to police. in Central Park was established last week by evangelical Talen “jumped over the outer perimeter barrier of the Christian aid organizaSamaritan’s Purse Field tion Samaritan’s Purse Hospital, a prohibitand is intended to help ed area,” according to treat overflow patients a police statement, and from Mount Sinai after ignoring demands Hospital experiencing to leave, “proceeded to COVID-19-related respiplant a flag on a pole ratory distress. into the ground.”

Samaritan’s Purse As he was led away is led by anti-LGBTQ from the tent hospital preacher Franklin by police officers, one of Graham, who has a hiswhom was carrying his tory of opposing LGBTQ flag, Talen said, “They people and equality, [Samaritan’s Purse] and the tent hospital have no business being reportedly requires all in New York City. They volunteers to agree to are the virus,” according (L) William Talen in character as Reverend Billy ; (R) Talen being arrested to NBC News. a “Statement of Faith” which includes expressing vehement opposition to homoIn a video of his arrest posted to Twitter, he said sexuality and transgender people.

Samaritan’s Purse was “taking advantage of our sorrow,” William Talen, 69, was arrested on Sunday by police after calling them “predators” and “right-wing apocalyptic entering the grounds of the tent hospital and trying to plant Christians.” a flag pole with a rainbow flag attached, NBC News reports.

“Today I tried to deliver a rainbow flag to the Samaritans Talen was dressed as his Reverend Billy persona, which Purse field hospital in Central Park,” Talen wrote in the the gay actor and playwright uses to satirize conservative tweet. “Franklin Graham and his Lords Army are here with

theFeed Purse rejected claims that it may turn away LGBTQ people seeking care for COVID-19.

“Samaritan’s Purse does not discriminate in who we help, and we have a decades-long track record that confirms just that. We do not make distinctions about an individual’s religion, race, sexual orientation, or economic status,” said Kaitlyn Lahm, the assistant director of marketing and media relations at Samaritan’s Purse.

“Our doors at the Emergency Field Hospital in the East Meadow are going to be open to all New Yorkers who need our help. We are here to save life, which is precious in God’s sight — and we do it all in Jesus’ Name. We are a Christian organization and we hire Christians who share our statement of faith. We have a common denominator of our faith in Jesus Christ and sharing that hope.” l

DISNEY XD

their homophobic racist hustle. Help not hate.”

State Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan), who is gay, said he would be monitoring the organization closely, saying, “COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate, and neither should Franklin Graham. It’s unacceptable that a New Yorker infected with COVID-19 could be subjected to discriminatory treatment from an organization whose leader calls us ‘immoral’ and ‘detestable.’

“Sadly, beggars can’t be choosers: New York needs every ventilator we can get,” Hoylman added. “But homophobic pastor Franklin Graham and his field hospital operation in Central Park must guarantee all LGBTQ patients with COVID-19 are treated with dignity and respect. We’ll be watching.”

In a statement to Metro Weekly last week, Samaritan’s

YES DADDY

T

DuckTales reboot introduces gay dads in season 3 premiere. By Rhuaridh Marr

HE THIRD SEASON PREMIERE OF DISNEY’S rebooted DuckTales has revealed the gay fathers of one of its characters. DuckTales, which airs on Disney XD, reboots the iconic ‘late 80s cartoon. It follows Scrooge McDuck reuniting with his nephew Donald Duck and great-nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, and embarking on globe-trotting adventures to find treasure.

The new show has placed a greater emphasis on diversity, including making superhero character Gizmoduck (voiced

by Lin-Manuel Miranda) Latino, and previously teased that the character of Violet Sabrewing has two gay dads.

According to Screen Rant, Violet had mentioned her fathers in season two, but they were shown for the first time in the season three premiere. During the episode, Violet calls best friend Lena her “sister from a couple of misters” and reveals that her fathers have adopted Lena.

Tyrian “Ty” Sabrewing and Indigo “Indy” Sabrewing are then shown cheering on their daughter in a competition, with both men wearing matching “I’m with Dad” t-shirts.

Writing on his blog, DuckTales’ co-executive producer and story editor Frank Angones acknowledged the fathers’ limited role — they have no

dialogue in the episode — and said the show would start to address LGBTQ issues.

“As with all of our characters, we had a lot of conversations about who Violet was and what her background was and came up with this fun notion of her too enthusiastic, overly supportive dads who love being dads,” he wrote. “We didn’t really have a story built around them, but when the time came for an episode focusing on Huey and Violet in a particular situation, it made sense that they would be there.”

Noting that “the ‘queer representation through parents and background characters’ trope is an issue,” Angones said producers had “sort of stumbled backwards into a lot of heteronormative romances in this show due to legacy characters with pre-existing relationships.”

“But that’s really no excuse,” he wrote. “We’ve done pretty well on racial diversity and representation of people with limb differences, but we really have not done enough relevant LGBTQ+ rep. We do have some themes and ideas coming up that address relevant LGBTQ+ narratives.” l

Click Here for Video

DuckTales airs Saturdays on Disney XD. Episodes are also available to stream on Disney+.

APRIL 09, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Ending the

Blood Ban The FDA has reduced its celibacy requirement for gay men wishing to donate blood. Critics say it's still not enough.

I

REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME I WENT TO DONATE blood as an adult, in the late ’80s,” says Scott Weiner. “The questionnaire said if you’d had sex with a man since 1977, you couldn’t donate. I remember the feeling in the pit of my stomach, that I was permanently banned from donating blood for the rest of my life. It was really demoralizing, and made me feel like a second-class citizen.”

Weiner came of age as a gay man in 1987, when he was 17, at the height of the AIDS epidemic. “There was no effective treatment for HIV,” he says. “People were dying in obscene numbers.

It was a very scary time to come to grips that I was gay.”

Now, almost 33 years later, the Democratic state senator from California who represents San Francisco, has seen the U.S. Food and Drug Administration move from permanently banning all men who have sex with men to, in 2015, allowing gay and bisexual men to donate 12 months after their last sexual encounter.

Last week, the FDA again revised its policy on blood donations, reducing the deferral period to three months.

The policy change comes as health experts, including the U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, warned that social distancing efforts to “flatten the curve” of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic were drastically reducing the supply of available blood, and encouraged younger, healthier Americans to donate. In announcing the change, the FDA specifically cited the need for more blood donations amid the COVID-19 crisis, and said the changes “are expected to remain in place after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends.”

For Wiener, the lower deferral period for gay and bisexual men — and those individuals who have sex with them, including transgender people and cisgender women — might be a step in the right direction, but it’s still not enough.

“Yes, one year of celibacy is less terrible than a lifetime ban, and three months of celibacy is less terrible than a year, but it’s all terrible,” he says. “And none of it is based in science, none of 20

APRIL 09, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

it is rational, and it’s all completely discriminatory.

“We know that every blood donation is tested for HIV and the RNA test for HIV has a mere 10-to-14-day window. So unless that person seroconverted within a week-and-a-half to two weeks before giving, the test will screen that blood out. Given that, why would you require even three months of celibacy when the resting window is 10 to 14 days?

“There’s no conceivable, rational explanation for that rule.

It’s simply based on outdated stereotypes, and frankly, animus towards gay and bi men, assuming we’re all disease vectors, we’re all filthy, that gay sex is dirty,” Wiener says. “It’s just tragic that the FDA, which is supposedly a scientific organization, is ignoring the science on blood donation. And yet you could be a sexually active, non-monogamous straight person, and none of this would apply to you.”

Wiener is in favor of moving to behavioral-based screening for all donors.

“The FDA should either adopt behavioral screening, or an across-the-board celibacy period for everyone if they believe that is necessary,” he says. “Because there are a lot of gay men who aren’t having that much sex, and straight people who are having sex all the time.”

Wiener admits that adopting an across-the-board celibacy period is unlikely because it could severely impair the available blood supply, but testing and self-screening — which he believes most prospective donors are responsible enough to do — is enough to protect the blood supply from any bloodborne diseases like HIV or hepatitis.

On Tuesday, Wiener hosted a blood drive at San Francisco’s Zellerbach Rehearsal Hall, which he called the #GiveforaGay blood drive, to bring attention to the FDA’s restrictions even with the lower deferral period being adopted.

“As soon as I saw that the call for social distancing was affecting blood donations, I knew we wanted to increase the supply of

GREG COURVILLE

By John Riley

NEW AFRICA

blood, while also reminding people that a segment of the population is irrationally prohibited from giving,” says Wiener. “So I said ‘Let’s work with the Red Cross, hold a blood drive, and call attention to this issue.’”

Like Wiener, many LGBTQ activists see the FDA’s recent announcement as positive progress, but feel it doesn’t go far enough in reducing the stigma around gay and bisexual men — as well as other LGBTQ individuals who wish to donate.

“Under the new guidelines, a person who has had unprotected sex only days before can still donate blood, while a gay or bisexual man who has had sex with another man within three months of the date of donation — despite using condoms and

taking HIV prevention medicine like PREP — cannot,” Alphonso David, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a press call following the announcement. “This difference is unfair, and based in bias.

“Deferral should be based on information that is within the personal knowledge and control of the prospective donor,” he added, “and not on the sexual orientation or gender identity of the donor, or the sexual orientation, gender identity, or activities of one’s sexual partners, or on perceived monogamy.”

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who also participated in the call, welcomed the new deferral period as a “milestone” in the fight for equality when it comes to blood donation policies,

“The ban is simply based on outdated stereotypes, and frankly, animus towards gay and bi men, assuming we’re all disease vectors, we’re all filthy, that gay sex is dirty.”

—California State Sen. Scott Wiener 22

APRIL 09, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

“Ending discriminatory blood donation policies is something I’ve been engaged in for many years. It shouldn’t have taken a pandemic and the resulting blood shortage to make progress on this issue.”

—U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin

TODD FRANSON

while saying it still falls short.

“I think about the fact that we want our policies on this public health crisis to be informed by the best scientific expertise, the best public health information,” she said. “Likewise, we should demand that about the policies that govern our blood supply in the United States.

“Ending discriminatory blood donation policies is something I’ve been engaged in for many years and ensure that all healthy individuals are able to donate,” noted Baldwin. “It shouldn’t have taken a pandemic and the resulting blood shortage to make progress on this issue.”

U.S Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), who is gay, expressed similar sentiments in a statement.

“Gay and bisexual men should be able to donate blood just like every other American,” Cicilline said. “The change announced this week is a step forward, but the restrictions in place are still discriminatory. I’m going to continue fighting until all LGBTQ Americans are equal in the eyes of the law.”

Mathew Lasky, director of communications for the LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD, says even with the lower deferral period that there are going to be large numbers of gay and bisexual men who will be unable to donate, even if they’re involved in a committed, monagamous relationship.

“The new deferral period is more in line with science than the previous policy, but you have some scientists pushing [the idea] that there is no need for time-based deferral periods at all, and that they don’t help in ensuring blood safety,” he says.

If the United States were to eliminate timebased deferrals and move to a behavioral-based screening of potential blood donors, as have countries like Italy, Lasky says, the way it would work is that all potential donors would fill out a questionnaire asking about their sexual practices and health history. Based on those responses, whoever was administering the survey would determine APRIL 09, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

23

“My older brother is gay and has been married to his husband for several years.

You’re telling me they have to abstain from sex for three months just to donate blood?

You’ve got to be kidding me.”

—Peter Adams, 32, Fairfax, Va. who was eligible to donate. Blood collected from donors would then be screened for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as it is presently.

Jason Cianciotto, the senior managing director of the New York-based Gay Men’s Health Crisis, cites GMHC’s decade-long work of fighting against what, at the time, was a lifetime ban for gay and bisexual blood donors. He says the organization favors moving to a screening policy that would defer anyone at risk of having contracted HIV in the 10-to-14-day window before the virus is detectable in their blood, regardless of their sexual orientation.

“I think our work began in earnest in 2010 when GMHC published and released a report that made the case, based on the information at the time, that a lifetime deferral for all gay and bisexual men, simply because of their sexual orientation, was not warranted, was not rooted in the best available science, and, in fact, was harmful because it promoted the stereotype that HIV is a gay disease,” Cianciotto says.

“The consequences of that stereotype extends far beyond just the harm done in preventing a large number of people from being able to donate blood and blood products,” he adds. “It carries forward one of the most harmful social determinants of the epidemic, by promoting the idea, especially to LGBTQ youth, that because of their sexual orientation, they are diseased and are going to get some kind of deadly illness.”

GMHC was among a number of LGBTQ groups who spoke out against the FDA’s 12-month deferral period when it was introduced in 2015, criticizing it for being “akin to a lifetime ban” because it was not realistic to expect people to remain abstinent for an entire year simply so they would be able to donate blood.

“Within the context of COVID-19, the deferral period takes on a deeper and more harmful significance,” notes Cianciotto.

“Not only do the effects of COVID-19 ravage the lungs so that someone is in need of blood, but physical and social distancing have also meant a reduction in the number of people donating blood.

“One of the most promising treatments that can help someone who is severely threatened by COVID-19 is the process of extracting antibodies from [recovered patients’] blood plasma,” he says. “The FDA’s ban prevents men who have sex with men from donating plasma as well.”

Cianciotto takes issue with the FDA’s framing of its new, three-month deferral period as somehow revolutionary or groundbreaking.

“The FDA, in announcing its three-month ban, spoke as if 24

APRIL 09, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

there was new science that led them to adopt this temporary policy, when in fact, England has been doing it since 2017,” he says. “In 2001, Italy removed its ban entirely and moved to a risk-based screening tool. And the research that has been done in Italy has shown no increase in bloodborne disease transmissions during that time.”

Another person who finds the FDA’s current deferral period ludicrous is Peter Adams, of Fairfax, Virginia. A 32-year-old gay man, Adams notes that he has always been willing to help out, and was upset that he was unable to respond to the Surgeon General’s call for millennials and members of Generation Z to donate blood to address the pending shortages.

“I felt I was missing out on a call to action that I think is important,” he says.

He notes that his sexual orientation does not prevent him from being an organ donor. Additionally, gay and bisexual men have been allowed to donate bone marrow and other tissue for a few years, after restrictions prohibiting were relaxed in late 2015 following guidance from the FDA. “If you look at my driver’s license, it says I’m an organ donor, because, when I die, I want to be able to save as many people as possible with my organs, if they’re healthy,” says Adams.

Adams, who last donated blood as a 17-year-old, was unimpressed by the FDA’s recent decision, and wishes the regulatory agency had made bolder moves.

“That’s nothing,” he says. “If you wanted to make a real change, you’d say to gay men, ‘We’re going to take your blood.’ What really grinds my gears is that this all stems from the AIDS epidemic. AIDS is not a gay disease, anyone can have AIDS. On top of that, if you do donate blood, regardless of where the blood came from, guess what they’re going to do? They’re going to test it.

“My older brother is gay and has been married to his husband for several years,” says Adams. “And you’re telling me that they have to abstain from sex for three months just to donate blood?

You’ve got to be kidding me. I want to help everyone else as much as they want my blood. But you’re effectively telling me it’s bad blood.”

After a moment of reflection, he concedes that even “baby steps” like reducing the deferral period are a form of slow-moving progress.

“Any step forward is a step in the right direction,” he says. “I only wish it had been a lot bigger.” l For more information on the FDA’s blood donation guidelines, visit www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics.

SelfieScene Take a selfie, make it fun!

TEXT it to

202-527-9624 Be sure to include your name and city

APRIL 09, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

25

Movies

Black Hole

Freud might have had a field day analyzing Butt Boy, but you can go read a book or rearrange your furniture. By André Hereford

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S IF ANY MOVIEGOER NEEDED THE HARSH REMINDER THAT THEY won’t get to spend this weekend with Disney’s live-action Mulan, Marvel’s New Mutants, or Daniel Craig’s 007 in No Time to Die, along comes the streaming release of Butt Boy (HHHHH) to add further pain to these trying times. The comedy-thriller from director Tyler Cornack, co-written with his Tiny Cinema partner Ryan Koch, is about as funny as a prostate exam, and, similarly, thrilling only when it’s finally over.

Cornack stars as Chip Gutchell, a straight, married Florida IT guy for whom a probing visit to his doctor unlocks an unexplored passion for inserting things up his rectum.

Soon, Chip is gazing longingly at the TV remote, then at increasingly larger objects, before he quickly crosses the line to shoving a pet up his posterior. From there, his compulsion spirals nastily towards rock bottom — and that’s just the movie’s prologue.

The film then swerves sharply into hard-boiled detective territory, introducing hothead cop Russel Fox (Tyler Rice), a newly sober loner who starts to suspect that family man Chip is behind a series of unexplainable disappearances. As Fox relays to his skeptical Chief (Brad Potts), “It seems the more objects this guy’s putting up his ass, the stronger he’s getting.” But that formula doesn’t apply to the movie, which only gets worse as more objects vanish up the virtual black hole that is Chip’s behind.

Played with deadpan seriousness, the story’s crass outrageousness could have worked if the butt jokes and commentary were better calculated, or if the detective suspense were deftly crafted. Troma Entertainment’s 1996 horror comedy Killer Condom did all that and more with its bizarre, bloody tale of a gay cop searching New York City for a prophylactic that preys on men’s penises. Killer Condom was Citizen Kane compared to Butt Boy — although Cornack and crew do achieve an intentionally cheesy, ’80s B-movie vibe that easily is this film’s most persuasive quality.

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APRIL 09, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Its other leading quality is tediousness, embodied to an almost impressive degree

by Rice’s one-note, monologue-heavy performance as sleazy Detective Fox. After Chip remarks on the movie detective’s stereotypical styling of single earring and greasy hair, you might start to wonder how much of the production’s budget went to hair grease. Even Fox’s bushy goatee looks ready to ooze all over the scenery.

Less attention perhaps was paid to staging one pivotal fight scene, shot and edited so haphazardly it isn’t clear whether or not it’s meant to be a character’s hallucination.

Definitely not a hallucination is the cringe-worthy montage of Detective Hair Gel leading a pointlessly violent police raid, intercut with Chip using household items to indulge his anal fetish. Followed by a cat-and-mouse sequence at a Laser Tag that reads as a tone-deaf riff on active shooter situations, the movie miscalculates its way to a sci-fi climax that’s eye-rollingly silly and predictably scatalogical, but at least brings this sloppy mess to an end. l Butt Boy will be available for VOD via iTunes on Tuesday, April 14.

Watch the Trailer

MAGNOLIA PICTURES

Movies

We the Gerrymandered

Told through the story of one woman’s activism, Slay the Dragon casts partisan redistricting as a threat to our democracy. By John Riley

T

WO DAYS AFTER THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, KATIE FAHEY made a Facebook post that would forever alter the direction of her life. As she sat at her kitchen table in Caledonia, Michigan, Fahey, then 27, scrolled through her newsfeed, seeing posts from her friends, family, and people of all political stripes sniping at one another — casting blame and expressing anger and resentment over the divisive election. Regardless of the author, each post expressed a common theme: a deep distrust of — and despair about — the political system and the idea that their worries and concerns are being ignored by political elites.

“What I started to see is that a lot of the political players in the industry, none of them are looking out for the average person,” Fahey says. “It opened my eyes to how much the people of the country need to be the ones at the center of these political fights.”

Fahey typed a short post. “I’d like to take on gerrymandering in Michigan,” it read.

“If you’re interested in doing this as well please let me know.” It was followed by a smiley face emoji.

Within hours, the post had gone viral, receiving so many likes and comments that Fahey found herself creating a group, “Voters Not Politicians.” She connected with other activists around the state to plan town halls, with the intent of placing a voter-led initiative on the 2018 ballot to replace partisan gerrymandering with a nonpartisan, citizen-led redistricting panel.

Fahey’s story — and her uphill battle against voter apathy, skepticism, and well-financed special interest groups flooding radio and television with misinformation about her efforts — is the central narrative of documentary Slay the Dragon (HHHHH).

Originally intended by directors Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance to serve as a historical account of gerrymandering, the film, currently on multiple streaming plat-

forms, serves as an educational primer for those who don’t consider themselves politically astute. It delves into how political district lines are drawn in America and how technology, coupled with an abundance of Census data, has allowed politicians to choose their voters rather than the other way around, effectively cementing themselves in power.

The film specifically highlights the people behind REDMAP, a project of the Republican State Leadership Committee that was dedicated to increasing the GOP’s control of Congress, governor’s offices, and state legislatures by getting elected Republicans to draw district lines in a way that would ensure permanent or long-lasting majorities. It also tracks the machinations of a Wisconsin-based group of anti-gerrymandering activists who attempted to challenge the legislative lines drawn by Republican lawmakers, ultimately taking their fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Against the backdrop of these stories, Goodman and Durrance make clear their point of view: that partisan gerrymandering is bad for America’s politics and that voters must begin taking their power back continues on page 29

Watch the Trailer

APRIL 09, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

27

Birth of a Butterfly

Shamir metamorphosizes once again on an unannounced, yet perfectly timed new album. By Sean Maunier

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HAMIR COULDN’T HAVE SEEN A PANDEMIC COMING DURING THE months of work that went into his latest record, but you would almost think he did. As early releases, surprise releases, demos and mixtapes increasingly become the norm, Shamir seems poised to have a moment. The Vegas-born artist, whose 2018 album Resolution also dropped without warning, is no stranger to this way of doing things.

Having long ago departed the electropop shimmer of his major label debut and embraced a fuzzy, grungy, DIY sound that sounds — in the best possible ways — like it was put together in an apartment, the release of the nine-track Cataclysm (HHHHH) seems to have put him one step ahead of the curve. Maybe it was a happy coincidence, or maybe Shamir was just the right artist with the right project at the right time. Either way, Cataclysm is an intimate and oddly comforting collection of lo-fi songs that sound perfectly made for the moment.

In the Bandcamp blurb for Cataclysm, Shamir leans heavily on the metaphor of a butterfly as a stand-in for death and rebirth. “Constant regeneration of the soul is incredibly painful,” he writes, “but transformation is equally beautiful.” In keeping with a style and a persona that have always been difficult to pin down, Shamir’s sound is slippery and often defies neat categorization. Constantly eager to move onto new forms and sounds, “transformational” is one of the few descriptors that can be applied to him with the knowledge that it will stick.

Cataclysm does keep some of the grungy aesthetic of his previous effort, Be the 28

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DANIELLE WAITE

Music

Yee, Here Comes the Haw, as well as the distortion and heavy post-punk leanings.

Although it was far from a country album, Shamir did make nods towards the title with the odd acoustic twang and brief detour into folky simplicity. On this album, he has traded up to dense, rich, dissonant riffs and reverb that layer together with his distinct countertenor in an oddly appealing way.

As evidenced in his previous work, the gritty lo-fi instrumentals on the one hand and his soaring vocals on the other may seem like an odd pairing at first, but together they create a uniquely otherworldly mood. The album opener “Hell” blends warm static with echoing vocals to a haunting effect, a mood he revisits later on the album with the stark, apocalyptic “Scream” and the droning, low-key “Mirror For Your Third Eye.” Despite the dark bent his work often takes, what makes Shamir fun to listen to is how much fun he is clearly having with his songwriting. More upbeat tracks

Click Here to Listen to ‘Wind’

like “All The Places That Nobody Wants To Be” lighten the otherwise heavy mood of the album. His sense of humor is on display throughout Cataclysm, perhaps nowhere more so than on “Delusional.” It opens with the tragicomic lyric, “I cry at restaurants, but not because I dine alone,” introducing a lighthearted punk-ish track on which he rattles off a list of fears and insecurities with an exaggerated strain in his voice. Shamir later closes out the album on a lighthearted note, with “They Must Go” the closest to pop he comes this time around, is shot through with a positive vibe that makes it sound almost like a breath out after such a musically and thematically dense album.

Midway through, Shamir takes a step back with “Wind,” an acoustic guitar track that is undeniably the outlier of the album.

While he is never shy or coy about baring his soul, allowing his

vocals to rise to the forefront makes the track an especially plaintive confessional.

With soft vocals over equally gentle instrumentals, it almost sounds like it might have been more at home on another album. Aside from his unmistakable voice, its meditative lyrics tie this one to the rest of the album.

“Sometimes confinement brings you peace,” he sings at one point, “Other times it makes you crazy.”

Shamir closes the album’s blurb with a haunting and ambiguous statement: “I’ve always wanted to soundtrack the end because I’ve seen it so many times.” His accidentally perfectly timed soundtrack for a crisis and collapse is a hopeful reminder that endings, as bleak and painful as they might be, are moments of transformation.

We may not know what awaits us on the other side, but there is beauty in the process itself, if we know where to listen for it. l

Cataclysm is available now on Bandcamp and all streaming services. continued from page 27

through citizen initiatives that establish independent or nonpartisan redistricting commissions.

“This is a game that’s been played for over a century, and in each election,” Durrance says, noting that both parties have historically agreed to lines that ensure incumbents are protected.

“I think Democrats went into 2010 thinking that it was going to be another round of ‘You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.’

They didn’t see the signals that the Republicans were sending.”

In Goodman and Durrance’s view, many of the more controversial political stories of the past decade have their roots in gerrymandering, from union-busting laws in Ohio and Wisconsin to Flint’s water crisis — rooted in cost-cutting measures pushed by the Republican-run legislature and exacerbated by a statewide “emergency manager” law — to the failure of down-ballot Democrats to gain traction even as President Obama was being re-elected in 2012 and Democrats were winning statewide elections.

The film is crafted in a way that all but ensures emotional investment in Fahey’s fight against a system that’s designed to silence any dissent. You’ll reach for Kleenex while watching Fahey, in private, shed tears of frustration, her shoulders slumped as she pushes herself to the brink of exhaustion while collecting signatures to place the initiative on the ballot.

Beyond Fahey, Goodman and Durrance hit similar emotional peaks capturing the struggling people of Flint desperately searching for potable water. And then there’s the justifiable anger of watching the resignation of Justice Anthony Kennedy — and confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to replace him — effectively closing the door on any hope that the courts will rule partisan gerrymandering unconstitutional. Even the few victories in the film, such as when Fahey’s initiative makes it onto the ballot, are preceded by scenes that will make viewers grind their teeth in outrage.

Indeed, if there’s any chief villain in the film, it’s judges — both elected and appointed, at the state and federal levels — who appear to be willing to latch onto any legal justification for stripping away what little power Americans have to ensure politicians are accountable to those whose interests they’ve been entrusted to represent. The battle lines become clear: the judges

give enormous leeway to the politicians, and the rest of us might as well be serfs on the feudal manor.

“The way I viewed the problem was ‘the system isn’t working,’” says Fahey. “It’s not about electing one person because the whole system needs to be torn down. And to do that, let’s start with the basic building blocks of democracy, which is redistricting, like literally how our elections end up being determined and who we get to vote for and what our representation looks like.

“Until the rules can be changed so that people can be the ones making those decisions, it’s going to be a really big uphill battle to be fighting that mindset that people in office hold about how much more informed they are than regular citizens.”

Critics of the film might be inclined to believe that the film is simply a piece of left-wing propaganda meant to demonize Republicans. But that argument is a red herring. The only reason why some Republicans, like those behind the REDMAP project, will assume the role of villains in some viewers’ minds is because they happen to have been the beneficiaries of the last round of redistricting in 2011.

Slay the Dragon is one of those consequential political films that comes around every generation, seeking to shake Americans out of their slumber and spur them to action on a specific topic.

But unlike the issue of gun control in Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine or climate change in Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, the issue at the heart of Slay the Dragon is one that resonates on both sides of the aisle.

In the end, Fahey, the woman from Middle America, assumes the role of David against the political establishment’s Goliath in defending a uniquely American principle: that the governed should have a say in who runs their government.

“We are the repository of power, not the politicians or the government, and that is a message that resonated across party lines,” Goodman says. “I think one of the big takeaways from the film is that you can turn your anger into a positive progresive direction by framing it as ‘we the people,’ coming from the bottom-up. Katie tapped into that same anger, but turned it into a positive direction, [saying] that we can do something to take our government back.” l

Slay the Dragon is available now on most streaming services, including Apple TV and Amazon Prime.

Visit www.slaythedragonfilm.com.

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SelfieScene Yard Shtick

Be Scene! Take a selfie, and make it fun if you like, and TEXT to 202-527-9624.

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Setting Scene Spring Spring has returned,the bearing the promise of lifefor outside the house.

With Mother Nature busily re-foliating the lush landscape, it’s up to you to add some life to your personal outdoor space. Whether your spring fling involves entertaining, relaxing, or even showering, we have some splendid accessories to spruce up your open-air lifestyle.

Gnome it All

Spot Lights

It’s time to put the pink flamingos away and dress up your outdoors gnome-style. Phillippe Starck originally designed these playful spirits for Saint Martin’s Lane Hotel in London. Not only are they tons of fun but their round tops also make them useful as stools or tables.

Phillippe Starck Gnomes $217 to $245 at Exit Art, www.exit-art.com.

Shed some ambient light outdoors with Candela Rechargeable Candles. These fun lights are cordless and come with rechargeable batteries. When your done simply place the lights back on the base and recharge. $79.95 for a set of four at Home Rule, 1807 14th Street NW. 202-797-5544 or www.homerule.com.

Christian (Washington, DC)

Andrew (Philadelphia, PA)

Fun Shui

Love Seat

These Bamboo Stripe Candleholders are an inexpensive way to add some color and mood to your space. They come in a variety of colors and are made with colored abaca and vertical bamboo accents. $3.50 at Crate and Barrel, 4820 Massachusetts Avenue NW. 202-364-6100 or visit www.crateandbarrel.com.

If you’re going to be spending time outdoors then you definitely need somewhere to sit. The Applaro Chair has a very clean design that works well with any style. The slight curve on the back also adds a touch of comfort to this great looking chair. $49 at Ikea, 10100 Baltimore Avenue, College Park Avenue, Md. 301-345-6552 or www.ikea.com.

Shower Power Get back to nature with the addition of an Outdoor Shower. Don’t worry about plumbing these showers — made of weather-resistant Indonesian redwood simply hook up to any garden hose for SONiA and Terry (Baltimore,— MD) some good clean fun. The shower also Jay (Baltimore, MD) features an adjustable pole and showerhead in a brushed chrome finish. $89.99 at Target, 3601 Jefferson Davis Highway, Alexandria. 703-706-3840 or www.target.com.

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Richard (Washington, DC)

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LastWord.

People say the queerest things

“I remember they wanted to do an opening for the Academy Awards that year that was sort of joking about it.

And Heath refused.”

—JAKE GYLLENHAAL, in an interview with Another Man, discussing Brokeback Mountain and his co-star Heath Ledger’s refusal to participate in a homophobic joke about the film during the 78th Academy Awards.

“Heath said, ‘It’s not a joke to me — I don’t want to make any jokes about it.’”

“Results will prove that marginalized communities, such as black and transgender voters, bore the brunt of the limited access to the ballot.”

—HRC President ALPHONSO DAVID, in a statement after Republicans in Wisconsin refused to mail absentee ballots to all voters or move the state’s primaries, forcing many to wait in line amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Voting is one of the most sacred duties and rights we have as citizens,” he wrote. “Yet, voters in Wisconsin were forced to choose between their health and safety and their constitutional right to vote because of a partisan ploy by Wisconsin and national Republicans.”

“The honest truth is, I planned to die with the secret.”

—LIL NAS X to The Guardian about his decision to come out as gay last summer, after previously “acting really hard” to hide his sexuality.

“Alfred is not just his butler but also his uncle, his gay uncle from Hong Kong.”

—MELISSA DE LA CRUZ, speaking to Entertainment Weekly about her new graphic novel Gotham High, which reboots Batman and puts a 17-year-old Chinese-American Bruce Wayne in high school. In addition to being “more on par with Gossip Girl and Crazy Rich Asians,” Alfred is now Wayne’s gay uncle who returns from Hong Kong to look after him.

“Many of his family and friends are working in the health service.

He wanted to help out even in a small way.”

—A spokesperson for Irish Prime Minister LEO VARADKAR, who has re-registered as a doctor to assist with the country’s COVID-19 response, RTE reports. Varadkar, who is gay, gave up medical practice to enter politics, but will now conduct phone assessments with patients to free up other medical staff for frontline work.

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