Pragmatic Progressive: Mary Washington - Metro Weekly - Feb. 6, 2020

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FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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February 6, 2020

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CONTENTS

Volume 26 Issue 38

PETE’S POTENTIAL Pete Buttigieg declares victory in Iowa amid caucus chaos.

By Rhuaridh Marr

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PRAGMATIC PROGRESSIVE With a potentially historic run for mayor, State Senator Mary Washington is offering Baltimore a break from politics-as-usual.

Interview by John Riley Photography by Todd Franson

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CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM Ahead of Sunday night’s 92nd Academy Awards, we offer up a few of our picks in the main categories.

By Randy Shulman

SPOTLIGHT: CHEYENNE JACKSON p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.10 ROYAL VISIT: NICK WESTRATE p.12 DRAWING FROM EXPERIENCE: LAYA MONAREZ p.17 THE FEED: LEADING CHANGE p.19 COMMUNITY: COLONIAL PRIDE p.21 COMMUNITY CALENDAR p.21 STAGE: SILENT SKY p.32 TELEVISION: THE CATEGORY IS... p.34 MUSIC: TRIXIE MATTEL p.35 NIGHTLIFE: NELLIE’S SUPER BOWL PARTY p.37 NIGHTLIFE LISTINGS p.38 NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS p.39 SCENE: WIG NIGHT OUT! AT PITCHERS p.44 LAST WORD p.46 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 Thurgood Marshall Cover Photography Todd Franson 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.

© 2020 Jansi LLC.

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Spotlight

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Cheyenne Jackson

T SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE THAT CHEYENNE Jackson and Megan Hilty are very good friends. What might come as a surprise, though, is that the two singing superstars, both veterans of Broadway and TV, have never worked together.

“We thought it'd be fun to create a show together,” says Jackson, noting that in the process, the pair discovered they had similar musical tastes. “We both love everything retro. But I say we're old fashioned and she says we're classic.” The resulting concert, Broadway and Beyond, will have its NSO Pops debut for three nights starting next Thursday, Feb. 13.

“It's a fun, frothy show,” continues Jackson. “We're going to do songs from shows that we're known for. She's going to do some Smash stuff and Wicked, and I do stuff from shows that I've done. She does this amazing version of ‘Get Happy.’

And then we explore different themes of love, because it's Valentine's Day weekend — different types of love that we have:

love for each other, love for our spouses, love for our kids, love for our parents. It's really just us sharing our hearts. I'm more proud of it than anything I've done in a really long time.”

Jackson, a mainstay in several seasons of American Horror Story (“I loved my character in Apocalypse — it was fun to be a warlock with Billy Porter and BD Wong”), says the birth of his twin sons, both now three, changed his outlook on life.

“I feel like my life really began when I had kids,” says the 44-year-old, a proud member of the LGBTQ community. “It sounds cliche, but it’s true. I had 40 years of life before having kids. I used to just kind of be like coasting through life, kind of aimless and not really awake. Now I try to embrace every moment. My life has more purpose, and the time I have with my kids, the time I spend with them, is just the most precious time.

You realize how quick life goes. We only have a certain amount of trips around the sun, and I now feel like I never want to miss a thing.” —Randy Shulman

NSO Pops: Broadway and Beyond with Megan Hilty and Cheyenne Jackson is Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. and Friday and Saturday, Feb. 14 and 15, at 8 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $29 to $89.

Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org/nso/home.

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Spotlight BURLESQUE-A-PADES IN LOVELAND

New York’s Angie Pontani, billed as the “International Queen of Burlesque,” presents the 13th anniversary of a Valentine’s Day show mixing performances in the revived art of striptease with magic, music, dance, and comedy. New York drag king and transgender comedian Murray “Mister Showbiz” Hill returns as host of an evening featuring performances by Miss Exotic World Champion aka Potani, LGBTQ burlesque dancer The Maine Attraction, Gal Friday, Ben Franklin, and Joshua Dean. Friday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m. The Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria. Tickets are $29.50.

Call 703-549-7500 or visit www.birchmere.com.

GUN & POWDER

CHRISTOPHER MUELLER

Solea Pfeiffer and Emmy Raver-Lampman star as sisters Mary and Martha Clarke in a World Premiere musical inspired by the true story of AfricanAmerican twins who pass themselves off as white to help settle their mother’s sharecropper debt and seize the funds by any means necessary. Book and lyrics by Angelica Chéri and music by Ross Baum and featuring direction by Robert O’Hara (Broadway’s Slave Play). To Feb. 23. MAX Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Call 703-820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.

LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST

RACHEL DUDA

Liana Olear directs a contemporary take on Shakespeare’s wittiest comedy about love, responsibility, and careful use of social media. Bill Bodie, Linda “Spencer” Dye, Peter Eichman, Joshua Engel, and Christine Evangelista are part of the 15-member cast of this community theater production from Maryland’s rebellious, classics-focused troupe the Rude Mechanicals, a mix of professional and amateur artists.

Remaining performances are Friday, Feb. 7, and Saturday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m. Greenbelt Arts Center, 123 Centerway. Greenbelt, Md. Tickets are $12 to $24. Call 301-441-8770 or visit www.rudemechanicals.com.

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Spotlight BIRDS OF PREY

In the spinoff of Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie, the Joker’s ex-girlfriend, is now a solo vigilante. She’s joined by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, and Rosie Perez, who team up to take down the Black Mask, Gotham’s “most nefariously narcissistic villain.” Director Cathy Yan is the first female Asian director to helm a superhero movie. So far buzz is positive on the film. Opens Friday, Feb. 7. Area theaters, including the Airbus IMAX Theater in the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center, in Chantilly, Va. Call 202-633-4629 or visit www.si.edu/theaters.

MY QUEER VALENTINE

The contemporary exhibitions space of Old Town Alexandria’s Torpedo Factory Art Center presents a new group show focused on love and relationships from the LGBTQ perspective — with a diversity in perspective as well as in style, medium, and tone on display. Andy Johnson, director of Gallery 102 at George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, served as the exhibition juror, ultimately selecting 16 artists, eight from the area. To March 8. A public reception, with a juror talk, interactive performance art, kissing booth, and DIY art-making activities, is set for Friday, Feb. 14, from 7 to 10 p.m. Target Gallery, 105 North Union St. Call 703-838-4565 or visit www.torpedofactory.org.

IMPROBABLE COMEDY: SWEET & SOUR VALENTINE’S DAY COMEDY SHOW

A love-themed show about Valentine’s Day that isn’t only lovey-dovey, the latest from this Maryland-based organization “will celebrate love and roast the holiday that brings it to us on a candy-red, heart-shaped platter.” The lineup of local talent includes Melissa Douty (pictured right), Mike Brown (pictured left), Maddox Pennington, and Anthony Oakes. Thursday, Feb. 13, at 8 p.m. Busboys & Poets in Takoma, 235 Carroll St. NW. Tickets are $15 to $25. Call 202-726-0856 or visit www.busboysandpoets. com. Also Saturday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. Joe’s Movement Emporium, 3309 Bunker Hill Road, Mount Rainier, Md. Tickets are $15 to $25. Call 301-699-1819 or visit www.joesmovement.org.

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Out On The Town

AMERICAN CONSERVATION FILM FESTIVAL: BEST OF THE FEST

Every year, documentaries concerned about nature and environmental issues from a diverse group of filmmakers are shown and discussed at a festival held in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. In advance of the 2020 festival, set for late March, organizers have selected a few fan favorites from last year’s event for additional screenings at various venues in the MidAtlantic region, including the Weinberg Center for the Arts. This Saturday, Feb. 8, starting at 6:15 p.m., the center presents a four-hour program (including intermission) featuring the shorts Misunderstood: A Brief History of Hemp in the US by Campbell Brewer, Treeline by Jordan Manley, and Nature Rx: The Living Plant by Justin Bogardus. The program concludes with a screening of the 2019 festival’s Audience Choice Winner Fantastic Fungi (pictured), Louie Schwartzberg’s “journey into the mysterious and beautiful subterranean world of mycelium and mushrooms,” featuring author Michael Pollan and medicinal fungi advocate Paul Stramets. Weinberg Center, 20 W. Patrick St., Frederick, Md. Tickets are $14.75 to $16.75 including service charge. Call 301-600-2828 or visit www.weinbergcenter.org.

Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM CASABLANCA

Billed as the most popular and enduring screen romance of all time, Casablanca returns for another Valentine’s Day treat from Landmark’s West End Cinema, as part of the venue’s Capital Classics series. The 1943 Oscar-winning drama, directed by Michael Curtiz (Mildred Pierce) and set in the throes of World War II, stars Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m. 2301 M St. NW. Happy hour from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.50. Call 202534-1907 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

RACE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE: OBAMA V. MCCAIN

CNN offers up a new round of episodes in its historical series about U.S. presidential election campaigns

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narrated by Mahershala Ali. A few days before the network starts airing the second season, the National Archives Museum will screen the first episode, focused on Barack Obama’s historic defeat of “maverick” Republican Senator John McCain in 2008. A post-screening discussion features panelists including David Axelrod, President Obama’s former chief strategist, Charles R. Black, former chief strategist for Senator McCain, and Barbara A. Perry of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. The William G. McGowan Theater, Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets NW. Free, but reservations recommended. First-come, first-seated. Call 202-357-5000 or visit www.archivesfoundation.org.

THE ASSISTANT

A critic for The Atlantic called Kitty Green’s The Assistant “a subtle horror film for the #MeToo era.” It follows a day in the life of a young

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aspiring film producer in her work as a junior assistant to a powerful entertainment mogul in the obvious mold of Harvey Weinstein, who is never actually shown. Julia Garner stars. Opens Friday, Feb. 7.

Landmark’s E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

STAGE A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

The lives of two Afghan women are inextricably bound together in a play adapted by Ursula Rani Sarma from the best-selling novel

by Khaled Hosseini (Kite Runner).

Carey Perloff directs Hend Ayoub and Mirian Katrib leading a 12-member cast at Arena Stage in a show billed as a “gripping and heart-rending fight for survival [that] will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.” To March 1. Kreeger Theater in the Mead Center for American Theater,

1101 6th St. SW. Call 202-488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org.

EXQUISITE AGONY

A 2003 Pulitzer Prize-winner for his drama Anna in the Tropics, Nilo Cruz directs GALA Hispanic Theatre’s new production of his magical realist romance Exquisite Agony. The cast includes GALA veteran Luz Nicolas, starring as opera singer Millie Marcel, a widow who fixates on the young transplant recipient now living with her dead husband’s heart. Joel Hernandez Lara plays Amer, the object of Millie’s obsession and desire. In Spanish with English surtitles. To March 1. 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $55. Call 202-234-7174 or visit www.galatheatre.org. (André Hereford)

PILGRIMS MUSA AND SHERI IN THE NEW WORLD

Mosaic Theater Company presents a romantic comedy about Muslim and American identity full of unex-

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pected twists from Yussef El Guindi, the Egyptian-American playwright and recipient of the Steinberg New American Play Award. Shirley Serotsky directs. To Feb. 16. Lang Theatre in the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $65. Call 202-399-7993 or visit www.atlasarts.org.

RECENT TRAGIC EVENTS

Jason Tamborini directs Craig Wright’s drama in which a young woman in Minneapolis goes on a blind date the night after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, the woman’s twin sister, a student in New York, has not been heard from.

To Feb. 16. Produced by Prologue Theatre. At the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $20 to $35. Call 202-399-7993 or visit www.atlasarts.org.

RÊVERIE

ROYAL VISIT

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Drama Desk Award-winner Nick Westrate dons the crown to lead The King’s Speech at the National Theatre.

MMERSED IN PREPARATION FOR HIS STARRING ROLE AS GEORGE VI IN THE Washington, D.C. debut production of The King’s Speech at the National, Nick Westrate fully grasps the world’s decades-long fascination with Britain’s royal family. “The Windsors have been the monarchy through the industrialization of Western civilization,” he says. “This empire ruled over so many different lands across the globe — from Canada to Australia to Africa to India, everywhere. So I think our whole world has a consciousness of them and their family, and whether we liked them or didn't like them, they're important.”

Even amid another scandal-rocked year for Queen Elizabeth and her progeny, David Seidler’s play (and the Oscar-winning 2010 film adaptation starring Colin Firth) is a reminder that this Queen has seen it all before, and has remained steadfast. Portraying Elizabeth’s father at the tumultuous moment that he was thrust onto the throne following his brother Edward’s shocking abdication, Westrate sees the family’s stability as key to their charisma. “I know in the U.K. that the continuity of the family that has taken them through two world wars and the fall of the empire and the modern era and television and tabloids and all of it — they've been the one constant that has taken us through that.”

Westrate, a Drama Desk Award-winner who is co-starring in HBO’s upcoming Teddy Roosevelt miniseries The American Guest, recognizes the irony that while The King’s Speech depicts how King George’s constancy helped unite Europe, the daughter who succeeded him now must watch as Britain and Europe dramatically part ways.

“I think it's a good time to remember this story,” he says. “It's a story about someone who doesn't believe he is the greatest person on earth, the greatest possible leader, [and] who is humble but honorable, taking control from someone who thinks that they are impenetrable and invincible, and can change and break all norms and shatter all the rules in order to achieve their personal goal. I think we know a lot about that kind of reckless leader, and we are in a moment when we're searching for someone with humility and stability and a fucking sense of morality.

“But in terms of Europe [with Brexit], it's an incredible time to be doing the play, to think of how fractured Europe was at the time of our play and how fractured it is becoming again. Nationalism is definitely on the rise, which is always a scary thing.” —André Hereford The King’s Speech runs from Feb. 11 to 16 at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets are $54 to $114. Call 202-628-6161, or visit www.thenationaldc.org.

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Fractal Theatre Collective, “dedicated to radical, innovative artwork,” presents a new play that focuses on the complexities of trauma and mental health for LGBTQ individuals. Written and directed

by Hannah Ruth Wellons, Fractal’s associate artistic director, Rêverie focuses on a woman whose night terrors have grown worse. A woman from her past reappears, questioning the validity of her memories of an incident from 10 years prior and further blurring the lines between reality and dreamstate. Ezra Tozian, Amber Monks, Noa Gelb, and Peter Mikhail star.

Thursday, Feb. 6, and Friday, Feb. 7, at 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 8, at 3 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m. Lab Theatre I in the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Tickets are $5 to $20. Call 202399-7993 or visit www.atlasarts.org.

SPRING AWAKENING

The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Alan Paul makes his directorial debut at Round House Theatre with a production of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s haunting, high-octane, and boundary-pushing rock musical. A Tony-winning adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s prescient 19th-century drama, Spring Awakening focuses on a repressed group of angsty teenagers navigating blindly through their burgeoning sexuality. Evan Daves, Cristina Sastre, Sean Watkinson, Jane Bernhard, and Christian Montgomery lead a youthful cast also featuring Bobby Smith as Adult Men and Tonya Beckman as Adult Women. To Feb. 23. 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. Tickets are $50 to $60.

Call 240-644-1100 or visit www. roundhousetheatre.org.

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

Aaron Posner helms a Folger Theatre production of the delightful comedy of love, money, deception, and the power of women, as the

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women composers of the same period, including Raffaella Aleotti, Maddalena Casulana, Sulpitia Cesis, and Leonora d’Este. The Consort will be represented by Robert Eisenstein on viol, Christopher Kendall on lute, and Webb Wiggins on portative organ. Robert Aubry Davis, host of WETA’s Around Town, will lead a discussion with the Eisenstein and other performers 90 minutes before the first performance (included in the ticket price). Friday, Feb. 7, and Saturday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m. Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues NW. Tickets are $30 to $60. Call 202-537-2228 or visit www.folger.edu.

ROSALIE O’CONNOR

THE 9 SONGWRITER SERIES

AMERICAN BALLET THEATER: GISELLE

ABT, decreed “America’s National Ballet Company” by an act of Congress in 2006, returns for an annual run of shows at the Kennedy Center, this time to perform a beloved ballet classic in a week of performances falling over Valentine’s Day. A quintessential tale of unrequited love, heartbreaking loss, and triumphant forgiveness, Giselle is performed with live accompaniment by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and per Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie’s celebrated staging. A rotating cast of ABT’s principal dancers includes Stella Abrera in the title role as part of the veteran ballerina’s year-long swan song before retirement and opposite James Whiteside as Albrecht, the man who breaks her heart, at the matinee performance on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 1:30 p.m. Performances begin Tuesday, Feb. 11, and run to Sunday, Feb. 16. Opera House Tickets are $49 to $295.

Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org. ladies of Windsor serve Falstaff his comedic comeuppance. To March 1.

201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $27 to $85. Call 202-544-7077 or visit www.folger.edu.

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW

Dubbed a “quintessential queer theatrical experience,” Iron Crow’s 10th anniversary production of the Richard O’Brien’s famed cult musical, directed and choreographed

by Quae Simpson, will be further enhanced by audience participation stunts and props, and even comes with a special midnight performance on Valentine’s Day. The cast includes Timothy David Copney as Frank ‘N’ Furter, Brett Klock as Brad, Bailey Walker as Janet, and Brandon Shaw McKnight as Rocky.

Opens Friday, Feb. 7. Runs to Feb. 16. Baltimore Theatre Project, 45 West Preston St. Tickets are $45, or $55 to $65 for VIP, including on-stage seating. Call 410-752-8558 or visit www.theatreproject.org.

MUSIC ART GARFUNKEL

The other half of the unrivaled folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel comes

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to the Barns at Wolf Trap for several intimate concerts to perform from his vast repertoire. Friday, Feb. 7, and Saturday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 9, at 7 p.m.

1635 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $82 to $97. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit www.wolftrap.org.

ELECTRIC GUEST

The L.A.-based duo of vocalist Asa Taccone and drummer Matthew Compton has been compared to Scissor Sisters and Tame Impala, though there is something unique about Electric Guest’s particular brand of breezy, summery electropop. Their music inhabits a sonic space that recalls constant sun and haze, a carefree yet vast and lonely place in a constant, unhurried sort of motion. The duo is joined on tour by Luke Top on bass guitar and Reese Richardson on guitar and keys. Friday, Feb. 7. Doors at 10 p.m.

9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $26. Call 202-265-0930 or visit www.930.com.

FAIRFAX SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: THE FOUR SEASONS

Violinist Simone Porter takes the spotlight as virtuoso soloist bring-

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ing to life the sights, sounds, and sensations of the four seasons as evocatively imagined by Vivaldi.

Led by FSO Music Director Christopher Zimmerman, the program also includes performance of Ástor Piazzolla’s tango twist on Vivaldi, Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, with string arrangements by Leonid Desyatnikov. A “More Than Notes” discussion with Zimmerman and special guests takes place one hour before the concert. Saturday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m. Concert Hall in the GMU Center for the Arts, 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax. Tickets are $25 to $55. Call 888-945-2468 or visit www.cfa.gmu.edu.

FOLGER CONSORT: PALESTRINA’S PERFECT ART

The acclaimed British vocal ensemble Stile Antico and Los Angeles’s Renaissance brass group Tesserae Baroque join Washington’s early music ensemble for a “Bella Italia” concert focused on the music written by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina during the late Italian Renaissance in the 16th century.

Set in the acoustically rich great nave of the Washington National Cathedral, the concert also features many works composed by Italian

Folk-rock musician Justin Trawick formed this collective a decade ago as a means to book venues for shows featuring Trawick and fellow local musicians, giving them a bigger audience and opportunities to improvise and collaborate, and giving audiences an easier way to discover a songwriter or band to love. Next week the series ventures north of D.C. to broaden these musicians’ exposure to Maryland suburbanites. Friday, Feb. 7. Doors at 6:30 p.m. The Soundry, 10221 Wincopin Circle, Columbia. Tickets are $15 to $20. Call 443-283-1200 or visit www.thesoundry.com.

VICTOR PROVOST: ALCHEMY: IMPROVISATIONS IN DANCE AND BEAT

Considered one of the world’s leading steel drum artists, steel pannist Provost, an adjunct professor of music at George Mason University, offers an Afro-Caribbean-inspired performance with other area jazz artists. Presented as part of the “When Hate Hits Home” series at Joe’s Movement Emporium.

Saturday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 9, at 4 p.m. 3309 Bunker Hill Road, Mount Rainier, Md. Tickets are $17 to $25. Call 301-699-1819 or visit www.joesmovement.org.

DANCE ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER: AILEY AT 60 TOUR

The celebrated dance company returns to the Kennedy Center, performing a different mix of repertory works at each performance, but all ending, per tradition, with Revelations, the masterpiece by the company’s namesake, who died of AIDS-related complications in 1989.

The lineup includes Darrell Grand Moultrie’s Ounce of Faith, an exuberant expression of what’s possible when a young person is encouraged to dream, A Case of You from the company’s artistic director Judith Jamison, Ode by Jamar Roberts, which reflects on the beauty and fragility of life in a time of growing gun violence, Camille A. Brown’s

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Race to coming in second (after Marissa Jaret Winokur) on the first American edition of Celebrity Big Brother. By now, we’ve all gotten to know the funny, sweet man who got his start as the all-caps GAY intern on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno two decades ago. He appears for a night of stand-up as part of a promotional tour for his latest memoir, Name Drop: The Really Good Celebrity Stories I Usually Only Tell at Happy Hour, set for release next week. Sunday, Feb. 9. Doors at 6 p.m. 535 8th St. SE. Tickets are $35, or $100 for VIP Meet & Greet. Call 202-400-3210 or visit www.themiracletheatre.com.

READINGS & LECTURES CRAIG FEHRMAN: AUTHOR IN CHIEF

NATIONAL CHAMBER ENSEMBLE: VALENTINE’S SALUTE TO BENNY GOODMAN

Clarinet star Julian Milkis, the only student and renowned protégé of jazz great Benny Goodman, joins this Arlington-based group led by Leonid Sushansky for a tribute concert co-presented by the Pozez JCC of Northern Virginia. Milkis will be accompanied by a quartet featuring pianist Carlos Cesar Rodriguez, violinist Sushansky, double bassist Ephriam Wolfolk Jr., and drummer Leland Nakamura. The program includes some of Goodman’s most popular jazz and classical compositions, from “Glory of Love” to his takes on Paganini’s “Caprice No. 24” and Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. Saturday, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. Theater 1 in Gunston Arts Center, 2700 South Lang St. Arlington. Tickets are $18 to $36, including post-performance reception with hors d’oeuvres. Call 703-276-6701 or visit www.nationalchamberensemble.org.

City of Rain, a quietly intense work that honors the struggle of losing a friend, Greenwood, a new commission from Donald Byrd that sheds light on the 1921 attack by a white mob that destroyed an affluent black neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and an exploration of the infinite possibilities of partnering in Lar Lubovitch’s Fandango.

Remaining performances are Thursday, Feb. 6, and Friday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 8, at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 9, at 1:30 p.m. Opera House. Tickets are $49 to $199. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org for a complete schedule.

FLAMENCO VIVO/CARLOTA SANTANA: FLAMENCO REFLECTIONS

The New York-based Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, one of America’s leading flamenco companies, presents its newest production in a performance at Virginia’s Alden Theatre. Reflejos Flamencos celebrates the fundamental emotions connecting us while honoring the individual human spirit inherent in flamenco. Saturday, Feb. 8, at 7

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p.m. McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave. Tickets are $35 to $40. Call 703-790-0123 or visit www.mcleancenter.org.

COMEDY

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES FESTIVAL

Comedians from New York relive their most awkward sex/dating/ relationship moments on stage at this naughty and raunchy annual storytelling event, which returns to the Black Cat. Comedian and Towleroad columnist Bobby Hankinson will add his awkward gay tales to an otherwise all-female show featuring Jen Keefe, Anita Flores, and Karolena Theresa, with host Natalie Wall. Saturday, Feb. 8.

Doors at 8 p.m. 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $15. Call 202-667-4490 or visit www.blackcatdc.com.

Dance Place showcases globally inspired but locally made dance at this second annual festival featuring D.C.-based dance groups and individual artists. This year’s mixedbill program features Carpathia Folk Dance Ensemble, which represents folk dances from Central and Eastern Europe, chitra.Moves, exploring Indian dance and hiphop culture, Gin Dance Company, blending Asian dance heritage and Eastern philosophy with Western movement and culture, the Mexican folk dances of Maru Montero Dance Company, and the Cuban dance-focused company DC Casineros. Saturday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 9, at 4 p.m.

3225 8th St. NE. Tickets are $15 to $30. Call 202-269-1600 or visit www.danceplace.org.

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AWKWARD SEX...AND THE CITY: VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL

ROSS MATHEWS: NAME DROP TOUR

It’s been nearly five years since Mathews was seen atop Marriott International’s float, officiating a gay wedding ceremony during the Capital Pride Parade just weeks before the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. He’s since popped up all over television, from serving as a regular judge on RuPaul’s Drag

The story of America’s presidents as told through their literary output, and the impact such books have had on politics and society, is the focus of Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote, to be published next week by this freelance journalist and historian. From Jefferson to Lincoln, Coolidge to Obama, Fehrman highlights the more interesting and impactful cases in his book. Wednesday, Feb. 12, at noon.

William G. McGowan Theater in the National Archives, Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets NW. NW. Free, with reservations recommended; first-come, first-seated. Call 202-357-5000 or visit www.archivesfoundation.org.

Also Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m.

Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-364-1919 or visit www.politics-prose.com.

MATTHEW RIEMER & LEIGHTON BROWN WE ARE EVERYWHERE/@LGBT_HISTORY

A gay married couple, Riemer and Brown are professional D.C. attorneys who moonlight as amateur LGBTQ historians and activists on social media, chiefly via their joint Instagram account @ lgbt_history, which begat the book We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation, published last year. Riemer and Brown will discuss their work in documenting “LGBTQ Changemakers” at a free Kennedy Center event presented in conjunction with the Library of Congress. Monday, Feb. 10, at 6 p.m. Millennium Stage. Call 202467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

STORY DISTRICT: SUCKER FOR LOVE

Stephanie Garibaldi has long thought of herself as “the Charlie Brown of Valentine’s Day,” but her disdain for the manufactured

holiday ended a dozen years ago when she took matters into her own hands and developed the Story District program “Sucker for Love.” As the organization’s director of education, Garibaldi worked with freelance photographer Keith Mellnick to handpick storytellers for a 12th annual Valentine’s Day-themed showcase, coaching them individually and as a group in a series of rehearsals leading up to the big night at the Lincoln Theatre. In addition to co-directors Garibaldi and Mellnick, this year’s cast of storytellers also includes Diane Parker Mullens, Dr. Antwan Perry, Christin Ross, Robin Doody, Sheri Denkensohn-Trott, Adam Stanzione, Erika Ettin, and Nick Newlin. Friday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m.

1215 U St. NW. Tickets are $30 to $40. Call 202-328-6000 or visit www.thelincolndc.com.

STORY DISTRICT: WORST DATE EVER STORYTELLING CONTEST

Story District also makes love the focus of the February edition of its popular second-Tuesday monthly series. A preselected mix of storytellers will compete in “Worst Date Ever,” designed as something of a schadenfreude salve, especially for those who have ever suffered through a horrible date. Take it from Story District’s Stephanie Garibaldi: “I always tell people, if you’re having a really hard time with love, there will be at least somebody up on that stage who has had it worse.” And chances are, a whole handful or two of them.

Tuesday, Feb 11. Doors at 6:30 p.m.

Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $25 including fee. Call 202-6674490 or visit www.blackcatdc.com.

THE STOOP STORYTELLING SERIES: FAMILY DRAMA

“Stories about reunions, rivalries, intimacies, and intrigues” is the focus of the next round of personal stories shared by Baltimoreans through the Stoop organization. Co-presented and hosted

by Baltimore Center Stage, this February show will also feature live music from the Lushpockets before the stories, with food and drink available for purchase. Monday, Feb. 10, starting at 6:30 p.m. 700 N. Calvert Street. Tickets are $15 to $25. Call 410-323-0033 or visit www.stoopstorytelling.com.

ART & EXHIBITS ARTY QUEERS: D.C.’S LGBTQ+ ART MARKET

The DC Center for the LGBT Community offers the chance for local LGBTQ and queer-identified artists to showcase and sell their works on the second Saturday of every month, including Feb. 8, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Prospective art buyers can expect to see original artworks in a range of media,

DRAWING FROM EXPERIENCE L

LGBTQ Latinx visual artist Laya Monarez’s works reflect her diverse experiences and activism.

AYA MONAREZ’S WALKING THE STROLL IS ONE OF HER NEWEST AND MORE direct works of art. As it happens, it’s also personal. “That piece is about sex workers and some of their experiences,” she says. “It relates to a lot of the activism I've been doing the last five years.” Yet the painting — and the activism with the DC Trans Coalition that inspired it — stem from her own experiences as well. Last fall, Monarez publicly shared that during a D.C. Council hearing focused on a proposal to decriminalize sex work.

“I got up there and kind of gave some of my life experiences based on some sex work that I've had to do in my life to survive. As a trans woman of color, sometimes it's been very difficult to find jobs — even when you have a college degree like I do. Many of us have had to resort to things like sex work. When we're out there, we face a lot of danger or violence, and because it's criminalized, we often can't report what's happened to us.”

Monarez grew up in Herndon, Virginia. She moved to D.C. in 2001 to attend school at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, where she came out as bisexual. It would take many years before she realized her full LGBTQ identity. “When I came out as trans, my dad completely disowned me for five years,” she says, describing her Mexican-born father as “very Latino machismo, and very Christian — he was from a gang growing up. So I never really thought he’d come around.”

He did, ultimately, come around, after Monarez’s two sisters gave him an ultimatum: “We're not going to come home for Christmas anymore unless you decide on inviting Laya, because she's family ,too.”

“Eventually, they really started to accept me,” Monarez says. “And my dad really, really supports me.”

Monarez is an operations coordinator for the Human Rights Campaign, work that has also helped inspire her at the easel. Right now, the DC Center is presenting a retrospective-style display of the 36-year-old’s artwork spanning nearly two decades, ranging from murals influenced by Mexican surrealism and Japanese pop art to drawings “inspired by plant and human anatomy, and the concept of comparing humans to viruses and viruses to humans.”

Monarez gives an artistic nod to HRC in a recent piece entitled Gears of Love. The work features a large red rose surrounded by rainbow-hued gears. “The concept is love is love is love,” she says. “A reminder that queerness, trans love, gay love is all universal and all equates to the same love as cis-hetero love.” —Doug Rule The Mixed Media Work of Laya Monarez is on display through the month of February in the DC Center’s Center Arts Gallery, 2000 14th St. NW. Call 202-682-2245 or visit www.thedccenter.org.

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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7th St. SE. Call 202-547-6839 or visit www.chaw.org.

SECTION 14: THE OTHER PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA

Before it became a gay desert mecca and a resort for the rich and famous, Palm Springs was a desert outpost — as well as home to the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. The National Museum of the American Indian shines a light on a land battle in Palm Springs, yet another in a long string of conflicts between western expansion and Indigenous peoples’ rights. The focus is on Section 14, a one-square-mile tract in downtown Palm Springs that forms the heart of the reservation. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians created the exhibition, which was organized by the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum. Ends Feb. 17.

National Museum of the American Indian, Independence Avenue at 4th Street SW. Call 202-633-1000 or visit www.nmai.si.edu.

THROW SOCIAL DC | KICK AXE THROWING DC: GRAND OPENING

Friday sees the launch of another axe-throwing venue in D.C. — and that’s just on the first floor of a 22,000-square-foot social games complex in Northeast’s Ivy City dubbed “Aspen to Palm Beach.” The 12 ranges in Kick Axe Throwing, featuring a rustic lodge-inspired decor reminiscent of those in the Colorado mountain resort, are complemented by five (iceless) curling rinks and six FootBowl ranges (aka bowling with a football) upstairs in THRōW Social, which has a brightly colored South Florida vibe complete with draped cabanas and fake palm trees. On hand for a meet-and-greet at the Grand Opening: U.S. Olympic curling gold medalist Tyler George. By now you should be familiar with curling, given the “Chess on Ice” game that originated in Scotland has been a medal sport in the Winter Olympics since 1998. But if you’re slightly thrown for a loop about axe throwing, well, comparisons to this “lumberjack-ian” experience range from darts (“only more Kick Axe,” goes a company tagline) to a Millennial version of bowling, via NBC News. Opens Friday, Feb. 7, from 8 to 10 p.m. 1401 Okie St. NE. Tickets are $30, including open bar for the first hour plus passed bites, live music, and sample experiences. Call 888-847-6919 or visit www.throwsocial.com. including painting, pottery, photography, jewelry, glasswork, textiles, and clothing. Perfect time to pick up a few extra-special gifts!

The DC Center, 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. Call 202-682-2245 or visit www.thedccenter.org.

BECOMING JANE: THE EVOLUTION OF DR. JANE GOODALL

The National Geographic Society has partnered with the Jane Goodall Institute for an immersive, multimedia exhibition celebrating the intrepid explorer and renowned scientist who has done so much to help humankind better understand our closest living relatives, chimpanzees. Becoming Jane tells Goodall’s story through a hologram-like projection, multi-screen experiences, iconic images, and augmented-reality features, including a virtual 3D expedition to the park in Tanzania where she launched her groundbreaking career 60 years ago and ultimately helped pioneer the genre of nature documentary as the subject of National Geographic’s

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very first television program. The exhibition highlights the key breakthroughs and scientific achievements of Goodall’s career while also showcasing her more recent work in conservation. On display through the summer of 2020. National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St. NW. Call 202-857-7588 or visit www.ngmuseum.org.

BEHIND THE LENS FEATURING GOLIE MIAMEE

Works by local travel photographer and visual artist Golie Miamee are featured as the Winter 2020 exhibit at Art14, the seasonal art series at the Coldwell Banker Dupont/Logan office on 14th Street.

Opening Reception is Thursday, Feb. 6, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. On display to March. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, 1617 14th St. NW. Call 202-387-6180 or visit www.facebook.com/CBRBDupont.

LONG VIEW GALLERY: NEW YEAR/NEW ARTISTS

The small, private LGBTQ-run Long View Gallery welcomes three

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

new artists to D.C. for its first show of 2020. Works by Jeremy Brown, Bryan Coleman, and Ken Schiano will be featured at the Shaw gallery.

Through Feb. 16. 1234 9th St. NW. Call 202-232-4788 or visit www. longviewgallery.com.

MK BAILEY: FEVER DREAM

Since the first full week in January, MK Bailey has been constructing a life-size, evolving collage in the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop through her work as the 2020 Gallery Artist Resident. This planned, five-week installation will continue to grow and adapt as Bailey responds to the gallery environment, and the evolution of the work will be documented through a series of paintings Bailey will make over the course of her residency. Bailey is a D.C.-based artist known for her oil paintings exploring themes of femininity, kinship, and death that are often unexpectedly colorful images at the individual level but that tell a darker narrative when layered and collaged together.

Bailey will be in residency until Feb. 10. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545

THE INFINITE IN THE INTIMATE: DRAWINGS BY WESLEY BERG

Created using a few graphite pencils and light washes of watercolor on paper, Berg’s drawings are playful, humorous, and simplified, and intended to appear as though they simply “happened.” Individual elements of line, gesture, and color add curious touches to the works, which ask questions of space and dimension. To Feb. 15. Adah Rose Gallery, 3766 Howard Ave. Kensington, Md. Call 301-922-0162 or visit www. adahrosegallery.com.

ABOVE & BEYOND GILDED LILY BURLESQUE

The Baltimore burlesque troupe presents its 11th annual Valentine’s “Tassels & Champagne” show, with this year’s theme, “We Love You Baltimore.” Baltimore favorites on tap to perform include Kittie Glitter, the femcee of Elvis’ Birthday Fight Club, Naimah, tribal belly dancer and co-director of “Art of the Belly,” “Butter-faced Beauty Queen” Betty O’Hellno, Tapitha Kix of Twisted Knickers Burlesque, “Baltimore’s Sicilian Queen” Maria Bella, and three Gilded Lily stars: Ruby Spruce aka “The Attractive Nuisance of Baltimore Burlesque,” GiGi Holliday aka “Chocolate That Melts Your Heart” and “The Uncontainable Mourna Handful.”

There’ll also be a Moonstruck Market featuring handmade burlesque accessories from local vendors and a V-Day Photo Booth brought to you by Mab’s Mobile Midway. Friday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. Creative Alliance at the Patterson, 3134 Eastern Ave. Baltimore. Tickets are $25 to $28, or $63 to $68 for two tickets and a bottle of Champagne, $135 for two tickets, a reserved table, bubbly, and chocolates. Call 410-276-1651 or visit www.creativealliance.org. l

GAGE SKIDMORE

theFeed

PETE’S POTENTIAL F

Pete Buttigieg declares victory in Iowa amid caucus chaos. By Rhuaridh Marr

ORMER MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG DECLARED victory in Monday’s Democratic caucus in Iowa, amid a chaotic release of election results. The candidate controversially claimed victory on Monday night, before any results had been released, citing numbers reported from his campaign’s precinct captains.

“What a night. Because tonight, an improbable hope became an undeniable reality,” Buttigieg said at a campaign event in Des Moines. “We don't know all the results, but we know by the time, it's all said and done, Iowa you have shocked the nation. Because by all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious.”

In addition to being heavily criticized on social media for declaring victory, Buttigieg’s rivals quickly responded, with Sanders’ campaign saying that they were sure they had won, citing internal numbers, and Warren’s campaign saying the results were “too close to call.”

By Tuesday, after flying to New Hampshire, Buttigieg had softened his rhetoric, instead claiming that, regardless of where he finished, he had the momentum leaving Iowa.

“We were looking at the internal numbers that we had and beginning to realize that something extraordinary had happened last night," he told MSNBC in an interview. "Here you have a campaign that was really questioned when we got in for whether we even oughta be here, whether we belonged in this race. And to not only establish that, but to reach the position that we did was a clear victory for our campaign.”

Buttigieg also had a rare moment of emotional vulnerability while talking to supporters in New Hampshire on Tuesday. He said that his showing in Iowa, whether ultimately victorious or not, “validates the idea that we can have a message, the same message, connect in urban and rural and suburban communities, that we can reach out to Democrats, and to Independents, and even to some future former Republicans, ready to bring change to this country.”

Then, as his voice faltered, Buttigieg added, “It validates for a kid somewhere in a community, wondering if he belongs or she belongs or they belong in their own family,

that if you believe in yourself and your country, there is a lot backing up that belief.”

As of press time, only 73% of delegates have been counted and reported, with Buttigieg leading his closest rival Sen. Bernie Sanders by a couple of percentage points in state delegate totals. Sen. Elizabeth Warren looks set to finish third, with former Vice President Joe Biden likely to finish fourth.

The Iowa Democratic Party has apologized for the confusion and delays surrounding the release of the caucus results, citing a glitch in a delegate reporting app.

Yet despite the chaos of the night, cable news pundits and LGBTQ organizations pointed out the historic nature of Buttigieg’s performance in Iowa. In addition to being the first openly LGBTQ person to compete in the Democratic Iowa caucus, Buttigieg’s potential victory would be a landmark moment in the presidential race.

“Pete’s strong showing in Iowa represents a revolution in American politics, upending traditional notions of electability and proving America is ready to elect its first openly gay president,” Annise Parker, President & CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which endorsed Buttigieg for president last year, said in a statement. “With defeating Donald Trump top of mind, Iowa voters determined Pete is the best candidate to do it, a powerful statement about our progress as a country as this primary season begins.

“The messy Iowa reporting process should not distract anyone from the historic moment that played out last night,” Parker continued. “Pete — running against 10 opponents including some of the best-known names in American politics — overcame the obstacles and the odds to land in one of the top spots, if not the top spot, in the Iowa caucuses. It is an incredible achievement for an openly gay candidate and speaks to his ability to build a broad coalition among voters in cities, suburbs and rural areas. It forever changes how the media, pundits and voters view the electability of openly LGBTQ candidates. There is now no question we are on a journey to elect the first openly gay president of the United States — and that is astounding.” l FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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theFeed

LEADING CHANGE

Us Helping Us and Gilead Sciences commemorate National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. By John Riley

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HEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE HIV EPIDEM- promote healthy living or have programs intended to comic from a black perspective, it's HIV still affects bat the social isolation that can be widespread among people Black communities with a specific focus on black over 50 who are living with HIV. gay men, as well as black women, and black trans women, One of those organizations supported by the Age with a majority of those infections, about 50 percent, Positively initiative is D.C.-based Us Helping Us, People being in the U.S. South, where a lot of black and brown Into Living, Inc., whose programs are designed to promote people live,” says Darwin Thompson, assohealthy living and reduce the impact of ciate director of corporate giving at Gilead HIV/AIDS among black people, particu“National Black Sciences. larly black gay men and other commu“There are a number of factors that nities threatened by HIV. The organizaHIV/AIDS contribute to high incidence of HIV within tion is specifically using the funding it has Awareness Day black communities,” he says. “Poor trust in received through the Age Positively initiais an opportunity the healthcare system, no access to transtive to serve older black people living with portation if you're not in rural America, low HIV in the D.C. area. for us to educate education attainment, poverty, poor health Beyond its services for older individuthe community literacy. All of those factors can potentially als, Us Helping Us has planned a number about how HIV exacerbate the HIV epidemic within comof events in the D.C. area this week aimed disproportionately munities of color.” at promoting National Black HIV/AIDS To combat the HIV epidemic, Gilead Awareness Day, which occurs on Friday, impacts multiple gives out ad hoc grants to organizations Feb. 7. segments of the with programs that serve specific goals “We are doing a lot of community edublack community.” or particular communities, such as case cation and mobilization, trying to increase management for transgender individuals, awareness around HIV and other sexual—DeMarc Hickson, UHU outreach to homeless people at risk of conly transmitted infections in under-served tracting HIV, or educational initiatives that communities and communities that basipromote pre-exposure prophylaxis as a form of prevention. cally carry the greatest burden of disease and, in particular, “We work at a number of partners, and we look at a the HIV epidemic,” says DeMarc Hickson, executive direcnumber of different things that we can do that will increase tor of Us Helping Us. access to care, increase education around comprehensive On Feb. 7, UHU will hold an event on Howard University’s prevention tools with a focus on biomedical prevention,” campus from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., working with the on-campus Thompson says. “But then also just supporting communities student health center to perform HIV/STD screenings and most at risk for HIV.” passing out literature, novelty kits, condoms, lubricants, and One of Gilead’s initiatives, known as COMPASS, is a anything else designed to increase students’ literacy around $100 million, 10-year commitment focused on ending the sexual health.

HIV epidemic in the South, particularly among African“I think that National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Americans and other communities of color. is an opportunity for us to educate the community about As part of the initiative, Gilead invests in local organiza- how HIV disproportionately impacts multiple segments of tions that are on the frontlines of the epidemic, specifically the black community, and to highlight that not only do black those that seek to combat the spread of HIV by tackling gay and bisexual men carry the greatest burden of HIV, but mental health, the social stigma that can be associated also black cisgender and transgender women,” says Hickson. with getting tested for HIV (and other STDs), and increase “This allows us to do a little bit more laser-focused attention various organizations’ capacity building, or the process by on segments of the community that are disproportionately which they can do address their weaknesses to improve on impacted by HIV. It helps us to highlight the things that we the delivery of the services that they offer. are doing, and the successes that we have made, but also to The company also has an initiative called Age Positively, inform the community of the long way that we still have to which gives $17.5 million over a three-year period to 30 go to eliminate the HIV epidemic in the black community.” l organizations focusing on combating the HIV epidemic among populations over 50.

Us Helping Us’ Awareness Day Festival on Howard University “The data shows that by 2030, the number is over 50 per- Campus is on Friday, Feb. 7 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2400 6th cent of people living with HIV will be over 50,” Thompson St. NW. For more information, visit www.ushelpingus.org. says. He notes that the organizations that receive the money include not only those that work to provide coordinated For more information on Gilead Sciences’ various initiatives, health care for older people at risk of HIV, but others that visit www.gilead.com/purpose/partnerships-and-community.

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FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

Community FRIDAY, FEB. 7

METROHEALTH CENTER

offers free, rapid HIV testing.

Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange an appointment, call 202-8498029. www.metrohealthdc.org.

DC CENTER WOMXN, a free

GAY DISTRICT, a group for

GBTQQI men between the ages of 18-35, meets on the first and third Fridays of each month.

8:30-9:30 p.m. The DC Center.

2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

Visit www.gaydistrict.org.

Join LGBTQ people all over the D.C. area for GoGayDC’s monthly

FIRST FRIDAYS HAPPY HOUR SOCIAL at The Commentary,

located in the Westin Arlington Gateway. Ballston Metro is two blocks away. Free to attend.

Everyone welcome. 7-9 p.m. 801 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington, Va. For more information, visit www. gogaydc.org.

Weekly Events ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH

offers free HIV testing and HIV services (by appointment). 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Decatur Center, 1400 Decatur St. NW. To arrange an appointment, call 202-291-4707, or visit www.andromedatransculturalhealth.org.

BET MISHPACHAH, founded

by members of the LGBT community, holds Friday evening Shabbat services in the DC Jewish Community Center’s Community Room. 8 p.m. 1529 16th St. NW. For more information, visit www.betmish.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

practice session at Barry Farms Aquatic Center. 6:30-8 p.m. 1230 Sumner Rd. SE. For more information, visit www.swimdcac.org.

HIV TESTING at Whitman-

Walker Health. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at 1525 14th St. NW. For an appointment, call 202-7457000 or visit www.whitman-walker.org.

KARING WITH INDIVIDUALITY (K.I.) SERVICES, 20 S. Quaker Lane, Suite 210, Alexandria, Va., offers $30 “rapid” HIV testing and counseling by appointment only. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Must schedule special appointment if seeking testing after 2 p.m. Call 703823-4401. www.kiservices.org.

PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBTaffirming social group for ages 11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road NW. Contact Tamara, 202319-0422, www.layc-dc.org.

PHOTO COURTESY GW

monthly peer drop-in group that provides a safe space for black lesbians where they can talk about their needs and concerns and take action to address them, meets on the first Friday of each month. 7-8 p.m.

2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more information, contact supportdesk@thedccenter.org or call 202-682-2245.

SATURDAY, FEB. 8 ADVENTURING outdoors

COLONIAL PRIDE

George Washington University’s women’s basketball team goes out of its way to promote acceptance.

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HEN ARIEL STEPHENSON, A GRADUATE STUdent and member of George Washington University Colonials’ women’s basketball team, first arrived at her new school, she was prepared to continue hiding her bisexuality.

“It’s just something that was like, ‘Don’t talk about it,’ you know?” Stephenson says of the attitude expressed by past teammates and coaches. “But when I got here, it was almost embraced and welcomed, and they made it a point to make me understand that I don’t have to hide any part of myself. They ask about my girlfriend, and how she’s doing. They make it a point to talk to her after games, and just that makes me feel more comfortable in expressing this part of my life with them.”

The team has two out players and two out coaches, and the straight players are fully accepting. “It’s really, truly like a family,” she says. “We push each other. We all just kind of work together. We love one another, and at the end of the day, we know we all have each other’s backs.”

Kevin DeMille, an assistant coach, says the team is “really lucky that GW is a place that not only values that level of acceptance, but kind of demands it.”

DeMille, a member of the LGBTQ community, notes, “Our head coach is a mother, so she really values the importance of family and allowing young people to explore their identity and recognize who they are and celebrate who they are outside of the basketball court. It’s important for us to continue to allow them to grow as people and not just as basketball players.”

On Jan. 22, the team held its first-ever Pride Night during a game against the University of Dayton. Fans donned rainbow flags, multi-colored T-shirts, and other Pride-themed gear to express both their school pride and their support for the school’s LGBTQ athletes.

“It was a really good turnout,” says Stephenson. “The game didn’t turn out as we had hoped, but the environment and the atmosphere was really good.... Our goal is to do this every year, and we’re looking to expand on it...to a little bit more of an intellectual component, like a panel discussion about the existence of LGBTQ people in sports. We’re really excited to continue this conversation and to keep increasing the inclusion here at GW.” —John Riley For more information on the George Washington University’s women’s basketball team, including a schedule of games, visit www.gwsports.com/sports/womens-basketball. The team can also be followed on Twitter and Instagram at @GW_WBB.

group hikes 3-4 easy miles up and down the palisades of the Potomac at Scott’s Run Nature Preserve near the American Legion Bridge. Bring beverages, snacks, sturdy boots, and a few dollars for fees. Carpool at 9 a.m. from the Pentagon Hayes Street Parking Lot (860 ArmyNavy Drive), a short walk from the Pentagon City Metro Station. For more information, contact Jerry, 571-241-3787, or visit www.adventuring.org.

The DC Center hosts a monthly meeting of UNIVERSAL PRIDE, a group to support and empower LGBTQIA people with disabilities, offer perspectives on dating and relationships, and create greater access in public spaces for LGBTQIA PWDs. 1-2:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, contact Andy Arias, andyarias09@gmail.com.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

practice session at Deanwood Aquatic Center. 9:15-10:45 a.m.

1350 49th St. NE. For more information, visit www.swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/ walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterwards. Route distance will be 3-6 miles. Walkers meet at 9:30 a.m. and runners at 10 a.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW. For more information, visit www. dcfrontrunners.org.

SUNDAY, FEB. 9 LAMBDA SCI-FI holds a

monthly meeting and social for LGBTQ sci-fi, fantasy, and horror fans. Bring snacks or non-alcoholic beverages to share. Meeting starts at 1:30 p.m. Social from 2-4:30 p.m.

For location and more details, visit www.lambdascifi.org.

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Weekly Events BETHEL CHURCH-DC progressive and radically inclusive church holds services at 11:30 a.m. 2217 Minnesota Ave. SE. 202-248-1895, www.betheldc.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

practice session at Wilson Aquatic Center. 9:30-11 a.m. 4551 Fort Dr. NW. For more information, visit www.swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterwards.

Route distances vary. For meeting places and more information, visit www.dcfrontrunners.org.

FAIRLINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH is an open, inclusive church. All welcome, including the LGBTQ community. Member of the Reconciling Ministries Network. Services at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. 3900 King Street, Alexandria, Va. 703-6718557. For more info, visit www. fairlingtonumc.org.

FRIENDS MEETING OF WASHINGTON meets for worship,

10:30 a.m., 2111 Florida Ave. NW, Quaker House Living Room (next to Meeting House on Decatur Place), 2nd floor. Special welcome to lesbians and gays. Handicapped accessible from Phelps Place gate. Hearing assistance. Visit www.quakersdc.org.

INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT, God-centered new

age church & learning center. Sunday Services and Workshops event. 5419 Sherier Place NW. Visit www.isd-dc.org.

LUTHERAN CHURCH OF REFORMATION invites all to

Sunday worship at 8:30 or 11 a.m.

Childcare is available at both services. Welcoming LGBT people for 25 years. 212 East Capitol St. NE. Visit www.reformationdc.org.

METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, D.C.

services at 9 a.m. (ASL interpreted) and 11 a.m. Children's Sunday School at 11 a.m. 474 Ridge St. NW. For more info, call 202-638-7373 or visit www.mccdc.com.

RIVERSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH,

a Christ-centered, interracial, welcoming-and-affirming church, offers service at 10 a.m. 680 I St. SW. For more info, call 202-5544330 or visit www.riversidedc.org.

UNITARIAN CHURCH OF ARLINGTON, an LGBTQ welcom-

ing-and-affirming congregation, offers services at 10 a.m. Virginia Rainbow UU Ministry. 4444 Arlington Blvd. For more info, visit www.uucava.org.

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FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

UNIVERSALIST NATIONAL MEMORIAL CHURCH, a welcom-

ing and inclusive church. GLBT Interweave social/service group meets monthly. Services at 11 a.m., Romanesque sanctuary. 1810 16th St. NW. For more info, call 202-3873411 or visit www.universalist.org.

MONDAY, FEB. 10 The YOUTH WORKING GROUP of The DC Center holds a monthly meeting focusing on upcoming projects and initiatives aimed at positively impacting the lives of D.C. area LGBTQ youth. 6-7:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more information, visit www. thedccenter.org/youth.

Weekly Events DC’S DIFFERENT DRUMMERS

welcomes musicians of all abilities to join its Monday night rehearsals. The group hosts marching/color guard, concert, and jazz ensembles, with performances year round. Please contact Membership@DCDD.org to inquire about joining one of the ensembles or visit www.DCDD.org.

The DC Center hosts COFFEE

DROP-IN FOR THE SENIOR LGBT COMMUNITY. 10 a.m.-noon. 2000

14th St. NW. For more information, call 202-682-2245 or visit www. thedccenter.org.

US HELPING US hosts a black

gay men’s evening affinity group for GBT black men. Light refreshments provided. 7-9 p.m. 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. 202-446-1100.

Visit www.ushelpingus.org.

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

p.m. Newcomers with at least basic swimming ability always welcome.

Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van Buren St. NW. For more information, contact Tom, 703-299-0504 or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit www.wetskins.org.

TUESDAY, FEB. 11 The DC Center holds a roundtable discussion as part of its COMING OUT DISCUSSION GROUP on the second Tuesday and fourth Thursday of each month. This group is for those navigating issues associated with coming out and personal identity. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

The DC Center is seeking volunteers to cook and serve a monthly meal for LGBTQ homeless youth at the WANDA ALSTON HOUSE on the second Tuesday of each month.

7-8 p.m. For address and more information, contact the support desk at The DC Center at supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

The DC Center’s TRANS SUPPORT GROUP provides a space to talk for transgender people and those who identify outside of the gender binary. 7-9 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

JOB CLUB, a weekly support pro-

Weekly Events

WASHINGTON WETSKINS WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9

THE GAY MEN'S HEALTH COLLABORATIVE offers free

HIV testing and STI screening and treatment every Tuesday.

5-6:30 p.m. Rainbow Tuesday LGBT Clinic, Alexandria Health Department, 4480 King St. 703746-4986 or text 571-214-9617. www.inova.org/gmhc

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS

holds an LGBT-focused meeting every Tuesday, 7 p.m. at St. George’s Episcopal Church, 915 Oakland Ave., Arlington, just steps from Virginia Square Metro. Handicapped accessible.

Newcomers welcome. For more info, call Dick, 703-521-1999 or email liveandletliveoa@gmail.com.

Whitman-Walker Health holds its weekly GAY MEN’S HEALTH AND WELLNESS/STD CLINIC. Patients are seen on a walk-in basis. No-cost screening for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. Hepatitis and herpes testing available for a fee.

Testing starts at 6 p.m, but should arrive early to ensure a spot. 1525 14th St. NW. For more information, visit www.whitman-walker.org.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12 LAMBDA BRIDGE CLUB meets at

The Dignity Center for Duplicate Bridge. No reservations needed.

Newcomers welcome. 7:30 p.m. 721 8th St. SE (across from the Marine Barracks). Call 202-841-0279 if you need a partner.

LEZ READ, a book discussion group focusing on works by lesbian and queer-identified authors, meets at Politics and Prose on the second Wednesday of each month. 7:3010:30 p.m. 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, downstairs coffee shop. For more information, visit www.meetup.com/Lez-Read.

Weekly Events AD LIB, a group for freestyle con-

versation, meets about 6-6:30 p.m., Steam, 17th and R NW. All welcome. For more information, call Fausto Fernandez, 703-732-5174.

FREEDOM FROM SMOKING, a

group for LGBT people looking to quit cigarettes and tobacco use, holds a weekly support meeting at The DC Center. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

gram for job entrants and seekers, meets at The DC Center. 6-7:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more info, email centercareers@thedccenter.org or visit www.thedccenter.org/careers.

p.m. Newcomers with at least basic swimming ability always welcome.

Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van Buren St. NW. For more information, contact Tom, 703-299-0504 or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit www.wetskins.org.

THURSDAY, FEB. 13 AGLA BOOK CLUB meets at

Federico’s Ristorante Italiano to discuss You Will Not Have My Hate, by Antoine Leiris. Everyone welcome. 7:30-9 p.m. 519 23rd St. S., Arlington, Va. Please RSVP in advance by emailing info@agla.org.

Gay for Good, a volunteer-focused organization that supports the D.C. community, holds a RED

HOT HAPPY HOUR SOCIAL AND FUNDRAISER featuring a raffle and silent auction, with prizes to various local eateries and other establishments. Prior registration is highly recommended. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Embassy Row Hotel, 2015 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Lobby Lounge. To register, visit www. gayforgood.org/events/g4g-dcsred-hot-happy-hour.

The DC Center’s LGBTQ FIRST

RESPONDERS AND MILITARY SERVICE MEMBERS SUPPORT GROUP seeks to help active duty

military members, Reservists, and present or former firefighters, EMTs, and law enforcement officers. Due to the sensitive nature of this group, discussions, names, and attendance will be kept confidential. 7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit www.thedccenter.org.

The EQUALITY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, an affiliate of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, holds its signature networking event on the second Thursday of each month. Take the time to network, meet D.C.-area LGBTQ and allied business owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals, and make connections. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Moxy Washington, D.C., 1011 K St. NW. Pre-registration required. For more information, visit business.eccdc.biz/events. l For more events, visit metroweekly. com/community/calendar.

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Pragmatic Progressive With a potentially historic run for mayor, State Senator Mary Washington is offering Baltimore a break from politics-as-usual.

Interview by John Riley Photography by Todd Franson

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CHARACTERIZE MY LIFE’S PATH AS ‘I LOOK FOR opportunities to do good,’” says Maryland State Sen. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City). “And I know that might sound corny, but I generally just look at how I can help make the world a better place for myself, and also for the people that I care about. And then, also, how can I learn?”

It’s a mantra that’s followed Washington, 57, throughout her life. Born and raised in Philadelphia as the oldest of six children, her quest for intellectual stimulation took her to three different colleges, switching from becoming a K-8 teacher to completing an ethnographer research fellow, and ultimately finishing her graduate degree at Johns Hopkins. And it wasn’t planned — instead, Washington “took the opportunities that were placed before me and then made that assessment of, ‘Can I do good in this context and will it support my overall goal?’”

Her desire to effect positive change came to a head in 2005, when Washington was bitten by the political bug and mounted a campaign for state delegate. While she wasn’t successful in that race, it did bring one life-changing benefit: in the midst of that campaign, Washington met Jodi Kelber-Kaye, her partner, and the two began a relationship in February of 2008.

Two years later, Doory had retired and Washington mounted a second — and this time, successful — bid to represent Maryland’s 43rd District, becoming one of six out LGBTQ lawmakers in the House of Delegates and Maryland’s first out black LGBTQ legislator. She served for eight years before being elected state senator in 2018, besting her incumbent opponent by about 500 votes, and again making history as Maryland’s first openly LGBTQ state senator of color.

“For me, it’s always been about the work and not the position,” says Washington. “Prior to running for delegate, I was my Community Association President. So I have this history of stepping up to do the work, and being trusted by other people to lead initiatives. I always look for opportunities to do that.”

Such is the lens through which she views her most recent endeavor: seeking to become Baltimore City’s next mayor.

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Disgruntled with numerous scandals that have plagued city leaders in recent years — most notably former Mayor Sheila Dixon, convicted in 2009 for misappropriating gift cards that were intended for poorer city residents, and Mayor Catherine Pugh, who resigned last year and pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and tax evasion after organizations allegedly purchased large quantities of her self-published children’s books in exchange for contracts with the city.

Washington announced her mayoral bid in November, becoming one of 24 Democrats seeking the nomination in the April 28 primary. Her chief rivals include Dixon, the former mayor; City Council President Brandon Scott; current mayor Bernard “Jack” Young, who succeeded Pugh; former Baltimore City Police Department spokesman T.J. Smith; and former Maryland Deputy Attorney General Thiruvendran Vignarajah.

“I should say I really appreciate all of the other people that are running, because every single one of them, what they’re saying by their presence is they’re not happy with the way things are,” Washington says. “If they were happy with the establishment, you would not have more than 20 people running.”

Should she be elected, in addition to being the first LGBTQ mayor of Baltimore, Washington will face daunting problems in a city that never quite recovered from the unrest and riots that struck the city in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray, which exposed long-simmering tensions between city residents and the Baltimore Police Department. Crime has spiked in recent years. Corruption scandals have embarrassed city officials and scared away potential business partners. The city’s education system is underperforming compared to the rest of the state. It’s a thankless job, and yet one that Washington approaches with the attitude of a happy warrior.

Casting her candidacy as one promising empowerment of city residents, Washington stresses the themes of truthfulness, transparency, accountability, and the public’s right to know how their government is working on their behalf. A self-described “pragmatic progressive,” she frames herself as an outsider who’s not

beholden to the city’s political class, noting that she has ruffled plenty of feathers within the state’s Democratic establishment and clashed with her party leaders since first being elected to office a decade ago.

“I've always found my own way, and I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to find allies along the way and form alliances with people who themselves do not feel engaged as a part of the process, or feel that they’re not valued or that they're taken for granted,” she says. “I’ve not been asked by the party to run for office. I didn’t inherit the contributors from the person who occupied the position before me. I wasn’t blessed, I had to just work hard. Everything I’ve gotten, I’ve earned and fought for.

And I think that’s also why I’m running, because I identify with so many people in the city that just work hard every day and whose value is not really being fully appreciated.”

METRO WEEKLY: Why did you enter politics?

MARY WASHINGTON: I wanted to help make the world a better

place. I decided to run for the first time in 2005. I had been the demographic consultant for the secretary of state’s office, and it was during redistricting and we traveled around the state and presented the redistricting plans and I got to hear the legislature debate various issues. I’ve always been interested in government and how we make decisions and policy. And I've always been on the volunteer side of registering people to vote, taking people to the polls, writing letters, organizing.

I was president of the Graduate Student Association in graduate school. I was president of the Commonwealth Association of Students, which is a student union for the State System of Higher Education in Pennsylvania, as an undergraduate. When I was at IUP, I was a member of “Students for Gay Rights,” because none of us were out. This was 1980. There was the Black Student Union, there was an organization called Women for Change, and then there was an environmental student organization. And so I was a member of all of those groups. And there came a time when this Commonwealth Association of Students organization, there was an election and we formed a Progressive Student Alliance and ran for the offices and took over this Commonwealth Association of Students on our campus at IUP. And then I formed a similar coalition and we ran for and got elected to the statewide offices. The state public colleges did a mid-semester tuition increase of just $75, and we sued and organized students, and we got them to rescind it because they hadn’t properly notified students.

So I’ve always been involved in social change and engaging people and organizing, but had never really contemplated doing it as an elected official. But when I had that experience as a policy person working in the secretary of state's office and then being exposed to the legislative process, I thought, “Wow, how great would it be to be able to actually vote on and not just lobby for what I believe in, but also be a part of shaping policy and shaping priorities?”

That’s when I decided to run, because I felt one of the three delegates representing our district was out of step with the community. She didn't support a woman’s right to choose. When it came to issues around the death penalty, she supported that.

And so I felt that I was more in line with what the values of the district were. So I ran, and my constituents at that time did not take me up on my offer to be their delegate. But we came very close. And I ran again and won in 2010.

MW: What are the issues that you've really taken the lead on?

WASHINGTON: What I really love about the 43rd District is that 26

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

we are wholly representative of the entire city. It’s one of the most economically, racially, educationally diverse districts in the city, so we have everything from bombed-out storefronts to million-dollar mansions. We have communities that are disproportionately white and segregated and African-American and segregated, and then we have communities like this that are integrated racially and economically. And we have the parks and recreation centers and schools — we've got four universities here. So we’re very much interested in education. City services, that gets a lot of what people are concerned about. Certainly public safety, I would just be wrong to not say people are concerned about what it takes and what we need to do to have a safe city, but also have a city that works.

I’ve taken the lead on a number of issues. The first standalone bill I introduced that was tough was ending the practice of shackling pregnant detainees. And to pass that bill, I had to run against the establishment and build a strong coalition to succeed.

When I learned that women who were in labor and delivering in our correctional facilities were restrained while they were giving birth, I was horrified and could not imagine that this was something that was legal. The whole concept that a child in Maryland would come into this world with their mother restrained, to me, was symbolic of what’s wrong with our criminal justice system and the lack of humanity with which they were treated. It turns out that at the federal level it had been banned. But when I started this work, only 18 states had banned the practice. So I worked with a coalition of returning citizens and women’s organizations and, interestingly, organizations that

“I was in high school and I’d come out to my mom. She said, ‘You’re black, you’re a woman, why do you want to be gay? Your life is going to be hard.’” AND I SAID, ‘WELL WHAT DO I HAVE TO LOSE? IF IT’S ALREADY DIFFICULT, I SHOULD BE WHO I AM.’” were interested in the life of the fetus, to ban that practice. It took us two years to get it done.

The bill had actually been introduced in prior sessions, but I built the coalition, and I also switched its focus from a human rights issue, which is how we had originally argued that this was wrong, but that argument didn’t work. So I took another approach and talked to some people that had been doing a lot of research at Amnesty International, looking at war crimes and tribunals. And the people say, “Well, how is it possible that this person is found not guilty when they clearly did all of these things?” And so I spoke to a number of researchers at Georgetown and American and it turned out there's this psychological thing where, to find someone guilty of an atrocity, we have to admit that we live in a world in which that occurs. And so subconsciously, if the state of Maryland and the legislators accepted that this happened, that would change who they see themselves as, and that would change their belief in the system.

So I switched from a human rights argument to a risk-management one. We called the bill “Healthy Births for Incarcerated Women” and switched our argument to, “Well, what do health professionals need to be able to mitigate the potential for lawsuits or having complications related to a birth?” And that worked and we got that bill done. And so when I think of myself as an elected official, as an organizer, as a person in this world who wants to make change, I know how difficult it is. And because I'm a sociologist, I know the importance of framing, in addition to data and information, and the psychological aspects of why we do what we do, and using that to forward an agenda.

MW: Let’s switch to your upbringing. What was your childhood like?

WASHINGTON: I grew up in West Philadelphia. My mom was a nurse and my dad was a respiratory therapist. They met at Children's Hospital in early 1960 and got married, and I came along 10 months after they got married. I grew up in a city and in a neighborhood very similar to neighborhoods we have in Baltimore. My siblings and I went to a Catholic elementary school, and I went to a public high school. We had a nice yard, but we played in the street with the neighborhood kids. We had this unspoken rule, like you see in old movies, of “Come inside when the street lights come on.”

One of the things I loved about Philadelphia was the parks.

My father would play tennis, so they took us out to the parks. So I continue to have a value and believe that recreation and having a strong park system is really important for young people and that ability to be out and explore.

MW: You mentioned Catholic school. Were you raised Catholic?

WASHINGTON: Yes, I was raised Catholic, but I am now a Presbyterian. When I was looking to find a church where I and my partner at the time could be recognized and have our union blessed and accepted, the Catholic Church was not a place to do that. First and Franklin Presbyterian Church was, and so we joined that, and that’s where we had a “holy union” because we couldn’t get married. That was in 2000. And it was the whole

concept of being a more “light” congregation.

The whole idea that religion or that Christianity or the Bible, it’s about discovery and having more light as we increase our understanding, versus this idea that there’s this static view of what is moral and what laws are, was very attractive to me. So we joined that congregation, but I still believe that I am essentially a Catholic girl. I went to Catholic school for eight years and wore a uniform and stood up when the priests or the nuns came into the classroom.

MW: When did you realize your sexual orientation?

WASHINGTON: I can remember as early as first grade having crushes on girls in the classroom and my teachers. Of course, I didn’t have a name for that, but I would have very intense friendships. And then, for lack of a better word, we’d break up and then we’d have another kind of intense friendship. And it wasn’t actually until, I think, I was in seventh grade or eighth grade and people were talking about the all-girls school. So there's Philadelphia High School For Girls — where I actually ended up going to high school — and someone was commenting about these two girls wanting to go to the prom together. And I remember maybe it was 1975, 1976, and my ears perked up while everybody else was sort of like, “Ew.” And I thought, “Oh, yeah.

Okay.”

I remember really distinctly thinking, “I want to go to that high school.” That’s when I first had an inkling of that, as early as 13. And then in high school, coming to that place of understanding that that's who I am, and I wanted to be in a relationship with women. That’s where I felt my most honest self.

MW: When did you first come out?

WASHINGTON: Well, there's two coming outs, but first I’ll do this one from high school. I expressed my love to the object of my crush and affection — stereotypically, we were on the softball team — and it was not reciprocated. In fact, I experienced being ostracized from the entire team, because shortly thereafter the entire team knew.

Of course, not too many years later, in college, folks that I knew in high school who were not throwing the ball to me and were calling me names, I’d see at the clubs or I'd see someplace else. So they all came out a little later.

The second one was in junior year with a friend, and it was my first love. And that’s still a really sweet, wonderful story, except that when we went to college, she wanted to have a more traditional life. And so she went somewhere to college and then I went somewhere to college, and I was heartbroken.

MW: How did your family take the news?

WASHINGTON: I was still in high school and I'd come out to my mom and my dad. And my mom was very practical about it. She said, “You’re black, you’re a woman, why do you want to be gay?

Your life is going to be hard.” So she was coming from a place of, “It's already difficult and why do you want to make it more difficult?” And I said, “Well what do I have to lose? If it’s already difficult, I should be who I am.”

I’ve been very fortunate in that [my parents] love me and I FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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know that at the time, their preference was that I have a more traditional lifestyle, but they also knew their daughter and they knew I was happy. So I always felt that I was accepted, and was not kicked out of my home or anything like that. And anyone that I’ve been in a relationship with, my family has been accepting and loving and caring, as they would [with] anybody. The extent to which they accept anybody, they accept them.

MW: Did you engage with the LGBTQ community growing up, in Baltimore and the other cities where you’ve lived?

WASHINGTON: I've been [in Baltimore] a long time. I experienced Philadelphia as someone who was not over 21, and so experienced Philadelphia as a young person. And I guess it's more that it's a city just like Baltimore — it's actually very similar.

Philadelphia and Baltimore are cities of neighborhoods and they have a downtown area and they have very few women's bars and much more men bars, and they have organizations that engage in civil rights activities. And they both have health systems that are targeted mostly for LGBT community.

But I would say that a lot of my life has not been lived just as a lesbian or just as African-American lesbian. I've had a very sort of cross-cultural, interracial, coalition life. And so my friends, even in graduate school — I guess because of graduate school, I had LGBT friends and non-LGBT friends. So my set was always very integrated.

MW: Let’s talk about your mayoral run. If we look at polls, the number-one issue people cite is crime. And the next issue is public corruption.

WASHINGTON: Absolutely.

MW: You’re running against a former mayor who had her own corruption scandal, the current mayor who stepped in after Mayor Pugh resigned from her scandal, the City Council president, a Baltimore Police spokesman, and a prosecutor.

WASHINGTON: Yes, and they all are part of this history of corruption, of lack of accountability, from which we frankly have to turn the page. That’s what I offer. I offer a clean break from that.

And that is why I’m running, because I accept responsibility as a resident of Baltimore, and as someone who deeply loves the city and is committed to us addressing our crime problems and making our city work. I just can’t stand by and allow those who were part of the problem to be the only choices, instead of turning the page and writing a new chapter. That is absolutely why I’m in this race and, to quote one of my favorite idols, Shirley Chisholm, I’m running “unbought and unbossed” and being fully accountable to the needs of the people who I represent.

That’s what I'm offering, building a campaign that really is about engaging citizens, that is about respect and integrity and making a city that works, without corruption. Making sure that we're doing all those things — keeping the streets clean, keeping the lights on, literally having an education and recreational system that matters. And I have experience doing that. For three

years, I was the performance management and accountability specialist for Baltimore housing from 2002 to 2005. To me, the mayor is the manager of the city, the CEO, and the buck stops with the mayor. We’ve not had a mayor that has an impeccable record when it comes to integrity, but the people who know me, know that I have very high standards for myself.

One of my favorite things I like to do is to go to the Waverly Farmers Market. It’s in my old neighborhood and it’s just great, with lots of vendors and all kinds of great things. People there know me, and just yesterday I went to get a cup of coffee and they’re like, “No, we support you for mayor.” And I said, “No," and she says, “No, it's only a dollar.” And I said, “No, I'm going to pay.” And I can see where something like that could probably start as “Someone’s being nice, so I’m accepting this gift,” and then it grows into this sense of entitlement.

I don’t have a sense of entitlement when it comes to public office. And five of the candidates in this race have a sense of entitlement. It’s “I should be mayor, because I was,” or “I should be, because I'm supposed to be,” or “I should be, because I’m next in line and everybody's told me I should be,” and “I should be because I'm better than all the rest of you.”

I’m presenting myself as, “I have these set of skills, these understandings, this sense of integrity and accountability, and I’m asking you to allow me to be your mayor.” That’s a very different posture.

MW: How would you weed out corruption as mayor?

WASHINGTON: I love that the independent audit, the inspector general that we currently have, has done a lot. And so I would raise the profile of that office.

I’ve had experiences where, because I used to manage grants and we would give grants that had sub-grantees, and there would be changes in the requirements and people didn't know they had to keep or have a receipt. Or they didn't know they couldn’t spend money on food. And so it’s really about educating people about how to do the right thing. We're going to do that first. And then if you continue to not do the right thing, then you don’t get the grants anymore.

We also have to address our procurement process, how we do business and how people do business with the city. There's a lot of people that don’t want to do business with the city because they feel like it’s rigged, that it's linked to pay-to-play politics.

And so I would get rid of that perception by being much more public, having a public hearing on all grants with the city.

MW: Following the death of Freddie Gray and the riots, there was a pullback, by both police and the city’s political class, that’s being cited as a contributing factor to the spike in crime rates in recent years. How would you solve that issue?

WASHINGTON: The first pillar of the public safety proposal is restoring or rebuilding the trust and transparency in the Baltimore City Police Department. It’s in the consent decree

“I’m running because I can’t stand by and allow those who were part of the problem to be the only choices, instead of turning the page and writing a new chapter. I’M IN THIS RACE [TO BE] FULLY ACCOUNTABLE TO THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE WHO I REPRESENT.” 28

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

level position, but I would raise the profile of that department, and enhance their research division, enhance their outreach department and their funding. The research tells you that education and intervention are important to addressing the problem. That means we need education in the schools, education in the senior centers, education everywhere to really take this on.

We’ve raised the awareness around lead poisoning, and it's been really successful. We can do the same thing with STDs. There are multiple intervention points. So certainly the schools, but getting back to where I said establishing community health centers on corners, and places where people can walk in and get information.

We need to figure out, what do people need? To me, it shouldn’t just be about prevention, where, “Here’s some condoms, here’s birth control.” But really getting into opportunities for peer education, Washington with her partner, Jodi Kelber-Kaye helping our young people make betfrom the Department of Justice. We’ve got 21 recommendations, ter decisions about when they should and if they should become and we need to implement them, and as mayor, I will work with sexually active. We also have to engage the religious community the Fraternal Order of Police, the police commissioner, the com- on this. We have to engage our public health community on this. munities, the judges, and our monitoring board. There’s a lot of This comes back to breaking down the silos. talk about during the former mayor’s term, the city was safer, When people say, “If you get elected and you’re mayor what but there was a lot of unconstitutional policing going on, right? would you like to see?”, I would like to see the breaking down of And so now those cases, all those arrests, many of them have our silos and that we’re working together across agencies, across been overturned. This is a prime example of how over-arresting neighborhoods, across levels of government. We will still have a and violating civil rights does not keep us safe. However, raising lot of the challenges that we have today in three years. But our the standards of arrests so that they can stand up in court and approach should be that we’re all in this together. be just, does.

MW: In recent years, Baltimore has had a number of high profile Taking the politics out of it and just looking at the facts, a lot transgender murders. What can be done to protect transgender was happening during that period. So you had this over-policing people, and make sure that they don't have to resort to survival sex and over-arrests, but we were also recovering from an economic work, or can better access housing and support? downturn. The sequestration out of Washington, D.C., affected WASHINGTON: It's the same approach to when we're looking at Maryland a lot. So we weren't, as a state, getting the same kind young people who are ending homelessness and who are engagof resources that we had been. So there was an economic compo- ing in survival work in any range — very specific training and nent to what was happening in 2014 and 2015, on top of the civil insistence that everyone's safety is valued. That means bringing rights and the constitutional issues. It was like a perfect storm. affected communities to the table, and working very strategically And there was a message that came from police leadership in that community to say what works. that “We can’t do what we used to do,” but it wasn’t replaced by There's this great non-profit organization I want to lift up “Hey, let’s learn a better way to do our jobs, and have the city’s called Safe Haven that's in Baltimore. And it does specifically political class get behind you and give you the resources, the the type of [LGBTQ] outreach that you're talking about. And training, the support to do your job.” And so you are right, a lot they have been desperately trying to get funding from the health of folks just stepped away and it left this vacuum. And so then department. They'd gotten some Ryan White grant money, but there's chaos and silos. What has to happen is a recognition of there are real opportunities. We should be fully funding and supwhat happened, but I'll say it again, it is time to turn a page to porting their desire to have housing and supportive services. And move forward with the recommendations in the consent decree. they’re not getting that. But if I were mayor, Safe Haven would.

MW: Baltimore has recently been singled out for having some of the It's that type of thing. There are people who are in this city highest rates of STDs, particularly syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, right now who have the answers, and who are working hard among major cities. with very little support. And as mayor, I will support those WASHINGTON: Apparently Baltimore County rates are higher activities. l than our rates. But yes, they are high.

MW: What would you do to try and lower infection rates?

For more information on Mary Washington’s campaign for mayor, WASHINGTON: The health department is already a cabinet visit www.marywashingtonforbaltimore.com.

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Movies

Parasite

Curb Your Enthusiasm Ahead of Sunday night’s 92nd Academy Awards, we offer up a few of our picks in the main categories. By Randy Shulman

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GAVE UP ON THE OSCARS BACK IN 1977. THAT WAS THE YEAR THE IDIOTic Rocky was handed Best Picture over All the President’s Men, Bound for Glory, Taxi Driver, and Network, all masterful works of cinema. Rocky’s triumph was a nauseating moment in the history of film, not least because it gave further rise to the career of “actor” Sylvester Stallone. Since 1977, there have been good years and bad years — some wonderful, unexpected choices (Moonlight) and some profoundly chowderheaded ones (last year’s Green Book over Spike Lee’s breathtaking BlacKkKlansman, for example).

Without getting into an admittedly important and worthwhile discussion of serious flaws in the Academy’s nominating process, which all too frequently shortchanges diversity, both in race and gender, this year’s Oscar slab has a fair share of impressive films and performances. Only a few, however, genuinely rise to the level of “Outstanding,” and the ones left off the platter completely — well, it’s not like Hustlers can’t still be enjoyed, so go and enjoy it and J Lo’s fabulous, nomination-neglected performance. Thus commences our annual game of picking the Oscars ahead of Sunday’s broadcast. I’m restricting myself to a few major categories because, quite frankly, I can’t be bothered to make the effort.

BEST PICTURE — This year’s field is rich with contenders if you overlook the perplexing

nod to the overlong boilerplate Ford v. Ferrari. Personal favorites include 1917, for its daring feat of “single-take” cinematics, JoJo Rabbit, for its daring feat of mixing parody, pathos and Nazis, and Parasite, for just being daring. Little Women was a lovely update of a classic, but Greta Gerwig was snubbed in the directing category, so it stands

zero chance. And while The Irishman is Scorsese in peak form, it’s an arduous three-and-a-half hours long and doesn’t come anywhere near his greatest film, Goodfellas. Joker is the wild card here, but were Hollywood to award Todd Phillips’s derivative film about a deeply depressed man driven by society to go postal, what kind of message would that send? To date, 1917 has taken the most prior honors, so it’s the front-runner. But it’s Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite that is the year’s most astonishing achievement in filmmaking.

Will Win: 1917 Should Pick: Parasite ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE — There are

several fine performances in this category — Jonathan Pryce in The Two Popes, Antonio Banderas in Pain and Glory.

But let’s be honest: the statue is going to Joaquin Phoenix for his compelling take on madness in Joker. It’s a full-bodied, captivating performance, and the only reason to give Joker the time of day.

Will Win: Joaquin Phoenix Should Win: Phoenix ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE — Rule out

Scarlet Johansson in Marriage Story and Saoirse Ronan in Little Women, and it

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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SCOTT SUCHMAN

Stage

Limited Skies

A vibrant Holly Twyford and compelling subject matter help to enliven the mildly pleasing Silent Sky. By André Hereford

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HE SCOTTISH IMMIGRANT HOUSEKEEPER-TURNED-ASTRONOMER Williamina Fleming breezes onstage in Silent Sky, quickly establishing herself as the warm, cantankerous, shrewdly observant comic relief and sage advisor who stirs the plot, defining moral and dramatic support. Fully formed through Holly Twyford’s vibrant performance, Fleming isn’t the main event in Ford’s Theatre’s production, but she is among the leading pleasures of Seema Sueko’s otherwise starchy staging of this biographical chronicle of pioneering female astronomer Henrietta “Henry” Leavitt.

Playwright Lauren Gunderson similarly delineated the work and inner workings of real-life proto-feminist thinkers in Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight and The Revolutionists, but with more formal daring. By contrast, Silent Sky ( ) registers a picture-book period portrayal of Leavitt, played credibly if a bit formally by Laura C. Harris. Clearly a vital historical figure, this Henry Leavitt rarely transmits the fiery determination of an iconoclast who remarks that “Life is about getting appropriately upset.”

Charting Leavitt’s uneasy path in the early 1900s from Radcliffe graduate to working in the all-female pool of so-called human computers at Harvard College Observatory, the play duly describes the results of her calculations but doesn’t vividly translate enough of the science behind her studies of variable stars and star systems to inform a layperson’s sense of wonder about them. Leavitt and her fellow computers in the lab analyze photographic plates of those variable stars, known as cepheids, faintly mapping the journey from what the researchers need to learn towards what they might discover.

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So characters announce rather than share exciting scientific epiphanies, or expound flatly on how Leavitt’s findings — and the work of Fleming and their colleague Annie Jump Cannon (Nora Achrati) — create ripples throughout the field of astronomy, inspiring leading contemporaries like Edwin Hubble. The flow of female empowerment and scientific discovery tugs at our interest, while the play’s action sketches a big picture that’s short on enthralling detail. Likewise, scenic designer Milagros Ponce de León’s set swallows the cast in sparsely decorated space, under a twinkling galaxy of hanging lights. In a show about women whose keen intellect and persistence helped reveal the vastness of our universe, the production does little to evoke the world outside the tiny bubble of this handful of characters, including Leavitt’s sister, Margie (Emily Kester).

Written as a savvy, hard-working wife, mother, sister, daughter, and composer, Margie might be seen as blazing her own trails, were the direction more inclined to take us there. But Kester’s performance, as wholesome as her crystal-clear singing voice, doesn’t really make Margie interesting in her own right — which might also be said for Henrietta’s love interest, Peter

Shaw (Jonathan David Martin), supervisor of the Observatory’s computer pool. Shaw and Leavitt’s teasing rapport, and the running joke of his constantly buzzing by her work station in the lab, make for amusing — and overly familiar — romantic comedy. The play alludes to the battle of the sexes waged among scientists both at large and at Harvard, yet only hints at the intriguing depths of the couple’s hot-cold tension as occasionally contentious peers.

Both the script and production also only hint at the possibility that abandoned wife Fleming and confirmed bachelorette Cannon might have been more than merely colleagues — weaving a subtle queer-positive thread into the intermittently lustrous fabric of a blandly edifying biography. Twyford and Achrati effectively convey the women’s caring for each other, and shared commitment to their work, in pointed words and

gestures that render their background relationship with as much dimension as the lead pairing of Henry and Shaw.

The play provokes myriad questions about the barriers Fleming and Cannon might have faced and overcome, while never directly addressing their particular struggles beyond depicting Annie’s activism as a Suffragette. With that plot thread, Gunderson does directly connect the advances these female scientists fought for to the progress of women in all walks of life. The history lesson, and Leavitt’s tale as told here, offer an introduction to the lives and work of these innovators that’s informative and accessible. But the production leaves the impression that the thorny, complicated take rather than the accessible one might have felt more authentic to the lives Leavitt, Fleming, and Cannon led. And it might have more clearly elucidated what it was they saw in the stars. l

Silent Sky runs through Feb. 23 at Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $22 to $72. Call 888-616-0270, or visit www.fords.org.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

comes down to interpretations of three non-fictional characters.

But as powerful as Cynthia Erivo is in Harriet and as convincing Charlize Theron is as Megyn Kelly in Bombshell, neither hold a candle (or a match) to Renée Zellweger’s transformation into an aging Judy Garland in Judy.

Will Win: Renée Zellweger Should Win: Zellweger ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE — Brad Pitt has won every other

top honor — including a Golden Globe — for his work in Quentin Tarantino’s epic Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, and he’ll snag this statue, too. (You go, Brad.) Still, consider Joe Pesci’s artful performance in The Irishman. The menace that guy can convey with the simple raise of an eyebrow is nothing short of genius.

Will Win: Brad Pitt Should Win: Joe Pesci

— This is the toughest category.

All the performances are worthy of acknowledgment. The only way to determine a path to the winner is through elimination, starting with Kathy Bates in Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell, which no one saw or cared about. Margot Robbie is okay as the wide-eyed Fox News acolyte who learns that careers under Roger Ailes come with an unseemly price, but it’s a by-the-numbers performance. It’s down to Johansson, as a loving German mother hiding a secret in JoJo Rabbit, Laura Dern as a ruthless divorce attorney in Marriage Story, and Florence Pugh’s emotionally rich Amy in Little Women.

The Academy will go for Dern, because Dern. But Pugh elevated Judy Little Women from good to great.

Plus she endured the dreadful horrors of Midsommar as well this year, so she deserves a moment of happiness.

Will Win: Laura Dern Should Win: Florence Pugh BEST DIRECTOR — The race involves Martin Scorsese, Quentin

Tarantino, Todd Phillips, Sam Mendes, and Bong Joon Ho. Mendes pulled off the most impressive cinematic stunt, while Tarantino and Scorsese offered excellent copycat versions of their earlier films. Phillips, meanwhile, delivered a solid imitation of an old Scorsese film. Which leaves Bong Joon Ho, who devised the year’s most remarkable film, hand’s down. There was nothing else like it.

Will Win: Bong Joon Ho Should Win: Bong As for the rest of the categories, your guess is as good as mine. l

The 92nd Annual Academy Awards will be broadcast live on ABC, on Sunday, Feb. 9, starting at 8 p.m.

Pick your own winners for a chance at a mystery prize box at www.metroweekly.com/win.

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Television

In the House

The Category Is... highlights LGBTQ folks around the world finding home and family in the queer ballroom community. By André Hereford

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OGUING AND BALLROOM CULTURE BUBBLED UP FROM NEW YORK City’s queer black and Latino spaces to the surface of the mainstream over decades, gaining visibility via pop influences from Paris Is Burning to Madonna’s “Vogue,” RuPaul’s Drag Race to Pose. But far and wide, communities outside the U.S. only now are getting their lives on the ballroom floor, discovering and reshaping the culture of houses, balls, queens, mothers, and children in their own image, wherever they may be. Queer streaming service Revry’s new anthology docuseries The Category Is... (HHHHH) intends to capture the ever-expanding world of voguers, drag, and house kids by offering an intimate glimpse at LGBTQ communities around the globe, with each season dedicated to a different city.

Season one, set in Mexico City, premieres on Friday, Feb. 7, and introduces viewers — in eye-opening, entertaining, bite-size episodes, none running longer than ten minutes — to the fabulous found family that is the House of Mamis. Formed in 2017 by House Mother Mendoza, the Mamis — boys, girls, and gender nonconforming — are a ragtag crew of unique and diverse personalities. At such brief lengths, the episodes don’t develop and play out substantial drama for the camera, nor do we meet any cast beyond house members like Mendoza, Dalia, Athenas, Overkill, and the fierce queen who’s the focus of episode four, Negraconda.

Series creators Ocean Vashti Jude and Lauren E. Zubia Casalda might have done more to craft a season through-line, but these episodes still tell a vital story simply by listening. The Mamis tell facets of familiar tales about pain and rejection, and living their truth in wigs and painted nails, but with the fear of walking alone at night.

We can see how they find security being together in public spaces, as they illustrate the values of their familial bond through a shared devotion to voguing, dipping, and dancing. Director of photography Andres Solorzano beautifully conveys the movement, as house members Rio and PonyBoy break down what a dancer hopes to bring to the ballroom floor.

The Mamis train like a ballet company in the studio where Mendoza also teaches classes. While House Mother worries about her children’s safety and success out in the streets, and having enough money for food and rent, Rio, Pony, and Negraconda dance through vibrant video montages, gorgeously edited by Jude and Casalda. Often the wicked beats of Mexican-American dance music artist B11ce, providing the show’s soundtrack, hit harder than the Mamis’ voguing. But that’s no shade, because the beats hit just right, and the show soundly does its part to put Mexico City’s burgeoning ballroom community on the map. Whether The Category Is... alone warrants a subscription to queer-owned and operated Revry — at a cost of either $59.99 a year, or $6.99 per month — the series certainly seems worth taking the streaming service up on its offer of a free trial. l

The Category Is...Mexico City is available for streaming on Revry, premiering Friday, Feb. 7. Visit www.revry.tv.

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FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

ALBERT SANCHEZ

Music

Limited Edition

Everyone’s favorite drag queen-folk king expands her musical palette into sparkly pop-rock. By Sean Maunier

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LONGSIDE COMEDIAN, PERFORMER, YOUTUBE STAR, MAKEUP BARoness, and Drag Race alumna, Trixie Mattel’s role as a chart-topping folk musician has always looked a bit like the odd one out among her many personas.

While Two Birds and One Stone were full of personality and contained flashes of humor, Barbara (HHHHH) comes close to marrying her musical career to the performer. With Barbara, she has brought every facet of herself to bear on what is her most quintessentially “Trixie Mattel” album yet.

The album embraces a much wider musical range than Two Birds, expanding beyond the folk-country sensibility and trading it for electric guitars and more of a pop-rock sound that has a vaguely vintage feel to it, along with songwriting that has lost none of its humor, heart, or depth.

The album opens on a strong note with “Malibu,” a surf pop-inflected song that celebrates making an impulsive decision and having it turn out great. Forget for a moment how different this is from her country albums — this song is Trixie Mattel at her most Trixie, bringing in her toy doll persona with a line about being kept in a drawer and referencing a transistor radio for a bit of retro charm. The sound may be different, but the thoughtful poignancy lurking behind the catchy melodies is very much true to her brand.

“Jesse Jesse” starts out feeling almost like it should be a song about a schoolyard crush, with Trixie dreaming about being “Jesse’s girl,” but as it goes on she hints that something not entirely healthy is going on here. Perky lyrics (“I know you’re married/ And separation can be scary”) walk the line between a crush and obsession, all played for laughs, of course. The song also offers up the eyebrow-raising line, “Inside every clam’s a pearl.”

Although Barbara serves up more of Mattel’s well-known flair for camp, it’s mostly front-loaded into the first four tracks. Side B is more what we have come to expect from Mattel’s — top-tier folk that would have been right at home on Two Birds and One Stone, but rarely pushing beyond that. “Gold” brings back the acoustic guitars and falls squarely into the category of wistful country-folk, territory that she remains in for the rest of the album.

“I Do Like You” longingly reflects on a relationship that no clearly longer works, where the love is still there but everything else seems to have quietly faded away.

Solid as these later tracks are, they deliver less of her trademark wit.

Fittingly, Mattel closes out the album by paying tribute to the queer country legends of Lavender Country with “Stranger,” her cover of their 1973 track, “I Can’t Shake the Stranger out of You.” It’s a song that works well for the artist, who stays true to the pathos of the original recording, adding her own distinct croon and letting it build up beyond its DIY feel.

As different as it is from the bubbly fun of “Malibu,” closing out Barbara on this note reminds us that Trixie Mattel’s great strength as a musician is her ability to marry a deeply irreverent comedic sensibility with a clear respect for the people and places from which she has drawn inspiration. l

Barbara releases Friday, Feb. 7 on Amazon.com, iTunes, and on most streaming services.

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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NightLife Photography by Ward Morrison

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Scene

Super Bowl Sunday at Nellie’s - February 2 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc...

Thursday, February 6 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE $4 Rail and Domestics for guys in L.U.R.E. (Leather, Uniform, Rubber, Etc.) • Lights Dimmed at 8pm FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Shirtless Thursday, 10-11pm • Men in Underwear Drink Free, 12-12:30am • DJs BacK2bACk

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • $15 Buckets of Bud Products all night • Sports Leagues Night NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • ThurSlay, featuring DJ Jack Rayburn, 10pm PITCHERS Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm • Thirst Trap Thursdays, hosted by Venus Valhalla, 11pm-12:30am • Featuring a Rotating Cast of Drag Performers • Dancing until 1:30am

SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Bottles of Wine, 5pm-close TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers, 9pm-close • “New Meat” Open Dancers Audition • Music by DJ Don T. • Cover 21+

Destinations A LEAGUE OF HER OWN 2317 18th St. NW 202-733-2568 www.facebook.com/alohodc AVALON SATURDAYS Soundcheck 1420 K St. NW 202-789-5429 www.facebook.com/ AvalonSaturdaysDC

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Friday, February 7 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE Meaty Fridays Happy Hour 5-9pm • Free Hot Dogs all night and Pizza at 7:30pm • $2 off all drinks until 9pm • $5 Cover starts at 7pm, $10 after 9pm • Birds of Prey Drag Show at 10:30pm • DJ Moka follows the drag show • Open until 3am

all night long • Davon Hamilton presents District 1st Friday Underwear Party, 10pm-close • All Body Types Welcome • Underwear attire encouraged but not required • Featuring DJ Honey • GoGo Dancers • $10 Cover (includes clothes check) • SBY Power Program holds on-site HIV testing for free entry • $5 Margaritas, $8 Long Islands, and drink specials

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Open 3pm • Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Weekend Kickoff Dance Party, with Nellie’s DJs spinning bubbly pop music all night

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 Rail and Domestic • $5 Svedka, all flavors

NUMBER NINE Open 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • Friday Night

Piano with Chris, 7:30pm • Friday Night Videos, 9:30pm • Rotating DJs PITCHERS Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Democratic Debate Watch Party TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine

DC EAGLE 3701 Benning Rd. NE (202) 455-6500 www.dceagle.com

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR 900 U St. NW 202-332-6355 www.nelliessportsbar.com

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR 555 23rd St. S. Arlington, Va. 703-685-0555 www.freddiesbeachbar.com

NUMBER NINE 1435 P St. NW 202-986-0999 www.numberninedc.com

GREEN LANTERN 1335 Green Ct. NW 202-347-4533 www.greenlanterndc.com

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

PITCHERS 2317 18th St. NW 202-733-2568 www.pitchersbardc.com

NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS Compiled by Doug Rule

ACADEMY AWARDS WATCH PARTY WITH BA’NAKA Get all dolled up in your “best gown, tux, tux/gown hybrid (or sweats)” and get thee to Number Nine this Sunday, Feb. 9, for a party honoring Hollywood’s biggest night. All TVs in the two-story Logan Circle institution will be tuned to the live broadcast of the annual awards extravaganza, with additional local commentary from drag host Ba’Naka, with Red Carpet coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. and the Oscars ceremony starting at 8 p.m. Number Nine is at 1435 P St. NW. Call 202-986-0999 or visit www.numberninedc.com.

only $5 • Otter Happy Hour with guest DJs, 5-11pm ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm • Guest dancers • Rotating DJs • Kristina Kelly’s Diva Fev-ah Drag Show • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:45pm • Music by DJ Jeff Eletto • Cover 21+

Saturday, February 8 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-3am • Video Games • Live televised sports AVALON SATURDAYS @Soundcheck 1420 K St. NW KINETIC Dance Party, 10pm-4am • Featuring DJ Dan Slater • Drag Show,

10:30-11:30pm, hosted by Ba’Naka and a rotating cast of drag queens • $4 Absolut Drinks, 10pm-midnight • 21+ • $25 Cover, $30 VIP • Tickets available via Eventbrite.com • Portion of Door proceeds benefit The Cherry Fund DC EAGLE Open at 5pm • Saturday Kink with DJ Chris Adam in the Main Bar, 9pm-close • $5 Cover • LOBO: Lights Out, Barks Out, 9pm-close • $10 at door • Featuring DJs Elevative, Phoenix Rise, and UltraPup • Serving until 3am FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Saturday Breakfast Buffet, 10am-3pm • $14.99 with one glass of champagne or coffee, soda or juice • Additional champagne $2 per glass • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Freddie’s Follies Drag Show, hosted by Miss

SHAW’S TAVERN 520 Florida Ave. NW 202-518-4092 www.shawstavern.com TRADE 1410 14th St. NW 202-986-1094 www.tradebardc.com ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS 1824 Half St. SW 202-863-0670 www.ziegfelds.com

COUNTRY AT SECRETS WITH DC RAWHIDES The DC Rawhides showcase their boot-scootin’ brand of social dancing every other Saturday — on both floors of the Ziegfeld’s/Secrets complex in Southwest.

Starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8, the group presents, on one floor, an hour-long session of lessons in the intermediate line dance known as Soak’in Wet, as taught by James and Jill, and on the other floor, an hour-long session of intermediate two-step taught by Paul and Cullen. No worries if you don’t know how to line dance or don’t yet have a favorite: the Rawhides always offer beginner two-step instructions courtesy of a designated crew of “dance angels.” The evening continues with open dancing to the country mix of DJ Mein until 10:50 p.m. — roughly an hour before Ella Fitzgerald and her Ladies of Illusion take to their regular perch. By then, you’ll also find fully exposed “freestyle” dancers and their admirers shaking it to house music upstairs, if you’d like to see and do it all. Ziegfeld’s/Secrets is at 1824 Half St. SW. Cover is $5 until 9 p.m.; $10 after. Call 202-863-0670 or visit www.dcrawhides.com or www.ziegfelds.com.

GREEN LANTERN: FREEBALLERS Every second Saturday of the month patrons aged 21 and up are encouraged to leave their knickers at home in an outing to the Green Lantern for a cheekily billed party that celebrates the freedom of movement below the belt — as long as you don’t get too showy about it and leave a little to the imagination. Keep things covered, not confined; imprinted, not exposed; outlined, not out. Hopefully you catch our drift, because we can’t come right out with it. D.C.’s longstanding DJ duo BacK2bACk spins the next fun, freeballing fiesta, where, if you’re lucky, you just might see a real battle of the bulges. Saturday, Feb. 8, starting at 10 p.m.

No cover — except obviously where it counts. Green Lantern is at 1335 Green Ct. NW. Call 202-347-4533 or visit www.facebook.com/GreenLanternDC. VALENTINE’S DAY IS A DRAG! Drag queens are taking over the Duplex Diner this Saturday, Feb. 8, as part of a fundraiser for SMYAL, presented by the Dupont Social Club, producers of the Miss Adams Morgan drag pageant. Queens will be serving as waitresses and bartenders as well as performing in two shows over dinner, at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., with all performance tips donated to helping the cause of providing much-needed services for LGBTQ youth. Queen Helen Heels hosts the event, complete with a raffle. The 18th and U Duplex Diner is at 2004 18th St. NW. Admission is $20. Reservations required for dinner seatings. Call 202-265-7828 or visit www.duplexdiner.com.

BEYONCÉ VS. RIHANNA: VALENTINE’S DANCE PARTY This import from Baltimore is so epic, it sold out in its first go-round at U Street Music Hall last year. It’s styled as an “artist-for-artist, track-for-track” battle between two dance floor divas and their respective DJs and fans. On one side is Queen Bey and the “Drunk In Love” Bey Hive, with music to get the ladies bodied and in formation spun by DJ Mills. On the other side is the Barbados Ambassador and the “Drunk On Love” Rihanna Navy, imploring Craig Boarman, owner of Baltimore’s Ottobar, please don’t stop the RiRi music pon de replay.

Ultimately, it’s less of a contest and more of a sweet treat for contemporary pop diva lovers ages 18 and up — whether they’re single ladies or those who have found love. As long as they manage to get tickets and get in the door before the club reaches capacity, of course. Thursday, Feb. 13, starting at 10 p.m. U Street Music Hall is at 1115A U St. NW. Tickets are $12 in advance. Call 202-588-1880 or visit www.ustreetmusichall.com. l

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Destiny B. Childs, 8-10pm • Karaoke, 10pm-close GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5 Bacardi, all flavors, all night long • Freeballers Party, 10pm-close • Music

by DJs BacK2bACk • Clothes check available • No Cover • $5 Fireball, $5 Margaritas, $8 Long Islands NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-3am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs playing pop music all night NUMBER NINE Doors open 2pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Pop Tarts, featuring DJs BacK2bACk, 10pm PITCHERS Open Noon-3am • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am

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SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with $16 Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • ’80s Party and Drag Show, with Kristina Kelly, 11pm

DC EAGLE Open at Noon • Happy Hour until 9pm • Food served 4-7pm, $10 a plate • Cigar Sundays and Cruisy Sundays • $3 off all Whiskeys & Bourbons, $5 Chivas Regal, $15 bottomless Bud/Bud Light, $20 Bottomless Premium Drafts • Serving until 2am

NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • Pop Goes the World with Wes Della Volla at 9:30pm • No Cover

TRADE Doors open 2pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Fabulous Sunday Champagne Brunch, 10am-3pm • $24.99 with four glasses of champagne or mimosas, 1 Bloody Mary, or coffee, soda or juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Piano Bar with John Flynn, 6-9pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close

PITCHERS Open Noon-2am • $4 Smirnoff, includes flavored, $4 Coors Light or $4 Miller Lites, 2-9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets upstairs, 9pm-close • Fully nude male dancers • Ladies of Illusion Drag Show with host Ella Fitzgerald in Ziegfeld’s • Doors open at 9pm, Show at 11:45pm • Music by DJs Keith Hoffman and Don T. • Cover 21+

Sunday, February 9 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-12am • $4 Smirnoff and Domestic Cans • Video Games • Live televised sports

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Karaoke with Kevin downstairs, 9:30pm-close NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Drag Brunch, hosted

by Chanel Devereaux, 10:30am-12:30pm and 1-3pm • Tickets on sale at nelliessportsbar.com • House Rail Drinks, Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-1am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with $16 Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Dinner and Drag with Miss Kristina Kelly, 6:30pm • No Cover • For reservations, email shawsdinnerdragshow@gmail.com TRADE Doors open 2pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 • GLAM BOX: A

Monthly Dress-Up Dance Party, 10pm • Come in a look, or find one from our house glam boxes • Walkoff contest at 10:30pm • Music by Joann Fabrixx • Special guest hosts

Monday, February 10 DC EAGLE Manic Mondays • Food served, 2-6pm • Happy Hour until 9pm, $2 off all drinks • Free Pool play • $2 Bud & Bud Lights, $15 bottomless premium drafts FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Singles Night • Half-Priced Pasta Dishes • Karaoke, 9pm

• PokerFace Poker, 8pm • Dart Boards • Ping Pong Madness, featuring 2 PingPong Tables NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Shaw ’Nuff Trivia, 7:30pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long • Singing with the Sisters: Open Mic Karaoke Night with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, 9:30pm-close

Tuesday, February 11

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Half-Priced Burgers • Paint Nite, 7pm

DC EAGLE 2-4-1 Tuesdays • All Drinks, Buy one, Get one free • First Drink Free for Guys in Jockstraps

A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports

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FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Taco Tuesday • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long • Tito’s Tuesday: $5 Tito’s Vodka all night NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer $15 • Drag Bingo with Sasha Adams and Brooklyn Heights, 7-9pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close NUMBER NINE Open at 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm SHAW’S TAVERN Join us for the New Hampshire Primary Results! • Happy Hour,

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4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • HalfPriced Burgers and Pizzas, 5-10pm • Schitt’s Creek Watch Party, 9pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

Wednesday, February 12 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE Happy Hour until 9pm • Karaoke by D&K Sounds from 9pm-1am • $4 Rails, Wines & Domestic Drafts

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • $6 Burgers • Beach Blanket Drag Bingo Night, hosted

by Ms. Regina Jozet Adams, 8pm • Bingo prizes • Karaoke, 10pm-1am GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4pm-9pm • Bear Yoga with Greg Leo, 6:30-7:30pm • $10 per class • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long • Karaoke, 9pm NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR SmartAss Trivia Night, 8-10pm • Prizes include bar tabs and tickets to shows at the 9:30 Club • Absolutely Snatched Drag Show, hosted by Brooklyn Heights, 9pm • $3 Bud Light, $5 Absolut, $15 Buckets of Beer NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover PITCHERS Open 5pm-12am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Piano Bar and Karaoke, 8pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5

Thursday, February 13 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE Happy Hour until 9pm • After 9pm, $4 Rail and Domestics for guys in L.U.R.E. (Leather, Uniform,

Rubber, Etc.) • Lights Dimmed at 8pm • No Cover FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Shirtless Thursday, 10-11pm • Men in Underwear Drink Free, 12-12:30am • DJs BacK2bACk NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • $15 Buckets of Bud Products all night • Sports Leagues Night NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • ThurSlay, featuring DJ Jack Rayburn, 10pm PITCHERS Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm • Thirst Trap Thursdays,

hosted by Venus Valhalla, 11pm-12:30am • Featuring a Rotating Cast of Drag Performers • Dancing until 1:30am SHAW’S TAVERN Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • Half-Priced Bottles of Wine, 5pm-close TRADE Doors open 5pm • XL Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass is served in an XL glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $5 ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers, 9pm-close • “New Meat” Open Dancers Audition • Music by DJ Don T. • Cover 21+ l For more specials not featured in print, visit www.metroweekly.com/ nightlife/drink_specials.

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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Scene

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Wig Night Out! at Pitchers - Saturday, February 1 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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LastWord.

People say the queerest things

“I don’t want anybody like that in the White House.

So can I have my card back? ” — A woman in Iowa in a viral video asking to rescind her vote for former Mayor Pete Buttigieg in Monday’s Democratic caucus.

The woman seemed unaware that Buttigieg is gay and married to husband Chasten. After a Buttigieg precinct captain asked why his sexuality should matter, the woman responded, “It all just went down the toilet, is where it all just went.”

“To friends and advisers, [Trump would] bitterly refer to the NBC News reporter simply as ‘That bitch with the tranny dad.’”

— LACHLAN MARKAY and ASAWIN SUEBSAENG, in their new book Sinking in the Swamp, alleging that Donald Trump repeatedly used a transphobic slur during the 2016 presidential campaign to refer to MSNBC host Katy Tur, whose biological father is transgender journalist Zoey Tur. Katy Tur angered Trump by challenging him on his foreign policy views and racist statements during a 2015 interview.

“Do you approve of your taxpayer dollars being used to promote the radical LGBTQ agenda?”

— Arkansas State Sen. JASON RAPERT, on Facebook decrying the appearance of Billy Porter on Sesame Street.

The Republican politician said he wants to defund PBS and its Arkansas affiliate AETN, and in a separate post said, “Christians do not support anti-Biblical behavior. The Bible is clear on certain sins — including homosexuality.”

“She gets to be the first female senator in Tennessee, and she’s Trump in a wig.”

— TAYLOR SWIFT, discussing anti-LGBTQ Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn in her Netflix documentary Miss Americana. Swift criticizes Blackburn for voting against women’s rights and LGBTQ rights, saying, “It’s really basic human rights, and it’s right and wrong at this point…. Those aren’t Tennessee Christian values.

I live in Tennessee. I am Christian. That’s not what we stand for.”

“We hoped this vaccine candidate would work.

Regrettably, it does not.”

— ANTHONY S. FAUCI, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, announcing that the agency was halting clinical trials for HVTN 702, a potential HIV vaccine, because it does not work.

“We will continue to explore promising avenues for preventing HIV with other vaccines and tools, both in South Africa and around the world,” Fauci said.

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FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 • METROWEEKLY.COM

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