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N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 03

VOLUME 50 ISSUE 48

An accused killer was released to his mother’s custody while he awaits trial in 2021 for the murder of a local trans man.

PAGE 08

06

Blade 50th Sponsors

08

Judge releases suspect in murder

10 11 12 13 16

26

Holiday Gift Guide AIDS Heroes

of trans man until 2021 trial

30

Painful past, bright future

Crowded race to replace

36

Queery: Jeoff Lara

Rep. Elijah Cummings

38

Holiday Heatwave is Dec. 3

Black LGBTQ activists split

40

Arts & Culture

over Harris, Buttigieg spat

42

AFI Euro Showcase

Maloney lands in spotlight

For distribution, contact Lynne Brown ext. 8075. Distributed by MediaPoint, LLC

bursting with queer content

during impeachment inquiry

44

Borrowing from the gay past?

Target hits the LGBT market,

46

Jack (played by) Daniel

with much-improved aim

47

Game Changers: Shawn Stingel

Prominent Haitian LGBTQ

48

NGLCC National Dinner

activist found dead

51

Just how diverse are national

19

Cannabis Culture

21

Viewpoint

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N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 07

Judge releases suspect in murder of trans man until 2021 trial

Victim’s mother faults police, prosecutors for not classifying as hate crime

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. LCHIBBARO@WASHBLADE.COM

AKIHS GAIUS GREEN was shot to death in 2017; the suspect in the case won’t face trial until July 2021.

Photo courtesy of Facebook

A 42-year-old D.C. transgender man was shot in the head execution style on March 1, 2017 and died from the gunshot wound more than four months later on July 21, 2017 in an incident that D.C. police and prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office have yet to identify as an anti-transgender murder.

In a development that shocked and horrified the victim’s mother and other family members, a D.C. Superior Court judge earlier this month agreed to release District resident Jordan Smith, 32, who was indicted on a charge of First Degree Murder While Armed for the murder of Akihs Gaius Green, while he awaits his trial that has been scheduled for July 2021.

Court records show that Judge Craig Iscoe released Smith into his mother’s custody under a court-ordered “high intensity” supervision program that Iscoe said Smith qualifies for under D.C. law.

The victim’s mother, Vickie McNeal, contacted the Washington Blade about the case last week, saying she wanted to inform the community that her former daughter who at first identified as a lesbian lived his life as a man for the past 20 years. She said he was in the process of preparing for ‘chest reassignment surgery’ at the time of his death.

McNeal said she believes prosecutors have not been aggressive enough in opposing Smith’s release while he awaits his trial. The trial was initially scheduled for this month but was postponed until July 21, 2021. She said she also faults police and prosecutors for failing to declare the murder to be what she believes it was – an anti-transgender and anti-gay hate crime.

“He is homophobic and transgender phobic,” McNeal said of Smith, who she said she has learned about from victim Green’s circle of friends who knew Smith as did Green.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in response to a request from the Washington Blade, said she would make inquiries with prosecutors to see if they will comment on the case, including on McNeal’s criticism of the prosecutors. But the spokesperson, Kadia Koroma, said the office usually does not comment on pending cases.

Lt. Brett Parson, who oversees the D.C. Police LGBT Liaison Unit, reiterated what he says is the department’s longstanding policy on disclosing the sexual orientation or gender identity of crime victims.

The department’s practice, he said, is “to avoid disclosing information that might reveal the sexual orientation, gender identity or expression of anyone involved in a case we may be investigating, unless we believe that information is necessary to increase public safety.”

An arrest affidavit prepared by a police homicide detective and filed in D.C. Superior Court at the time of Smith’s arrest says Green had been staying at the Southeast D.C. apartment where Smith was living with his girlfriend, who is identified in the affidavit as Witness 2. The affidavit says Witness 2 told a security guard who she approached at the time of the shooting that Smith and Green got into an argument and Smith pulled out a gun.

She told the unarmed security guard she heard three gunshots, the affidavit says, stating the guard told police she was hysterical when he spoke with her and she was wearing pants and a bra with no outer shirt. According to the

affidavit, she and the guard returned to her apartment at 212 Wayne Pl., S.E. and found Green unconscious suffering from at least one gunshot wound. It says Smith was not present in the apartment.

The affidavit says a third witness, identified only as Witness 3, told police Witness 2 told Witness 3 she saw Smith shoot Green.

But Witness 2, when interviewed again by detectives, denied she said that, the affidavit says. It says Witness 2 told detectives she was high on PCP and could not remember exactly what had happened.

Based on evidence obtained by detectives during a seven-month investigation, D.C. police on Oct. 25, 2017 obtained a warrant for Smith’s arrest on a charge of Second Degree Murder While Armed.

Nine months later, on July 24, 2018, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office persuaded a Superior Court grand jury to indict Smith on the elevated charge of First Degree Murder While Armed and two additional charges – Possession of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.

In his Facebook page, which his brother has continued to maintain as a memorial site, the victim identified himself as Akihs Gaius Green. McNeal said he also was known by friends and family members by the nickname Pinky.

From the time of the March 2017 shooting through today, D.C. police statements and all court records continue to identify Green by his female birth name of Yashika K. Green. Although transgender activists have called on law enforcement officials and the media never to disclose a transgender person’s previous birth name — or “dead” name — the Blade has decided to disclose Green’s birth name because it is part of the public record and is the only means through which the case can be followed in court proceedings.

In a July 22, 2017 statement, D.C. police first announced that a Southeast D.C. resident who they identified as Yashika Green was fatally shot inside a residence on the 200 block of Wayne Place, S.E. shortly before police arrived at 12:46 a.m. on Wednesday, March 1, 2017.

“Upon arriving on the scene, members located an adult female inside

a residence suffering from a gunshot wound,” the police statement says. “DC Fire and EMS transported the victim to an area hospital where she was admitted in critical condition,” says the statement.

“On Saturday, July 21, 2017 the victim succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead,” it says, adding the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner performed an autopsy the following day and ruled the death a homicide from the gunshot wound.

Smith had been held in jail since the time of his arrest in October 2017 by another judge on grounds that he posed a danger to the community as well as a danger to one of the lead witnesses in the case if he were to be released.

The judge currently assigned to the case, Craig Iscoe, stated in a Sept. 13, 2019 ruling that he was required under D.C. law to release Smith initially to a halfway house in August 2019 and later to the custody of his mother under the High Intensity Supervision Program. He pointed out that the law calls for the release of a defendant charged with a felony such as murder pending trial if prosecutors cannot provide evidence showing there was a “substantial probability” to believe the defendant has committed the offense he or she is charged with.

Iscoe stated in his ruling that Smith’s defense attorneys, Mani Golzari and Sylvia Smith, succeeded in showing that new evidence emerged based on conflicting statements by a key prosecution witness, Witness 2. He said the new evidence combined with a recent D.C. Court of Appeals ruling that raised the threshold for holding a defendant in jail while awaiting trial meant that “substantial probability” no longer existed that Smith committed the murder.

The judge noted that prosecutors have established a lower threshold of “probable cause” that Smith committed the murder, which enables the case to continue to a trial but is insufficient to require Smith be held in jail while he awaits his trial.

CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 09

Crowded race to replace Rep. Elijah Cummings

World AIDS Day events to extend through next week

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. LCHIBBARO@WASHBLADE.COM

MAYA ROCKEYMOORE CUMMINGS said she wants to carry her husband’s legacy forward.

Screen Capture via YouTube

The filing deadline for the special election set by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to fill the late-U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings’ seat came last week with 19 Democrats and eight Republicans announcing their intentions to run.

Among the high-profile candidates are former congressman and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, Maryland state Sen. Jill Carter (D-Baltimore) and Cummings’ widow, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings.

“I want to represent the issues, I want to represent Elijah and I want to carry his legacy forward,” Rockeymoore Cummings told a crowd of supporters on Nov. 12 in the couple’s Baltimore home, according to the Washington Post.

“And build upon that legacy.”

Carter made her announcement on Tuesday before a statue of Baltimore legend Billie Holiday, who was known for the anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit.”

The Maryland state senator alluded to Cummings’ civil rights record as a motivation for her run, the Baltimore Sun reported.

“Every day for as long as I can remember I wake up thinking of how I can make life better for people,” Carter told supporters. “Elijah knew that about me.”

Cummings was also an ally and supporter of the LGBTQ community, and he told the Washington Blade in 2012 how both he and then-President Obama evolved in their support of same-sex marriage.

“I said to myself, how would I feel if somebody told me that I could not marry my wife for a lifetime?” Cummings told the Blade at the time. “My position is we have one life to live. This is no dress rehearsal. And this is their life. I’m hoping that we can get past this.”

Cummings was also a vocal critic of the proposed First Amendment Defense Act, which would prevent the government from acting against businesses or individuals who discriminate based on sexual orientation.

According to press reports, Cummings was incensed that a 2016 hearing on the bill was scheduled exactly one month after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., the largest mass shooting in U.S. history at the time. He felt the timing was inappropriate.

“Even if you truly believe that being gay is morally wrong, or that people should be allowed to discriminate against gay people, why in the world would you choose today of all days to hold a hearing on this discriminatory legislation,” he said.

The bill is still pending, though President Trump supports the measure.

It remains unclear how the candidates seeking to replace Cummings stand on this and other LGBTQ-related issues before Congress.

Rev. Merrick Moise, a victim advocate and community liaison for the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, expressed his shock and loss at Cummings’ death.

Identifying as a transgender man he stated, “Whoever gets this seat must fight tooth and nail to beat back the administration’s wicked attempts to relegate trans people out of existence and to roll back 50 years of progress for the LGBTQ+ community.”

While declining to endorse any particular candidate, Moise did say he would like to see a woman fill the seat “as we currently have no women serving from Maryland in Congress.”

As a final nod to Cummings’ legacy, he added, “I hope the person who wins that seat realizes how much is at stake for our community and all marginalized communities in Maryland.”

PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN

D.C. and Baltimore area events associated with the 2019 annual World AIDS Day, which takes place each year on Dec. 1, will be held this year over a sevenday period from Dec. 1-8, according to organizers of the events.

The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, known as UNAIDS, has announced that the theme for the 2019 World AIDS Day is “Communities Make a Difference.”

“The commemoration of World AIDS Day, which will take place on Dec. 1, 2019, is an important opportunity to recognize the essential role that communities have played and continue to play in the AIDS response at the international, national and local levels,” a UNAIDS statement says.

Among the D.C. World AIDS Day events will be the opening ceremony for the 2019 OUR HEROES photo exhibit in which 50 photos and biographies of “Heroes in the fight to end HIV/AIDS” will be exhibited on Monday, Dec. 2, at the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington at 474 Ridge St., N.W. The ceremony is scheduled to take place from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. (For more, see special insert in this week’s Blade.)

Also scheduled to take place Dec. 2 beginning at 6:45 p.m. at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in D.C. is a panel presentation by “HIV survivors and those who have cared for and loved ones with HIV/AIDS.” The event, called “Never Silent, Living with HIV,” will include presentations by Bruce Richman, founding executive director of the Prevention Access Campaign; Patricia Nalls, founder and executive director of the Women’s Collective; and Derrick ‘Strawberry’ Cox, board member of Whitman-Walker Health.

Another World AIDS Day related panel discussion, organized by NLGJA, the Association of LGBTQ Journalists and led by Whitman-Walker Health’s Health Educator, Miguel Mejia, is scheduled to be held Tuesday, Dec. 3, from 6-9 p.m. at the Red Bear Brewery, 209 M St., N.E. The event is entitled, “Ending the HIV & AIDS Epidemic: Community by Community.”

The D.C.-based National Minority AIDS Council is co-hosting a Dec. 5 World AIDS Day Congressional Briefing on the highlights of NMAC’s 2019 U.S. Conference on AIDS. The event, set to begin 11 a.m. at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, will feature Dr. Anthony Fauci, director

of the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, as the lead speaker. The briefing is co-hosted by the Congressional Caucus on HIV/AIDS, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and the Congressional LGBT Caucus.

Also set to take place on Thursday, Dec. 5, is a Washington Blade World AIDS Day related photo exhibit and discussion to be held at the University of Maryland’s College Park campus Student Center Atrium beginning at 5:30 p.m. The exhibit, entitled “A Photographic History of HIV/AIDS in D.C.,” includes photos from the Blade’s archives going back to the start of the epidemic in the early 1980s.

A Blade news reporter will engage in a conversation with longtime HIV survivor Ron Swanda, who will answer questions from students. The event is sponsored by AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s D.C. and suburban Maryland offices are hosting a free World AIDS Day concert on Sunday, Dec. 8, from 5-9 p.m. at the Saint Yves nightclub, 1220 Connecticut Ave., N.W. near Dupont Circle. The event, which will feature local singer Steve Washington and his band, will honor “our champions, local community members who have made an impact in the movement,” a statement released by AHF says.

AHA official Barbara Chin said AHA will offer free HIV testing in conjunction with World AIDS Day at its D.C. and suburban Maryland offices during the day on Monday, Dec. 2. The offices are located at 2141 K St., N.W., Suite 707; 1647 Benning Rd., N.E., Suite 300; and 4302 Saint Barnabas Rd., Suite D, Temple Hills, Md. In Baltimore, Chase Brexton Health Care and its community partners are hosting a “Celebration of Perseverance” memorial march through the Mt. Vernon neighborhood and prayer breakfast on World AIDS Day on Sunday, Dec. 1. The two events will “honor those lost to the HIV and AIDS epidemic and rejoice with long-term survivors,” organizers of the events said in a statement.

It says the march begins at 10:30 a.m. at Chase Brexton’s Mt. Vernon Center at 1111 North Charles St. and travels to 830 Guilford Ave., ‘where a reading of names of our loved ones memorialized on the Chase Brexton Wall of Courage will take place, followed by a non-denominational program and a celebratory brunch,” which is free of charge.

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Black LGBTQ activists split over Harris, Buttigieg spat

Both accused of ‘perpetuating gay vs. black nonsense’

By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM

Sen. KAMALA HARRIS (D-Calif.) and Mayor PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-South Bend, Ind.) at the Democratic presidential debate on Nov. 20.

Screen capture via YouTube

In the aftermath of Sen. Kamala Harris criticizing Mayor Pete Buttigieg for bringing up the gay experience when confronted with his issues with black voters, black gay activists living at the intersection of the two groups are split in their reactions.

The responses from black gay activists ranged from backing Harris, saying neither was right and rejecting the spat in a call for unity against President Trump.

Among the activists saying neither candidate was right is Alvin McEwen, a South Carolina-based blogger.

“I think they are both in the wrong because they are both perpetuating the gay vs. black nonsense,” McEwen said.

“To me as a gay black man, when folks start this mess, it puts folks like me — gay LGBTQs in a tug of war in which both communities treat us like commodities in some sort of Oppression Olympics. Black people get so insulted that they won’t acknowledge the existence of LGBTQs of color, and the LGBTQ community get defensive that they do the same thing.”

McEwen said until both communities “acknowledge LGBTQ people of color as the intersection of both communities, we are going to continue to have this dumb argument,” blaming both Harris and Buttigieg for starting a fight.

“And I am very disappointed at both Harris and Buttigieg for feuding over this and thus perpetuating this nonsense when both have the visibility to demand nuance to the conversation,” McEwen said.

The trouble started at the Democratic debate last week in Atlanta, where Buttigieg

— who’s currently polling around zero among black voters — was asked about his lack of support among communities of color.

As South Bend mayor, Buttigieg has a less than favorable record with the black community. Just this year, black residents were angry over his handling in June of the police shooting of Eric Logan, a 54-year-old black man.

Buttigieg in 2012 terminated a black police chief investigating racism among his colleagues, which Buttigieg later called his “first serious mistake as mayor,” and a “1,000 Properties in 1,000 Days” development plan that ended up destroying an estimated 679 homes, many of which were in communities of color.

On top of all that, the rollout for the Buttigieg campaign’s “Douglass plan” to aid black Americans was less than stellar. As first reported by The Intercept, some on the list of 400 supporters of the campaign said they didn’t request to be on it, and at least 40 percent were white.

Asked about these issues during the debate, Buttigieg said he recognizes and welcomes the opportunities to connect with black voters, then made the pivot to his experience being gay.

“While I do not have the experience of ever having been discriminated against because of the color of my skin, I do have the experience of sometimes feeling like a stranger in my own country,” Buttigieg said, “turning on the news and seeing my own rights come up for debate, and seeing my rights expanded by a coalition of people like me and people not at all like me,

N AT I O NAL NE WS • N OVEMBER 29, 2019 • WA S HI NGTON BL A DE . COM • 11

working side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, making it possible for me to be standing here wearing a ring in a way that couldn’t have happened two elections ago.”

While Harris declined to criticize Buttigieg during the debate itself, she made her feelings known the next day when speaking to a Black Women Power Breakfast on Thursday hosted by Higher Heights, calling the South Bend mayor “a bit naive.”

Harris said those who have been in the civil rights struggle for a long time know it was wrong for Buttigieg to “compare our struggles.”

“It is not productive, it is not smart and strategically it works against what we need to do which is build coalition,” Harris said.

“We know that in our ongoing fight for civil rights if any one of us starts to differentiate ourselves in a certain way and in particular what he did on the stage, it’s just not productive. And I think it’s a bit naïve.”

It should be noted in the debate, Buttigieg in his remarks explicitly distinguished his experience from that of black Americans.

Asked by NBC News about Harris’ remarks, Buttigieg said “there’s no equating those two experiences.”

“What I do think is it’s important for each of us to reveal who we are and what motivates us and it’s important for voters to understand what makes me tick, what moves me and my sources of motivation and ensuring that I stand up for others,” Buttigieg said. “Last night I shared that some of my sources of motivation included my personal experience, my governing experience and my personal faith.”

Earl Fowlkes, executive director of the D.C.-based Center for Black Equity, was present when Buttigieg made the remarks and said he sides with Harris.

“While there are many similarities in the fight for equality for both Black Americans and the LGBTQ community under the heading of human rights, discrimination based on race is different than discrimination based on being LGBTQ,” Fowlkes said. “My ancestors were forcibly brought to this country as slaves, which started the horrible legacy of racial discrimination in the United States.”

Fowlkes added as a gay black man,

he has been “on the receiving end of discrimination for being black and a member of the LGBTQ community,” but there’s a distinction between the two.

“I could possibly hide being LGBTQ but I cannot hide being Black,” Fowlkes said. “Racial discrimination is pervasive in our society and even in the LGBTQ community. Comparing racism to LGBTQ discrimination is seen by some in the black community as a way to marginalize the fight for racial equality both economically and socially, which our nation continues to struggle with.”

David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, said at the end of the day the exchange “misses the point” about the existence of people who are black and LGBTQ. “Both of their responses miss this important intersection and contribute to the erasure of members of the community who have unique gifts and also face unique challenges as a result of our identities and expression,” Johns said. “My hope is that we can move past these superficial missives designed for click-bait to acknowledge the very real experiences of members of both the Black and LGBTQ+ communities.

The wellbeing of our communities and country depends upon this. ” In a speech before the National Action Network Breakfast in Atlanta the same day, Buttigieg brought up the importance of people living at the intersection of the black and LGBTQ communities.

“I know that my own rights were expanded by the activism and the advocacy, not just of people like me, but of people nothing at all like me standing side by side — black folks, LGBT folks, black LGBT folks of whom there are many,” Buttigieg said.

Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign who is a gay black man, issued a call for unity after the exchange, saying “no two civil rights struggles are identical” and the attention to the exchange between Harris and Buttigieg is better focused on defeating Trump.

CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

Maloney lands in spotlight during impeachment inquiry

Pelosi praises him as ‘spectacular member of Congress’

By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM

Rep. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (D-N.Y.) vigorously questioned Gordon Sondland during the impeachment inquiry.

Washingron Blade photo by Michael Key

It was the second week of open testimony in the impeachment inquiry against President Trump, and Gordon Sondland — a major Trump donor named U.S. ambassador to the European Union — had just delivered a bombshell confirming U.S. aid was held up in a quid pro quo with Ukraine.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), however, didn’t think that was enough.

After Sondland under questioning refused to be pinned down any further, an exasperated Maloney — one of seven openly gay members of the U.S. House — went in for the kill with a question that seemed to have an obvious answer.

“Let me ask you something: Who would have benefited from an investigation of the president’s political opponents?” Maloney asked.

But Sondland demurred, “I don’t want to characterize who would have and who would not have.”

“I know you don’t want to, sir,” Maloney retorted, titling his head in condescension. “That’s my question.

Would you answer it for me?”

Sondland asked Maloney to restate his question, and the New York Democrat obliged: “Who would benefit from an investigation of the president’s political opponent?”

After audibly sniffing into his microphone, Sondland replied, “Well, presumably the person who asked for the investigation.”

Pressed further by Maloney, Sondland admitted that person in this hypothetical would be the president.

“Well, it’s not a hypothetical, is it, sir?”

Maloney said. “We just went around this track, didn’t we? The president asked you about an investigation. He was talking about the Bidens. When he asked you about the Biden investigation, who was he seeking to benefit?”

Maloney went on to question Sondland about who would benefit from an investigation of the Biden family. After all, former Vice President Joseph Biden is pursuing the Democratic nomination to run against Trump in 2020. Sondland initially balked at having to answer, but Maloney wouldn’t let up.

“I assume President Trump would benefit,” Sondland said in capitulation.

“There we have it!” Maloney declared in victory to applause in the committee room. “See? Didn’t hurt a bit, did it?”

As a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Maloney, 53, stood out in his impeachment inquiry with his vigorous questioning of Sondland.

It was an exchange that bolstered the profile Maloney has cultivated throughout the impeachment inquiry, which also includes sniping at his Republican colleagues for their continued defense of Trump as evidence of wrongdoing continues to pile up.

Among Maloney’s cheerleaders is none other than House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who praised his contributions to the impeachment inquiry in a statement to the Washington Blade.

“Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney is a spectacular member of Congress and

a trusted voice on the House Intelligence Committee, to whom our caucus looks for his brilliant legal mind, proven strategic wisdom and determined dedication to defending our democracy,” Pelosi said.

“During this critical time in American history, the House is grateful for the courageous, committed leadership that he consistently brings.”

Elected to Congress in 2012, Maloney is the first gay parent to serve in the U.S. House. He and his husband, Randy Florke, whom he married in 2014, have adopted three children.

In the 1990s, Maloney worked for President Bill Clinton as a White House adviser and was one of two delegates the Clinton administration sent to the funeral of gay college student Matthew Shepard in 1996.

As a University of Virginia-educated lawyer who has pursued runs for New York attorney general both before and after his election to Congress, Maloney has made good use of his legal chops as the impeachment inquiry has proceeded.

The capitulation from Sondland that Trump would benefit from an investigation of the Bidens wasn’t the last word Maloney had with the Trump appointee.

After admitting Trump would have benefited from an investigation of the Bidens, Sondland tried to push back on where the questioning was headed.

“Mr. Maloney, excuse me, I’ve been very forthright, and I really resent what you’re trying to do,” Sondland said.

You could practically see the smoke coming out of Maloney’s ears.

“Fair enough,” Maloney said. “You’ve been very forthright? This is your third try to do so, sir. It didn’t work so well the first time, did it?”

Maloney pointed out Sondland had to correct his earlier testimony in a closed-door hearing, telling the House Intelligence Committee after the fact the White House was holding up aid for investigations.

“We had a little declaration come in after, remember that?” Maloney said.

“And now we’re here a third time, and we got a doozy of a statement from you this morning. There’s a whole bunch of stuff you don’t recall. So with all due respect sir, we appreciate your candor, but let’s be really

clear on what it took to get it out of you.”

Another key moment for Maloney came when another witness, Fiona Hill, spoke before the committee two days after Sondland.

A former official at the White House National Security Council specializing in Russian and European affairs, Hill testified the idea Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election instead of Russia is a fantasy cooked up at the Kremlin.

“Based on questions and statements I have heard, some of you on this committee appear to believe that Russia and its security services did not conduct a campaign against our country and that perhaps, somehow, for some reason, Ukraine did,” Hill said. “This is a fictional narrative that has been perpetrated and propagated by the Russian security services themselves.”

Challenging Hill during the hearing was Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), who has been a leading Republican skeptic in the impeachment inquiry.

Holding up the House Intelligence Committee report on the 2016 election, Turner pointed to its introduction, which states Russia, in fact, interfered. (It should be noted a central conclusion of the report was “no collusion” between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.)

“A little small effort on your part, Dr. Hill, and you would have known that what you just said is not true, what you had heard, but you felt the need to put into your eight-page statement before you went on to tell us a bunch of other things that you heard about other people, no matter how convinced you were of, also which were not necessarily true,” Turner said.

Turner pointed out Hill said Sondland met with Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, but Sondland testified he had not met with him other than a brief exchange in which the two shook hands. The Ohio Republican pointed out Giuliani said the two had never met.

“This is the problem with no matter how convinced we are, Dr. Hill, now how much we believe we know that what we’ve heard is true, is it just still what we have heard,” Turner said.

CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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Target hits the LGBT market, with much-improved aim

Some praise retailer for Pride month support; others want local commitment

By SCOTT STIFFLER

A Target contingent in D.C.’s Capital Pride parade.

Photo courtesy Target

Fifty years after Stonewall, LGBT people who listen to a song, stream a series, or read a book have more positive images to draw upon than ever before.

But where are our faces in the ads that sell us those things—or, for that matter, pretty much everything? Rarely seen is the same-sex couple sizing up choices at a car dealership, passing around a tube of toothpaste during their morning routine, or sharing a smooch as anniversary rings are exchanged.

“There’s just a very small group of companies that make an effort to educate themselves, and to progress… to show us as we are, or appeal directly to the LGBT consumer,” says Todd Evans, of Rivendell Media.

As Rivendell’s president and CEO, it’s Evans’ job to place advertisements for the National LGBT Media Association.

(This publication is among its members.)

Absolut Vodka and Wells Fargo, Evans notes, are on the short list of high-profile corporations that market to the LGBT community with creative content that depicts lives being lived in something other than heterosexual accordance.

Include Target on that list, says Evans, who points to the general merchandise retailer as an example of a company committed to LGBT-specific marketing and products.

“This is a group that has wanted to educate themselves,” says Evans, recalling, “years ago, Target faced a boycott for [indirectly] donating to an anti-LGBT politician. They rose to the occasion by not only stopping that, but becoming LGBT-friendly.”

In July 2010, Target became a, well, target of backlash, after donating $150,000 to MN Forward, a group that proclaimed to function as a champion of Minnesota’s economy, but also funded campaign ads for Tom Emmer—the Republican candidate for governor who, The Minnesota Independent reported, “authored a constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage and civil unions” in 2007, while a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives.

As reported by Minnesota’s MPR News in an Aug. 20, 2010 article, Gregg Steinhafel, CEO of Target (whose headquarters is located in Minneapolis), apologized for the financial contribution—but only after, MPR noted, “Democrats, gay rights groups and others called for a boycott of the company.”

Steinhafel’s Aug. 5, 2010 letter to Target employees asserted the company’s commitment to “fostering an environment that supports and respects the rights and beliefs of all individuals,” and pledged to bring together “a group of companies and partner organizations for a dialogue focused on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, including GLBT issues.”

Making good on that diversity pledge, ironically, raised the hackles of the antiLGBT American Family Association, which has been boycotting Target since April 2016 for, it alleges, endangering “women and children by allowing men to frequent women’s facilities”—a dog whistle reference to Target’s policy allowing transgender people to use changing rooms and bathrooms in accordance with their identity.

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Whether the product of public embarrassment, genuine enlightenment or a little bit of both, Target, says Evans, “went from the verge of a boycott” during its MN Forward days “to really embracing their LGBT customers, and speaking directly to them.”

Target got its feet wet with 20122016 ads in Out magazine and The Advocate, then, in 2017, Evans said the retailer “expanded those national buys to a number of local markets, including Dallas, New York City, Miami, Boston, Orlando, Salt Lake City, and Denver. They also started carrying Pride merchandise every June, which shows they really educated themselves about the market, and the best way to reach it.”

One series of ads featured individuals of, Evans notes, “every shape and color.

It really speaks to Pride itself, and being accepted. They even end it with the hashtag ‘takepride.’ I don’t think you can ask for anything better.”

Danielle Schumann, Corporate Public Relations Lead at Target, declined numerous requests for an interview, instead referring this reporter to links within the corporate.target.com destination.

Therein, Caroline Wagna, Target VP and Chief Culture, Diversity & Inclusion Officer, proclaims, “In order to continue to be a place where people want to come and spend their money, we have to be connected to who our potential customers are across the board, and in order to stay relevant as a business, we have to be sure our guests are seeing experiences, products, and services that reflect who they are.”

This year, corporate.target.com notes, Pride month was observed in the form of more than 90 Pride-themed items created by working “closely with Target’s Pride Business Council—an HQbased team member resource group—to create an assortment that is inclusive.”

Those items were made available in 350 of Target’s 1,868 U.S. stores.

A perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2019 Corporate Equality Index and “presenting partnership” status with GLAAD’s Spirit Day—described by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation as “the world’s largest and most visible LGBTQ

anti-bullying-campaign”— are among demonstrations of solidarity touted by Target, which also made a $100,000 Pride month contribution to GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network), and said that in 2019, Target team members would “be on tap to volunteer at more than 30 Pride events across the country, including this year’s World Pride in New York City.”

In a case of funding Peter by shortchanging Paul, Evans notes, “This year, Target didn’t advertise at all” with the print publications he represents—a stark departure from their Pride month advertising of the past. “But I did notice they were a World Pride Stonewall 50 Platinum sponsor. I think this year, a lot of people’s budgets went to that.”

Attempts to engage Target on the local level have been unsuccessful, says Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, a member of the National LGBT Media Association.

“We’ve reached out to them on numerous occasions, and the response has been zero,” says Segal. “They have a store very close to the gayborhood here. I also see them advertising in neighborhood and community newspapers in Philadelphia, so you could say they are, at the very least, ignoring our community.”

Community engagement, says Segal, pays dividends. “Various companies in the Philadelphia area that advertise with us and make their presence known feel the strength of the LGBT market coming into their doors,” he notes. “We hear this by their reps calling us and telling us that, or about a congratulatory letter written from an LGBT customer.”

Less impressive was the response to the outreach of PGN senior advertising media consultant Joe Bean, who has 23 years of experience in media sales and says he’s “used to going for big accounts.” Bean noticed the then-new local Target was placing recruitment ads in “all the other papers similar to ours in circulation,” including the local Spanish language publication.

CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

IMPORTANT FACTS FOR BIKTARVY®

This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and your treatment.

MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including: } Worsening of Hepatitis B (HBV) infection. If you have both HIV-1 and HBV, your HBV may suddenly get worse if you stop taking BIKTARVY. Do not stop taking BIKTARVY without first talking to your healthcare provider, as they will need to check your health regularly for several months.

ABOUT BIKTARVY BIKTARVY is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in adults. It can either be used in people who have never taken HIV-1 medicines before, or people who are replacing their current HIV-1 medicines and whose healthcare provider determines they meet certain requirements.

BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS. HIV-1 is the virus that causes AIDS. Do NOT take BIKTARVY if you also take a medicine that contains: } dofetilide } rifampin } any other medicines to treat HIV-1

BEFORE TAKING BIKTARVY Tell your healthcare provider if you: } Have or have had any kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis infection. } Have any other health problems. } Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if BIKTARVY can harm your unborn baby. Tell your healthcare provider if you become pregnant while taking BIKTARVY. } Are breastfeeding (nursing) or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed. HIV-1 can be passed to the baby in breast milk.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take: } Keep a list that includes all prescription and over-the-counter medicines, antacids, laxatives, vitamins, and herbal supplements, and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist. } BIKTARVY and other medicines may affect each other. Ask your healthcare provider and pharmacist about medicines that interact with BIKTARVY, and ask if it is safe to take BIKTARVY with all your other medicines.

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POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF BIKTARVY BIKTARVY may cause serious side effects, including: } Those in the “Most Important Information About BIKTARVY” section. } Changes in your immune system. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any new symptoms after you start taking BIKTARVY. } Kidney problems, including kidney failure. Your healthcare provider should do blood and urine tests to check your kidneys. If you develop new or worse kidney problems, they may tell you to stop taking BIKTARVY. } Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis), which is a serious but rare medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: weakness or being more tired than usual, unusual muscle pain, being short of breath or fast breathing, stomach pain with nausea and vomiting, cold or blue hands and feet, feel dizzy or lightheaded, or a fast or abnormal heartbeat. } Severe liver problems, which in rare cases can lead to death.

Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get these symptoms: skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow, dark “tea-colored” urine, light-colored stools, loss of appetite for several days or longer, nausea, or stomach-area pain. } The most common side effects of BIKTARVY in clinical studies were diarrhea (6%), nausea (6%), and headache (5%).

These are not all the possible side effects of BIKTARVY. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any new symptoms while taking BIKTARVY. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.FDA.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

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GET MORE INFORMATION } This is only a brief summary of important information about BIKTARVY. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to learn more. } Go to BIKTARVY.com or call 1-800-GILEAD-5. } If you need help paying for your medicine, visit BIKTARVY.com for program information.

BIKTARVY, the BIKTARVY Logo, DAILY CHARGE, the DAILY CHARGE Logo, KEEP PUSHING, LOVE WHAT’S INSIDE, GILEAD, and the GILEAD Logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies.

Version date: December 2018 © 2019 Gilead Sciences, Inc. All rights reserved. BVYC0103 02/19

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BIKTARVY® is a complete, 1-pill, once-a-day prescription medicine used to treat HIV-1 in certain adults. BIKTARVY does not cure HIV-1 or AIDS.

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N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 15

Canadian diplomats highlight LGBTQ record

Prominent Haitian LGBTQ activist found dead A prominent LGBTQ activist in Haiti was found dead on Monday.

A member of Kouraj, a Haitian LGBTQ advocacy group, told the Associated Press that Charlot Jeudy’s body was found at his home in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean in a press release said Jeudy, 34, had traveled to Bogotá, Colombia, last week to participate in the ILGALAC Regional Conference. The Washington Blade has not been able to confirm reports that Jeudy, who was Kouraj’s president, was poisoned.

“Charlot Jeudy’s death profoundly saddens us,” said ILGALAC in a press release.

Haiti borders the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola.

The State Department’s 2018 human rights report notes attitudes in Haiti “remained hostile toward LGBTI individuals who were public and visible about their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, particularly in Port-au-Prince.”

“Some politicians, societal leaders and organizations actively opposed the social integration of LGBTI persons and discussion of their rights,” reads the report. “LGBTI advocacy groups in Port-au-Prince reported a greater sense of insecurity and less trust of government authorities than did groups in rural areas.”

Kouraj in 2016 cancelled an LGBTQ festival that was to have taken place in Port-au-Prince amid fears of violence and a government official’s decision to ban it.

OutRight Action International on Monday in a press release said an attack on Oct. 17 left “several members” of Femme en Action Contre la Stigmatisation et la Discrimination Sexuelle (FACSDIS), a Haitian advocacy group, injured.

OutRight Action International also said “an angry mob” threatened three FACSDIS members last week.

A source in the Dominican Republic with whom the Blade spoke on Monday said Jeudy had “received his share of death threats.”

“We will never be able to say goodbye to such an important man who will forever remain in our heart,” said FACSDIS on its Facebook page.

OutRight Action International Executive Director Jessica Stern in her organization’s press release said she “knew Charlot as a bold LGBTIQ leader and fierce advocate fighting for the rights of his community.”

“Even though the cause of death is yet unconfirmed, we fear it is part of a larger pattern of anti-LGBTIQ violence underway in Haiti, potentially focused on people visible within LGBTIQ organizations,” said Stern. “We call on the police to carry out an immediate, credible and transparent police investigation into the death of Jeudy Charlot. Haiti must protect LGBTIQ people from violence.”

ILGALAC echoed Stern.

“We call upon the Haitian police and government to investigate the circumstances of this suspicious death,” said ILGALAC in its press release.

The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition, the American Jewish World Service, the Global Justice Clinic, the Haiti Support Group, the Quixote Center, Dignity USA, Diversidad Dominicana, Universitarios para la Diversidad, Amigos Siempre Amigos, and Outright — groups based in the U.S., the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean and Europe that support LGBTQ advocacy efforts in Haiti — in a statement to the Blade on Monday said they “are greatly saddened to learn” of Jeudy’s death.

“In view of the sudden and unexpected nature of his death, we hope the Haitian authorities will conduct a full and exhaustive investigation into the cause of his death,” said the groups.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

MARTIN LOKEN is minister of political affairs at the Canadian Embassy in D.C. Photo courtesy of the Canadian Embassy in the U.S.

Two Canadian diplomats in the U.S. earlier this month highlighted their country’s efforts to promote LGBTQ rights.

“We are very much aligned in terms of strongly supporting the rights of LGBTQ persons, both at home and abroad,” said Martin Loken, minister of political affairs at the Canadian Embassy in D.C., on Nov. 14 during a reception that was part of the LGBTQ Victory Fund’s annual International LGBTQ Leaders Conference.

“Respect for all human rights is a central tenet of Canada’s domestic and foreign policy,” added Loken.

Loken spoke three weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won re-election. A picture of Trudeau in brownface that emerged in September sparked outrage and seriously tarnished his reputation ahead of the Oct. 21 election that saw his Liberal Party lose its majority in Parliament.

Trudeau in 2017 formally apologized to those who suffered persecution and discrimination under Canada’s anti-LGBTQ laws and policies. Trudeau in a speech he delivered in the Canadian House of Commons also said the government agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by those who were forced to leave the Canadian military and civil service because of their sexual orientation.

A law that added gender identity to Canada’s nondiscrimination and hate crimes law took effect in 2017.

Canada the following year joined the Global Equality Fund, a public-private partnership the U.S. launched in order to promote LGBTQ rights around the world.

Trudeau is among the world leaders who have publicly condemned the antiLGBTQ crackdown in Chechnya.

Refugees and asylum seekers in recent years have increasingly sought refuge in Canada. Randall Garrison, an openly gay member of the leftist New Democratic Party who represents portions of Vancouver Island in British Colombia in the House of Commons, is among those who have said the Canadian government needs to do more to protect refugees and asylum seekers, regardless of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

“While recognizing that countries are at different stages, Canada continues to advocate to eliminate laws and policies that discriminate against persons based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics and to combat all acts of violence targeted towards LGBTQ persons,” said Loken.

Canadian Ambassador to the Organization of American States Hugh Adsett at the Nov. 14 reception noted his country is a founding member of the OAS LGBTI Core Group, which seeks to promote LGBTQ rights in the Americas.

“Canada is proud to be part of this collaborative effort to support the rights of LGBTI persons in the Americas,” said Adsett.

Adsett also said Canada has “been working closely with” the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and other OAS-affiliated entities “to advance our collective responsibility to protect LGBTQ2 persons against human rights violations.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

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headache frequency over a 16-month period via an online application.

Authors reported that inhaled cannabis reduced subjects’ perceived severity of headache and migraine by nearly 50 percent. Men were more likely than women to report changes in headache severity.

Investigators also acknowledged that many subjects exhibited tolerance to cannabis over time, as they required increased quantities to maintain the same self-reported analgesic effects.

They concluded: “The present study indicates that inhaled cannabis reduces headache and migraine severity ratings by approximately 50 percent. Repeated use of cannabis is associated with tolerance to its effects, making tolerance a risk factor for the use of cannabis to treat headache and migraine. However, cannabis does not lead to the medication overuse headache that is associated with other conventional treatments, meaning that use of cannabis does not make headaches or migraines worse over time. Future double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials are warranted and will help to rule out placebo effects and provide a more controlled examination of dose, type of cannabis, THC, CBD, and THC x CBD interactions.”

‘Our federal laws have not kept pace with the obvious need for change,’ said House Judiciary Chairman Rep. JERROLD NADLER. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

Cannabis de-scheduling bill passes House committee Members of the United States House Judiciary Committee last week passed legislation – House Bill 3884: The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act – by more than a two-to-one margin.

Members decided 24 to 10 in favor of the Act, with two Republicans voting in support of the bill. The MORE Act removes the marijuana plant from the federal Controlled Substances Act, thereby enabling states to enact their own cannabis regulations free from undue federal interference. The vote marks the first time that members of Congress have ever voted to federally deschedule cannabis.

The Act also provides for the review and expungement of past cannabis convictions and provides reinvestments to those communities most adversely impacted by the drug war. It also prohibits the denial of federal aid to those who use cannabis in compliance with state law and allows physicians affiliated with the U.S. Veterans Administration to authorize medical cannabis recommendations, among other changes. The measure is the most comprehensive piece of marijuana-related legislation ever approved by a body of Congress.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, who sponsored the bill, said: “States have led the way and continue to lead the way, but our federal laws have not kept pace with the obvious need for change. We need to catch up because of public support [in favor of legalizing marijuana] and because it is the right thing to do.”

NORML’s Political Director Justin Strekal praised the House Judiciary vote, stating, “Not only does this bill reverse the failed prohibition of cannabis, but it also provides pathways for opportunity and ownership in the emerging industry for those who have suffered the most under federal criminalization.”

Nadler indicated that the next stop for the More Act could be a House floor vote, presuming that other committee chairs agree to waive their jurisdiction over the bill.

Inhaled cannabis helps with migraines: study PULLMAN, Wash. — Cannabis inhalation is associated with self-reported reductions in headache and migraine severity, according to clinical data published in the Journal of Pain.

A team of investigators from Washington State University reviewed archived data from 1,959 anonymous cannabis consumers who tracked their cannabis use and

H E A LT H • NOVE MBER 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTON B L A DE . COM • 19

Two-thirds of Americans say pot should be legal More than two out of three U.S. adults believe that the personal use of cannabis should be legal, according to nationwide polling data compiled by the Pew Research Center.

Sixty-seven percent of respondents said that the “use of marijuana should be made legal.” That is the highest percentage of support ever recorded by Pew, which has been surveying Americans’ attitudes on marijuana policy since 1969. Public support for legalization has more than doubled in the past decade.

The Pew survey is the fourth national poll released in recent weeks showing majority support for cannabis legalization. Recently compiled polling data by Gallup and the Public Religion Research Institute both reported that two-thirds of Americans endorse legalization, while survey data compiled by Harvard reported that 62 percent of US adults back the policy change.

Consistent with other national surveys, support for adult-use legalization was strongest among self-identified Democrats (78 percent) and Millennials (76 percent), but was weaker among Republicans (55 percent) and those born before 1945 (35 percent).

“The percentage of the public who favors adult-use marijuana legalization has skyrocketed over the past three decades and shows no signs of abating,” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said. “As more and more states have moved forward with their own marijuana liberalization policies in recent years, public support has only grown stronger. At a time when political divides are larger than ever, the issue of marijuana legalization is one of the few policy issues upon which most Americans agree.”

N.J. Senate leaders propose 2020 pot ballot measure TRENTON, N.J. — Senate President Steve Sweeney and Sen. Nicholas Scutari, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced plans last week to place a constitutional amendment on the 2020 ballot to legalize and regulate adult cannabis use.

“This initiative will bring cannabis out of the underground so that it can be controlled to ensure a safe product, strictly regulated to limit use to adults, and have sales subjected to the sales tax,” they said in a joint press release. “We will move forward with a plan that helps correct social and legal injustices that have had a discriminatory impact on communities of color. We can make real progress toward social justice at the same time cannabis is made safe and legal.”

According to a statewide Monmouth University poll released this year, 62 percent of New Jersey adults support legalizing personal use quantities of cannabis and 80 percent approve of it being sold at licensed retail outlets.

Legislative efforts to enact a system of regulated marijuana sales stalled after the proposal failed to obtain sufficient support to pass a Senate floor vote.

Cannabis Culture news in the Blade is provided in partnership with NORML. For more information, visit norml.org.

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20 • WA S H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • N OV EM B ER 2 9 , 2 0 1 9

ADAM OUANES

is a therapist intern at an LGBTQ health center in Philadelphia and an MSS candidate at Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. A primary focus of his work is looking at the inherent challenges faced by the LGBTQ community due to collective trauma.

PETER ROSENSTEIN

is a D.C.-based LGBT rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

VI E W PO I NT • NOVEMBER 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTON BL A DE . COM • 21

RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

is a writer and activist. Reach him at rrosendall@starpower.net.

KATHI WOLFE

is a regular contributor to the Blade and winner of the 2014 Stonewall Chapbook competition.

Keep your promise to protect each other.

ADAM OUANES

is a therapist intern at an LGBTQ health center in Philadelphia and an MSS candidate at Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. A primary focus of his work is looking at the inherent challenges faced by the LGBTQ community due to collective trauma.

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Staying sober during the holidays 7 tips to help you remain alcohol free during stressful season

Surviving the holidays is a difficult task for many LGBTQ people, but for sober members of the community it can almost feel like an impossible feat. It seems like alcohol is woven into the fabric of the holiday season. Between family obligations, office parties, and your friend’s annual, ugly holiday sweater party, it can feel like liquor has an inescapable presence. Not to mention the stress of dealing with family members and financial pressures can really take a toll, which makes relaxing with a peppermint Schnapps hot chocolate all the more enticing.

SHOULDN’T THE FINAL MEMORIES OF Though every person has their own goA LOVED ONE BE AMONG THE FINEST? to strategies that allow them to pursue their sobriety, here are seven uncomplicated times when nothing short ofshort the bestofwill do.best A memorial ThereThere areare times when nothing the will do. A tips that can help you remain alcohol free service is one of them.

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A ceremony ahead and design every detail of your own remarkable send-off. and others. If you’ve made the decision to unique as the individual. We’ll help you plan ahead and begin the journey of sobriety, then that is design every detail of your own remarkable send-off. the No. 1 priority. It is perfectly OK to say no to anything you feel may put your sobriety at risk. If you are afraid that being at a family event will be too stressful and triggering for you, then don’t feel obligated to engage.

What to say when someone offers you a drink? No is a complete sentence. If someone offers you a drink, it’s OK to say no and leave it at that. Most people won’t think twice about your response and will move on.

There are times when nothing short of the best will do. A memorial In the event that someone pushes you to say service is one of them. It is a final expression, the culmination of a lifetime more, try coming up with a brief response A DV I C E • M E D I AT I O N • L I T I G AT I O N • A P P E A L S • C O L L A B O R AT I O N A D V E R T Ibeforehand S I N G P so RO Oare F not caught off guard. orchestrated into a singular event. What leaves a lasting impression? you For example, “I’m just trying to be healthier” AISSUE ceremony that171208 is as unique as the individual.

We’ll help you plan DATE: SALES REPRESENTATIVE: is a perfectly legitimate and truthful answer. ahead and design every detail of your own remarkable send-off.

REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of Keep a drink in hand. Nonalcoholic, of proof. Proof will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is course. This is a way to avoid the dreaded responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or “Would you like a drink?” question altogether.

IONS any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair GO REVISIONS competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, Many people choose to nurse a club soda or any other right of any person or PLANNING entity. Advertiser agrees to brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the ADVERTISER SIGNATURE FAMILY | ESTATE | idemnify EMPLOYMENT | IMMIGRATION NS washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless from any and all By signing this proof you are agreeing to your contractclub obligations with theand cranberry juice, or with lime, soda liability,LITIGATION loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees |and expenses that may be incurred washington blade newspaper. This includes but is not limited to placement, COMPLEX | LGBT | ADOPTION TREE & NEIGHBOR DISPUTES by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the foregoing representations payment and insertion schedule. some other variation to easily blend in. After and warranties. all, no one can spot the difference between a La Croix in a glass or a gin and tonic.

Bring your own transportation. It can AT T O R N E Y S AT L AW • D C | M D | VA be helpful and comforting to know that you 3 0 1 . 8 9 1 . 2 2 0 0 • S P - L AW. C O M have the ability to leave a situation on your 6 9 3 0 C A R R O L L AV E , S U I T E 6 1 0 • T A K O M A P A R K M D

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own whenever you may need to.

Know your limits. You are responsible for your sobriety, and it is OK to honor your limits. You will become acutely aware of the situations that trigger your desire to drink or use other substances. Early on in recovery, this might even look like setting time limits for yourself when you need to be at a party.

If you are at a family event and find yourself in a conflict with a family member, try to remove yourself from the situation.

Fighting with family can be extremely triggering, and it’s best to make sure you are safe. Calmly walk away, and either go to a safe space to collect yourself or leave.

“Bookending.” If you are concerned about a particular family event, one good strategy is to bookend the event with something to do before and something to do or somewhere to go after. Bookending is a great way to ensure an easy escape in case the event is too much to handle.

Try grabbing a cup of coffee with a friend prior to the event and setting up a hangout session with another friend afterwards.

Use this holiday season to make some new, alcohol-free traditions. There are a lot of awesome holiday events you can engage in that don’t necessarily have to be centered around drinking. Try having a holiday cookie decorating party with your friends and watch some bad Hallmark Christmas movies. Gingerbread house contests can get pretty intense among friends too. Zoo lights are a fun way to get out of the house and in the holiday spirit if you don’t mind the cold.

There are plenty of events like your local Gay Men’s Chorus holiday show and other theater productions.

All it takes is a little bit of reorganizing what the holidays means to you. Creating new traditions and honoring your selfcare choices can brighten up the season and help you not only survive, but also thrive this holiday season.

22 • WA S H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • N OV EM B ER 2 9 , 2 0 1 9

PETER ROSENSTEIN

is a D.C.-based LGBT rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

Impeachment: Do it now and get it over with I want to see the House of Representatives return articles of impeachment against President Trump. He has thwarted Congress, tried to bribe a country to investigate his political opponent for personal gain and run roughshod over the Constitution. Congress should impeach him now.

That being said we know the United States Senate will not convict him. There are not anywhere near 20 Republican senators with the guts, decency or commitment to their oath of office to convict. We will be lucky if there are one or two when it comes down to a vote. So the result will be as it was with Bill Clinton and before him Andrew Johnson in 1868, the president will be acquitted.

The reason to get this over with quickly is so the media, the Congress and the Democratic candidates can get back to talking about the issues people seem to care about and understand. I say this with remorse because it is sad more people don’t care about Trump’s riding roughshod over the Constitution. But all polling is showing except for Democrats they don’t. In fact the longer this goes on we are seeing independents, who in many cases want to be rid of Trump and who we hope will vote Democratic, not favoring impeachment believing it will not accomplish much.

Fivethirtyeight, which is tracking opinions on this, is finding little change among Democrats and Republicans on impeachment after the public inquiry but independents are moving against it. The Hill reported, “The latest national poll from Emerson College finds 45 percent oppose impeaching President Trump, against 43 percent who support it. That’s a 6-point swing in support from October, when 48 percent of voters supported impeachment and only 44 percent opposed.

More importantly, the poll shows more independents now oppose impeachment than support it, a significant change from Emerson’s polling in October. The new poll found 49 percent oppose impeachment compared to 34 percent who support it. In October, 48 percent of independents polled supported impeachment, against 39 percent

who opposed.”

I wish more Americans would be as outraged with Trump as I am. It is sad and telling about where we are in this country that they aren’t. But my view is our focus must be to get Trump out of the Oval Office. If it can’t be done by impeaching him then let us get back to focusing on healthcare, education, good paying jobs, foreign policy with particular attention to relations with our allies, dealing fairly with Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East, immigration and infrastructure — all areas on which Trump is vulnerable.

If the stock market continues to go up, 401k accounts continue to rise, and the unemployment rate continues at record lows a candidate wanting to talk about shaking up the economy won’t have a winning message. We will need a candidate to be more empathetic to the crisis in the lives of African Americans who are facing more open racism because of Trump than they have in decades. A candidate who can convince those voters he/she will fight to change the structural racism that exists in our country. A candidate who will fight the epidemic of violence against transgender women of color and turn around the hateful policies the Trump administration has directed toward them. A candidate who can make people feel they will fight for realistic and immediate change to our healthcare policies to lower drug prices and ensure insurance for those with pre-existing conditions today, not in some potential future universal policy.

A candidate who can clearly explain what they will do to fight opioid addiction to the millions of families with a member addicted.

These are the issues that will win Democrats the Congress and the White House.

I want to see Trump and a host of his sycophants in Congress and administration in jail. I want to see them investigated and called out for their clear lack of living up to their oath of office among so many other crimes. But my first and overwhelming priority is to get Donald J. Trump out of the presidency and moving impeachment forward quickly is one way to help do that.

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RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

is a regular contributor to the Blade and winner of the 2014 Stonewall Chapbook competition.

is a writer and activist.

Reach him at rrosendall@starpower.net.

Community woven in struggle Articles at the New Ways Ministry blog are routinely posted at night. It is good to have company in my wakefulness, albeit virtual. An hour before dawn I reached for my tablet and found an entry titled, “At Fall Assembly, U.S. Bishops Vote to DoubleDown on LGBTQ-Negative Agenda.”

I lay in the dark, my brain storming, contemplating the moral bankruptcy of the episcopacy. What is the point of having a Church at all if it is going to look like this?

I know, the Church is a community of believers, not its buildings nor its hierarchy.

It took me well past my teenage years to find community, in the city, among my own kind.

The Church’s leaders insisted that I be a sheep instead of a human being. That never appealed to me. Great crimes have been facilitated by people behaving like sheep.

Exiled, I retain favorite teachers, organ concerts, memories of a beautiful campus, and the phrase “On Church Index” typed in red on card catalog entries in Falvey Library for books that were nonetheless on the shelves. And off in the mist, a beautiful boy of 20, now 62, whose sunflower simply was not made to turn my way, but who, it turns out, still follows my writing.

My virtual Church is built on moments of connection, undeserved, unexpected, sometimes glimpsed in our first South American pope, whom so many of the bishops resist. He has his flaws, such as ignorance of the science of gender identity, which includes brain chemistry.

Telescopes and microscopes have always vexed the bossy old men of the Church, who ignore evidence that contradicts their dogma like Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.

Nov. 20 was the Transgender Day of Remembrance. The previous day, the global scale of transphobic violence was emphasized when trans refugees at the Kakuma camp in northwest Kenya were pelted with stones. The culprits were not only the Turkana locals who threw them, but politicians like President Uhuru Kenyatta who stoke hate.

I met a trans friend for coffee last week in a northwest corner of the District. She was helping me aid a refugee. We chatted

with the freedom of familiarity for a few hours until dusk fell. She is smart, tough, and funny. Director Ryan Coogler says a meeting where someone brings an idea you hadn’t thought of is the best kind of meeting, and that is how I felt as my friend shared her insights into current controversies. Cold weather brings the prospect of more gatherings warmed by good food, drink, and fellowship as we take respite from the battles outside.

With World AIDS Day approaching, amfAR’s HIV Cure Summit was held in San Francisco on Nov. 21. On the previous day, a ceremony at the Library of Congress announced that the National AIDS Memorial is taking custody of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. That took me back half a lifetime to the sight of two men from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington holding each other and sobbing beside a friend’s panel during a massive display on the National Mall. Multiply that by a hundred thousand to approximate the scale of cathartic grief the quilt mediated.

Our little remembrances are overwhelmed by the magnitude of collective loss. But that is how we honor those who are gone, like an old soldier leaving a medal at the foot of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial below the name of a comrade who died young. We know that our tokens and pencil scratchings are inadequate. It is just how we express our connectedness, our defiance of the void.

The years are catching up with my generation. Our friends taught us how to die, not how to grow old. Like the quilt’s preservation being passed from one group to another, our struggle will be continued by a new generation whose journey we cannot chart.

On the night of Nov. 20 I went to my roof and lit a candle for trans women murdered by ignorance and hate, for friends fleeing persecution an ocean and a continent away, and for moments of grace, unauthorized, bearing seeds of redemption, like those I myself have been blessed to witness.

Copyright © 2019 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.

Thank you,Virginia Woolf, conjurer of women’s and queer lives I love to wake up to The New York Times and a cuppa joe on Sunday mornings. But recently, I was so startled by what I read in the Times that I had to put my coffee down.

What made me do a spit-take? An interview with Andre Aciman, author of “Call Me by Your Name,” 2007 Lambda Literary Award winner, and its sequel “Find Me,” in the Times Book Review’s By the Book column. (An Oscar-nominated movie of “Call Me by Your Name” was released in 2017.) The Aciman interview was headlined “Andre Aciman Would Like to Demote Virginia Woolf From the Canon.”

What book would you remove from the canon of great books, the Times asked Aciman. “I would remove ‘Mrs. Dalloway,’ by Virginia Woolf,” Aciman said. “‘Mrs. Dalloway’ is an overrated novel that I don’t find particularly gripping or interesting,” he added, “I’m not even sure it’s well written.”

Why am I telling you this? Because Woolf, the queer British writer, who lived from 1882-1941, is a hero to many feminists and queers. She is an integral part of our history. Her work is embedded in our hearts, minds – our DNA. To dismiss Woolf is to dismiss a beloved queer icon.

It isn’t just Aciman’s Times interview that has me thinking about Woolf. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the publication of Woolf’s seminal feminist work “A Room of One’s Own.” First published in 1929, it became a sacred text of second wave feminism. Nearly a century later, it still resonates with many of us today.

I love movies and binge-watching TV. But books still matter – whether read in print or on one’s phone.

Especially if you’re queer, female or from any marginialized group. That was the case with me when I was young. I rarely came across queer characters in movies, TV or books – unless they were depicted as mentally “sick” or “depraved” criminals paying the price for their crimes. Until I found “A Room of One’s Own” and “Mrs. Dalloway” in the library.

In these works, for the first time, I saw

that there were people like me: folks who were attracted to people of their own sex. And they weren’t “perverts.” These queers were mothers, teachers, wives – people who gave parties.

Woolf wrote gender-bending, queer, feminist, modernist fiction and essays decades before we talked about our pronouns; extolled postmodernism; decried the economic inequality between men and women; or yearned for more queer liplock in art.

In “Mrs. Dalloway,” Woolf does something revolutionary for her time. She portrays a day in June in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, an ordinary woman in London. In the novel, Clarissa remembers a pivotal moment from her youth. “Sally stopped, picked a flower, kissed her on the lips,” Woolf writes, “The whole world might have turned upside down.”

“A Room of One’s Own” is based on lectures that Woolf gave to two women’s college at the University of Cambridge. The idea of the book is simple, but true: you need enough money to live and a space to create in order to write. Because most women have lacked funds and a “room of their own” they haven’t been able to write.

There’s been much progress for women since “A Room” was published. Yet, because of sexism, transphobia, homophobia, domestic violence and the attack on reproductive freedom many women are still unable to write. As VIDA, a women’s literary organization says on its website, “it’s difficult when we are working every day for survival.”

In “A Room of One’s Own,” Woolf imagines a fictional writer named Mary Carmichael.

“The very next words I read were these ‘Chloe liked Olivia,’” Woolf writes, “...Do not blush...Sometimes women do like women.”

Woolf wrote sentences the likes of which had never been written in English, Sheila Black, a poet and writer emailed me. “She conjured a women’s viewpoint as it had never been quite conjured before.”

Thank you, Virginia Woolf, conjurer of women’s and queer lives!

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Vol. 11

Homo home gifts sure to please Busboys and Poets, Tabletop and more give you plenty of options

By ALEXANDRA RADOVIC Home decor gifts are tricky. Yeah, maybe she collects ceramic frogs, but will she like the one you picked? And let’s face it — unless you’re a zillionaire, tabletop and wall real estate in our D.C.-area homes, apartments and rented rooms is precious. A gracious gift giver never wants to inadvertently guilt someone into having to have something on display the next time the giver pays a call.

So think strategically, find out the return policy for any shop you purchase a gift from and hang onto receipts just in case. A $3.99 porcelain cottage from Value Village? Yeah, pretty safe. The Prince canvases $850 (and up!) from Busboys and Poets? Could make someone’s year or be a colossal mistake.

That said, here are some regional spots with cool stuff that may not be on your radar.

These distinctive vases from Tabletop (6927 Laurel Ave, Takoma Park, Md.) range from $60-105 and are handmade in Portugal.

These mini porcelain antique cottages sell for $3.99-5.99 at Value Village (10121 New Hampshire Ave, Silver Spring, Md.). They can add a cozy feel to any size home this season.

Tabletop has smaller gifts, whether it be a mug bearing powerful leaders of different genders in history ($18), a satirical troubled bird quote ($16) or a simple rainbow ($14). This small décor is fitting for your hippest family and friends.

Editor’s note: This is part two of four Blade holiday gift guides. Last week’s installment (pop culture) is online at washingtonblade.com if you missed it. Look for “hot this year” (Dec. 6) and “last minute” (Dec. 13).

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Vol. 11 Artful Framing & Gallery (6960 Maple St., N.W. B) offers a particularly prideful acrylic piece titled “All Love.” It sells for $99.

Another quirky music shop in Takoma Park, House of Musical Traditions (7010 Westmoreland Ave), is the perfect place to by specially made instruments for your music loving friends. Ukuleles typically range from $50-400, depending on the handmade size and style.

Vintage accordions run about $2,850.

Busboys and Poets, (235 Carroll St., N.W.) offers a gender and sexuality book section, perfect for any LGBT person on your list. Currently stocked titles include: “We are Everywhere” for $40 and “A Queer History” for $20.

Others pictured include the Elton John memoir for $30, “Gender Outlaws” for $16.99 and “To My Trans Sisters.”

These hand-crafted abstract pieces add a cool flare of eccentricity to any wall. The top left collage is titled “BEAUTY,” selling for $400. Next to it, also for $400 is “BEAST.” Below these two, GEISHA (bottom left) and “BALI” both price at $120.

This three piece set of Prince canvases sells for $850 per 24x48-inch and $1,200 for the 30x48-inch work.

Also swing into Chocolate Moose to grab a collection of books, or even just one that celebrates queer life. Selections include: “Queer Heroes” for $14.99 and “Seeing Gender” for $17.50.

N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 27

This fierce tiger and rainbow accessory tray serve as a cute table topper to add an extra pop to any surface. The tiger runs at $9 and the rainbow at $8, both from Chocolate Moose (1743 L St., N.W.).

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1 Our Heroes 2019

Exhibit on history of AIDS in D.C. on display On behalf of THE OUR HEROES COMMITTEE-2019 we are proud to announce that the OUR HEROES EXHIBIT will install 50 new photos and bio of Heroes in the fight to end HIV/AIDS at the Metropolitan Community Church 474 Ridge Street NW Washington DC on December 02, 2019 at 5:30pm will be the opening ceremony and will remain on display until December 15 2019 .

This installation is open to the public.

The complete collection of the Our Heroes exhibit includes 350 black and white portrait photographs of individuals, places, events and organizations whom have made an impact in the war against AIDS in Washington, DC over the past 32 years (1981 – 2019). The Martin Luther Memorial Library Historical Collections now has ownership of the complete collection for its historical value of the history of HIV/ AIDS in Washington, DC. This is the largest exhibit of its kind in United States.

OUR HEROES 2019 Opening Ceremony December 02, 2019 5:30pm to 9:00pm at Metropolitan Community Church Gallery 474 Ridge Street NW Washington, DC On display: December 02, 2019 to December 17, 2019 Master of Ceremony Rayceen Pendarvis Team Rayceen

2004 Cornelius Baker

president and fundraising chairman of Brother, Help Thyself, the gay community charitable giving campaign of Washington and Baltimore.

Michael Boteler

PHOTO BY GARY JONES

Cornelius Baker has been one the AIDS community’s most successful organization builders and an effective advocate on behalf of people with AIDS. He served as Executive Director of the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) beginning in 1996; he served previously as Whitman-Walker Clinic’s executive director. Baker has also served as a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services panel on clinical practices in HIV treatment, the U.S. Public Health Service/ Infectious Disease Society of America’s Working Group on the Prevention of Opportunistic Infections, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on HIV/ AIDS. Baker has also served as aide to Washington, D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz; as a member of the transition team of President George Bush; as Confidential Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the National AIDS Program Office (NAPO) under the Bush administration; and as the first Director of Public Policy for NAPWA. Baker is former

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

The following words are from Michael Boteler: “I saw someone in the early years in need; I did whatever I could to make them feel loved and cared for.

“Even before I found out that I had AIDS, I was not feeling well for quite a while and I went to the doctors, he drew blood, had me come back in a week and said to me “You have GRID (AIDS) you better get yourself together. You will probably be dead in about three weeks,” and then he turned around and left the room never to come back. I was devastated by this information, immediately I felt like all of those other expressions on those lonely, fearful faces that I had seen of so many times before. I gathered so much strength from still continuing in the early years with Activism, sitting with those just finding out, helping around the house, taking them to the doctors or hospitals, and sometimes not bringing them back home with me because they just didn’t have chance. I remember the fear, the isolation, the discrimination, the blame shifting and the hatred that others had for us.

“My journey through life has been one that I would never ever wish to give back. AIDS has been a blessing in my life. I have been a caregiver to those with HIV/AIDS in both the hospital and hospice setting. I have helped to arrange funerals for those who have died of AIDS, I have held the hands of their children, consoled their parents who did not know about them being sick and I have also been at memorial services of people who were so very popular and when they passed no one showed up but a handful of people. In my work today I am a coordinator for Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington, as an openly HIV-positive man who is also in recovery. I am the HIV Spiritual Retreat Coordinator and Support Group Facilitator for the Ministry with a caseload of approximately 525 participants; we also do a Burial Assistance Program for those who pass with HIV/AIDS to help the family give the deceased a burial with dignity. The retreats are held 7 times per year and I also continue in my recovery process sharing very often about my status and how important it is to get tested and remain safe. My life is so very full and I am so grateful for the disease of AIDS.” Peace and Blessings, Michael J. Boteler

Bishop K. Rainey Cheeks The following is from Bishop Kwabena Rainey Cheeks: “May 1975 was the opening of the Clubhouse, a membership dance club here in Washington, D.C. It was quite unique every Friday and Saturday night between 800 to 1,200 people

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

came each night to dance the night away. I was one of the managers of the club; in the early ‘80s we noticed we many of our members and friends becoming ill — it was the beginning of what we know to be the AIDS pandemic. I was ordained as a minister in 1982; little did I know this would be the start of my ministry. We did not understand what this was; we just knew something was happening that was affecting our community. By 1984 it was devastating how many of our friends were sick and dying from this strange disease.

“At first, we did not know what to think or what to do about this because it was hitting every one no one was being left out as much as it was being pushed as a gay white disease.

We knew better because it was right in the midst of our community. In the beginning I found myself working with people, trying to find ways to help from raising money to help other organizations, to pay someone’s rent, buying medication. Everyone involved in the early days did whatever it took. At the Club House we had many entertainers to perform, the Weather Girls, Nona Hendrix, and Sylvester were just a few. After I got them to the club, I would tell them I wanted to use the limousine to go and pick someone up that may be ill to see the show as a way to uplift their spirits. They were more than willing to do this and they would spend a little time to meet them in the dressing room. In those days we

2 would come together to help each other out by cooking dinner, cleaning the home, or just sitting with each other as needed. In one month I hosted over 17 funerals because most churches would not host them or gave little help. Thank God it’s different today.

“In 1984, I started a support group for HIVpositive people. I knew Prem Deben was also working as an herbalist and therapist; we then formed a Holistic health support group. In 1985, we officially incorporated Us Helping Us, People Into Living (UHU) as a holistic organization to find ways to improve one’s health. It was a body, mind, and spirit connection that we knew we had to make. There were support groups for men and women. The training was two 12-week sessions to study the use of herbs, vitamins, diet and nutrition and how to make an inner connection to find ways to strengthen our lives. We chose the name Us Helping Us, People Into Living because we truly believed we could live with HIV/AIDS and one day we would be focusing on other health issues. In the beginning we worked totally out of pocket. In 1993, I left UHU to open Inner Light Ministries and Dr. Ron Simmons became the Executive Director. Today, UHU is one Washington, D.C.’s largest HIV/AIDS service organizations. None of us knew we would be still dealing with the same issues today.”

Alex Compagnet

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Alex E. Compagnet, MA, was born in Chile on May 20, 1949. He came to the United States in 1976 after having spending two years in a concentration camp under the rule of a fascist dictatorship. He learned to speak and write English while studying for an education degree at the National College of Education in Chicago.

In 1987, after two years working as a counselor in D.C. General Hospital, he founded SALUD Inc., the first AIDS prevention and education non-profit organization that aimed to serve Latinos in the Washington Metropolitan area. He was also active in helping the first local Latino Gay support organization ENLACE. By 1994, SALUD Inc. had been serving thousands within the Latino community, regardless of HIV status, in the areas of housing, medical services, personal counseling, and HIV/AIDS prevention. It was at this time, at the age of 45, that Alex suffered a severe stroke that initially led to his withdrawal from SALUD. Yet, within two years, he fully recovered. He now lives in Kensington, Maryland with his two daughters Taina and Marcela. He teaches at Montgomery County Community College and is in the process of developing his own business. He also remains a board member of La Clinica del Pubelo, never having failed with his commitment to the Latino community.

Alex Compagnet says, “I can’t just see people dying and suffering and not do anything

about it. In the future, I want my children to see me as a person who fought against AIDS, one of the worst pandemics of our time. It is not in me to just watch from the outside, but to do my part and help the only I know how, which means to never stop.”

DC CARE Consortium

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

The DC Comprehensive AIDS Resources and Education Consortium (DC CARE) was created on June 19, 1991, in response to Title II of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act. Its first task was to provide opportunities for member organizations and the community to exchange ideas and strategies for delivering HIV/AIDS services. This action was driven by the Consortium’s belief that through community discourse a diverse and changing HIV/AIDS populace can learn from each other and develop methods for working collaboratively.

The Consortium, a non-profit organization, provides services to more than 65 HIV/AIDS agencies that are its members. With the support and leadership of the CARE Consortium, these agencies are able to give quality services to people living with HIV/AIDS. These services include: clinical trials – education and recruitment; direct financial assistance (eviction prevention); supply water filters; and transportation support.

Since its inception, DC CARE has made numerous accomplishments, including being the first concerted effort in Washington, D.C. to involve HIV/AIDS service agencies working to target federal funds for programs to serve communities of color. DC CARE is also developing a media campaign targeting under-served populations that supports its outreach efforts to increase participation in testing, treatment, prevention, and safer sex. The Consortium conducts an annual Toy Drive that gives toys to children either living with HIV/AIDS or who are members of families challenged with HIV/AIDS. In October 199, DC CARE sponsored the Gospel Against AIDS Concert. More than 800 people attended, with representatives from the U.S. Congress, the White House, HIV/AIDS Pharmaceutical Corporations and the Entertainment Industry. Mr. Al Roker of NBC’s “Today” show served as Master of Ceremonies for the concert.

Food & Friends For people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses, the battle is far from over. Food & Friends makes sure no one has to face it on an empty stomach.

Along with nutrition counseling, Food & Friends prepares packages and delivers meals and groceries to more than 1,000 people living

PHOTO BY GARY JONES

with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Since 1988, Food & Friends has provided food and companionship to our clients, their loved ones and caregivers. The mission of Food & Friends is to foster a community caring for men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses by preparing and delivering specialized meals and groceries in conjunction with nutrition counseling.

Letitia Gomez

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

“My awareness of the devastation of HIV/ AIDS on our community goes back to 1980 when I worked as a medical social worker at M.D. Anderson Cancer Hospital in Houston.

The staff was suddenly confronted with patients who had Kaposi’s sarcoma, happened to be gay white men, and were dying. It wasn’t until I came to Washington, D.C., that I was confronted with the death of long time friends with HIV/ AIDS. Most were warriors against HIV/AIDS and worked tirelessly to make Latino and African Americans visible in the battle. These losses still hurt today, as does the ignorance and denial that abounds in our community and will mean more unnecessary loss. Unless we continue to tell our stories and remain visible and vocal, THE BATTLE CONTINUES.” Letitia Gomez has worked to support many efforts to combat HIV/AIDS locally and nationally since 1987. She and many other gay and lesbian Latino activists of ENLACE, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Latino Gay and Lesbian organization worked with SALUD, Inc. in the late 1980s to bring attention to the epidemic’s effects on the Latino community.

Letitia was one of the founding board members of the D.C. Woman’s Council on AIDS, and LLEGO, the national LATINO/A Lesbian and Gay Organization. Currently she serves on the board of Whitman-Walker Health and the board of AIDS Action Foundation.

Jim Harvey “2006 marked my 20th year of working in the HIV/AIDS field. My background is in Public Health, but something happened to me in the mid 1980s that changed the direction of my career and my personal interests for all the subsequent years. I found myself standing on

PHOTO BY GARY JONES

the sidelines, watching my closest friends die one after another until one day I counted 38 friends in one year who were now gone. I knew I had to do something and thus began my long journey along the road to HIV prevention and care. In the District I quickly became alarmed at the reality of this disease disproportionately affecting my own people at alarming rates while too few people in the African-American community stepped up to the challenge of fighting back. I found a few determined friends and colleagues who felt like I did and together we went to the D.C. Council and pressed them for resources that would support our bringing the fight against HIV/AIDS to the African American community. Our efforts lead to the birth of Washington, D.C.’s first two African American-lead organizations that to this day are often remembered fondly as the reason so many of us are still in the struggle. I’m glad I have company in this fight.”

Pat Hawkins

PHOTO BY GARY JONES

I believe that for most of us, joining the fight against AIDS became the defining experience of our lives. I know that it was for me. There was a “pre-AIDS” world, and a “post-AIDS” world – and they were totally, dramatically, and forever separate.

In the “pre-AIDS” world, sexual freedom was a gift and a given, and death was distant and rare occurrence coming mostly to those who had “run the course” and had the time to face their own mortality.

In the “post-AIDS” world, sex was fraught with guilt and conflict, and death came to young people in the prime of their lives – to our “best and brightest” – leaving so many empty spaces, so many uncompleted tasks, so many unanswered questions, so much promise unfulfilled. Dying became an everyday experience, fear a constant companion. During one two-week period in 1992, I went to 10 funerals or memorial services.

That was not uncommon, as we buried our clients, our colleagues, our close friends, and there seemed to be no end to the overwhelming grief and loss.

And I remember the pervasive fear – fear of this unknown and unpredictable virus; fear of being “outed” by this disease and the hate and discrimination that followed (a fear shared by PWAs and gay providers alike); fear of dying a sudden death from PCP, or a long and agonizing decline from CMV, which could leave people

3 blind, paralyzed, and/or demented before it claimed their lives.

But most of all, there was fear of dying alone; and it was this fear that galvanized first the gay community, and then others, to come together, to volunteer, to organize, to develop new programs, to design new strategies, and to become empowered activists like Hank Carde.

It was this widespread activism that finally led us to more effective treatments, and it is those treatments that now keep so many more people alive, and that have brought us all the hope we all share today…a hope that one day, we will, once again, live in a world without AIDS. We are not there yet…but gay and straight, black and white, men and women, we are on the march, and we will let nothing stand in our way.

As for those of us who survived those early days of darkness and despair, we have been forever changed. I know that we will always see life more vividly, hold friends more closely, and keep memories more precious, for we have truly walked with heroes, and I believe they walk with us still.

Charles Hicks

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Bisexual, Transgender and other spiritually disenfranchised peoples. As an evangelical, biblically based, Christ-centered congregation, MCC-DC has sought to fulfill God’s will by faithfully serving the people of the D.C. Metropolitan area.

On May 24, 1985 MCC-DC lost its first member to HIV/AIDS. That member, James Vincent McCann, had served as a deacon at MCC-DC, and was very involved in the music ministry of the church. On June 24, 1986 the James Vincent McCann Memorial Fund was established to provide pastoral care ministry to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and to help meet their basic human needs, (i.e. food, shelter, transportation, insurance premiums, utilities, etc.). Since then, MCC-DC has given over one hundred thousand dollars to people outside the congregation in an effort to fulfill the ministry of Jesus Christ by easing the suffering of others in the midst of this pandemic.

Jacquelyn Pace PHOTO BY GARY JONES

Charles “Chuck” Hicks is a man actively involved in his community. He is a graduate of Syracuse University were he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He is employed at the Martin Luther King branch of the Washington, D.C. Public Library. He is president of the Local Union 1808, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents librarians and technicians. He has recently stepped down as city-wide president of AFSCME DC 20, which represents over 3,000 D.C. government employees.

Chuck is considered one of the pioneers of the HIV/AIDS movement for African-Americans in Washington, D.C. He began the first black HIV/ AIDS community-based volunteer organization.

His major effort is with Bread-for-the-Soul – an organization that organizes special projects of toys and food baskets for parents and/or children living with HIV/AIDS for the holidays. Chuck is also a trustee of The Greater New Hope Baptist Church and chair of its historical committee.

Charles is founder of the Washington, D.C. Black History celebration committee and he has chaired the Mayor’s HIV/AIDS Advisory Board.

Over the years, Chuck has worked with various HIV/AIDS committees and organizations.

The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, DC

The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C. (MCC-DC) began its ministry in 1971 and to this day serves as a Christian church with a special ministry to Gay, Lesbian,

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Ms. Jacquelyn H. Pace is truly a role model for her commitment to the AIDS program. Ms. Pace, affectionately known as Jackie Pace, became involved in the AIDS program after her best friend lost her daughter due to the complications of AIDS. It was Jackie’s fervent belief in her own purpose that allowed her to provide love, hope, and encouragement to her best friend and is what motivates her to do the same for so many others affected by HIV/AIDS. Ms. Pace is a HIV/AIDS certified peer counselor/educator. She has also received training at the US Conference of Mayors and Whitman-Walker Clinic in the Fundamentals of HIV Prevention Counseling and Comprehensive AIDS Training Initiative (CATI) at Howard University.

Ms. Pace is the Faith-Based Coordinator at Damien Ministries where she oversees all activities pertaining to the metropolitan area churches. She is responsible for coordinating the activities of the D.C. Faith-Based AIDS Organizing Initiative.

Ms. Pace is credited with implementing the AIDS Ministry at her church, Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Washington, DC. She planned and organized healing and prayer services, AIDS Awareness Days, Thanksgiving Dinners and Christmas Gifts for the Needy, as well as solicited donations and participated in the

AIDS Walk and Walk for life.

Ms. Pace currently serves as Treasurer for the Far NE/SE Ecumenical Outreach Ministry, a spin off from the Balm-In-Gilead, an organization instituted by Pernessa Seele of New York. BalmIn-Gilead is responsible for instituting the wellknown “Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS.” She has been a Team Leader with Samaritan Ministries Spiritual Retreats since June 1998.

She held the position of Chairperson of the DC Catholic AIDS Network from 2000 to 2003. In this capacity she facilitated meetings and workshops for Catholic parishes on HIV/AIDS education.

She also served on the National Conference Planning Committee for the National Catholic AIDS Network. She participated in the Eucharistic Congress facilitating workshops to encourage other parishes to establish HIV/AIDS ministries.

Jackie continues to deliver immeasurable results as a devoted advocate for HIV/AIDS programs and initiatives.

Kevin Robinson

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Kevin is a native Washingtonian. He tested HIV-positive in 1999; in 2000, he lost use of his left arm and hand. When you talk to him, you too will find that he refuses to let his status keep him down. Currently he is on meds with a viral load of 700 and a T-cell count of 465. He has high selfesteem and cannot be discouraged. There’s no stopping this D.C. Hero!

Cheryl Spector

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

When I decided to stop spending all of my time at the ‘faze me’ and at ‘the other side’ for the drag shows, and become an activist. I didn’t do it for the recognition, but I have to admit – it is nice to be acknowledged.

When my brother Dr. Stan Spector committed suicide in New York City on Oct.14, 1985 due to having AIDS, President Reagan and his band of homophobic conservatives wouldn’t do anything. He couldn’t bear to put our family through what he believed would be a tragic, long, and drawn out death; something inside of me started to burn.

I started quietly questioning why a 34-yearold doctor with a stunning future had to die.

Where was the government? Where was the medical community? Where was the support for him? No, he shouldn’t be quarantined on an

island. After I had time to grieve, I decided I was going to try to make change.

On Jan. 10, 1987, at the request of my friend Judy Greenspan, I went to the gay and lesbian community center in Baltimore to attend a regional meeting for the 1987 March on Washington for gay and lesbian rights. The rest is history.

The energy, the anger, the electricity and the power of grassroots organizing had me. From the point on I’ve been involved, I decided my brother’s death would never be in vain; I think I’ve made him proud.

Whether it was the march in 1987 or 1993, OUT DC, ACT-UP, Queer Nation, the Lesbian Avengers, my contributions to the Lesbian Services Board of the Whitman-Walker Clinic or my contributions to the Rainbow History Project or my work with the transgender community, taking pictures or video, I did what I could because I think it is the right thing to do.

SPECTRUM – Clifton Allen Robinson and Dwight Clarke

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

In 1983, I attended a funeral a week for friends who passed from AIDS-related illnesses.

As president of the DC Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays, I asked our members to provide the community with HIV/AIDS prevention information because no one was reaching out to people of color, particularly men who had sex with other men. Lawrence Washington, George Bellinger, David Naylor, Thomas Gleaton and myself went out several nights a week to the bars in an attempt to reach people with literature information and condoms, but the deaths became more frequent. I lost more and more friends and acquaintances.

In 1984, we held the first national AIDS in the Black Community Conference at the Washington Convention Center. People flew in from all over the country for a one-day conference. That’s when I found out no one had any more information about behavior modification than we did. The following year, the city awarded the DC Coalition first contract ever issued for HIV prevention outreach to people of color. As National Treasurer, I became the project coordinator of SPECTRUM. I wanted to call it SPECTRUM because of the skin rainbow of people of color. Dwight Clarke came to work for us with little health education, but a keen a sense of how to reach people. He knew there had been little outreach to people of color, but he was willing to try to reach them. Many of his interventions have become national HIV/AIDS prevention tools and models. The sad part is that Dwight Clarke, George Bellinger and I are some of the few people still in the prevention field, or, for that matter, alive to see that we could make a difference in 2004.

4 Otis “Buddy” Sutson

PHOTO BY LEIGH MOSELEY PHOTO BY GARY JONES

The following text is from an article that previously appeared May 28, 2004 in the Washington Blade. The article was written by Bryan Anderton.

“Otis “Buddy” Sutson has dedicated much of his adult life — the last 30 years, in fact — to helping black gays and lesbians in Washington. And in three decades, he says he’s noticed a dramatic change.

“It’s grown tremendously, with the increased visibility we’ve received,” Sutson says. “We’re much more vocal as well. We’re more active in politics and in the workings of the city. I think we realized that we had to get involved if we wanted to change it. If we wanted to raise awareness of our issues, we had to get involved.”

Sutson, a native Washingtonian, has been active in such organizations as the Best of Washington, a social group for black gays, the D.C. Coalition, a gay political organization, Black Lesbian & Gay Pride Day Inc., which was founded 14 years ago in part to help African Americans affected by HIV/AIDS, the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry and Damien Ministries, which provides services to HIV-positive adults and children in Washington.

For the past 20 years, Sutson has been a driving force in the Best of Washington social club. A founding member of one of the most enduring organizations for black gays in Washington, Sutson has served the club in just about every capacity imaginable, and currently acts as its chairman emeritus. He and some friends started the Best of Washington simply to have something to do.

Sutson and his friends began organizing Sunday night tea dances, which allowed black gay men and lesbians to socialize and connect with each other. The group also hosted “All-Night Struts” at various venues on Saturday evenings that would regularly attract hundreds of people.

Sutson has also worked extensively with HIV/AIDS populations. After retiring from his first career, as a personnel specialist with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, where he worked for 25 years, he decided he wasn’t ready to settle down just yet, and began working at the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry.

2005

Marion Barry, Jr. Marion Shepilov Barry, Jr. served four terms as mayor of Washington, D.C. from 1979 to 1991 and from 1995 to 1999. Since 1971, when he was elected to the first city school board, he has held several other elected offices and late in his career represented Ward 8, which comprises Anacostia and Congress Heights on the Council of the District of Columbia.

In the 1960s, he joined the American Civil Rights Movement in an effort to eliminate racial segregation of bus passengers, and was elected the first chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). During his leading SNCC, Barry heavily lobbied against racial segregation and discrimination.

During his early days as mayor of Washington, D.C., Marion Barry reached out immediately to the city’s gay and lesbian community. During his second term, the AIDS epidemic began its deadly assault on our city. As a result of his leadership, Washington, D.C. was one of the first cities in the country to publicly fund AIDS prevention activities and, later, services to help those who were sick.

Reginald Blaxton

During this period, in the midst of a growing AIDS epidemic, and spurred by his anger and frustration at what he saw as clear failure on the part of the church community to respond adequately to the crisis, Reggie began increasingly to speak out on this issue. His deep-rooted commitment to his faith and his community, his superior intellect and prophetic zeal, and his thorough knowledge of religious institutions in the District all combined to make him a much respected and highly effective advocate for change. In 1988, he became a founding board member of the Washington AIDS Partnership. He was a pioneer in the development of culturally appropriate HIV/ AIDS training curricula and methods in religious community settings.

Beyond his many professional achievements, Reggie’s family, friends, and colleagues remember him most for his charismatic presence, his unequivocal views, his warmth and lightning wit, and his genuine love for other people.

No one who knew him was left untouched by the extraordinary force of a truly extraordinary personality.

Reginald Glenn Blaxton, priest, activist and author, died March 11, 2001 of AIDS-related complications.

Melvin Boozer

PHOTO COMPLIMENTS THE FAMILY

Reggie was born in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 1953, to Lois and Samuel Blaxton. He attended D.C. public schools and graduated from Western High School in 1970. A gifted music autodidact, he served as organist for the Church of St. Stephen and the Incarnation in Washington during his high school years.

In the fall of 1970, Reggie left Washington to attend Colby College in Waterville, Maine. He excelled academically and graduated in 1974 with a degree in philosophy and religion. He the spent the 1972-73 academic year abroad at the Manchester college of Oxford University, where his studies focused on the theology of the Reformation and contemporary Christology.

After college, he heeded a call to the ministry and entered Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the fall of 1975.

Reggie was ordained to the Diaconate and the Priesthood in the Diocese of Chicago, and he served as urban Associate in the Episcopal Urban Center at St. Barnabas’ Church in Chicago from 1980 to 1981.

Upon his return to Washington, Reggie became an assistant pastor at St. George’s Episcopal Church. In 1984, he was appointed Special Assistant to the Mayor for Religious Affairs, acting as official liaison (with cabinet rank) to religious community constituents, organizations and institutions, a position he held until 1991.

Among his many significant achievements in this role was his successful development of the first church-based, government-run drug treatment center at DC’s First Rising Mount Zion Baptist Church.

PHOTO BY LEIGH MOSELEY

Not much is written about black gay activist Mel Boozer, but he will be fondly remembered for his nomination (and later withdrawal) for Vice President of the United States in 1980. He was also a member of Black and White Men Together, an organization dedicated to harmony between gay men of different ethnic groups. He ran for vice president while serving as president of the Gay Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C. Listed below are quotes from his 1980 address to the Democratic National Convention: “…I rise in thankful recognition of the citizens of the District of Columbia who voted for me to come here knowing that I am gay, and who continue to labor and live in a city which has no voice in determining how it shall be taxed and which has no power to effect the decisions which affect the quality of our lives.

“And finally, Mr. Chairman and members of the convention, I rise in anguished recognition of more than 20 million Americans who love this country and who long to serve this country in the same freedom that others take for granted, 20 million lesbian and gay Americans whose lives are blighted by a veil of ignorance and misunderstanding…

“We come from towns and cities where our friends are jailed and beaten on the slightest pretext. We come from churches, which have been burned to the ground because they admit us to worship. We come from families, which

have been torn apart because we have lost our jobs, and we have lost our good names, which have been slandered by false accusations, myths, and lies… “ Would you ask me how I’d dare to compare the civil rights struggle with the struggle for lesbian and gay rights? I can compare, and I do compare them. I know what it means to be called a nigger. I know what it means to be called a faggot. And I can sum up the difference in one word: none.

“Bigotry is bigotry. I have been booed before.

Discrimination is discrimination. It hurts just as much. It dishonors our way of life just as much, and it betrays a common lack of understanding, fairness and compassion.”

Brother Help Thyself, Inc.

PHOTO COURTESY BHT

Brother Help Thyself, Inc. (BHT) was founded in 1978 and is one of the first organizations in the United States to provide funding for health, cultural, and social services in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) community. Over the past 28 years, BHT has raised over $1.8 million and distributed the funds to more than 250 groups and organizations. BHT disburses direct and matching funds, acts as a clearinghouse for donated goods and services, and serves and an information resource in the GLBTQ community.

BHT has also developed programs that help in areas of existing community services including: the BHT hotline that provides information, referrals, and a non-judgmental ear to its callers; Respect/Protect, a programs that distributes AIDS educational information, condoms and lube to patrons of local businesses; and Volunteer Clearinghouse that organizes volunteers to help BHT grantees with their events and provides support when grantees need specialized skills.

BHT serves as a safety net for the GLBTQ community. Gay non-profits sometimes face financial emergencies; for instance, anti-gay sentiment at the state and federal levels has decreased HIV/AIDS funding. In such situations, BHT steps into the gap and provides support.

During 2005, BHT made enormous strides to keep funding levels high at a time when many organizations were in dire need of our assistance.

BHT continues to hold true to its purpose and mission of supporting all segments of the community applying for financial support.

PHOTO BY LEIGH MOSELEY

5 Raymond Carter

This young man was known for parties and clubs that he organized. He was always willing to give money and support to HIV education.

Alan Cephas

PHOTO COURTESY THE FAMILY

Alan Cornelius Cephas, a former professional super-model, departed this life on Jan. 26, 2000 at the Washington Home and Hospice of Washington, D.C. He was 48 years old. Alan was born on April 20, 1951 in Washington, D.C. and lived in Northeast. During his modeling career he also in lived in Philadelphia and New York City.

Alan attended the D.C. public schools of Carter G. Woodson Junior High School and McKinley Technical High School. His love for drawing and design intersected with his professional interest in fashion.

With a self-developed portfolio, Alan promoted his talents. Affiliation with a Washington, D.C. modeling school and agency led him to a successful career with Wilhelmina Models of New York, a company that continues to launch and manage the careers of top models and superstars. As a “Wilhelmina Man,” the company represented Alan and gave him national international assignments and exposure.

Alan became a regular and featured model for Ebony, Ebony Man, Essence, and GQ magazines.

Before starting in the fashion industry, he worked in a support staff position at the Federal Reserve Board and a designer for point-of-purchase displays at a local women’s fashion store and a major department store.

From designing sketches, store displays to walking down runways, Alan was featured in the former Washington Star newspaper as one of DC’s promising professional models. His career included advertisements, modeling at the annual Congressional Black Caucus dinner and fashion shows, and for several years he modeled for internationally known designer Bill Blass.

When he could no longer model, he worked at educating throughout the DC community about HIV and AIDS. Within the last three months of his life, it was Kaposi’s sarcoma that became his greatest challenge.

Alan’s fun-loving spirit, debonair style, and unconditional love will always be remembered.

Carlene Cheatam – “The Queen Mother”

A kind and giving person and a passionate leader are just a few ways to describe Carlene Cheatam, a woman who has been active in the Washington, D.C. black LGBT community since 1980.

A resident of Washington, D.C. since 1979, Carlene initially joined several organizations to see exactly who and what comprises the

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

community. She joined the DC Coalition of LGBT persons in 1980 and served as member and leader of the organization for 24 years. In 1983, she became the first African American and woman coordinator of the ‘P Street Beach’ activities that birthed D.C. Capital Pride. The same year, she also co-coordinated the first HIV/ AIDS march on Washington, D.C. Moreover, she has also served as a founder, coordinator and later president of Washington, D.C.’s Black Lesbian and Gay Pride, Inc. from 1990-94.

She has also expressed interest in HIV/AIDS issues as member of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Planning Council.

Carlene has also worked diligently to educate the gay community (and the black gay community in particular) on the need to become involved in politics. In recent years, she has served in Mayor Anthony Williams’ office, first as a director of the office of the public advocate, and then was the Mayor’s first special assistant for gay and lesbian affairs. Carlene has received a number of awards for her work in the community since 1983. She has been awarded by Black Lesbian and Gay Pride, Inc., the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the Passages Conference, the National Museum for Women in the Arts, and the Uncommon Legacy Foundation. In 1997, she received a Mayoral Proclamation from the Council of the District of Columbia.

As of 2004, Carlene is a special assistant for the bureau of program integrity in the mental retardation and developmental disabilities administration in the District’s Department of Human Services. She continues to inspire younger gay people with her spirit, her warming presence, and her charm.

Barbara Ann Chinn

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Barbara A. Chinn is director of the Max Robinson Center of Whitman-Walker Health. In addition, Barbara serves as the primary liaison with the community “East of the River” for WhitmanWalker’s HIV/AIDS education and outreach.

She has managed or served as administrator for many of the programs offered by WhitmanWalker including Schwartz Housing Services, Sunny Sherman AIDS Education Services, and the Volunteer Resources Department that coordinates over 2,000 community volunteers in their provision of services to individuals affected

by HIV/AIDS. As Director of the Max Robinson Center, in addition to administration, she ensures

that primary medical care and dental services, case management services, mental health and addictions counseling, nutritional counseling and day treatment services are integrated and responsive to the needs of the clients.

Barbara is a native Washingtonian, and attended D.C. Public Schools and Howard University. She has served on numerous boards and committees within Whitman-Walker and throughout the Washington community. She is a former member of the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition Board of Directors, the Glaxo-Wellcome Community Advisory Board, and is presently a member of the Positive Words Editorial Advisory Board. Barbara was most recently appointed to the Mayor’s Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and has been recognized for her work with HIV/AIDS and the LGBT communities.

Of greatest importance to Barbara is the education of the community she is serving and that all understand the impact of HIV disease, its prevention, and its treatment.

discussed, economic hardships and funeral directors closing doors in their faces, resulted in families turning to the Foundation for financial support, guidance and understanding.

In view of the growing numbers of HIV/ AIDS-related cases reported for Washington, D.C., the foundation has broadened its focus to include HIV/AIDS intervention workshops, providing outreach through participation in numerous health fairs, and working with faithbased organizations to educate parents about having gay or lesbian children. These may be the hallmarks of the organization, but like other HIV/AIDS service organizations, the Foundation remains responsive to trends in HIV/AIDS. This includes initiating an analysis of the needs of senior citizens living with HIV/AIDS.

Shurron Farmer

Dwayne S. Brown Foundation, Inc. (DBSF) PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

PHOTO COURTESY THE FAMILY

In June 1992, William Beale co-founded the Dwayne s. Brown Foundation, Inc. (DBSF) with his son Dwayne S. Brown who died of AIDS-related complications on Dec. 27, 1994. The Foundation is a 501© (3) nonprofit community and familybased organization initially developed to fill gaps in services experience by people living with HIV/ AIDS. The mission of the Foundation is to promote effective, efficient and accessible HIV/ AIDS intervention and treatment services in Washington, D.C., ensuring the development of a system responsive to emerging HIV/AIDS trends. The Foundation’s primary objectives are providing educational information about intervention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and providing support services to individuals and families of persons living with HIV/AIDS. Issues related to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community are also addressed, including support and promotion of HIV/ AIDS education; reducing the treatment gap for those requiring the necessary resources to combat and/or live with HIV/AIDS; disseminating information and implementing a treatment outcome monitoring system.

The concept for family-oriented support services grew out of the increasing need for burial assistance. As late as the 1990s, families in Washington, D.C. were still struggling with the stigma of a loved one succumbing to an AIDSrelated illness. Families were not only devastated by losing loved ones to AIDS, but they also encountered barriers when trying to arrange funerals for such loved ones. This coupled with the shame of a disease that would not be openly

My name is Dr. Shurron Farmer, and I am much honored to have been asked by Kevin Yancey Kenner to be a subject of his wonderful art as it relates to the Our Heroes exhibit. Apart from the AIDS quilt, I’d never heard of such an expression of the ramifications of HIV/AIDS through art, music, and poetry.

I grew up in Quincy, Fla., a small town 22 miles north of Tallahassee. After completing my bachelor’s degree in mathematics (summa cum laude) at Florida A&M University in 1994, I moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue graduate studies in mathematics at Howard University. I received a master’s degree in 1996 and later the Ph.D. in 2001. I’m currently a mathematics professor and I continue to live in Washington, D.C. Since 1996, I’ve been active in the black gay community through various activities, including volunteer work with Brother to Brother, Us Helping Us, Al-Sura, and Brothers Reaching Out (B.R.O.), a group that promotes fellowship through volleyball. During my tenure as chairman of B.R.O., a group of basketball players was also formed. I’ve also tried to exemplify being a Christian black man who is also happy being single, non-heterosexual, and not willing to live a gay lifestyle as opposed to simply living. It’s my belief that while sexuality (as only a part of who I am) has helped to determine my choices in life, sexuality is not my entire lifestyle. Jesus Christ is the head of my life and it’s through Him I recognize my lifestyle as a tapestry of many aspects, including my sexual identity. It is my sincere hope Our Heroes will touch the hearts of the people it reaches. As the fight for a cure for HIV continues, I continue to try to make some contribution of encouragement or impartation of strength to someone who might believe HIV = AIDS = death. We must all remember HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence and that one can live with HIV happily and healthy.

As with many friends and colleagues,

6 HIV/AIDS has made a great impact on me personally. Over the years, I’ve lost an uncle, cousins, and close friends to AIDSrelated illnesses. HIV’s impact on my life increased in 2001 as I was then diagnosed as HIV-positive. Since that time, I’m even more determined to live a good life of faith and prosperity; I will not allow my condition to deter me from being happy as a Christian gay person and encouraging others, especially my brothers and sisters in the LGBT community, to be happy with who they are. As Kevin Kenner and I became friends in 2001, we’d discuss our mutual love of pictures and photography, often joking about my being an assistant to a professional photographer. Little did I know what began as a joke between friends would evolve into an artistic expression linking friendship, a common hobby, and a condition. Yes, HIV/ AIDS should make all of us examine and reevaluate the true meanings of compassion, sensitivity, pride, choice, circumstance, and faith.

Friends Meeting House

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Organized in 1930, the Friends Meeting of Washington moved into its meeting house at 2111 Florida Ave., N.W., near Dupont Circle in 1931. Fifty years later, the Meeting House recognized a gay and lesbian weekly meeting group. In 1986, the Friends Meeting began its outreach and support to persons with HIV and AIDS by creating the Ad Hoc Committee on AIDS. The following year, the Meeting House began a weekly coffeehouse for persons with AIDS that continues to the present.

The Friends Meeting of Washington offered its premises for regular meetings of Washington, D.C.’s OUT! AIDS activist group which met regularly at the Decatur Street offices adjoining the meeting house. The Friends Meeting has also provided regular meeting space for other LGBT organizations, including a black lesbian group.

Friends’ food programs have also been a support for persons with AIDS in the community.

Fred Garnett

with HIV and AIDS to end the pandemic and the human suffering caused by HIV/AIDS. It was incorporated in 1987 through the contributions of Jay Coburn, Paul Kawata and Stephen Beck, its first executive director, to be the voice of people with AIDS at the center of power.

Thomas Gleaton

PHOTO COURTESY THE FAMILY

Thomas was widely known throughout the community for his kindness, compassion, understanding, commitment and dedication.

He was a lifelong Washington resident and an honors graduate from Cardozo High School.

Thomas attended Dillard University in Louisiana and returned to the Washington, D.C. area to pursue a decade-long career in early childhood education at Fillmore Day Care Center. His commitment to improving the quality of life for lesbians and gay men motivated Thomas to become very active in the Black Lesbian and Gay Movement and later propelled him into the forefront of the battle against HIV/AIDS. He provided significant contributions to the Black Lesbian and Gay Community in Washington, D.C. and the nation. Thomas’ professional career included being the Volunteer Coordinator for Whitman-Walker Clinic and the Executive Director of the Inner City AIDS Network (ICAN).

Thomas’ legacy inspired and influenced many. His civic and spiritual accomplishments included being a deacon at Faith Temple, and a member of Inner Light Unity Fellowship Church, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., and the Civilian Review Complaint Board. His affiliations in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community included being President of the D.C. Coalition, membership in the Black Male Empowerment Group, Gays and Lesbians Opposed to Violence (GLOV), and the Black Lesbian and Gay Pride, Inc. Committee. He also contributed to HIV/AIDS issues as a member of: the Ryan White Planning Council, the HIV Community Coalition, the HIV Prevention Community Planning Committee, the School Condom Distribution Committee, and the Lawrence Washington Memorial Foundation.

He also served as a board member with Food and Friends and Joseph’s House, and he was a contributor to the NAMES Project. Finally, Thomas was the recipient of several award and commemorations from organizations throughout the Washington metro area and the nation.

Jim Graham PHOTO COURTESY THE FAMILY

Fred Garnett of Washington, D.C. was a member of the first Board of Directors of the National Association of People with AIDS. NAPWA advocates on behalf of all people living

Jim Graham worked in both the public and private sectors to improve and protect those most vulnerable. A graduate of Michigan State University, Jim received a J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School and an L.L.M.

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

from Georgetown University Law Center. In his past tenure as Whitman-Walker Clinic’s longtime executive director, Jim played a key role in the development of the DC metro area’s response to the AIDS epidemic. In consequence, people with AIDS and HIV, their friends, family, and colleagues were well served by one of the most sophisticated and comprehensive communitybased systems in the nation. In 1999, Jim left Whitman-Walker to take his seat as the Council member for Ward One. As a Council member, he was an advocate for all the residents of the most diverse ward (Ward One) in Washington, D.C., where no single population group has a majority. As an openly gay man who is an immigrant and naturalized citizen, Jim not only appreciates the diversity of Ward One, he also contributes to it.

Jim Graham has been a strong advocate for our diverse interests. The lives and livelihood of Latinos have been enhanced due to his efforts to strengthen the Office of Latino Affairs and expand health insurance coverage for immigrant children. Economic development initiatives throughout the Ward have received much attention, and are finally getting off the ground.

He is a friend of labor.

While in office, Jim devoted major resources to constituent services. He and his staff made sure basic service needs were met. In addition, Jim made a practice of personally responding to 60 to 80 constituent e-mails each weekday morning “before work.”

He took the lead on repairing slum properties without evicting tenants and rehabilitating nuisance buildings. He was a leader in preventing our children from being poisoned by lead. He fought for more police while also strengthening substance abuse programs, and he worked to improve recreational parks.

Chapter President of Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honor Society and Student Senator at the University of Colorado at Denver from 1985 to 1987. He later changed his political affiliation to the Republican Party and was proud to be one of the few young African-Americans bringing a voice of diversity to the Republican Party.

In 1988, he moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked as a claims examiner at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management until 1989.

From December 1989 until June 1991, when he was fired, he was employed by Adams National Bank as a Financial Analyst. Mr. Hall later sued the Bank for disability discrimination. Mr. Hall’s valiant three-year struggle with the Bank was fueled by his determination to see institutions become more responsive and compassionate to the needs of disabled employees coming after him. The case was settled in June 1994; however, the Bank challenged the settlement award based upon unfounded allegations that he and his attorneys leaked the settlement amount to the media. Unfortunately, Mr. Hall died without receiving his settlement. His estate continues to pursue his case.

While living in Washington, James became a Certified Peer Counselor for the Inner City AIDS Network (ICAN). Sabrina Green, AIDS activist and friend to Jim, says, “Jim will be remembered as a fighter who was true to his belief. Jim met the ravages of AIDS with courage and dignity.” “He died the day before he was scheduled to testify and six days after the Judge granted a request by the Bank to remove his attorneys who had pursued the case for over three years on his behalf,” said Dale Edwin Sanders, Mr. Hall’s attorney during the case.

James Hall died from AIDS-related complications Thursday, April 4, 1994 at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Rebecca Helem

James Michael Layne Hall PHOTO COURTESY REBECCA HELEM

PHOTO COURTESY THE FAMILY

James M.L. Hall was born in Denver on July 10, 1963. He graduated from the University of Denver in 1987 with degrees in political science and economics. He also served with distinction as a Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Reserve, from 1984 to 1992. He was deeply interested in politics as demonstrated by his early involvement in Denver. He was a Close Up Foundation Program Instructor, delegate to the Colorado Democratic Convention (1982-84), and served as a judge for the Denver Elections Commission. He served as

Rebecca A. Helem is a longtime activist, cultural organizer, poet, program manager, and licensed Social Worker. She is native of Philadelphia and a vibrant daughter of a long line of creative and sagacious women. Rebecca received her MSW in 1996 from the University of Pennsylvania, and has worked for over 20 years in an array of non-profit settings. From the late ‘80s to the late ‘90s, Rebecca dedicated years of her life to the fight against HIV/AIDS. She served as a program manager and innovator in various HIV/ AIDS service settings to include local and national community based organizations, a faith-based organization, a high school, jails and prisons, and as a volunteer AIDS buddy. In 1991, she received and Emerging Leader Award from the Philadelphia Gay News for her work, and she has

7 conducted numerous workshops throughout the United States.

In 2001, in recognition of her volunteer and paid work in the health and human services field, she received a scholarship to attend a National Training of Trainers Workshop for Human Rights Education from the Stanley foundation and the University of Minnesota Human Rights Resource Center. Ms. Helem is the founder and president of RIVA, the Rights in View Alliance. RIVA’s mission is to foster community building, via spiritual and artistic activities, focusing on the healing and wholeness of African-American women.

In 2002, Rebecca received a fellowship to attend a meditation retreat for long-time activists of color at the Vallecitos Mountain Refuge in New Mexico. In 2004 she received her Meditation Teacher Training Certificate from the Ananda Expanding Light Retreat Center in California.

Rebecca brings a wealth of creativity, knowledge, and commitment to justice for our human family.

Robyn Holden

PHOTO COURTESY ROBYN HOLDEN

Robyn Holden has served as a volunteer for DC Black Pride, often co-organizing the Monday festivals in the park at Carter Baron Amphitheatre and Kenilworth Park. Robyn brings decades of broadcast experience, media savvy and an intimate knowledge of the District Government and its players to The ANC and YOU, a weekly 30-minute television program that centers on issues related to the 8 wards and sub-wards in Washington, DC. The ANC and YOU concentrates on providing up to date information on city government, its managers and how it affects the citizens, as well as residents of Washington D.C. As an integral part of the local government, the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners are showcased for their grass roots efforts in providing services for the citizens in the District. In addition, The ANC and YOU interviews citizens on location with a cutting edge op-ed commentary at the conclusion of each program.

Greg Hutchings

Baptized in Japan in 1969 at the age of 14, Greg graduated from high school two years later and in the top 5% of his class. The following year, Greg matriculated to Howard University in Washington, D.C. as an accounting major and graduated in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. After these early achievements, Greg became a loyal and concerned family member, a compassionate and dependable friend, and a committed community activist. A dedicated family man, Greg married his high school sweetheart Shari Howard Thomas in 1972. Together they became the parents of three children: Ishair, Gregory Jr. and James.

Gregory specialized in the fields of HIV/AIDS issues for more than 10 years and in financial management for more than 20 years. He served as the executive director of Lifelink and as the HIV Prevention Coordinator for the District of Columbia. He co-founded the HIV Community Coalition in 1993 and was also a former board member of the Colours Organization in Philadelphia and of the Paul Anthony Dillard, Jr. Memorial Foundation at the Howard University School of Divinity. Greg was also CEO of GCH Management, and the former financial advisor to: Us Helping Us, Safehaven Ministries, D.C. Women’s Council, Joseph’s House and Miriam’s House. An openly HIV-identified person since 1990, Greg was often featured in TV, radio and print media.

Greg was granted eternal rest at the age of 44 in 1999. He dedicated his life to supporting the dreams of his friends, family, and community.

He completed his life journey triumphantly – a life filled with love and joy.

Gregory Carl Hutchings, Sr. began his life on July 30, 1955 as the beloved first son of Irvin and Dolly Phifer Hutchings. As an “Air Force brat,” Greg spent much of his childhood traveling, settling and resettling with his family at military bases around the world.

Sparkle Maharris

Kevin Yancey Kenner PHOTO COMPLIMENTS CHERYL SPECTOR AND DAVID OTTOGALLI

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

I’m not hiding my face out of shame or guilt, but because you fear what you don’t understand.

But yet I still live a full life in spite of it all.

Being a survivor for 17 years, I cover myself in pride and adorn myself with hope.

Chauncey Lyles, Jr.

PHOTO COURTESY THE FAMILY PHOTO COURTESYGREG HUTCHINGS, SR.

in the community he loved and remembered so much.

Chauncey was a local gay activist and founder of the U Street Festival that celebrates the colorful history of one of the most renowned African-American cultural and arts centers in the country. Chauncey spent his life trying to preserve the history of the African-American community and bridge all the diverse segments together.

His endless efforts included involvement in the first Adams Morgan Day Festival, D.C. Black Repertory Company, Maya Gallery, Black Lesbian and Gay Masquerade Gala, publishing the Black Guide, publishing the Black Lesbian and Gay Pride Weekend souvenir program, creation of “Christmas in My Soul” AIDS fundraiser, and countless other promotions of political and civic fundraisers. His life work also included a successful career in printing and event planning.

Chauncey will always be remembered as an individual with a strong personality, coupled with a distinct insistence of doing it “his” way.

Nonetheless, a permanent contribution has been made by Chauncey to the African-American community, instilling the need to network and bridge all individuals toward the common goal of a unified and respected existence.

Chauncey H. Lyles, Jr., a lifelong resident of Washington, D.C., ended his courageous battles against AIDS on Friday, June, 21, 1996 at the age of 40.

Chauncey H. Lyles, Jr. was born on Oct. 8, 1955 to the late Chauncey H. Lyles, Sr. and Ernestine Lyles. He was educated in the D.C. school system and attended McKinley Tech High School. As a young adult, he moved to Atlanta to pursue his career. After 10 years away, Chauncey returned to Washington, D.C., to become active

Sparkle Maharris was a popular statuesque African-American drag performer of the 1980s and 1990s who hosted and performed in many clubs in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Her popular impersonations were of Patti LaBelle and Millie Jackson. She could always be counted on to lend her talents to various AIDS-related and other community causes.

Unfortunately, Sparkle was violently taken from us in 1999. Below are excerpts from an article posted in The Drag Rag in 1999: “Sparkle Maharris’s unexpected death this past weekend has left the DC drag community in mourning just weeks after losing Dana Terrell.

Sparkle Maharris’s amateur night at the Frat House and the Bachelor’s Mill gave many many DC drag artists a start. For Teena Marie Cromwell, who just lost her mother, the death of Sparkle, her drag mother, has been an especially hard blow.

“Sparkle was loved and she will be missed,” said Teena who added “Sparkle gave me my start at Rascals. We’ve been through a lot together.”

Teens noted the most important thing she had learned from Sparkle was to “just be myself and have fun. She taught me to be real, don’t be fake and put on a front. And don’t sugar coat things… ...JC Van Raine, hostess of Viva Las Vegas at Omega has known Sparkle for eight or nine years

since being in Sparkle’s Amateur Night show at Rascals. Ms. Maharris was a key to many a drag career and friendship. JC noted how many many drag queens got their start through Sparkle”. She also remembers how hard it was to understand Sparkle’s voice in the morning. “You had to wait until about 1:00 in the afternoon for her voice to be understandable.” Sparkle had a tiny little dog named Tiffany who would sometimes fall over when she barked… …Lorraine Greco, who counts Sparkle a dear friend for over 17 years, paid Ms. Maharris one of the greatest compliments in describing Sparkle as a true friend. “Once she was your friend, it was for life. No matter what happened. I will always remember her and will never let people forget her!”

W. Myron Maye

PHOTO COURTESY THE FAMILY

June 15, 1956 – July 17, 2003 A renowned musician, Myron was also a flight attendant for 12 years with U.S. Airways and Director of Music for The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C. During the ‘80s, he was Director of Music for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in northeast Washington and also directed choral music at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Rockville, Md. Born in Washington, D.C., on June 15, 1956, Myron’s vast musical talents included his own compositions that were performed in local concerts and musical productions. He performed with the Nevilla Ottley Singers, the Federal City Performing Arts Association Male, and the Gay Men’s Chorus. In the late 70’s he was a keyboardist and instrumental arranger with Howard University’s Children Theater Workshops. In 1996, he helped found Brother to Brother Sister to Sister United, Inc. Some of his major compositions include: Meditations on Light, Love and Hope, An Advent Cantata, Toda el mundo baile, a chamber suite, Five Songs on Friendship, Suite for Flute in Four Movements, Three Prayers, Behold, This Dreamer Cometh!, Rumple, There’s Always a Rainbow, Black Fairy and The Bad Children. His spirituality and special relationship with God and Jesus Christ is reflected in many of these works. Not only was Myron an accomplished performer and composer, he was a gifted teacher who guided a number of local singers in enhancing their vocal abilities.

A 1981 cum laude graduate of Howard University, Myron was a fervent “Star Trek” fan and enjoyed traveling, reading, viewing movies, gardening, cooking, and listening to a variety of music, particularly classical and show tunes.

Skilled in cross-stitching, his framed works adorn the homes of family and friends. His roombrightening smile, quirky sense of humor, and

8 willingness to lend a helping hand endeared Myron to many.

Metro TeenAIDS

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Founded in 1988, Metro TeenAIDS has worked to prevent new HIV infections among young people and improve the quality of life for young people living with and affected by HIV. Metro TeenAIDS currently serves young people under the age of 25 in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Every day, Metro TeenAIDS works to improve the spread of this deadly disease through outreach and education, as well to identify and improve the lives of those who are already infected.

Many of these problems can be addressed by proactive educational outreach coordinated by trained professional and peers. That’s where Metro TeenAIDS helps.

Nineteenth Street Baptist Church – Dr. Derrick Harkins, Senior Pastor

between two people.

Which means trust, honesty, and fidelity.

Unfortunately, for some that is not the case.

HIV/AIDS does not know the meaning of the word love.

However, people do.

So if you say you love someone, “MEAN IT !!!”

“SHOW IT !!!”

“PROTECT THEM !!!”

The Nineteenth St. Baptist Church has been blessed to be part of the history and life of Washington, D.C. for nearly 200 years.

Originally a part of the First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, founded in 1802, the church formed as a District congregation in 1839 with Rev. Sampson White as the first pastor.

Throughout the years, with varied ministries and organizations, the church has always sought to make its worship of God relevant in its service to others. Today the church continues to seek new ways to proclaim His goodness.

The Nineteenth Street Baptist Church is a growing body of believers boldly proclaiming God as its passion and people as its mission.

Derek Perkins

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

LOVE: An emotional and physical commitment

Lawrence Washington

2006

1987 March on Washington PWAs and PWArcs were out in force during the October 1987 March on Washington. It was the largest civil rights march since the antiVietnam War era.

Academy of Washington

Derek Martin Perkins, 2/23/05

Max Robinson PHOTO COURTESY THE FAMILY

PHOTO COURTESY MAX ROBINSON CENTER

Max Robinson was a pioneering AfricanAmerican journalist and person with AIDS. On April 5, 1993, at the official dedication of Max Robinson Center of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, a friend of Max’s was quoted: “He wanted his death to be the occasion for emphasizing the importance, particularly to the black community, of the education about AIDS and the prevention of AIDS. The other concern was that everyone should emphasize the urgency to develop treatment for AIDS and the humane treatment of people with AIDS.”

Larry Uhrig

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

UHU is to reduce HIV infection in the black community. UHU specializes in HIV education and risk reduction interventions for black gay and bisexual men, and transgender persons.

UHU provides HIV counseling, testing and referral services to black men and women regardless of sexual orientation.

In June of 1977, the Rev. Larry J. Uhrig was elected pastor of The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C. and continued to serve in this position until the time of his death.

During his years as pastor, the church grew in its community, visibility, and commitment to service.

Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc.

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Founded in 1985 as a self-help group for HIV-positive black gay and bisexual men, Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc. (UHU) is a unique organization with an extraordinary history. Incorporated in 1988, when its sole program was to teach small groups of HIV-infected black gay men how to live longer using natural holistic therapies involving the body, mind and spirit, UHU has grown into one of the largest secular, gay-identified black AIDS organizations in the nation serving the black communities of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and northeast West Virginia. The mission of

Lawrence A. Washington was born April 28, 1944 as the first child of the late Leroy and Florine L. Washington in Baltimore. Lawrence was educated in the Baltimore City Public Schools. In addition, he received a bachelor’s degree from Morgan State University in 1969; a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975; and a license for independent clinical social work from the District of Columbia in 1989.

Lawrence was baptized in the Holy Temple Church of Truth in Baltimore at the age of 18 and served as a Sunday school teacher until 1969. During that year, he entered the U.S. Army and served in Germany until his discharge in 1972. Upon returning to Baltimore, he became employed as a social worker at City Hospital. In 1979, Lawrence moved to Washington, D.C. and was employed as a medical social worker until the time of his death.

During Lawrence’s residence in Washington, he became a community leader involved in various political campaigns and numerous organizations within D.C.’s Gay and Lesbian community. His many affiliations included President and Vice President of the D.C. Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays; Co-Chairman of the National Coalition for Black Lesbians and Gays; organizer for the first D.C. city-wide conference for Black Gay Men and Lesbians; founding member of the Langston Hughes-Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club; member of Mel Boozer Leadership Roundtable; member of Friends of D.C.; D.C. Gay and Lesbian Antiviolence Task Force; and the Gay community’s official liaison to the Washington, D.C. Police Department. In the political arena, Lawrence served on Mayor Barry’s budget and finance advisory commission; was the Mayor’s campaign coordinator for Precinct 19 in 1982 and 1986; worked for Harry Thomas’ campaign for city council; and worked on the D.C. campaign for Jesse Jackson in 1984.

Lawrence A. Washington departed this life on Tuesday morning, November 21 1989, at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center. He was 45 years old.

PHOTO BY CHERYL SPECTOR

Established in 1961, The Academy of Washington, Inc. (also known as “the Academy”) is one of the oldest organizations of its kind in the country. Its membership includes drag queens, drag kings, male and female impersonators in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area who enjoy entertaining and supporting each other. But the Academy is not just a social organization; it is a highly respected member of the community. The Academy and its members are active in many civic and volunteer organizations. The Washington Academy is on the board of Brother Help Thyself (BHT), and is involved with the Rainbow History Project and Pets DC. In addition to these organizations, Academy members are also associated with ASGRA, the Centaur Motorcycle Club, and other community organizations. Over the years the Academy, through its generosity, has contributed thousands of dollars to AIDS service organizations and AIDS-related charities.

During the years, every person associated with the Academy has experienced the far-reaching social gratification of our group. Each person has had their moments of glory, their share of applause and social recognition. The Academy honors its members for contributions to theatre, make-up, design, and the gay community in general. It welcomes individuality and foster self-expression in all forms. The Academy allows people to occasionally make-believe and continues to provide each of us with a touch of glamour and elegance that many would not otherwise experience.

ACT UP ACT UP is a LGBT civil rights organization, with many chapters in cities across the U.S. Always on the front line, ACT UP has participated in numerous efforts including the 1987 March on Washington for gay and lesbian civil rights.

AIDS Quilt Founded in 1987, The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a poignant memorial, a powerful tool for use in preventing new HIV infections, and the largest ongoing community arts project in the world.

Each “block” (or section) of The AIDS Memorial Quilt measures approximately 12 feet square, and a typical block consists of eight

9 individual three-foot by six-foot panels sewn together. Virtually every one of the more than 40,000 colorful panels that make up the Quilt memorializes the life of a person lost to AIDS. As the epidemic continues claiming lives around the world and here in the United States, the Quilt continues to grow and to reach more communities with its messages of remembrance, awareness and hope.

Paola Barahona

Youth Advocate and public speaker and I have been HIV-positive for the past 19 years. My story is unique I didn’t know my status for the whole 19 years, I found out at 16 after taking a random HIV test. After finding out, I wasn’t mad nor depressed or angry at the world. Instead I felt inspired to educate my peers on HIV, to let them know that HIV does affect and infect our age population. I am truly blessed to be here alive and apart of the fight to eradicate HIV in D.C.

Christopher H. Bates

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Paola Barahona has been the Executive Director of PreventionWorks for over seven years. As Executive Director, Ms. Barahona has guided Washington, D.C.’s needle exchange organization through nine Congressional Appropriations cycles and has risen over $2 million in private grants, contributions, and donations to fund harm reduction and needle exchange in DC. Ms. Barahona’s proven commitment to marginalized communities, including drug users, sex workers, and transgender persons, is evident in her efforts to expand the services provided by PreventionWorks and to form referral networks with organizations that serve these populations. As an expert in HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, viral hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections, and reproductive health, Ms. Barahona has ensured that PreventionWorks offers a full menu of services, supplies, and educational materials to address these health issues.

Ms. Barahona is an active member of the District of Columbia’s HIV Prevention Community Planning Group (CPG), a member of the CPG Executive Committee, and Co-Chair of the CPG EpiData/Needs Assessment Subcommittee.

She is also a member of the Health Disparities Committee of the Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association. Ms. Barahona has a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan and an Executive Level Program Certificate from the Columbia Business School Institute for Not-for-Profit Management.

Ms. Barahona was born in Washington, D.C.: her mother is Australian and her father is Chilean. She is bilingual in Spanish and English.

Christopher Barnhill

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

In August 2002, Christopher H. Bates was appointed Acting Director for the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of HIV/AIDS Policy. He is a Senior Health Program Analyst, who also served as the National Director for a departmental initiative known as the Rapid Assessment Response and Evaluation (RARE).

Before joining the Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, Christopher worked as a consultant with the John Snow, Inc., conducting a feasibility study on the integration of STD, HIV, and drug abuse services for a proposed national demonstration project. From 1997 through 1998 he served as interim Director of the City of Philadelphia HIV Commission.

From 1991 through 1997, Christopher was the Executive Director of the D.C. Comprehensive AIDS Resources and CARE Consortium. The Consortium is an alliance of local organizations and institutions that provide HIV/AIDS services and education in the District of Columbia. Before 1991, Christopher enjoyed a successful 11 year career as a program director and in various management positions with the District of Columbia government.

Over the past 20 years, Mr. Bates has served on numerous national and local boards and commissions. Christopher is a founding member of the DC Primary Care Association. He also served as a member of the Board of the Washington Consortium of Agencies, a six-year member of the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Washington Ryan White Title Planning Council, a member of the Mayor’s Health Policy Advisory Committee and past chair of the Mayor’s AIDS Advisory Committee. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and earned an MPA from Southeastern University.

Abdur-Rahim Briggs

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Abdur-Rahim Briggs is no stranger to community involvement and non-profit organizations. His love for volunteerism began at The Watts/Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club in Los Angeles, where he was named “Youth of the Year” in 1986. His volunteer work has continued throughout his life including work with Us Helping Us, Inc. in Washington, D.C., where he received the “Marvin E. Young” Volunteer of the Year award in 2001. In 2005, he was recognized by the Transgender Community with the “Spirit of Light” Award presented by Mascara Entertainment.

Abdur-Rahim Briggs served as a member of the 100 Black Men of the Greater Washington, D.C. Chapter where he served on both the Health & Wellness and the Annual Banquet Committees and elected Professional Development/ Mentoring Co-Chair during his tenure at Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. In the summer of 1997, Rahim’s identical twin brother disclosed to him his HIV-positive diagnosis. Over the next two years, as HIV infection rates soared among African Americans, Rahim channeled his hurt and pain over his brother into positive energy, waging war against the HIV virus; as a result, Rahim sowed the seeds of the White Attire Affair (WAA). The White Attire Affair began as a series of ‘backyard BBQs’ in the homes of various friends; in 1999, Rahim, Clyde Penn, Alvin King, Garrick Good, and Shaun Jones founded the Ummah Endowment Fund to organize the White Attire Affair (WAA) and launch a new era in social marketing of HIV/AIDS testing and prevention. In recent years, Ummah reorganized itself as the organization Al Sura.

Since 1999, WAA continues its mission to raise awareness and funds to help fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the GLBT community.

He has a bachelor of arts in Sociology with a Minor in Public Administration from California State University at Bakersfield. Abdur-Rahim’s professional career has led him into the legal industry with various positions at law firms, local government and consulting firms. He currently serves as Manager, Records & Information Management with Oce` Business Services.

Brother to Brother Sister to Sister United

(BBSSU) is the largest and only African-American cycling team to participate in the AIDS Rides presented by Tanqueray. Founded by Wallace L. Corbett, Jr. an African American gay male, the predominantly heterosexual team has raised nearly $1 million in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The members of BBSSU have an obligation to educate their families and friends about the disease. “We have to understand what AIDS is doing,” says Corbett, a radiological referral assistant from Washington, D.C. The cycling group started with five people and has grown to more than 400 and has expanded to Illinois, New York, and California.

Additionally they ride to raise funds for Howard University Parent Support Group for Children with Sickle Cell Disease, the Black Women’s Health Clinic, the Omni Lambda Education Foundation and the Max Robinson Center Toy Drive.

Angela Brown

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Angela Brown has worked in medicine for six years and three years exclusively in HIV/ AIDS issues. She received her Medical Assistant/ Phlebotomy degree from Applied Career in 2000. Ms. Brown has also attended HIV counseling training with the Washington D.C. HIV/AIDS administration. Ms. Brown is adept at rapid HIV testing and counseling, and she has a proven track record for training and mentoring new HIV prevention and testing specialists.

Ms. Brown has facilitated groups for youth and young adults on the adverse effects of alcohol and drugs use in relation to STDs. She has also worked with special populations including inmates, the homeless, persons of color and other minority groups, and economically distressed populations. Ms. Brown has amassed years of experience with outreach in nightclubs, sex clubs, sex worker areas, homeless shelters, and direct street surveillance. She is well known in the HIV community and she prides herself on getting people into medical care. Ms. Brown’s cultural sensitivity, approachability, and warmth are a great asset as she puts her clients at ease throughout the process of testing, counseling, and prevention.

Earline Budd

Dan Bradley

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

The following are the words of Chris Barnhill: “My name is Chris and I am an HIV/AIDS

PWA Dan Bradley, former head of the Legal Services division during the Carter administration, getting arrested in front of the White House at the June 1, 1987 demonstration. Dan was the keynote speaker at the rally that preceded the arrests.

PHOTO COURTESY EARLINE BUDD

PHOTO COURTESY WALLACE CORBETT

Brother to Brother Sister to Sister United

Earline Budd is a transgender woman who makes no secret about HIV status. She is one of the founding members of Transgender

10 Health Empowerment, Inc. (THE), which was founded in 1996 and today serves as one of the premier transgender service providers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and maybe around the country. This program today has two service areas: Supportive Housing and a Prevention program serving transgender, gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals. Earline still in her own unofficial capacity works hard with THE in assuring that people know its purpose and meaning.

Earline began her work in HIV/AIDS in 1989 with the Inner City AIDS Network (ICAN) and has never looked back. She is known as a motivational and dynamic speaker nationally and is a dedicated advocate around issues faced by her community while remaining open to help all who call on her.

Earline is a native Washingtonian and enjoys dedicating her time to helping others, especially in the area of HIV/AIDS, substance abuse and those who are homeless. She serves on several boards in the District of Columbia including, the D.C. Care Consortium, Ryan White Planning Council, HIV Community Planning Group, Superior Court LGBT Special Population Group, Department of Corrections Discharge Planning Group. She extends herself to many others when called upon.

years of his life, Hank worked tirelessly as an advocate for persons living with AIDS (PWAs), constantly challenging the system to make it better and championing the empowerment of all PWAs. Hank ended an outstanding naval career when he chose to care for his life partner who had become ill with AIDS. After his partner’s death, Hank dedicated himself to building and improving AIDS services in Washington, D.C. Despite receiving a diagnosis of full-blown AIDS in 1990, Hank worked for the Whitman-Walker Clinic as the HIV Home Care Coordinator, served a grants and policy advisor, and was later elected to the Clinic’s Board of Directors. He was a founding member of the HIV Community Coalition and served actively and with great enthusiasm on other private and public boards, councils, commissions and advisory groups. Until his death in 1998, Hank maintained a strong sense of community among those in AIDS issues through “A Letter to Friends” which he researched, wrote, published, and distributed at his own cost.

Carl Vogel Center

Burgess Clinic PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TAYLOR

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE BURGESS CLINIC. You don’t know it even though you see us everyday, day in and day out, living a normal life You don’t know it by just looking at our faces, because we wear a smile to mask the pain You don’t know it because our peers wouldn’t understand; they fear what they don’t understand You don’t know it because we choose to suffer all alone, in reality though we are not alone Our families tells us it will be OK, even though some have turned their backs on us I have AIDS…how would you know?

Henry Carde III

PHOTO COURTESY CHERYL SPECTOR

Freeland Henry “Hank” Carde III, a retired U.S. Navy officer and twice awarded Bronze Star veteran of the Vietnam War, was considered one of Washington, D.C.’s most distinguished and effective AIDS activists. During the last 10

Carl Vogel Center (CVC) is a nonprofit organization that provides multidisciplinary and integrated health care that responds to existing and emerging needs of people with HIV and AIDS (PWA). CVC educates and empowers PWA to become full partners and informed advocates in the management of their care.

Sophia Carrero

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Sophia Reyes, A.K.A Sophia Carrero is a native from Nicaragua. She was crowned the very first Miss Gay Hispanic in 1991 and used her title to carry the message of HIV/AIDS prevention to the Latino Community in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. After she relinquished her title she became co-president of the Miss Gay Hispanic system, also called “beauty pageant with a purpose” since the focus was on HIV prevention.

She has worked in different community based organizations, including as a bilingual specialist educator for Salud Inc. and Safe Haven Outreach Ministry, Inc., for the HIV 101-102, “Dress for Success,” and for the Transgender Health Empowerment as a transgender outreach worker. She was also an active member of the first Latino transgender group in Washington D.C. Creando Espacio. As an entertainer she

uses the stage to deliver prevention messages and to distribute prevention materials to the audiences. She helped link members of the transgender community to different programs and services available in the community. Other titles she has won include Miss Hippo in 1998 and Miss Maryland in 1999. She is an advocate for the transgender Latino community. Sophia continues entertaining us in Club Fuego and Perry’s Restaurant during Sunday brunches.

David Catania

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

hottest black gay nightclubs on the East Coast from 1975 to 1990. The Clubhouse’s Children’s Hour celebration helped establish Memorial Day weekend as Black Gay Pride Weekend in Washington, D.C. The annual event drew AfricanAmerican GLBT persons from around the country.

The Coffeehouse PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

As a member of the Council of the District of Columbia, David Catania was regarded as a resourceful, hardworking and valuable policymaker. First elected as an At-Large Council member in a 1997 special election, Catania was re-elected to full terms on the Council in 1998 and 2002.

Catania championed legislative initiatives now law - that focus on improving healthcare for uninsured and low-income residents, expanding affordable access to prescription drugs, expanding drug treatment options, minimizing property tax burdens, providing incentives for businesses to relocate to the District, offering income tax parity with neighboring jurisdictions, increasing police deployment, and reforming Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.

In his role as a board member for WMATA from 1999 to 2004, Catania worked to create a light rail line along the Anacostia River and reverse commuter routes that provide District residents access to employment opportunities in the Dulles Corridor.

Mr. Catania became involved in District issues when he chaired the Sheridan-Kalorama Advisory Neighborhood Commission. As a former Senior Counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld, he brings a wealth experience to the Council. In the past he also worked as a research assistant for Dr. Madeleine Albright and as an Attorney for the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

A native Missourian, Councilmember Catania earned a B.S. from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.

In addition to his public service on the D.C. Council and unsuccessful bid for mayor, Mr. Catania dedicates resources to cultural institutions such as the Shakespeare Theatre, Summer Opera Theatre Company, and Cultural Tourism D.C., as well as community health organizations including the Mautner Project and La Clinica del Pueblo.

The Clubhouse The Clubhouse, at 1296 Upshur St., N.W. in Washington, D.C., reigned as one of the

Washington, D.C.’s first enduring AfricanAmerican gay political organization, the D.C. Coalition (established in 1978) helped create the ENIKALLEY Coffeehouse at 816 I St., N.E. The Coffeehouse was a crucial performance spot for gay and lesbian poets, writers, and musicians that generated a second African-American gay renaissance in the city, 60 years after Georgia Douglas Johnson’s Saturday Nighters. At the Coffeehouse, and later at dc space, Essex Hemphill, Michelle Parkerson, Garth Tate, Gideon Ferebee, Wayson Jones and others created new styles, media and themes in GLBT music and literature.

James “Juicy” Coleman

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

James Coleman is Program Manager in the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Department of Whitman-Walker Clinic. Popularly know as “Juicy”, he is a nationally recognized advocate for HIV prevention services targeting African-American men who have sex with men (MSM), with over 15 years of experience designing and implementing successful prevention programs. At Whitman-Walker Clinic, he has served in many capacities, including many years as the Associate Director of their Maryland office, and currently oversees one of their most successful projects, Suburban Maryland AIDS Reduction Team (SMART), a CDC funded project targeting African-American MSM, African-American women, and African-American heterosexual men living in suburban Maryland.

For many years, he chaired the Suburban Maryland Ryan White Planning Council’s African American Committee, and currently chairs the Maryland CPG’s suburban Maryland component (RWG) and also chairs the Suburban Maryland HIV Counseling and Testing Coalition.

Born in Washington, D.C. and educated at Howard University, he makes HIV prevention his second career path, after working for over 25 years in corporate positions in computer operations, programming and database

11 design.

Through consulting opportunities, he also served for many years as Maryland Community Health Specialist for Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc., and most recently served as Program Director for Transgender Health Empowerment.

A 2001 graduate of the Centers for Disease Control’s Institute for HIV Prevention Leadership (IHPL), he currently serves as vice president of the IHPL’s Alumni Association. Juicy is also president of The Best of Washington, D.C.’s oldest AA GLBT social organization.

Ronald Collins

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Ronald Collins is director of Office of Boards and Commissions within the Executive Office of the Mayor of Washington, D.C. He has served in this capacity since 2001. A lawyer by training, Mr. Collins has extensive experience in municipal public policy as it relates to contracting and procurement, health and human services, and systems management.

Mr. Collins received his B.A. degree from the University of Scranton and in 1977 and his Juris Doctor degree from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University in 1980. He is a native Washingtonian who resides in Southwest Washington.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Collins served as the Senior Policy Officer in the D.C. Office of Contracting and procurement. He has also served as the Agency Chief Contracting Officer for D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, the Chief of Staff and Agency Chief Contracting Office for the D.C. Department of Health, and the acting Deputy Director and Chief of Staff for the D.C. Department of Human Services. Before joining the Department of Human Services, Collins was the Staff Director for the D.C. Council Committee on Human Services where he also served as Chief of Staff to former Councilmember H.R. Crawford.

Collins has been served in many community organizations including: the D.C. Democratic State Committee, the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly, the Ward 2 and Ward 6 Democrats, Whitman-Walker Clinic, the D.C. State Health Planning and Development Early Childhood Development Coordinating Committee, and the Ward 2 Redistricting Task Force. Mr. Collins has received several awards for his work, including the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance Community Appreciation Award and the “Outstanding Public Service Recognition Resolution” from the Council of the District of Columbia for over 10 years of public service.

Ruby Corado Ruby Corado born in San Savior, El Salvador, and has lived in Washington, D.C. for more than

PHOTO BY KHALID NAJI-ALLAH

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

20 years.

She has supported and participated in many groups of support with local organizations, such as Whitman-Walker Health and The Clinica del Pueblo. She directed the organization Latin Americans in Action, which sought to fill the needs of the Latin American LGBT community.

She has carried a message of tolerance and respect for those of different gender expressions, sexual identities, and those that live with HIV. She has collaborated with many national organizations including LLEGO, the National Gay Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Latino Organization, the organizations GLAAD, NGLTF, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.

She currently operates Casa Ruby to house and support LGBT residents of D.C.

Wallace Corbett

in Christ as the love, serve, and fellowship with the community and each other.

As stated in the Church Mission Statement, “God calls this church to be a progressive witness for Jesus Christ a creative model of Christian worship, a loving example of Christian fellowship, and a humble servant to our sisters and brothers in the community, the nation, and the world we live. In word and deed, we are committed to continue Jesus’ ministry of spiritual and physical liberation to the disadvantaged, the weak, and the downtrodden. We believe that our role is both priestly and prophetic as we strive to heal personal hurts and pains, as well as challenge social dictates and systems that oppress God’s children from realizing their full potential.”

Billy Cox

PHOTO COURTESY BILLY COX PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

The following words are from Wallace Corbett: Who is Wallace Corbett Jr.? Well, he is the son of M. Cabbagestalk (part American Indian) and W. Corbett (grand child of African Slave). I learn early in my life to have pride in myself and those that I surround myself with.

I believe to follow God’s word, we all must practice our HUMANITIES to each other on a daily bases. To gave and to help anyone is to me GOD speaking though and to its people.

I want to give and live each day as though it was my last. I want to travel this journey of life with excitement and adventure. If I can help others on their journey then my day was not in vein.

To me, volunteering is not a convenience but a mandatory accountable to GOD. I love LIFE and those that play apart in my journey until the very END. We all should look in a mirror and ask ourselves DO I SEE GOD IN MYSELF? I would rather DIE FIGHTING against HIV/ AIDS than to die from it.

One thing my mother thought as a child and a MAN was to walk with my head up and chest out where ever I go for I am HER son and a child of GOD. END HIV/AIDS, for it is a part of the body of CHRIST!

Covenant Baptist Church Affirming its African heritage, the vision of Covenant Baptist Church is to build an inclusive body of biblical believers who continue to grow

Billy Cox has been a volunteer with WhitmanWalker for more than 14 years. He has worked in the Clinic’s FoodBank, where he had the opportunity to work with clients, many of whom have become friends and he has known for years.

Billy also served as chair of the Whitman-Walker Clinic’s board of directors for two years (2004 and 2005), and as vice chair for one year (2003). He was on the board of directors for several years.

On World AIDS Day, Billy sees the need for all of us to recommit ourselves to doing our part to help end the AIDS epidemic. The Washington, D.C. area has been hit harder than most metropolitan areas, especially among the African-American and LGBT communities.

The increased use of drugs, especially crystal methamphetamine, has led to an increase in HIV among blacks and gay men, and Billy hopes this issue will be addressed through increased funding for programs to help people with addictions problems.

Billy is originally from Mississippi and works for the federal government. He is also HIVpositive.

Linda Cropp Linda W. Cropp began her career in public service more than 30 years ago in the classrooms of the District of Columbia. After receiving her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Howard University, Linda shared her passion for education as a teacher and guidance counselor. She later went on to become the Ward 4 representative on the Board of Education, where she served as the

vice president and president.

In 1990, Linda was elected as an atlarge member of the Council of the District of Columbia. She immediately initiated her legislative agenda to improve the quality of life for all District residents. Linda also served as the Council’s representative on the Board of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. In that capacity, she served as Chair of the Budget Committee and played a major role in the expansion of the Metro Rail System.

In 1992, Linda was selected to chair the Council’s Committee on Human Services. Under her oversight, the Department of Health was created. The re-organized agency focused on Linda’s priorities, including controlling substance abuse, reducing infant mortality, eradicating tuberculosis, and fighting HIV/AIDS. She continued to chair the Committee after her reelection in 1994. With a desire to encourage self-sufficiency, Linda introduced the Public Assistance Self-Sufficiency Program Amendment Act of 1996. She guided the act through the legislative process and oversaw the beginning of welfare reform in the District. In addition, Linda oversaw the movement toward a comprehensive health care system that began with the unification of D.C. General Hospital and the public health clinics.

In her private life, Linda Cropp is married to Dr. Dwight S. Cropp, Associate Professor of Public Administration at The George Washington University. They have two adult children, Allison and Christopher, and a grandson, Christian Alexander Cropp.

Damien Ministries

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Damien Ministries, Inc. is a non-profit faithbased organization committed to supporting those abandoned or isolated in their suffering with HIV/AIDS, particularly the poorest of the poor. Damien Ministries fulfills its mission through dedication, commitment to ministry and mutual support. The organization is unique in that it creates community between those in service and those in suffering – in body and spirit – with the effects of HIV/AIDS. Persons receiving services from Damien Ministries are served without reference to religious or denominational affiliation and without subjecting clients to proselytizing efforts. Damien Ministries is committed to furthering its mission by serving all persons regardless of race, gender, creed, or sexual orientation.

Damien Ministries was founded on the principles of an incredible story – the history of a man who gave his life to serve a group of people who were quite literally outcasts. Father Damien spent years on the island of Molokai, helping the individuals in the leper colony build homes, schools, hospitals; he taught and cared for the

12 sick, eventually contracting leprosy himself and dying. It was his compassion for others in need that is the founding mission of our organization in dealing with the “modern day leprosy” of HIV/AIDS. Since 1987, the organization has grown from a small, volunteer run endeavor to one of the most respected and well-known organizations in the District of Columbia. All of Damien Ministries’ programs are designed with specific long-term goals in mind: Increased life expectancy, stabilization and increased quality of life, and prevention education.

Lawrence J. D’Angelo

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Professor Lawrence J. D’Angelo has had a longstanding interest in HIV infection in children and adolescents. For the past 23 years, he has led regional and national efforts to understand the epidemiology and path physiology of HIV infection in adolescents.

Dr. D’Angelo has been a D.C. Metro area pioneer in the adolescent HIV field. He founded the Burgess Clinic at Children’s Hospital in 1988, one of the first clinics in the country dedicated to caring for HIV infected and affected adolescents. That same year, he and a group of community leaders founded a community based organization, which ultimately grew into MetroTeen AIDS. The author of over 100 articles and book chapters, Dr. D’Angelo recently co-edited and wrote the first book to address the comprehensive experience of HIV infection in adolescents, “Teenagers and HIV/AIDS: Insights from Youths Living with the Virus.”

Dr. D’Angelo has also been the principal investigator on numerous research studies of HIV infection in teenagers. Under his current direction is one of 15 national Adolescent Trials Network units funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He is the recipient of a special NIAID award recognizing these efforts. Dr. D’Angel owas also the first chair of the Adolescent Scientific Committee of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) of the National Institute of Health and has also chaired two protocol teams for the first two adolescentspecific protocols being conducted in the ACTG. Throughout his career, Dr. D’Angelo has also served as Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, Prevention and Community Health and Epidemiology at The George Washington University.

Family and Medical Conseling Service, Inc. – Flora Terrell Hamilton, Founder A founder of Family and Medical Counseling

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TAYLOR

Service, Inc. (FMCS), incorporated in 1976, Dr. Flora Hamilton has been its executive director since 1981. She earned her B.S. degree in psychology and her Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Social Work from Howard University.

With vast experience in social services as a practitioner, administrator and educator, she has successfully managed and led numerous projects. She is also a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Dr. Hamilton has run HIV prevention and treatment programs, first offender pretrial diversion programs, mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment programs for adults and youth, and adolescent substance abuse prevention and youth rites projects. Under her direction FMCS’s HIV program evolved into one of Washington, D.C.’s most comprehensive programs with funding with Ryan White Titles I-III, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The current HIV program includes primary medical care, case management, discharge planning, substance abuse treatment, mental health, outreach and prevention education, HIV counseling and testing, nutritional support, food bank, prevention case management, and psycho-educational skills building. Dr. Hamilton serves on the Boards of the District’s Primary Care Association and the DC CARE Consortium since 1996.

Michael Felts

PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF CHERYL SPECTOR

Mike Felts was the founder of Deaf AIDS Action and Wayne Turner had the honor of getting arrested with him at the White House in 1993 in a protest demanding a real AIDS Czar. Wayne Turner of ACT-UP (one of our other honorees) spent many hours together in a holding cell at the Park Police headquarters, and despite the obstacles in communicating (since he doesn’t know ASL), they formed a wonderful friendship.

Michael helped secure Ryan White funding for ASL translators so that hearing impaired persons with AIDS (PWAs) could communicate with their physicians and caseworkers.

Felts was born Aug. 20, 1956 in England where he was stationed with the U.S. Air Force.

The family relocated to Vancouver, Washington so that Felts and his sister could attend the Washington School for the Deaf. After high school, Felts came to Washington, D.C. to attend

Galludet University. He moved several times, but settled in Dallas, Texas in the mid-1980s. It was there that Felts co-founded one of the nation’s first HIV prevention programs for people who are deaf: the Deaf AIDS Task Force, in conjunction with the Dallas County Health Department. For his activism, Michael earned special recognition award in 1991 from then Texas Gov. Ann Richards (D).

Michael moved back to D.C. in 1993 and in 1995 co-founded Deaf AIDS Action and served as the national organization’s first acting director.

He had a passion for theater and performed deaf theater. He was also a member of Metropolitan Community Church of Washington. “He was a person who always wanted to do and be active and help people,” said his mother. “I’m real proud of Michael and I’m glad he was the person he was.”

Michael Felts passed away Nov. 16, 1996 at his home due to AIDS-related complications.

Jay Fisette

PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF CHERYL SPECTOR

Jay Fisette has been a resident of Arlington since 1983. He was elected to the Arlington County Board in November 1997 and re-elected in 2001; he served as chairman in 2001 and 2005. Mr. Fisette has been a leader in expanding Arlington’s e-government capabilities, including initiatives to improve service delivery and bridge the digital divide. Mr. Fisette has worked diligently to refine and implement the vision of Arlington as an urban village. He promotes smart growth principles, such as the importance of linking land use and transportation, sound urban design and open spaces, and pedestrian safety. He is an avid environmentalist as well as a strong voice for human rights and increasing regionalism both within Northern Virginia and the greater Washington region.

Mr. Fisette is chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Board of Directors, serving on that organization’s Metropolitan Development Policy Committee and the Regional Emergency Preparedness Council. He is a member of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, and is vice president of the Executive Committee of the Virginia Municipal League. Mr. Fisette also represents Arlington on the Greater Washington Initiative of the Board of Trade.

Mr. Fisette serves on the Board of Directors of Equality Virginia, and the Washington District Council of the Urban Land Institute.

He was appointed by Governor Warner as a Commissioner to the Board of the Virginia Housing Development Authority, now serving as the vice chair. He served as the director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic of Northern Virginia from 1990-98, as a staff consultant to the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee from 1988-

89 and as an auditor/investigator with the U.S. General Accounting Office from 1983-88.

Mr. Fisette and his partner, Bob Rosen, have been residents of the Ashton Heights neighborhood since 1987. Jay has a Master of Arts degree in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Bucknell University.

Ella Fitzgerald (Real Name: Donnell Robinson)

PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF DONNELL ROBINSON

Ella Fitzgerald has performed in the nation’s capital for the past 32 years. Starting full time in 1980, she has raised thousands of dollars for the gay community. She has performed in hundreds of shows supporting the gay community and supporting her drag sisters and friends that have passed on. She has also performed in many benefit shows with the Academy of Washington for the past 18 years.

Mickey Fleming

PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF WAYNE A. YOUNG

Mickey Fleming is the author of “About Courage,” one of the first African-American accounts of persons living with AIDS. “About Courage” was written in 1988 and published in 1989.

Long before the comfort level came to where it is now, Mickey would openly talk about and sell his book at traditional, mainstream black events such as the Black Memorabilia Show. Mickey and his friend Wayne Young would often note how heterosexual people were more comfortable with Mickey’s presence as opposed to people they believed to be “obviously” gay. In addition to telling to the story of his being an orphan and his search for his mother, Mickey also talks in his book about his bisexuality and down low men long before such discussions became popular.

Many black publications wrote about him and black bookstores sold his book. He was a trailblazer who helped open discussions that are now more acceptable in society.

Earl Fowlkes In addition to his work with Damien Ministries and D.C. Care Consortium, Earl is a former president of D.C. Black Lesbian and Gay Pride, Inc., one of the nation’s earliest and largest celebrations of LGBT/SGL (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Same Gender Loving) persons of

13

PHOTO BY KHALID NAJI-ALLAH

African descent. Earl also helped to establish the International Federation of Black Prides, a coalition of Black Pride organizers formed to promote a multinational network of LGBT/ Prides and community-based organizations.

Corrie Franks

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TALOR

Corrie Franks has been advocate, educator, and community liaison, employed with Family and Medical Counseling Services in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Corrie, being HIV-positive since 1990, has coordinated extensive HIV wellness education programs for people living with HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, and other life altering situations.

Corrie has vast experience as a public speaker in presentations, print media, and television and radio interviews. He has received numerous accolades and award for his continued commitment to community service.

Carla Gorell

PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF CHERYL SPECTOR

Reverend Carla Gorrell founded Food & Friends in 1988 when a friend, sick at home with AIDS, needed something to eat. What began as lunch for one became three meals a day, for nearly 1,000 individuals, six days a week. Over the past decade, the organization moved from a cramped church basement to its own state-ofthe-art kitchen and pantry facility and initiated new programs to meet the changing needs of people living with HIV/AIDS in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan community.

Grandma’s House – Rev. Joan T. McCarley, Co-Founder The Reverend Joan T. McCarley is the Executive Director of the Temporary Emergency Residential Resource Institute for Families in Crisis (TERRIFIC), Inc., a private, non-profit housing and human service organization. Rev.

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

McCarley and her sister Rev. Debbie Tate cofounded TERRIFIC, Inc.’s Grandma’s House in 1987. The unique and timely extensive need for a “Grandma’s House” contributed to its immediate notoriety as an internationally acclaimed, firstin-the-nation program prototype that provided nurturing residential care for abused, neglected infants and children under the age of 13 who were living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic health and bio-psycho-social problems. Today, hundreds of children and their immediate and extended families have found a new lease on life through a Grandma’s House residential and HIV/ AIDS support services.

Joan McCarley’s early experiences in HIV/ AIDS began in New York State in 1983 when health professionals were noticing a peculiar syndrome developing among IV drug users and homosexual men. In 1985, McCarley accepted a position in Prince George’s County Health Department as the first director of the AIDS Services Office. In 1986, District of Columbia Government representatives encouraged McCarley to accept a position in the D.C. Commission of Public Health Department as the first head of a newly developing HIV/ AIDS Education Division. During her tenure, McCarley contributed to numerous AIDSrelated committees and councils, including cofounding the D.C. Women’s Council on AIDS and establishing the first HIV/AIDS Education Committee. It was also during this time that Rev. McCarley began to recognize the serious needs of children living with HIV/AIDS and subsequently co-founded Grandma’s House. Grandma’s House has since become an international beacon of care, a diffuser of HIV ignorance and a model for residential care and education.

Rev. McCarley’s commitments to humanity and HIV/AIDS causes have earned her numerous professional awards and recognition. She is a member of the Ministerial Staff of the The People’s Community Baptist Church in Silver Spring, Maryland. She has over twenty-seven years of professional training and experience planning and developing creative ministries for the community. She is the proud mother of three children and four grandchildren.

Joan T. McCarley’s says it’s a privilege to serve others and know that her living is not in vain. Her firm belief is that ultimate measure of one’s life is in the living knowledge that she has commitment to others as her brother and sisters’ keeper.

Greater Washington Urban League The Greater Washington Urban League (GWUL) has taken a proactive role in informing the general public and especially minority communities about HIV/AIDS

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

prevention. Over the years, through its various programs and community exhibits it has shared literature outlining facts and truths, while dispelling myths and unfounded fears.

The GWUL is a participant in World AIDS Day activities.

For persons living with HIV/AIDS, the GWUL offers the Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program TBRA through funding from the D.C. Department of Health, HIV/ AIDS Administration. The TBRA program is designed to assist eligible individuals and families by providing rental assistance payments to a participant’s landlord for an approved property.

GWUL also provides Short-term Rent, Mortgage, and Utility Assistance (STRMU) for eligible HIV/AIDS participants through the D.C. Department of Health, HIV/AIDS Administration.

STRMU is an emergency homelessness prevention program intended to assist persons with HIV/AIDS who cannot meet their monthly housing expenses due to unexpected situations related to their HIV/AIDS. This is not continuous assistance, but emergency funds.

The GWUL works tirelessly to improve the lives of Washington area residents whether in the health arena, including HIV/AIDS, or in education, employment and training, housing and community development, and aging services.

Founded in 1938, the Greater Washington Urban League is a nonprofit social service and civil rights organization. GWUL is one of more than 100 affiliates of the National Urban League and a member agency of the United Way of the National Capital Area.

Jose Gutierrez

NAPWA, The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom, and the Leather Archives and Museum.

Jose has been walking the fine line between art and community activism for a long time. In March 2004, he published a bilingual poetry book, “AIDS in my letters – El SIDA de mis letras.”

Currently, Jose writes a monthly column for the national Latino GLBT magazine Adelante, and he works for Whitman-Walker Health in Northern Virginia. Mr. Gutierrez has earned several awards for his work, including being selected as a DC Capital Pride Hero and an award from Latinos en Accion. Jose has also served on the D.C. Mayor’s GLBT Advisory Committee.

Essex Hemphill Poet, essayist, activist Essex Hemphill is best known for his appearances in the films Black Is/ Black Ain’t and Tongues Untied. His worked has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including OUTWEEK, High Performance, The Advocate, City Lights Review, Ache, Callaloo, Tribe, The James White Review, Essence, In the Life, High Risk, Hometowns, the Road Before Us, and Erotique Noire/Black Erotica.

He edited Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men, and is author of Ceremonies, a collection of verse and commentary. The following are the words of Essex Hemphill from the essay Loyalty: I speak for the thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of men who live and die in the shadows of secrets, unable to speak of the love that helps them endure and contribute to the race…

Their kisses of sweet spit and loyalty are scrubbed away by the propaganda makers of the race, the “Talented Tenth” who would just as soon have us believe Black people can fly, rather than reveal that Black men have been longing to kiss one another, and have done so, for centuries…

But these sacred constructions of silence are futile exercises in denial. We are not going away with our issues of sexuality. We are coming home.

Nestor Hernandez

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Journalist, poet, and activist Jose Guiterrez was born in Reynosa, Mexico. He is a member of various progressive artist collectives, including La Academia Iberoamericana de Poesia and Triangle Artist Group (TAG) in Washington, D.C. In 1996 the National Latina/o Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Organization (LLEGO) recognized him with the Manuel Sandoval Award for his multiple contributions to the Latino community.

He was co-author and presenter at the 12th International AIDS Conference in Geneva, Switzerland in 1998. His service and volunteer activities include the Scarlett Foundation, 12 Days of Christmas, LLEGO,

PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF WAYNE YOUNG

Nestor Hernandez was a Washington, D.C.based photographer of Afro-Cuban descent. He was introduced to photography in high school through the Urban Journalism Workshop of the D.C. Public Schools, and was on the staff of the Capital Children’s Museum as photographerin-residence for fifteen years. Hernández was also staff photographer for the D.C. Public School system for seven years, and is now a freelance documentary photographer. He was a staff photographer and contributed to many publications, including the Current Newspapers, DC City Desk, the Latin Trade Report, El

14 Pregonero, Brookings Review, The Metro Herald, National Jurist Magazine and The International Review of African American Art. His other major photo-documentary project “Cuba Reflections: A Photographic Journey,” was the result of over 18 trips to the island nation since 1978. In 2001 and 2002, his trips to Cuba concentrated on linking US and Cuban photographers through cultural exchange photography projects and exhibitions. In 2003, he directed an extensive collaborative arts project, taking photography and art teachers to the island to work with Cuban children.

Hernández exhibited his photos regularly.

His images were included in shows throughout Washington, D.C., in Wilmington, Del., Springfield, Mass., Greensboro, N.C., Memphis, Tenn., Havana, Cuba and Accra, Ghana, and his photographs were included in the permanent collections of the Casa de Africa museum and Galería de Arte René Portocarrero in Cuba, Asafo Gallery in Ghana, the Cuban Art Space in New York and the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum in Washington, D.C. With Port of Harlem, he developed the “Our Children, Our World” photography exhibit featuring the works of children from Ghana, Cuba, Washington, DC and Gary, Indiana. After a successful run in Washington, DC the exhibit opens in Gary later in 2006, as an official event celebrating Gary’s 100th Anniversary.

He was a member and past president of FotoCraft Camera Club, and was the 2001 recipient of the “Photographer of the Year” award, given by the Exposure Group, African American Photographers Association. In 2002, he received the “Outstanding Emerging Artist” award, and in 2003 an Artist Fellowship Grant, both from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. In addition to photography, Hernández had many interests including magic tricks, writing, teaching, traveling and mentoring.

Derrick Hicks

PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF JIM HARVEY

Although Derrick A. Hicks was a native of Chicago, Washington, D.C. is all the richer for the nearly 10 years he lived here. He was always the activist who worked to fill voids in our constant struggle for growth, respect, and for a fair and equitable place at the proverbial table. During his years in D.C., Derrick published Diplomat Magazine, a vehicle that excited African-American same-gender loving (SGL) people with news that ranged from gossip to the best parties, to politics, and important health news. People went out of their way to find Diplomat. He also co-founded the Hughes-Roosevelt Democratic Club as a means of bridging the gap between politically active black and white gay activists. Derrick was a tireless leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS and even after moving back to Chicago in 1993, he

remained deeply involved in his community by co-founding the Greater Chicago Committee along with Jim Harvey. He also became a central figure in prevention planning which lead to the first black SGL men’s organization in Chicago being fully funded for AIDS prevention.

HIPS, Inc.

PHOTO COURTESY HIPS, INC.

The mission of Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive (HIPS) is to assist female, male, and transgender individuals sex workers in Washington, D.C. in leading healthy lives.

Utilizing a harm reduction model, HIPS’ programs strive to address the impact that HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted illnesses, discrimination, poverty, violence and drug use have on the lives of individuals engaging in sex work.

HIPS was formed in 1993 by community and police representatives in response to the recognized need for specialized services for youth engaging in sex for gain in Washington, D.C. HIPS has worked to build positive relationships with sex workers on the street through active listening, consistent outreach and unconditional support.

HIPS has also served street sex workers through our counseling and referral program, which provides services ranging from obtaining a legitimate ID card to finding emergency shelter for young people fleeing abusive relationships. HIPS 24-hour hotline provides counseling and referrals to anyone in or affected by prostitution or sex work. Hotline counselors can answer health questions or support parents whose sons or daughters are engaged in sex work.

All of our services provide comprehensive, unconditional support, utilizing harm reduction models to assist youth and adults on the street to identify the skills they need or already have to make healthier life choices for themselves.

Theo Hodge

medicine at Georgetown University Hospital in 1990 and then served in the Gulf War as a U.S. Army captain. In 1995, he completed a two-year post-graduate fellowship in infectious diseases at the Washington Hospital Center and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in D.C., where his patients were mostly gay males and male intravenous drug abusers.

Since beginning his practice in 1996, Hodge has been trying to realize his ideal of himself as a physician. Many of his self-expectations have been tempered by the reality that his original ideal did not allow him the ability to maintain himself financially. The experiences of not being able to pay his mortgage, office expenses, and staff salaries because of low or late Medicaid reimbursements have shown him the obstacles to treating the community he most wants to serve.

Inner Light Ministries – Rev. Dr. K. Rainey Cheeks, Pastor

Janice Jirau PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TALOR

Inner Light Ministries (ILM) is a Christcentered all-inclusive community and its motto is “I see the God in You.” ILM has been involved with HIV/AIDS from its inception in 1993. Inner Light Ministries’ response to HIV/AIDS is from Jesus’ words Matthew 25: 40: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least who are a member of my family, you did to me.” Throughout the 1990s, Inner Light Ministries sponsored a one-day retreat entitled “How I got over” for persons living with AIDS and their caregivers.

Reverend Dr. Kwabena “Rainey” Cheeks is a community leader and has been an HIV/AIDS activist for decades. In 1985 he founded Us Helping Us “People into Living,” the oldest black HIV/AIDS service organization in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. He is also a member of Damien Ministries’ Retreat team. He has presented at three World Health Conferences on holistic healing. He does seminars and workshops throughout the country on HIV/AIDS education and prevention. Bishop Cheeks has been HIV positive since 1984, as he loves to say “I have it, it does not have ME!”

Joseph Izzo

PHOTO BY KHALID NAJI-ALLAH

When Dr. Theo W. Hodge, Jr. graduated from the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine in 1987, he believed he would “take care of the world.” He decided immediately that he would focus on caring for uninsured and underserved patients with HIV or AIDS. He completed his residency in internal

master’s degree in Clinical Social Work at Howard University. He had been a volunteer peer counselor with the Gay Men’s Counseling Collective from 1981 to 1994. Joseph is also certified (via Catholic University) in pastoral counseling.

Joseph has been a master trainer in AIDS prevention education for the National Institute on Drug Abuse; for the American Red Cross HIV Prevention Project for the Homeless; and has conducted numerous Training of Trainers for the staffs of many agencies in the Washington Metropolitan Area as well as nationally. His areas of clinical training include substance abuse treatment, geriatric social work, trauma survival and gender identity and sexual orientation issue.

In his private practice, Mr. Izzo offers services for transgender individuals who are in the process of gender transition.

As an openly gay man, Joseph is particularly sensitive to the effects of societal oppression of sexual minorities and its impact on self-identity and self-esteem. Additionally, Joe is a certified practitioner of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, receiving his Level II Training in 1999 and in 2000.

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Joseph A. Izzo is a psychotherapist, since August 1991, with Mental Health and Addictions Treatment Services of Whitman-Walker. He started at the Clinic in 1986 after earning his

PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF PAT HAWKINS

Janice Jirau was born Nov. 25, 1950 in Washington, D.C. After graduating from high school in 1968, Janice attended Strayer College, the University of the District of Columbia, Southeastern University, and the Washington School for Secretaries. Her education and zest for life led to employment with a number of organizations throughout her life, including the Office of Inspector General, D.C. Department of Human Resources, and Frantz and Company.

In 1985, Janice married Jimmy Jirau (deceased); her husband’s diagnosis of being HIV-positive in 1989 devastated her, but Janice grasped hold of her faith, belief, and love for God to move beyond her pain and become an AIDS advocate and educator. She spoke extensively at many venues and institutions on the impact of AIDS on women, their families and minorities.

Janice also served with numerous organizations, including: American Red Cross, Ryan White Planning Council, Lifelink, Inc., D.C. office of AIDS Activities, and D.C. Women’s Council on AIDS. She was featured in nationally televised interviews and videos, including Fighting for Our Lives, Women and Children Last, Mental Retardation in HIV, and Women and AIDS in the Black Community. Janice also contributed to The National Commission on AIDS’s Final Report entitled “AIDS: An Expanding Tragedy,” which was published in June 1993. Janice’s heartfelt battles, dedication and loyalty for women and underprivileged persons living with HIV were surpassed only by her determination to make a

15 difference, and she made a difference.

Billy S. Jones

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

Billy S. Jones became involved in HIV/AIDS work in 1984 in San Francisco with the Stop AIDS Project.

Upon returning to Washington, D.C. in 1985, in partnership with Gil Gerald, Craig Harris and Walter Dixon, he worked with the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays to convene the first National AIDS in the Black Community conference that was supported by the U.S. Surgeon General and held at the Washington Convention Center.

In 1987, Jones became part of AIDS Education Services of Whitman-Walker Clinic.

In collaboration with Joseph Izzo and George Swales, Jones was instrumental in creating innovative HIV prevention programs targeting sex workers (male, female and transgender), injecting drug users, and incarcerated populations. Izzo and Jones developed outreach and education programs that were suitable not only for at-risk street populations, but also for persons in shelters, half-way homes, gay bars, St. Elizabeth Hospital, D. C. Jail, Lorton facilities, and penal facilities in Prince George and Montgomery counties.

Jones is perhaps best known in Washington for his volunteer work as a trainer of peer counselors for Inner City AIDS Network (ICAN) that was directed by Andrea Scott. Jones developed and facilitated innovative and interactive AIDS 101 classes that produced dozens of peer counselors, many of whom are still involved in HIV/AIDS work today.

In 1989, Jones became the director of Minority Affairs programs of National AIDS Network and began expanding his creativity for developing HIV/AIDS education and service programs on a national and international level.

He also served for several years as a national trainer for Project HOPE of the American Psychological Association, training professionals in the mental health profession. Jones joined the staff of ORC Macro International in 1990 to manage a federal multi-site demonstration HIV/ AIDS project targeting women and their partners at-risk for HIV infection.

Jones continues his involvement with HIV/ AIDS by managing and evaluating federal contracts and grants that support community and faith-based organizations. He is on the board of Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive (HIPS).

Joseph’s House The mission of Joseph’s House is to provide a home, nursing services, and community for formerly homeless men and women in metropolitan Washington, D.C. who are terminally ill and in the last weeks or months of their illness. While our primary mission is to those

with AIDS, as space is available we also welcome men and women with other terminal illnesses.

A continuum of care and support is available to each resident. Joseph’s House provides nursing care, emotional support, and spiritual nourishment, including comprehensive case management, 24-hour nursing care, addiction recovery support, personal care services, transitional support for those who regain their health, and end-of-life care for those who progress through the final stages of life.

Above all, Joseph’s House offers a caring human presence for men and women who would otherwise face a lonely, isolated death.

Dr. Richard Karpawich

PHOTO COURTESY JAY GANDY

Dr. Richard P. Karpawich was born Nov. 19, 1937 in Worcester, Mass. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1959 and from Georgetown University Medical School in 1963. He served as a medical officer in the Army Reserve, D.C. National Guard from 1964 to 1970. After completing both his medical internship and his residency in radiology at area hospitals, he managed a practice at Capitol Hill Hospital from 1968 to 1981. He then practiced radiology on a consulting basis from 1981 to 1995 and was licensed to practice in nearly 20 states.

Karpawich and Jay Gandy, his longtime partner of nearly 30 years of Arlington, owned several homes together in D.C. between 1964 and 1992. Gandy said Karpawich was an avid gardener who loved to have fresh flowers at the dining table and frequently invited friends to his home. “He was a good and decent person, unpretentious and practical, with simple tastes, and once you got to know him he was a funny person,” said friend Jerry Fujimoto of D.C. who says Karpawich will long be remembered for his fabled New Year’s Day feasts.

Dr. Karpawich died Nov. 7, 1996 at George Washington University Medical Center in D.C. as a result of throat cancer. He left a $2 million bequest to the Whitman-Walker Clinic for an endowment to help ensure the Clinic’s long-term financial strength. His gift is among the largest contributions the clinic has ever received from a single donor, according to clinic officials.

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

La Clinica Del Pueblo

La Clinica Del Pubelo has been providing health services to the Latino community and others in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for over 30 years. Founded in 1983 to address the needs of Central American refugees arriving in the region, the clinic began as a one-room health clinic with a single doctor, operating one night per week.

Since then, the clinic has grown exponentially in staff, the range of services it provides, and the clients it serves.

La Clinica Del Pueblo is one of the very few free, nonprofit health clinics serving the needs of uninsured and underinsured Latino immigrants and others in need. Located at the crossroads of the Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant, and Adams Morgan neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., La Clinica fills many needs in an area that, according to the federal government, has a “physician shortage.”

In 2005, La Clinica provided more than 7,500 men, women, and children with free culturally appropriate health services in the areas of clinical services, mental health, interpreter services, HIV/ AIDS, community health outreach, and social services.

Lambda Rising

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

The “Lambda Rising” bookstore began serving the gay and lesbian community in 1974 and was quickly recognized as a leader in our literary, political and social world. It offered the finest in LGBT literature and entertainment. At the same time, it supported non-profit groups, promoted performers, celebrated authors, helped youth, encouraged communication, and fought discrimination. Lambda Rising always wore two hats as a responsible business and a dedicated community resource. The store closed in 2010.

Lammas Bookstore The following text is paraphrased and is compliments of RHP: Judy Winsett and Leslie Reeves founded Lammas as a jewelry and craft shop in 1970 in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, D.C. In the final issue of Motive in 1972, Winsett wrote, “We work about fifty hours a week.

But it’s not like real work, because we love it

and it is fun.” By 1973, Lammas had become the LGBT community’s first bookstore and a lesbian community center, sponsoring and hosting various activities for the lesbian community. In 1986, Lammas opened a second store in Dupont Circle, which offered many of the same services as the Capitol Hill store. Over the years and due to various managers and/or owners, a number of celebrities have passed through Lammas, including Sweet Honey in the Rock, Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade), Alice Walker, Gloria Steinem, and Lily Tomlin. The store also provided space for the Lesbian Avengers meetings and held numerous fundraisers for women’s organizations.

Lammas sold books and gifts at every feminist and lesbian conference in DC for years. Seven years later the store moved to its final location at 1607 17th St NW before closing in 2001.The last owner was Sylvia Colon. Lammas was one of the first establishments to carry and distribute safe sex information and books about lesbian safe sex and had always been committed to women’s health issues and lesbian issues in particular.

Maxwell Lawton Maxwell Lawton painted the first version of “Man of Sorrows: Christ With AIDS,” remembering earlier paintings of a suffering Christ, including a famous portrait of Jesus as a victim of the bubonic plague, according to the Washington Post. “This gave me the merit to continue. I also knew I had to answer the fundamentalists who were saying AIDS was God’s judgment on gay people and drug users,” Lawton wrote on his Web site, http:// www.maxwelllawton.com/.

Maxwell Lawton, 50, died of metastasis malignant melanoma in 2006 at the Washington Home. As the Post reported, “He was working toward a master’s degree at Wesley Theological Seminary when he exhibited the painting at the seminary’s gallery in 1994. Several months later, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his new ministry, Wola Nani-Embrace, invited Lawton to Cape Town to paint a version for the city’s St. George’s Cathedral.” It has since been seen by millions of visitors.

The Leather Rack

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TALOR

The Leather Rack, a retailer of fetish and casual fashion and novelty, was peerless as a leader among the BDSM and leather community in D.C. The Leather Rack defined healthy sensual and sexual exploration for the greater community and offered select products that were sophisticated and discerning in attitude,

16 sensibility and image.

Located north of D.C.’s fashionable Dupont Circle, the Leather Rack occupied two levels of a turn of the century converted row house. An unbelievable collection of adult and specialty films lined the basement level. Owner James McGlade is regarded as a central figure in the leather community. You can always catch a glimpse of Jim as a supporter and sometimes judge in many leather events including International Mr. Leather, International Mr. Drummer, Mid-Atlantic Leather and Mid-Atlantic Drummer.

Jim’s involvement extends beyond the BDSM and leather communities, he participates in many volunteer organizations such as D.C. Metropolitan Area Professionals and Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets.

Lost and Found

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TALOR

The Lost and Found opened in the fall of 1971 and was almost immediately picketed by the newly formed Committee for Open Gay Bars because of alleged racist and sexist carding policies. The original owners were Donn Culver and Bill Bickford. Lost and Found became one of the biggest discos in town. Culver died in a fall from the roof. Replaced by Quorum in 1991, the name was resurrected in 1993 when Quorum changed its name back to Lost and Found. It was later replaced by the Edge. There was a live band Sunday at 3 p.m. for the tea dance, no cover except on Halloween and New Year’s, and reservations were definitely in order for dinner. Men and women had separate bar areas with different atmospheres, but mingling was constant. Free popcorn, old prices Tuesday through Thursday nights and pool tables were some special features.

Juan Carlos Lovelace

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

As the HIV epidemic in the mid 1980s became more apparent to be spreading to individuals who were plagued with substance abuse, Dr. Juan Carlos Lovelace was at the forefront of advocacy and outreach in the District of Columbia for treatment and prevention for those who were then often ignored and dismissed in the area health and mental health service systems. As Executive Director of the National Health Plan, Inc, a multi-site outpatient community health agency in Northwest, Dr.

Lovelace began to raise the sensitive issues of access and barriers to HIV treatment patient, stigma and provider bias against addicts needing primary health care, mental health and substance abuse treatment. In 1987 he joined the District of Columbia Government within the Commission on Public Health as Bureau Chief of Drug Treatment Services where he instituted numerous major reforms in the clinical service delivery system for persons living with HIV to educate providers and health care managers about the need to have quality care with dignity and respect for substance abusers. In 1992, Director of the Department of Human Services Vincent C. Gray asked Juan to become the Agency for HIV/AIDS (AHA) first Deputy Director in charge of day-to-day operations. He was a key spokesperson and program developer of the city’s efforts to make the government and the community aware that HIV had become a health emergency in the District of Columbia for a broad range of individuals, gay men of color, substance users, commercial sex workers and youth.

Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly appointed Dr. Lovelace in 1993 to the Metropolitan Washington HIV Health Services Planning Council where he served for 11 years, the longest tenured member of the Planning Council. There he was the first Chairperson of the Fiscal Oversight Committee monitoring funding over $20 million federal dollars to the Washington EMA under the Ryan White Care Act. Dr. Lovelace also served as CoChair of the Planning Council’s Nominations where he and colleagues advocated for more membership diversity and ameliorated the nominations process to the Planning Council. In 2004 Mayor Williams appointed Dr. Lovelace to the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on AIDS.

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

Patsy Lynch is a photojournalist who has been documenting the LGBT community for decades.

A native Washingtonian, she has covered the changing face of the community including the first and largely forgotten First March on Washington for GLBT rights, where she was one of the four official photographers.

She was given the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance 2006 Distinguished Service Award for her contributions to the LGBT community.

To view her work, please go to: www.patsylynchphotography.com

community. As with any inner city church, most have experienced or have knowledge of the devastation associated with this disease. For this reason, he felt it was important for the church to respond to the needs of the families as well as those living with the disease with compassion and understanding which is the mandate of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The AIDS Ministry outreaches in the community by volunteering monthly at Food & Friends, an organization that provides meals and groceries to go to persons living with HIV/AIDS. In addition, the AIDS Ministry and their church’s Union Missionary Council collects can goods on a quarterly basis and distributes them to those families in need who are clients of the Whitman Walker Clinic.

The black church has historically played a critical role in addressing social concerns in the African-American community. Recognizing the critical role of the black church in educating the community about HIV/AIDS, the AIDS Ministry participates annually in the “Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS” during the first week of March. This initiative is sponsored by the Balm in Gilead, a national organization dedicated to working with churches to raise their awareness of AIDS by highlighting the role of the church in addressing this crisis. Also, the ministry takes the lead in organizing walkers from the church to participate annually in “AIDS Walk Washington.

Unlike many other institutions in our community dealing with HIV/AIDS, our AIDS Ministry uplifts the words of Jesus by being a faith-based community advocate for those who are either infected or affected with HIV/AIDS. We host quarterly fellowship dinners for our church family and members of the community, which includes persons whose daily lives are impacted

by HIV and AIDS. Metropolitan Baptist Church AIDS Ministry is continuing to provide a comprehensive and compassionate ministry of education and services to persons who are either infected or affected with HIV/AIDS in our church and community and support their families with the loving hand of God. The ministry’s purpose is to help others move beyond healing of the body to wholeness in Christ.

Dr. H. Beecher Hicks, Jr. Senior Servant Lafayette K. Smith, President AIDS Ministry Metropolitan Baptist Church

Metropolitan Baptist Church

Don Michaels

Dr. H. Beecher Hicks, Jr., the Senior Servant of Metropolitan Baptist Church, had the vision to establish a ministry to address the spiritual needs of those living with HIV/AIDS and their families.

The AIDS Ministry began in 1989 in response to the increasing prevalence of the disease in the

The following text was taken from an article originally appearing June 11, 2004 in the Washington Blade. The article was written by Bryan Anderton.

When Don Michaels began working for the Washington Blade in 1977, it was as a volunteer

Patsy Lynch

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TALOR

freelance writer. Later that same year, he became the newspaper’s first paid employee, when he was hired as a part-time assistant to answer phones and sort mail.

The Pittsburgh native also dabbled in the Blade’s advertising department, and delivered newspapers to make extra money on the side.

“Basically, I was doing whatever it took to bring some money in for me and for the Blade,” Michaels says.

That dedication paid off in various ways.

When the Blade was re-incorporated as a forprofit venture, in 1980, Michaels was named the newspaper’s publisher. Over the course of the next two decades, he helped establish it as one of the largest and most respected gay newspapers in the country.

Michaels was honored in 2004 as a Capitol Pride hero. “He had an incredible vision that he made a reality,” says Robert York, director of Capital Pride. “And as a result, I think we all have a very reliable and viable communications source that we wouldn’t have had otherwise without his dedication and leadership over the years.”

Lou Chibbaro Jr., who has been writing for the Blade since 1976, echoed York.

“He always had a strong commitment to the principles of journalism – the principles of not being an advocacy organization, but to being a fair, impartial, independent newspaper,” said Chibbaro. “Before arriving in Washington, D.C. in 1976, Michaels worked with a number of gay and political organizations in Buffalo, New York, where he attended college and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at the State University of New York.

Steve Michael

PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF WAYNE TURNER

Steve Michael was a fierce and tireless advocate for people living with HIV and AIDS. His creative and innovative tactics brought AIDS issues to the forefront, when elected officials, policy makers, and the media failed to adequately address the pandemic sweeping the globe. In 1992, Steve and his partner Wayne dogged candidates for president with the ACT UP Presidential Project, demanding they address AIDS, from the New Hampshire primary to Little Rock, Arkansas. Steve challenged President George Bush in the Washington State presidential primary

17 to highlight that administration’s poor performance on AIDS. After moving to Washington, D.C. in 1993, Steve continued to push the Clinton Administration to make good on its campaign promises to fight AIDS, including federal funding for clean needle exchange programs and an all out research effort, a ‘Manhattan Project,’ to find a cure for AIDS. Steve ran for president again in 1996. His explicit and controversial television commercials aired and were subsequently pulled by WMUR, the ABC affiliate in Manchester, New Hampshire.

The Steve Michael for President Campaign Committee won a landmark ruling from the Federal Communications Commission protecting political advertising from station censorship.

Locally, Steve chaired the Fiscal Oversight Committee of D.C.’s Ryan White Planning Council, and spent many hours working to ensure that federal AIDS funds were spent efficiently. He also worked to reform the AIDS bureaucracy to help make essential services easier to access and more responsive to the needs of people living with HIV and AIDS. In addition, Steve was a founding member of the Stand Up for Democracy in D.C. Coalition, and fought for full democratic rights for all D.C. residents.

He organized numerous protests of the Financial Control Board, demanding selfgovernment and full voting representation in Congress for the people of the District of Columbia. Steve died of AIDS-related complications at the Washington Hospital Center on May 25, 1998, at the age of 42.

from homelessness, disease and addictions in an environment of compassion, integrity and accountability.

Some residents live many years at Miriam’s House, benefiting from the safety and security of a clean and sober home and from the expert care of staff. Some residents enter Miriam’s House as a last home, needing a place to live in comfort and dignity the life that is left to them. The hospicelike care extended to these women makes this possible. Others become healthy and stable, and can move out into independent living, staying connected to the community through the extended family program. For these, the door is always open should they need to return.

Miriam’s House provides a home, a community, and a continuum of services for its residents. For the rest of us, it provides a constant reminder of the value of every single life, and of our own humanness. During its existence, Miriam’s House has clearly defined its role in the District of Columbia, filling a special niche for women living with AIDS by providing a home filled with compassionate care that says to them, you are important.

Miriam’s House was awarded the 2003 Washington Post Excellence in Non-profit Management Award. Miriam’s House was chosen as the best-managed organization out of 60 D.C. area non-profits competing in the areas of financial management, governance, resource- and people-development, planning, risk management and use of technology.

Sean Mitchell

Greg Mimms PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF THE FAMILY

PHOTO BY KHALID NAJI-ALLAH

Miriam’s House

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Miriam’s House is an affirmation of life.

Founded in 1996, Miriam’s House is firmly rooted in the belief that the District of Columbia’s women and children whose lives are affected by AIDS are to be valued and respected. They deserve safe, permanent shelter.

They deserve sustenance. They deserve love, respect, and hope.

The mission of Miriam’s House is to provide a dynamic residential community for women living with HIV disease that empowers recovery

Sean Maurice Mitchell was born June 15, 1967 and raised in Tidewater, Va., and Cleveland. Sean always loved and lifted up the name of Jesus. He became saved at an early age, and he rededicated himself to Jesus in 1992.

Sean worked very hard as a missionary, blessing many people. He was a very caring person, and he shared all he had with anyone. He was also active in church both Tidewater and in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Sean joined the Job Corp in Laurel, Md., to advance his cooking skills. He remained in the D.C. metro area until his death in 1992. He became a licensed peer counselor and educator with ICAN, the Whitman-Walker Clinic and did volunteer work for other organizations.

Leigh Mosley Leigh Mosley has been a Washington, D.C.based photographer and teacher for 40 years.

Her work has been published in numerous periodicals, books, and newspapers including The Washington Post, the Washington AfroAmerican, the Los Angeles Times newspapers, and Ms. and Essence magazines. She has taught

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

photography and film criticism in D.C. Public Schools at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Digital Art in Montgomery County Public Schools and Photojournalism at American University. She has exhibited her work in group shows at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Kennedy Center and the Anacostia Museum.

She is currently working as a cinematographer and DP in Digital Filmmaking. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of the District of Columbia, and a M.A. in Digital Art from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Dr. Mahmood Mustafa

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

The following text is from Mahmood “Moody” Mustafa: I am a physician in private practice, and I specialize in HIV disease and Hematology. I am double-board certified in Internal Medicine and Hematology. I have been in private practice for 17 years and now have one of the largest HIV practices in the area. Those that have been to my office can attest to my claim that it is probably the most interesting, and definitely the coolest doctor’s office anywhere. I feel very fortunate in that I love my work while providing a valuable service for the community. I feel very close to my patients, and I consider most of them my friends.

Several years ago, I established the Metropolis Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization which raises funds to support local and national AIDS causes. With the support of hundreds of friends and the efforts of many volunteers, we have contributed over $160,000 to a variety of organizations including Whitman Walker Clinic, Food and Friends, AMFAR, HIV Community Coalition, Northern Virginia AIDS Ministries, Metro Teen AIDS, SMYAL, just to name a few... as well as some non-AIDS organizations such as Big Brothers, The Arthritis Foundation, Children’s Hospital, NGLTF, and The Victory Fund.

With regards to my history with photography, I have been seriously taking photos for about 14 years. The majority of my work has been spontaneous rather than posed. I have attempted to illustrate life as it is, while highlighting the more beautiful aspects of our community. As I have often said, there is so much beauty around us which is so easy to overlook because of the many problems and stresses that we regularly encounter. But with only a little bit of effort, it’s easy to stop and take a little bit of time to appreciate some of what is beautiful around

us. Not only beautiful things, but also people who are wonderful in so many ways. I have tried to illustrate my philosophy on life through my photography.

I enjoy doing all kinds of things. I am basically a pop culture hound. I love all kinds of Movies, and TV shows. I am a true audiophile...I like everything from the most progressive house/ dance music (Go Junior) to hard rock, heavy metal, jazz, opera, show tunes, new age, modern rock....and I am an avid Redskins Fan...just to name a few of my interests.

Patricia Nalls

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

Patricia Nalls is a mother of two children— Alana, age 26 and Shawn, age 22—and a community AIDS activist, locally and nationally, for the rights of women living with HIV/AIDS and their families. She was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986, after the death of her husband and three year-old. Patricia has been a longtime activist for women in the Washington, D.C. community. After years of frustration and not finding appropriate support for women, she founded The Women’s Collective, an AIDS service organization (ASO) dedicated to empowering women living with HIV/AIDS, with special emphasis on women of color. The Women’s Collective provides service, support, and most importantly gives women and their families the hope they need to live not to die.

Under her leadership what began as a support group in her home is now an organization with a full-time staff of fifteen, and twenty part-time peer educators who currently serve over 600 women living with HIV/AIDS and reaching and educating thousands of other women on HIV/AIDS primary and secondary prevention strategies. The Women’s Collective program model has been shared with women activists from Africa, Ukraine, Guyana, Spain, Canada and Brazil among other countries as well as around the USA. Patricia, over the years, has been an outspoken advocate for women and their families. She served as a consultant on a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Special Project of National Significance (SPNS) that focused on bringing women living with HIV/AIDS to the policy table where decisions were being made about their very lives. She has organized dozens of community focus groups, speak outs, and information sharing meetings as well as assisted with the publication of various research and policy documents designed to target policy makers to assist them in families at all levels including policy forums and with the Ryan White Title I Planning Council where she has made a difference in breaking down many of the barriers that women face in accessing services.

Patricia was the 1999 recipient of the

18 Courage Award from Whitman-Walker Clinic, which recognized her outstanding leadership in the battle against AIDS. Patricia received the 1999 Award of Merit from Solutions 2000 for her organizing work. She is also the recipient of the 2000 Linowes Leadership Award from the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region in recognition of her tireless commitment to improving the lives of women living with HIV/AIDS; the Thurlow Evans Tibbs Jr. Award for championing HIV prevention and support services in the African-American community; the 2003 Caribbean Peoples International Award for her HIV/AIDS work in the Caribbean-American community. Also in 2003 she received the Washington Free Clinic Community Leadership Award and the WJLA Channel 7 2003 Tribute to Working Women Award for her tireless work to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. In 2004 Pat received the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) Certificate of Recognition of efforts on behalf of women living with HIV/ AIDS in DC and the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Youth Council of DC’s Outstanding Leadership Award in Health 2004.

NAPWA The National Association of People with AIDS met in San Francisco in 1986. Shown here, (from upper left, then clockwise) PWA Amy Sloan of Lafayette, Indiana; Billy Burton of Houston, Texas; Joseph Foulon of New York, Bobby Reynolds and San Turner of San Francisco; and Luis Maura of Los Angeles.

National City Christian Church – Dr. Stephen Gentle, Senior Pastor

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

The great pillars of our ministry are calling for us to build a greater work on the foundation they provide. We celebrate our ministry and we eagerly await the work that lies ahead. In giving expression to our vision for ministry in the Nation’s Capital, National City Christian Church is: A place of a growing spirituality A place of dedicated service A place of genuine hospitality A place of true diversity A place of outstanding music and the arts.

David Naylor

PHOTO COURTESY THE FAMILY

Susan Newman

PHOTO COURTESY SUSAN NEWMAN

The Reverend Dr. Susan Newman is the Director of the Balm in Gilead’s Washington, D.C. office. The Balm in Gilead is a nonprofit, faith-based organization working with churches to provide HIV/AIDS prevention and care services through establishing HIV/AIDS Ministries through education, training, and advocacy. She most recently served the District of Columbia Government as the Senior Advisor to the Mayor for Religious Affairs, and is an Adjunct Minister of Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ, Washington, DC, an open and affirming congregation. Hailed

by Ebony magazine as one of the Top Black Women Preachers in America, she has a 30-year career as a pastor, a community advocate, a teacher, a chaplain, and author.

An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Dr. Newman has served as the Senior Pastor of First Congregational Church, UCC, in Atlanta, Georgia; the Religious Coordinator for the Children’s Defense Fund; Chaplain and Director of Community Service at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, Adjunct Professor at the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, where she mentored Doctoral students in The Wheeler-Newman Fellows; Dr. Newman received a B.A. in Journalism from George Washington University in Washington, DC, a Master of Divinity from Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, DC, and a Doctor of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

OUT DC Safer Sex Sirens

PHOTO COURTESY CHERYL SPECTOR

The following biography includes text from an article that previously appeared December 14, 1990 in the Washington Blade.

Whenever there’s a large group of lesbians gathering, it’s a safe bet that the Safer Sex Sirens will be there, sounding an alarm.

Founded in 1990, the Safer Sex Sirens

distribute safer sex packets at various women’s events. The group members are armed with packets containing the latest information about safer, as well as some items that could be used for lesbian safer sex: dental dams and brightly colored plastic wrap are provided. The group began in the summer of 1990 when several members of the local direct action group OUT! attended a workshop on AIDS issues. There, some women from San Francisco discussed distributing safer sex packets at lesbian bars.

Some of the women in the direct action group were a little skeptical about doing what seemed like a job for a social service agency, but they realized that nobody else was going to do it. The group’s message is simple: In the age of AIDS, safer sex is something lesbians should think about.

Phillip Pannell

PHOTO COURTESY PATSY LYNCH

Philip Pannell became involved in the AIDS struggle in 1982 and worked with the United Black Fund and the D.C. Coalition to bring information and services to the AfricanAmerican community. He was arrested in several AIDS demonstrations, was the first to do street outreach east of the Anacostia River, served as a care giver to dozens of PLWAs and was among the first African Americans to appear in the media to discuss the pandemic. He was involved with several HIV/AIDS service organizations, received several certifications as an AIDS educator, served on several boards, and raised funds for organizations and individuals.

Pediatric AIDS Care, Inc.

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TALOR

Pediatric HIV/AIDS Care, Inc. is a not-forprofit community-based organization providing after-school mental health and support programs for HIV infected and affected children ages 5-18 years old. It offers services to children with no restrictions as to religion, race, ethnicity, HIV status, gender, or ability to pay.

Its comprehensive after-school program emphasizes creativity within the modalities of individual and group counseling; art, music, and recreation therapy; as well as a summer youth development camp - all provided by licensed and qualified professionals. Pediatric AIDS’ goal is to provide the children with the life skills and supports necessary to make a successful transition to adulthood, often as someone

orphaned by a disease that continues to disproportionately plague low-income AfricanAmerican DC residents.

Jeffrey Pendleton (A.K.A. Odessa O’Hara)

PHOTO COURTESY CHERYL SPECTOR

The following text is taken from an article originally published in The Washington Blade November 17, 1995.

Ubiquitous gay activist and drag advocate Jeffrey Brent Pendleton, whose stage name was Odessa O’Hara, was born May 6, 1967 in Takoma Park, Maryland. He became interested in drag at an early age; by age 17, he hitchhiked to Florida and became increasingly involved in the drag competition circuit while attending cosmetology school.

Jeffrey returned to Washington, D.C. in 1989 after a lover died of AIDS-related complications.

He soon learned he was HIV-positive and continued his organizing work. He produced many drag shows and competitions, including the 1993 Ms. Stonewall Pride in New York. He also organized and co-organized groups addressing discrimination of female impersonators. In 1991 and 1993, he formed Drags United to protest such discrimination at D.C.’s Capitol Pride, and he was a member of the Mid-Atlantic organizing committee for the 1994 Stonewall 25 March on the United Nations. In 1992 and 1993, Jeffrey organized hundreds of people to raise more than $10,000 for the annual AIDSWALK, sponsored by the Whitman-Walker Clinic. In 1994, he was honored at a White House ceremony by First Lady Hillary Clinton for his volunteer work at the Whitman-Walker Clinic.

Jeffrey Pendleton died November 6, 1995 at age 28 of AIDS-related complications. “Jeffrey was a pissy, pushy drag queen and he made a difference,” says Jeffrey’s friend Ralph Hoar. “That was the magic of Jeffrey Pendleton. If people were more concerned about commitment than approval, the world would be a different place.

That’s how Jeffrey lived his life.”

Michael Petrelis

PHOTO COURTESY PATSY LYNCH

From San Francisco, co-founder of ACT-UP of Washington, D.C. and tireless AIDS activist Michael Petrelis reports stories the mainstream media choose to ignore. Michael has appeared on The O’Reilly Factor, CNN, ABC News, and National Public Radio. He has been quoted by

19 The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Raw Story, The Chicago Tribune, The New Republic, and Stars & Stripes.

Danielle Pleasant

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Danielle Pleasant is a single mother of five who has been HIV-positive since December 1992; however, she was not diagnosed until August 1993. Pleasant is an advocate for all people, particularly those living with HIV. She began her advocacy in 1995 advocating for women and children, when her son was diagnosed with AIDS and she herself was pregnant with her fifth child.

That year was a hard one, as Ms. Pleasant was not only HIV+ and pregnant, but struggling with the disease of addiction and homelessness.

Pleasant is the Community Chair for the Metropolitan Regional Health Services Planning Council, which is where she got her start. She has worked as a consultant and volunteered in several capacities including: Support Groups at Family and Medical Counseling Services, Inc.; Case Manager at Howard University Hospital’s Family Connections Program; Clinical Trials and Treatment Education Program Coordinator at DC CARE Consortium; and Former and current participant of the Ryan White Title I Planning Council and all of its standing committees of which she is Co-Chair of four; Co-Chair of the DC Delegation.

She has participated in media outreach campaigns with the following agencies: the US Information Services Agency, the Women’s Collective, Knight-Ridder, BBC, Washington AIDS Partnership, MEE Productions, the HIV Community Coalition, the New York Times, the Informer, the Afro-American and Black Entertainment Television.

Bruce Rashbaum

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

The following are the words of Bruce Rashbaum: Being a 27-year survivor, yes, 27 years, is quite a sobering statistic. But I use that all the time when I give talks to others living with HIV. It helps this physician connect to patients when in general most physicians have a difficult time. I can talk the talk because I walk the walk. It wasn’t always easy.

I retired from practice in 1995 when I thought the future was looking very grim. I had lost over 1500 patients to HIV and my T cells were 7 and they all had names. My viral load was 2 1/2 million. My partner was sick and dying. I had lost most of my

friends and too many patients. It was a very sad time. But the time away from my work (8 months) was just the recharging I needed. I was lucky to be able to take advantage of new drugs that were available in expanded access and to adjust my regimen as newer, easier and safer drugs became available. I can connect to my patients in a way that most clinicians cannot. I know how my patients feel. And, more importantly, I know what it is like to be on the brim of death and to come back and thrive because of the successes of HAART. So, I share my story with anyone who has a medical condition because there is always a bright side to everything and with HIV, the future is here for all of us.

Regional Addiction Prevention (RAP), Inc.

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

Founded in 1970, Regional Addiction Prevention (RAP), Inc. is a nonprofit organization that offers residential substance abuse treatment using the therapeutic community (TC) modality.

In addition we bring services to persons living with HIV/AIDS and conduct prevention/outreach to increase community awareness of substance abuse and HIV/AIDS. RAP, Inc. has served the Washington metropolitan area since 1970. We base our treatment approach on cultural values, respecting and supporting all individuals and their communities and recognizing that a client’s culture is an inseparable part of his or her selfimage.

Teaching from the work of giants such as Malcom X, Frederick Douglass, and Maya Angelou who are models of recovery and overcoming abuse, we motivate clients to embrace the possibilities for their own sobriety.

Our mission is… to empower individuals to choose a productive life over addiction; to teach the behavioral skills, attitudes and values necessary to prosper physically, emotionally, and spiritually; and to reconnect clients to loved ones and to their community with a new appreciation of self and social responsibility.

Omar D. Reyes

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Omar Reyes has been an advocate and

activist for vulnerable communities, especially immigrants in the Latino community, in the fight against HIV/AIDS for more that 16 years.

He came to the United States from Nicaragua in 1984 to be reunited with his family, which had moved to the States after the civil war in his country in the mid-70s, and to continue his education. In the mid-80s, when the epidemic struck the gay community, Omar lost many of his friends to the disease. Since then, he decided to contribute in the fight against this pandemic.

Reyes has held different positions in the HIV field in the Washington Metropolitan area, including: Outreach Coordinator for the Inner City AIDS Network; Outreach worker Specialist for Whitman Walker Clinic, MD; Case Manager for Community Healthcare Inc.; and the HIV Counseling & Testing Coordinator for La Clinica del Pueblo, Inc. He had used his position to promote HIV awareness, link people to the appropriate services and empower them to defend their rights as a human rights activist and advocate for the Latino community.

He is the co-founder of the Miss Gay Hispanic pageant, which has as focus on HIV prevention.

He is also founder of the first Latina Transgender group in the metropolitan area, Creando Espacio, now called Grupo Mariposa, a program of La Clinica del Pueblo. Omar also created the illusion of Linda Carrero, winning local and national titles, including the Miss Gay America 1999 pageant for female impersonators, and he used HIV prevention as his platform.

RIGHT, Inc. Residing In Group Housing Together (RIGHT, Inc.), a faith-based AIDS Service Organization with 14 years of experience serving Washington D.C.’s Anacostia community, was established by a consortium of four churches located in Southeast Washington, DC. The pastors of Allen Chapel A.M.E., Emmanuel Baptist, Faith Tabernacle of Prayer For All People, and Young’s Memorial Church of Christ Holiness Churches were the visionaries for this organization. The advent of the organization was a result of two visionaries who as dynamic ministers/pastors witness through the devastation of funerals, hospital visitation and personal testimonials the incredible need to arrest the raving affect that the HIV/AID pandemic was having in the African American community and especially East of the Anacostia River. RIGHT is recognized as a housing program that attempts to improve the quality of life for persons who are devastated by the spiritual, emotional, and physical damage of HIV and AIDS, and to provide an opportunity to live with dignity and self-determination. This is accomplished by providing housing assistance for persons who are HIV positive and living with AIDS and their families to prevent or minimize homelessness; improving support services to HIV consumers through case management, advocacy and linkage agreements; and gaining participants trust. This means that RIGHT’s staff commits more time in providing quality services, addressing consumer issues, and meeting multiple needs of participants.

RIGHT’s mission is to improve the quality of life for persons impacted by the spiritual,

emotional and physical challenges stemming from HIV/AIDS as well as other health and social concerns, and to promote clients’ wellness, dignity and self determination.

Additionally, RIGHT Inc. is the first certified local partner of The Balm in Gilead.

The HIV/AIDS outreach programs includes the Balm In Gilead Black Church Week of prayer for the Healing of AIDS and the Church Lights the Way HIV Testing Campaign. These outreach programs provide information on the prevention and treatment of HIV disease, AIDS 101 training sessions, advocacy, referrals, and information on other available HIV/AIDS outreach programs in partnership with Damien Ministries, Inc., The Far Northeast/Southeast Ecumenical Outreach Ministry, Prince George’s County Health Department, Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry, DC Balm In Gilead Office and Churches throughout the DC area.

Olga Rodriguez

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

Olga Rodriguez has worked in the field of HIV/AIDS since 1991. She started volunteering at Salud, Inc., assisting people with HIV/AIDS in the Latino Community by providing information on the Bilingual AIDS Hotline. After serving three months as a volunteer, she accepted an offer to join the staff as a full-time employee, in the dual capacities of Case Manager and Support Group Coordinator. Rodriguez worked directly with clients to obtain and coordinate a wide array of services on their behalf. To enhance the agency’s services, she used her many contacts with other agencies and pharmaceutical companies to arrange for presenters to come and provide upto-date information to clients on topics of interest, such as programs and services, new medications, and coping with side effects.

After a year at Salud, Inc., Rodriguez was promoted to Case Management Department Supervisor. In her new capacity she supervised three case managers, the food bank coordinator, and the agency’s interpreter, in addition to carrying 35 clients of her own. She held this position for two years, until the agency was forced to close due to funding problems.

In 1995, Rodriguez served as Case Manager at La Clinica del Pueblo. During her two-year tenure at the agency, Rodriguez provided many services to her clients, which included setting up medical appointments, coordinating social services, and arranging for mental health services.

In order to work with a larger number of clients in a bigger clinical setting, Rodriguez joined Whitman-Walker Clinic. As a case manager, she has served many clients with dual and triple diagnoses. She has helped many clients from the Latino community overcome the language barrier in order to more fully avail of the services

20 offered by the clinic. She has accomplished this by providing direct assistance to clients, serving as contact person at the clinic for Latino clients, and by representing the Latino community on a clinic-wide committee. By informing clinic leaders and decision-makers of the unique issues and challenges faced by her constituents, she has helped to the clinic to minimize gaps in services to its Latino clients.

Michael Sainte-Andress

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Michael “Micci” Sainte-Andress is truly an asset to the Washington metropolitan area and is highly respected among local government, business, education, HIV/AIDS, community, and faith-based organizations. He has championed such causes as arts education in public schools, adult literacy, voter registration, and LGBT rights.

He has also been a tireless advocate for people living with HIV and a courageous visionary in his involvement in fighting for human rights and has selflessly allowed his own journey to be an inspiration to those who witness his commitment to our community.

Born in Seattle, Washington, Micci grew up in Houston since the age of six. He graduated from Lincoln University in 1972 with degrees in English and Sociology. In his life, Micci has been an educator, a professional ‘triple threat’ entertainer (i.e. he sang, danced and acted), an awardwinning poet and writer, but most importantly, he has been a human being fully committed to making the world a better place. He honorably served in the U.S. Navy and since 1975 has made Washington, D.C. his home.

In 1983 he was a poster model in the first promotional HIV ad campaign that targeted African-American gay and bisexual men.

Ironically, he was diagnosed as HIV-positive three years later. This spurred his advocacy and activism and he became a certified HIV/ AIDS Educator, Peer Counselor, and Treatment Education Specialist. He served as a Mayoral appointee for two consecutive three-year terms (1993-99) on the Metropolitan Washington Ryan White HIV Health Services Planning Council. Since 1995 Micci has also served on the Community Advisory Board (CAB) for HIV clinical trials of the Wide-Reaching AIDS Program (WRAP) of the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the Veterans Administration Medical Center.

As a performance artist, writer and lecturer, he has used skills and talent throughout the country to educate, inform and empower about the challenges of living with HIV disease. He does this with a commitment and sense of purpose that is remarkable. A good description of him is that of a “good soldier.”

Hugo Salinas

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Hugo Salinas is an HIV educator with many years of experience providing outreach to the community, particularly the Latino community.

He is a sales representative with De Cerca Media Group, Inc. His outreach in HIV/AIDS has allowed him to serve Ace of Hearts Imports, Indochinese Community Center, La Clinica Del Pueblo, GELAAM, and SALUD, Inc. Hugo has volunteered for the Latin American Cultural Space (LACS), the National Association of Persons with AIDS (NAPWA), and the American Red Cross. He has also served on the HIV Community Coalition Board.

Manuel Sandoval

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSE GUTIERREZ

Manuel Sandoval was a Latino Gay activist.

He participated in several community service organizations: Alianza, Salud, La Clinica del Pueblo and HCC. He was born in September 7 1959 and He died on March 1, 1995.

Daniel T. Schellhorn

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Born Oct. 29, 1945, Dan was raised in New Jersey; he came to Washington, D.C. in 1963 to attend George Washington University. He started working in printing and Direct Mail the next year and eventually became part owner and General Manager of Swift Mailing Service and co-owner of several business development and investment newsletters. During this period, Dan worked with Steve Endean of Gay Rights National Lobby to start and develop a direct mail campaign and worked with Steve on the initial development of the Human Rights Campaign Fund. He became active in the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Washington, D.C. in 1978, joining in 1979. Dan has served on various MCC programs, including the MCC lay Leadership and Clergy Training Leadership programs. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Northwest Settlement House.

After being diagnosed HIV-positive in 1989,

he sold his business and went back to school to finish his undergraduate degree, continuing on to get a master’s degree in Adult Education. He manages his real estate investments and is active in MCC ministries, particularly those involving HIV. He looks back on the ‘80s and ‘90s as a time when we as a community learned to care for each other, when both as individuals and as a community we were all heroes for each other.

He hopes that MCC and the LGBT community will continue to grow in caring for each member of the community, and will find new ways to strengthen this caring attitude that we began to learn during the first 30 years of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Carol Schwartz

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

In 1988, as cities such as Washington, D.C. began feeling the effects of the burgeoning epidemic, Council member Carol Schwartz joined the board of the Whitman-Walker Clinic and the fight against AIDS. Reflecting on the events that led her to become involved in helping those affected by HIV/AIDS, Carol said that she was simply responding to an innate need to help.

Carol served on the D.C. Council and recently ran unsuccessfully for mayor. She has served on the board of the Hattie M. Strong Foundation, the Community and Friends Board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and was the first woman president of the Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Clubs. She has also been actively involved on the boards of the Washington Hebrew Congregation, St. John’s Community Services, and the Jewish Council for the Aging, as well as on fundraising committees for organizations such as the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the D.C. Republican Party, the Lombardi Cancer Center and the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance. In 2002, she received the National Capital Area Leadership Award from the Human Rights Campaign, and in 2004, she received the Whitney M. Young Award for Community Service from the Greater Washington Urban League. She has also been selected multiple times by readers of the Washington Blade as Straight Ally of the Year.

Keith Selden

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

A. Keith Selden has worked tirelessly as an advocate and revolutionary for children, youth and families for the many years. Trained in social

work and case management, Keith has worked for the past 15 years specifically with adolescents and young adults infected with HIV. Keith worked exclusively with adults while service as a residential manager at a community release center with the District of Columbia’s Department of Corrections. At that time, he began recognizing many of his residents were being infected with HIV. What surprised him was that an overwhelming majority of those infected African American and female. This trend alarmed him enough that he felt compelled to begin working to educate and inform others about HIV within the Black community, his community.

After working many years with the Department of Corrections, he became frustrated with the rate of recidivism as he saw the revolving door of incarceration for so many. This lent a desire to work with a younger population, where he believed he could have more of a positive influence. Through discussions with a friend, he was made aware of a job opening at Children’s National Medical Center’s Burgess Clinic to case manage young people who were HIV-positive.

Keith’s position grew and he managed a program called Youth Connections, where Care Advocates are trained to identify HIV-positive youth and link them into medical care and other social support services that addresses issues all adolescents face: identity, school, friends, pimples, peer pressure, transportation, money, family issues, to name a few. After all, Keith understood that all adolescents face the same issues regardless of HIV status.

Shiloh Baptist Church

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

As the SHILOH BAPTIST CHURCH, we are a part of the Family of God - a vital entity in the Shaw community - believing in Jesus Christ, spreading the Good News, worshiping, teaching, growing, caring, sharing, cultivating Christian lifestyles, promoting justice, ministering to the needy, the oppressed and physically challenged and people of all ages and nationalities, locally, and internationally.

Shiloh’s overall purpose is to build a village that represents God’s Kingdom. We do that through our discipleship ministries, which pick up on the core purposes of the church. The first core purpose, “Loving God with all our hearts, minds and souls,” is fulfilled through our worship, where we express that love by magnifying and glorifying God. The second purpose, “loving our neighbors as ourselves” is fulfilled through our Outreach Discipleship Group.

Through our outreach, we continually express to the world that we are vitally concerned and connected with all of God’s creation. The third purpose is taken from the great commission found in Matthew 28:19-20, to “go and make disciples,” which we fulfill through evangelism,

21 spreading the good news about a loving God in every corner of the world. The fourth purpose is to “baptize them,” which we do through the ministry of our Stewardship Discipleship Group, brining new members lovingly in the fold.

Finally, the Great Commission tells us to “teach all nations,” which we accomplish through our Education Discipleship Group, providing training and instruction in the ways that God commands.

Shiloh will be the anchor of an urban village that focuses its ministry on body, mind and soul for persons of all cultures and races from the cradle to the grave. It will encompass the geographical dimensions of P Street to Q, 9th to 10th. The ministry offerings for children 6 to 18 will include a day care, after school tutorial and mentoring programs, Saturday movie, entertainment and recreational events and a residential facility for children. Ministry for young adults will include recreation through basketball, gymnastics and racquetball, as well as relationship building through singles and couples interaction and fellowship. Ministry to middle adults will include senior adult day care, child care and need-based support groups such as grief recovery and 12-step programs. Ministry for seniors will include daily fellowship, healthy affordable meals, an extended care living facility and transportation services.

Worship and spiritual formation will take place in the recently constructed sanctuary.

Recreational and educational events will occur in the completely renovated Family Life Center, which will be retrofitted as a state-of-the-art computer and communications facility. The Village will also be the site of health care and special needs programs. Buildings will be renovated and designed to accommodate the deaf, the blind and those with varieties of intellectual and emotional challenges. Space in these buildings will also be utilized for AIDS education as well as prostate, sickle cell and other health screening programs.

Text includes excerpts from http:// shilohbaptist.org .

Commission on AIDS. She worked for the District of Columbia Department of Public Health, where she established and was chief of the District of Columbia’s first AIDS office. Silver was also Senior Program Analyst and Director of the Fellows Program for the Drug Abuse Council, Inc. She has been a member of the American Public Health Association since 1979.

Silver has served on the board of directors of The Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, the Human Rights Watch HIV/AIDS Program Advisory Committee, DC Developing Families Center Advisory Council, and the New York Choreographic Institute Advisory Council. She also served on the board of directors of WhitmanWalker Clinic and on the National Institutes of Health Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council.

In 1987, she was honored with The Gene Frey Award for Public Service from the WhitmanWalker Clinic.

Jane Silver, MPH

Paul Smith

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

Jane Silver received her master’s degree in Public Health from the Yale University School of Epidemiology and Public Health, and has devoted her career to public health and public policy issues affecting poor and underserved communities. Silver is president of The Irene Diamond Fund, a New York City-based foundation with interests in medical research relating to HIV/AIDS and immunology, human rights and the performing arts.

Prior to joining the Fund, Silver served as vice president for Public Policy at the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), and as Associate Director for Programs for the National

Michael Singerman

Northern Virginia, a volunteer service sponsored by the Whitman-Walker Clinic of the Washington Metropolitan area. He also served as contract therapist with Us Helping Us, PIL, Inc., a local HIV/AIDS organization in the African American community in Washington, DC. Paul is currently retired and is now living in Hollywood, Florida. He continues to serve the HIV/AIDS community in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

He volunteers as a staff therapist with Sunserve Counseling and Psychotherapy Services, an LGBT mental health program in South Florida working with low income and indigent populations many of which are managing HIV/AIDS complications.

Paul’s community service includes membership on the Clinical Advisory Board, Sunserve Inc., Sunshine Social Services. He remains an active member with the Service Members Legal Defense Network, Emeritus Board. He has served on the Diversity Committee of the Broward County (FL) School Board, an oversight function that insures equity and fairness for all students in Broward County, Florida.

Stephen Smith

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

Michael Singerman was a member of the direct action groups ACT UP and OUT, and the Condom Availability Coalition. The Coalition assures the presence of condoms in Washington, D.C. schools and correctional facilities. He distributed clean needles with the Needle Exchange Coalition on the streets of DC – against DC law. He conceived and brought to fruition a legal, workable effective Needle Exchange Program for Washington, D.C. It authorizes qualified Community Based Organizations to administer Needle Exchange Programs that address the escalating rate of HIV infection among the District’s intravenous drug users.

PHOTO COURTESY PAUL SMITH

Paul M Smith is a retired Clinical Social Worker and Psychotherapist who maintained a private practice in downtown, Washington, D.C. for more than 18 years. Paul graduated from the National Catholic School of Social Service at Catholic University in the field of clinical Social Work in 1985. He spent his early years with the Montgomery County (MD), Department of Addictions, Victim and Mental Health Services as a staff therapist serving people, and their families, who were in recovery from substance abuse and addictions.

In the mid-‘90s, Paul served as clinical supervisor to HIV+ support group leaders of

PHOTO COURTESY CHERYL SPECTOR

The following text is taken from an article originally published in The Washington Blade November 20, 1998.

Stephen Smith, founder of the Washington, D.C. chapter of the AIDS protest group ACT UP/ DC and Gay direct action group Queer Nation, was born Jan. 15, 1964 in Franklin, Pa. In the mid-1980s he moved to Washington, D.C. and attended the University of Maryland at College Park.

In 1989, during the height of the D.C. gay community’s awakening to the AIDS crisis, Smith began organizing the D.C. chapter of ACT UP. He and other members of the organization distributed condoms at public and private high schools; protested the National Institutes of Health over its AIDS research; and called for a boycott of Philip Morris after the tobacco corporation gave money to U.S. Senator Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), known for his votes against legislation that would positively affect Gays and people with AIDS. In 1991, Smith co-founded the Washington, D.C. chapter of Queer Nation. ACT UP worked with Queer Nation and the pre-existing OUT! (Oppression Under Target!) on many actions, including a “Target Bush” project to document that then President George Bush had failed to take sufficient action on AIDS issues, and a “Roast the Real Pig” protest outside the Ronald Reagan Republican Center, where Helms’s re-election campaign was holding its own barbecue.

Stephen’s optimistic disposition earned him the nickname “Little Stevie Sunshine.” His friend Cheryl Spector says, “He taught me what it was like to be a tireless, fierce AIDS activist, and he was

a survivor.” Smith was also a leader in the medical marijuana and needle exchange movements.

“Stephen was a knowledge-keeper in our time,” said former ACT UP/DC and Queer Nation member Tim McCarthy. “He was the first person that taught me to live with this other life form that he lived with…he was my first HIV knowledge keeper.”

SMYAL

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TALOR

The Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL) is the only Washington, D.C. metro area service organization solely dedicated to supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Founded in 1984, SMYAL is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization.

Its mission is to promote and support selfconfident, healthy, productive lives for LGBTQ youth as they journey from adolescence into adulthood. To fulfill Its mission, SMYAL focuses its commitment and energy on five focus areas: (1) Life Skills & Leadership Development, (2) Counseling & Support, (3) Health & Wellness Education, (4) Safe Social Activities, and (5) Community Outreach and Education.

S.O.M.E.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SOME

SOME (So Others Might Eat) is an interfaith, community-based organization that exists to help the poor and homeless of our nation’s capital. Started in 1970, SOME meets the immediate daily needs of the people it serves with food, clothing, and health care. SOME helps to break the cycle of homelessness by offering services, such as affordable housing, job training, addiction treatment, and counseling, to the poor, the elderly and individuals with mental illness.

Many individuals infected with HIV or AIDS choose to come to SOME for any of its services, though especially for medical or dental care.

Together, the clinics serve an average of 40 high risk patients each day. Many of SOME’s HIVpositive patients prefer the privacy of coming to SOME since it serves a range of clients, regardless of HIV status.

Each day, SOME is restoring hope and dignity one person at a time.

St. Augustine Catholic Church Saint Augustine Church is the oldest black

22

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TALOR

Catholic church in the nation’s capital. As the Mother Church of Black Catholics, Saint Augustine Church continues in the tradition in which it was founded, as a strong Black Catholic institution, which witnesses in faith to the Living God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. Saint Augustine will continue to be a center that recognizes, proclaims and preserves our Black Roman Catholic Heritage. It will expand and improve all activities to advance the education of our children; to continue work in evangelization, liturgy, music, and ecumenism and in efforts toward the achievement of a spiritual, economic and social development of all people.

“My name is Precious Thomas. I am 15 years old and I’m in the 12th grade. I attend the Seed Public Charter School located in Washington, D.C. I am a motivational speaker on the facts about HIV/AIDS. I was also born with HIV. I was adopted when I was 2 weeks old. I have loving and caring family. I have 3 sisters and 1 brother.

I also have 2 beautiful nieces and 1 handsome little nephew. I have a wonderful best friend and many, many aunts, uncles, and cousins. I love my family very much and they are very supportive. I plan to have many days where I spend plenty of time with my family and friends in the future. I also plan to go to college and live a long, happy, and healthy life.”

the March of Dimes Births Defects Foundation from 1990-91. From 1986 to 1990 Dr. Tuckson was the Commissioner of Public Health for the District of Columbia.

Dr. Tuckson has been a member of several healthcare-related and academic organizations, including the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition, he was recently appointed to the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health and Society and has held a number of federal appointments, including cabinet level advisory committees on health reform, infant mortality, children’s health, violence, and radiation testing.

Thurlow Tibbs, Jr.

Wayne Turner

Rodney Taylor PHOTO COURTESY LOUIS HICKS

PHOTO COURTESY THE FAMILY

Rodney David Taylor was born in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 6, 1965. He attended Strayer University and received a bachelor’s in marketing. He graduated from Bennett Beauty Institute of Cosmetology in January 2002 and was salutatorian. Rodney studied dance and performed in many local shows. He studied and performed with the legendary Dance Theatre of Harlem. Rodney became well known nationally as a make-up artist and National Trainer for Trish McEvoy, Ltd. A true stylist, Rodney was the 2001 Golden Scissors Award Recipient, Makeup Artist of the Year and an outstanding male stylist. His previous makeup clients included international music icons Sweet Honey in the Rock, restaurant matriarch and lifestyle expert B. Smith and recording artist Rachelle Ferrell. Rodney worked as a makeup artist for BET Studios and NUE-TV (a Quincy Jones Production).

Rodney was an active member of Inner Light Unity Fellowship Church and Inner Light Ministries since 1998 where he sang in the church’s Voices of Praise and he founded the Dance Ministry.

Rodney made his transition February 15, 2003 from AIDS-related complications.

Precious Thomas

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Artist Thurlow Tibbs, Jr. was a prominent African-American member of the art community.

In particular, Thurlow was actively interested and involved in the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. His generous gift of paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and photographs in May 1996 greatly enriched the permanent collection of American art with outstanding examples by major African-America artists not previously represented in the collection. His wisdom, judgment, and enthusiasm contributed toward the Corcoran Gallery an important center for the preservation and study of AfricanAmerican art. In recognition of his work, Tibbs received the William Wilson Corcoran Medal in 1996.

Tibbs was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about American art, but he dedicated himself to supporting and encouraging the finest creative efforts of his fellow African Americans. Born in 1952, Thurlow Tibbs, Jr. passed away Jan. 16, 1997.

Reed Tuckson Dr. Reed Tuckson joined United Health Group as senior vice president of Consumer Health and Medical Care Advancement, where he worked with all business groups to create new healthcare systems, enhance patient-physician relationships, improve medical care quality, and assist individuals in maximizing their health.

Prior to joining United Health Group, Dr. Tuckson served as Senior Vice President of Professional Standards for the American Medical Association (AMA). He also had administrative responsibility for the AMA with the National Patient Safety Foundation, the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education, and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. The former president of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles from 1991 to 1997, Dr. Tuckson also served as Senior Vice Presdient for programs of

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TALOR

Wayne Turner organized numerous demonstrations, marches, and vigils in the fight against AIDS as a member of ACT UP in Washington, D.C. He has been arrested multiple times in non-violent civil disobedience, including protesting the firing of Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, and the lack of an AIDS ‘Czar’ with the power to effectively combat the epidemic. Wayne and his partner Steve were among nine people arrested at the White House when President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. In 1998, Wayne held near constant vigil at the bedside of his partner Steve, who spent three and half weeks in intensive care with multiple HIV-related infections. When Steve’s condition severely deteriorated, Wayne gave the order to disconnect his partner of seven years from life support. Wayne then organized an historic political funeral, as per Steve’s request.

Four hundred mourners marched a coffin containing Steve’s remains through the streets of downtown Washington, and held an open casket funeral service on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House.

Wayne went on to lead the successful Initiative 59 campaign to protect seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana. Although the vote totals were held up by Congress, a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of the National Capital Area won the release of the election ballots, revealing that the measure had passed by 69 percent, winning in all eight D.C. wards, and every voter precinct. Wayne continued the effort to ensure that HIV/AIDS funds are spent are spent effectively, and drafted proposals requiring random audits of AIDS service organizations and addressing conflict of interest in the allocation of federal funds, which were incorporated into the Ryan White CARE Act reauthorization of 2000.

His article documenting funding abuses, entitled ‘AIDS Inc.’ was published as the cover story in the April 2000 edition of the Washington Monthly magazine.

Sonia Umanzur

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TALOR

Irma (Sonia) Umanzur was born on Aug. 28, 1957 in Canton Boquin, La Union, El Salvador. She is one of seven children. She lost her father when she was one month of age and her mother had to work to support all the children. Her parents were peasants. Sonia started working when she was seven; she was a good student,responsible, sensible and was always looking out for others.

She married and has a wonderful grown daughter who she admires for her determination and commitment to working with the community.

She had to leave El Salvador in August 1981 because it was difficult for her to continue living with persecution. After a transition to the U.S., she moved to Washington, D.C., where she has been residing since about age 20. She started working in maintenance at the church Nuestra Reina de las Americas, a short time after she started volunteering at Carecen with the Health Program and as a result La Clinica del Pueblo started and making Sonia one of the founders of such an important health agency. She worked there for 15 years. She founded the Promotoras de Salud. She developed and taught the first group of participants. She also assisted in founding and promoting the program for HIV/AIDS. She worked in this program and was very committed to its progress by providing quality care to its participants.

She’s also worked at Mary’s Center as a patient advocate. Through her job, she lives the mission of the clinic to build better futures for families taking into consideration health, education and social services. Over the years, Sonia has demonstrated her commitment and leadership in the Latino community and especially in her very own Salvadorian community involving herself with the people and their concerns. Her pleasant disposition and optimism in addition to her modesty makes her a natural born leader.

Ryan White

PHOTO COURTESY THE FAMILY

Ryan White died of AIDS. His story follows.

On Dec. 6, 1971, Ryan Wayne White was born. Three days later, doctors told his parents that he was a hemophiliac. That means his blood does not clot the way it is supposed to. Luckily, there was a new product out that contained the clotting agents found in blood. This product was called Factor VIII, and was made from blood. Ryan grew up having many hemorrhages, or bleeds,

23 and would get IV’s of Factor VIII twice a week.

While he was battling pneumonia, he had to have surgery on Dec. 17, 1984, to have two inches of his left lung removed. Two hours after the surgery, doctors told his mother that he had contracted AIDS. He was given six months to live.

But he was a fighter.

He was determined to continue at his school and live life normally. But in 1985, not many people knew the truth about AIDS. Not very much was known about AIDS. Ryan faced a lot of discrimination, mostly based on the unknown. His school tried to keep him from attending and the town in which he lived was not very supportive, to say the least.

After legal battles, Ryan and his mother settled with the school to have separate restrooms and disposable silverware from the cafeteria. But that didn’t stop much. Students vandalized his locker with the word “FAG” and restaurants threw his dishes away after he left. A bullet was even fired into his home.

After that, he and his family moved to Cicero, Ind., and were welcomed. People had been educated and Ryan was happy again. He had his learner’s permit. He had friends, his family, and he was turning an incurable disease into a way to educate America. There was a movie made about him, titled “The Ryan White Story,” that aired on ABC. Ryan got to be an actor as he played his friend Chad.

Ryan White was making a difference. But on April 8, 1990, the world lost a wonderful person.

He knew he was famous, took that, and turned it into something that everyone could learn from.

He knew his purpose in life.

Whitman-Walker Health

Jessica M. Xavier, M.P.H.

PHOTO COURTESY JESSICA XAVIER

Jessica Xavier has worked in the HIV/AIDS epidemic for more than 20 years, and earned her master’s in Public Health at the University of Maryland. She was the data coordinator for the first HIV clinical research trial conducted in the District, at the George Washington University Medical Center, where she later became the Administrative Manager of the AIDS Clinical Trials Unit. She has also consulted with the Division of AIDS of NIAID, the Health Resources Services Administration, the Leadership Campaign on AIDS, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 1998 to 2000, she was Principal Investigator for the bilingual Washington, D.C. Transgender Needs Assessment Survey, one of the largest studies of an urban transgender population conducted in the U.S. She was a contributor to the HIV/AIDS chapter of the Healthy People 2010 Companion Document for LGBT Health, and she also coordinated the first all-day institute on HIV/AIDS in transgender people at the 2002 U.S. Conference on AIDS. She also served as the director of Volunteer Resources for Whitman-Walker Clinic for nearly four years and as a co-investigator of the Virginia Transgender Health Initiative Study, a statewide qualitative/quantitative survey of the transgender population of Virginia, implemented by the Community Health Research Initiative of Virginia Commonwealth University for the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia HIV Community Planning Committee.

Frank Yurrita PHOTO COURTESY WWH

Whitman-Walker Health (formerly WhitmanWalker Clinic) provides comprehensive, compassionate services that address many of the health care needs of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities and serves as the largest provider of HIV/AIDS services in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Established in 1973, Whitman-Walker Health is a community-based organization with hundreds of volunteers who provide millions of dollars’ worth of services annually.

With compassion and dedication, the staff and volunteers enable the thousands of clients who turn to the clinic each year to receive vital primary medical care and social support services. Earlier this year, Whitman-Walker opened a new, multimillion dollar facility on 14th Street, expanding its services to include a pharmacy, dental care and many other primary care health services for local residents.

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

Frank Yurrita came to the United States from Guatemala in 1984. He was at the forefront of HIV/AIDS prevention and education movement during the mid-1980s, before treatment of the disease was available and little was known about HIV/AIDS prevention and education in the Latino community. Since the beginning of the epidemic Yurrita worked diligently to provide HIV/AIDS information and treatment to diverse populations. In 1986, Yurrita joined the staff at La Clinica del Pueblo where he started the first HIV/AIDS program for Latinos in the District of Columbia.

In 1988, Yurrita moved to Whitman-Walker Clinic and started the Latino Services Division.

There Yurrita worked hard to obtain funding from various private and government sources to

provide many services and programs to the gay Latino population in D.C. After serving as Interim Director of the Mayor’s Office on Latino affairs in 1999/2000, Yurrita returned to Whitman-Walker as Associate Executive Director for Health and Wellness. There he served as liaison to the Centers for Disease Control and hosted numerous international delegations seeking information as to how to provide HIV/AIDS services to developing countries.

Yurrita has been a strong advocate for culturally competent access to health care for diverse populations and has designed and implemented successful programs for at-risk youth and gangs in the Latino community.

2012

John-Manuel Andriote

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

John-Manuel Andriote began reporting on the HIV epidemic in 1986, while he was working on a master’s degree in journalism at Northwestern University. By then he had already lost two friends to AIDS, both of them in their twenties, like himself. Bill Bailey, a volunteer “buddy” for Whitman-Walker, encouraged Andriote to focus on HIV/AIDS while the two were a couple. Bailey himself tested positive in 1986, and later died from AIDS in 1994. That year, Andriote began to work on the book that became Victory Deferred: How AIDS Changed Gay Life in America.

Published by the University of Chicago Press in 1999, Victory Deferred chronicled the stories of gay men and their supporters who responded to the epidemic with anger and determination that no one should suffer discrimination because of their HIV status or sexual orientation. Andriote himself was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 2005, and continues to report on the epidemic.

In 2011, Andriote updated Victory Deferred in a revised and expanded second edition. The many audiotape interviews Andriote conducted with men and women in gay communities across the country, medical experts, activists, family members and others affected by HIV/AIDS, are now part of the John-Manuel Andriote Victory Deferred Collection curated by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

George Bellinger, Jr.

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

George Bellinger, Jr. has been working in

the AIDS industry since 1982 and with LGBT communities before that time. He has served in various capacities from outreach worker and community organizer to Executive Director and consultant. He started his activism and community involvement in Washington, DC with Whitman Walker, when it was just a gay men’s clinic as a buddy, assisting those who were impacted by AIDS and needed human contact and support. Those skills took him to become the Program Coordinator for Spectrum, one of the early organizations dedicated to the Black community.

Most recently he provided strategic planning for the Black Gay Leadership Council of Philadelphia and served as a research assistant for Dr. J. Battle at the CUNY Graduate Center on health disparities of communities of color and D. P Wheeler of Hunter College on a multi-site study looking at behavioral and sexual aspects of Black men who have sex with men. He came back to Washington, DC and served as the Associate Executive Director for Policy and Community Development for the AIDS Action Council, and one of the faculty members for the African American HIV University of the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, CA. Mr. Bellinger is an accomplished trainer and facilitator and has worked throughout the United States as well as internationally, focusing on areas of self-awareness, empowerment, love & sex, relationships, identity. A renowned prevention specialist, George is proficient in policy issues, coalition building and addressing the needs of underserved communities. George is often requested as a keynote speaker to address the concerns of people of color who are at-risk and providing strategies and empowerment to those populations. He is currently a management consultant working with non-for-profit agencies developing their boards, programs and productivity. A native New Yorker, he dedicates his work to the people who coming up while honoring those who went before him.

Donald Birch III

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

I wonder if I had not tested HIV+ in August of 1985 at home in Detroit, would I have done as much in the HIV/AIDS world. When I moved to DC in 1986, I don’t know if I would have worked, supported, participated and/or volunteered with Inner City AIDS Network, Whitman Walker Clinic, IMPACT-DC, the DC AIDS Office, LIfelink, NAPWA, Us Helping Us and other groups that I’ve worked for. I’m not even sure if I would have eventually become a social worker. I’d like to think I would have been magnanimous, sacrificial and hard working for the good of others. However, knowing myself as well as I do, I probably wouldn’t have. The truth is also that I’m thankful that I’ve been part of the HIV community, for my

24 sake as well as on the behalf of others. It has given me friends, purpose, life enrichment and fun. And if being HIV positive for more than half my life has made me do this work then I guess I’m kind of thankful for that at well.

AHF Blair Underwood Center

As an activist in Washington, D.C., Larry regularly meets with politicians and political staff members to push for better funding and greater support for HIV-positive people throughout the country.

But although he may be rubbing shoulders with some of the country’s most powerful people, Larry always keeps it real: “I will never be as important as the people I work for,” he says.

William Anthony Burns

PHOTO BY JULIUS PRINCE

A part of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the AHF Blair Underwood Healthcare Center is located in Washington, D.C. and named after Blair Underwood, a popular and award-winning Hollywood actor whose activism and advocacy on HIV/AIDS blossomed after he visited the hard hit country of South Africa many years ago. He is a founding member of the advocacy group, ‘Artists for a New South Africa,’ and has previously been featured in several AHF media campaigns, most notably AHF’s highlyeffective “Man Up” HIV testing media campaign.

The center is a state-of-the-art, full-service HIV/ AIDS treatment clinic as well as an on-site AHF Pharmacy. The facility is known popularly as the AHF Blair Underwood Clinic.

AHF Healthcare Centers provide advanced medical care designed specifically for HIVpositive clients. AHF healthcare providers are knowledgeable of up-to-the-minute developments in HIV medical care. In addition, AHF Healthcare Centers are often part of the research teams testing new medications to fight HIV. AHF Healthcare Centers provide clients with access to the additional specialists, medications and services they need to be as healthy as possible.

“By locating our clinic inside the District and not far from George Washington University Hospital, where we will admit some of those HIV/AIDS patients who may need hospital care, our AHF Blair Underwood Clinic will be in a unique position to better serve a high-risk, largely minority population,” said Roxanne CoxIyamu, M.D., Medical Director for the AHF Blair Underwood Clinic.

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

The following are the words of William A. Burns: I thought I would have been dead by now.

Friday, July 13, 1990 was when this journey officially began for me. Though I do suspect, it was probably a year or two before then. I have lost so many friends and loved ones to this epidemic. I have come to believe, “that which does not kill us can make us stronger.” God has been so good to me. People have been kind, loving, and supportive of me. That has truly been amazing, given the past and current stigma still attached, to people living with HIV/AIDS. Life is precious. Love is precious. I live my life now on purpose, on purpose with all its challenges and complexities. HIV/AIDS has not killed me, and surprisingly, and gratefully, it has also helped to make me stronger.

Live Life on Purpose.

Abby Charles

PHOTO BY JULIUS PRINCE

Jeffrey Crowley

Larry Bryant PHOTO BY TOMMIE ADAMS

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Larry Bryant could have pursued a career in professional football if he’d wanted to, HIV or no HIV. But he decided to take his life in another direction: helping improve the lives of others. A 20-year survivor of HIV, Larry now presses palms for the AIDS advocacy group Housing Works instead of pressing pigskin on the football field.

Jeffrey S. Crowley is a Distinguished Scholar and Program Director of the National HIV/AIDS Initiative at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law. He is an internationally recognized expert on HIV/ AIDS and disability policy, having worked at top levels of government, academia, and advocacy organizations. From 2009 to 2011, he served as the Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy and Senior Advisor on Disability Policy for President Barack Obama. As the

President’s chief HIV/AIDS advisor, Mr. Crowley developed the first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States, focused on lowering the number of new HIV infections, increasing access to care, and reducing HIVrelated health disparities.

Mr. Crowley has dedicated his professional career to advancing approaches and solutions to the nation’s most pressing social policy challenges.

From 2000 to 2009, he was a Senior Research Scholar at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute and subsequent to its founding he had a concurrent appointment as a Senior Scholar at the University’s O’Neill Institute. His work focused on improving health care for people with disabilities and chronic conditions through improvements to Medicaid and Medicare. Mr. Crowley is a respected leader among people affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, having served in senior positions at the National Association for People with AIDS from 1994 to 2000. He has worked with domestic and international advocates and policymakers to advance more responsive and humane policies regarding HIV treatment, prevention, and research.

Ron Daniels

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

An award-winning public health advocate and addictions counselor, Ronald Daniels has worked on HIV/AIDS and substance abuse issues in the District of Columbia for 15 years. Throughout those years, Ron has tirelessly worked at the grassroots level to ensure people suffering from HIV and chemical dependency receive the essential continuum of care services they needed to recover from the scourge of addiction and to survive living with HIV/ AIDS. Through numerous community based and major health care organizations, Daniels has spread the gospel of harm reduction and shepherded hundreds of marginalized people into the quality care, treatment and support they deserve.

A founder and co-founder of several programs in care advocacy, syringe access, and harm reduction education during his eight-year tenure at Prevention Works, Daniels quickly established himself as the go-to advocate in the District for access to those struggling with the hardened realities of drug addiction and the co-occurring disorders of HIV, mental illness, and Hepatitis C. Through his frontline service for clients who trust him to help them navigate DC’s sprawling health and social service systems, Daniels provides more than the hope of receiving high quality services for indigent populations; he helps make sure it’s delivered.

Since leaving Prevention Works in 2008, Daniels’ work has continued unabated. As the Needle Exchange Coordinator for Family and Medical Counseling Services (FMCS), Daniels is helping DC’s leading minority health service provider, in their first foray into comprehensive

needle exchange programming for active users through a mobile unit program that takes pointof-entry health care access directly to the people, within their own neighborhoods.

Ron Daniels counsels underserved drugusers in how to obtain key supports on their road to recovery. A life-long human rights activist, Daniels continues to partner with marginalized communities in Washington struggling to justifiably receive the quality, competent, and non-judgmental care all human beings deserve.

DC Community Coalition

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

The DC Community Coalition (DCC) is a broad cross-section of peopleliving with and affected

by HIV and AIDS throughout the Washington DCMetropolitan Area, working together to serve as the Local Citizens’ Host Committee for the 19th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) to be held in Washington, DC, July 22-27, 2012.

Members of the 2012 DC Community Coalition come from various sectorsof the community and are focused on ensuring that the District of Columbia is an effective and powerful host to the AIDS 2012 conference and its global, national, and local stakeholder-attendees. The DCC will utilize AIDS 2012 as an opportunity for increased accountability by all DC Metropolitan Area leaders.

Geno Dunnington

PHOTO BY PEPO SUBIRANAS

Geno Dunnington is currently the President and CEO of Positive Effects Inc. in Washington, DC, which provides technical assistance to community-based organizations and agencies that serve hard to reach target populations. Since 1977, Geno has specialized in the access of treatment and care for the HIV/ AIDS, Substance Usage, and Mental Health communities. In 2001 he earned his Certified Addictions Counselor Training through the Training Resource Associates at Howard University. He is certified in several strategies and techniques in Harm Reduction. In 2003 through the Department of Mental Health he is a certified Peer Recovery Specialist. In 2007 he completed certification as a Trainer and Group Facilitator to teach mental health recovery skills including Wellness Recovery Action Planning (W.R.A.P.) to people experience psychiatric symptoms, their family members, and health care providers. He has served as board

25 member for DC Care Consortium, a member of the Mayor’s Office of GLBT Affairs, and many other committees including the Metropolitan Washington Regional Health Planning Council and DC PWA (co-chair). Geno Dunnington is the Program Director of the National Media Consortium Inc. which produces the ANC and YOU, Carol’s Corner, Silent View, and One on One with The Congressional Black Caucus; he is also the host of HIV/AIDS the Nation and The World which are broadcasted on Comcast TV in the Washington, DC metropolitan area reaching over one million viewers.

Ruth Eisenberg Ruth is a partner at the Washington, DC law firm of Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg LLP, which is widely recognized as one of the premier boutique firms in the country specializing in representing nonprofit organizations concerned with civil rights, promotion of health, education, elimination of poverty, and other social justice causes.

Ruth advises organizations on almost every aspect of employment law, including development, review and implementation of workplace policies; effective hiring procedures; employee relations; wage and hour compliance; counseling and disciplinary actions; compliance with federal and state antidiscrimination laws; family and medical leave act compliance; performance evaluation and review process; implementation of policies to avoid workplace harassment; investigations resulting from allegations of harassment; executive compensation and employment agreements; and defense of wrongful termination claims.

She advises also organizations on corporate governance, federal tax law compliance, contracts, leases and intellectual property, and represents employees in employment discrimination and other employment-related matters.

Before joining Harmon, Curran in 1996, Ruth litigated disability rights cases at the National Veterans Legal Services Program and represented people with HIV as Director of Legal Services at the Whitman-Walker Clinic. Ruth has served on the Boards of Directors of Lambda Legal and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Foundation. She is the co-author of The Rights of People Who are HIV Positi

Mark Fischer

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

Mark Fischer is currently serving his third term as a member of the Metropolitan Washington Regional Ryan White Planning Council where he is on the Executive Committee and chairs the Bylaws, Policies and Procedures Committee. He has played a leading role in ensuring that the

Planning Council has appropriate policies and procedures to guide its work and that accurate, substantive consumer input from people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is incorporated into the Council’s planning and decision-making. From 2008 to 2012, Mark was senior vice president (pro bono) of Back to the Basics Please (BTTBP), a 501(c)-3 non-profit whose mission is to serve and embrace all communities by assisting individuals in living their most physically healthy and emotionally fulfilling lives. BTTBP strives to create resources and connect individuals in rural or remote areas of the country to services at the same level as those generally found in urban centers. For more than 25 years, Mark held executive management positions in the private sector. Prior to that, he dedicated a decade as a teacher and administrator who developed innovative public education programs to reach students from economically and socially challenged backgrounds. Mark holds B.A. and in English and an M.A. in English Education from Duke University. A native of St. Petersburg, Florida and a resident of the District of Columbia since 1978, Mark is a person living with HIV for over 26 years.

Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She earned a BA/MD, a six-year accelerated program at the University of MissouriKansas City and a Masters in Public Health from the University of California-Berkeley School of Public Health. She is a board-certified infectious diseases physician and CDC-trained medical epidemiologist who has made significant contributions in HIV/AIDS nationally and globally.

Currently, she is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Howard University.

Dr. Fitzpatrick began her career as a medical epidemiologist at the nation’s premier public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1998. Throughout her tenure at the CDC, Dr. Fitzpatrick held several leadership positions. She served as team leader on landmark HIV-related epidemiological studies including HIV transmission among black college students and among black women. In 2005, Dr. Fitzpatrick also led a multi-disciplinary team to conduct the CDC’s first ever investigation of HIV infection among prison inmates. She established the CDC’s first Minority AIDS Research Initiative which provided opportunities for junior researchers of color to become independent HIV researchers Her personal desire to ensure her expertise and professional experiences would directly benefit underserved communities of color led her to accept her current position at Howard.

In addition to her role as clinician and educator at Howard University, Dr. Fitzpatrick is working

to establish a two-site community/academic infectious disease research center and has started collaboration between the Howard University Division of Infectious Diseases and the United Medical Center, where she is the Director of HIV/AIDS services. She also pens health literacy articles for a variety of publications as she believes informed citizens make healthier citizens. As a researcher, clinician, infectious disease expert, and patient advocate, Dr. Fitzpatrick has demonstrated unwavering commitment and dedication to improving public health.

Tiffany Chester Gilliard

PHOTO BY JULIUS PRINCE

Tiffany Chester Gilliard has more than 20 years of diverse and extensive experience in strategic planning, direct sales, market positioning, stakeholder relations, and new business development. In her current role as the Head of the Local Secretariat of the landmark XIX International AIDS Conference (a biennial global conference that attracts more than 22,000 delegates including more than 2,000 journalists from up to 200 countries), Ms. Gilliard serves as the primary liaison to the conference secretariat in Geneva, facilitates relationships with national and local government agencies, including the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, National Institutes of Health, Executive Office of the Mayor of Washington, D.C., and the Department of Health.

Prior to her work with the XIX International AIDS Conference, Ms. Gilliard was the Director of Sales for Destination DC, the official convention and visitors’ bureau for Washington, D.C. Throughout her career, Gilliard has also exceled in sales and marketing at some of the nation’s leading companies including Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, the Walt Disney Company, Marriott, and the Convention and Visitors Bureaus of Dallas and Greater Boston.

Dedicated to education of tomorrow’s leaders, Tiffany was an adjunct professor in the Hospitality Management Program at Howard University and works with Hospitality High School in Washington, DC. In addition she is an active participant in community affairs through her memberships in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and the Metropolitan Baptist Church. Ms. Gilliard holds a B.A. in mass communications from Hampton University; a M.B.A. from the University of Maryland—University College; and an International Business Certificate from the University of Antwerpen. A native of Miami, Florida, she has been a long-time resident of Washington, D.C. and resides there with her husband.

D. Paul Gordon

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

D. Paul Gordon was born and raised in Portsmouth, Virginia. He graduated from Hampton University in 1992 with a B.A. in Business Management and a minor in Accounting. He earned his M.B.A. from Saint Leo College in 1992. In 1997, he earned an Associate Degree in Paralegal Studies from the John Marshall School of Law. Since his HIV diagnosis in January 1989, Mr. Gordon has work with several HIV/AIDSrelated organizations. From 1996 to 2002, he volunteered with AIDS Atlanta; since 2008 he has volunteered for AIDS Walk in Washington, DC. Presently, Mr. Gordon works with the Bayard Rustin Project for the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA).

D. Paul is very active in the community and knows the importance of telling his story so that others won’t experience the things he has through in life. His motto is Psalms 118:17 – ”I shall not die but live and declare the work of the LORD.”

Mayor Vincent Gray

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TAYLOR

Vincent C. Gray is serving as the seventh Mayor of the District of Columbia. Prior to his inauguration as mayor in January 2011, Gray served as Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia and as Councilmember for Ward 7.

In the 1990s he also served as director of the DC Department of Human Services.

Mayor Gray earned a B.A. in Psychology at George Washington University. Gray began his political career with the D.C. Association for Retarded Citizens, where he successfully advocated for innovative public policy initiatives on behalf of people with mental retardation. In 1991, then Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly appointed Gray to the post of Director of the DC Department of Human Services.

Gray became the founding executive director of Covenant House Washington in December 1994. Over a decade, Gray grew the agency from a van outreach program to a multisite agency serving homeless youth in the District’s Southeast and Northeast communities.

In 2008, Gray successfully led his Council colleagues in passing the “Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Act of 2008”, a program to provide universal pre-kindergarten to every three- and four-year-old in the District of Columbia by 2014,

26 to increase early intervention and enhancement services for student success.

Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

God has blessed the ministry of Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church through the vision of Archbishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr. D.Min., Founder and Pastor. The church was established under his leadership in 1966. Since that time, God has richly added to the ministry. Pastors Archbishop Alfred A. Owens and International First Lady Susie Owens now pastor a flock of almost 8,000 members and because of their faithfulness; thousands of lives have been touched, changed and delivered.

Jesus is being lifted up and exalted through messages that teach the people of God three things: to hate sin, to love God and one another, and to understand and appreciate the principle of giving. Souls are being saved as the word of God is preached through God’s anointed man and woman of God. Hands are raised when people come week after week to acknowledge Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives.

Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church is a church where everybody is somebody; a church ordained by God where His children gather to worship and to be inspired by the preaching and teaching of His Word. We believe that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God. Our primary goal is to present the full Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe in prayer, fasting, healing and great deliverances. When you enter the sanctuary, come expecting a miracle. It is with pleasure that we extend to you a cordial invitation to join us in worship services.

May the Lord God bless you real good!

Leon Hampton, Jr.

PHOTO COURTESY MCC-DC

A native of Louis, Kentucky, Leon received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Western Kentucky University. He then enrolled in The University of Louisville’s Law School while working under Judge Executives, Marlow Cook and E.P. Sawyer.

When drafted into the U.S. Army, Leon reported to Ft. Know, Kentucky, where he would meet and serve along with Louisville’s longestserving Mayor, Jerry Abramson. After Leon received the ‘American Spirit Honor Award’, he returned to Washington, DC where he worked

in the office of Kentucky’s U.S. Senator Marlow Cook and went on to graduate from American University’s Washington College of Law. During his professional career, Leon worked alongside Diane Sawyer, Dora Jean Lewis Malachi, Raoul Cunningham, as well Kentucky’s U.S. Representative John Yarmuth. He also worked for SBA, Department of Commerce and before retiring from EPA, taught business law class at Howard University.

A person of deep and abiding faith since formative years, Leon was an active member of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Washington, DC where he served as a lay leader in many capacities. He also once served as president of the Board of Pensions for MCC, USA. Leon completed work in the USA and in other countries. Leon passed from his earthly labors to his eternal rewards on September 30, 2010.

Veronica Jenkins

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Humanitarianism seems to have been the basis of my life. My parents were everyone’s parents and no one would be sent out of our doors without a kind word, a hug or a great meal.

As a result, I began my life’s journey as a teacher and became a doctor to ensure that learning was not hampered by poor health. I learned that the mind and body were intricately connected and that neglect of either was detrimental to the other.

The patient’s struggle during the HIV/ AIDS epidemic embodies every aspect of our meager attempts to live well and happy. Clients were faced with adversity and either learned to overcome or succumbed to the dregs of the worse medical problem of my life time.

Fortunately, the science has allowed us to turn the tide and see the positive outcomes that can be achieved through treatment, adherence, and education.

It has been a tumultuous ride but we are coasting, I believe, towards a smooth finish.

We must not fail each other. We must continue to support research, social change, equitable medical services and injustices to all people who have been touched by this disease- both infected and affected.

“The road of my life has been paved by the harmony of many lives; therefore, I sing a good song of our future and my destiny.”

Venton Jones Venton Jones represents a new generation of national leaders committed to advancing public health and social justice for the African American and GLBT communities. Currently, Mr. Jones resides in Washington, DC as Communications and Education Manager at The National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition (NBGMAC).

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Prior to joining NBGMAC, Mr. Jones worked with the University of California, San Francisco Center for AIDS Prevention Studies as the Team Leader/Social Networking Coordinator for United Black Ellument (an HIV prevention intervention adaptation for young Black gay & bi-sexual men) in his hometown of Dallas, Texas.

Mr. Jones remains a strong advocate in Dallas, Texas, with an extensive record of leadership, including President/Founder of the non-profit organization, Dallas/Fort Worth Pride Movement.

Being in the domestic epicenter of the HIV/ AIDS epidemic, Mr. Jones’ work has lead him to serve as an expert consultant for a number of agencies and government entities in Dallas, the State of Texas and throughout the country, including the White House. Venton Jones is a recipient of the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA), Positive Leadership Award and National AIDS Education and Services for Minorities (NAESM) Harold Dean Philpot Leadership Award for Excellence in Support for HIV/AIDS and Community Service. He received his B.S. in Community Health from Texas A&M University and his M.S. in Health Care Administration from The University of Texas at Arlington. Using his public health background and work as a community activist, Mr. Jones has committed his career to HIV prevention and awareness in the African American community (particularly youth), advocating for GLBT equality and promoting positive public health and socioeconomic outcomes.

Public Administration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990.

In 1985, he moved to the Washington, DC metro area to accept a position with Prince William Government in Woodbridge, Virginia.

Since then, he has worked for Fairfax County Government; he currently works for the U.S. Department of Labor where he’s been for the past 20 years.

His community service started in 1990 where hosted a fundraiser for HIV/AIDS. This event became known as his annual “Spring Has Sprung Fundraiser.” For over 22 years this even raised more than $20,000 for various community-based organizations dealing with HIV/AIDS, Homeless, Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Domestic Violence, and Disadvantaged Youth in the Washington, DC metro area.

The successes of this fundraiser lead Curtis to begin hosting other fundraisers throughout the year including, “Fall Has Fallen”, “End of Summer”, “Birthday Bash”, Outdoor Movie Night, Fat Tuesday Celebrations, Toy Drives, and Midnight Fish Fries.

His dedication to community service is credited to mother who is 93 years of age and taught him at a very early age “it is much better to give than it is to receive…and the more you give the more blessings you will receive.”

From Curtis Massey: I am blessed to have friends, associates, and others who have supported my fundraisers for over 22 years and for that I THANK YOU!!!

Mayor’s Host Committee

PHOTO BY TOMMIE ADAMS

George Kerr

Rev. Dyan McCray

PHOTO BY TOMMIE ADAMS

Curtis T. Massey

PHOTO BY JULIUS PRINCE

Curtis was born and raised in Petersburg, Virginia where he graduated from Petersburg High School in 1978. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina in 1982 and his Master’s Degree in

PHOTO BY TOMMIE ADAMS

Reverend Dyan Abena McCray is the founding pastor of Unity Fellowship Church Washington, DC and lives a life committed to social justice. She worked tirelessly and ecumenically with her fellow clergy colleagues for marriage equality in Washington, DC, and has also served on the board of directors for: DC Black Gay and Lesbian Pride; Transgender Health Empowerment; and The Mautner Project.

Unity Fellowship strives to be a faith-based Congregation that nurtures-proclaims mutual respect and the sacredness of all life. The church works to confidently proclaim, teach, and empower members of the GLBT and heterosexual affirming communities through

27 scriptures and other sacred writings. Through social action, Unity Fellowship will empower, educate and stand for those that have been oppressed and rejected.

As Pastor, Rev. McCray introduces to some, affirms to others, and enhances for all the validity of GOD in all life.

Ronald E. Morgan

allowing my voice to be heard to raise thousands of dollars for those making a difference in the cause. I have always used the stage as a chance to mix humor with a social message; this has opened the door for me to work with a number of celebrity legends. To name a few, they include Grammy award-winning divas such as Patti Labelle, Chaka Khan, and Jennifer Holiday. I live by this: the greatest gift from God is to be in service!!!!!!!!!

Bob Ray

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

A native Washingtonian, Ronald E. Morgan attended the University of the District of Columbia and has earned certificates from various organizations, including UDC, Us Helping Us, Inc., the Department of Health’s Comprehensive AIDS Training Initiative, Unity Health Care, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since his HIV diagnosis in 1984, Mr. Morgan has gained a better understanding of his condition through various fieldworks in the HIV/AIDS community. His involvement includes the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA), AIDS Walk, Whitman Walker Clinic, Akoma Project, Us Helping Us, Inc., and Regional Addiction Prevention (RAP), Inc. Ronald educates the community and Federal and District Government organizations on his life experiences. He speaks of his previous drug addiction and as a result of his diagnosis, his long road of recovery and the daily physical, emotional and mental challenges he faced. Despite his HIV diagnosis and additionally being diagnosed with anal cancer in 2010, Ronald continues to serve and uplift his family friends, and the community.

Mr. Morgan believes he has the obligation the moral right to inform and educate the community about HIV/AIDS. He advocates for the rights of those infected with HIV to receive services and believes people with HIV/AIDS can live a long and healthy lifestyle with assistance and knowledge of the community resources available to them.

Rayceen Pendarvis

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

I attended a fund raiser for the Whitman Walker Clinic in the early 1990s at the home of some close friends. Jim Graham, the Executive Director, approached and asked if I would be interested in joining the Board of the Clinic.

Actually, the thought had never occurred to me.

I did not see myself as an activist. However, at the time, lots of my friends were getting sick and some were dying. I felt it was time to get off the side lines and get into the battle. I was already seeing patients who were abandoned by other orthodontist because they were HIV positive.

I joined the Board and soon after I discovered my friend had AIDS. Less than two years later he was gone. I became Chairman of the Board of Directors. In the next few years more than half of my friends passed away. It was good being in a very supportive environment like the Whitman Walker Clinic during some very difficult times.

After thirteen years, I separated from the clinic and became more involved in my profession.

Eventually I became Chairman of the DC Board of Dentistry. We updated the regulations to put a dentist’s license to practice in jeopardy if he or she refused to treat HIV positive patients. The Dental Board tried to encourage dentist to do HIV testing in their dental offices.

It is interesting with all the efforts of so many people for so many years here in DC, young gay African American men are still getting infected at a very alarming rate. We cannot let our guard down. We still have a lot of work to do.

Rev. Kerolos Saleib

PHOTO BY JULIUS PRINCE

As a native Washingtonian who has been working in the area of activism for over 30 years, in that time I have lent my voice and time to raise awareness in the fight against HIV. I have been given the opportunity to work with various groups such as Capital Pride, DC Black Pride, Transgender Heath Empowerment and Us Helping Us along with so many others. I have been an openly gay elected official as well,

PHOTO BY D. GREG BARTON

The name Kerolos is of Macedonian origin and means “Lord of the People.” (Kero comes from the Greek word Kirie which means Lord and Los means a mass of people.) Though I was born in Egypt, my family moved to Montreal, Canada when I was 3 years old seeking safety from

religious persecution.

In 2005, I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary studies at York University in Toronto, Canada. My university studies included a heavy emphasis on theology. In 2007, I was ordained as a Deacon in Toronto. I continued my service with a strong heart and ambition, knowing that I was getting closer to my calling. As a few years passed by serving as a Deacon, I decided to take my talents and pursue my calling.

In September 2010 I went to Nairobi, Kenya as a missionary. After my first two weeks, I was asked to help in a nearby orphanage for street kids and also kids living with HIV. As an individual living with HIV, this was something very dear to my heart. The directors at the moment were very happy to have me join them. Eventually they asked me to take over the orphanage, because they had to return to Canada. I prayed long and hard about this, since it was a big responsibility, and ultimately accepted. God led me to use my talents in ways I never thought of before. I expanded the orphanage and converted it into an informal education and training program that would help the kids not only with their rehabilitation, but to prepare them for college and to sustain themselves financially and expanded the program in Tanzania.

In April 2011, some changes were happening and I was asked to return to Canada. I was sad, but knew God didn’t want me to stay there for good; He had another plan for me. During my stay in Africa, I met my husband Jim, who was visiting from Washington, DC, and he asked me to come and stay with him. My family wasn’t and still isn’t accepting of my being gay, so I had no place to stay. However my love for Jim was the main reason why I wanted to be here.

In January 7th, 2012 I was ordained a Priest in the Old Catholic Church, and was made Pastor of Saint Damien of Molokai Parish in DC, under the care of the Old Catholic Apostolic Church of the Americas and his grace Archbishop Julius L. Licata. As a priest, I wanted to use my God given talents and skills to help and address a need here in DC. During my first few months in DC I learned about the stigma on HIV here, especially within the LGBT community. This tore my heart apart and I knew I had to do something about it. That is when I founded and started The Blessed Mother Teresa Center for Hope. A center that provides support to those who have been rejected due to their sexual orientation and/or HIV status, with a special support group for the North African and Middle Eastern Community. The Blessed mother Teresa Center for Hope is mobile. Therefore making it more accessible to people. It allows me to go visit people. I do one- on-one and group spiritual counseling, teaching the importance of what the role of spirituality, prayer and meditation play in the healing process – Physically, mentally and emotionally. This is a center that is open to everyone, all denominations, genders, races, ages and sexual orientation.

Justin B. Terry-Smith Justin B Terry-Smith first started in an activist role when he helped organize the group S.O.B.B. (Student’s Against Brutality in Burma) in 2000.

PHOTO BY ANDRE M. TAYLOR

The organization was formed of students that’s one mission was to send students to Burma to take pictures and expose the injustices there.

Justin served in the United States Air Force from 1999 to 2003, leaving honorably with awards and decorations, he then moved to Washington DC where you landed a job with Us Helping Us, People Into Living Inc. After discovering his HIVpositive status and began taking medications, Justin probed the internet looking for African American gay men who had documented their lives with HIV; sadly he found none. So in May 2008 Justin founded Justin’s HIV Journal, a blog showing what his life with HIV is actually like. In his blog he shows Doctor’s visits, Medication Specialist visits, and interviews; it gives inspiration and aspiration to many around the world.

In November of 2009 Justin won the title of Mr. Maryland Leather, a title he used to raise monies for the Elizabeth Glazier Pediatric AIDS Foundation. In 2011 Justin became a published Author of the children’s HIV themed book called, “I Have A Secret”, under the pen name JB. TerrySmith. Justin also used his book to help with the protest of the Milton Hershey School in Penn., who was denied a student entry because he was HIV positive. In February of 2012 Justin was asked to be an Advice Columnist for A&U America’s AIDS Magazine. Justin’s column is called, “Just*in Time”, it is where people e-mail questions about HIV and Justin answers them back each monthly.

Since then he has started his own HIV Campaign in collaboration with thebody.com called, “Write A Letter to HIV Campaign”. This Campaign is one of the most read and e-mailed submissions on thebody.com, which also includes Justin’s husband, Dr. Philip B Terry-Smith’s submission, to whom he has been married to since August 7th, 2009. In 2012 Justin joined the Maryland Defense Force as a 1st Lieutenant. The Maryland Defense Force is a volunteer uniformed state military agency and one of the four components of the Maryland Military Department.

Justin B. Terry-Smith has been fighting the good fight since 1999. He’s garnered recognition and awards for his work, but he’s more concerned about looking for new ways to transform society for the better than resting on his laurels. Visit his main Web site at www.justinbsmith.com.

Bobbie Smith

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

These are words of Bobbie Smith, “I’m a whistle blower.”

28 Catalina Sol

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Catalina Sol is the Chief Programs Officer at La Clinica del Pueblo, and led La Clinica’s HIV/AIDS Department from 1998 through 2009. La Clinica del Pueblo is a non-for-profit, community clinic serving uninsured and lowincome persons in the metropolitan area, targeting immigrant Latinos for quality health care. La Clinica’s HIV/AIDS services include direct services for persons living with HIV, including primary medical care, case management, mental health services, linguistic services, and support groups. In addition, La Clinica provides a range of peer-based prevention services, including HIV counseling and testing, and comprehensive HIV prevention interventions for at-risk Latino groups. A hallmark of La Clinica’s work in HIV is its commitment to developing programs by and for the communities most affected and vulnerable to the HIV epidemic.

Ms. Sol has worked for the past twenty years in health care settings serving immigrant, uninsured Latinos in the Washington Metropolitan. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health from John Hopkins University, and is from El Salvador.

Ron Swanda

died of AIDS. Additionally, in 1994 Ron founded, organized and led the all-volunteer National Gay Pilots Association (NGPA). One of his primary accomplishments was to help convince the Federal Aviation Administration that HIV-infected pilots could continue to safely fly. Because of Ron and the NGPA, pilots today know they are “not the only one”.

After retiring in 2007, Ron realized that many D.C. seniors, especially heterosexuals, did not have ready access to HIV prevention materials or educational programs. Ron helped organize a seniors and HIV workshop, and soon became the “voice of seniors and HIV” in D.C. At Ron’s urging, the D.C. Dept. of Health implemented an innovative HIV prevention program that primarily targeted older heterosexuals of color in D.C. In July, 2011, IONA senior Services recognized Ron for his volunteer activism. He is a member of the AARP-DC advocacy team, an AARP “Ambassador” and serves on D.C.’s HIV Prevention Planning Group. D.C. Mayor Gray named Ron the District’s “HIV Activist” of the year in 2011, and appointed him to the D.C. Commission on Aging, the Ryan White Planning Council and the GLBT Advisory Committee.

Billie Tyler

and as an HIV/AIDS activist despite the federal ban on syringe exchange in the District of Columbia.

David von Storch David is an entrepreneur right here in Washington, D.C, opening businesses ranging from nightclubs to the very popular Vida Fitness clubs. Contracting HIV in 1988, he has devoted his life to keeping a positive outlook while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Many in the D.C. metro area respect David as a successful businessman as well as a devoted advocate of HIV/AIDS causes. Supporting various causes including but not limited to the Human Rights Campaign and the Ryan White Act, he believes in the equality these initiatives strive for. He spends his days keeping busy via investing in various ways to improve on the D.C metro area healthy lifestyles and night life.

Earnest Walker

PHOTO BY KEVIN AARON BAUM

Marlene M. Walker

Miranda Ward

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

PHOTO BY TOMMIE ADAMS

Ron Swanda “came out” while served as an Air Force pilot from 1969 to 1980. After being honorably discharged, he moved to Washington, D.C. in 1982. At that time, HIV was a mysterious malady, often called the “gay cancer”, primarily affecting men in New York and San Francisco.

In 1986, as a Board member of the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C. (MCC-DC), working closely with Rev. Larry Uhrig, Ron planned and coordinated the Church’s transition from renting church space at 10th and G St. NW, to buying a town house-style church near 4th and M St. NW. When MCC-DC outgrew that space, Ron organized and led a fund raising campaign that allowed MCC-DC to construct an award-winning building on Ridge St. NW; the first GLBT organization in D.C. to do so. Rev. Uhrig’s vision, combined with Ron’s leadership and organizational skills, helped prepare MCC-DC for a crucial and unique role in the AIDS crisis. From 1984 until 1996, during the height of the AIDS crisis, MCC-DC became a physical and spiritual respite for HIV-infected men. It was often the only venue available for funerals and memorial services for residents who

Billie Tyler earned her B.S. in Nursing from the Catholic University of America and has has worked with not-for-profit organizations committed to advancing community health, progressive social change, and empowerment for over 12 years.

Much of her career has been focusing on HIV/ STD prevention and HIV services in vulnerable and underserved populations in Washington, DC. She has a depth of Harm Reduction experience that includes providing frontline care to the DC opioid dependent population, to facilitating Harm Reduction education to needle exchanges. She has taken an active leadership role in the community and enjoys the challenge of working with folks who often fall through the cracks of an imperfect system of care. Currently, she is the Nurse Case Manager at AHS Blair Underwood Healthcare Center.

As an HIV/AIDS prevention program advocate, Ms. Tyler’s nursing background coupled with street knowledge enabled her to be the conduit for information between the marginalized sex worker community in Washington, D.C. and the organization. She also served as a member of the crisis intervention team providing health and risk reduction counseling.

Prior to this position, Ms. Tyler was the Systems Administrator of Prevention Works! (syringe exchange) in Washington, DC, charged with decreasing the harms associated with intravenous drug use, and increasing access to substance abuse treatment for injection drug users. Her career began as a volunteer for Prevention Works!

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

I did not see myself as an activist. However, at the time, lots of my friends were getting sick and some were dying. I felt it was time to get off the side lines and get into the battle. I was already seeing patients who were abandoned by other orthodontist because they were HIV positive. I joined the Board and soon after I discovered my friend had AIDS. Less than two years later he was gone. I became Chairman of the Board of Directors. In the next few years more than half of my friends passed away. It was good being in a very supportive environment like the Whitman Walker Clinic during some very difficult times.

After thirteen years, I separated from the clinic and became more involved in my profession.

Eventually I became Chairman of the DC Board of Dentistry. We updated the regulations to put a dentist’s license to practice in jeopardy if he or she refused to treat HIV positive patients. The Dental Board tried to encourage dentist to do HIV testing in their dental offices.

It is interesting with all the efforts of so many people for so many years here in DC, young gay African American men are still getting infected at a very alarming rate. We cannot let our guard down. We still have a lot of work to do.

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Marlene Walker is presently and for over 17 years the Office Manager of the Max Robinson Center of Whitman Walker (MRC/WWH). She has worked on many projects during her tenure and has many achievements, but she said that of her greatest were the MRC/WWH Holiday Food Baskets and Toy Drive. Marlene began this initiative in 1997 with the help of staff and volunteers; it provides food and toys to children throughout the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area who have been affected by HIV/AIDS. Additionally, Marlene and her husband have been foster parents to children with special needs for over 16 years.

Of greatest importance to Marlene is the education of the community she serves, that all understand the impact, prevention, and treatment of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, High Blood Pressure and Diabetes.

Dr. Douglas Ward I attended a fund raiser for the Whitman Walker Clinic in the early 1990s at the home of some close friends. Jim Graham, the Executive Director, approached and asked if I would be interested in joining the Board of the Clinic.

Actually, the thought had never occurred to me.

PHOTO BY JULIUS PRINCE

Washington Blade

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

The Washington Blade, the oldest and most acclaimed LGBT newspaper inthe United States, has covered the HIV/AIDS epidemic since its earliest days. From the first mention of a “gay cancer” in 1981, to countless pages of obituaries chronicling the lives of D.C. residents who succumbed to the disease, to the advent of antiretroviral drugs, to the present day, the Blade has been a consistent source of news, information and even inspiration to local readers.

Pictured here is the 2012 Washington Blade staff at the company’s offices on 14th Street. We accept this honor on behalf of the hundreds of

29 Blade employees who came before us, many of whom were lost to AIDS.

Washington Post’s 1st AIDS-related Article

T.J. Ortenzi wrote the text below in a blog on December 1, 2011 regarding the Washington Post’s first mention of the disease: It appeared on page A10 on July 4, 1981, as a digest item in a roundup of other national stories. The Post mentioned the mysterious medical cases at least three more times in 1981. According to archives, the term “Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome” first appeared in The Post on Friday, Dec. 10, 1982. It was a front page story with the headline, “Immune Disease Linked to Blood in Transfusion.”

CANCER LINKED TO GAYS

ATLANTA – A rare form of cancer has been found at an unusually high rate among homosexual men in New York and California, the national Centers for Disease Control reports.

During the past 30 months, 20 homosexual men in New York City and six in California were found to have Kaposi’s sarcoma, an often fatal form of cancer, the center said. Eight of the victims died within two years of the diagnosis.

The nationwide incidence of Kaposi’s sarcoma has been estimate by the CDC to be about two cases in every 3 million people annually. The disease in the United States primarily affects men over 50, but the recent cases among homosexuals occurred in younger men, the center said.

The cancer has been thought usually to appear first in spots on the legs then progress slowly over about 10 years. In the recent cases, however, the disease first appeared as one or more violetcolored spots or lumps in various locations on the body.

Bryan Watson

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

Brian Watson, a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been a vocal and visible activist in the areas of social justice, youth, LGBT issues, and HIV/AIDS. Brian currently serves as the President of the D.C. Coalition of Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Men and Women, the oldest Black non-profit in the United States. Since becoming President Brian has worked on the revitalization of the coalition and established a website, and new logo, held numerous community events such as the annual Labor Day picnic, Kwanzaa celebration, town hall meetings, and worked with other agencies to cosponsor community events. Before becoming president he was involved with the coalition by organizing the annual Kwanzaa celebration in 2005 and helping with the Million More

Movement Unity Weekend. He also is a former board member of Youth Pride Alliance and the DC Center and a member of many other groups such as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance, the Greater Washington Urban League, as well as former COO of the Black National Pageantry System and a formervolunteer with D.C. Black Pride.

Brian continues his community involvement in his employment also at Transgender Health Empowerment where he serves as Director of Programs. In September 2008 he started the Wanda Alston House, the 1st and only GLBTQ youth homeless transitional program in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. He also works with many other community organizations as a consultant, volunteer, and speaker.

extensive background in the field of medicine, and more specifically, AIDS treatment and policy.

In 1999, Mr. Westmoreland was appointed the director of the Medicaid program. For nearly ten years, he has been advocating Medicaid to include those who are in the early stages of the HIV disease. Mr. Westmoreland believes that AIDS care coverage by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance has improved over the last twenty years, but is a long way off from where he believes it should be. He continues to work for a more accepting and inclusive coverage program for those living with HIV/AIDS.

Courtney Williams

Westminster Presbyterian Church PHOTO BY TOMMIE ADAMS

PHOTO BY D. MAURICE TAYLOR

Westminster is a community of co-creators with God, seeking to be and build up the Beloved Community.

To do that, Westminster must be accepting, caring, and risk-taking…open to the message of God in people and places that are too often neglected or ignored.

Westminster continues to be a missioncenter in Southwest Washington, D.C. where the congregation was started in 1853. The form of the mission has changed. The commitment to the mission has not.

What might be possible if you were involved in this mission of co-creators? Come and see.

What gifts do you have yet to share with the world? Come and be an inspiration to others.

Westminster was started by some risk-taking people back in 1853 and God is continually reinventing our church culture, keeping it open to an always changing community.

Westminster understands that “the Church must change or die”. We are committed to being transformed as an institution in order to more authentically and powerfully serve a new world.

That’s why we say, “We’re not just a church.”

Tim Westmoreland

Mr. Williams is currently the community Planner for the DC Office on Aging. Beyond his regular duties at the Office on Aging, he spearheaded efforts to look into and address the growing numbers of older adults and seniors infected/affected by HIV. This has lead him to be more involved in this issue and since the mid-1990s, he’s been active in educating and advocating for HIS programs and services targeting seniors and older adults. Through his efforts, for the first time aging and AIDS organizations began to look at seniors as an underserved population.

He has spearheaded several policy and other changes that affected HIV education and services for Older Adults. Through his efforts our senior wellness center and other senior programs now have ongoing HIV sessions. He is currently part of a community workgroup that is working with the DC Department of Health that is developing educational materials along with a citywide campaign targeting older adults.

He has served on the National Board of HIV over Fifty, Inc. (all volunteer nonprofit) since its inception and was the national conference chair for the Phoenix Conference in 2004.

Courtney has received several awards for his work, including the 1997 Unsung Hero Award, the 2004 Solutions Inc. Award for finding and advocating for new solutions in HIV prevention, services, and education.

with HIV as a teen, Guy has dedicated his adult life to the pursuit of neutralizing global HIV/ Aids related stigmas. He served as a member of Atlanta’s black gay Community Advisory Board (CAB) from 2010-2013 and in 2011 cocreated the hit online web-series, “MR.” (http:// mrtvseries.blogspot.com/) named in honor of black gay rights activist and filmmaker, Marlon Riggs. His book (POS)+tively Beautiful: A Book of Affirmations, Advocacy & Advice (http://www. pozbeautiful.com/) is a collection of inspiring narratives, raw imagery, and affirming anecdotes released in December 2012. After releasing his book of affirmations for people living with HIV, Guy was selected as a National Spokesperson and Ambassador for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in 2013 and since then has spoken with various MPowerment groups in Atlanta, New York, Tennessee, Washington, D.C., and Texas. His book was named #10 on MUSED Magazine’s list of books every black gay man should read along with some of the most influential LGBT authors of the 21st century. He now works as a Treatment Adherence Counselor at Us Helping Us, Inc. in Washington, DC. He strongly believes his visibility will help other HIVpositive young men recognize their own beauty and self-worth.

DC D-CFAR The District of Columbia Developmental Center for AIDS Research (DC D-CFAR) aims to provide scientific leadership and institutional infrastructure to promote HIV/AIDS research and to develop the next generation of HIV/AIDS investigators in Washington, D.C.

MISSION

The mission of the DC D-CFAR is to provide scientific leadership and institutional infrastructure to promote HIV/AIDS research and to develop the next generation of HIV/AIDS investigators in Washington, DC. The goals of the DC D-CFAR include: A im 1Provide leadership to advance HIV/AIDS research in Washington, DC. A im 2Promote the development of junior, minority, and new HIV/AIDS investigators in Washington, DC. A im 3Increase connectivity and collaboration among HIV/AIDS investigators in Washington, DC through funding, professional networking, and scientific leadership.

Dr. Ron Simmons

2013

Guy Anthony PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER PHOTO COURTESY TIM WESTMORELAND

Mr. Tim Westmoreland is a well-respected figure in the HIV/AIDS community, with his focus concerning public health policy and AIDS advocacy. Currently a professor of public policy and law at Georgetown University, he has an

PHOTO BY D. SEAN HOWARD

Guy Anthony is a respected HIV/Aids activist, community leader and author. Diagnosed

Ron Simmons, Ph.D., is the President/CEO of Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc. (UHU), a nonprofit agency dedicated to reducing HIV infection in the African-American community.

UHU specializes in HIV prevention for black gay/ bisexual men. UHU began as a self-help group for HIV-infected black gay men who would

30 meet in their living rooms. Under Dr. Simmons leadership, UHU has become one of the largest black AIDS organizations in the country serving gay/bisexual men, heterosexual men and women, transgender persons, and youth.

For 11 years, Dr. Simmons was a member of the Washington, D.C. Board of Medicine. His educational accolades include a B.A. in AfroAmerican Studies, a M.A. in African History, and a M.S. in Educational Communications from the State University of New York at Albany. He received his Ph.D. in Mass Communications from Howard University and served on the faculty of the Howard University School of Communications for 12 years. He was selected in December 2010

by POZ magazine as one of the POZ 100 most influential AIDS activists.

2015

Sheila Alexander-Reid

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Sheila Alexander-Reid has been a vital part of the LGBT community for well over 20 years.

She started as a party promoter back in the late 80’s/early 90’s with two other friends and called themselves VTR. In 1992, Sheila ventured out on her own and starting throwing women’s parties. Filling up local party venues such as Tracks and Hung Jury to capacity, the popularity of her parties quickly gained momentum in the community. A stickler for quality and details, Sheila developed a strong following that’s still present to this day.

Moved by the death of her close friend and LGBT activist Wanda Alston in 2002, she started a nonprofit organization, the Women in the Life Association. Sheila now wanted to use the same resources and drive she used to pack parties to address social justice issues for Lesbians in DC. She did this with cultural programs such as the popular Open Mic series, empowering movies screenings, and the Wanda’s Will Project, which helped raise awareness about the importance of having a written will, specifically, if you’re in a longterm relationship. Sheila has always worked hard to bring both visibility and awareness to the issues facing the LGBT community including transphobia, the stigma of HIV/ AIDS, the isolation of older LGBT adults, and the impact of youth homelessness. From her printed magazine in the 1990’s, to her position as producer/ host of WPFW’s Inside Out, the only LGBT FM radio show in DC, to her current position as Director of the Mayor’s Muriel Bowser’s Office on LGBTQ Affairs, she’s become a prominent and vocal change agent for our community.

Cedric Alan Burgess

PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDRIC BURGESS

Currently at the age of 63, native Washington Cedric Alan Burgess has spent most of his life volunteering for various HIV/ AIDS service organizations, including those organizations disseminating information on being a gay elder, health care, housing, city programs, free events, savings programs and more. Cedric gives comfort and prayer via phone calls or visits ill persons he knows.

Cedric first stared in the fight and education of HIV/AIDS in 1989 when he attended a support group for those HIV+ with Group Health. There he learned of the Inner City AIDS Network (ICAN) and took a class to became an educator with the class #4 in 1990. From there, he volunteered for many years with Food and Friends and Whitman Walker Clinic.

An HIV survivor for over 30 years, Cedric’s volunteering efforts include: DC Office on Aging, the DC Center, the Equal Rights Center & National AIDS Housing Coalition, Us Helping Us, Inc., SAGE Metro, the DC Rainbow History Project, and the Ombudsman Program of AARP.

Robert Cooke

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Robert Cooke, Jr. is originally from the Hampton Roads, VA area. Before moving to Washington, DC he volunteered for the “Transformation Retreat” in people living with HIV/AIDS, based in Richmond, VA. After moving to Washington, DC he became involved with the Ryan White Planning Council, serving on numerous committees representing the citizens of the District.

He currently serves as a member of the Manna Inc. Board and is currently involved in advocating and spreading the word about affordable homeownership.

Dee Curry

and minority health advocate working for and with individuals experiencing the challenges associated with HIV, mental illness, homelessness, trauma, and incarceration. Ms. Curry has recently worked as the Assistant Director of Education and Programming at the First Stop Recovery Resource and Wellness Center where she provides peer advocate training and support.

Ms. Curry has been actively engaged in efforts to address and end chronic homelessness in DC through her participation in a featured article with Sojourner’s Magazine and as a guest speaker at the Washington Interfaith Network Inaugural Action Event with Mayor Bowser. She has collaborated extensively with the Ryan White Planning Council to address issues of community health in DC. In her free time, Ms. Curry loves to spend time with friends and is quickly becoming a social butterfly through online media forums.

Amanda Davis The words below are those of Amanda Davis, “My name is Amanda Davis. I am a native New Yorker that relocated to DC to fight the war on HIV/AIDS in 2012. My first experience with the virus was the loss of a cousin when I was younger.

It was hard to understand how this could have happened because at the time there were treatments that were available. After I worked in the field for some time and hearing so many stories of survival I know that stigma prevented them from accessing care was very bothersome.

My most recent position is as a Woman Services Coordinator for an organization that provides services for those that are HIV positive.

Being able to create programs that allow the women to become informed about this virus and how to navigate through the services available to them is very rewarding. I aspire to inspire women to become informed advocates for themselves and other peers that are affected by this virus.”

The DC Center for the LGBT Community

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

The DC LGBT Center empowers, celebrates, and connects the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. To fulfill its mission, the DC Center focuses on four core areas: health and wellness, arts & culture, social & support services, and advocacy and community building.

The DC Center envisions communities where LGBT people feel healthy, safe, and affirmed.

D.E.N.I.M. PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Dee Curry is a passionate social justice

Developing & Empowering New Images of Men (D.E.N.I.M.) is a community center for 18 to 29-year-old gay, bisexual, and same gender loving men of color. The project serves a mobilizing and empowering function with the

PHOTO COURTESY DENIM

community as young men take ownership of the project rather than having the project carried out for them. It is essential to build a community where men support each other about sexual risk reduction and obtaining HIV testing, where the social norms and expectations support HIV prevention, and where men help each other in coping with the stresses of being gay/bisexual.

D.E.N.I.M.’s mission is to engage, educate and empower members of the gay community, particularly young gay men of color. The program provides interventions and programing on self-esteem, interpersonal and cultural issues, internalized homophobia, community norms, and many other factors that influence young men’s risk behavior. Operated by Us Helping Us, People Into Living Inc., D.E.N.I.M. is a youth empowerment center that houses The Mpowerment Project (MP), a community-level HIV/STD prevention intervention funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Jamil Fletcher

PHOTO BY DON HARRIS

Jamil A. Fletcher is an entrepreneur, publisher, community activist, and philanthropist.

A proud native of Wilmington, Delaware and an even prouder graduate of both Howard University (’86 B.S., Electrical Engineering) and Clark Atlanta University (’95 MBA, Marketing), Jamil has always been active in support of all his communities.

He continues to support a number of charities like Us Helping Us, the Black AIDS Institute, and the Dance Institute of Washington as well as his beloved Howard University. Mr. Fletcher has also worked as a fundraiser for organizations such as Children’s National Medical Center, WhitmanWalker Clinic, UNCF, and the National Minority AIDS Council.

In 2008, Jamil A. Fletcher launched SWERV Magazine with the design of celebrating the Culture and Community of Black LGBT people everywhere. Since that time SWERV has evolved into the most widely distributed periodical targeting this unique population. Whether through sharing stories of the extraordinary work being done by AIDS Service Organizations around the country, relaying words of wisdom from AIDS activists, or by providing information on the latest medical treatments, and being a media partner for a number of HIV/AIDS related fundraising events, SWERV maintains committed to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

31 Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC Led by Artistic Director Thea Kano, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC is now entering its 35th season with a dynamic and socially relevant mission: to delight audiences and champion gay equality with robust artistry, fun and surprise. GMCW has more than 250 singing members, two select vocal ensembles, 100 support volunteers, more than 450 subscribers, 500 donors and an annual audience of more than 10,000 people. Among their numerous local, national, and international performing credits, GMCW has performed for Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and for Vice President Joe Biden.

Since 2001, the Chorus has maintained GenOUT, a robust youth outreach program offering on-school-time programs and free tickets to high school students, staff, and parents. Additionally, the Chorus demonstrates its commitment to community outreach by participating in the Whitman Walker Walk to End HIV, holiday caroling at the National Institute of Health, and volunteering at Food & Friends.

GMCW is a proud member of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA Choruses) and the Cultural Alliance of Washington.

Justin Goforth Justin Goforth is a registered nurse with a record of over 20 years of treatment and service to the HIV/AIDS community. In 2013, Justin was elected to as community co-chair of the Metropolitan Washington Regional Ryan White Planning Council. During the same year he was named to POZ magazine’s “POZ 100” – a list of HIV-positive individuals making significant contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS. At the Whitman Walker Clinic, Justin has served as director of the Gay Men’s Health and Wellness Clinic, Whitman Walker’s longest running program. He’s also credited with co-creating Whitman Walker’s “Red Carpet” program, giving newly diagnosed HIV patients an opportunity to meet their entire care team during their first visit to Whitman Walker.

Justin’s experience, passion, and advocacy has earned a voice on national media, including CNN and PBS. In his 2015 interview with PBS (the interview also featured U.S. Global AIDS coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx) Justin states, “…But getting them (people who test HIV-positive) into care and on treatment actually doesn’t just keep that person healthy and well for a life span; it also prevents them from infecting other individuals.

That’s an historic marriage of two — public health prevention and treatment all coming together at the same time. And having a manageable treatment was necessary to get to the point that we could use this as prevention. And so that’s what, I think, is really see — we’re seeing a turnaround in the numbers in all of our urban centers in the United States, but particularly here in D.C., where we used to be seen as the worst of the worst. That’s not the case actually more with our new numbers.”

Dr. Robin Halprin-Hawkins

PHOTO COURTESY DR. R. HALPRIN-HAWKINS

The words below are by Dr. Robin HalprinHawkins: I treated my first patient living with HIV/ AIDS (aka GRID, at that time) as a pre-doctoral interne at Crownesville Hospital Center, a (now closed) MD State Psychiatric Hospital, in 1983... the same year I learned that my best friend from high school had died of HIV/AIDS at St. Vincent’s Hospital in NYC. The dread among the general public -- and that of my medical colleagues, who would not eat lunch with me for fear of contagion -- sealed my commitment to make a difference in the lives of PLWHIV/AIDS, the great majority of whom, in those early years of the epidemic, we were” helping to die well.” The early and middle years of the AIDS Epidemic -- prior to the Beltway Bandits and AIDS as an industry -- were the crucible that forged my fervor for social justice, LGBT rights, and universal medical care. How could it have been otherwise?

As a clinical psychologist, I subsequently worked as a Volunteer Therapist and Grants Writer at the Whitman-Walker Clinic; designed and presented formal training in the psychosocial issues re: HIV/AIDS for the DC DMH staff; and was appointed by the DMH Director to represent the Department on the Ryan White Planning Council Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee. With my spouse Dr. Patricia Hawkins, I presented the first professional research on “HIV Caregiver Burnout and Prevention” at the APA Annual Convention.

Achim Howard

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Achim Howard is a black transgender man who strongly advocates for the Transgender and HIV communities. In 2006, Achim fell into an unhealthy relationship with domestic violence, which led to depression and homelessness.

Living in the N Street Shelter, Achim decided that he had to start living for himself in order to be happy. At that time Achim started his transition and started to put the pieces of his life back together. In 2008 Achim graduated from the Washington Area Women In the Trades program and was accepted to a Local 891 apprentice program as a cement mason, and was the first trans man to graduate from that program. Achim started working with Capital Paving, and started his transition on the job and is now the first and only transgender employee.

He educates others on HIV, Domestic Violence and Trans Issues through his everyday life, social media as well as workshops and groups. Achim serves with various organizations, including Whitman Walker’s Board of Directors, the Name and Gender Legal Clinic and Community Health, and Trans Legal Advocates of Washington (TransLaw). He believes everything happens for a reason. He also believes that his purpose is to speak and fight for those who can’t for themselves; to give courage for those to those who want to speak and live life but can’t.

Achim says, “I tell my story not to gain sympathy but in hopes that others will can courage others and to educate those who don’t know and change the minds of those who choose not to know or accept that Transgender are neither crazy nor confused. We are just as normal as the next person. Education is always the key.”

Aisha Jackson

PHOTO BY COURTESY AISHA JACKSON

Twanda M. Jackson, aka AISHA THE ARTIST is a native Washingtonian who jumped out at age 50. Previously, Aisha worked at GSA Furniture Department in Northern VA and at the Navy Annex while in college at the University of the District of Columbia. A mother of one son and is a proud grandmother of six, Aisha founded Positivity Production was founded in the early 1990’s as a way to address HIV/AIDS in particularly the Black Community. Positivity Production’s objective is to provide a forum and movement of networking, and sharing knowledge, experience and ideas of initiatives to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in the Black Community Diaspora.

As a Communications Productions, and Public Relations Company, Positivity Production is an ARTS Movement Organization dedicated to promote creative political and social change through mass media, music, film production and Fine Arts. Its plan is to use these tools, promotions, public relations, communications, marketing and mass media productions to communicate their services.

Dwaye Lawson-Brown A native Washingtonian, Dwayne LawsonBrown is currently the Youth Health Educator for Social Mobilization at Whitman-Walker Health.

For over 15 years, Dwayne has been involved in the fight against for comprehensive reproductive health for over 15 years. At 15 years old, he stumbled across Metro TeenAIDS’ Freestyle Youth Center, where he would soon become a peer educator. As a “New School Activist”, Dwayne used his love for spoken word and hiphop to promote safer sex messages and healthy decision making. With Metro TeenAIDS’ transition

into the Whitman-Walker Health family, Dwayne has taken greater responsibility in planning and implementing HIV testing events throughout the Washington DC area while continuing to run a myriad of programs in RealTalkDC Freestyle Peer Educator Center.

His work has led to recognition in the forms of awards and press coverage including DC Department of Health’s Outstanding Peer Educator Award, WETA’s Hometown Hero Award, Mayor’s Community Service Award, a feature segment on BBCAmerica’s World News America, a profile by Washington Post Columnist John Kelly, and the Emerging Leader Award from The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Dwayne has served as a spokesperson and model for youth who aspire to transform their communities through service.

MLK Library Staff

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Alan Sharpe

PHOTO BY DON HARRIS

Alan Sharpe is founding artistic director of African-American Collective Theater (ACT). He began creating LGBTQ-themed projects in 1970 as a freshman film student at Boston University.

An on-campus theater company he co-founded there with a close friend, evolved into AfricanAmerican Collective Theater after his move to Washington, DC in 1976. Since that time, he has written and directed over seventy-five plays and films, all showcasing contemporary Black gay and lesbian life and culture. He also wrote and directed the serial drama, Chump ChangeS -one of the first narrative fiction web series by an African-American artist screened on the internet.

During the early 1990s Sharpe learned that he himself was HIV-positive, triggering even more artistic exploration of the subject. Among his many other plays addressing the issue are: HeartBeats , Auld Lang Syne, Family Business, Prick, Good News/Bad News, Conversations, Chance of a Lifetime and Raw Deal. Beyond HIV/ ADS, his work over the decades has explored a wide range of issues including: homophobia, discrimination, self-esteem, aging and ageism, political activism, pornography, serodiscordant (mixed HIV status) relationships, adult and teen suicide, coming out, gay marriage, the sex industry, loneliness, sex abuse, love and romantic relationships, bullying, homophobic harassment, hate crimes and violence, class

32 issues, depression, parenting and family life – all from an African-American, LGBTQ, perspective.

The words below are those of Riley Temple, “I was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Whitman-Walker Clinic in 1984, and became its President in 1986 and again in 1989. During that time I was instrumental in the establishment of the Max Robinson Center east of the river. I resigned from the Board in 1991 to accept the Mayoral appointment to Chair the Ryan White Planning Council.”

Following his illness-related retirement from The Whitman-Walker Clinic, Fenner led various recovery programs, speaking with conviction on the importance of love and forgiveness in reconciling life’s challenges and disappointments. Although he endured daunting medical challenges, Fenner lived a remarkable life of advocacy and service to others, distinguishing himself with almost superhuman resilience as an ambassador of hope to all those he touched. No one who ever knew Fenner will ever forget the quickness of his intellect, the sparkle in his eyes, the brightness of his smile, and the warmth of his heart.

Kermit Turner

Robert “Michael” Vanzant

Riley Temple

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Kermit Turner is a Washington, DC Ward 1 resident since 1978. Upon arriving in Washington he embarked on careers in information management and community organization with the American Production & Inventory Control Society (APICS), and the AARP. In 2009, he organized his fellow tenants in his Columbia Heights apartment building to take advantage of the “Tenants’ Right of First Refusal: opportunity, pursuant to the city’s Tenants Option to Purchase Act (TOPA). Kermit also serves on the Executive Board and the Community Advisory Board of Metro Health. Over the years, he has participated in numerous training sessions improving HIV care. His advocacy has earned him profiles in the online magazine Urban Turf and Metro Weekly.

R. Fenner Urquhart

PHOTO BY KEVIN YANCEY KENNER

Pastor Robert “Michael” Vanzant moved to Washington, DC in July, 1974. Coming from a very loving and giving environment, he soon became known for his kindness and generosity. Because of this knowledge, at the very advent of the AIDS epidemic, he was called upon for the care of those infected by visiting them in their homes, hospitals, hospices and nursing homes. As things progressed, he was further called upon to open up his home to those concerned and/ or help with rent and payment of utilities from his personal coffers.

In 1986, he became the Treasurer of Best Friends of DC, the first HIV/AIDS persons of color service organization in the District of Columbia. As he grew in ministry at Faith Temple Church, DC’s oldest and continued church with a special ministry to primarily people of color in the LGBT community, his duties grew from just distribution of funds; but also, visitations, and ministry to the infected as well as the affected at whatever their whereabouts. In

recent years, Pastor Vanzant has worked with the DC Department of Health in developing information and strategies for servicing “mature adults in HIV/AIDS. Today, Pastor Vanzant, though “officially” the Treasurer of Bread for the Soul, a grassroots charity to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, is still aware of, attentive to, and available for the many needs of HIV/AIDS care and ministry.

The Wanda Alston House The Wanda Alston House honors the life and work of Wanda Alston, an LGBT activist, mayoral appointee, and dedicated resident of Washington, D.C. whose untimely death in her home in 2005, shortened her mission to empower and strengthen the GLBT community.

The Wanda Alston House seeks to carry on her work and empower young people while providing them a safe place to live free from harm and danger.

The Wanda Alston House is the first and only housing program in Washington D.C. that is solely dedicated to offering pre-independent living services to homeless GLBTQ youth ages 16-24. Each young person is assigned a life skills counselor who works each day on issues related to employment/vocational training, housing, and other issues as needed. Each young person is housed in their own room and reside in a house with an advocate with extensive experience with housing and GLBTQ youth issues.

SaVanna Wanzer

PHOTO COURTESY SAVANNA WANZER

The words below are those of SaVanna Wanzer, “For more than 20 years I have volunteered with Whitman-Walker in some kind of way. In

the early years of the epidemic a team of us would that friends who needed medical care would be picked up, sat with, and be seen by a Doctor. Our community was hit so hard by our friends passing that sometimes we attend 2 or more funerals services a week. W h i t m a n Walker also supervised Capital Pride, I went to ReGina Newkirk the Director of Events if we could have a day that just focused on the Transgender Community and medical care. She approve it I worked with Dave Mallory and in 2007 I founded the first ever Trans Pride. A day that just focused on education, surgery and workshops designed just for our Transgender community.

Being older now I just volunteer once a month with the Trans Law Clinic. That helps out with Gender identity legal documents. It has and still is a pleasure to serve my community with LOVE.”

Jannette Williams Longtime LGBT community advocate Jannette Williams, who served nearly 25 years as a volunteer and adviser for Whitman-Walker Health and three years as Chair of the WhitmanWalker Board, passed away June 28, 2015 at the age of 65.

Jannette was a lifelong Washingtonian who worked for the U.S. Postal service and later at the Department of Justice, where she retired after 34 years of service. She had strong ties to the Washington, DC lesbian community; the Mautner Project for Lesbian Health, which later became a program of Whitman Walker; and the Whitman Walker’s Black Lesbian Support Group. Among her other community involvements, Williams was a longtime supporter and volunteer for DC Black Pride and Whitman Walker’s annual AIDS Walk.

Dan Blanchon, Whitman Walker’s Executive Director credits Williams’ leadership on the Whitman Walker Board to be of particular impact during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a period when fundraising efforts for non-profit organizations were adversely impacted. To quote Blanchon, “She was impactful on people’s lives because she did it relationship to relationship…

And she did it one person at a time.”

PHOTO COURTESY PAT HAWKINS

R. Fenner Urquhart died on March 10, 2015, of AIDS-related complications. He had been one of the longest-living PWAs in the Washington, DC, area. A devout Catholic, Fenner credited God, working through the hands of his doctors and caregivers, for miraculously sustaining him for 32 years. Fenner was initially diagnosed with AIDS in 1983. Shortly thereafter, he left the practice of law to volunteer with The WhitmanWalker Clinic, where he was eventually employed as Director of the Food Bank. In the mid-1990s, he was promoted to Assistant Director of Schwartz Housing Services, overseeing the Clinic’s Housing and Food Bank programs.

He also participated as an early volunteer with Damien Ministries and with Mother Theresa’s “Gift of Peace” hospice.

OUR HEROES 2019 Opening Ceremony, December 02, 2019 5:30pm to 9:00pm at Metropolitan Community Church Gallery 474 Ridge Street NW Washington, DC. On display: December 02, 2019 to December 17, 2019 Master of Ceremony Rayceen Pendarvis Team Rayceen.

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N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 29

‘MATERIAL (SG) I, 2019’ by artist Yinka Shonibare on 14th Street in front of the Liz. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

Painful past, bright future Whitman-Walker’s Liz complex artfully adorned

By PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN

As you walk through the tastefully decorated corridors of the now vibrant and colorful Liz, it’s easy to forget she began as the somber and secretive Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center in the early days of the AIDS crisis.

Founded in 1973 as The Gay Men’s VD Clinic operating in the basement of Georgetown Lutheran Church, WhitmanWalker specializes in LGBT health care.

When an initially unknown deadly disease was rapidly killing young gay men across the U.S., including locals, the small clinic’s role forcibly expanded to meet the unexpected demand.

“We’re absolutely on the front lines of this work,” says Don Blanchon, Whitman-Walker Health System CEO. “And that harkens back to the early days of the HIV epidemic. Gay men were impacted by this disease and we didn’t know anything. We didn’t know the science. We didn’t know how to treat it.”

At the height of the crisis in the early ‘90s, Whitman-Walker moved into the property on the corner of 14th and R. The Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center was dedicated in 1993 and was named for the screen legend, a major donor, who attended the ceremony.

“When you look back, the volunteers of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s were on the front lines,” says Blanchon, a straight ally. He says the original building looked like a bunker with frosted windows, private counseling rooms and a security guard out front. “It connotes where the epidemic was and how powerful stigma, discrimination and bias were.”

Whitman-Walker remained at the location for about 20 years and slowly watched the stigma ease as new treatments were found and more people were living with HIV instead of dying of AIDS in mass numbers.

However, Blanchon points out discrimination and bias against the community continues. In 2014, WhitmanWalker selected Fivesquares Development as a partner to redesign the old medical center to face new challenges head on and as an out-front representation of a vibrant community of survivors.

Fivesquares brought on renowned architect Annabelle Selldorf to design her first D.C. project, which involved an extensive study of Whitman-Walker and overall Washington history. The result transformed what was once a church basement clinic into a public work of art.

“She hated the name ‘Liz,’ you know,” says Abby Fenton, Whitman-Walker chief external affairs officer of Taylor’s nickname, while showing the Blade a wall

30 • WA S H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • N OV EM B ER 2 9 , 2 0 1 9

Art permeates even the garage at the Liz. Here is part of Almond Zigmund’s work ‘Rainbow Kink,’ a site-specific installation.

Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

of founders’ pictures culminating in one of Taylor. “However, when we explained to her grandchildren that in our community the name was special, they agreed to it and have been very supportive.”

“So the world has moved forward,” Blanchon says, noting the openness of the new design. “The way we approached the new building is the way we approached our mission and programming: This needs to be an affirming and welcoming space for all, especially the LGBTQ community and people living with HIV.” The new building is filled with soothing images that were either designed from news stories or original works designed for queer people.

“These pieces were designed specifically for Whitman-Walker’s lobby by a queer artist in Baltimore,” Fenton says, motioning toward a row of minimalist paintings in muted earth tones.

The pieces are by Rene Trevino and called “Circumference Series: 14th Street, 2019,” acrylic and rhinestones on Mylar.

Fenton says the works were a collaboration between Whitman-Walker staff, patients and the artist resulting in quiet, circular images that capture patient experiences of feeling welcomed and embraced by the clinic.

Moving from the lobby and into the redesigned work area, more than a few

of the pixilated, black-and-white images stenciled into the walls were derived from the Washington Blade’s coverage over the years. They gave the new building a sense of living history while infusing it with art.

“We wanted to make sure we captured where Whitman-Walker came from and our past,” Fenton (who’s straight) says, pointing to a donor wall made from Coke bottles and other framed mementos throughout the staff area. “Much of it came from the original building as a reminder of who we are and what we mean to the community.”

Around one corner, a pixelated image of Taylor herself stands watch as a silent reminder of the scores of young men who died during the height of the crisis.

“Art and expression have been a part of Whitman-Walker since its early days,” Blanchon says. “As an outlet against discrimination, bias and stigma (as well as) pain, loss and suffering. (They) are the best ways to release that.”

Today the Liz not only houses Whitman-Walker’s legal services, public benefits and clinical research program but also retail, cultural and residential spaces.

“We are thrilled to reveal five major art installations at Liz,” wrote Fivesquares Development co-founders Ron Kaplan and Andy Altman in their “Art at Liz” brochure. “The residential lobby, upper floors and the Belmont Garage at Liz were designed as canvasses to provide

N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA D E.COM • 31

exhibition space for site-specific art.”

Kaplan led the Blade on a residential tour beginning with the tactile works that greet visitors in the lobby.

Two signature pieces created just for the Liz include Alice Hope’s shimmering transformation of box spring that reaches from the ceiling down into the sitting area and almost begs to be touched with childlike wonder and Toni Ross’s “June 1968,” which is a literal narrow stretch of stone wall that gathers strength as it grows and is punctuated with hidden bits of gold.

“Within the cracks you see the richest part of a project or a person,” Kaplan says of the piece. “These artists were inspired to do things they hadn’t done before for us.”

Both works are unfinished, but clearly exhibit the patience and control of masters of their craft.

As the tour continues, there’s a sense of descending the rabbit hole and into an urban wonderland of rainbows that were twisted at every turn.

“This is my favorite kind of art,” Kaplan says upon entering Almond Zigmund’s “Rainbow Kink,” a site-specific installation in the Belmont Garage of Liz. “All of this is very much siteresponsive. It was created very specifically for its space and to honor that space.”

As you move through the garage, the unusually colored rainbows, anchored by black and energized by shades of orange, yellow and blue, follow like curious imps

creeping along walls, crouching in corners and crawling down from the ceiling.

Each one is different and angled with such precision the experience is one of moving through a gallery, yet with an eye toward the future.

As you walk from the garage and up through the well-lit residential areas with their floor-to-ceiling windows, there is the feeling of light, resilience and hope that Blanchon hopes to convey with the project.

“We are gathering around art and culture and discourse because of the connectivity and how important it is to one’s health and wellbeing,” he says. “So every element of the building is about life, vibrancy, hope and aspiration.”

This is most strongly felt on the rooftop with its breathtaking panoramic view that makes you feel 14th and R is the heart of the city. There is a sense of feeling alive and being seen by the world.

“Visibility has always been critical,” Kaplan says. “Progress is not a straight shot … and I think that anything that anyone can do whether it is as grand as creating Liz so prominently or just introducing yourself to a stranger, I think all of those things matter.”

The tour ends outside near two platforms for rotating art exhibitions. One platform located near a newly installed set of benches, holds a sculpture by BritishNigerian artist Yinka Shonibare CBE. His work simulates the movement and feel of cultural fabrics as a metaphor for multilayered identities.

“It’s about the fluidity of one’s identity,” Blanchon says. “And dealing with the fact that we identify or see and express ourselves differently in different settings.”

A growing sense of identity and selfawareness among the trans community is the next challenge that Blanchon says Whitman-Walker is ready to take on.

“They have so many needs,” he says.

“Similarities exist between the trans community and the HIV epidemic of the early days with discrimination, stigma and bias at the forefront of this war. … There isn’t a whole lot of social science research about what it means to be transgender in America. So, we’re learning as we go.”

But one major break with the past is Whitman-Walker’s decision not to hide in secrecy during this new fight.

“We are thrilled to be back in this location,” Blanchon says. “When people have suppressed who they are, there tends to be physical, spiritual and mental health issues when we are not true to ourselves. And art has been a way to help us through that.”

The exterior of the Liz building, now open on 14th Street.

Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

New kid on the block

There aren’t many buildings in Washington that are named after a movie star.

Or use an early 20th century garage as modern office space.

Or frame upper-level windows with all the colors of the rainbow.

Those are a few of the characteristics of Liz, the mixed-use building on 14th Street N.W. that was named

By ED GUNTS

CON T I N U E S ON PAGE 3 4

Liz architect Annabelle Selldorf designs a building that fits in and stands out

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N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 33

Liz building honors past while creating vibrant new spaces CONTINUED FROM PAGE 32 after Elizabeth Taylor and houses the administrative offices of WhitmanWalker Health, a leading health care provider for the region’s LGBTQ community and people with HIV/AIDS. It also has street-level retail space, more offices and 78 apartments.

Creating a building that meets the needs of Whitman-Walker Health and other occupants was the job of Annabelle Selldorf, a prominent New York-based architect who served as the lead designer.

Selldorf, the head of Selldorf Architects, is known for her work with high-profile clients such as the Frick Collection and the Neue Galerie in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and the soon-to-open Rubell Museum in Miami. Liz is her first completed project in the District of Columbia and her first project anywhere for a health care-oriented client.

Her approach was to combine historic preservation and new construction to arrive at a single interconnected structure that both fits in with the surrounding area and stands out as a significant addition to it — a game changer in the cityscape and new front door for Whitman-Walker.

Experienced in blending old and new, Selldorf created a composition in which the new construction is set back or clearly distinguished from the two historic buildings that were preserved as part of the project, so it doesn’t upstage or loom over them.

The goal, she says, was to honor the past while creating new spaces that will enable the city to grow and strengthen Whitman-Walker for the future.

“I’m deeply humbled by having been given the opportunity” to work on the project, she said at the ribbon cutting.

“It’s humbling because … this is for people, and if it isn’t for people who are belonging into this place, and if you are not welcoming to everybody, what is the meaning of being an architect?”

Andy Altman, one of the principals of Fivesquares Development, a real estate company that worked with Whitman-

‘If you are not welcoming to everybody, what is the meaning of being an architect,’ asks ANNABELLE SELLDORF, who spearheaded the new Liz building.

Photo by Harry Michell; Courtesy of Annabelle Selldorf Portrait

Walker, said he and his partners were delighted that Selldorf agreed to take on the project, given her reputation. He said Selldorf is known for work that can be both dignified and playful, that provides a pleasing juxtaposition of old and new, and that’s what his group believed 14th Street and Whitman-Walker needed.

“Annabelle Selldorf is a world-renowned architect who does amazing commissions,” he said at the opening. “We went to Annabelle … and said we want a work that is going to be beautiful, exquisite, bold but subtle, not something ostentatious but that will really be of world-class stature for our city. Annabelle was the choice, and we were thrilled that she would do it.”

Named after Elizabeth Taylor, an actress and early AIDS activist, Liz is a collaboration of Whitman-Walker and Fivesquares, a for-profit, socially conscious developer and contractor that also has its offices in the building.

The completed project, which was

dedicated on Nov. 6, occupies an entire city block in the 1700 block of 14th Street, N.W., between R and Riggs streets.

Whitman-Walker, a non-profit with a long history of providing health care for the LGBTQ community and people with HIV/AIDS, owned the block and had used the corner building as the main entrance and waiting area for the Whitman-Walker Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, which opened in 1993.

When the medical center moved to larger quarters two blocks away several years ago, that freed up space for Whitman-Walker to redevelop its property at 14th and R. Under its partnership agreement with Fivesquares, Whitman-Walker remained the majority partner in the project, a rarity in collaborations of this kind. Altman says he believes it is “a model of urban regeneration” and “a model for non-profits nationally and what they can do to sustain their mission and serve their needs.”

The initial plan was to build new administrative offices for both WhitmanWalker and Fivesquares, while adding rental housing and street-level commercial space that would generate revenue for the joint venture and add life to the street. As the design evolved, the project gained another component, a cultural center and meeting place that will serve the community at large, especially the LGBTQ community.

Today, the ground floor is occupied by retail tenants and the soon-to-open Whitman-Walker Cultural Center. The second floor is occupied by Whitman-Walker Health, including administrative offices, health and legal services, public benefits and research programs. The third floor is shared by the Goethe-Institut, a German language school, and Fivesquares’ offices. Floors four to seven contain the apartments.

Born in Cologne, Germany, the daughter of architect Herbert Selldorf, Selldorf came to the United States as a young woman to study architecture at Pratt Institute in New York. After working for others, she started her own firm in 1988. She’s part of a small but growing roster of women architects who lead or co-lead design firms in the U.S., along with Jeanne Gang, Elizabeth Diller, Deborah Berke and Billie Tsien.

Selldorf’s firm specializes in designing

buildings for art and education, and it has worked internationally on museums, galleries and other cultural projects.

Her firm also designed the Sunset Park Materials Recovery Facility on the Brooklyn waterfront, an award-winning garbage recycling center that’s been a popular stop during the annual Open House architectural tours in New York. Critic Paul Goldberger once described her work as “a kind of gentle modernism of utter precision, with perfect proportions.”

Selldorf said in a phone interview that she had no previous connection to WhitmanWalker or Fivesquares but was intrigued when members of the development team approached her about the commission.

Although she isn’t gay, she said she admires what Whitman-Walker does (and what Fivesquares does) in Washington and could tell they would be the sort of architecturally savvy clients with whom she’s accustomed to working. She was also eager to take on a health care related project, something new for her practice. And although she never met Elizabeth Taylor, she is certainly a fan. “After seeing ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,’” she said,” how could you not be?”

The development team was required by the city’s historic preservation office to save two buildings on the site, the corner structure at 14th and R, which was the front door and waiting room for Whitman-Walker’s Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center from 1993 to 2017 and a flower shop before that, and a midblock building known as the Belmont Garage, significant as an early local 20th century structure with an auto-related use. The team was allowed to demolish a third building on the block that wasn’t deemed historically or architecturally significant.

Selldorf said the team sought to maximize the amount of new construction it could build on the site but didn’t want to overwhelm the structures targeted for preservation. Working with CORE architecture + design, the executive architect, Selldorf preserved and renovated the two historic buildings on site and added a 150,000-squarefoot structure containing the residences, stores, offices and community space.

CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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NILE RODGERS

F E AT U R I N G S P E C I A L G U E S TS

&

CHIC

DECEMBER

CAPITAL

ONE

ARENA

T I C K E TS O N S A L E N OW AT L I V E N AT I O N .C O M THE ALBUM

N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 35

AVAIL ABLE NOW

QUEERY Jeoff Lara Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers

QUEERY: Jeoff Lara

The West Elm assistant manager answers 20 queer questions

By JOEY DIGUGLIELMO JOEYD@WASHBLADE.COM

Jeoff Lara isn’t a big fan of Black Friday (today) — a cultural megillah (in the U.S. at least) that seems to get more out of control each year. In fact, the West Elm (1728 14th St., N.W.) sales and service manager is taking the day off and celebrating his birthday in Mexico.

He says it’ll still be a great day at West Elm, the huge 14th Street, home furnishings shop.

“It will be crazy but exciting,” the 43-year-old native Washingtonian says.

“Customers love a good deal and that’s what they will be getting.”

Also check out the West Elm Holiday Local Maker Bazaar on Saturday, Dec. 7 from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Details at westelm. com. Evolve Skin, OhhSoyGoodness and other local vendors will be on hand. Gift wrapping is also available that day.

In general, though, Lara thinks Black Friday shopping madness has gone too far.

“It has gotten out of control with some of the bigger box stores and malls,” he says.

“I’m not a fan of the ‘let’s-open-the-mallon-Thanksgiving’ craze because it takes advantage of the retail workforce. It should be a day spent with family, not strangers.”

Still Black Friday (West Elm will open at normal time — 10 a.m.) is a “pretty big deal” at the store, he says. It’s a good time to take the plunge if you’re thinking of buying a large amount of furniture, he says.

Lara enjoys the holidays in general and says he enjoys the decorations and lights but doesn’t go overboard with decorating.

“There’s always a little bit of stress but the excitement in the air is great,” he says.

“I love seeing people get in the spirit of the holidays.”

Lara is single and lives in Adams Morgan. He enjoys theater, dining, movies, travel and friends in his free time.

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?

I’ve been out for 26 years. I was basically forced out of the closet. I had to tell my family before the news got to them and that was the hardest.

Who’s your LGBTQ hero?

I have so many but Joe Solmonese has always been someone I looked up to and considered a mentor.

What LGBTQ stereotype most annoys you?

That we all can decorate and have great fashion sense.

What’s your proudest professional achievement?

When I worked at HRC, I was able to witness amazing change for the LGBT community and to be a part of it. So that’s always been one of my biggest achievements.

What terrifies you?

Death, losing my parents.

What’s something trashy or vapid you love?

Gossiping — nothing like a good gossip session with your GFs.

What’s your greatest domestic skill?

Cooking What’s your favorite LGBTQ movie or show?

“Schitt’s Creek” What’s your social media pet peeve?

Fake news What would the end of the LGBTQ movement look like to you?

All us being able to live our authentic lives without judgment.

What’s the most overrated social custom?

Friending people you don’t know.

What was your religion, if any, as a child and what is it today?

Christianity. I don’t practice. I take teachings from everything and just try to be a good person.

What’s D.C.’s best hidden gem?

Rock Creek Park It’s so beautiful, especially in the spring and fall

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“

Some think I should dress more like a woman. Some think I should dress more like a man.

I may not fit some ideas about gender, and I am a proud part of DC. Please treat me the same way any person would want to be treated: with courtesy and respect.

Discrimination based on gender identity and expression is illegal in the District of Columbia.

If you think you’ve been the target of discrimination, visit www.ohr.dc.gov or call (202) 727-4559.

What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?

Watching Madonna’s “Truth or Dare.”

It was the first time I saw two men kiss and the start of reality TV.

OFFICE OF

GLBT AFFAIRS

What celebrity death hit you hardest?

Selena. It was hard to see someone from the Latino community taken from us so soon.

If you could redo one moment from your past, what would it be?

That’s an interesting question and I don’t have an answer for it. Everything has been a learning lesson.

What are your obsessions?

My friends

Show your support! Spread word of the #TransRespect campaign by photographing this ad and sharing on Twitter.

Finish this sentence — It’s about damn time: I get married and settle down.

What do you wish you’d known at 18?

Take your time and enjoy life.

Don’t live so fast.

Why Washington?

I think D.C. is a perfect city it isn’t too big or too small. You won’t get lost in the shuffle.

N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 37

Clockwise from left: the music of JONI MITCHELL, seen here in a 1970 photo taken at her Laurel Canyon home, will be celebrated Nov. 30 at Wolf Trap Photo courtesy NBC; CHER plays D.C. again Dec. 10 Photo by Machado Cicala; courtesy the Karpel Group; and KYLIE MINOGUE in a promo shot from her last album. ‘Kylie Christmas 3’ is Dec. 6 at JR.’s Courtesy the Karpel Group.

Holiday Heatwave is Dec. 3 Holiday Heatwave 2019 hosted by Capital Pride and Capital Trans Pride is Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the Human Rights Campaign (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.). Tickets start at $20. Suggested dress code is festive cocktail attire.

Capital Pride celebrates #GivingTuesday with plenty of music, food, holiday drinks and festive decor.

This event is also an opportunity to acknowledge the work and support of the Capital Pride team, advocates, partners and donors. Admission cost is a chance to make an end-of-year donation and help ensure the Capital Pride Parade, Capital Trans Pride and other events and advocacy work remain free and accessible to all.

For tickets and information, visit see tickets.us and capitalpride.org.

Kylie videos coming!

Kylie Christmas 3 kicks off Friday, Dec. 6 at JR.’s (1519 17th St., N.W.) at 10 p.m. D.J. Travis Island will spin all Kylie Minogue videos all night to celebrate the holiday season.

“Kylie Christmas” is also the title of the 13th studio album and the first Christmas album by Australian singer Kylie Minogue. Minogue’s decades spanning hits include the 1987 remake “The Loco-Motion” and 2011’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” D.J. Travis Island is a D.C.-area V.J. who has performed at many local venues to include the Green Lantern, Uproar and more.

For more information on this and other events, visit jrsbar-dc.com.

The Blade looks back The Washington Blade presents “A Photographic History of HIV/AIDS in D.C.” on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 5:30 p.m. at the Student Center Atrium (“The Stamp”) at the University of Maryland, College Park (3972 Campus Dr., College Park, Md.). The event is being co-presented by AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

Blade Senior News Reporter Lou Chibbaro, Jr., who has covered HIV/AIDS since the ‘80s at the Blade, will join longtime HIV survivor Ron Swanda in a dialogue.

Q&A with UMD students to follow. All are welcome to attend this free event.

Look for the event on Facebook for details.

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TODAY

All I want for Christmas is Attention featuring BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon is tonight from 8-11 p.m. at the Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.). Tickets start at $35 and doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Visit ticketfly.com for more information.

Onyx: Spanksgiving is tonight at 10 p.m. at the Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.). Tickets for both naughty and nice are $5 and are available at greenlanterndc.com.

Tonight is Bear Happy Hour Black Light Friday at Uproar Lounge and Restaurant (639 Florida Ave., N.W.) from 5-10 p.m. Wear something UV reactive for a chance to win free drinks. There will be a paint station on the second floor starting around 6:30. More information available at Facebook events.

The Birds of Prey drag show and dance party is tonight at 10 p.m. at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.).

Featuring DJs C Dubz and Icy Funk as well as resident artists Brooklyn Heights, Iyana Deschanel, Sasha Adams Sanchez, Crystal Edge and Katrina Colby. $10 Tickets available at dceagle.com.

Saturday, Nov. 30

Cher to infinity Cher’s “Here We Go Again” tour continues Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Capital One Arena (601 F St., N.W.). Tickets start at a surprisingly reasonable $29.95.

This iconic entertainer’s history is the history of American rock music spanning from ‘60s classics “I Got You Babe” and “The Beat Goes On” with her late exhusband Sonny Bono to dance staples “If I Could Turn Back Time” and “Believe.” Her work in television and on the big screen as well as her signature fashion style continue to be culturally influential. This tour promotes her current album of ABBA covers, “Dancing Queen,” her 26th studio album to date and her first in five years.

Tickets are available at ticketmaster.com.

Chanellie’s Drag Brunch is today at 11 a.m. at Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.). Chanel Devereaux and her team perform while guests enjoy an all-youcan-eat brunch buffet. The first Mimosa or Zing Zang Bloody Mary is free. For more information visit nelliessportsbar. com and Facebook events.

LGBTQ Small Business Saturday hosted by the D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W., Suite #105) is today from noon to 5 p.m. The event features door prizes, music and snacks while the public explores LGBTQ-friendly business exhibits. Visit thedccenter.org/events/ shopsmall2019 for more information.

Annapolis Pride presents A Very Merry Drag Brunch at 12:30 p.m. at Rams Head on Stage (33 West St., Annapolis, Md.). Featuring performances

by Krystal Nova, Angelica Lize, Victoria Blair, and M’ara Diamond. Tickets are $20 on Eventbrite for this 21 and up show.

The Baltimore Men’s Chorus presents “Women’s Works: A Winter Celebration of Female Composers” today at 5 p.m. at St. Athanasius Church (4708 Prudence St., Baltimore). This winter concert program features music by women composers, arrangers and authors. Free tickets are available on eventbrite.com.

Wolf Trap (1635 Trap Rd., Vienna, Va.) presents the music of Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan tonight at 8 p.m. D.C. musicians come together for one night only to perform Mitchell’s “Blue” and Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks.” Tickets start at $27 at wolftrap.org.

N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 39

Superstar: A Drag Revue is tonight at 11 p.m. at Songbyrd Music House and Record Cafe (2477-2475 18th St., N.W.). No cover but $5 is the suggested donation for this 21 and up event hosted

by Bombalicious Eklaver. Free tickets available at eventbrite.com.

Sunday, Dec. 1 Drag Brunch Sundays continues at RedRocks H Street (1348 H St., N.E.) today from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Each show features different performers from throughout the D.C. area. For more info and reservations, visit redrockhstreet.com.

The World AIDS Day Fundraiser presented by Red Bear Brewing and hosted by Glen’s Garden Market — Dupont (2001 S. St., N.W.) is today from 2-6 p.m.

Red Bear will run a tap-takeover featuring their founder as a guest bartender as they raffle off special prizes for donors every hour. Proceeds benefit Casa Ruby. More information at glens garden market.com.

Sunday Funday at the D.C. 9 Nightclub (1940 9th St., N.W.) today from 4-10 p.m. is an LGBTQ-friendly rooftop concert event featuring music by DJ Juba, Rebekah Rafferty and The Wakes, and War Pony.

Also showcased are handmade clothing and accessories by indigenous groups in Oaxaca, Mexico. Tickets are $5 on Eventbrite.

Brave Soul Collective presents “Show and Tell” at the Anacostia Arts Center (1231 Good Hope Rd. S.E.) this evening from 5-7 p.m. The event closes out 2019 by celebrating World AIDS day in a discussion of HIV/AIDS, dating, aging, mental health and more. Tickets are $15 on Eventbrite.

The Mansion of Fashion: World AIDS Fashion Show is tonight from 6-9 p.m. at the Josephine Butler Parks Center (2437 15th St., N.W.). Tickets are $30 to this black tie event. Show starts at 7 p.m. followed by cocktails and light fare. Visit modelsincdc.org for more information.

Plaque Dedication is tonight from 7-9 p.m. at the Washington National Cathedral (3101 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.).

This event is intended to honor Shepard’s memory and serve as a source of strength in the continued journey for LGBTQ equality. General admission reservations are available at tix.cathedral.org.

Tuesday, Dec. 3 Creating Safe Spaces for Homeless LGBTQ Youth presented by SMYAL and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs is today from 1-3 p.m. at the D.C. Department of Human Services (64 New York Ave., N.E.). This workshop is for D.C.area LGBT youth and service providers to learn about relevant D.C. laws and services.

Registration is free at eventbrite.com.

“Let’s Talk About Mental Health and Tech” presented by Out in Tech D.C. is tonight from 6:30-9 p.m. at Interfolio (1400 K St., N.W.).

This free event features a panel discussion on the intersection between excessive tech use, mental health and LGBTQ people. Drinks and snacks served at this 21-and-up event.

Register at eventbrite.com.

Wednesday, Dec. 4 The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony is today from 5-6 p.m. at the Capitol. For more information on this free annual event hosted by Washington D.C. History and Culture and to track the tree’s trek from the Carson National Forest in New Mexico, visit uscapitolchristmastree.com.

Bookmen D.C., an informal men’s gay literature group, discusses Christopher Castellani’s novel “Leading Men” tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Park Library (3310 Connecticut Ave., N.W.). All are welcome. For more information visit bookmendc.blogspot.com.

Monday, Dec. 2

Thursday, Dec. 5

“We are One,” the World AIDS Day Celebration at Baltimore City Hall (100 Holliday St., Baltimore) is today from 9:3011:30 a.m. This free event includes musical performances, speakers, a light breakfast and community fellowship on this day of celebration and commemoration.

Register at eventbrite.com.

The Nixon Legacy Forum series continues today at 10 a.m. at the National Archives (700 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.).

Presenting an examination of the decadeslong effort to unseal the secret Watergate grand jury report that paved the path of evidence leading to Nixon’s impeachment.

Visit archives.org for more information.

The Honoring Matthew Shepard:

The LGBTQ film “Hawaii” screens today at the Embassy of Argentina (1600 New Hampshire Ave., N.W.) from 6:30-9:00 p.m. One childhood friend offers another summer work and a game of power and desire emerges as their relationship grows.

Free tickets available on eventbrite.com.

LGBTQ author Zach Smedley discusses his YA book “Deposing Nathan” this evening at 7 p.m. at Loyalty bookstore (823 Ellsworth Dr., Silver Spring, Md.). One boy is deposed to give testimony that could send his best friend to prison, but the truth is their relationship is far more complicated than anyone knows. RSVP for this event at loyaltybookstores.com.

This Week in the Arts provided by CultureCapital.com Other Desert Cities. Dec 5-Dec 15.

Peace Moutain Theatre at Congregation Har Shalom. peacemountaintheatre.com.

Singin’ In The Rain. Thru Jan 5. Olney Theatre. olneytheatre.org.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Thru Dec 22. Round House. roundhousetheatre.org.

The Second City’s Love, Factually. Dec 3-Dec 29. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

DANCE Holiday Singin’ Pops Dec 6. National Philharmonic at Strathmore. nationalphilharmonic.org.

Share in the sounds of the holidays as Luke Fraizer and the National Philharmonic perform holiday favorites you’ve come to love. Joining the National Philharmonic will be Broadway singer/actress performer Ali Ewoldt of Phantom of the Opera; Hilary Morrow of the Birdland Jazz Club; international vocalist Kevin Rose. Guest appearances include Santa!

Tudor Lights 2019 Dec 5. Tudor Place. tudorplace.org.

Enjoy the historic mansion, with unique decorations and vignettes evoking the Peter family’s 1899 holiday celebration. Then follow the twinkling North Garden path for hot cider as you make your way to the Dower House for seasonal hors d’oeuvres, confections and cocktails.

A Motown Christmas Dec 3-Dec 21. Signature Theatre. sigtheatre.org.

The holidays get a smooth new groove when delivered Motown style!

Featuring restyled covers such as The Jackson 5’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and The Supremes’ take on “Silver Bells” and original songs like Stevie Wonder’s “Someday at Christmas” and Marvin Gaye’s “Purple Snowflakes,” A Motown Christmas is an upbeat, fun and soulful yuletide treat.

Overheard: A live Podcast recording Dec 5. National Geographic. nationalgeographic.org.

Join for a special live recording event that brings National Geographic’s new podcast Overheard out from the studio and onto the stage. National Geographic senior editor and podcast host Peter Gwin invites audiences to tune in to the fascinating conversations overheard at National Geographic headquarters.

Photo Courtesy of National Philharmonic

THEATRE A Chorus Line. Thru Jan 4. Signature Theatre. sigtheatre.org.

A Christmas Carol. Nov 29-Dec 29.

Olney Theatre at Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab. olneytheatre.org.

Airness. Thru Nov 30. Keegan Theatre. keegantheatre.com.

Amadeus. Thru Dec 22. Folger Theatre. folger.edu.

Edward Albee’s Occupant. Thru Nov 30. Theater J at EDCJCC. theaterj.org.

Eureka Day. Dec 4-Jan 5. Mosaic Theater Company at Atlas. mosaictheater.org.

Of Gods and Men. Dec 5. SPAIN arts & culture at Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain. spainculture.us.

Atlanta Ballet: The Nutcracker. Thru Dec 1. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

MUSIC A Chanticleer Christmas. Nov 30.

Mason’s Center for the Arts. cfa.gmu.edu.

Béla Fleck & The Flecktones. Dec 2. Holidays in Harmony. Nov 30.

Strathmore. strathmore.org.

Celebrating Slatkin at 75 / Kern plays Rachmaninoff. Dec 5-Dec 7. NSO at Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Chanticleer. Dec 1. Hylton Center. hyltoncenter.org.

Encore Creativity for Older Adults Holiday Concert. Dec 1. Encore Creativity for Older Adults at St. George’s United Methodist Church. encorecreativity.org.

Pamela Frank and Peter Serkin. Dec 4.

Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Jeffrey Kahane. Dec 1. Newmyer Flyer. Nov 30. Ronnie Spector: Best Christmas Party Ever! Dec 5-Dec 6. Wolf Trap at The Barns. wolftrap.org.

The Knights. Dec 1-Dec 2. Dumbarton Oaks. doaks.org.

Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers. Dec 3. Sons of Serendip. Dec 5. AMP. ampbystrathmore.com.

MUSEUMS AU Museum at the Katzen. Christine Neill. Dec 5. Moves Like Walter: New Curators Open the Corcoran Legacy Collection. Topographies of Life: Pam Rogers, Lynn Sures, Mel Watkin.

ARCADIA: The Clyde’s Murals by William Woodward. Christine Neill: Observations from the Valley Floor. Dark World: Photographs by Frank Hallam Day. Michal Heiman’s Radical Link: A New Community of Women, 1855-2020. Fair is foul & foul is fair. Thru Dec 15. american.edu.

Anacostia Neighborhood Library. Right to the City @Anacostia Neighborhood Library. Thru Apr 20. anacostia.si.edu.

Dumbarton Oaks.

Ornament: Fragments of Byzantine Fashion. Thru Jan 5. Asian Art from the Bliss Collection.

Thru Jun 1. doaks.org.

Folger Shakespeare Library. Miniature Shakespeare Books from the Harner Collection. Thru Dec 31. The Architecture of the Folger Shakespeare Library. Thru Jan 5. folger.edu.

Library of Congress. Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote. Thru Sep 1. Comic Art: 120 Years of Panels and Pages. Thru Sep 12. loc.gov.

National Archives. Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote. Thru Jan 3. archivesfoundation.org.

National Geographic.

WOMEN: A Century of Change. Thru May 1.

Becoming Jane. Thru Jun 1. nationalgeographic.org.

National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Women Artists of the Dutch Golden Age. Thru Jan 5. Judy Chicago—The End: A Meditation on Death and Extinction. Thru Jan 20. Live Dangerously. Thru Jan 20. New York Ave Sculpture Project. Thru Sep 20. nmwa.org.

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian.

Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence.

Thru Jan 5. In Mid-Sentence. Thru Mar 29.

One Life: Marian Anderson. Thru May 17. Women of Progress: Early Camera Portraits. Thru May 31. Storied Women of the Civil War Era. Thru May 8. npg.si.edu.

Postal Museum. None Swifter Than These: 100 Years of Diplomatic Couriers.

Thru Jan 26. postalmuseum.si.edu.

GALLERIES Arlington Cultural Affairs. Places in Paper - Guild of American Papercutters.

Thru Dec 8. arts.arlingtonva.us.

CHAW. Migrant Quilt Project. Thru Dec 9. chaw.org.

DC Arts Center. ReVisions by Ellyn Weiss. Thru Dec 1. Out of Joint - Small Drawing by Karen Schiff. Thru Feb 23. dcartscenter.org.

Del Ray Artisans. $100 & Under Art Exhibit. Thru Dec 1. Creature Comforts Art Exhibit. Thru Jan 26. delrayartisans.org.

Dupont Underground.

World Press Photo Exhibition. Thru Dec 8. dupontunderground.org.

Arlington Artists Alliance. Road Trip Solo Show by Pattee Hipschen. Thru Nov 29.

Scenes of Scotland Solo Show by Shelley Micali. Thru Dec 7. A Taste of Winter. Dec 2-Dec 27. arlingtonartistsalliance.org.

Korean Cultural Center DC. Resonance.

Thru Nov 29. Talk Talk Korea 2019 Winners. Thru Nov 29. koreaculturedc.org.

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Twinkle, twinkle, great big grin – Look at this new house I’m in!

Concrete floors and stainless steel give it that contempo feel.

VALERIE M. BLAKE, Associate Broker, GRI, Director of Education & Mentorship Dupont Circle Office • 202-518-8781 (o) • 202.246.8602 (c) Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com • www.DCHomeQuest.com

N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 41

December 7 8PM December 14 3PM | 8PM December 15 3PM Lincoln Theatre | 1215 U Street NW Tickets: 877-435-9849 or GMCW.org tickets and groups of 10 or more call 202-293-1548

ADELE HAENEL and NOEMIE MERLANT in ‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire.’

Photo courtesy NEON

AFI Euro Showcase bursting with queer content

‘Portrait of a Lady on Fire,’ ‘And Then We Danced’ among 2019 highlights

By BRIAN T. CARNEY

The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in downtown Silver Spring has a spectacular holiday present for LGBT fans of international cinema: the 32nd annual AFI European Union Film Showcase.

According to Abbie Algar, AFI’s associate film programmer and PR manager, this year’s Showcase includes, “46 films representing all 28 EU member states, including award winners, regional box-office hits, debut works by up-andcoming talents and new works by leading auteurs, plus 10 U.S. and North American premieres and 11 of the top contenders for this year’s Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.”

The festival runs Dec. 4-22; information on screenings and passes can be found at afisilver.afi.com/silver/ eushowcase.

As usual, the festival features outstanding queer films. Written and directed by acclaimed French lesbian

filmmaker Céline Sciamma (“Girlhood” and “Tomboy”), “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” is a brooding historical romance set on the rugged isolated coast of 18th century Brittany. An Italian Comtesse (a delightful Valerie Golino) hires budding painter Marianne (Noémie Merlant) to paint the wedding portrait of her daughter Héloïse (Adéle Haenel). But, there’s a catch. Héloïse refuses to have her portrait painted, so Marianne must sketch the bride-to-be in secret at night from memory.

Sciamma’s sumptuous and passionate examination of love and art won the Queer Palm and the Best Screenplay award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The minimalist script is taut and elegant, the acting is superb and the wind-swept cinematography is simply splendid.

Another queer highlight of the festival is “And Then We Danced.”

Written and directed by Levan Akin, the

Swedish-Georgian coming-of-age drama has been selected as the Swedish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the Academy Awards.

Descended from a long line of traditional Georgian dancers, Merab (a dazzling performance by Levan Gelbakhiani) and his partner Mary (Ana Javakishvili) are the star students at Georgia’s conservative national dance academy. Merab’s position as the lead male dancer is challenged by the arrival of talented newcomer Irakli (Bachi Valishvili).

Things become even more complicated for Merab and his family when their feelings of rivalry between the two turn into feelings of mutual attraction.

Akin offers a compelling portrait of life in contemporary Georgia, including the emergent LGBT community.

The acting is solid, including great supporting performances from Giorgi Tsereteli as Merab’s neer-do-well brother and Kakha Gogidze as his strict instructor at the academy. The choreography is stunning, especially in Merab’s explosive final solo, a passionate challenge to the rigid gender roles that shape traditional Georgian dance.

The film has generated controversy in Georgia; citing the movie’s depiction of a gay romance, the Ministry of Culture refused to fund the company’s trip to the Cannes Film Festival. In addition, the choreographer chose to remain anonymous and is not credited in the film.

LGBT themes also emerge in the Austrian thriller “The Ground Beneath My Feet,” the Portuguese film “Variações — Guardian Angel,” a biopic of a flamboyant pop music icon, and “Maria’s Paradise,” a Finnish movie based on a real-life scandal.

Queer content is also front and center in the Belgian comedy “Patrick” which

is the closing night selection for the Showcase. Patrick (Kevin Janssens) is the handyman and carpenter at his family’s nudist camp. When he loses his beloved hammer, his search for the missing tool unearths the camp’s dirty little secrets and reveals a family history he never imagined.

The film is the feature debut of Tim Mielants (who has directed episodes of “Legion” and “Peaky Blinders”); the supporting cast includes New Zealand comedy icon Jemaine Clement (“Flight of the Conchords” and “What We Do in the Shadows”).

The opening night selection is the whip-smart political drama “Alice and the Mayor.” Directed by Nicolas Pariser, the film stars Fabrice Luchini as the bureaucratic mayor of Lyon and Anaïs Demoustier as a new hire who challenges the status quo.

Fans of zombie films can enjoy two enthralling movies that use the figures of the undead to explore recent history. In the silent Austrian movie “The Children of the Dead,” based on the novel by Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek and filmed with an amateur cast, both Jews and Nazis join in a zombie uprising.

“Zombi Child” by French director Bertrand Bonello (“Saint Laurent”) mixes zombie lore, mean-girl angst and French colonial history in a fascinating film that unfolds on a sugar cane plantation in Haiti in 1962 and in an elite boarding school in contemporary France.

In addition to these excellent films, Algar has a few more recommendations: “Young Ahmed” (Belgium). The latest film from the acclaimed Dardenne Brothers focuses on Ahmed, a 13-yearold boy who falls under the influence of a charismatic imam who preaches an extremist interpretation of Islam.

In the disturbing French comedy “Deerskin,” Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”) becomes obsesses with his suede jacket.

“The Truth” is a French domestic comedy starring Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche and Ethan Hawke, and the dark Romanian caper film “The Whistlers” brings together a corrupt cop, a femme fatale, a Mexican mobster, government surveillance, double crosses, a mattress full of money and an indigenous whistling language called “el Silbo Gomero.”

Finally, in the holiday spirit, there’s “On A Magical Night” from out French filmmaker Christophe Honoré, who wrote and directed the excellent AIDS romance “Sorry Angel.” In this delightful mash-up of the classic Hollywood screwball sex comedy and Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol,” Maria (award winner Chiara Mastroianni) goes on a magical journey to reexamine the romances that were — and those that could have been.

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N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 43

From left, JORDAN BARBOUR, DARRYL GENE DAUGHTRY JR., KYLE SOLLER, ARTURO LUIS SORIA and KYLE HARRIS in ‘The Inheritance,’ on the boards now on Broadway.

Photo by Matthew Murphy, courtesy MurphyMade

Borrowing from the gay past?

Character-driven ‘Inheritance’ echoes literary debt with generational interminglings

By SCOTT STIFFLER Like a writer on deadline, desperate to fill blank space with words of legacyworthy brilliance, no one who populates “The Inheritance” is beyond borrowing a page or two from the past, if they think it might prove useful in defining or defending themselves.

Making its mark on Broadway, with much of the stellar cast in tow after an award-winning 2018 run on London’s West End, Matthew Lopez’s six-and-ahalf-hour, two-part look at friendships and friction between contemporary gay Manhattanites and those who lived on the island during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, owes its pulpy plot to “Howards End.” Following previews, it officially opened last week at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (243 W. 47th St.) in New York (tickets at theinheritanceplay.com).

Chalk it up to generational differences if you hold the 1992 Merchant Ivory film adaptation in roughly the same esteem as the 1910 E. M. Forster novel — a

transgression committed early on by a youthful “Inheritance” character in one of many alternately playful and fingerwagging know-your-history moments.

And we need those moments, especially since Young Man 10 goes on to note, of Forster’s turn-of-the-century setting, “But I mean, the world is so different now. I can’t identify with it at all.”

Lopez knows otherwise. And as Act I begins, he makes his case with epic gusto, examining the eternal push and pull between the knowing and the uninformed, the rich and the poor, the healthy and the sick, the upward trajectory and the downward spiral.

It’s that last category that does much of the heavy lifting. By casting actors in dual roles both complementary and contrasting, and bringing together characters who share similar traits and fates, the lines between disparate generations begin to blur although stark differences remain, as they prod each other on matters of meaning and morality.

Even the play’s philosophically opposed are hard-pressed not to see themselves in their sparring partner and their willingness to pivot is what separates victor from victim.

At the play’s molten core is fundamentally decent, newly minted 33-year-old Eric Glass (Kyle Soller), whose culinary skills and nurturing instincts earn him the loyalty of a catty group of chatty gay chums, each seemingly more driven and successful than he is. Jason and Jason are both teachers (and happily married), Tristan is a doctor and Eric works for a social justice engineering company. That Jasper founded. At 21.

Good jobs and self-image aside, looming large in Part 1 is Eric’s increasingly fraught relationship with Toby Darling (Andrew Burnap), a soon-to-be successful novelist/playwright with a hidden past and an emerging sweet tooth for fame, Fire Island, tweaking and twinks.

Eric and Toby live — thoroughly above their station — in a rent-controlled Upper West Side apartment that’s been in Eric’s family since his grandmother and grandfather signed the lease in 1947 (gasps shot through the Ethel Barrymore Theatre when the monthly charge for their three-bedroom, two-bathroom abode, with terrace, was revealed to be a paltry $575).

Following his grandmother’s death, Eric moved in, but not with a strong enough claim to prevent eviction. Years go by until building management starts that process — news Eric keeps from Toby through the duration of their engagement. Words are exchanged.

Wedding rings are not.

Also living in Eric’s building is contemplative Walter Poole (Paul Hilton), described by Toby as “a sheer curtain in front of an open window. He’s like Valium.” Walter shares an apartment with his longtime partner, Henry Wilcox (strapping John Benjamin Hickey, who balances his character’s Republicanism with intensity, charisma and just enough likability to keep detractors off balance).

Both are drawn into Eric’s orbit and emerge the better for it, but they’ve got decades on him and with that comes a gravity that exerts profound influence.

Walter sees in Eric a kindred spirit and uses his own story to set him on a path that will give his life meaning and purpose. Henry’s contribution is just as profound, although not as nurturing. (He withholds news of Walter’s desire that Eric inherit a steeped-in-history upstate property they purchased during their early years together.)

Henry’s denial of that dying wish comes back to bite in Part II, when he and Eric, both feeling the absence of their significant others, form an unlikely bond, which leads to an even more inexplicable marriage. Meanwhile, Toby shacks up with Leo, a down-on-his-luck sex worker who bares a striking resemblance to Adam, the young man Eric and Toby took under their wings in happier times.

Samuel H. Levine plays Adam and Leo, with vocal and posture choices that cry out for a new Tony Award category.

Newbie actor Adam, cast as the lead in Toby’s wildly successful, based-onhis-book Broadway play, earns him sudden notoriety. Leo winds up back on the streets, when his mentor/student relationship with Toby turns sour.

CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 45

From left, DANIEL J. MALDONADO and JOE MONTOYA in ‘Disney’s Newsies’ at Arena Stage.

Photo by Margot Schulman; courtesy Arena

Jack (played by) Daniel

Young actor thrives in non-romance tale ’Disney’s Newsies’

By PATRICK FOLLIARD

As a kid on Long Island, Daniel J. Maldonado dreamed of designing amusement parks and building roller coasters.

Then in middle school, he got a part in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and his interests expanded.

In the following years, he became increasingly smitten with theater and the prospect of theater as a profession.

He went on to attend Rider University in New Jersey where he earned a degree in musical theater. After graduating a semester early, he landed an agent and has worked ever since.

Maldonado’s parents were initially a little anxious about their son’s career choice, but once they understood there was work other than Broadway smashes and hit movies, they became more relaxed. At 23, the New York City-based actor’s resumé boasts a lot of regional theater work, mostly musicals.

Currently he’s starring in Arena Stage’s rousing production of “Disney’s Newsies.”

Set in 1899 Manhattan, it’s the musical tale of a scrappy, sometimes homeless, group of boys and girls (the “newsies”) who sell papers on the city streets. When big-gun publishers Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst try to cut their already meager pay, the newsies band together and organize.

Staged by Molly Smith with sensational choreography from Parker Esse, the show features a terrific orchestra and a cast that includes D.C. standouts Edward Gero, Erin Weaver and Nova Y. Payton, along with a diverse and an insanely energetic ensemble of talented young actors.

Maldonado plays Jack Kelly, the courageous, 17-year-old leader of the newsies. Wise cracking and street smart, Jack is a survivor. He’s also a romantic who harbors ambitions to make art and escape the grimy city.

“There’s a brotherhood about this show that’s so electric,” says Maldonado, a proud Actors’ Equity Association member. “It’s one of the few shows not centered around a love story. There’s a love story, but it takes a back seat to the importance of brotherhood and families.”

While Jack is a sort of father figure to some of the parentless newsies, he also has moments of weakness and naivete, Maldonado says. “I like him and relate to him a lot. I too have some growing up to

do. And like Jack, I’m stubborn, but I know there are lessons that I still need to learn.”

This is Maldonado’s second time playing Jack. His first turn as the gutsy teen with big dreams of heading west was several summers ago at Forestburgh Playhouse in upstate New York.

As Jack, Maldonado brings a great energy and a gorgeous voice to the Arena’s Fichandler Stage.

“My voice is a mix of natural ability and training,” he says. “I owe a lot to my voice teachers in college to bringing it where it is today. I’m now very confident singing high or low, whatever style. My lessons mainly involved finding a roadmap. I had a voice but I didn’t have the technique to always get there.”

Extremely comfortable in his skin, Maldonado identifies as bisexual.

He easily dismisses comments like “bisexuals are just greedy,” or “bisexuality is a just stop on the way to gay town.”

He says, “People say whatever they say to make themselves feel better. As long as I know who I am it doesn’t matter what others think.” He’s currently in a serious relationship with a woman, also an actor, who’s touring with “Escape to Margaritaville.” They make time to see each other during breaks.

Molly Smith dedicates the production to young people who speak up for what they believe in and take action, like the Florida Parkland students who have created a nationwide movement for gun control and young Greta Thunberg who is speaking out about climate change.

“There’s an upcoming generation that’s fearless,” Maldonado says. “They’re willing to do what the older generation won’t. And these younger voices are becoming increasingly louder.”

Looking forward, Maldonado, who has Puerto Rican roots, would “love to play any part in ‘West Side Story,’ maybe do ‘Aladdin.’ And anything by Sondheim. And the Emcee in ‘Cabaret.’ If John Stamos could play the part, I figure there’s hope for me.”

‘Disney’s Newsies’ Through Dec. 29 Arena Stage 1101 Sixth St., S.W. $51-125 202-488-3300 arenastage.org

46 • WA S H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • N OV EM B ER 2 9 , 2 0 1 9

Game Changers: Shawn Stingel

HEALTH INSURANCE FOR DC RESIDENTS

By KEVIN MAJOROS

SHAWN STINGEL rediscovered his love of tennis after college.

Photo courtesy Stingel

This week in the Washington Blade Game Changers series, we meet an athlete with Capital Tennis Association who has taken the club to new heights regarding social responsibility.

Growing up in Smithfield, Va., Shawn Stingel discovered tennis by playing in the streets with his brother and friends.

Inspired by Venus and Serena Williams, he tried out for his high school tennis team in Windsor, Va., and made the cut playing all four years.

Stingel only played recreationally while attending William & Mary but after graduating and arriving in Washington in 2005, he was eager to rejoin the sport with the Capital Tennis Association.

“I was looking to anchor myself in D.C. and discovering an LGBT-based team was a really comfortable feeling,” Stingel says.

“I have met my best friends on the tennis court and being an out athlete has been part of my evolution as an adult. I wasn’t out when I was playing in high school.”

As Stingel became a better tennis player with the Association, he started becoming more involved in a leadership role. When he stepped into the role of social director for the club, he began looking for more diversity and recruitment of young athletes.

“We ramped up our social media, started attending mixers and increased our presence in the community,” Stingel says.

“From my own perspective, I could see where I would have fit into all of that as a young adult as I wasn’t seen in high school.

Young adults today want to be out and they want to play sports. They should be given spaces where they can be comfortable.”

Already active in LGBT community events, Stingel pushed for the Association

to expand its social impact and branch into other communities.

“My agenda was to transcend the tennis court and also have a presence in heteronormative communities,” Stingel says. “I wanted to break down that barrier and allow diversity to thrive.”

Partnering with local organizations, Stingel created events surrounding Breast Cancer Awareness Month, organized CPR training for American Heart Month and helped coordinate the club’s Earth Day invitational while engaging local eco-friendly organizations to raise awareness for their efforts.

“Being progressive in our outreach lets our members know we are more than an LGBT tennis club,” Stingel says. “Creating awareness campaigns gives people exposure to these topics and starts a conversation that will affect change.”

As for his tennis career, Stingel was a doubles specialist for seven years with his playing partner Horatio Oliveira before segueing into a singles career.

Stingel, who works in IT at the Office of Air & Radiation for the Environmental Protection Agency, plays in leagues with the Capital Tennis Association and travels the country competing in tournaments on the Gay Lesbian Tennis Alliance World Tour.

He says his career highlight thus far was qualifying for the GLTA World Tour year-end championships in Prague in 2016. This weekend he will be playing in the Citrus Classic tournament in Tampa.

“I love the challenge and the competition. It brings me joy. We play at a lot of venues where I see older people still competing, so I don’t see myself stopping any time soon,” Stingel says. “It feels good to stay active, give back and make an impact.”

N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 47

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NGLCC National Dinner The National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) held its annual National Dinner at the National Building Museum on Nov. 22.

The Washington Blade was honored with the Pinnacle Award (bottom photo).

Washington Blade photos by Michael Key; photos by Robert Dodge courtesy of NGLCC

48 • WA S H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • N OV EM B ER 2 9 , 2 0 1 9

“

I love wandering through Smithsonian museums, eating on H Street with friends, and going to shows at Howard Theatre.

I’m a transgender woman and I’m part of DC. Please treat me the way any woman would want to be treated: with courtesy and respect.

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DIVERSITY + INCLUSION = ENGAGEMENT Ingleside is all about engaged living. We are who we are because of who we all are, and embrace diversity and inclusion every day. Ingleside creates a welcoming culture that provides not just an exceptional place to live–but an extraordinary place to belong. Become part of an Ingleside community today.

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50 • WA S H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • N OV EM B ER 2 9 , 2 0 1 9

Just how diverse are national residential real estate firms?

Many realizing that inclusion is necessary to function at the top

By JEFF HAMMERBERG There is strength in diversity, and a company that encourages diversity is one that is ultimately able to serve its customers better.

We believe this is especially and particularly true when it comes to companies like real estate agencies that are focused on serving a wide variety of diverse clients, and literally helping to build communities across the country. We took a closer look at some of the country’s largest residential real estate companies with respect to the diversity policies they have in place pertaining to their own employees. If real estate companies are in fact claiming support of diversity, are they showing that to their own employees?

Our hope at GayRealEstate.com is to ensure that everyone has the diverse and inclusive experience they deserve to have as part of the real estate process.

RE/MAX. Diversity in employment: According to RE/MAX Senior Vice President Mike Regan, RE/MAX has a “culture of being involved,” and that “promotes inclusivity at every level,” according to one of its agents and team leaders. According to Sam Olson, a RE/MAX team leader in Reno, Nev., “From the boardroom down, RE/MAX has made a commitment to diversity.”

Keller Williams.

Diversity in employment: Encouraging equality and diversity in its workforce has long been a priority for Keller Williams. Keller Williams lives up to those words as a company, having offered employees same-sex benefits for more than 10 years, and by actively encouraging and promoting a diverse workforce. In January, Forbes ranked Keller Williams as one of the “Best Employers for Diversity in 2019.”

Does your firm value diversity? Many do, while others are less than transparent in their commitment.

Photo by Goodluz; Courtesy of Bigstock

Berkshire Hathaway. Diversity in employment: According to one of the most recent Calvert Research and Diversity reports, Berkshire Hathaway ranked near the bottom of the scale, showing that it could still stand some improvement in diversity, both within the company and in its outreach to the community-atlarge. As part of its decision to issue the lower ranking, Calvert noted BerkshireHathaway stating explicitly that it chooses not to consider diversity as part of its decision-making process in choosing its board of directors. Additionally, since 2002, the Human Rights Campaign ranks Fortune 500 companies on their LGBTQ policies as part of their corporate equality index. In 2019, Berkshire Hathaway was the only one of the top 20 companies to decline to report their diversity and equality policies.

Realogy.

Several well-known

N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA D E.COM • 51

national residential real-estate firms are subsidiaries of Realogy, including Sotheby’s, Century 21, and Coldwell Banker, to name a few. Diversity in employment: On its primary website, Realogy emphasizes its commitment to a diverse workforce, stating, “We strive to be the preferred company for diverse talent, leveraging inclusion and individuality as the foundation of our competitive advantage.” Since 2016, Realogy has utilized Employee Resources Groups to promote an inclusive culture throughout the organization, “all constituencies must be considered and thoughtfully included and developed.” Century 21 was recently named by Forbes as one of America’s best employers for diversity. Coldwell Banker has implemented a companywide diversity program that focuses on diversity education for all employees.

It wasn’t long ago that many

companies viewed diversity and inclusion as simply an “added bonus” instead of as a core, integral part of their overall business philosophy and way of practice. Today, fortunately, the tides are changing – perhaps not with all companies, but with many. Companies are realizing that diversity and inclusion aren’t an afterthought but a necessity for a company that wants to function at its best and reach as many people as possible.

Jeff Hammerberg

is the founding CEO of GayRealEstate. com, which is committed to connecting members of the LGBTQ community with Realtors we know personally, and have investigated and interviewed extensively, to ensure a smooth experience for home buyers and sellers from beginning to end.

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LOCKER ROOM ATTENDANTS NEEDED! The Crew Club, a gay men’s naturist gym & sauna, is now hiring Locker Room Attendants. We all scrub toilets & do heavy cleaning. You must be physically able to handle the work & have a great attitude doing it. No drunks/druggies need apply. Please call David at (202) 319-1333. from 9-5pm, to schedule an interview.

TELL ‘EM YOU saw their ad in the Blade classifieds!

PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIEDS ONLINE

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

LEGAL SERVICES ADOPTION, DONOR, SURROGACY legal services.

Jennifer represents LGBTQ clients in DC, MD & VA interested in adoption or ART matters. 240-863- 2441, JFairfax@jenniferfairfax.com.

Place your HOUSING TO SHARE ad online at washingtonblade.com and the ad prints free in the paper and online.* *25 words or less prints free - anything more is $1/word.

FULL SERVICE LAW FIRM Representing the GLBT community for over 35 years.

Family adoptions, estate planning, immigration, employment. (301) 8912200. Silber, Perlman, Sigman & Tilev, P.A. www.SP-Law. com.

LIMOUSINES KASPER’S LIVERY SERVICE Since 1987.

Gay & Veteran Owner/ Operator. 2016 Luxury BMW 750Li Sedan. Properly Licensed & Livery Insured in DC. www.KasperLivery.com.

Phone 202-554-2471.

CLEANING FERNANDO’S CLEANING: Residential & Commercial Cleaning, Reasonable Rates, Free Estimates, Routine, 1-Time, Move-In/Move-Out. (202) 234-7050, 202-486-6183.

PLUMBERS DIAL A PLUMBER, LLC - FULL SERVICE JUST SAY: I NEED A PLUMBER!

Bathroom Sinks, Tubs, Vanities, Kitchen Sinks, Disposals, Boilers & Furnaces, Hot Water Heaters, Drain Service. Licensed, Bonded & Insured. DC Plumbers License #707.

202-251-1479.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Results-Oriented • Affordable

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32 years serving the LGBT community

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See website for NPR story on my work

SIMPLE AFFORDABLE PROVEN RESULTS

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DAVE LLOYD & ASSOCIATES Top 1% Nationwide NVAR Life Member Top Producder

703-593-3204

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Place your HOUSING TO SHARE ad online at washingtonblade.com and the ad prints free in the paper and online.* *25 words or less prints free - anything more is $1/word.

SIMPLE AFFORDABLE PROVEN RESULTS

CALL TODAY TOPLACE YOUR AD

202.747.2077

52 • WA S H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • N OV EM B ER 2 9 , 2 0 1 9

RENT / DC

DEADLINES

All Classified Ads - Including Regular & Adult Must Be Received

By Mondays at 5PM So They Can Be Included in That Week’s Edition of Washington Blade and washingtonblade.com

MOVERS AROUND TOWN MOVERS. Professional Moving & Storage. Let Our Movers Do The Heavy Lifting.

Mention the ‘Blade’ for 5% off of our regular rates. Call today 202.734.3080. www. aroundtownmovers.com.

SEEK HOUSING / MD GWM 38 YO Straight A Business PhD student, seeks Free Rent in Maryland. All options and offers considered. 301-751-6922.

905 11th St SE - Near the Marine Barracks Older, quirky house w/ open LR, DR & new kitchen. BR & Bath up. Attic w/ 2nd BR, Private back yard. $2,369/month + gas & electric. No pets. Street pkg. Call Joel for appt to view 202-274-1882 or email jn1martin@aol.com.

RENT / MD Meticulously Renov MidCent 4/2+ River View, Gem Spectacular Mid-Century Modern 4/2 meticulously renovated kitchen and spa-like bathrooms. Loft, Mud Room with Laundry, Wine Cellar, Decks, Patios, professionally landscaped and hardscaped. Must See to appreciate. lfveirs@gmail.com

BODYWORK THE MAGIC TOUCH: Swedish, Massage or Deep Tissue. Appts 202-486-6183, Low Rates, 24/7, In-Calls.

N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 53

Playmates and soul mates...

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54 • WA S H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • N OV EM B ER 2 9 , 2 0 1 9

The Trippe Gallery

Glittermoon Vintage Christmas Returns!

November 29 to December 1

23 N Harrison Street Easton 410!310!8727 thetrippegallery.com

N OV EMBE R 29, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 55

9 South Harrison Street Easton, MD 21601 Mon - Sat 11 am - 6 pm t USPJLBHBMMFSZ DPN

HIVcare.org

Rebekka, AHF Client

AHF HEALTHCARE CENTERS K STREET 2141 K ST NW, STE 707 (202) 293-8680

TEMPLE HILLS 4302 SAINT BARNABAS RD, STE D (301) 423-1071

BENNING ROAD 1647 BENNING RD NE, STE 300 (202) 350-5000