The Men of ONYX - MAL Weekend Special Collector's Edition

JANUARY 17, 2019

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CONTENTS

THE MEN OF ONYX

ONYX Mid-Atlantic offers a safe space and ready-made support system for men of color within the leather and kink scene.

Portraits by Todd Franson | Text by John Riley

HOUSE PARTY

MAL’s closing night dance pays tribute to the “Godfather of House Music,” Frankie Knuckles.

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Volume 25 Issue 36

By André Hereford

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MAL PARTY PLANNER Your Guide to Every Official and Unofficial 2019 Mid-Atlantic Leather Event.

By Doug Rule

SPOTLIGHT: XUANZANG’S PILGRIMAGE p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.10 THE FEED p.20 COMMUNITY CALENDAR p.23 THE MEN OF ONYX p.27 HOUSE PARTY: MAL’S CLOSING NIGHT p.43 MAL 2019 PARTY PLANNER p.46 NIGHTLIFE p.49 SCENE: ANNA WARHOL DANCE PARTY p.49 LISTINGS p.50 NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS p.51 PLAYLIST: DJ SEAN MORRIS p.57 SCENE: FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR p.59 LAST WORD p.62 Real LGBTQ News and Entertainment since 1994 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 Illustrator Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Bailey Vogt, 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 Sadie Hawkins 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.

© 2019 Jansi LLC.

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JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Spotlight

T

Xuanzang’s Pilgrimage

HE 7TH-CENTURY BUDDHIST MONK XUANZANG trekked for seventeen years and thousands of miles, traversing empires on foot and on horseback, to complete a self-directed religious and cultural fact-finding mission.

Traveling along the fabled Silk Road from China to India and back again, he risked his life and freedom to gain knowledge that, in turn, he brought back to share with his homeland.

Xuanzang’s journey and written record of bridging East and West made him a national hero, a bold historical figure who’s been depicted in art, music, fiction, and film. In 2017, the Chinese National Traditional Orchestra combined those disparate forms to interpret his story as a concert drama, Xuanzang’s Pilgrimage. It makes its U.S. premiere at the Kennedy Center next weekend.

Presented by the China Arts and Entertainment Group, a state-owned entertainment company, Image China: Xuanzang’s Pilgrimage continues CAEG’s annual ventures to D.C. bearing the gift of a large-scale, live production that “introduces traditional and contemporary Chinese performing arts to audiences around the world.”

For the grand, multimedia production that includes over 100 actors, musicians, dancers, and performers, the Chinese National Traditional Orchestra enlisted acclaimed young talent

Jiang Ying to compose the music, write the libretto, and direct.

But before Jiang managed that massive undertaking, she first hit the road to follow in Xuanzang’s footsteps along his epic journey.

“Absolutely, I had to see and experience first-hand the places along the Silk Road,” says Jiang. “I wanted to be able to effectively portray the famous story, and to help bring the audience along through the places Xuanzang traveled — the terrain, the mountains, the difficult journey for Xuanzang, the special places and people living long ago.”

The production depicts those various locales through video projection, with the orchestra embodying a multitude of regions by playing traditional instruments specific to each culture. Led

by Ding Xiaokui, the CNTO’s principal flute soloist, who acts and performs the starring role of Xuanzang, the show represents an extraordinary achievement in multitasking.

“As the world’s first concert in drama, it blurs boundaries and connects acting with playing music instruments,” says Jiang.

“Integrating instrumental music performances with the drama, together with spectacular multi-media features, elaborate costumes, lighting, staging, and impeccable visual effects, we're delighted to showcase the diversity, inclusiveness, history and rich heritage of Chinese traditional music.” —André Hereford

Image China: Xuanzang’s Pilgrimage runs January 25 to 27, at Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.

Tickets are $70 to $200. Call 202-467-4600, or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

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Spotlight VISIONS OF LOVE

Pointless Theatre Company’s latest spectacle blurs the lines of puppetry, theater, dance, music, and the visual arts in a “nostalgic valentine” to Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights. Considered the highest accomplishment of Chaplin’s career and also featuring his first-ever film score, the 1931 silent classic follows the misadventures of The Tramp, who falls in love with The Blind Woman and develops a turbulent friendship with an alcoholic millionaire. Kerry McGee and Sharalys Silva lead a seven-member acting ensemble. Weekends to Feb. 9. Dance Loft on 14, 4618 14th St. NW, 2nd Floor.

Tickets are $32, or $20 in previews. Call 202-621-3670 or visit www.danceloft14.org.

RENÉE FLEMING WITH THE NSO

TIMOTHY WHITE

NSO Music Director Gianandrea Noseda leads a program with the music of and inspired by Schubert and featuring a world-renowned soprano. Specifically, Fleming joins to perform six orchestrated versions of Schubert’s Lieder, which will be interspersed with the Overture and two of the entr’actes from Rosamunde. Luciano Berio’s Rendering, an original work based on material that Schubert sketched for a tenth symphony, closes out the concerts. Friday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 20, at 3 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall.

Tickets are $15 to $89. Call 202-4674600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

KING IN THE WILDERNESS

In the years following passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act in 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. faced growing criticism over his unshakeable belief in nonviolence from younger civil rights figures leading the nascent Black Power movement, and also saw his support erode from many establishment figures in politics, the media, business, and labor over his opposition to the Vietnam War. Peter W. Kunhardt’s King in the Wilderness combines striking archival footage with contemporary interviews of fellow civil rights leaders and celebrities, including Andrew Young, Marian Wright Edelman, Harry Belafonte, and Joan Baez.

Monday, Jan. 21, at 11 a.m. 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Free, but tickets required. Call 301495-6720 or visit www.afi.com/Silver.

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Spotlight LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR AT THE MARYLAND LYRIC OPERA

Nick Olcott directs Gaetano Donizetti’s seductively beautiful, tragic tale of love fraught with power and deception. It’s the first fully staged production from the Maryland Lyric Opera, a five-year-old, singer-focused company founded by Brad Clark. Maeve Höglund and Nayoung Ban (pictured) alternate in the title role.

Performed in Italian with English surtitles. Thursday, Jan. 24, and Friday, Jan. 25, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m. Kay Theatre in the Clarice at the University of Maryland, University Boulevard and Stadium Drive. College Park. Tickets are $25 to $60.

Call 301-405-ARTS or visit www.theclarice.umd.edu.

PANIC! AT THE DISCO

JIMMY FONTAINE

Even before he came out as pansexual last summer, Brendon Urie was a known LGBTQ rights advocate. An emphatic lead singer and multi-instrumentalist, Urie is the only remaining original member of the Vegas-originated rock band. The current tour supports their sixth full-length album, Pray For The Wicked, which betrays influences from Broadway and Urie’s unexpected, nearly back-to-back turns in Kinky Boots and SpongeBob SquarePants in 2017.

Opening sets by Two Feet, the alias of troubled James Blake-esque singer-songwriter Bill Dess, and Betty Who, one of the millennial LGBTQ generation’s leading divas.

Sunday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. Capital One Arena, 601 F St. NW. Call 202-628-3200 or visit www.capitalonearena.com.

NADA ZGANK

AS FAR AS MY FINGERTIPS TAKE ME

Woolly Mammoth presents an “intimate theater-forone experience” that Tania El Khoury designed around a rap song she commissioned from musician and street artist Basel Zaraa, a Syrian refugee. Theatergoers who want to experience the work must give permission for Zaraa to draw on their arm while listening to his song, which tells of the migration of his sisters from Damascus to Sweden. After a designated 15-minute block of time, each patron will walk away with art on their body that they can wash away (or not). There will be 16 performances per day with tickets released exclusively via a digital lottery through www.TodayTix.com and winners notified weekly on Fridays by the Woolly Mammoth box office to confirm their performance time. Through Feb. 3. Woolly Mammoth, 641 D St. NW. Tickets range from $15. Call 202-393-3939 or visit www.woollymammoth.net.

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EVAN ZIMMERMAN-MURPHY MADE

Out On The Town

SCHOOL OF ROCK: THE MUSICAL

An out-of-work, wannabe rock star poses as a substitute teacher to corrupt a class of straight-A students into giving up their academic pursuits for a hard-partying life of rock. The 2003 film comedy, directed by Richard Linklater and starring Jack Black, is reportedly “the highest grossing music-themed comedy of all time.” Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber snapped up the stage rights, enlisting Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes to write the book and Glenn Slater to fashion lyrics to 14 new Webber songs. To cap it off, all that music in this very musical show is performed by those kid rockers in what is billed as the musical theater world’s first-ever kids rock band playing live on stage. Rock on. Through Jan. 27. National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Call 202-628-6161 or visit www.thenationaldc.org.

Compiled by Doug Rule

FILM RA XTRA: THE HEIRESSES

Descendants of wealthy families in Paraguay, Chela (Ana Brun) and Chiquita (Margarita Irún) have been together for over 30 years.

Yet their relationship faces challenges like never before as a result of a worsening financial situation and new realities for each, including Chela’s encounter with a younger woman. Rayceen Pendarvis hosts a screening of Marcelo Martinessi’s drama, presented in Spanish with English subtitles, as part of Reel Affirmations’ monthly series.

Friday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. at the HRC Equality Center, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Tickets are $12, or $25 for VIP seating as well as one complimentary cocktail, beer or wine and popcorn. Call 202-682-2245 or visit www.thedccenter.org.

THE ANIMATION SHOW OF SHOWS

Baltimore’s Creative Alliance presents the 20th annual program in

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this thought-provoking, eclectic, and international series of 15 animated shorts. Films included in past incarnations have gone on to win Oscars, so you could say curator Ron Diamond, a veteran animation producer, knows how to pick ’em.

Four of the 15 films this year have merited Academy Award consideration including Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas’ One Small Step, about a Chinese-American girl’s dream of being an astronaut and centered on her evolving relationship with her father; John Kahrs’ Age of Sail, the latest in Google’s series of Spotlight Stories about an old sailor’s rescue of a teenage girl after she falls overboard; Trevor Jimenez’s beautifully designed Weekends, about the complex emotional landscape of a young boy and his recently divorced parents; and The Green Bird, a mordantly funny work of computer animation harkening back to classic mid-20th century cartoons with a slapstick-rich depiction of a female bird’s efforts to keep its egg safe. Sunday, Jan. 27, at 4:30 p.m. Creative Alliance at the Patterson, 3134 Eastern Ave.

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Baltimore. Tickets are $10. Call 410276-1651 or visit www.creativealliance.com.

THE SEARCHERS

Next up in its weekly Capital Classics series, Landmark’s West End Cinema presents John Ford’s 1956 Civil War-era western starring John Wayne as a man who goes on a perilous quest to find his abducted niece (Natalie Wood). Also starring Jeffrey Hunter and Vera Miles, with music by the great Max Steiner. Screenings are Wednesday, Jan. 23, 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 202-534-1907 or visit www. landmarktheatres.com.

STAGE ADMISSIONS

Studio Theatre presents the latest work from the playwright responsible for Bad Jews, the most successful production in the company’s history.

This time, Joshua Harmon has white liberals in his crosshairs, offering

a no-holds-barred look at privilege, power, and the perils of whiteness, all set at a New Hampshire boarding school. Mike Donahue directs Meg Gibson and Kevin Kilner as a husband-and-wife duo who are the boarding school’s proudly progressive leaders. Yet their hard-fought, years-long work to diversify the school’s mostly white population runs somewhat counter to their own private efforts to get their son into an Ivy League university. With Sarah Marshall, Marni Penning, and Ephraim Birney. To Feb. 17. Mead Theatre, 14th & P Streets NW. Call 202-332-3300 or visit www.studiotheatre.org.

AMERICAN MOOR

Keith Hamilton Cobb’s passionate and poetic exploration of Shakespeare, race, and America examines implicit bias in American theater and culture through the experience and perspective of black men and the metaphor of William Shakespeare’s character Othello.

The play focuses on the audition of a seasoned African-American actor (Cobb) for a young white direc-

tor (Josh Tyson) who presumes to know better than he how to maximize the iconic black character for believability. Weekends to Feb. 3. Anacostia Playhouse, 2020 Shannon Place SE. Tickets are $40 plus applicable charges. Call 202290-2328 or visit www.anacostiaplayhouse.org.

JEFFREY

In the coming years, it’s quite possible playwright Paul Rudnick will become best known as the book writer for the long-brewing musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada, working alongside composer Elton John. Yet it’s hard to imagine anything making as indelible a mark, at least among its target audience, as his breakthrough, Jeffrey. A notable early “comedy about AIDS,” Jeffrey was anything but an easy sell in the early 1990s during the worst of the AIDS epidemic. Yet once it found an audience in a tiny theater Off Off Broadway, it quickly became a sensation — so much so, in fact, Rudnick adapted the work for the screen, scoring a hit indie film in 1995. The Obie Award-winning play is about a gay actor and waiter who swears off sex for fear of contracting HIV — only to fall for an HIV-positive man. The Rainbow Theatre Project gives the romantic comedy new life in a different era.

The cast includes Rinaldo Martinez, Reginald Richard, Matthew Pauli, Randyn Fullard, Emily Levey, Craig Houk, Joshua Street, and Rick Westerkamp. Robert Mintz directs.

To Feb. 10. District of Columbia Arts Center, 2438 18th St. NW. Tickets are $35 plus service fees.

Call 202-462-7833 or visit www. rainbowtheatreproject.org.

KLEPTOCRACY

BRYAN FERRY

In March, this stylish British pop/rock artist will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for co-founding Roxy Music. Although never chart-topping hitmakers in the U.S., the pioneering glam-rock/synth-pop act was heralded by the rock critic for The Guardian in 2005 as second only to the Beatles as the most influential British band — and one whose influence extends from the Sex Pistols to Duran Duran to the Killers. In recent years, Ferry has generated buzz through his namesake jazz orchestra and its rearrangements of Roxy hits as well as those from Ferry’s solo career, including “Don’t Stop The Dance” and “Slave To Love. Later this year, Ferry embarks on a world tour on which he’ll continue to revisit songs from his rich repertoire, including “More Than This” Avalon, the 1982 studio album that stands as the best-selling work from Roxy Music. Tickets go on sale Friday, Jan. 18, at 10 a.m., for a Tuesday, Aug. 13, concert at The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. Tickets are $75 to $250. Call 202-888-0020 or visit www.theanthemdc.com.

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Arena Stage presents a world-premiere drama by Kenneth Lin, a House of Cards series writer.

A fictional play based on reality, Kleptocracy is touted as a fearless political journey — as well as the most dangerous play of the season — which trains the spotlight on U.S. - Russia relations in the 1990s, when crude oil was the language of diplomacy and events that dominate today’s headlines are first set in motion. Jackson Gay directs.

Previews start Friday, Jan. 18. To Feb. 24. Kreeger Theater in the Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW. Call 202-777-3210 or visit theaterj.org.

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES

The Riverside Center for the Performing Arts in Fredericksburg, Va., presents the 1983 Tony-winning Broadway musical by Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein, an adaptation of Jean Poiret’s 1973 uproarious French farce. The plot focuses on gay couple Georges and Albin, who pretend to be straight while entertaining the homophobic parents of

their son’s fiancée. The Riverside production features a large, 17-person cast led by Christopher Sanders as George and Gabe Belyeu as Albin.

And because Riverside is styled as a dinner theater, patrons partake in a three-course, prix-fixe meal prior to every performance. To March 3. 95 Riverside Parkway, Fredericksburg, Va. Tickets are $69 for dinner and show, or $50 for show only. Call 540-370-4300 or visit www.riversidedt.com.

SOUL REDEEMER

In the style of Dreamgirls and Motown: The Musical, this new work, set in 1979, follows the travails of a former R&B superstar who tries to make a comeback in the hip new genre he loathes: disco. Don Michael Mendoza and La Ti Do Productions presents a world-premiere staged reading of Soul Redeemer, featuring original music and lyrics by Neal Learner and a book by Paul Handy, in the long-running variety show’s home venue in Dupont Circle. Kevin Sockwell directs the reading with Matthew Dohm leading an accompanying musical ensemble. Friday, Jan. 18, and Saturday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. 1727 Connecticut Ave. NW. Tickets are $15. Call 202-328-1640 or visit www.latidoproductions.com.

THE BALTIMORE WALTZ

Pulitzer Prize-winning lesbian playwright Paula Vogel’s wry fantastical farce about a brother and sister on a European odyssey gets the Keegan treatment in a production directed by the company’s Artistic Director Susan Marie Rhea.

When it premiered in 1992, the New York Times called the show “a crazy-quilt patchwork of hyperventilating language, erotic jokes, movie kitsch that spins before the audience in Viennese waltz time, replete with a dizzying fall.” With Michael Innocenti, Brianna Letourneau, and Ray Ficca. Previews start Saturday, Jan. 19. Opens Tuesday, Jan. 22. To Feb. 9. 1742 Church St. NW. Call 202-265-3767 or visit www.keegantheatre.com.

TWELVE ANGRY MEN

Tensions run high as a lone juror argues the innocence of a teenager accused of murder in Reginald Rose’s sizzling drama. The play ignites a conversation about how prejudice obstructs the quest for justice. Sheldon Epps directs Erik King, Christopher Bloch, Michael Russotto, Craig Wallace, Elan Zafir, and Paz López. Previews start Friday, Jan. 18. To Feb. 17. 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $17 to $64; those ages 35 and under can use code UNDER3519 for discounted tickets to select weeknight performances. Call 800-982-2787 or visit www.fords.org.

Saturday, Jan. 26, at 8 p.m, and Sunday, Jan. 27, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $25 to $95. Call 877-276-1444 or visit www.bsomusic.org.

FREDDE LIEBERMAN.

DUPONT BRASS

THE HOME + REMODELING SHOW

TV designers John Gidding of TLC’s Trading Spaces and Tyler Wisler of HGTV’s Design Star headline this weekend’s home show at the Dulles Expo Center, where more than 300 corporate vendors will showcase the latest products and services in remodeling, renovation, décor, and redesign. Gidding leads three hour-long “Incorporating Art and Design” discussions (Friday, Jan. 18, at 4 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 19, at noon and 3 p.m.), while Wisler focuses on “10 Design Tips & The Do’s & Don’ts of Design” in four hour-long sessions (Friday, Jan. 18, at 6 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 19, at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 20, at noon). In addition to Gidding and Wisler, the Main Stage offers a full schedule of local experts offering advice on specific topics including “Luxury Design on a Budget” with Daniels Design & Remodeling, “Scandinavian Design” led by Jonas Carnemark, and “Don’t Get Burned! Overcoming The Obstacles” by Kayla Shoff and Rachel Mignogna of Foster Remodeling. Additionally, there are Designer Rooms created by area interior designers and a Make-It, Take-It DIY Station sponsored by the Falls Church-based crafts store Stylish Patina. Show hours are Friday, Jan. 18, and Saturday, Jan. 19, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 20, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Dulles Expo Center, 4320 Chantilly Shopping Center, Virginia. Tickets are $9 to $12 per day.

Call 703-378-0910 or visit capitalhomeshow.com.

MUSIC AUDRA MCDONALD AND BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL IN LET FREEDOM RING!

“I would hope that we could look back on this period and go ‘Wow, that was a time where we all had lessons to learn and learned them, and were forever changed in the right way from what happened,’” Audra McDonald told Metro Weekly last year. The longtime LGBTQ champion, who is also the most-awarded stage actress in Tony history, returns to the Kennedy Center next weekend along with fellow Broadway superstar Brian Stokes Mitchell to lead this year’s free musical celebration honoring Martin Luther King, Jr’s legacy.

Also on the bill is the Let Freedom Ring Choir with music director Rev. Nolan Williams Jr. Monday, Jan. 21, at 6 p.m. Kennedy Center

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Concert Hall. Free tickets will be given away two per person on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 4:30 p.m. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

BOBBY SANABRIA AND THE MULTIVERSE BIG BAND

West Side Story Reimagined, a 2019 Grammy nominee for Best Latin Jazz Album, is a lively, all-new instrumental orchestration of the Leonard Bernstein classic musical based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that is, according to NPR Alt Latino’s Felix Contreras, “what the music for West Side Story should have sounded like, sparkling with the music of El Barrio.” The electrifying percussionist and educator Sanabria will bring the music to life at the Kennedy Center in a performance with his Latin jazz band as part of organization’s The Human Journey collaboration

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with National Geographic and the National Gallery of Art. Friday, Jan. 18, at 7 and 9 p.m. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $35 to $40. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

BSO SUPERPOPS: RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN

Jack Everly leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in a performance of some of the biggest hits from Broadway’s most successful musical-making duo featuring Broadway vocalists Ben Crawford, Ted Keegan, and Ashley Brown further supported by the Baltimore Choral Arts. Expect showtune classics and American Songbook standards from The King and I, South Pacific, The Sound of Music, and Oklahoma! Thursday, Jan. 24, at 8 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Also Friday, Jan. 25, and

On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day comes a concert from the current Ensemble-in-Residence of the Mars Urban Arts Initiative, a creative platform for local artists presented by Washington Performing Arts and supported by the Mars candy empire. DuPont Brass, originally formed by Howard University music majors who busked at local Metro stations and now an eight-piece ensemble consisting of brass, a rhythm section and vocalists, will perform selections from the prolific soulful brass group’s two albums released last year: Eclectic Soul and Halftime, the latter ending with “Enjoy Yourself,” a life-affirming anthem calling on everyone “gay or straight” to “enjoy your life” and “protect your joy.” A co-presentation with the Kennedy Center via its Millennium Stage programming. Sunday, Jan. 20, at 6 p.m. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

KEVIN JANG WITH HUI-CHUAN CHEN

A former Strathmore Artist In Residence and current faculty member of the Washington Conservatory of Music offers a recital accompanied by fellow faculty member Chen, a native of Taiwan. The program, part of an informal one-hour classical concert series to end the work week, features works for violin and piano

by Sarasate, Chopin, Kreisler, and Dvořák. Friday, Jan. 18, at 7 p.m.

Westmoreland Congregational Church, 1 Westmoreland Circle, Bethesda. Tickets are free, donations welcome. Call 301-320-2770 or visit www.washingtonconservatory.org.

THE INSERIES: FROM U STREET TO THE COTTON CLUB

KenYatta Rogers returns to direct this toe-tapping hit first presented in 2009. The cabaret production features music by Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, and more from 1920s and ’30s jazz-age America, performed amidst tales of African Americans from the era woven together by playwright Sybil Williams. And two hours before every show, the In Series has partnered with local historian Timothy Wright for a guided walking tour into the music, mural art, and life along U Street, once known as D.C.’s Black Broadway, that ends with a discounted dinner at Ben’s Chili Bowl. Runs to Jan. 20. Source, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets $20 to $45, or $15 for the pre-show walking tour. Call 202-204-7763 or visit www.inseries.org.

Led by the company’s co-founder and artistic director Assane Konte, the concert features the senior and junior companies of KanKouran as well as the children’s company and the community class. Saturday, Jan. 19, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 20, at 4 p.m. Dance Place, 3225 8th St. NE. Tickets are $25 in advance, or $30 at the door. Call 202-269-1600 or visit www.danceplace.org.

PAUL GILLIS

MATTHEW BOURNE’S NEW ADVENTURES: CINDERELLA

JANE FRANKLIN DANCE: MOUSE IN HOUSE

A gust of wind blows one of reclusive 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson’s poems in the way of a mouse in this dance-theater piece adapted from Elizabeth Spires’ book The Mouse of Amherst. Moved by Dickinson’s evocative words, the mouse is determined to become a poet herself. Set to the music of Mark Sylvester and Paul Musso, with animation by media artist Bryan Leister developed from images of Dickinson’s actual home furnishings, Mouse in House is a family-friendly performance for the young and young-at-heart and features company dancers Emily Crews, Andie deVaulx, Amy Scaringe, and Kelsey Rohr. A brief performance by students from CMI Kidz opens the show on Saturday, Jan. 19, with students from Perfect Pointe Dance Studio following suit on Saturday, Jan. 26, and those from Melina’s Dancing Garden doing the same on Saturday, Feb. 2. All shows at 4 p.m. Theatre on the Run, 3700 South Four Mile Run Dr. Arlington. Tickets are $10 to $15. Call 703-933-1111 or visit www.janefranklin.com.

UNNAUGURAL CONCERT: CHERYL WHEELER, CATIE CURTIS

On the eve of this year’s Women’s March on Washington comes the third annual anti-Trump UnNaugural concert featuring five artists performing and raising money for five local advocacy nonprofits in an event headlined “Playing It Forward, Voices for Social Justice.” In addition to the veteran queer folk artists Wheeler and Curtis, this year’s lineup includes performances from John Flynn, Elena & Los Fulanos, and Tom Prasada-Rao. The beneficiaries are the Montgomery Housing Partnership, the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse, Interfaith Works, Trash-Free Maryland, and UMttr. Friday, Jan. 18, at 7:30 p.m.

Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center, 7995 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. Tickets are $75, or $250 for VIP granting premier seats, reserved parking, and post-show

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reception with the performers.

Call 301-362-6525 or visit www.

UnNaugural.org.

WE ARE THE 9

Folk-rock singer-songwriter Justin Trawick formed the 9 Songwriters Series a dozen years ago partly as a way to help book more shows and perform at more venues, but also to foster greater collaboration among fellow local musicians. The collaborative’s next showcase features Trawick, Shannon Bielski Music, Casey Cavanagh, Bellwether Bayou, Kristie Di Lascio of Loi Loi, Annie Stokes, Schreiner, Ginny Hill Project, and Grover. All nine acts will sing songs, tell stories, and collaborate on tunes they only heard minutes before. Thursday, Jan. 24, at 8:30 p.m. Hill Country, 410 7th St. NW. Tickets are $12 in advance, or $15 at the door. Call 202-556-2050 or visit www.hillcountry.com/dc.

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DANCE IDEA: AN EVENING OF INDIAN DANCE

Wolf Trap presents a dazzling showcase by the Arlingtonbased Indian Dance Educators Association promoting classical and folk dance styles. Expect vibrant costumes, lively music, and elaborate movement featuring professional dancers both local and from India. Saturday, Jan. 19, at 8 p.m.

The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $25 to $27. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit www.wolftrap.org.

KANKOURAN WEST AFRICAN DANCE COMPANY

Kankouran celebrates 35 years with its annual presentation celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, and showcasing the influences that African dance and culture has had on contemporary dance styles.

The acclaimed British choreographer Matthew Bourne and his iconic and groundbreaking dance-theater company returns to the Kennedy Center with his thrilling new twist on the classic fairy tale, set amidst the horrors of the 1940 London Blitz during World War II. Cinderella features striking designs and costumes by Lez Brotherston, lighting by Olivier Award-winner Neil Austin, video and projection work by Duncan McLean, and Prokofiev’s score captured via a specially commissioned, surround sound recording by Paul Groothuis. Runs to Jan. 20. Opera House. Tickets are $29 to $129. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

MOMIX: OPUS CACTUS

One of the most innovative and imaginative modern dance companies returns to the George Mason Center for the Arts to perform another work melding dance and illusion along with spellbinding music and elaborate costumes. Opus Cactus offers a wildly inventive stage excursion to the American Southwest landscape, abounding with towering cacti and slithering lizards as brought to surreal and wondrous life by the minds and bodies of the MOMIX team. Friday, Jan. 25, at 8 p.m. George Mason University Center for the Arts, 4373 Mason Pond Drive, Fairfax. Tickets are $30 to $50. Call 888-945-2468 or visit www.cfa.gmu.edu.

STEP AFRIKA! 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., Strathmore presents an annual showcase of the professional dance troupe focused on stepping, the high-energy, percussive style of dance that originated with African-American fraternities and sororities. The program, including a retrospective of works as well as highlighting the company’s deep connections to South Africa, comes in honor of silver anniversaries of both Step Afrika! as well as the historic election of the late South African President Nelson Mandela.

The Dem Raider Boyz step squad out of Greenbelt, Md., will also be featured. Sunday, Jan. 20, at 5 p.m.

Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda.

Tickets are $35 to $75. Call 301-5815100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

ART & EXHIBITS

PHOTO COURTESY OF WOLF TRAP

DANNI O’BRIEN: PLAY DATE

LINDA EDER

She first came to fame as a 12-week winner on the 1987 season of TV’s Star Search, and went on to star in the original Broadway production of Jekyll & Hyde. Since then, Linda Eder has made singing pop standards and showtunes in a cabaret-style setting her thing.

In 2005, teamed up with the London Symphony Orchestra to release the audacious and magnificent tribute to her childhood idol and fellow Minnesotan, By Myself: The Songs of Judy Garland. Eder has become one of the most gifted song interpreters and cabaret artists around, so much so that a Chicago Tribune reviewer has remarked, “Who needs a Broadway show when you’ve got Linda Eder?” Friday, Jan. 25, at 8 p.m. The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $50 to $55. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit www.wolftrap.org.

READINGS ANN HULBERT W/LIZA MUNDY: OFF THE CHARTS

Off The Charts: The Hidden Lives and Lessons of American Child Prodigies explores ideas about how best to nurture untapped human potential, as written by the literary editor of The Atlantic whose previous books also mined the issue of child development. Hulbert will be in conversation with former Washington Post reporter Liza Mundy, author of The Richer Sex: How The New Majority of Female Breadwinners is Transforming Sex, Love and Family.

Thursday, Jan. 24, at 6:30 p.m.

Kramerbooks, 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-387-1400 or visit www.kramers.com.

ROBERT REICH: JUST GIVING

President Clinton’s first Secretary of Labor who is now a Stanford University professor of political science offers a critique of Big Philanthropy in Just Giving: Why Philanthropy Is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better. Under the current tax code, Reich argues that the affluent and their foundations are able to use private assets to influence public policy, an act of

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power that’s largely unaccountable and a threat to the public interest by virtue of some resources being channeled into pet projects and away from democratically agreed goals. Reich will discuss his proposals for how to fix charitable giving in a discussion with the New Yorker chief Washington correspondent Jane Mayer, author of the Koch brothers’ exposé Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires behind the Rise of the Radical Right.

Tuesday, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. Politics and Prose at the Wharf, 70 District Square SW. Call 202-488-3867 or visit www.politics-prose.com.

SORAYA CHEMALY: RAGE BECOMES HER

Kramerbooks offers an inspiring reading for activists on the eve of this year’s Women’s March. The focus is a new book that heralds the value of personal anger and also rails against the societal and cultural belittlement of the emotion, revealing it as a cunning way of limiting and controlling one’s own power. In Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, Chemaly, the director of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, argues that anger, when “approached with con-

JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

scious intention...is a vital instrument, a radar for injustice and a catalyst for change.” Friday, Jan. 18, at 6:30 p.m. 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-387-1400 or visit www.kramers.com.

STORY DISTRICT: TOP SHELF 2018

An annual best-of showcase featuring some of the best tales told over the past year at the storytelling organization’s many events around town. Unlike other storytelling organizations, Story District is focused on congenial camaraderie rather than competition — no judged “Story Slams” here. Now in its 10th year at the Lincoln Theatre, Top Shelf is a curated group of eight storytellers, partially winnowed down by a panel of independent judges, all active members of the storytelling community, this year overseen by Derek Hills. The lineup this year features: Katy Barrett, Twain Dooley, Morgan Givens, Joani Peacock, Cody Pomeranz, Rohini Rao, John Tong, and Diana Veiga. Saturday, Jan. 19. Doors at 6:30 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. Tickets are $35 to $45. Call 202-328-6000 or visit www.thelincolndc.com.

An immersive set of candy-colored, fuzztastic objects echo forms of both playground equipment and the artist’s memory of her own awkward, pubescent body in this exploration of childhood landscapes through camp, craft, and humor. The nostalgic, kitschy, and laborious process of latch hook-rug making is used as a means to grapple with notions of femininity, domesticity, and craft, as well as for its titillating and tactile physical qualities. Identified as a queer womyn maker and art educator based in Baltimore, O’Brien’s work marries construction and woodworking skills with traditional feminized and domesticated systems, such as rug making, creating dually hard and soft objects. In Play Date, O’Brien sourced vintage wool on eBay and cheap plastic rope from the Dollar Store to create the fibrous segments of a peculiar framework with off-kilter color schemes and animated textural shifts. On display to Jan. 27. IA&A at Hillyer, 9 Hillyer Court NW. Call 202-338-0325 or visit www.athillyer.org.

LONG VIEW GALLERY: NEW YEAR/NEW ARTISTS

New works by Francie Hester, Greg Minah, Frank Campion, and Stefan Breukers are featured as part of the first show of 2019 at the small, private LGBTQ-run gallery. Long View has long been a leading fixture in its trendy part of Shaw as well as a prime example of how art and art-centric spaces can help revitalize and shape neighborhoods.

Opening Reception is Thursday, Jan. 17, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. On display to Feb. 25. 1234 9th St. NW. Call 202-232-4788 or visit www. longviewgallery.com.

ABOVE & BEYOND PRETTY BOI DRAG: 3RD ANNIVERSARY PARTY

Former DC King Pretty Rik E has managed to help keep alive the art of drag kings in D.C. with this regular series of shows, over brunch or during nighttime parties, featuring nearly two dozen local performers.

For the next event, a Sunday afternoon anniversary party, patrons can win tickets to future shows as well as new “Pretty Boi Swag” including limited-edition anniversary t-shirts available in gold and silver foil print and Pretty Boi Drag shot glasses that grant purchasers’ a special discount on shots at the bar. Sunday, Jan. 20, from 2 to 5 p.m. Bier Baron Tavern, 1523 22nd St. NW. Tickets are $20 in advance, or $25 at the door, or $40 for an anniversary package with ticket, t-shirt, and a shot glass. Call 202-293-1887 or visit www.prettyboidrag.com. l

theFeed

UNPRESIDENTIAL

R

Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard apologizes for long history of anti-gay statements and actions. By Rhuaridh Marr

EP. TULSI GABBARD, A HAWAII DEMOCRAT who announced last week that she will run for president in 2020, has apologized for a long history of anti-LGBTQ statements and actions. Gabbard told CNN’s Van Jones last week that she would seek the Democratic nomination, but almost immediately following her announcement, activists began sharing her history with anti-gay advocacy work.

Particularly during the 1990s and 2000s, Gabbard’s political history is littered with anti-LGBTQ red flags.

While seeking the Hawaii state legislature in 2002, Gabbard told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin that working with her father, State Sen. Mike Gabbard, to pass a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, taught her “that real leaders are willing to make personal sacrifices for the common good.”

Mike Gabbard ran the Alliance for Traditional Marriage (ATM), a political action committee that worked to oppose pro-gay legislation and lawmakers, and helped pass the state’s 1998 constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

The organization labeled homosexuality an “unhealthy, abnormal behavior that should not be promoted or accepted in society,” according to CNN. In addition, ATM reportedly supported conversion therapy, a practice banned by Hawaii last year.

Gabbard herself wrote a 2000 press release for ATM which took aim at the LGBTQ activists who opposed her mother Carol’s attempts to win a seat on the state board of education, saying a “war of deception and hatred” was being waged against her mother “by homosexual activists because they know, that if elected, she will not allow them to force their values down the throats of the children in our schools.”

In 2004, while a state Representative, she opposed civil unions, taking aim at “homosexual extremists.”

“To try to act as if there is a difference between ‘civil unions’ and same-sex marriage is dishonest, cowardly and extremely disrespectful to the people of Hawaii,” Gabbard said. “As Democrats we should be representing the views of the people, not a small number of homosexual extremists.”

But in 2012, while running for Congress, Gabbard did an about-turn and apologized for her past comments.

Arguing that her military career in Hawaii’s National Guard had led to an evolution on her views, she apologized for “statements that I have made in the past that have been very divisive and even disrespectful to those within the LGBT community. I know that those comments have been hurtful and I sincerely offer my apology to you and hope that you will accept it.”

Gabbard has since supported pro-LGBTQ legislation in Congress, including co-sponsoring the Equality Act, and also switched to supporting same-sex marriage and the end of the Defense of Marriage Act. In 2013, she joined Hawaii’s congressional delegation in supporting marriage equality in Hawaii, saying she disagreed “with a two-tiered, discriminatory government policy of ‘marriage’ and ‘civil unions.'”

And Gabbard has apologized once more this week for her past words and actions in a statement to CNN. “First, let me say I regret the positions I took in the past, and the things I said,” she said. “I’m grateful for those in the LGBTQ+ community who have shared their aloha with me throughout my personal journey. Over the past six years in Congress, I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to help work toward passing legislation that ensures equal rights and protections on LGBTQ+ issues, such as the Equality Act, the repeal of DOMA, Restore Honor to Service members Act, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Safe Schools Improvement Act and the Equality for All Resolution. Much work remains to ensure equality and civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ Americans and if elected President, I will continue to fight for equal rights for all.”

The apology seems to have done little to convince those who can’t forget her record, including Hawaiian Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono, who refused to endorse Gabbard in an interview with MSNBC. “I wish everyone well,” Hirono said. “But for myself and these times...I want someone who is very much has been on the page in terms of supporting equal opportunity, choice, all of the kinds issues that I have been fighting for for decades.” l

EMBARRASSING AMBASSADOR M

Trump’s gay German ambassador is a “vain, narcissistic person” according to German, American officials. By Rhuaridh Marr

UCH HAS BEEN MADE OF RICHARD GRENELL, the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. The gay 52-yearold, confirmed to his post last year, is often touted by gay conservatives as proof of Trump’s support for LGBTQ people, despite a myriad of policy moves that show the opposite.

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JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

“Ric Grenell’s confirmation is historic,” Gregory T. Angelo, then-president of Log Cabin Republicans, said after the confirmation, adding that he was “the highest ranking openly gay official ever in a Republican administration.”

Angelo also said that Grennell’s foreign policy credentials “cannot be questioned,” adding, “he is so much more than

theFeed the Fox News commentator that obstructionist Democrats have tried to paint him as in recent months.”

Unfortunately, after eight months in his post, a very different picture of Grenell’s term as ambassador has been painted by German newspaper, Der Spiegel.

After Grenell repeatedly rebuffed the paper’s requests for an interview — including alleging the paper was biased against America and repeatedly printed incorrect reports — Der Spiegel instead interviewed more than 30 American and German “diplomats, cabinet members, lawmakers, high-ranking officials, lobbyists and think tank experts.”

The resulting image of Grenell across the pond? Not favorable, it would seem, and with more than one comparison to the man who appointed him to the post.

As Der Spiegel writes: “Almost all of these sources paint an unflattering portrait of the ambassador, one remarkably similar to Donald Trump, the man who sent him to Berlin. A majority of them describe Grenell as a vain, narcissistic person who dishes out aggressively, but can barely handle criticism. His brash demeanor, some claim, hides a deep insecurity, and they say he thirsts for the approval of others.

After one of his appearances, we were told, he asked almost shyly how he had done.

“They also say Grenell knows little about Germany and Europe, that he ignores most of the dossiers his colleagues at the embassy write for him, and that his knowledge of the subject matter is superficial. ‘Ric only scratches the surface,’ said one person who regularly interacts with him.”

Among the various pieces of information offered by Der Spiegel’s sources, a few stand out, including that Grenell is “politically isolated” in Berlin due to his Fox News appearances and frequent tweeting.

Grenell pushes Trump’s talking points, which don’t go down well in the German capital — including Trump labeling the European Union a “foe,” and Der Spiegel says that the E.U. is interpreted as meaning Germany specifically in Berlin’s political halls.

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JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Grenell has also publicly criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s immigration policies, something Der Spiegel notes contravenes Article 41 of the Vienna Convention, which states that diplomats “have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs” of their host nation.

In a curious twist, despite both Merkel and some German lawmakers being unwilling to meet with Grenell or host him in their constituencies, the ambassador is reportedly liked by some in the anti-immigration far-right populist party Alternative for Germany — which, in addition to being labeled xenophobic, anti-Semitic, and Islamophobic, also opposes samesex marriage and same-sex adoption.

And Grenell’s association with right-wing parties and personalities in Berlin has apparently not gone down well with officials, including attending an annual dinner hosted by Achse des Guten (Axis of Good) that is frequented by “Islamophobes, Merkel-haters and EU-skeptics.”

Der Spiegel’s report on Grenell is a far cry from the pro-LGBTQ foreign policy whizz touted by Log Cabin Republicans at the time of his confirmation.

“Ric lives and breathes foreign policy,” Gregory T. Angelo said at the time, “and having him not only represent our interests in Europe, but in a European nation that only recently approved same-sex marriage, I think puts him in a uniquely strong position to be an advocate, both for supporters of LGBTQ equality in Germany and supporters of religious liberty. [He can] build a bridge not only between the United States and Germany, but the cultural divide between those issues that have long polarized politics on both sides of the Atlantic.”

Instead, “the spotlight on Grenell seems to have grown dimmer,” Der Spiegel writes. “The powerful avoid him.

Doors have been shut. Few politicians to the left of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AFD) and the populist-conservative Christian Social Union (CSU)...want to be seen with him.” l

Community THURSDAY, JAN. 17 The AGLA BOOK CLUB meets at Crystal Thai Restaurant to discuss Wilde in America by David Friedman. Everyone welcome. Dinner optional. 7:30 p.m. 4819 1st St. N., Arlington, Va. Please RSVP in advance by emailing info@agla.org.

The DC Center holds a meeting of its POLY DISCUSSION GROUP, for people interested in polyamory, non-monogamy or other nontraditional relationships. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. Visit thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events AIDS HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION offers free walk-

in HIV testing by appointment from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-5 p.m. at its Blair Underwood Wellness Center, 2141 K St. NW, and its AHF Healthcare Center, 4302 St. Barnabas Rd., Suite B, Temple Hills, Md., and from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at its Benning Road location, 1647 Benning Rd. NE, Suite 300. For more information, visit hivcare.org.

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 andromedatransculturalhealth.org.

DC AQUATICS CLUB practice

session at Takoma Aquatic Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van Buren St. NW. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS run-

ning/walking/social club welcomes runners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterward. Route distance is 3-6 miles. Meet at 7 p.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW. For more information, visit dcfrontrunners.org.

DC LAMBDA SQUARES, D.C.’s gay and lesbian square-dancing group, features mainstream through advanced square dancing at the National City Christian Church. Please dress casually. 7-9:30 p.m. 5 Thomas Circle NW. 202-930-1058, dclambdasquares.org.

DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds practice. The team is always looking for new members.

All welcome. 7-9 p.m. Harry Thomas Recreation Center,

SUNDAY, JAN. 20 1743 Lincoln Rd. NE. For more information, visit scandalsrfc. org or dcscandals@gmail.com.

THE DULLES TRIANGLES

Northern Virginia social group meets for happy hour at Sheraton in Reston. All welcome. 7-9 p.m. 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, second-floor bar.

For more information, visit dullestriangles.com.

HIV TESTING at Whitman-

Walker Health. 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:30-5 p.m. at 1525 14th St. NW, and 9 a.m-12 p.m. and 2-5 p.m. at the Max Robinson Center, 2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE. For an appointment, call 202-745-7000 or visit 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 703-823-4401.

METROHEALTH CENTER

offers free, rapid HIV testing.

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

STI TESTING at Whitman-

Walker Health. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2-3 p.m. at both 1525 14th St. NW and the Max Robinson Center, 2301 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE. Testing is intended for those without symptoms. For an appointment call 202-745-7000 or visit whitman-walker.org.

US HELPING US hosts a

Narcotics Anonymous Meeting.

The group is independent of UHU. 6:30-7:30 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. For more information, call 202-446-1100.

FRIDAY, JAN. 18 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. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit gaydistrict.org.

Weekly Events 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 betmish.org.

PROJECT STRIPES hosts

LGBT-affirming social group for ages 11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road NW. Contact Tamara, 202-319-0422, laycdc.org.

SMYAL’S REC NIGHT provides a social atmosphere for LGBT and questioning youth, featuring dance parties, vogue nights, movies and games. 4-7 p.m. For more info, email rebecca.york@ smyal.org.

SATURDAY, JAN. 19 KHUSH DC, a support group

for LGBTQ South Asians, hosts a monthly meeting at The DC Center. 1:30-3:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit facebook.com/khushdc.

The DC Center hosts a monthly

LGBT ASYLEES SUPPORT MEETING AND DINNER for

LGBT refugees and asylum seekers. 5-7 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

The DC Center hosts a meeting of its LGBTQ PEOPLE OF COLOR SUPPORT GROUP, facilitated by Dakia Davis. 1-3 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

practice session at Montgomery College Aquatics Club. 8:3010 a.m. 7600 Takoma Ave., Takoma, Md. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS run-

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

DIGNITYUSA sponsors Mass

for LGBT community, family and friends. 6:30 p.m., Immanuel Episcopal Church on the Hill, 3606 Seminary Road, Alexandria. All welcome. For more information, visit dignitynova.org.

ADVENTURING outdoors group and CHRYSALIS arts & culture group co-sponsor a guided walking tour of the southern section of Gettysburg Battlefield (still open despite the shutdown). Walk will not be more than 6 miles long, over rolling and muddy and/or icy terrain. Bring beverages, lunch, winter-worthy boots, about $12 for fees, and money for dinner on the way home. Carpool at 9:30 a.m. from the GrosvenorStrathmore Metro Station.

Contact Craig, 202-462-0535, or visit adventuring.org.

Weekly Events LGBT-inclusive ALL SOULS

MEMORIAL EPISCOPAL CHURCH celebrates Low Mass

at 8:30 a.m., High Mass at 11 a.m. 2300 Cathedral Ave. NW. 202-232-4244, allsoulsdc.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 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 afterward. Route will be a distance run of 8, 10 or 12 miles.

Meet at 9 a.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW. For more information, visit 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. 703-671-8557.

For more info, visit fairlingtonumc.org.

FRIENDS MEETING OF WASHINGTON meets for wor-

ship, 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. quakersdc.org.

HSV-2 SOCIAL AND SUPPORT GROUP for gay men living in

the DC metro area. This group will be meeting once a month.

For information on location and time, visit H2gether.com.

JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT, God-centered

new age church & learning center.

Sunday Services and Workshops event. 5419 Sherier Place NW. isddc.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. 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. 202-638-7373, mccdc.com.

RIVERSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH,

a Christ-centered, interracial, welcoming-and-affirming church, offers service at 10 a.m. 680 I St. SW. 202-554-4330, 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. uucava.org.

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. 202-387-3411, universalist.org.

MONDAY, JAN. 21 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY ADVENTURING outdoors group

takes a very strenuous 8.5-mile circuit hike with 3400 feet of elevation gain to view the highest waterfall in Shenandoah National Park.

Bring beverages, lunch, sturdy boots, layered clothing, about $20 for fees, and money for dinner on the way home. Carpool at 8:30 a.m. from the East Falls Church Metro Kiss & Ride lot. For more information, contact Harris, 443-415-7856, or visit adventuring.org.

The Metro D.C. chapter of PFLAG, a support group for parents, family members and allies of the LGBTQ community, holds its monthly meeting at The DC Center. 7-9 p.m.

2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

TEN PIN PRIDE, a social bowling

league of 4-person teams, meets on Monday evenings. Singles and teams welcome. 8-10 p.m. Bowl America Falls Church, 140 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church, Va. To register or for more information, email tpp. secretary@gmail.com.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a

practice session at Dunbar Aquatic Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 101 N St. NW. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

NOVASALUD offers free HIV testing. 5-7 p.m. 2049 N. 15th St., Suite 200, Arlington. Appointments: 703789-4467.

STD TESTING is available at AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Benning Road location, 1647 Benning Rd. NE, from 2-6 p.m. on Mondays. For more information, visit aidshealth.org.

STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker

Health. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at both 1525 14th St. NW and the Max Robinson Center, 2301 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE. Testing is intended for those without symptoms. For an appointment call 202-745-7000 or visit whitman-walker.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 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.

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 wetskins.org.

WHITMAN-WALKER HEALTH HIV/AIDS SUPPORT GROUP

for newly diagnosed individuals, meets 7 p.m. Registration required.

202-939-7671, hivsupport@whitman-walker.org.

TUESDAY, JAN. 22 GENDERQUEER DC, a support and

discussion group for people who identify outside the gender binary, meets at The DC Center on the fourth Tuesday of every month.

7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Weekly Events DC AQUATICS CLUB practice

session at Takoma Aquatic Center.

7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van Buren St. NW. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

DC FRONT RUNNERS running/

walking/social club welcomes run-

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JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

ners of all ability levels for exercise in a fun and supportive environment, with socializing afterward. Route distance is 3-6 miles. Meet at 7 p.m. at Union Station. For more information, visit dcfrontrunners.org.

DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds practice. The team is always looking for new members. All welcome.

7-9 p.m. Harry Thomas Recreation Center, 1743 Lincoln Rd. NE. For more information, visit scandalsrfc. org or dcscandals@gmail.com.

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. james.leslie@inova.org.

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.

STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker

Health. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at both 1525 14th St. NW and the Max Robinson Center, 2301 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE. Testing is intended for those without symptoms. For an appointment call 202-745-7000 or visit whitman-walker.org.

Support group for LGBTQ youth ages 13-21 meets at SMYAL. 5-6:30 p.m. 410 7th St. SE. For more information, contact Rebecca York, 202-567-3165, or rebecca.york@ smyal.org.

US HELPING US hosts a support

group for black gay men 40 and older. 7-9 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. 202-446-1100.

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

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

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 23 The CENTER HEALTH WORKING GROUP, a volunteer-driven advocacy initiative, meets at The DC Center to discuss health and wellness issues affecting the LGBTQ community. 6:30-8 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

The LAMBDA BRIDGE CLUB meets at the Dignity Center, across from the Marine Barracks, for Duplicate Bridge. No reservations needed.

Newcomers welcome. 7:30 p.m. 721 8th St. SE. Call 202-841-0279 if you need a partner.

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.

DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC)

holds a practice session at Dunbar Aquatic Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 101 N St. NW. For more information, visit swimdcac.org.

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 thedccenter.org.

HISTORIC CHRIST CHURCH

offers Wednesday worship 7:15 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. All welcome. 118 N. Washington St., Alexandria. 703549-1450, historicchristchurch.org.

JOB CLUB, a weekly support program for job entrants and seekers, meets at The DC Center. 6-7:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.

For more info, centercareers.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 703-823-4401.

STD TESTING is available at AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Temple Hills location, 4302 St. Barnabas Rd., Suite B, from 4-7 p.m. on Wednesdays. For more information, visit aidshealth.org.

STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker

Health. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at both 1525 14th St. NW and the Max Robinson Center, 2301 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE. Testing is intended for those without symptoms. For an appointment call 202-745-7000 or visit whitman-walker.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 wetskins.org. l

JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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THE MEN OF

ONYX JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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ONYX Mid-Atlantic offers a safe space and ready-made support system for men of color within the leather and kink scene.

Photographed by Todd Franson at The Green Lantern on Saturday, January 12.

I

THINK STRAIGHT PEOPLE ASSUME that most gay people are a lot kinkier than they actually are because of the leather, kink, and fetish community,” says Dominion ONYX. “They assume everybody has a harness or knows about different fetishes and stuff, when most people are very vanilla in their lives.”

As the pledge master and one of the original co-founders of ONYX Mid-Atlantic, a D.C.-based leather fraternity for GBT men of color, Dominion is determined to better educate people and dispel negative myths or stereotypes. “The leather/kink/fetish community, and ONYX in particular, is sex-positive, but it’s not all about sex,” he says. “Frankly, most of us aren’t having sex with one another within our brotherhood.”

Founded in Chicago in 1995, ONYX was formed to provide a space for a segment of the population that did not necessarily see itself reflected or embraced in traditional leather clubs. “The founders weren’t finding opportunities to get the mentorship that they wanted,” says Dominion. “They started with that sort of kernel that there needed to be a place where we could go and feel free to explore this community, and learn about it without that eye on us.”

As word spread about ONYX, and its members began establishing a regular presence at leather-themed events such as Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend, the organization expanded, with chapters opening up in New York, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, and other cities across the country.

“What happens is that people come to events like MAL and see the brotherhood we have,” Dominion says. “They see that when we are together there is an ease and a comfort that goes beyond ‘Hey, we’re all into whips and chains,’ or whatever.

They want to take that sense of brotherhood back and replicate it wherever they live.”

For Dominion, coming out was a slow process. While he realized at 13 he was attracted to men after flipping through mail-order pornography catalogs, he had few resources to consult about his feelings.

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Text by John Riley

“This was 1984,” he says. “There was no internet and we had had sex ed class, but there certainly was no talk of homosexuality. I grew up in Clinton, Maryland, and they instituted a restriction on the number of books you could take out from the Clinton Public Library, because I used to take out too many books. I would take out like 30 and 40 books at a time. I read everything I could on homosexuality and a lot of the readings said that it was a phase that teenage boys go through. I spent the years between 16 and 26 hoping that it was a phase, that it would go away.

“Then, on my 26th birthday, I woke up and the first thought that went through my head was, ‘This can't be a phase. Phases don't last for 13 years,’ and I cried. Because I was hoping this was a phase, and then I was going to find a wife, get married, have 2.3 kids, have the white picket fence...this whole life. So I came out to myself on my 26th birthday, and over the course of the next four years I had a lot of fun. I caught up.”

Dominion eventually came out to his family at 30, which was around the same time he began getting involved in the leather community, establishing a new identity that was separate from his professional identity — which he uses only 20 percent of the time in certain formal situations.

“I told Mufasa, who is one of our most well-known founders, ‘I need to have a name so that I can separate myself from Brian,’” he says. “I'm at the point now where I'm not worried about any of that. But at the time I was, and I wanted a full hard separation, with a different Facebook profile and everything, between Brian and something else. We came up with some names, and that’s how we settled on Dominion.”

Dominion and his fellow fraternity brothers from ONYX Mid-Atlantic are guaranteed to be present — and busy — at the upcoming Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend celebration, where they will be hosting both a meet-and-greet happy hour and their annual leather gear show and auction.

“We take gear that is donated, either from the brothers, if they have pieces they have grown out of or want to give away, or from vendors who we solicit merchandise from,” says Dominion.

“We dress the models up in the gear and...one by one, we auction off each piece that they’re wearing until they’re left only in their jock. Then, we auction the jock off. All organizations have club colors, so we have a shield in club colors that covers the bits. But

if you know where to stand you can see what it is that you want to see.”

This year’s proceeds from the auction will go to Youth Empowered Society, a Baltimore-based organization that supports homeless youth. Admission to the event, held on Saturday afternoon from 2 to 6 p.m. is free, though, says Dominion, “there will be some pledges at the door asking for donations.”

Dominion feels people pledge ONYX because they “want to learn more about the leather, kink, or fetish lifestyle. One of the things we say in the application is that this isn’t the place where you discover if you’re kinky or not, you need to come to the organization with some idea of what you're into.

“Some people join strictly because they like the camaraderie and friendship, and sense of family that we exhibit,” he continues. “Some people join because they like the political aspect of our organization. Our organization is open to anyone who identifies as a gay or bisexual man of color, and that, by definition, includes trans men. One of the things that ONYX has done is try to take a role in advocating for equality of all people, regardless of their gender identification.”

Dominion feels MAL can serve as an introduction into the leather community for the uninitiated and encourages everyone to at least come down and check out the Grand Hyatt’s lobby, which bustles throughout the weekend, or the Leather Exhibition Hall, with its multitude of vendors.

“If you were to talk to the brothers, you would find that probably 50 to 60 percent of them had their first exposure to the leather community at MAL,” he says. “And they ultimately decided to join ONYX because of the welcome that they received at similar events from the community in general, and from the brothers of ONYX in particular.”

MAL Weekend is also important to those within the leather community who may not have a regular outlet to experiment, try new fetishes or kinks, or demonstrate their pride.

“MAL is a place and time where you can be free in all ways,” Dominion says. “There are people there who will protect me and

be there for me. Generally, if you live in a smaller community, or even in a big city, but in an insular community, this type of event is the only place you can express yourself. You'll see people in tears on that Monday as MAL is ending because they’re realizing that they have to go back to their [regular] lives.” l ONYX Mid-Atlantic’s annual MAL meet-and-greet is Friday, Jan. 18, at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave. NW. The annual gear show and fundraiser is on Saturday, Jan. 19 from 2-6 p.m. in Congressional Ballroom A & B inside the Hyatt.

For a complete schedule of MAL events, see page 46. For more information on ONYX Mid-Atlantic, visit www.onyxma.com and for more info on MAL, visit www.leatherweekend.com.

Read John Riley’s full Q&A interview with Dominion ONYX at Metroweekly.com/Features.

JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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ONYX FIRE ONYX M id -Atlantic Co -Founder T itleholder : M r . M aryland L eather 2010 Brother Since 2007

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JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

E pic ONYX P resident Brother Since 2016

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ONYX Grey O wl T itleholder: M r . DC E agle 2017 Brother Since 2014 32

JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

Dominion ONYX P ledge M aster , ONYX M id -Atlantic Co -Founder Brother Since 2007 JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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Rod ONYX ONYX M id -Atlantic Co -Founder T itleholder: L eatherman of Color 2011, A merican L eatherman 2017 Brother Since 2005 34

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Roman ONYX Brother Since 2016 JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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007FF ONYX Derrick T reasurer Brother Since 2015 36

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E li Sir R a Opulence ONYX T itleholder: M r . M aryland L eather 2016, M id -Atlantic P up H andler 2018 Brother Since 2013 JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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A ries M an ONYX Brother Since 2013 38

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EXILE ONYX ONYX Northwest Co -Founder T itleholder: L eatherman of Color 2019 Brother Since 2016 JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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R amien P ierre T itleholder: M r . DC E agle 2014, I nternational M r . L eather 2014 Brother Since 2013 40

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Deviant ONYX Brother Since 2016 JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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R enai ONYX T itleholder: M r . M id Atlantic L eather 2018 Brother Since 2015 42

JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

House Party

MAL’s closing night dance pays tribute to the “Godfather of House Music,” Frankie Knuckles. By André Hereford

I

N THE WANING DAYS AND NIGHTS OF DISCO, DJ Frankie Knuckles was already spinning ’70s boogie into a brand-new sound. Manning the booth at Chicago’s soon-tobe-legendary gay nightclub Warehouse, Knuckles mixed disco grooves and underground soul with a surpassingly positive vibe that kept the club packed and moving.

Wielding a well-trained ear and inimitable style, he perfected a distinctive sound that became so associated with the Warehouse that DJs and dancefloor divas christened it “house music.”

Knuckles left the Warehouse in 1982 to start his own club, Power Plant, as house music spread around the world from Chicago to New York to London. For the next thirty years, from the Power Plant to New York’s Sound Factory and Sound Factory Bar, Knuckles continued to innovate as a hit-making record producer, Grammy-winning re-mixer, and a DJ revered worldwide by clubgoers and his colleagues.

Knuckles passed away in 2014, having duly earned the title as the “Godfather of House Music,” a moniker acknowledging not only his status as a dance music pioneer, but his generosity as a champion of other DJs, including fellow club legends Tedd Patterson and Manny Ward.

Patterson and Ward, protégés of Knuckles, will hit the decks in his honor at this year’s official Mid-Atlantic Leather weekend closing night party, “A Tribute to Frankie Knuckles,” presented by the Centaur MC and The Saint at Large. Ward and Patterson will take turns spinning the leather-clad crowd at the 9:30 Club into a house music frenzy and both men believe it will be a party to remember. “[Frankie Knuckles] was there when it first started,” says Ward. “He was one of the three who really started this whole House thing, [along with] David Morales, a very big influence on me, as well as Danny Tenaglia. I'm a big piece of all of them, but Frankie is the ultimate, because Frankie is the one who took me under his wing when we met back in the early ’90s.”

Ward’s fateful meeting with his mentor happened totally by chance, although at a fairly likely location: a record store. Recalls Ward, “It was Dance Tracks in New York City.... I was going to that record store looking for a particular record. I remember I had been to Sound Factory like two weeks before, and it was one

of the times that Junior [Vasquez] wasn’t there and I looked up and saw this huge figure in the booth, like, ‘Who's that?’ And I didn't know who it was until after the fact. And I remember hearing this one song that just blew everybody away.”

It was “The Whistle Song,” one of Knuckles’ five singles to hit #1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. And when Ward went to buy Knuckles’ record, there he was, browsing the aisle behind Ward. The store’s in-house DJ Joe Claussell introduced them, and so began a friendship that would lead Ward from hanging with Knuckles in the DJ booth at Sound Factory to interning for Knuckles and Morales at their production studio, Def Mix. “I interned throughout the [Mariah Carey] ‘Dreamlover’ session” says Ward. “I interned throughout Frankie's whole Welcome to the Real World album. Because of that I've had so many incredible experiences, and made so many friends throughout it and met all these amazing artists, and actually saw how things were created and developed. I was right there the whole time. He guided me through, taught me how to listen to a sound system in a club, sound check, you name it. He taught me everything.”

Patterson, who also befriended Knuckles in New York over their mutual love of dance music, learned most from simply observing Frankie at work.

“I learned a lot watching,” Patterson says. “I loved that he took his time playing music. His presentations were as if each record deserved to be played. He had a really special way of playing records and he didn't play a lot of things that didn't matter. He had a very cohesive mix that was all his own and his own style. That became a part of how I played as well. When you admire someone and you listen to them for a long time, you can't help but that just seeps into your DNA a little bit. Not intentionally, but just as a lesson, how to play records for people.”

Watching Knuckles work the crowd during his regular Friday-night sets at Sound Factory Bar was a lesson unto itself, says Patterson. “I would get there early and I would leave there late, so I'd watch him build that crowd from a few people dancing around having cocktails. I’d listen to him peak the room. And then I'd listen to him bring it back down and play some classics at the end. He's such a loving guy and it came through his sound.”

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“I first met Frankie Knuckles when I worked as conference manager at the National Minority AIDS Council,” says the Centaur MC’s Danny Linden. “He was one of the nicest men you'd ever want to meet. He was so approachable, so laid back, and so very, very sweet.” Linden hired Knuckles to helm NMAC’s closing night dance in Los Angeles in 1997.

The Centaur responsible for overseeing the dance, Linden says the group’s partnership with producer Steven Pevner, of New York’s The Saint At Large, celebrated for its infamous Black Party, proved indispensable in devising a perfect dance event.

“In my opinion, the dance had sort of hit a plateau, and we needed to keep it fresh,” says Linden, who estimates he’s been part of 21 of the weekend’s 25 closing night dances. “The diversity at the closing night dance goes way beyond leather now. It's leather. It's bears. It's pups. It's an adult playground.

So I reached out to Stephen Pevner, and he’s been invaluable in putting out ideas and helping us reinvent the dance, because we've never done a closing dance where we've paid tribute to a particular DJ. Yes, it is an MAL event, but it's also tied into a weekend of observation around what would have been Frankie's 64th birthday.”

Proceeds from the dance will benefit the Frankie Knuckles Foundation, whose mission, says Linden, pertains to “things that were near and dear to Frankie, such as HIV and AIDS, and diabetes. [Knuckles died from complications with diabetes.] If you look at some of the beneficiaries of Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend over the past few years, there's always some type of HIV/AIDS funding in there. The Frankie Knuckles Foundation fits into this purpose and mission.”

“I feel like this particular event is about channeling the spirit of Frankie,” says Patterson. “And what that means for me is

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staying true to the original art form of playing house music how he played it. And he kept it musical, he kept it track-y, he kept it fun and interesting. He didn't play techno and stuff like that.

He didn't play a lot of drums and stuff. So for me, respecting Frankie is about keeping it musical and keeping [that] certain vibe about his musicality that I really like. My offering to him is gonna be about channeling my feeling of those times at Sound Factory Bar.” Ward agrees that the goal for the party is to invoke the spirit of Knuckles’ sound, but not to try and imitate him. “Any DJ can play all Frankie, but if you mix in what he did, certain things that remind you of him into your set, then it'd be like, ‘A-ha!’ That's why I told Tedd, ‘I'm going to be listening to your set.’ I'm not going to play and leave, that's not going to happen. Tedd's always been one of my favorites, anyway, so this is going to be super special. I'm really looking forward to that. And, of course, Ultra.

You can't go wrong with Ultra.”

He means, of course, Ultra Naté, the diva known for such ’90s club classics as “Free” and “Rejoicing.” A house music legend in her own right, Naté will add her singular voice to what promises to be a joyful night of dancing and deep beats, a fitting finale for Mid-Atlantic Leather weekend.

And, for at least one of the night’s dueling DJs, the party will mark a significant first. “I've never been to a leather convention,” admits Patterson, who adds, “Y'all better look out when I roll up in there with my leather hot pants on.” l MAL Closing Night Party: A Tribute to Frankie Knuckles is Sunday, January 20 at the 9:30 Club, 815 V Street NW. Tickets are $35 in advance, $45 day of event. Visit www.ticketfly.com/ purchase/event/1786318.

MAL Party Planner Your Guide to Every Official and Unofficial 2019 Event

N

O CONTEST, IT’S THE GAYEST WEEKEND IN D.C. after June’s Capital Pride. No matter how frightfully bad the weather, January’s Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend consistently draws a diehard and devoted core of fetishists and their fans — several thousand strong — to the capital every year.

The Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill transforms into Grand Leather Central as the sold-out MAL host hotel, where there’s always something (or someone) to see and do, dozens of official and affiliated events to drop by, and an extensive Exhibitor Hall full of gear and goods to buy.

And yes, there actually is a contest — the 34th Annual Mr. MAL Contest is the penultimate official event of the week-

end. Yet MAL isn’t confined to the Hyatt, or to only official events organized by the local LGBTQ organization Centaur MC. Indeed, most gay and many gay-friendly clubs citywide offer at least one MAL-inspired function, all within easy access to and from the Hyatt via Metro, Uber, Lyft, taxi, and shuttles.

The following list includes official, MAL-ticketed events for weekend pass holders, designated with an asterisk. Admission to the Exhibitor Hall and other events on the Hyatt’s lower levels are available at $15 for one-day entries Friday and Sunday, $20 for Saturday only, or $30 for all three days. A limited number of Full Weekend Packages, costing $250, will be available at the Hyatt.

Visit www.leatherweekend.com for more details. — Doug Rule

THURSDAY, JAN. 17

LA FANTASY: SEX SHOP DJs Alex Acosta, X Gonzalez & Joe Pacheco 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

L8 Lounge 727 15th St. NW www.lafantasyproductions.com

WELCOME TO DC/FORMER MAL BAR NIGHT DJ StrikeStone on the Exile Dance Floor Hosts: Mr. & Ms. DC Eagle 2019 (Christopher Booth & Alyssa Durnien) and other area titleholders/The Centaur MC presents the current and former Mr. MALs in the Main Bar 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

DC Eagle 3700 Benning Rd. NE www.dceagle.com SHIRTLESS MEN/MEN IN UNDERWEAR DRINK FREE DJs BacK2bACk 10 to 11 p.m./12 to 12:30 a.m.

Green Lantern 1335 Green Ct. NW www.greenlanterndc.com SLEAZE: XXXL DJs Mark O’Brien, Lemz & Keenan Orr, plus Alex DB & Get Face Host: Jane Saw Special Live Performance: Donna Slash 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

The Dew Drop Inn DC 2801 8th St. NE www.sleazeparty.com OTTER HAPPY HOUR + FAM NIGHT DJs Dean Sullivan + Tommy Cornelis 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Trade 1410 14th St. NW www.facebook.com/OtterDenDC

FRIDAY, JAN. 18 MAL REGISTRATION 3 to 10 p.m.

Capitol Rooms A & B Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill

46

BOOTBLACKS ON DUTY 3 p.m. to Midnight Lobby Level 4 to 10 p.m.

Lower Level Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill EXHIBITOR HALL 4 to 10 p.m.

Lower Level Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill HEROES AND VILLAINS SHOWDOWN 5 to 7 p.m.

Yellowstone Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill BEAR HAPPY HOUR: LEATHER BEAR DC Bëar Crüe 5 to 10 p.m.

Uproar Lounge & Restaurant 639 Florida Ave. NW www.dcbearcrue.com PUPPY PLAY TIME: GLOWSTICK & BLACKLIGHT PARTY Hosted by DJ duo Alpha Omega (Pup Ultra & Pup Phoenix) 5 to 8 p.m.

Green Lantern MIR AT MAL: A RUBBER MEET AND GREET Mr. International Rubber 7 to 9 p.m.

Congressional A & B Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill www.facebook.com/MIRubb ROUGH HOUSE LEATHER EDITION: HANDS ON, LIGHTS OFF “Check your limits — and your clothes — at the door” DJs Lemz & The Barber Streisand 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Green Lantern

JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

IMPACT: HEROES MAL FETISH BALL Highwaymen TNT Party DJ TWiN 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Regency Ballroom B Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill HONCHO: MAL WEEKEND DJs Josey Rebelle & George D’Adhemar 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

U Street Music Hall 1115 U St. NW www.ustreetmusichall.com FURBALL DC MAL 2019: WEEKEND KICK OFF PARTY Joe Fiore presents DJs Jack Chang & Sean Morris Dancers: Homorodeo.com Models Brian Michael & Lloyd Baker, plus Sean from Atlanta & Chuck from D.C. Host: Vinny Parrello 10 p.m. till late Rock and Roll Hotel 1353 H St. NE www.furball.nyc THE CONFESSIONAL DJs Ryan Doubleyou & Icy Funk Biqtch Puddin’ & Dahli from OutTV’s Boulet Brothers’ Dragula Boomer Banks & Ba’Naka host the Birds of Prey drag show with Brooklyn Heights, Sasha Adams Sanchez, Iyana Deschanel, Crystal Edge, Brie DeVine, and Desiree Dik 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.

DC Eagle’s Exile Dance Floor

SATURDAY, JAN. 19 MAUL COFFEE SOCIAL 9 to 11 a.m.

TBA Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill MAL REGISTRATION 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Capitol A & B Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill BOOTBLACKS ON DUTY 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Lower Level 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Lobby Level Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill EXHIBITOR HALL 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Lower Level Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill PUPPY PARK XI Puppy mosh pit 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Regency B, C & D Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill INTERNATIONAL MR. LEATHER 2019 JUDGES ANNOUNCEMENT Noon to 1 p.m.

Thornton Room www.imrl.com ONYX COCKTAIL PARTY & GEAR SHOW Fetish Auction to benefit Youth Empowered Society 2 to 6 p.m.

Congressional A & B Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill www.onyxmen.com SIGMA BDSM DEMONSTRATIONS 2 to 4 p.m.

Regency B, C & D Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill

LEATHER COCKTAILS* 7 to 9 p.m.

Parade of Colors Lineup at 8:15 p.m.

Regency Ballroom Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill THE BEAR CAVE: #LEATHER Bears Can Dance DJ Popperz Go-Go Bear Roman 9 p.m. to close Green Lantern SIRCUIT Extended Set by DJ Sean Morris GoGo Dancers Israel Hermes & The Honey Bear 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

DC Eagle’s Exile Dance Floor AVALON SATURDAYS: MAL WEEKEND INITIATION PARTY DJ Wess 10 p.m. to close Soundcheck 1420 K St. NW www.dougiemeyerpresents.com DISTRKT C: MASTERS, BOYS & PIGS DJs Tony Moran & Barney Philly Special guest appearance by Rocco Steele 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Karma DC 2221 Adams Place NE www.distrktc.com

TNX LEATHER WEEKEND: T4T LUV NRG TOUR The NeedlExchange DJ Collective Trans for Trans DJs Octa Octa b2b Eris Drew 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Undisclosed Location TBA www.facebook.com/tnxdc MIDNIGHT: LEATHER, FETISH & DANCE PARTY DJ Bo Bear 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Uproar Lounge & Restaurant

SUNDAY, JAN. 20 MAL BRUNCH* 10 a.m. to Noon Capitol A & B, Congressional A & B Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill MAL REGISTRATION 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Capitol Room Foyer Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill BOOTBLACKS ON DUTY 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Lobby and Lower Levels Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill

EXHIBITOR HALL 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Lower Level Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill

JOX: LEATHER EDITION DJs Ultra Pup & C Dubz 9 p.m. to close Green Lantern

MR. MID-ATLANTIC LEATHER 2019 CONTEST* 1 to 4 p.m.

Regency A, B, C & D Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill

FLASHY SUNDAYS: MLK/MAL WEEKEND DJs Sean Morris & TWiN, with Mike Babbitt & Bill Spieler 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Flash Nightclub 645 Florida Ave. NW www.facebook.com/flashydc

BLUF TEA DANCE Breeches, Leather, and Uniform Fanclub DJ Popperz 4 to 10 p.m.

DC Eagle’s Exile Dance Floor ROAR: SUNDAY BEER BUST (MAL EDITION) DJ Mike Babbitt 4 to 8 p.m.

Uproar Lounge & Restaurant LEATHER CASUAL: OTTER DEN’S RECOVERY TEA DANCE DJs Colin Bass of San Francisco and StrikeStone!

Performance by Kunj 5 to 10 p.m.

Trade www.facebook.com/OtterDenDC

THE OFFICIAL MAL WEEKEND CLOSING DANCE “A Tribute to Frankie Knuckles” Dueling DJs Tedd Patterson & Manny Ward Performance by Ultra Nate 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

9:30 Club 815 V St. NW www.930.com PENANCE AFTERHOURS DJ Ryan Doubleyou GoGo Dancers Israel Hermes & The Honey Bear 1:30 to 6 a.m.

DC Eagle’s Exile Dance Floor l For more, see the Nightlife section on page 49 or visit www.metroweekly.com.

JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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NightLife Photography by Ward Morrison

JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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Scene

Anna Warhol Dance Party at Rock & Roll Hotel - Friday, January 11 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc...

Thursday, January 17

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

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

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • Shirtless Thursday, 10-11pm • Men in Underwear Drink Free, 12-12:30am • DJs BacK2bACk

DC EAGLE MAL Weekend Welcome to D.C. Party, Upper Floor, 10pm-3am • Featuring DJ Strike Stone • Special guest hosts: Mr. and Ms. DC Eagle, American Leatherwoman 2019, Mr. Maryland Leather 2019, MidAtlantic Bootblack 2019, and MidAtlantic Leatherwoman 2019 • Come Tattoo Mr. and Ms. DC Eagle • $10 Cover

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NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat the Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • $15 Buckets of Beer all night • Sports Leagues Night NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover 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 • Visit pitchersbardc.com 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 • All You Can Eat Ribs, 5-10pm, $24.95 • $4 Corona and Heineken, 5pm-close TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers • Open Dancers Audition • Urban House Music by DJ Tim-e • 9pm • Cover 21+

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Friday, January 18

Boomer, Biqtch and Dahli (separate ticket required) at 10pm

A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour: $2 off everything until 9pm • Video Games • Live televised sports

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

DC EAGLE Spartan MC Biker Bar Night • MAL Weekend: The Confessional, 11pm-4am • Featuring DJ Ryan Doubleyou and DJ Icy Funk • Direct from the Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, Season Two Winner Biqtch Puddin’ and contestant Dahli • Birds of Prey Show at midnight, hosted by Boomer Banks and Ba’Naka • Featuring Brooklyn Heights, Sasha Adams Sanchez, Iyana Deschanel, Crystal Edge, Brie DeVine, and Desiree Dik • Cover $25 • Special Meet and Greet with

FURBALL DC @Rock and Roll Hotel 1353 H St. NE Fetish and Gear Edition Weekend Kick-Off Party, 10pm-close • Hosted by Joe Fiore Productions • Two Floors open • Music

by DJs Jack Chang and Sean Morris • Dancers: Homorodeo.com Models Brian Michael and Lloyd Baker, plus Sean from Atlanta and Chuck from DC • Emcee: Vinny Parrello • $15 Cover in advance, $20 at door • Tickets available via eventbrite.com • 21+

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 Rail and Domestic • $5 Svedka, all flavors all night long • Puppy Play Time, 5-8pm • DJs Pup Ultra and Pup Phoenix • No Cover • Rough House: Hands On, Lights Off, 10pm-close • Featuring DJ Lemz • $5 Cover (includes clothes check) IMPACT: HEROES MAL FETISH BALL @Hyatt Capitol Hill 400 New Jersey Ave. NW, Ballroom B Come dressed as your favorite superhero or villain, 10pm-2am • Hosted by the Highwaymen TNT • Music by DJ TWiN 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

NIGHTLIFE HIGHLIGHTS Compiled by Doug Rule UPROAR’S 3RD ANNIVERSARY PIG ROAST All weekend long, Tammy Truong’s little bear bar that could will be toasting its third birthday by celebrating with a usual litany of popular, no-cover parties, kicking off Friday, Jan. 18, at 5 p.m., with the first MAL edition of DC Bear Crue’s Bear Leather Happy Hour since the closing of former host venue Town. But Sunday, Jan. 20, stands as one of the biggest days for Uproar, with the biggest anniversary party of all, complete with free toasts via open bar from 3 to 4 p.m. and free roasted pig from 3 to 6 p.m. Also, one of Uproar’s signature DJs, Mike Babbitt, takes to the decks starting at 4 p.m., for a five-hour Sunday Beer Bust that will ensure it’s not just the pigs and the bears, but all the self-identified animals in the gay taxonomy that are good and roasted one last time over the holiday weekend. Uproar is at 639 Florida Ave NW. Call 202-462-4464 or visit www.facebook.com/uproarloungedc.

Dance Party, with Nellie’s DJs spinning bubbly pop music all night NUMBER NINE Open 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover • Friday Night Piano with Chris, 7:30pm • Rotating DJs, 9:30pm

TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4

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 • Visit pitchersbardc.com

U STREET MUSIC HALL 1115 U St. NW DJ Josey Rebelle & Honcho DJ George D'Adhemar, 10pm-4am • Clothes check • 18+ • Ages 18-20 must buy a ticket in advance • $14 in advance, $18 day of show • Presented by Honcho • ustreetmusichall.com

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 • Comedy Show, Second Floor, 7:30pm

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm • Guest dancers • Rotating DJs • Kristina Kelly’s Diva Fev-ah Drag Show • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:30pm and 1:45am • DJ Don T. in Ziegfeld’s • Cover 21+

FURBALL DC MAL 2019: FETISH & GEAR EDITION Long before you even knew what a bear was — or became one yourself — Joe Fiore was out there in the woofy wilderness, helping to blaze the furry trail.

The veteran New York promoter long ago decided to focus on putting together parties “where bears dance.” From New York to the hibernating haven of Provincetown and many other destinations the world over, Fiore has created a regularly touring bear party empire that has now become a biannual force in D.C. An unofficial, offsite highlight during MAL, this year’s Furball invites the hirsute to romp around the Rock and Roll Hotel, a multi-level concert venue in the gritty H Street Corridor. London DJ Jack Chang returns to set the pace for the fur-flying fetish frenzy, this year spinning along with the omnipresent D.C. DJ Sean Morris, plus Vinny Parrello as host. All that, plus go-go bears from @HomoRodeo. Friday, Jan. 18, starting at 10 p.m. Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H St. NE. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Call 202-388-ROCK or visit www.furball.nyc.

FLASHY SUNDAYS: MAL EDITION It’s reigned for years as one of its hip host venue’s most successful recurring events, as well as one of the city’s most popular LGBTQ dance parties. Yet it wasn’t always that way. The first few parties hosted and spun by the two local veteran DJs Sean Morris and Kurt “TWiN” Graves in their first joint partnership were only moderately well attended, not the packed, sold-out, line-down-theblock affair it is now. After celebrating its 5th anniversary this past fall in the still hip, still sharply designed jewelbox of a nightclub, the party takes another spin of it all Sunday, Jan. 20, starting at 10 p.m., with Morris and TWiN taking turns on the second floor’s main dance floor, Mike Babbitt on the roof, and Bill Spieler in the first-floor bar. Flash, 645 Florida Ave. NW. Tickets are $20 for access to the main dance floor and roof deck. Call 202-827-8791 or visit flashdc.com.

AVALON SATURDAYS: A NIGHT AT THE CIRCUS Last fall, in the wake of Town’s closure, Dougie Meyers launched a weekly Saturday night LGBTQ party. Formerly the general manager of Town, Meyers even managed to secure another one of D.C.’s newest generation of well-designed and well-revered nightclubs for the peak-night occasion. So far, most editions of Avalon Saturdays at downtown’s Soundcheck have been slight variations on the tried-and-true theme of showcasing talent from nightlife’s usual suspects.

And to an extent, that holds true next Saturday, Jan. 26, when part of the focus is on the spinning star — DJ Kris Sutton — and the slaying queens Lena Lett, Mama Angelina, Ba’Naka, and Brooklyn, who will all play party co-hosts alongside male dancer Eddie Danger. Beyond that, the party wildly departs from the script, with the promise of “Live Acts All Night” in carnival-like fashion. Step right up and see clowns, contortionists, even an electronic violinist! And what’s a gay party without a self-proclaimed sword swallower and snake charmer? You can also expect to witness a Rubber Boy and a Balloon Artist. And when was the last time you were able to devour cotton candy, popcorn, and a hotdog while out clubbing? Life is a carnival at this party, co-presented by This Free Life and starting at 10 p.m. Soundcheck, 1420 K St. NW. Tickets are $15, or $20 for VIP. Call 202-789-5429 or visit www.dougiemeyerpresents.com.l

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Saturday, January 19 A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-3am • Video Games • Live televised sports DC EAGLE MAL Weekend: SirCuit, 10pm-6am • DJ Sean Morris • Alcohol served until 4am • GoGo Dancers Israel Hermes and The Honey Bear • Cover $25-40 DISTRKT C @Karma DC Live Music Venue 2221 Adams Pl. NE Masters, Boys, and Pigs Dance Party, 10pm-6am • DJ Barney Philly and DJ Tony Moran • Special guest appearance by Rocco Steele

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 • World Tavern Poker Tournament, 1-3pm • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Freddie’s Follies Drag Show, hosted by Miss Destiny B. Childs, 8-10pm • Karaoke, 10pm-close

Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer and Mimosas, $4, 11am-3am • Buckets of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs

Half-Priced Pizzas and Select Appetizers • 19th Street Band, 9pm

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5 Bacardi, all flavors, all night long • The Bear Cave: Retro to Electro, 9pm-close • Featuring DJ Popperz • No Cover

PITCHERS Open Noon-3am • Video Games • Foosball • Live televised sports • Full dining menu till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 2am • Visit pitchersbardc.com

TRADE Doors open 2pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 • Gay Bash: The Alt Dance Party and Home for Unconventional Drag in the Nation’s Capital, 10pm-close • Hosted by Donna Slash • Jaxknife Complex, Salvadora Dali, Jane Saw, and special guests • Music by The Barber Streisand

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

SHAW’S TAVERN Brunch with $15 Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon, $5 House Wines, $5 Rail Drinks •

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Men of Secrets, 9pm-4am • Guest dancers • Ladies of Illusion Drag Show with host Ella Fitzgerald • Doors at 9pm, Shows at 11:30pm and 1:45am

NUMBER NINE Doors open 2pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close • THIRSTY, featuring DJ Chord Bezerra, 9:30pm

• DJ Don T. in Ziegfeld’s • DJ Steve Henderson in Secrets • Cover 21+

Sunday, January 20 9:30 CLUB @815 V St. NW The Official MAL Weekend Closing Party, 7pm-close • Tribute to DJ Frankie Knuckles • Music by Ted Patterson and Manny Ward • Performance by Ultra Naté • Tickets: $35 in advance, $45 at door • Dance included with Full MAL Weekend Package • 21+ A LEAGUE OF HER OWN Open 2pm-12am • $4 Smirnoff and Domestic Cans • Video Games • Live televised sports

FLASHY SUNDAYS @Flash 645 Florida Ave. NW DJs Sean Morris and TWiN on the main floor, 10pm-5am • DJ Mike Babbitt on the roof • 21+ • $20 • facebook.com/ flashydc FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Ella’s Sunday Drag Brunch, 10am-3pm • $24.99 with four glasses of champagne or mimosas, 1 Bloody Mary, or coffee, soda or juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Karaoke, 9pm-close GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • JOX: Leather Edition, 9pm-close • DJs Ultra Pup and C-Dubz • $10 Cover • Karaoke with Kevin downstairs, 9:30pm-close

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Playlist 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 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 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 • Visit pitchersbardc.com 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 • Dinner-n-Drag, with Miss Kristina Kelly, 8pm • For reservations, email shawsdinnerdragshow@ gmail.com TRADE Doors open 2pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 • CHURCH: Churchthemed Dance Party with House Music and Pop-Up Performances, 10pm • Music by WesstheDJ, Jesse Jackson, and others • Special guest hosts and performers

Monday, January 21

Tuesday, January 22

Wednesday, January 23

DC EAGLE MAL Weekend: Penance Afterhours Party, 1:30-6am (following Aja Live and the Drag Show • Featuring DJ Ryan Doubleyou and GoGo Dancers Israel Hermes and The Honey Bear • $20 Cover

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

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

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Taco Tuesday • Poker Night — 7pm and 9pm games • Karaoke, 9pm

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

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Singles Night • Half-Priced Pasta Dishes • Poker Night — 7pm and 9pm games • Karaoke, 9pm GREEN LANTERN Brunch with $15 Bottomless Mimosas, 10am-3pm • 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 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 • 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, with Jeremy, 7:30pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4

GREEN LANTERN Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $3 rail cocktails and domestic beers all night long 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 • Visit pitchersbardc.com 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 Burgers and Pizzas, 5-10pm TRADE Doors open 2pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 2-10pm • Beer and wine only $4

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 NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR SmartAss Trivia Night, 8-10pm • Prizes include bar tabs and tickets to shows at the 9:30 Club • $15 Buckets of Beer for SmartAss Teams only • Absolutely Snatched Drag Show, hosted by Brooklyn Heights, 9pm • Tickets available at nelliessportsbar.com 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 till 9pm • Special Late Night menu till 11pm • Visit pitchersbardc.com 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 with Jill, 8pm TRADE Doors open 5pm • Huge Happy Hour: Any drink normally served in a cocktail glass served in a huge glass for the same price, 5-10pm • Beer and wine only $4 l

DJ SEAN MORRIS

FEEL IT Lucas Medeiros Remix Funtasy ft. Ariadna Alvin EVERY TIME I SEE HER Errol Reid AU REVOIR Christian Davies Remix Cascada RIO MAGDALENA Techplayers Remix Bongotrack CHA CHA Ralph Rosario Edit Rupaul, AB Soto TRIBE DRUMS Blond 2 Black Remix Alex Acosta SHALLOW VMC & Leandro Becker Epic Mix Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper ALL THIS TIME Farruggio's Back in Time Mix Sylver TRY IT ON MY OWN Bruno Knauer ft. L. Mendez INDINDA Dario Nunez

DJ Sean Morris is one of the founders and DJs for Flashy Sunday. He holds a long time residency at Cobalt, where you can catch him every Thursday. Over MAL Weekend, he will be DJing at Furball on Friday, the DC Eagle on Saturday, and Flashy Sunday. Follow him on Twitter at @DJ_SeanMorris.

Listen to this Playlist at www.spotify.com/metroweekly.

JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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Scene

Freddie’s Beach Bar- Friday, January 11 - Photography by Ward Morrison See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

JANUARY 17, 2019 • METROWEEKLY

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LastWord.

People say the queerest things

“In fairness, we’ve been trying to phase out the gay stuff.”

— PETER GRIFFIN, in the Sunday, Jan. 13 episode of Fox’s Family Guy, responding to a fourth-wall breaking comment on the number of gay jokes made during the show’s earlier years. The long-running animated show is notorious for making fun of everyone and everything, but speaking to TVLine this week, producers confirmed that the exchange was more than a throwaway line of dialogue. “Some of the things we felt comfortable saying and joking about [in 2005 or 2006], we now understand is not acceptable,” said executive producer Alec Sulkin.

“I decided that I just wasn’t going to play their game.”

— LILY TOMLIN, speaking on the Ellen DeGeneres Show about her decision not to come out on the cover of TIME magazine in 1975.

Tomlin was offered the chance to come out as lesbian on the cover, but instead “wanted to be acknowledged for my performance” in her first film, Nashville. “It was a hard decision to make,” she added, “and I fell down on the side of...good sense.”

“I will be the Governor for all the people of Ohio — and I will remember each and every day that I am their servant. ” — Newly sworn-in Governor of Ohio MIKE DEWINE, writing on Twitter after signing an executive order barring discrimination against LGBTQ people in employment, housing, and public accommodations. DeWine, a Republican, was widely praised by LGBTQ organizations for his actions.

“ We feel that Into’s closure is a tremendous loss for LGBTQ media, journalism, and the world .”

— The editorial team of Into, a Grindr-owned online magazine, in a statement after the gay dating app shut the website down.

While Grindr issued a statement saying it was modifying the website after evaluating “what is best for Grindr,” it comes just weeks after the website broke the story that Grindr’s CEO, Scott Chen, had allegedly made comments against same-sex marriage.

“At long last [transgender/gender nonconforming] New Yorkers no longer have to hide in the shadows for fear of being targeted.”

— KIARA ST. JAMES, cofounder of the New York Transgender Advocacy Group (NYTAG), speaking after New York lawmakers passed a bill adding gender identity to the state’s nondiscrimination laws and second bill banning conversion therapy on LGBTQ minors.

“Now we all can truly bask in the sunshine of Equality in New York State,” St. James added.

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