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D.C. ends funding for Casa Ruby LGBTQ homeless shelter Group scrambles to raise private donations to prevent Oct. 1 shutdown

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

The D.C. Department of Human Services on Sept. 24 informed the LGBTQ community services center Casa Ruby that it will not renew its annual $850,000 grant that, among other things, funds Casa Ruby’s emergency “low-barrier” shelter for homeless LGBTQ youth and adults.

Casa Ruby founder and CEO Ruby Corado said DHS informed her of its decision to discontinue the grant less than a week before the end of the current fiscal year when the funding is set to expire, which could result in the shutdown of the shelter on Oct. 1.

Corado has since launched a GoFundMe appeal seeking help from the community so that the 50-bed shelter and 24-hour drop-in space located at the Casa Ruby headquarters at 7530 Georgia Ave., N.W. might continue to serve LGBTQ people in need of emergency housing.

“After 9 years of serving thousands of homeless LGBTQ youth & adults, we are forced to close the doors to RUBY CORADO is hoping to raise private our most important program @Casa donations to keep the shelter open.

Ruby (Our Low Barrier Housing) on (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key) October 1st, 2021,” Corado states in her GoFundMe appeal.

“This is also a terrible loss of 30 jobs that will impact the lives of Trans & Gender NonBinary & other employees who now may face homelessness themselves – A HORRIBLE TRAGEDY,” the GoFundMe appeal states.

Corado told the Washington Blade on Monday that she and the Casa Ruby staff were hopeful but uncertain whether emergency contributions from members of the community might be able to prevent a complete shutdown of the shelter.

“We appreciate the work that Casa Ruby has done to serve homeless youth in the District of Columbia,” said DHS Interim Deputy Administrator Sheila Strain Clark in a Sept. 24 letter informing Corado of the decision to discontinue the funding.

“Under Article VI. A. of Grant Agreement #DHS-FSA-HYRA-006-18 LGBTQ Homeless Youth Low-Barrier Beds (Grant Agreement), DHS at its discretion, and subject to the availability of funding, may extend the Grant Agreement for additional terms,” Strain Clark says in her letter. “At this time, DHS has decided not to extend the Grant Agreement

for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022,” she wrote.

Strain Clark didn’t provide a specific reason for the DHS decision to discontinue the funds in her letter to Corado. In response to a request from the Blade for the reason why the grant was terminated, a DHS spokesperson sent the Blade a statement from DHS Director Laura Zeilinger commenting on the DHS decision, but that also did not provide a specific reason for the funding cutoff.

“DHS is committed to the safety and well-being of youth, including LGBTQ+ youth, who we know disproportionately experience homelessness,” Zeilinger says in the statement. “We are not decreasing funding for LGBTQ+ youth services which will continue to be offered through the Continuum of Care,” the statement says.

“Covenant House Washington and True Colors will now provide LGBTQ+ specific services for youth in the Deanwood community of Ward 7. These are new services in this community,” the statement continues.

“Grant renewal decisions are based on ensuring accountability and continuity of quality services and the safety of our residents,” the statement says. “We value the community organizations who deliver these services and honor the contribution of Casa Ruby.”

The decision by DHS to discontinue the Casa Ruby homeless shelter grant came just under six months after Casa Ruby filed an administrative complaint against DHS, charging the D.C. government agency with ignoring and failing to stop one of its highlevel officials from allegedly engaging in anti-transgender discrimination and retaliation against Casa Ruby.

The six-page complaint, which was prepared by Casa Ruby’s attorneys and signed

by Corado, says the DHS official in question, whose name is redacted from the publicly released copy of the complaint, had acted in an abusive and discriminatory way toward Corado and other Casa Ruby employees. It says the targeted employees were overseeing three DHS grants awarded to Casa Ruby that funded shelters providing emergency housing for homeless LGBTQ people.

DHS has declined to comment on the complaint, saying it was investigating its allegation.

Corado told the Blade at the time Casa Ruby announced it had filed the complaint that the DHS official named in the complaint appeared to be retaliating against Casa Ruby, among other reasons, for a decision by Corado to decline a request by DHS that Casa Ruby move its main homeless shelter to a site on Division Avenue in Northeast D.C. Corado said she believed the location would be unsafe for Casa Ruby’s transgender clients.

Corado points out that the location to which the DHS official wanted the Casa Ruby shelter to move was near the site on Division Avenue where transgender woman Deeniquia “Dee Dee” Dodds, 22, was shot to death during a July 4, 2006, armed robbery in which D.C. police said a group of male suspects were targeting transgender women.

Corado said that as of Tuesday, members of the community and supporters had contributed about $75,000 through the GoFundMe appeal, raising hope that an immediate shutdown of the shelter could be averted.

Va. officials back resolution against ‘required’ pronoun questions The Stafford County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution that gives it the authority to deny funds to schools that require students to give their pronouns and teach the 1619 Project and critical race theory.

The resolution denounces “the teaching of the 1619 Project and critical race theory (CRT) and related principles in Stafford County Public Schools,” and states the board does not support Stafford County Public School students “being required to identify their chosen pronouns.”

The approved document had been updated to change “requested” to give pronouns to “required.”

Republican Supervisor Gary Snellings told the board he brought the resolution forward, which passed by a 6-0 vote margin, in response to communication from parents. One supervisor was not present.

Snellings called critical race theory “racism.” He also called the New York Times’ 1619 Project published on the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans to the Virginia colony a “theory.”

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Critical race theory is not taught in Virginia public schools, but a state law passed in 2020 requires local school boards to adopt policies that are more inclusive for transgender and non-binary students that follow, or exceed, guidelines from the state’s Department of Education.

Snellings said the problem with preferred pronouns was in requiring students to give them. He said that was not in the governing Virginia law.

“This (resolution) does not eliminate anything. It just follows state law,” Snellings said.

A Virginia court in July dismissed a lawsuit that challenged the Department of Education’s guidelines for trans and non-binary students. Equality Virginia and the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia were parties to the amicus brief in support of the protections.

“We are deeply disappointed that these adults made such a hateful decision for kids in the community,” tweeted the ACLU of Virginia in response to the board’s vote.

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Critics falsely claim LGBTQ books promote pedophilia in Fairfax schools

Complaints by parents prompt removal of two titles for ‘detailed review’

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

A leader of a group that advocates for LGBTQ students in the Fairfax County, Va., public school system expressed concern this week that misinformed parents and news media outlets were incorrectly reporting that two controversial LGBTQ-themed books available in high school libraries promoted pedophilia.

Following strong objections to the books by parents at a Sept. 23 meeting of the Fairfax County School Board, officials with Fairfax County Public Schools announced they had removed the books from the school libraries to reassess their suitability for high school students.

The two books, “Lawn Boy,” a novel by author Jonathan Evison, and “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” which is described as an illustrated autobiography by non-binary author Maia Kobabe, each contain graphic descriptions of sexual acts. But supporters and opponents of the books strongly disagree over whether those depicted as having sex in books ‘Lawn Boy’ by Jonathan Evison is one of two include children having sex with an books targeted by critics in Fairfax. adult.

During the Fairfax School Board meeting last week, Stacy Langton, a parent of two students attending a Fairfax County high school, described in detail a passage from “Lawn Boy” in which the book’s lead character tells a friend that when he was 10 years old, he engaged in oral sex with “the real estate guy” named Doug.

Langston told school board members and many parents attending the meeting that the passage in “Lawn Boy,” “describes a fourth-grade boy performing oral sex on an adult male.” She said the other book, “Gender Queer,” “has detailed illustrations of a man having sex with a boy.”

Robert Rigby, co-president of Fairfax Public Schools Pride, an LGBTQ advocacy group, strongly disputes Langston’s claims that the books depict sex between adults and children.

“I have read them cover to cover and this is simply not true,” he told the Washington Blade.

The Blade couldn’t immediately obtain copies of the two books, which have been sold out at local bookstores. Rigby, however, provided the Blade with excerpts of other passages of “Lawn Boy” that he said Langston and others attacking the book either have not read or have chosen to ignore. Those passages make it clear that the person with whom the fourth-grade boy had sex was another boy his own age that took place years earlier and there are no passages in “Lawn Boy” where adults have sex with children.

One of the passages from the book that opponents did not read at the school board meeting includes the book’s main character, Mike Munoz, telling how he liked going to a Bible study class as a 10-year-old kid because the boy he later says he had sex with was also attending the class.

“All told, there were eight or nine other kids, including my hero, Doug Goble, long before he became the hottest real-estate agent in Kitsap County.”

Rigby said he and others who have read and viewed the illustrations in “Gender Queer” do not believe the comic book style drawings depicting sexual acts include a child having sex with an adult as claimed by opponents of the books.

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“The scene published is a scene between genderqueer adults in their early 20s,” Rigby said. “Someone pointed out an imagined scene of a Greek vase in which some folks brought up the idea of Ancient Greek ‘pederasty,’” said Rigby, who added that the book could not be interpreted to show an adult having sex with a juvenile. “Instead, a genderqueer person is imagining themselves a genderqueer person in the scene,” he said.

“Our position on the books controversy is that it is not so much about the books,” said Rigby. “It is an effort to continue the crisis about schools over the next few months targeting libraries and LGBTQIA+ people,” with the aim, he said, to drive up conservative turnout for the November Virginia gubernatorial election. “We have seen this movie before in Fairfax,” he said.

Langston, the parent who spoke at the school board meeting, said she and other parents consider the two books to be a form of pornography because they include explicit descriptions or illustrations of sexual acts regardless of who is engaging in those acts.

“I’m not one of those activist moms or disgruntled moms,” she stated in an interview with Fox News. “This is not about being anti-gay, anti-trans or whatever. I would have been there and said every single word I said if this had been the depiction of a heterosexual couple with heterosexual acts – pornography is pornography and I don’t care what the gender is,” she told Fox News.

“And by the way, it’s even worse that the pornography involves children,” she said.

“That takes it to a whole other level of evil.”

The Fairfax Public Schools released a statement announcing it had suspended circulation of the two books from its libraries.

“FCPS is in the process of convening two committees made up of staff, students and parents led by our Library Services Coordinator to assess the suitability of both texts for inclusion in our high school libraries,” the statement says. “The recommendation of the committees will be put forward to the Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Services who will make a final decision as to whether FCPS continues to provide access to these books in our high school libraries,” it says.

Both books have received the American Library Association’s Alex Award, an annual award that recognizes the year’s “ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18,” according to the Associated Press.

A review by the publication Book Browse describes “Lawn Boy” as a “funny, angry, touching, and ultimately deeply inspiring novel” that takes the reader “into the heart and mind of a young man on a journey to discover himself, a search to find the secret to achieving the American dream of happiness and prosperity.”

A review by the Cartoon Art Museum based in San Francisco describes “Gender Queer” as an “intensely cathartic autobiography” by author Maia Kobabe that tells of a “journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society.” The review says that the book, which starts as a way for the author to explain what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, becomes more than just a personal story.

“It is a useful and touching guide on gender identity – what it means and how to think about it – for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.”

Rigby and Fairfax County School Board member Karl Frisch, who is gay, have said they have become the target of hostile social media postings by opponents of the two books. The Associated Press reported that Frisch “offered a defense of sorts” for the two books in a Twitter message he posted following the school board meeting in which the subject of the books came up.

He stated, “nothing will disrupt our Board’s commitment to LGBTQIA+ students, families and staff. Nothing,” the AP quoted his message as saying. But the AP said he wasn’t explicit about whether his tweet was referring to the attacks against the two books and he declined comment when contacted by the AP. “The past 36 hours have been surreal,” Frisch stated in another social media posting.

“Led by a local, right-wing, anti-schools advocate who claimed I was defending pornography and perversion, I’ve received nearly 1,000 comments, emails, voicemails, etc. from around the world attacking me as some sort of child predator,” he wrote.

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Biden rounds out team to tackle HIV/AIDS But can he meet goal of ending epidemic by 2025?

By CHRIS JOHNSON | cjohnson@washblade.com

With the goal of beating HIV by 2025 domestically and a pledge for a renewed effort to fight the disease globally, President Biden has put in place officials charged with making that happen.

The White House kicked off the week with the announcement that John Nkengasong, who has served as a top official on global health at the Centers for Disease Control, would be nominated as ambassador-at-large and coordinator of U.S. government activities to combat HIV/AIDS globally at the State Department.

Meanwhile, leadership within the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/ AIDS, otherwise known as PACHA, was restructured in August as the Biden administration has continued the Ending the HIV Epidemic plan health officials started in the Trump administration.

Carl Schmid, who served as co-chair of PACHA during the Trump years, no longer holds that position, and has been replaced by Marlene McNeese, a woman of color and deputy assistant director of the Houston Health Department. John Wiesman, former secretary of health for Washington State, will continue to serve as co-chair.

McNeese is among eight new members of PACHA. The others are: Guillermo Chacón, president of the Latino Commission on AIDS; Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative at the Human Rights Campaign; Raniyah Copeland, CEO of the Black AIDS Institute; Leo Moore, medical director for clinic services at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health; Kayla Quimbley, national youth HIV and AIDS Awareness Day ambassador for Advocates for Youth; Adrian Shanker, founder and executive director of Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center; and Darrell Wheeler, senior vice president for academic affairs at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y. The changes underscore the new approach to HIV/AIDS Biden promised during his presidential campaign. Among them is beating HIV/AIDS domestically by 2025, which is five years earlier than the plan under the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative that began in the Trump administration. Whether or not Biden will meet that ambitious goal remains to be seen.

Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, hailed the nomination of Nkengasong to the global AIDS position upon news of the announcement.

“John Nkengasong’s vast experience in combatting HIV, combined with his position as Africa’s leading disease expert fighting Ebola, COVID-19 and more, position him extremely well to guide the United States’ global contribution towards ending the AIDS pandemic,” Byanyima said. “Today, the HIV and COVID-19 pandemics are colliding in communities throughout the world, and the threat of a resurgent AIDS pandemic is very real. We need the kind of bold thinking and commitment he has brought throughout his career.”

While the global AIDS appointment will have a role in international programs, such as PEPFAR and U.S. participation in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria, the PACHA appointments will focus on both domestic and global perspectives.

Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said despite the change in leadership he will maintain his role as head of the subcommittee on the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative.

“It’s good,” Schmid said.”They appointed a lot of African-American community, Latino community [members] and they said they’ll rotate co-chairs,” Schmid said. “I think it’s good that they put on new blood, and new leadership.”

Schmid has been a vocal skeptic about Biden being able to meet his goal to beat HIV by 2025 — as opposed to the 2030 target set by the previous administration — but said the realignment in PACHA was “not at all” related to that.

“I think I was replaced because the Biden administration wanted the leadership of PACHA to be more representative of the current epidemic in the United States,” Schmid said.

PRESIDENT BIDEN has pledged to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2025.

Schmid, however, refused to back down from his prediction that Biden won’t be able to make his 2025 goal a reality.

“I think you will find wide agreement within the HIV community that it is not feasible to end HIV by 2025,” Schmid said. “There is just too much work to do and change to happen.”

The new appointments will add to the cadre of Biden appointees engaged on HIV/AIDS, including Harold Phillips, who was appointed in June to lead the White House Office of National AIDS Policy after that position remained vacant for the entirety of the Trump administration.

The focus of the appointees on the domestic front will be the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, a plan heavily focused on PrEP as a means of preventing HIV in an effort to reduce new incidents of infections by 90 percent within 10 years. The program was launched in 2019.

Although Congress has appropriated money for the initiative, and just last week, the Department of Health & Human Services distributed $48 million to HRSA centers as part of the effort, experts say not enough data is available to tell to whether or not the program has been effective.

Jennifer Kates, senior vice president and director of global health & HIV policy at Kaiser Family Foundation, said data isn’t yet available on whether new incidents of HIV are reduced because the latest data is from fiscal year 2019.

“From the perspective of the timeline of the goals of the initiative, it’s too early, we wouldn’t know that anyway, but just even given the context and what’s happened since it started, I just don’t know how you’d evaluate it,” Kates said.

“What I do believe is important though, is the idea of dedicated new funding.

It was the first new funding provided to HIV for years that’s been channeled to local jurisdictions [and] has the potential to catalyze new and better responses, but we don’t know yet that’s happened.”

The coronavirus pandemic, which has been the top priority for health officials around the world, is also obfuscating any potential assessment of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative.

Daniel Bruner, senior director of policy at the D.C.-based Whitman-Walker Institute, said the coronavirus has “dramatically impacted medical care,” including HIV/AIDS efforts.

“The pandemic has also necessitated substantial shifts in federal, state, and local resources into COVID prevention, diagnosis and treatment,” Bruner said.

“Therefore, it is premature to draw any conclusions about the EHE initiative’s effectiveness. The federal government has emphasized its continuing commitment to the EHE initiative, and Whitman-Walker also remains committed to that work.”

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Non-binary person reports assault

by Proud Boys near Portland ‘They nearly killed me’

By KAELA ROEDER

It was a typical day for Juniper Simonis. The freelance ecologist decided to break from work for lunch at about 3 p.m. to take their service dog, Wallace, to the local dog park and grab a bite to eat.

But a planned peaceful afternoon quickly turned ugly. Simonis says they survived a gang assault of about 30 perpetrators in Gresham, Ore., a suburb outside of Portland.

The Oregon resident encountered the group for only minutes but suffered a concussion, sprained jaw, extensive car damage and verbal assaults, they said.

“They nearly killed me,” they said.

Simonis said they turned into a parking lot to pick up lunch in Gresham, Ore., and stumbled upon a rally that included several members of the Proud Boys — a far-right, ultra-nationalist organization known for its anti-LGBTQ, anti-feminism and neo-fascist ideologies.

There was a “Flag Ride” right-wing rally in a parking lot earlier that day. Simonis was under the impression the event had ended after checking reports on Twitter. After pulling into the lot, originally to look for lunch options, Simonis saw a large gathering still in the lot.

Simonis decided to take pictures of what was happening to post online to warn others and was intentional in keeping their distance, they said. As Simonis was preparing to leave the area, they yelled from inside the car, “Fuck you, fascists, go home.”

“I did not expect this to escalate into violence,” they said.

The attack itself only lasted about three minutes, Simonis said. Simonis was quickly surrounded by several people and physically blocked from leaving the lot. People stepped in front of the parking lot exit, then a car was moved to barricade Simonis.

People began to shout homophobic slurs at Simonis, they said.

“I’m in serious trouble now and I know it,” they said.

Simonis was then punched while inside their vehicle and was briefly knocked out.

They regained consciousness a few seconds later, and a cinder block was thrown at the car and shattered the back window of their car inches away from their service dog, Wallace.

Simonis got out of the car to assess the damage and make sure their service dog was safe. They quickly got back in their car and was able to leave the lot by maneuvering around the blocked exit, Simonis said.

Looking back at the photos and videos Simonis took before the assault, Simonis said they saw people looking into the camera and acknowledging them taking photos.

“I honestly don’t know if I hadn’t said anything, that … things would have gone any different,” they said.

Last year, Simonis was targeted and arrested by federal police in Portland during the tumultuous Black Lives Matter protests in the city. They were denied medical attention, misgendered, jumped and aggressively handcuffed while taken into custody.

Simonis is still working through legal proceedings in a multi-plaintiff lawsuit.

A witness to the event called the Gresham Police Department, which was only a few blocks away from the incident. But the call went to voicemail and the witness did not leave a message, Simonis said.

Another witness called 911, Simonis said, which led to an officer calling Simonis about 45 minutes after the accident to take a report.

In the police report obtained by the Blade, Simonis is consistently misgendered.

Simonis’ sex is also listed as “unknown” in the report. The incident was labeled as vehicle vandalism.

Simonis said the conversation with the officer was filled with victim-blaming and the officer wrote in the report that Simonis should avoid “approaching groups of this nature.”

“At no point in this conversation does he treat me as an actual victim of a crime,” Simonis said.

The Gresham Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Weeks after the assault, Simonis is struggling mentally and physically, they said.

The concussion makes working on a computer virtually impossible because of light sensitivity and trouble focusing, Simonis said. The pain caused by the sprained jaw makes it difficult to focus, as well.

Simonis is not able to begin physical therapy for their jaw until November because of long medical wait times, they said. The cost to repair the car damages will be about $8,000, as well, they said.

The times where Simonis is able to focus are usually taken up by piecing together what happened that day, they said.

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JUNIPER SIMONIS

(Photo by Mariah Harris)

“The part of my brain that I use for work has been hijacked functionally by the part of the brain that needed to know what happened to me,” they said. “There is such a painful need to understand what happened to me.”

Because of past traumatic events, like the experience of being in federal Wallace, Juniper Simonis’ service dog. custody last year, (Photo by Mariah Harris) Simonis said processing and living with the trauma is a bit easier to handle. But their ability to work will be forever changed yet again, they said.

“I’m not able to work at the pace that I used to work at before I was assaulted by DHS. I’ll never be,” they said. “And this is just a further knockdown.”

The trauma of the event has increased Simonis’ hyper-vigilance, as well.

“Every time I hear a car go by, I’m double-checking,” they said.

Even though Simonis has the tools to process and live with the immense trauma, they will never be the same person, they said.

“They fucking changed my life forever. Point blank,” they said. “Not just mentally, but physically and physiologically. I can’t go back to where I was before. I’m lucky that I survived.”

Simonis has reported the attack to the FBI and is pursuing legal action with two specific goals in mind: to heal and to prevent similar crimes from happening.

“I am somebody who believes in abolishing the carceral system and the justice system as it exists and policing,” Simonis said. “But also a 37-year-old trans and disabled person who somehow managed to survive this long. And so naturally has become pragmatic about the world.”

Because of the reaction of the Gresham Police Department, Simonis did not want to work with local officers and instead went to the federal level. But because of the alleged assault by agents in Portland last year, this decision wasn’t easy for them.

Perpetrators in the assault threatened to call the police on Simonis, even though Simonis did not commit a crime. Reporting the crime to the federal level is also a layer of protection, they said.

“All of this is forcing my hand,” they said. There is no easy decision in the situation, they added.

“We all know that crimes are underreported. We hear about it all the time,” they said.

And there are reasons why people don’t report crimes and they’re totally understandable.

A lot of victims are very concerned about what will happen if they break anonymity. In my situation, I’ve already broken anonymity.”

With recent arrests and crackdowns on the Proud Boys and other hate groups in the United States, Simonis is bracing for a long process.

“This isn’t just going to go on a shelf,” they said.

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Liz Cheney: ‘I was wrong’ to oppose same-sex marriage Republicans, 55 percent, are in support of marriage rights for gay Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming), one of a handful of Republicans couples and a record high of 70 percent of Americans are behind who have criticized President Trump in his actions to attempt to it, according to a Gallup poll released in June. overturn his defeat in the 2020 election, has now said she “was Blade readers remember the public spat Liz and Mary Cheney wrong” to have opposed same-sex marriage. had over same-sex marriage in 2013, which reflected the division Liz Cheney, whose sister Mary Cheney is a lesbian and married over the issue at the time among conservatives. to a woman, made the comments during an interview on “60 Former Vice President Richard Cheney, the father of the two Minutes” that aired Sunday night after Lesley Stahl asked the and considered an early supporter of same-sex marriage, with his Republican about her one-time opposition to marriage rights for spouse Lynne Cheney acknowledged in a statement at the time gay couples. family conflict over same-sex marriage “is an issue we have dealt “I was wrong. I was wrong,” Liz Cheney said, whose opposition with privately for many years, and we are pained to see it become to same-sex marriage led to estrangement from her sister. The public.” two have since reconciled.

“Liz has always believed in the traditional definition of marriage,” “I love my sister very much. I love her family very much, and I Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) Richard and Lynne said at the time. “She has also always treated was wrong,” added Liz Cheney, who appeared emotional. “It’s a (Photo via Facebook) her sister and her sister’s family with love and respect.” very personal issue and very personal for my family. I believe my Since that time, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor dad was right, and my sister and I have had that conversation.” of same-sex marriage nationwide. Liz Cheney as a member of Congress never had an Cheney made the comments after being ostracized by the Republican Party over her option to weigh in on the issue of same-sex marriage, having been seated well after the vote to impeach former President Trump and her participation in the congressional panel 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and the Federal Marriage Amendment were debated in on the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Congress. Cheney, however, voted against the Equality Act in February.

Cheney has publicly come to regret her former opposition to same-sex marriage CHRIS JOHNSON after a sea change in public opinion on the issue. For the first time this year, a majority of

Trans, intersex activists join White House listening session Sixteen transgender and intersex activists from around the world on Tuesday participated in a White House listening session.

A State Department spokesperson told the Washington Blade the meeting was one of “a series of listening sessions that State is organizing on the human rights of transgender individuals” through the Interagency Working Group on Safety, Inclusion and Opportunity for Transgender Americans, which the White House Domestic Policy and Gender Policy Councils created in June.

The Departments of Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Education, Homeland Security, ALEXUS D’MARCO Labor, Interior and Veterans Affairs participate (Photo courtesy D’Marco’s Facebook page) in the working group. The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development are, according to the State Department spokesperson, “also participating to strengthen efforts to protect transgender individuals from violence and discrimination

around the world.”

“These listening sessions will inform the working group’s review of policies that drive violence and poverty for transgender individuals at home and around the world, including homelessness, employment discrimination, violence and abuse, and bullying and rejection at school,” said the State Department spokesperson.

Jessica Stern, the special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ rights abroad who officially began her tenure on Monday, is among those who took part in the meeting, which is one of three that happened on Tuesday. Additional meetings are scheduled to take place later this week.

“She looks forward to learning from transgender and intersex human rights defenders what their most pressing priorities are for continued U.S. engagement,” said the State Department spokesperson.

Alexus D’Marco, executive director of the D’Marco Organization in the Bahamas, is among those who the White House invited to participate in one of Tuesday’s sessions.

“It is timely and important that the Caribbean region is included in this discussion,” D’Marco told the Blade. “As a region, we are often left behind. LGB and trans citizens in the Caribbean are becoming more visible; their access to healthcare, housing, justice, education and a decent quality of life are often impeded and fuel by stigma and discriminations.”

“I am grateful to be apart of theses discussion to move the Caribbean region forward,” added D’Marco.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

McAuliffe backs local input on Va. trans student policies Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday during his final debate against Republican Glenn Youngkin said “locals” should have input on Virginia’s model policy protecting transgender and non-binary students from discrimination, but added “the state will always issue guidance.”

“I like locals having input on such an important issue,” McAuliffe said. “But the state will always issue guidance, as we do, from the Department of Education.”

McAuliffe and Youngkin squared off for a second time in a heated debate at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria that “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd moderated.

The Virginia Department of Education “model policies” were developed as part of a state law passed last year to protect trans and non-binary students from discrimination.

Local school boards during this school year were to adopt policies in accordance with the nondiscrimination statute McAuliffe during the candidates’ first debate on Sept. 16 said school boards “should be making their own decisions” on implementing the policies.

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Youngkin on Tuesday said he agreed with McAuliffe’s response, adding parents should be included “in this dialogue.” McAuliffe, however, disagreed, saying he didn’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.

“I love our teachers and what they have done through COVID,” he said. “These are real heroes who deserve our respect.”

Other contentious topics once again included vaccine mandates, policing and abortion.

McAuliffe in his closing statement also emphasized that Youngkin wants to ban abortion in the state and is against marriage equality.

The RealClearPolitics survey of state polls showed McAuliffe and Youngkin in a dead heat in August, but it now shows the former governor widening his lead by an average of 2.9 points.

Early voting in Virginia began Sept. 17 and continues through Oct. 30. Election Day is Nov. 2.

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Columbia Univ. researcher helps evacuate LGBTQ Afghans

TAYLOR HIRSCHBERG (Photo courtesy of Hirschberg)

Some of the 50 human rights activists that a Columbia University researcher has helped evacuate from Afghanistan since the Taliban regained control of the country are LGBTQ. A press release the Blade received notes Taylor Hirschberg — a researcher at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health who is also a Hearst Foundation scholar — has worked with Belgian Sen. Orry Vandewauwer to help 50 Afghan “activists leave the country.”

“The refugees included those who identify as LGBTQI+ or gender nonconforming and their families,” notes the press release.

The Blade has seen the list of names of the more than 100 people that Hirschberg and Vandewauwer are trying to evacuate from Afghanistan. These include the country’s first female police officer, the independent U.N. expert on Afghanistan and a number of LGBTQ activists.

“There are many more human rights advocates we are still trying to get out of the country,” said Hirschberg.

Hirschberg has previously worked in Afghanistan.

He and Vandewauwer were also once affiliated with Skateistan, an NGO that works with children in the Middle East and Africa. The documentary “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone” features it.

The Taliban entered Kabul, the Afghan capital on Aug. 15 and toppled then-President Ashraf Ghani’s government.

A Taliban judge over the summer said the group would once again execute gay men if it were to return to power in Afghanistan.

The U.S. evacuated more than 100,000 people from the country before American troops completed their withdrawal from the country on Aug. 30. It remains unclear whether the U.S. was able to successfully evacuate LGBTQ Afghans from Kabul International Airport, but Immigration Equality earlier this month said it spoke “directly” with 50 LGBTQ Afghans before the U.S. withdrawal ended.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sept. 13 during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing expressed concern over the fate of LGBTQ Afghans who remain in the country.

The Human Rights Campaign; Immigration Equality; the Council for Global Equality; Rainbow Railroad; the International Refugee Assistance Project and the Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration have called upon the Biden administration to develop a 10-point plan to protect LGBTQ Afghans that includes prioritizing “the evacuation and resettlement of vulnerable refugee populations, including LGBTQI people.” Canada is thus far the only country that has specifically said it would offer refuge to LGBTQ Afghans.

Hirschberg on Monday told the Blade that he and Vandewauwer have charted an airplane to evacuate Afghans, but they have not secured a “third country” to which they can bring them.

“Currently, we are working towards a multi-country collaboration for resettlement,” he said. “Our work has now expanded to include election officials and women activists, including those from the LGBTQI+ community.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Mexicans with HIV/AIDS struggle to access treatment had more than 34 million beneficiaries.

Roberto Navarro has been a dancer since he was 17. Jazz became his passion and Antiretroviral drugs have been available in Mexico since 2003, although the Mexican he fell in love with classical dancing after he took many classes. And he began to teach health system is divided into various subsystems based on where one works: the Institute four years later. of Social Security and Services for State Workers (ISSSTE); the Mexican Institute of Social “I’m so happy when I teach dancing to my girls because they bring me so much joy, Security (IMS); or the INSABI (Health Institute for Wellbeing) I feel like I help my girls to become better women, without that was previously known as the Seguro Popular. noticing I’m some kind of a therapist,” Navarro told the They vary in the time it takes to receive medication Washington Blade. and the time for CD4 viral load tests. The availability of He discovered the discipline of dancing in heels in appointments with infectious disease specialists varies in 2014, which made him connect and explore more with his each of the three public health systems. sexuality. He did, however, suffer a lot of bullying because People with INSABI will take longer to get tests and have of it. access to doctors. It must also be recognized that everyone, Navarro — a 33-year-old gay man who is originally from in theory, has the possibility of accessing medicines, but it Sahuayo de Morelos in Michoacán state — owns a dance also depends on the states in which they live. salon. Navarro said he started to become an entrepreneur, The number of people without access to healthcare in but it hasn’t been easy because of the pandemic.

Mexico rose from 20 million to almost 36 million between He was diagnosed with HIV in 2016. Navarro suffered 2018-2020. INSABI, more than a year after its creation, from depression for several months after he learned his still does not completely cover the same amount as its status. predecessor.

“I woke up very overwhelmed in the morning thinking that ROBERTO NAVARRO (Photo courtesy of Navarro) INSABI is an independent agency through the Ministry of I had to go to the hospital to make a long line of patients; Health that aims to “provide and ensure the free provision to have blood drawn for fast screening tests,” he said. “We of health services, medicines and other inputs associated with people without social arrived at 7 in the morning and left until 1 in the afternoon.” security.” The General Health Law says it was to replace Seguro Popular, which was in Navarro has been receiving treatment for almost five years, and he is still dancing. place from 2004-2019.

“Subsequently, I went to my consultations every three or six months depending on my “The situation for treatment right now, it’s quite complex, particularly because there results,” he stated. “By the third month I was undetectable.” have been many changes in the health department of Mexico, and this has to do with Navarro started with Atripla, an antiretroviral drug he received through Mexico’s the fact that in 2003 when the Seguro Popular was established; there was an increase to Seguro Popular, and he was undetectable a month later. comprehensive care for people living with HIV and resources for prevention strategies A shortage of Atripla forced a change to Biktarby after President Andrés Manuel which are mainly handled through civil society organizations that obtained money from López Obrador in 2019 scrapped Seguro Popular and created the Health Institute the government.” stated Ricardo Baruch, who has worked at the International Family for Wellbeing (INSABI). The pharmaceutical company Gilead has said there are many Planning Federation for almost 15 years. counterfeit versions of the drug on the market.

Continues at washingtonblade.com Seguro Popular in 2018 had almost 52 million beneficiaries. The National Council for MICHAEL K. LAVERS the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL) said INSABI at the end of 2020 1 6 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • OCTOBER 01 , 2 0 2 1 • I NT E R NAT I O NA L NE WS

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Pepco prepares local residents for well-paying careers in the energy industry COURTESY PEPCO HOLDINGS

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1 8 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • OCTOBER 01 , 2 0 2 1 • V I E WP O I NT

Pepco and the District of Columbia’s Department of Employment Services (DOES) recently celebrated the second graduating cohort from the 2021 Pepco Utility Training Program, part of the D.C. Infrastructure Academy (DCIA). Pepco and DOES held an in-person celebration for graduates, families, and friends to recognize this achievement – including being the first class to return to in-person learning and continuous training services to District residents since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At Pepco, we are committed to ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities we serve. In support of the District’s objectives of providing pathways to success for all residents, and our goals of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within our company and the communities we serve, our program prepares District of Columbia residents for well-paying careers in the energy industry. Participants train for jobs including line mechanics, cable splicer mechanics, helper transformer testers, meter technicians, and other roles that are Pepco and DOES held an in-person essential to building and maintaining the event to celebrate the second graduating city’s infrastructure. cohort from the 2021 Pepco Utility The focus on modernized and stable Training Program. (Photo courtesy Pepco) infrastructure is at the forefront of the current administration and the reliance for clean, safe, and reliable power is at a peak. With only 22 percent of the energy industry comprised of women, the demand for gender equity in the field is increasing. We had one female graduate who completed the recent 14-week program and another 10 women who have completed the program since DCIA’s inception in 2019. In support of our commitment to workforce development initiatives that advance economic opportunity in our communities and to combat the poverty rates in Wards 7 and 8, 93 percent of the graduating cohort were from those Wards.

All of the 20 graduates who successfully completed the program are on track to receive employment offers from Pepco, our contractors, or other companies committed to employment programs. Including this graduating class, the Pepco Utility Training program has graduated 105 participants since the program was established in 2019.

“This in-person graduation ceremony marks another significant milestone for the Pepco Utility Training School, as we were able to safely conduct the program under the challenging conditions posed by the pandemic,” said Tyler Anthony, senior vice president and Chief Operating Officer of Pepco Holdings. “We thank Mayor Bowser and the D.C. Infrastructure Academy for continuing this partnership to expand workforce training opportunities and career services for local residents. This graduation is a celebration of a significant amount of hard work, and we view the achievements of each participant as building block for the next generation of the District’s critical infrastructure workforce.”

“Today’s graduates took a chance to pursue training and education in the midst of the pandemic,” said DOES Director Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes. “We are proud of their accomplishments and the work they will do. Thanks to Mayor Bowser’s budget investments to reimagine our workforce, even more District residents will have the opportunity to pursue their path to the middle class. We are also exceptionally grateful for our partner, Pepco, who helped provide this world-class training.”

Participants were well prepared for their future energy careers despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The training received as part of the DCIA program is directly focused on providing students with the skills and experience necessary to begin working safely on the local energy grid, including customized training for the Construction and Skills Trades (CAST) exam, certification in OSHA safety, proper work zone flagging techniques, and CPR/ first aid safety.

To learn more about Pepco’s Utility Training Program and DCIA, visit dcinfrastructureacademy.org.

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O CTO B E R 0 1 ,2 0 2 1 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 1 9

PETER ROSENSTEIN

is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

350 political requests for money this week

Target donations so they contribute to winning a Democratic Congress in 2022 It’s been a slow week — only 350 emails requesting money from political organizations, the DNC, and candidates around the country. Add 30 text messages and one would think someone out there believes I actually have money to give. I really appreciate the follow-up emails thanking me for what I gave even though I didn’t make a donation.

Being an activist and involved in politics for more than 60 years I know how it works. Give to one candidate and they sell or trade their list and all of a sudden you become popular. Become a bundler by raising money from other people and they think you are golden. I have gotten good at unsubscribing, blocking, and typing STOP but the requests keep coming.

Clearly this has become the way to raise money. Thanks to the pandemic, ‘virtual’ is in. Ten emails this week for a virtual fundraiser with Dr. Jill Biden that would only cost me $10,000; a big percentage of my annual Social Security income.

The emails come in with messages including ‘emergency’, ‘I’m being outspent’, ‘last chance to donate’ (that one is funny when you get it three more times from the same person the next week), or ‘we could lose’. If they didn’t make money they would stop sending them so, yeah, it works and people open their wallets. I guess for some a message from James Carville is the key as I have gotten loads of emails from him. His are usually pithy and want to embarrass you into giving.

Being involved in politics for many years I actually know some of the people asking me for money. In many cases there is no chance in hell they can win. It gets me mad when they take money that could go to those who have a real shot at winning. We saw one candidate raise more than $50 million for a race in 2020 we all knew he wouldn’t win.

We are facing a critical mid-term election in 2022 to keep Democratic control of the Congress. It would behoove Democrats to be targeted in their giving. Liking someone isn’t enough even if they happen to be LGBTQ, a woman, or a minority, if you know they can’t win. The reason being there are a number of House and Senate races we must win and need to fund because if we lose them we lose the Congress.

Fourteen Democratic Senators are up in 2022; some need our help while others will win on their own with support from their own state voters. Some I am focused on are Masto (Nevada), Hassan (New Hampshire), Kelly (Arizona), and Warnock (Georgia). Then there are a number of open seats with Republicans announcing their retirement including in Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Alabama, and Pennsylvania.

Johnson (R-Wisc.) hasn’t yet announced what he will do. It is possible with the right candidates and funding we could pick up a few of those. That’s just the Senate. The GOP newsfeed.com has listed 57 Democrats in the House they consider vulnerable.

So clearly many of those members will need money to help fund their campaigns.

We can only hope the left wing of the party will realize this is not the year to wage unnecessary primaries against sitting Democrats. History shows us how rare it is for the party of a sitting president to gain any seats in the Congress in a midterm election and they usually lose seats. To buck that trend in 2022 we will need to be very targeted and intentional in our actions.

My intent is to get people to think carefully about where to spend their money. It is encouraging to know the DNC, DCCC, and DSCC are meeting regularly to exchange information and plan their targeted campaigns. This has not always been the case.

Recently the DNC donated $5 million to the Virginia Democratic Party to help Terry McAuliffe win the governorship and keep the House of Delegates Democratic in 2021. What happens in Virginia could be a harbinger for what will happen around the country in 2022. Virginia is still a purple state even though Biden won it by 10 points. Polling shows a toss-up election and we will know the impact of running against ‘Trumpism’ in that state’s results. We will know if the suburbs come out to vote in big numbers and if they continue to vote Democratic. So spend your money carefully, target it, and ensure it contributes to winning a Democratic Congress in 2022 so we have at least a chance to make progress.

2 0 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • OCTOBER 01 , 2 0 2 1 • V I E WP O I NT

JAMES FINN

is a former Air Force intelligence analyst, long-time LGBTQ activist, an alumnus of Queer Nation and Act Up NY, and a regular columnist for queer news outlets. Send questions, comments, and story ideas to jamesfinnwrites@gmail.com.

Texas abortion ban author: State can control private sex

Says gov’t should have power to regulate your sexual conduct Do you think your consensual adult sexual behavior in your own home is nobody’s business but yours? Do you think “The Scarlett Letter” is a cautionary tale? Do you believe you enjoy the fundamental right to be free from state control of your sex life?

Jonathan Mitchell says you’re wrong. The architect of the Texas law that bans abortion at about six weeks after conception (before many women even know they’re pregnant) says the government should have the power to regulate your private sexual conduct.

Yes, really.

He and co-counsel Adam Mortara just spelled that out in an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, a friend-of-the-court filing in a Mississippi abortion case in which they urge the justices to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade.

They don’t stop with the high court’s abortion-ban precedent. They take direct aim at privacy rulings that bar states from banning same-sex marriage or criminalizing private sex like same-gender sex, oral sex, and anal sex. They tell the court outright that people in the U.S. do not enjoy a fundamental right to private sex lives.

This is a remarkable argument from a legal duo who represent leading contemporary thought in the Republican Party, which has traditionally positioned itself as a champion of individual liberty. Many Republicans say they are loyal to the Republican Party because they want the state out of their private lives. I wonder how many of them understand the extent to which leading Republican thinkers urge more state control rather than less state control.

Mitchell is most well known for his “private right of action” innovation in the the Texas abortion ban, a clever legal trick that has so far impeded judicial review. His innovation, which he’s been thinking about publicly since at least 2018, removes government actors from enforcement. No government actors means potential plaintiffs have nobody to sue. Nobody to sue means courts can’t rule on the law one way or the other.

But as clever as his idea is, it’s still a trick, and other clever people are working hard to bring cases that can be heard and ruled on. Court watchers say they will eventually succeed, that the justices will be forced to confront the central liberty infringement of the Texas law. Then what? Isn’t the right to abortion too firmly embedded in legal theory and practice to be overturned now?

No women’s rights are infringed, Mitchell and Mortara write in defense of the Mississippi abortion ban I cited above, because if women don’t want children, they can always choose not to have sex. This argument would apply, they write, even if women’s access to contraception were not assured, claiming a private sex life is not a fundamental liberty guaranteed by the Constitution.

They argue without apology for the right of the State to control women’s bodies, but they don’t stop there.

They acknowledge their legal reasoning leaves “gay sex” rights and same-sex marriage “hanging by a thread” and seem quite cheerful about that. They claim those rights are “lawless,” and the court should not agonize over them. They don’t say so out loud, but their arguments also imply that states should be free to bar or impose barriers to contraception.

Mitchell, 45, is often described as a political outsider, but that’s not broadly true.

He’s a conservative ideologue who’s spent almost two decades moving between government posts and prestigious law professorships at institutions like Stanford and the University of Texas at Austin. He was a law clerk to the late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. (His co-counsel Adam Mortara clerked for conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who never met an individual liberty he couldn’t dismiss or state power he couldn’t justify.)

Mitchell served as Texas solicitor general from 2010 to 2015. He served on Donald Trump’s presidential transition team and was unsuccessfully nominated by Trump to head a federal agency.

CO NTINU ES O N PAGE 21

JAMES FINN

is a former Air Force intelligence analyst, long-time LGBTQ activist, an alumnus of Queer Nation and Act Up NY, and a regular columnist for queer news outlets. Send questions, comments, and story ideas to jamesfinnwrites@gmail.com.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20

We believe the state has no business interfering in anyone’s private sex life He was short listed as a potential Trump Supreme Court nominee and has strong ties to the Federalist Society, which besides taking a constrictive view of human liberty, has long sought to overturn Roe. Mitchell’s legal work has been funded by the Alliance Defending Freedom, which despite the name is mostly known for defending organizations that constrain individual freedom in the name of institutional religious privilege. The Alliance was at one time considered fringe in Republican circles but is now mainstream.

Mitchell is not an outsider. He sits at the center of Trumpian and post-Trump conservative ideology, a center that might surprise the large majority of Americans who, irrespective of party affiliation, value personal liberty more than Mitchell, Mortara, Justice Thomas, et al.

In 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne penned “The Scarlet Letter,” a romance, a historical fiction novel now read by most U.S. students while still in high school. The novel is complex and has much to say about human failings, faith, religion, and redemption. But in the main, Americans read the novel as a cautionary tale, a rejection of Puritan anti-liberty practices, an indirect defense of individual liberty. We see protagonist Hester Prynne as a victim of neighbors who can’t or won’t mind their own business.

Americans hold personal liberty in such high esteem that the 2003 Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas shocked many of us. When the justices ruled that Texas could not enforce a criminal law against two men having sex in the privacy of their own bedroom, the typical reaction went something like, “Of course! Isn’t private sex already a fundamental liberty? How could this ruling even have been necessary?”

That reaction takes us to the heart of constitutional liberty and privacy arguments. Most Americans, like me, believe the State should not have the power to deprive people of individual liberty without a truly compelling State interest. We believe that rights don’t have to be enumerated in the Constitution to be protected. We believe individual liberty is presumed, not granted. We believe that without privacy, true liberty withers on the vine.

We believe the state has no business interfering in anyone’s private sex life.

These are all principles that have at various times been held up by conservatives as virtues. I internalized these ideas as conservative when I was a child attending a very conservative private religious school.

As a child in the 70s, I understood the Republican Party to stand for defending these liberty ideas.

When Jonathan Mitchell and Adam Mortara write that the state ought to have the right to control private sex lives, and when Republican thought leaders cheer them on, we had all better sit up and pay attention. Republicans especially should pay attention.

The Grand Old Party isn’t what it used to be. Conservative values PROOF #2 aren’t what they used to be. Hester Prynne has a lot to teach us. The question is, will we pay attention before it’s too late?

REVISIONS (The preceding article was previously published at Prism REDESIGN & Pen– TEXT REVISIONS Amplifying LGBTQ voices through the art of storytelling, IMAGE/LOGO and is REVISIONS NO REVISIONS republished here with permission.)

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Schock treatment: an interview with Gina Schock of the Go-Go’s Drummer on her new book and upcoming Hall of Fame induction

By GREGG SHAPIRO

Too much of the Go-Go’s is never enough. In the 40 years since the all-female punk band burst on the scene with its unforgettable debut album “Beauty and the Beat” to some of the band members’ solo careers that followed its break-up to its ongoing reunion and the eye-opening 2020 documentary about the band, we just can’t get our fill.

But wait, there’s more! Gina Schock, the Go-Go’s legendary drummer (she’s got the beat!), has just published a sensational coffee-table book, “Made In Hollywood: All Access with the Go-Go’s” (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2021) that features photos from Schock’s own stock, as well as her own personal recollections of her life in music. She made time for an interview before the publication of the book as well as the Go-Go’s long-awaited induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this month.

saw are my photos.

BLADE: The book is full of marvelous personal history details, such as performing with the late Edith Massey, known to many from her performances in some of John Waters’ movies. What do you think Edie would think of the book?

SCHOCK: She would be, [imitating Massey] “Oh, Gina, I’m so happy about your book! Finally, it’s about time!” Bless her heart and soul. I was doing an interview yesterday and I said, “If it wasn’t for Edie, I don’t know if The Go-Go’s would exist. Certainly not in the way that they have for the last more than 40 years. Things happen in a magical way, how it all comes together. No one really knows why somebody meets Gina Schock’s new book is out this month titled, ‘Made someone on that particular day at that particular time, and In Hollywood: All Access with the Go-Go’s.’ then something comes out of that that you can’t believe.

(Photo credit Gina Schock) Edie gave me the opportunity to come out to LA and San GREGG SHAPIRO/WASHINGTON BLADE: I’d like to Francisco and New York and actually play in clubs. We got begin by congratulating you, as well as the rest of the Goto play at Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s; what a thrill that was. Then to come to LA and Go’s, on your upcoming induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. How do you feel do three nights of the Nuart Theater and then play The Warfield up in San Francisco. about it?

That was the first time I’d ever been on a plane! After doing that with Edie, the minute I GINA SCHOCK: It took so long for this to happen, and at first we were sort of got back to Baltimore I realized it was time to make a move. It gave me the courage to like, “Hell’s bells! We don’t even care anymore.” Every year, we’d think “Maybe it’s believe that I could go back to any one of these places and I’m going to do something! gonna happen next year,” and it just wasn’t happening. Then it happens! We were all By the way, Edie was such a lovely person. A sweetheart. dumbfounded. We couldn’t really believe that we were nominated and then we got inducted! Everybody was pleasantly surprised. This is kind of great, kind of neat. I’m BLADE: Another scoop for the readers that I loved was the part about the Go-Go’s really happy about this now [laugh]. performing with ska in the early 1980s, leading to the collaboration with Terry Hall on the song “Our Lips are Sealed,” which was a much bigger hit for the Go-Go’s than for BLADE: At the same time, your memoir “Made in Hollywood: All Access with the GoTerry’s band Fun Boy Three. Do you know how he felt about that?

Go’s,” is being released. What did the experience of writing such a book mean to you?

SCHOCK: I have no idea how he felt, but I’m sure he was happy because all Terry Hall SCHOCK: Actually, Gregg, it’s not a memoir. Kathy (Valentine) wrote a memoir. Mine was hearing was “ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching [laughs].” I think Terry was quite happy is actually a book of photography. about that. I would be. When Jane brought in the song, she was scared to death to play it for us because it was basically like a love letter that she readjusted a little bit lyrically BLADE: Right, but you also tell your story in the book. and put some chords and a melody to. She played it for us, and we were like, “Jane, this SCHOCK: There’s a lot of writing in it, too. But I basically put this together because I song’s great!” had tons and tons of photographs. I’ve been moving them all over. Putting them in the closet here, under the bed there. I was like, “I have to do something with this. All these BLADE: We are all saddened by the recent passing of Charlie Watts, drummer for the years of taking photos of the band.” Of course, everybody in the band was like. “Gina, Rolling Stones. In your book, you you really need to put a photo book together!” I finally found the right guy to do wrote about the Go-Go’s opening it with and he helped me get it together, organize it, and help me work on the for The Rolling Stones. Can you book. I couldn’t believe that along with the list of my credits will be photographer please say a few words about and author. It’s kind of mind-blowing. Things that you don’t think you’re capable what Charlie meant to you as a of, and then when you have an opportunity to do something and maybe make fellow drummer? a difference…certainly for The Go-Go’s. This needed to be out there. This is way SCHOCK: There were two long overdue; a book of photos with all of us. Photos that I’ve had that people have drummers that were my heroes never seen. Also, you’re getting these photos from a band member’s perspective. growing up. That was Charlie With writing from one of the band members about what was going on during that Watts and John Bonham (of Led period of time.

Zeppelin). Those two guys are part of the reason I started and BLADE: I’m sure that looking at the pictures brought back lots of memories, but kept playing drums. To think that were you also a journal or diary keeper? many years later I actually got to SCHOCK: Check this out! I don’t have a journal, but since 1978, Gregg, I have meet my hero and talk to him. I been keeping daily planners every single year. I’ve written down things that were got to sit on his drum kit! I talked going on during that time period. Not big, long stories, but this happened today, to his drum tech! that happened yesterday, next week we’re going to be doing this. I used that as That was one of the biggest thrills of my life. Then to be able to just open for the my reference. It was invaluable in the process. I now need to make room for them in the Stones, I mean, God! Wow, what a thrill! He was, of course, a gentleman. Very quiet kind closet. I’ve got them all in drawers in cabinets in my office. It’s like, “OK, there’s no more of guy; soft-spoken. A lovely guy; very personable, very sweet. I didn’t have a lot of time room here [laughs]!” They were invaluable, like I said, in putting this together. What to talk to him, but when I did my heart was pounding. I couldn’t believe it. Meeting David exact date did this happen? What was going on in November of ’83? It was important Bowie was the same sort of thing. You have such adoration for these people. The impact to have. they have on your life in many ways, not just musically.

BLADE: Do you see the book as an extension of Alison Ellwood’s 2020 Go-Go’s BLADE: You put some personal thoughts and experiences in the book, including your documentary? open-heart surgery to correct an atrial septal defect, yours and the band’s encounters SCHOCK: No, but I’ll tell you that 99% of the photos in Alison’s documentary are mine. with drugs and recovery, the break-up of the band and issues with songwriting revenue.

It’s not an extension of that. This book has been in the works for decades. I just needed Was it painful or freeing to revisit these subjects? to find the right person to help me get it together. But when Alison was interviewing, I’d show her a photo and she would say, “Gina, can we come back and get some of these photos for the documentary?” I was like, “Of course, you can!” The majority of what you

CONTINUES ON PAGE 32

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SHI-QUEETA-LEE returns to Dupont Underground on Oct. 8 (Blade photo by Michael Key)

CALENDAR |

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Friday, October 01

Friday Tea Time and social hour for Older LGBTQ+ adults will be at 2 p.m. on Zoom. Feel free to bring your beverage of choice.

For the Zoom link or more information, contact Justin (justin@thedccenter.org).

Go Gay DC will host “First Friday LGBTQ Social” at 7 p.m. at The Commentary. Come and see all the new amenities at The Commentary and catch up with other members of the LGBTQ community. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea sharing, and community building. Or just unwind and enjoy the extended happy hour. More details are available on Eventbrite.

Saturday, October 02 Join the Center Arts Gallery for “Julian Vankim Photo Exhibit Opening Reception” at 7 p.m. at the DC Center. Julian Vankim is a D.C.-based fashion and portrait photographer who specializes in creating intimate, creative, and beautiful portraits. For alternative viewing options, you can contact kimberley@thedccenter.org.

The LGBTQ People of Color support group will be at 1 p.m. on Zoom. This peer support group is an outlet for LGBTQ People of Color to come together and talk about anything affecting them in a space that strives to be safe and judgment free. To get access to the group, please email your interest to supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

Monday, October 04 The Center Aging Coffee Drop-in meets virtually at 10 a.m. LGBT Older Adults and friends are invited for friendly conversations and current issues that you might be dealing with. For more information visit Center Aging’s Facebook or Twitter.

Tuesday, October 05 “Creating a More Beloved Community/ Fierceness Served!: The ENIKAlley Coffeehouse” will be at 6 p.m. at 450 K St., N.W. This movie screening will provide a snapshot of D.C. as seen through the lenses of art, experience, and history. There will also be a special guest speaker: ABilly S. Jones-Hennin, 2021 recipient of the James Baldwin Legacy Award from the National Black Justice Coalition. Tickets are $10. More information is available on Eventbrite.

Wednesday, October 06 BookMen DC will be hosted on Zoom at 7:30 p.m. BookMen DC is an informal group of men who are interested in gay literature, both fiction and non-fiction. For more information, visit their website.

Job Club will be hosted via Zoom at 6 p.m. This event is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely “applicants” toward being “candidates.” For more details, please contact centercareers@thedccenter.org.

Thursday, October 07 API Queer Support Group will be hosted on Zoom at 7 p.m. This event is a support group for the Asian and Pacific Islander Queer Community and is co-sponsored by APIQS (Asian Pacific Islander Queer Society DC) and AQUA (Asian Queers United for Action). To access the Zoom link, visit the DC Center’s website.

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Professional Networking Social Event” at 7 p.m. at the Ven at Embassy Row Hotel. This free-toattend event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea sharing, and community building. For more information, visit Eventbrite.

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OUT ABOUT

Blade, Dupont Underground team up for Nat’l Coming Out Day The Washington Blade in partnership with Dupont Underground will host “Drag Underground: National Coming Out Day Edition!” on Friday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m.

Richard Eichberg, a psychologist, and Jean O’Leary, a gay rights activist, founded National Coming Out Day in 1988.

The event’s performers include ShiQueeta-Lee, Sasha Sanchez, Druex Sidora Molasses and Cake and tickets are between $10 and $15.

For more information, visit Eventbrite.

Busboys and Poets to host event about grief Busboys and Poets Books will host “Forget Prayers Bring Cake: A Single Woman’s Guide to Grieving” by Merissa Nathan Gerson on Sunday, Oct. 3 at 5:30 p.m.

Gerson is a New Orleans-based writer, professor and sex educator. Her written work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Playboy, among others, and she was the inherited trauma consultant for Amazon’s Emmy Awardwinning television show, “Transparent.”

The event will begin with a half-hour social followed by a live reading from the author and then a conversation discussing grief, self-care, and the power of affection and community. For more details, visit Busboys and Poets’ website.

VOTE FOR US! BEST OF LGBTQ DC READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS 2021 BEST LGBTQ SOCIAL GROUP

OUR 2021–2022 SEASON UNBREAKABLE

Spring Affair Come see why The Washington Post calls us “one of the world’s best choruses.”

We’ve got lots of exciting shows and events planned for our 2021-2022 Season and we can’t wait to share them with you.

For more information, visit GMCW.org or call 202-293-1548. * Shows and events subject to change.

Thea Kano, Artistic Director Justin Fyala, Executive Director

WWW.GMCW.ORG

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‘Evan Hansen’ is better than you think – and that’s too bad Platt’s artificiality, film’s tokenism hard to get past

By JOHN PAUL KING

It’s always a let down when a movie doesn’t live up to your expectations.

Take, for example, “Dear Evan Hansen,” Steven Chbosky’s new film version of the Tonywinning Broadway musical that made stars of its lead actor (Ben Platt) and songwriters (Benj Pasek and Justin Paul). Based on the less-than-favorable buzz – especially around the choice to let Platt reprise a role for which he was now a decade older – that dominated online conversation around it in the weeks before its release, I walked into the theater fully expecting to see an appallingly terrible movie.

BEN PLATT and KAITLYN DEVER in ‘Dear Evan Hansen.’

(Photo courtesy Universal Pictures)

To my deep disappointment, it was not. Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t a great one, either. It just wasn’t the sobad-it’s-good disaster I was looking forward to hating.

If you’re unfamiliar, “Evan Hansen” is the tale of a teenager (Platt) returning to school for his senior year after a traumatic summer experience.

Struggling with severe social anxiety, he lives with a divorced mother (Julianne Moore) who works extra shifts to make ends meet. Assigned by his therapist to write himself encouraging letters every day, his life turns upside down when a classmate named Connor (Colton Ryan) intercepts one such letter and takes it from him. When Connor takes his own life a few days later, his parents (Amy Adams, Danny Pino) find the letter in his pocket and mistakenly think it was written by their son to a secret friend; they reach out to Evan, hoping to hear stories about a happier Connor than the angry loner they knew at home. Though he tries at first to correct their misunderstanding, his desire to ease their grief soon has him inventing a friendship that never existed. It’s a well-intentioned lie that soon snowballs on the internet, making Evan a viral sensation and putting him at the center of an online awarenessraising movement called The Connor Project – not to mention gaining him the attention of Connor’s sister Zoe (Kaitlyn 3 0 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • OCTOBER 01 , 2 0 2 1

Dever), who has been his longtime crush from afar. When things inevitably begin to spiral out of his control, he is forced to recognize that building a new life for himself on a falsehood might have consequences he never had in mind – but can he muster the courage to come clean and expose himself to the world as a fraud before it’s too late to reverse the damage he’s already done?

The stage original was a hit on Broadway in 2015, but despite its popularity and accolades, it was not without its detractors. Critics and audiences alike found numerous reasons to be uncomfortable with its premise – not the least of which involved the questionable ethics at its core. The movie, which was adapted by Steven Levenson from his original book for the show, corrects for some of those criticisms, boosting the story’s diversity with a few minor character revisions and expanding the ending to allow a more complete redemption arc for its leading character. It also doubles down on the show’s youth appeal by building up some of the original content around the show’s younger characters – including a substantially expanded role for Evan’s overachieving schoolmate Alana (Amandla Stenberg) – and cutting some from around the adults. For the most part, these changes strengthen and deepen the narrative; likewise, the very nature of the cinematic medium gives it an obvious advantage in exploring the story’s underlying concern with the power of the internet over our cultural and social lives.

Yet despite these improvements, “Evan Hansen” on film still falls short of being excellent. It’s not because of weak direction; Chbosky has a gift for conveying the complex and conflicting emotions of teenage experience with nuance and insight, something that goes a long way toward keeping “Evan Hansen” from becoming trite. Nor is it the cast; the film’s talented ensemble of players is more than up to the challenge of jumping from realistic scene work into the full conceit of a musical number and finding just the right balance to make it work. In particular, the always-luminous Moore is pitch-perfect as Evan’s mom, as is Adams as her grieving counterpart; and Dever is unequivocally superb as Zoe, quietly providing the heartbreaking honesty necessary to make her character’s journey come clearly and authentically to life – something absolutely needed if we are to believe in her relationship with Evan.

And that brings us to the problem: Evan himself is a hard sell. On one hand, he is grappling with mental health issues, not to mention an absent father and an overextended mother, and therefore draws our sympathies; yet on the other, he deceives and manipulates people to gain the things he is missing in his life – the attention of his classmates, a girlfriend, a substitute family – and justifies it with the belief that he is benefitting a higher cause. Platt’s performance on Broadway helped make it work through the raw power of his emotion and his prowess as a singer.

But the world has changed in the years since “Evan Hansen” landed on Broadway.

During a cultural crisis born (among other things) of the ease by which “alternative facts” can disrupt our lives, it’s grown more difficult to find such a character appealing, no matter how soulfully he delivers Pasek and Paul’s heart-tugging pop-flavored showtunes.

And while Platt may deliver a faithful rendering of his acclaimed stage performance, next to the elegant self-assurance of the rest of the film’s cast he seems over-the-top, a bundle of performative tics and mannerisms that distract us from the reality of Evan’s struggles and make him come off as disingenuous.

As for the controversy around his age, it should be noted that all the movie’s teen characters are played by actors in their 20s, a common practice in Hollywood movies.

Still, in spite of the sometimes painfully obvious efforts made to “youthen” him for the camera, Platt is still noticeably older-looking than his co-stars, something that (for obvious reasons) is particularly troubling in his scenes with Dever, who is much more convincing as a 17-year old than he.

Still, it’s not the age problem alone that keeps “Evan Hansen” from winning us over. It’s the combination of all the artificiality he brings with him – which includes our knowledge that his father, Marc C. Platt, co-produced the film. It has the counter-productive result of tainting the sincerity of everything we see on the screen, even to the point of giving the movie’s nods to diversity and inclusion an unpleasant odor of tokenism, and it ensures that we are not quite as eager to bestow forgiveness on the title character as the story wants us to be.

That’s why it’s a disappointment that “Dear Evan Hansen” isn’t terrible. It might have been one of the great Hollywood debacles, a monumental flop to be revered by generations of audiences who loved to make fun of it. It could have been a camp classic.

Instead, it’s just another promising project sunk by Hollywood hubris, a mediocre misfire with a few good moments that never really had the chance at being more than that, but certainly could have been so much less.

That, at least, would have made it memorable.

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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 26 SCHOCK: It was a little bit of both. It brought up some really heavy things that went down. But all those things have been ironed out and taken care of. Everything is good now and it has been for many years. The songwriting splits were a big part of why the band broke up. It seemed very unfair to me. I have to tell the truth [laughs]. I have to be honest with the people that I’m working with. They are my family, and nobody can hurt you worse than somebody in your family. I think I explained it all in the book the best that I can.

Tickets at theaterj.org/DrRuth

BLADE: Following the original break-up of the GoGo’s, you formed the band House of Schock with Vance DeGeneres, brother of Ellen DeGeneres. What are the chances that, aside from the Smothers Brothers, two funny people would come from the same womb?

SCHOCK: Yeah, right [laughs]? It’s crazy, right? Vance was fresh out of New Orleans and I don’t know how I met him; (through) a friend of a friend or something. We hit it off right away. I don’t like to do anything by myself, Gregg. I always want a partner in crime. I like a team! That’s why I always want to be in a band. I never want to be a solo anything. I like being in a band. I like having other people to bounce ideas off of. I’m not the greatest at anything, but I’m pretty good when you put me with somebody else who’s talented as well. Vance and I worked great together. Ellen had just come to town and she was just starting out in the comedy clubs. We’d meet and have dinner. She’d ask me lots of questions about who I thought was a good agent to see. It was very sweet to watch everything happen for her. One of the funniest things, I told this to somebody the other day, I’ll never forget this. Ellen said to me, “Gina, do you think if I make a lot of money one day, would you sell me your house [laughs]?” I don’t remember what I said, but I’ll never forget her asking me that. Because Ellen could buy a city block!

BLADE: In 2018, the Go-Go’s went to Broadway with the musical Head Over Heels, featuring the band’s music. What was that experience like for you?

SCHOCK: That was another unbelievable moment being in the Go-Go’s. To think that this punk band, so many years later, has a musical on Broadway is absurd. But it happened! It’s another crazy thing that just happened! There’s a lot of work involved, don’t get me wrong, and years and years of being in this band and working our butts off to achieve the status that we have in the industry. But it was still an incredible thrill.

To meet all the Broadway actors and all, my God, those people can really sing and act!

I was never a big fan of Broadway, but I am now. I was knocked out! They’re so fucking talented. It’s such a thrill to watch them interpreting our songs woven into this 17thcentury short story.

BLADE: Recently, Belinda’s son (James) Duke (Mason), posted a happy birthday message to you on social media in which he referred to you as his “Auntie.”

SCHOCK: Yes! I love Dukie! I watched that little boy grow up. I just adore him. I will always be in his life. He’s very precious to me.

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BLADE: When Duke came out, Belinda became a very outspoken advocate for the community. Would you mind saying a few words about your connection to the LGBTQ+ community?

SCHOCK: I don’t know what my relationship really is. All I know is that I’m who I am.

I’m a musician and I will fight for anything or anybody that has had a difficult time in society. Just live your life. Society creates its own do’s and don’ts and rights and wrongs for people, which is just a load of crap to me. Everyone should be allowed to be who they are, and love who they want to love, and marry who they want to marry. Love is love; it has no gender. It’s the most important thing we can give to one another. It’s what this world needs now more than ever. Never think for a second you haven’t got the right to love whomever you fall for because love is always right. It is a human right!

Federico García Lorca’s

DOÑA ROSITA LA SOLTERA Doña Rosita the Spinster

World Premiere Adaptation by Nando López | Directed by José Luis Arellano

“stellar production... dynamic staging, an excellent cast” -Washington Blade

LAST WEEKEND! Thru Oct 3

Fri & Sat 8 pm Sun 2 pm

In Spanish with English surtitles

Masks and proof of vaccination or recent negative COVID test required 202-234-7174 | galatheatre.org | 3333 14th St NW, WDC 20010 |

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Mark your calendars for Whitman-Walker’s 35th annual Walk & 5K to End HIV on Saturday, October 23, 2021!

Register online at WalktoEndHIV.org

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PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITIES

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Civil rights film fest celebrates transmasculine activist March on Washington Film Festival runs Sept. 30-Oct. 4

By PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN

“I chose as my senior paper, ‘Should Plessy vs.

Ferguson be Overruled?’

My little argument went to the Supreme Court,” said influential queer civil rights activist Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray in a powerful documentary featured in the 2021 March on Washington Film Festival.

The annual D.C. film PAULI MURRAY (Photo courtesy of University of North Carolina University Library; Creative Commons) festival runs Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 and features both in-person and virtual events, including a commemoration of Murray, a transmasculine activist often overlooked in history textbooks.

“Our mission is to tell the mistold and untold stories of the people who motivated and moved the civil rights movement,” said Artistic Director Isisara Bey, a longtime LGBTQ ally who has been with the film festival for eight of its nine years.

Murray was a poet, activist and legal scholar whose writings were the underpinnings of decisions by late Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Thurgood Marshall.

“A film festival like this is extremely important because none of us leads lives outside of a historical, cultural, political and spiritual framework,” Bey said, noting Murray was the first African-American woman ordained as an Episcopal priest.

The film festival, founded in 2013 in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, uses film screenings and panel discussions to educate audiences about civil rights pioneers and raise awareness on pressing current issues, such as environmental justice.

This year’s festival commemorates Murray’s legacy at an in-person event at the Eaton Hotel (1201 K St., N.W.) on Oct. 4 at 7 p.m., which includes presentations and a dramatic reading of Murray’s speech to the National Council of Negro Women on Nov. 13, 1963.

Virtually, more than 20 films will be available on demand beginning Sept. 24, including “Flint: The Poisoning of an American City” about the city’s water crisis; “End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock” documenting the indigenous women who fought against construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline; and “To the Plate,” a short film about a lesbian restauranteur and her girlfriend who struggle to keep their business open in the face of anti-Asian hate.

Robert Raben, the festival’s gay co-founder, told the Washington Blade the LGBTQ community should come out and support the festival because the civil rights and gay liberation movements were “intertwined.”

“The gay civil rights movement relied enormously on the methods of the AfricanAmerican civil rights movement,” he said. “You can’t have a gay liberation movement without a civil rights movement. And the number of gay people involved in the civil rights movement was pretty high.”

Raben told the Blade this “lost” history, including that of Murray, is empowering to learn, particularly for LGBTQ youth of color.

“Stories of gay people need to be focused on history because it inspires our young to make change in an intersectional way.”

Raben called the festival, which also includes panel discussions, music, art and dance, an “uncensored” platform for sharing an “honest picture” of historical events.

“Textbooks have never told the truth with regard to Asian Americans, Native Americans, Latinos and African Americans,” he said. “Attacks on ‘critical race theory’ is just a latest effort to restrict what we learn about history. The strength of the festival is we’re giving people stories that they suspected were out there.”

Ticket prices include an all-access pass for $149, a virtual film pass for $79, a discounted pass for students and educators at $19, and an option to pay what you can to attend virtual festival events.

Attendees for in-person events must present proof of vaccination at check-in, wear masks during events and utilize socially distant seating.

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The life of this scribe is a real page-turner

New novel about Thomas Mann brimming with entertaining history

By KATHI WOLFE

If you told me that the most exciting book you’d read recently was a novel about the life of a writer, I’d think you were nuts.

Especially if the author spent hours, daily, closeted in his study writing, was often remote from his children and, frequently, at least publicly, as stuffy as a pompous university professor.

Yet, reading “The Magician,” a new novel by acclaimed gay writer Colm Toibin, has made me eat those words.

In “The Magician,” a fictional bio of the renowned 20th century novelist Thomas Mann, Toibin has done what few have been able to do: He’s turned the life of a scribe into a page-turner.

In my youth, I carried “The Magic Mountain,” Mann’s voluminous 1924 novel, into cafes. I never made it all the way through the novel’s saga of Hans Castorp’s stay in a sanitarium for patients seeking treatment for tuberculosis.

Though different in style, the novel was like James Joyce’s “Ulysses.” You wanted to be seen with it, even if you didn’t get it.

Much of Mann’s work from his retelling of the biblical story of Joseph and his brothers to Dr. Faustus, his reshaping of the Faust legend in the life of a fictional composer, seems not only fraught with symbolism – but too long.

Yet, “Buddenbrooks,” Mann’s autobiographical novel about reversal of fortune of a German merchant family, published when Mann was just 26, is an engrossing read.

When Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929, the Prize citation called “Buddenbrooks,” “one of the classic works of contemporary literature.”

“Death in Venice,” Mann’s 1912 novella has caused generations of queers to prick up their ears. Particularly,

back in the day, when few of us were out in life or in fiction.

“Death in Venice” is the story of the writer Gustav Von Aschenbach who’s attracted to a beautiful boy named Tadzio. It’s not an out and proud tale. Aschenbach’s lust for the youth gets entangled with illness. Yet, homoeroticism permeates the novella.

Toibin’s take on Mann’s life is fictional. But, in writing “The Magician,” he spent years researching Mann’s journals and biographies of Mann.

On the surface, Mann who was born in Lubeck, Germany in 1875 and died in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1955, led a heteronormative, conventional life.

He and his wife Katia were happily married for decades.

Katia, who was bright and charming, was one of the first women of her generation to study at a university. The couple had six children.

After writing in the morning, having lunch, taking a walk, eating dinner with his family – Mann would go to an opera or a concert.

If you’re queer, you know there’s often more than meets the eye. in “The Magician,” Toibin uses his fab writerly wiles to reveal what’s behind the curtain.

Like Aschenbach in “Death in Venice,” Mann, from his youth, was attracted to boys and men.

Though closeted in public, he wrote about his same-sex attractions in his diaries.

From the get-go, Thomas and Katia Mann appear to have reached a tacit understanding of Thomas’s sexuality.

When he first met Katia, Mann was attracted by her boyish qualities. Mann “imagined Katia naked, her white skin, her full lips, her small breasts, her strong legs,” Toibin writes.

Katia understood Mann’s sexuality. In some ways, it was

helpful to her. It meant, Katia said, that she didn’t have to worry about Mann going after another woman.

On his part, Mann made a tacit commitment to Katia. “Thomas would do nothing to put their domestic happiness in jeopardy,” Toibin writes.

The Manns fled from Munich to Switzerland when the Nazis came to power. (Katia was Jewish.)

When they were in exile, Mann was terrified that ‘The Magician’ the Nazis would find the

By Colm Toibin revelations about his samec.2020, Scribner | $28 | 512 pages sex attractions in his diaries.

If the Nazis made his sexuality public, it would be known “who he was and what he dreams about,” Toibin writes.

The Manns weather love affairs (some of his children were queer), suicides of family members and exile.

The book becomes as suspenseful as a Hitchcock thriller as they struggle to find a new home after the Nazis devastate their native country.

“The Magician” is brimming with entertaining soap opera, campy bons mots and riveting history.

Though it’s 500-plus pages, you won’t be able to put it down.

‘Charm Offensive’ suffers from too much drama A cute story but we all know how it will end

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

The applause is all for you this time.

It’s deafening, really — perhaps because there’s a standing ovation beneath it. All the work you did, the emoting, the emotions, you know how much your fans appreciate it. So take a bow. Drink in the love. As in the new novel, “The Charm Offensive” by Alison Cochrun, that’s one thing that’s sometimes missing in life.

Dev Deshpande was good at his job. He knew it, his colleagues knew it, it was fact. He might personally be terrible at love – case in point: he was still smarting from a three-months-ago break-up with his boyfriend, Ryan – but Dev was a pro at his job as producer for the reality TV show, “Ever After.” In fact, he’d been in charge of making dreams happen for six years’ worth of beautiful “Ever After” contestants; it helped that he believed in fairy tales.

Maybe one day, he’d find his own Prince Charming.

Just not this season.

This season, his lead director made him handle the “prince” instead of the usual “princesses,” and that was a challenge.

Charles Winshaw was 28, devastatingly handsome, extremely wealthy, and a nervous, introverted nerd who rarely dated. Geeky, awkward, and prone to panic attacks, he sincerely had no clue how to be romantic. Truth was, he was only there because his best friend and agent put him on “Ever After” to counter a reputation for being weird.

Still, Charlie was weird, and it was up to Dev to make him work for the show.

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‘The Charm Offensive: A Novel’

By Alison Cochrun

c.2021 | Atria | $17.00 | 368 pages

Shoring up Charlie’s confidence didn’t work, and neither did a pep talk. He couldn’t seem to just perform a role without freaking out and it was becoming obvious. By the time Dev’s assistant suggested having a few practice dates, Dev was willing to try anything.

He took Charlie to dinner. He spent time doing jigsaw puzzles with him, and he got Charlie to relax a little. If sparks flew, well, it was onesided: Charlie was completely straight.

Wasn’t he?

You know what’s going to happen in the end, don’t you? Of course, you do. You’ll know it by page 30, step-by-step, with virtually no surprises, which leaves a long way to the final sentence of “The Charm Offensive.”

Now, it’s true that this novel is cute. It has its lightly humorous moments and author Alison Cochrun gives it a good cast, from contestant to show creator. It doesn’t lack details; in fact, reality dating show-watchers will feel right at home here. It even has the ubiquitous panoply of exotic locales for the “challenges” that the contestants must endure.

At issue is the length of this book. There’s too much of it, too many shirts that creep up, too many mentions of vomit, too much needless drama, too many will-he-won’t-he, when we know full well he will.

This extra doesn’t ratchet up the tension, it makes things slow.

And so: cute story, familiar scenes, good characters in “The Charm Offensive.” But if taut is what you want in a rom-com, leave this book and bow out.

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DC Frontrunners 40th Anniversary

Awards ceremony and party held at Jack Rose Dining Saloon (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

The LGBTQ+ and allies running, walking, and social club DC Frontrunners held its 40th anniversary celebration and awards ceremony at Jack Rose Dining Saloon on Saturday.

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Jenn Smira Team fighting to make world a better place Join us in the fight against cancer

By JENN SMIRA

At The Jenn Smira Team, we don’t just talk about making the world a better place, we fight to make it happen — literally. Case in point: this fall, Elvin Merlo (one of our very own agents) has been selected to fight in the Haymakers for Hope Beltway Brawl. What does that mean, exactly? On Nov. 4, Elvin will compete in a three-round amateur boxing match to raise money for cancer research. Read on to learn more about Elvin’s fight and the cause that compelled him to step into the ring.

A little bit about H4H: Haymakers for Hope is a 501(c)(3) charity organization that gives all of us the opportunity to fight back against cancer. The organization helps others like Elvin train for — and compete in — a sanctioned charity boxing event to raise funds for cancer research, care, awareness, and survivorship. To prepare for each event, they combine the efforts of local boxing gyms and volunteers, and match each contestant up with someone of a similar experience level (even if that experience level is “none”).

The H4H History: In 2009, H4H founders Andrew Myerson and Julie Anne Kelly participated in the New York City Golden Gloves, one of the most highly regarded amateur boxing tournaments in the U.S. After the lights went down, they realized that something was missing, and decided then and there to channel their fighting spirit to raise money for cancer research instead. This planted the seeds for Haymakers for Hope. Today, H4H gives people just like you the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in their first-ever sanctioned boxing event while supporting a worthy cause at the same time. The experience is impactful, challenging, and life changing, and the march toward a cure continues long after the last match of the night.

Why Elvin Fights: Elvin fights for David Black, his dear friend who recently passed away after a nearly seven-year battle with brain cancer. He was only 33 years old and left behind his wife, Jen, and two beautiful children.

While it’s nearly impossible to capture John in just a few words, the ones that might do it best are perhaps: “I want to be like John when I grow up.” It’s a phrase that his father, John Sr., could often be overheard saying and a sentiment the rest of his family would all be quick to echo.

John was a force. He loved his family and friends above all else and radiated a quiet resolve that comforted those around him. He faced adversity with unflappable courage and never missed an opportunity to elicit a smile with his wry sense of humor, no matter the hardship he faced.

John truly embodied the warrior spirit, which is why Elvin knew there was only one way to honor him: to fight. That’s why on Nov. 4, he’ll step into the boxing ring and join 27 other fighters for a three-round sanctioned boxing event while raising money for cancer research, care, awareness, and survivorship.

Fundraising Specifics: Elvin is raising money for Dr. John Laterra’s research at John’s Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Dr. Laterra oversaw John’s treatment, and is internationally recognized for his clinical expertise and research on the mechanisms of brain tumor malignancy.

Compass Cares empowers agents and employees alike to support meaningful causes right where it counts most: at home. Compass has already pledged $15,000 to support Elvin in his fight against cancer.

Will you join the fight? Visit haymakersforhope.org/event/washington-dc/2021/ beltway-brawl-ii/elvin-merlo to make your donation today.

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JENN SMIRA

is a Realtor and executive vice president at the Jenn Smira Team.

Reach her at 202-340-7675 or via jennsmira.com.

An agent with the JENN SMIRA Team will compete in a three-round amateur boxing match to raise money for cancer research.

ELVIN MERLO is boxing on behalf of a friend who died of brain cancer.

United, We Can Achieve More, and We Do. T H A N K YO U F O R N O M I N AT I N G T H E J E N N S M I R A T E A M, B E S T R E A L E S TAT E T E A M IN THE DMV

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As the #1 team at Compass DMV and the top 5 team in the Greater Washington Area, our team has redefined the process of buying and selling in DC, with results that speak for themselves.

Vote for the Jenn Smira Team today as the Best Real Estate Team in the DMV!

At the Jenn Smira Team, we are driven to perform for our clients. We believe in thoughtful, meaningful, full-service real estate — not only to get the best result, but the best experience along the way.

Scan the QR Code to vote for the Jenn Smira Team as the Best Real Estate Team in the DMV!

Let’s Move Forward, Together.

We’d love to help design real estate solutions that suit your goals. To get our real estate expertise on your side today, reach out at jennsmira.com.

J S M I R A @ C O M PA S S.C O M | 202.280.2060

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EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT R E A LT O R ® D C / M D / V A J S M I R A @ C O M PA S S.C O M 202.280.2060

Jenn Smira Team For the latest listings and team updates, find us on Instagram! @ J E N N S M I R AT E A M

Compass is a licensed real estate brokerage that abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Compass is licensed as Compass Real Estate in DC and as Compass in Virginia and Maryland. 1313 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 | 202.386.6330

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PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY REQUESTS FOR PROPOSAL ACADEMY OF HOPE Adult Public Charter School located in Washington, DC, requests proposals from qualified vendors that can furnish classrooms and conference rooms. You can find the full request for proposal and submission instructions at https://aohdc.org/jobs/

ACADEMY OF HOPE

Adult Public Charter School located in Washington, DC, requests Proposals for Student and Staff technology purchases. We are seeking qualified vendors to assist with the purchasing of new computers. You can find the full Request for proposal and submission instructions

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Spruce Up Your Home this Summer We’re all excited for summer festivities, outdoor gatherings with friends and family, or simply lounging in the sun, but how do you begin to prepare your home for making the most out of summer?

Here’s a checklist of helpful ideas to help you get started: 1 Clean and dry your outdoor furniture. As barbeque season approaches, it’s time to freshen up your outdoor cushions and wipe down any furniture so it’s free from pollen. Get the patio furniture looking new again and ready for hosting!

2 Beautify your outdoor space. Add your favorite summer vegetable plants to a garden space, pull out any weeds and MOBM l_BbspÛ BbM WbsodMtKO pdaO O|OøKBsKVWbU dzOopà !døTtpp summer blooming plants include daylilies, black-eyed susans, KdbO dzOopÛ BbM lOstbWBpà

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3 Clean out your grill. Turn on the grill at max temperature, close the hood, and allow the grill to stay on for 15 minutes. Scrub the grill to get rid of excess burnt residue. For extra stubborn grease, dip a half lemon in salt and rub it onto the areas. This will effectively scour and degrease your grill so it’s ready for a summer full of new, delicious recipes.

4 /zWsKV tl |dto JOMMWbUà /zBl |dto Kdssdb do BbbO_ pVOOsp BbM heavy comforter for a cooler material like bamboo or linen to help beat the DMV heat.

M: 202.262.7762 O: 202.386.6330 sV /soOOs !9 Washington, DC 20005

Compass is a licensed real estate brokerage that abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. Compass is licensed as Compass Real Estate in DC and as Compass in Virginia and Maryland. sV /soOOs !9 9BpVWbUsdbÛ Ś à à

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