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Comings & Goings

Rania named director of music at All Saint’s in Rehoboth

By PETER ROSENSTEIN

JON RANIA

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: comingsandgoings@washblade. com.

Congratulations to Jon Rania on his appointment as Director of Music and Communications for All Saint’s and St. George’s Parish in Rehoboth Beach. Rania will join All Saint’s in mid-February after finishing his tenure at Christ Church Dover. Upon accepting the new position Rania said, “I am very excited to be returning home to Rehoboth to take up this new position and look forward to working with the new pastor, The Rev. Shelley McDaide and the staff as we begin to rebuild the parish

post-COVID. … For those who may not know, The Episcopal Church is affirming of all people and we welcome everyone to our church and the services we provide.”

Rania and his husband, Rob, have been year- round residents of Rehoboth Beach since 2001 and parishioners of All Saints’ Church since 2002. Their sons Kenny and Evan were baptized, attended Sunday school, and were Acolytes at All Saints’. He was assistant director of music there from 2003 to 2007. Prior to relocating to Delaware full time, Rania was the director of music for the Diocese of Camden (Roman Catholic) in New Jersey for eight years. He is a native of Philadelphia and served many churches and institutions of learning on all levels from elementary school to higher learning and also gave private instruction in piano, organ and voice.

In addition to his church work, Rania is the dean for the local Chapter of the American Guild of Organists in Southern Delaware and a volunteer chaplain in the Bayhealth Health Systems with special emphasis as a resource person for the LGBTQI+ community. He is preparing to be certified in chaplaincy.

Rania is a member of the LGBTQI+ Caucus of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, a newly formed advocacy group created for the purpose of addressing LGBTQI+ issues within the church.

Ward 2 redistricting plan would split Dupont Circle ‘gayborhood’

Activists call on Council to keep LGBTQ neighborhood intact

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

Wards 6, 7, and 8.

D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) has joined a growing contingent of her The subcommittee points out that the population of Ward 6 grew by 17,699 residents ward’s LGBTQ residents in calling on the D.C. Council to reject parts of three proposed since the 2010 U.S. Census count, and Wards 7 and 8 lost 5,628 residents and 3,370 redistricting plans for Ward 2 that would transfer portions of the North Dupont Circle residents respectively over the past decade. neighborhood into Ward 1.

In its statement, it says to balance the population of each of the eight wards, some The redistricting proposals, which were released to the public on Monday, Nov. 1, neighborhoods in Ward 6 — most likely the Southwest D.C. waterfront neighborhood were drafted by a three-member D.C. Council Subcommittee on Redistricting appointed — must be moved to Ward 8. Neighborhoods in

by Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large). other wards that border on Wards 7 and 8 must be The subcommittee members include Council moved into those two wards to raise the Ward 7 and members Elissa Silverman (D-At-Large), who was 8 population counts to “within range” that equalizes named as chair; and fellow Council members Anita the population of each of the wards, according to the Bonds (D-At-Large) and Christina Henderson (I-Atstatement.

Large).

Silverstein points out that the subcommittee itself In an eight-page statement released this week, the shows in its statistical findings that Ward 2 is currently subcommittee points out that a shifting of the city’s “within range” of the census count requirements for ward boundary lines is needed to bring the city into equal representation for its residents. legal conformance with the 2020 U.S. Census count A public hearing by the subcommittee was for D.C., which shows shifts in population within the scheduled to take place on Friday, Nov. 5, to provide city. a forum for residents from throughout the city to Gay Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood voice their opinions on the proposed redistricting Commissioner Mike Silverstein is among the plans. activists who say the redistricting proposals “Keeping communities together and not arbitrarily would unnecessarily split Dupont Circle’s historic drawing lines through neighborhoods is an “gayborhood,” which has served as a safe space for important consideration,” Councilmember Pinto said LGBTQ D.C. residents for decades.

‘Excising this part of Ward 2 would arbitrarily cut off the LGBTQQIA+ in a Nov. 1 statement. “This is one of the reasons why Silverstein noted that those in opposition to the community that has such a rich history in North Dupont,’ said D.C. I am troubled to see parts of North Dupont Circle proposals are members of ANC 2B, which represents Councilmember BROOKE PINTO (D-Ward 2). removed from Ward 2 in some of the ‘Maps for the Dupont Circle area.

Discussion’ released today,” Pinto said.

“Half of ANC 2B’s eight commissioners are openly “Excising this part of Ward 2 would arbitrarily cut off the LGBTQQIA+ community that gay,” Silverstein said in a statement. “2B represents the historic epicenter of D.C.’s has such a rich history and pronounced presence in North Dupont,” Pinto said. “I will be LGBT community,” he said. “If any of these three working maps were to be adopted as working with my colleagues to ensure that this community remains in Ward 2.” presented, that would no longer be the case.”

The full D.C. Council was expected to make a final decision on the redistricting Silverstein was referring to three maps that the Subcommittee on Redistricting proposals sometime in December. released this week showing proposed significant changes in the boundary lines for 0 6 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • NOVEMBER 0 5 , 2 0 2 1 • LO CA L NE WS

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Democrats lose big in Virginia

Election results an ominous sign for party heading into midterms

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS | mlavers@washblade.com

TYSONS CORNER, Va. — Democrats on Tuesday suffered stinging loses in Virginia that could prove ominous for the party heading into the 2022 midterm elections.

Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the gubernatorial race by a 50.7-48.6 percent margin.

Republican Winsome Sears became the first woman elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor when she defeated state Del. Hala Ayala (D-Prince William County) by a 50.849.1 percent margin. Republican Jason Miyares remains ahead of incumbent Attorney General Mark Herring by a 50.5-49.3 percent margin.

Youngkin told his supporters in Chantilly early Wednesday morning that he will work to create “a Virginia where the Virginia promise comes alive for everyone who calls this Virginia home,” without specifically mentioning LGBTQ people.

“We will change the trajectory of this commonwealth and friends, we are going to start that transformation on day one,” he said. “There is no time to waste.”

McAuliffe on Wednesday conceded.

“While last night we came up short, I am proud that we spent this campaign fighting for the values we so deeply believe in,” he said in a statement. “We must protect Virginia’s great public schools and invest in our students. We must protect affordable health care coverage, raise the minimum wage faster, and expand paid leave so working families have a fighting shot. We must protect voting rights, protect a woman’s right to choose, and, above all else, we must protect our democracy.”

Youngkin during the campaign expressed support for Tanner Cross, a gym teacher at a Leesburg elementary school who was suspended in June after he spoke out against Virginia Department of Education guidelines that are designed to protect transgender and non-binary students. The former co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, earlier this year also said he does not support allowing trans children to play on sports teams that are consistent with their gender identity.

The anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has categorized as an extremist group, is among the groups that endorsed Youngkin, who also opposes marriage equality. Youngkin nevertheless told the Washington Post in a recent interview that it is “legally acceptable” in Virginia and he would “support that” as governor.

McAuliffe, who received the endorsement of both the Human Rights Campaign and Equality Virginia’s political action committee, during an Oct. 21 telephone interview with the Washington Blade described Youngkin as “the most homophobic, anti-choice candidate in Virginia history.”

McAuliffe sought to portray Youngkin as an acolyte of former President Trump.

McAuliffe also criticized Youngkin over his call to ban the teaching of critical race theory in Virginia schools, even though it is not part of the statewide curriculum.

Youngkin’s campaign, for its part, has pointed out that HRC in 2019 named the Carlyle Group as a “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality” in its annual Corporate Equality Index. Log Cabin Republicans is among the groups that endorsed Youngkin.

“Glenn Youngkin’s anti-equality, anti-choice, racist tactics sought to sow fear and confusion, turning Virginian against Virginian for political gain,” said interim HRC President Joni Madison on Wednesday in a statement. “His hateful policies and rhetoric will have a real, devastating impact on LGBTQ+ people, women, and people of color across the commonwealth. This is particularly true for transgender young people and their parents, who have faced an onslaught of targeted attacks that have put them in danger in their schools and communities.”

State Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who is the first openly trans person seated in any state legislature in the U.S. won re-election in the 13th District. Republicans, however, appear to have regained control of the Virginia House of Delegates. Democrats still control the state Senate by a 21-19 margin.

Democrats in 2019 regained control of the General Assembly for the first time since the 1990s.

Outgoing Gov. Ralph Northam over the last two years has signed a series of LGBTQ rights bills that, among other things, added sexual orientation and gender identity to Virginia’s nondiscrimination law and banned so-called conversion therapy for minors.

Madison said HRC will “fight alongside our members and partners to block anti-equality policies and overcome the forces that are trying to drag us backwards.”

Bob Witeck, a longtime LGBTQ rights activist who lives in Arlington, on Wednesday in an email to the Blade conceded it “is a rough morning, given Virginia’s 12-year pattern of turning the commonwealth bluer.”

“I suspect Youngkin will not lead like a culture warrior,” he added. “However, the other two statewide officials, Winsome Sears (lieutenant governor) and Jason Miyares (attorney general) are mirrors of Trump and can cause more significant setbacks, especially Miyares in his role.”

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TERRY MCAULIFFE speaks to supporters in Tysons Corner, Va., on Nov. 2.

(Blade photo by Michael Key)

Elsewhere, big wins for LGBTQ candidates Non-binary candidates were among those claiming wins Tuesday night as two contenders prevailed in local elections in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

In Massachusetts, Thu Nguyen won a race for a seat on the Worcester City Council, becoming the first non-binary person ever elected in the state. Thu came in fourth in a crowded race and won 10 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results, which was enough to claim one of the seats.

Thu’s victory is also significant because of the story of their family, which sought refuge in Worcester when they were an infant after their father was captured in Vietnam and held as a prisoner of war for six years. Thu now works at the Southeast Asian Coalition and addresses issues such as food insecurity, civic engagement and support for small businesses.

In Pennsylvania, Xander Orenstein won a race for the Allegheny County Magisterial District Court in Pennsylvania, becoming the first non-binary person elected to a judicial position in the United States. In May, Orenstein narrowly defeated an incumbent primary challenger by 40 votes and was unopposed in the general election on Tuesday.

As a result of the wins by Thu and Orenstein, there will now be 11 openly non-binary elected officials in total throughout the United States, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund.

In other news for LGBTQ candidates on election night, according to the LGBTQ Victory Fund: • In Michigan, Gabriela Santiago-Romero won an election for a seat on the Detroit City Council, making her the first out LGBTQ council member in the city’s history, and the first Latinx out LGBTQ woman elected in the entire state of Michigan.

• In New York City, six candidates — Crystal Hudson, Kristin Richardson Jordan, Lynn Schulman, Tiffany Cabán, Chi Ossé and Erik Bottcher — won their general election campaigns for the New York City Council, increasing the number of openly LGBTQ representatives from four to six. The wins mean the council is set to have the greatest number of openly LGBTQ council members ever elected, beating the previous record of five.

• In Ohio, transgender candidates Dion Manley won an election to the Gahanna Jefferson School Board, making him the first transgender person elected in all of Ohio and among just five trans men serving in elected office in the country.

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Survivors declare victory in lawsuits seeking Social Security benefits too late to fix this problem involving survivor’s benefits. I hope everyone who has been A pair of surviving partners who were in long-term same-sex relationships — but harmed by this problem, but never dared to apply for benefits, understands that this unable to receive Social Security benefits because of now-overturned state marriage development is a game-changer. The pathway is now finally open to everyone.” bans — are declaring victory in litigation seeking that compensation in the aftermath of The other lawsuit was filed by Michael Ely of Arizona, who sought benefits after the U.S. government withdrawing appeals of trial court decisions in their favor. being in a relationship for 43 years and marrying his The Biden administration dismissed on Monday partner in 2014 after his state’s ban on marriage was appeals before the U.S. Ninth Circuit of Court of struck down. Ely’s spouse, James “Spider” Taylor, died Appeals in two separate cases filed by the LGBTQ of cancer six months into the marriage, which made group Lambda Legal, which argued in the nationwide him unable to access Social Security survivor benefits class action suits access to benefits for these survivors under state law because the period of marriage wasn’t is consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling for long enough. marriage equality nationwide in 2015.

“I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my chest,” Karen Loewy, senior counsel and senior strategist Ely said in a statement. “One of Spider’s final hopes for Lambda Legal, said in a statement the decision was that I would be able to access these benefits. I can by the U.S. Justice Department and Social Security finally breathe a sigh of relief that these benefits are Administration to withdraw their appeal against the now finally secure, not only for me but for everyone plaintiff survivors brings relief that “is almost palpable.” else who found themselves in the same boat.”

“For decades, same-sex couples paid into Social Surviving same-sex partners who were barred from Security, just like different-sex couples,” Loewy said. marrying when their partners were alive will now have “The difference was, only one group always had a path to benefits, which had been limited to people the freedom to marry, leading to gross inequalities who had previously applied by November 2020, that continued to linger. Today, that differential and according to Lambda Legal. discriminatory treatment conclusively ends, and HELEN THORNTON (left) is declaring victory along with MICHAEL ELY in litigation seeking Social Security survivor benefits.

In both lawsuits, federal district courts in Arizona and surviving same-sex partners and spouses can securely Washington struck down the federal government’s access the benefits that they are owed and that can be refusal to grant Social Security survivors benefits to these survivors as unconstitutional in essential to their continued health and safety.” response to the litigation. Because Social Security is a federal benefit, access to survivor One lawsuit was filed by Helen Thornton of Washington State, a surviving partner who benefits is under federal jurisdiction, even though state law had interfered with their sought benefits based on her relationship of 27 years. Thorton’s partner, Marge Brown, ability to wed. died in 2006 before the state would act to legalize same-sex marriage four years later.

The Washington Blade has placed a request with the U.S. Justice Department and “I am relieved that my 27-year relationship with Margie will finally be respected by the Social Security Administration seeking comment on the decision to withdraw the appeal. government and that we will not be treated as legal strangers even in death,” Thornton CHRIS JOHNSON said in a statement. “Marriage equality came too late for many of us, but it was not

FBI updates 2020 hate crimes data The FBI on Oct. 25 released updated data for its 2020 annual hate crimes statistics report originally released in August that shows an increase in overall hate crimes for 2020 but no significant change in the number of hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people.

The first version of the report, which the FBI says lacked data it later obtained from Ohio, shows the percentage of hate crimes nationwide targeting victims because of their sexual orientation to be 20.5 percent. The revised report shows that number to be 20.0 percent.

The earlier version of the report showed the percentage of hate crimes targeting a victim because of their gender identity to be 2.5 percent and the revised report shows gender identity victims to be 2.7 percent of the total number of hate crime victims.

However, the revised 2020 report shows that the 20 percent figure for sexual orientation related hate crimes represents an increase from 16.8 percent of sexual orientation related hate crimes reported in 2019. The revised report also shows that the 2.7 percent figure for gender identity related hate crimes, which the FBI says involves transgender and gender nonconforming people, represents a decline from the 4.8 percent gender identity related hate crimes reported in 2019.

Like recent past years, the largest percentage of hate crimes reported by law enforcement agencies from across the country to the FBI in 2020 as shown in the FBI’s updated report – 61.9 percent – falls into the category of race/ethnicity/ancestry bias.

The earlier version of the report placed that category at 61.8.

The percentage of other categories of victims reported in the FBI’s revised 2020 report include 13.3 percent of bias related crimes targeting a victim for their religion; 1.4 percent for their disability; and 0.7 percent for their gender. There were no significant changes in these categories from the earlier version of the 2020 report.

LGBTQ rights advocates have joined representatives of civil rights groups in expressing concern that the FBI’s annual hate crime report reflects a large undercounting of the actual number of hate crimes nationwide. Observers familiar with the reporting say the underreporting stems from the substantial number of local law enforcement agencies that do not submit hate crime data to the FBI. The Washington Post reported in August that 422 fewer law enforcement agencies submitted hate crime data to the FBI in 2020 than those submitting data in 2019.

The revised FBI report says law enforcement agencies in 2020 submitted incident reports involving a total of 8,263 criminal incidents and 11,129 related incidents as being motivated by bias. The report says the data show there were a total of 8,052 single-bias incidents involving 11,126 victims.

This marks an increase from the earlier report, before the Ohio data was included, from 7,759 criminal incidents and 10,532 related incidents in 2020. The earlier report showed there were 7,554 single-bias incidents involving 10,528 victims.

A separate compilation of reported hate crimes for D.C. in 2020 published on the U.S. Department of Justice website, based on FBI data obtained from D.C. police, shows the total number of reported hate crimes in D.C. declined from 222 in 2019 to 133 in 2020.

The data show a decline in the number of sexual orientation related hate crimes and a slight increase in gender identity related bias crimes in D.C. The DOJ report compares the 2019 and 2020 hate crimes data for D.C. by category of victim using the number of incidents rather than by percentage. The data shows the following breakdown:

• Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry — 2019: 119 | 2020: 63 • Sexual Orientation — 2019: 65 | 2020: 41 • Gender Identity — 2019: 27 | 2020: 28 • Religion — 2019: 8 | 2020: 1 • Gender — 2019: 2 | 2020: 0 • Disability — 2019: 1 | 2020: 0

The drop in 2020 reported hate crimes in D.C. targeting victims for their race and ethnicity appears to go against the nationwide reports by community activists of a spike in race and ethnicity related hate crime targeting African Americans and Asian Americans. Asian American groups have reported an increase in anti-Asian hate crimes based on the bogus notion that Asians are responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic because it may have started in China.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

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Trans candidate trails in Erie county exec race Democrat was attacked over out-of-state campaign funds

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

for all of us,” Rosenbaum told the Erie Times-News. “It shows that Tyler is inspiring Erie, Pa., school board president Tyler Titus was behind by more than 4,000 to so many people.” votes shortly before midnight on Tuesday in their bid to become the nation’s first Titus became the first out transgender person to win election to public office in openly transgender and nonbinary person to win election as a county executive.

Pennsylvania in 2017 when Titus won election to the Erie City school board. Fellow Titus, a Democrat, had 28,253 votes, or 45.9 percent, compared to their school board members later elected Titus to serve as president of the board.

Republican rival Brenton Davis, who had 32,786 votes, or 53.3 percent, with 147 In May of this year Titus won an upset victory in the Erie County Democratic of the county’s 149 precincts counted, according to the latest available returns on primary in a four-candidate race to capture the nomination for the County Executive Tuesday night from the Erie County election board. post. Most Democratic Party leaders in the county supported County Councilor The Erie Times-News reported that Davis declared victory in the hotly contested Carl Anderson, whom Titus beat in the primary by a margin of just 218 votes. county executive race shortly before midnight, claiming that the “math” from the Following the primary, the Erie County Democratic Party and the Pennsylvania vote count made it no longer possible for Titus to win.

Democratic Party endorsed Titus and actively supported Titus’s campaign.

It could not immediately be determined how many mail-in ballots were However, Democratic candidate uncounted on Tuesday night, but the Rita Bishop, who finished in fourth LGBTQ Victory Fund, which endorsed place in the primary and who Titus and raised over $283,000 for identifies as a lesbian, announced their campaign, said it heard from she was breaking ranks with her sources that as many as 4,000 mail-in party to endorse and actively support ballots had yet to be counted.

Republican Davis in the November Josh Rosenbaum, Titus’s campaign election. manager, said election officials would In a controversial Facebook resume counting ballots at 9 a.m. message on Oct. 25, Bishop posted Wednesday. He said Titus would five photos of Titus, in one of which make a statement sometime on Titus was wearing female clothes Wednesday. that was taken before Titus fully “The [Titus] campaign is going to transitioned to their status as a review everything in the morning transgender and nonbinary person. and make sure everything is in before “Who is the real Tyler Titus?” they make a final decision one way or Bishop stated in her posting. “He another,” Victory Fund spokesperson doesn’t know.”

Elliot Imse told the Washington The posting drew an immediate Blade. flurry of more than two-dozen Political observers said Titus ran an postings by Facebook users aggressive, well-funded campaign denouncing Bishop for what they against Davis, who Titus supporters called a hurtful and hateful attempt to say appealed to anti-transgender and TYLER TITUS appears to have lost their bid for county executive in Erie, Pa. (Screenshot from campaign video) attack a transgender candidate. anti-LGBTQ sentiment among some Titus’s supporters said they were voters by accusing Titus of planning to hopeful that what they considered an impose an “unknown agenda” on Erie attempt by Bishop and GOP candidate Davis to use the trans issue to distract County. voters’ attention from Titus’s positions on how the Erie County government can be Davis also criticized Titus for raising most of Titus’s campaign funds from donors improved would be unsuccessful. who live outside of the county and outside of Pennsylvania. The Titus campaign But some of Titus’s supporters said the anti-trans attacks by Davis supporters raised just over $541,000 as of Nov. 1, more than double the amount raised by could be successful in alienating voters who otherwise might have supported the the Davis campaign. A significant percentage of the funds raised by the Titus Democratic candidate for county executive. campaign came through the fundraising effort of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, the Titus has a master’s degree in community counseling and a doctorate degree in national group that raises funds for LGBTQ candidates running for public office social work. Titus has worked in recent years as a licensed professional counselor throughout the country. operating a private counseling practice “Tyler Titus is continuing the sale of Erie County government to out-of-region Titus’s campaign website says Titus is married to Shraddha Prabhu, an assistant donors who have pumped huge dollars into what is supposed to be a local professor at Pennsylvania’s Edinboro University, “and the proud parent of two political race,” the Davis campaign said in an Oct. 25 statement. “When somebody phenomenal children.” outside Erie County invests this kind of money in a county-level election, you can Political observers have pointed out that Erie County is considered an election bet it’s not about improving the lives of people here,” the statement said. “It’s bellwether for the nation as well as for Pennsylvania, which they say could be about imposing an unknown agenda with mystery dollars.” predictive of whether Democrats or Republicans come out ahead in the 2022 The Titus campaign and its supporters called the Davis campaign’s claims congressional midterm elections. Donald Trump narrowly won Erie County in the about out-of-town donors with a hidden agenda an unfounded ruse aimed at 2016 presidential election and President Joe Biden won in the county by a close diverting voters’ attention from the issues that Titus raised to improve the lives of margin in 2020.

Erie County residents.

But in addition to Titus’s status as a transgender and nonbinary candidate, the During the campaign, Rosenbaum, Titus’s campaign manager, called Titus’s Titus campaign stressed that Titus was a progressive who ran to the left of their ability to raise money from supporters outside the county a sign that their ideas Democratic primary rivals. and positions on the issues enjoy widespread support.

“The campaign is anchored by the belief that progressive policies are popular, “It’s exciting to us that there are people from all across Erie County, across and that when you speak directly to the values of the voter, you can win anywhere,” Pennsylvania and some across the country who believe in Tyler’s message and an Oct. 18 statement from the Titus campaign said.

Tyler’s ability to lead Erie County into a future that’s healthy, safe and prosperous

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Trans Netflix staffers file complaints with National Labor Relations Board

Women allege company engaging in unfair, discriminatory labor practices

By BRODY LEVESQUE

The two employees at the center of the conflict with streaming giant Netflix over its support of comedian Dave Chappelle, who expressed transphobic commentary in his comedy special ‘The Closer’ released earlier this month, have filed grievances with the National Labor Relations Board.

Terra Field and B. Pagels-Minor through their legal representation, the Burgess Law Offices in San Francisco, filed a set of complaints with the NLRB’s regional office in San Francisco last week. The two women are alleging that the company is engaging in unfair and discriminatory labor practices.

After the special aired, Terra Field, an out trans Netflix senior software engineer based in San Francisco, posted a series of tweets that expressed anger over Chappelle’s comments.

Field in her Twitter thread countered the position laid out by Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos in a memorandum to the company’s staff members obtained by entertainment trade news magazine Variety, in which he defended Chappelle.

DAVE CHAPPELLE appearing on Netflix ‘The Closer.’

(Screenshot via YouTube)

“Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long-standing deal with him. His last special “Sticks & Stones,” also controversial, is our most-watched, stickiest and most award-winning standup special to date,” Sarandos wrote.

Field pointed out that Chappelle’s promoting that kind of ideology and speech can result in real-world consequences especially for trans people.

Field went on to say of Chappelle, “our existence is ‘funny’ to him – and when we object to his harm, we’re ‘offended.’” She then listed numerous names of trans people, specifically highlighting trans women of color, killed in hate crimes.

Within days of Field’s tweets, she was suspended although Netflix alleged the reason was she and a couple of other company staffers were suspended for trying to attend a meeting to which she hadn’t been invited. In a statement released to the media, a company spokesperson said, “It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show.

Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so.” Field was later reinstated.

Pagels-Minor, a Black trans program manager and currently pregnant, was

fired by Netflix two weeks ago after the company alleged she disclosed an internal Netflix document regarding metrics on Chappelle’s special including about how much the streaming company paid for and how many people it reached in the various market penetrations.

“We have let go of an employee for sharing confidential, commercially sensitive information outside the company,” Netflix said. “We understand this employee may have been motivated by disappointment and hurt with Netflix, but maintaining a culture of trust and transparency is core to our company.”

Pagels-Minor disputes this saying that her actively organizing the Oct. 20 walkout in solidarity of all of the company’s trans employees was why Netflix took retaliatory action and terminated her.

In the NLRB filing, Field and Pagels-Minor say Netflix retaliated against them “to quell employees from speaking up about working conditions including, but not limited to, seeking to create a safe and affirming work environment for Netflix employees, speaking up about Netflix’s products and the impact of its product choices on the LGBTQ+ community, and providing support for employees whom Netflix has treated in an unlawful and disparate manner.”

The NLRB filing names Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos as the employer representative, for Netflix.

Laurie Burgess, one of the firm’s attorneys representing the women told The Verge, “This charge is not just about B. and Terra, and it’s not about Dave.

It’s about trying to change the culture and having an impact for others. The charge is all about collective action. It’s about supporting your coworkers and speaking up for things you care about.”

Netflix responded in a statement sent to The Verge and The Hollywood Reporter, saying, “We recognize the hurt and pain caused to our trans colleagues over the last few weeks. But we want to make clear that Netflix has not taken any action against employees for either speaking up or walking out.”

B., who is 35 weeks pregnant, is now about to lose their health insurance.

“Amidst all the stress, I am trying to take one day at a time and focus on my health,” they said in an interview with The Verge. “As a high-risk pregnancy, I have to be careful. We don’t even know what our health insurance situation is, and we are scheduled to be in a hospital having a baby in less than 30 days.”

This past week Chappelle said in a video posted Monday to Instagram he’d be willing to meet with transgender employees of Netflix who have called for the streaming platform to remove his comedy special, “The Closer,” but the comedian offered caveats and restrictions.

“First of all, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from beginning to end,” he said in the video. “You must come to a place of my choosing, at a time of my choosing. And thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.”

Gadsby, a comedian whose work has also been streamed on Netflix, said on Instagram that Chappelle’s special would unleash “hate and anger” for the LGBTQ community as Chappelle makes millions of dollars “to process his emotionally stunted partial world view.”

The comedian also garnered the support of prominent right-wing conservative celebrity Caitlyn Jenner who defended Chappelle tweeting, “Standing up for Dave Chappelle shouldn’t be big news, but it’s the right thing to do. Cancel culture is killing our society. These wokesters are outraged at every single thing. Maybe it’s because they have miserable lives that they have to drag everyone else down.”

Earlier last week Jenner also tweeted, “Dave Chappelle is 100% right. This isn’t about the LGBTQ movement. It’s about woke cancel culture run amok, trying to silence free speech. We must never yield or bow to those who wish to stop us from speaking our minds.”

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Bulgarian LGBTQ community center attacked A Bulgarian LGBTQ rights group says the leader of an ultranationalist political party who is running for president led an attack against their offices and community center on Saturday.

The Bilitis Foundation in a series of tweets said “a group of about 10 men and women stormed” the Rainbow Hub, a community center it runs in Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, with the GLAS (Gays and Lesbians Accepted in Society) Foundation. at around 5:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. ET).

The Bilitis Foundation said the attack took place during a “trans community gathering.”

The assailants, according to the Bilitis Foundation, vandalized the office and struck Gloriya Filipova, the group’s project coordinator, in the face. The Bilitis Foundation said Boyan Rasate, who leads the Bulgarian National Union and is “”well-known for his LGBTI-phobic actions and statements,” masterminded the attack.

“All I ever aimed for was creating safer spaces for our community,” tweeted Filipova after the attack. “Yesterday

my biggest fear came true: Our community center was destroyed and I got punched in the face. I’m sure that we have enough love to heal, but this really hurts. It is time for the BG (Bulgarian) institutions to act.”

ILGA-Europe has condemned the attack and urged Bulgarian authorities “to publicly condemn the attacks, investigate and sanction the attackers.” EuroPride is among the other organizations that have expressed support for the Bilitis and GLAS Foundations.

Bulgaria is a Balkan country that borders Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Romania and the Black Sea. The Bilitis Foundation in a tweet notes it, along with AllOut, less than two weeks ago submitted to the Bulgarian Justice Ministry a petition with more than 8,000 signatures that demands the country’s Criminal Code include hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Bulgarian Constitutional Court on Oct. 27 ruled the word “gender” only applies to the “biological sense.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

The offices of the Bilitis Foundation in Sofia, Bulgaria, were attacked on Oct. 30. (Photo courtesy of Bilitis Foundation)

State Dept. to issue passports with ‘X’ gender marker The State Department last week issued the first U.S. passport with an “X” gender marker.

Jessica Stern, the special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ rights abroad, on Tuesday told the Washington Blade and the Associated Press during a conference call the State Department will initially issue a gender-neutral passport to one person.

Stern said the State Department will begin “offering the ‘X’ gender marker option to routine passport applicants” in early 2022. A State Department official said the delay is necessary because the U.S. Office of Management and Budget needs to approve “the required form updates.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June announced the State Department will allow passport applicants to “self-select their gender as ‘M’ or ‘F’” People who identify as intersex, non-binary or gender non-conforming can choose a gender-neutral gender marker for their passports and Consular Report of Birth Abroad, a document that confirms an American who was born overseas is a U.S. citizen. The new policy that Blinken announced in June no longer requires “medical certification if an applicant’s self-selected gender does not match the gender on their other citizenship or identity documents.”

“Offering a third gender marker is a significant step towards ensuring that our administrative systems account for the diversity of gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics,” said Stern during the conference call. “Because people do not always fit within a male or a female designation, it doesn’t benefit anyone to have inconsistencies between people and systems.”

Stern added passports with an “X” gender marker will “reflect the true gender of the passport holder and make people safer, hopefully by reducing the likelihood of dehumanizing harassment and mistreatment that so often happens at border crossings when a person’s legal documentation does not correspond with their gender expression.”

“When a person obtains identity documents that reflect their true identity, they live with greater dignity and respect,” said Stern.

The State Department’s announcement comes a day after it publicly acknowledged Intersex Awareness Day, which commemorates the world’s first-ever intersex rights protect that took place in Boston in 1996.

Dana Zzyym, an intersex U.S. Navy veteran who identifies as non-binary, in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department after it denied their application for a passport with an “X” gender marker. The State Department official with whom the Blade spoke on Tuesday declined to say whether Zzyym is the first person who will receive a genderneutral passport in the U.S. “The department does not generally comment on individual passport applications due to privacy considerations,” said the official.

President Biden in February signed a memorandum that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ rights abroad.

The White House in June named Stern, who had previously been the executive director of OutRight Action International, a global LGBTQ advocacy group, to her position.

Stern said the issuance of passports with “X” gender markers demonstrates the Biden administration’s commitment to LGBTQ rights.

“I am proud that the United States seeks to protect and promote the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons globally and this is an excellent example of leading by example,” said Stern.

Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina are among the handful of other countries that issue gender-neutral passports.

The State Department official said their colleagues have “been coordinating with Canada and New Zealand on best practices as we work towards this goal, based on their experiences.” They said the State Department has also “coordinated with several LGBTQI+ organizations, both directly and through the White House Domestic Policy Council, throughout this process.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Polish lawmakers seek to ban Pride marches Lawmakers in Poland last week voted to send a bill that would ban Pride marches and other pro-LGBTQ events to committee. “(The) Polish ruling party voted in favor of further work on a bill with total ban in Pride parades and public gatherings that promote LGBT rights,” said Bart Staszewski, a Polish LGBTQ activist, in a tweet that specifically referenced President Andrzej Duda’s Law and Justice party. “Now the Parliament commission will check the legality of this bill. It is a very dark day for Polish democracy and LGBT people.”

OutRight Action International in a press release notes the measure states “any event which questions marriage as a relationship between a woman and a man or propagates the extension of marriage to persons of the same sex can not go ahead.” The Life and Family Foundation, which opposes LGBTQ rights and abortion, collected more than 140,000 signatures in support of the bill.

“This is a very dark day in Poland, not only for LGBTIQ people, but for Polish society as a whole,” said acting OutRight Action International Executive Director Maria Sjödin.

Friday’s vote took place against the backdrop of increased tensions between Poland and the European Union over LGBTQ rights.

The European Commission in September threatened to withhold more than 126 million euros ($145.59 million) in funding from five provincial governments that have enacted so-called LGBTQ “free zones.” The Polish Constitutional Court on Oct. 7 ruled the country’s laws supersede EU statutes where they differ.

Duda ahead of his 2020 re-election said LGBTQ “ideology” is more harmful than communism. Duda has also described LGBTQ Poles as a “threat to the family” and claimed they “want to sexualize children.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

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Does corporate America really care about you?

Secret forced arbitration contract clauses undercut equality laws

The LGBTQ community first flexed its muscle with corporate America thousands of feet in the air.

In April 1993, an American Airlines flight crew messaged ground control to request a “complete change” of blankets and pillows onboard the aircraft because of a “gay rights activists group onboard” headed to the March on Washington. The message’s meaning was not subtle: the crew ignorantly thought the amenities had been sullied by openly gay people.

The reaction from LGBTQ advocates was fast, furious – and effective. In many ways, it forever changed the way corporate America saw — and marketed to — the LGBTQ community. The incident led American Airlines to form the first-ever corporate marketing team to support LGBTQ causes. That led to changes internally that made the airline a standard bearer for what constituted an LGBTQ-friendly business.

Business has been mostly supportive since then. Corporations responded swiftly when North Carolina adopted its “bathroom bill” targeting the transgender community.

And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – hardly an icon of progressive values – urged Congress to pass the Uniting American Families Act, a bill to allow lesbian and gay American citizens to sponsor their same-gender partners for residency inside the U.S., long before federal marriage recognition made that possible.

The Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, ranking businesses on their LGBTQ-friendly policies, and visionary marketing gurus like Bob Witeck, who pioneered many of today’s corporate equality practices, also made corporate America more supportive. (Full disclosure: my very first professional marketing job was with Bob Witeck, whose firm advised the American Airlines Rainbow TeAAm.) However, one troubling trend has actually increased in recent years: the use of forced arbitration clauses to keep employees out of court.

Arbitration is used by corporations to avoid true accountability. Its most common usage, until recently, was in consumer agreements. Buried deep within the contracts consumers sign for cell phones, rental cars and other services has long been the “fine print” saying you agree to bring any dispute in arbitration and not in court.

That practice was bad enough, forcing millions into secretive arbitration proceedings where evidence cannot be shared or is rarely made public. Corporations usually prevail.

Now there’s another alarming new trend: in the wake of the pandemic, more corporations are forcing their employees to sign away their right to their day in court as a condition of accepting a job. The Washington Post recently reported that, “U.S. employers relied heavily on arbitration in the first months of the pandemic, pushing a record number of complaints involving discrimination, harassment, wage theft and other grievances through a closed-door system largely weighted against consumers and workers.”

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For the LGBTQ community, that means employees must promise not to sue their employer in court if they encounter discrimination, harassment – or even physical assault – on the job. Instead, they must take their claim to arbitration which, the Post explained, “keeps employment disputes out of the public eye and fails to hold corporations accountable.”

So, if you’re a lesbian denied a promotion because of your sexual orientation or a transgender employee who is denied access to the restroom consistent with your gender, you have no way of taking your boss to court and little hope that, even if you pursue your claim in arbitration, your experience will ever come to light or help others facing the same situation inside the same company. Even in a world where the Equality Act becomes law, arbitration agreements would undermine that federal protection.

More and more employers are insisting employees sign away that right as a condition of being hired.

“Most nonunion U.S. companies require arbitration, leaving 60 million workers without legal recourse, according to a 2018 report from the Economic Policy Institute,” the Post noted. And the numbers have only grown over the past three years.

It is time for the LGBTQ community to see forced arbitration – and especially forced arbitration in employment contracts – for what it is: an increasingly pervasive tactic that helps enable employment discrimination, workplace harassment and other unfair practices. Our community must insist that businesses do better – or face losing our support and our money. We’ve done that before and we can do it again.

As a first step, the Human Rights Campaign should immediately begin scoring corporations’ arbitration policies as part of its Corporate Equality Index screening.

Any company that forces LGBTQ employees into arbitration should be docked points on the Index. HRC should also endorse and score Members of Congress on their support for The FAIR Act, a bill pending in Congress that would significantly rollback the scourge of forced arbitration.

Secondly, groups like Out and Equal must vigorously educate both employees and employers about the dangers of forced arbitration — how it impacts LGBTQ workers and why it must never be a condition of accepting a job.

And finally, we must demand that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce drop their support of this discriminatory practice. The Chamber – far from its days of advocating for same-gender binational couples – is now the country’s top defender of arbitration that locks LGBTQ employees out of court.

It’s been nearly two decades since our community responded to that awful incident in the sky and insisted that, in order to be “something special in the air,” American Airlines had to commit to something meaningful here on the ground. Now we must find that same resolve – and use some of those same tactics – to help LGBTQ employees. Corporations that force employees to sign away their legal rights in order to earn a living do not deserve our business, our talent or the label of LGBTQ ally.

© Potomac Electric Power Company, 2021

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PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

McAuliffe loses, Youngkin/Trump win

Democrats must pass some form of Biden’s plan to regroup

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Terry McAuliffe failed to win a second term and Donald Trump and Trumpism won Virginia. Democrats also lost the lieutenant governor’s race and the attorney general race is too close to call as I write this column. While it was hoped this race would put another nail in the coffin of Trump and Trumpism it instead breathed new life into the Party of Trump.

Democrats must look closely at the Virginia races as they prepare for the midterm elections in 2022. Republicans will look to see how dog whistles and race baiting worked to increase their vote. They will analyze how Trump impacted the race and what that means for future races across the country.

Glenn Youngkin is the kind of candidate Republicans will look for to stand in for Trump — white, rich and able to lie convincingly. One who can walk a tightrope of being a Trump lackey and yet sound quasi-independent. He won independents on issues such as education and their frustration with Democrats who are currently unable to deliver on any of their promises in Washington. McAuliffe’s campaign was hampered by President Biden’s falling poll numbers, which are at the lowest level since he was inaugurated. According to the latest NBC News poll “a majority of Americans now disapprove of President Joe Biden’s job performance, while half give him low marks for competence and uniting the country.” According to the NBC news report “What’s more, the survey finds that 7 in 10 adults, including almost half of Democrats, believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction, as well as nearly 60 percent who view Biden’s stewardship of the economy negatively just nine months into his presidency.”

While McAuliffe kept it fairly close this says a lot about where Virginia is now. It also says maybe Democrats just running against Trump may not be the answer.

Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 points in the presidential election and there was talk of Virginia finally being a Blue state. This election shows it’s clearly not. Democrats may even lose their majority in the House of Delegates when all the votes are counted. All those elections were closer than one thought they would be after the big presidential win even though it should have been very clear winning would never be easy. In 2013, “McAuliffe himself became the first Virginia candidate in 40 years to win the governor’s office while his party was in power.” There was to be no second win.

In 2017, Democrats winning in Virginia portended big wins in the 2018 midterms.

This year the loss will demoralize many Democrats as they head into 2022. With hard work they can still win but Democrats will be going against history to keep the House of Representatives and increase their numbers in the Senate. Winning would mean climbing an incredibly steep hill.

History shows since 1938 the party of the sitting president has only avoided losing seats in the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections twice. First by Bill Clinton in 1998 when Democrats gained five seats and then in 2002 by George W. Bush when Republicans gained eight seats. Chances for Democrats in the Senate don’t look much better. So careful analysis of what happened in Virginia and trying to avoid some of the pitfalls will be crucial.

Clearly not every state is Virginia but New Jersey is not looking much better for Democrats with the governor’s race too close to call as I write this. Republicans will be looking closely to see where they made gains and why.

If Democrats are to have a chance to keep Congress in the mid-term elections those now in Congress will have to act quickly. They must recognize compromise is not a dirty word and half a loaf, even a quarter of a loaf with the chance to improve on it in the next session, is better than no loaf at all. They will have to change the conversation, when some form of the Build Back Better bill is passed and signed, to what they won for the people rather than talk about what is not in it. They will have to begin to talk about it as a success, not a failure, and as the beginning of moving forward, not the end.

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Cumming’s new book filled with showbiz tales

But ‘Baggage’ is no vapid, Tinsel Town celeb concoction

By KATHI WOLFE

It was the night of the Tony Awards. Actor, singer, writer, and activist Alan Cumming had just received a Tony for his performance as the emcee in the 1998 revival of “Cabaret.”

He was in the press room, giving soundbites to the media.

In the middle of one interview, “A hand appeared on my left shoulder, a tall body joined it to my right,” Cumming, who was born and grew up in rural Scotland, writes in his new memoir “Baggage: Tales From a Fully Packed Life.”

For a second, Cumming thought he was being mugged.

But, the stranger hugging him was Sean Connery, a fellow Scot, known for playing James Bond. Connery had won a Tony as a producer of the play “Art.” Connery, looking into the cameras, said of Cumming, “This is my new son.”

He took Ecstasy that night at the Tonys, Cumming reveals in “Baggage.” The drug for him was, ”my self-prescribed anti-anxiety medication,” Cumming writes, “And it worked.”

For most of us, winning a Tony for an acclaimed revival of “Cabaret” would be merely a fantasy. For Cumming, winning the prestigious award is just one of many accomplishments.

Walt Whitman said he contained multitudes. Cumming, 56, who is bisexual and married to the illustrator Grant Shaffer, is Whitman on octane.

Cumming is a polymath. He has appeared in numerous films, plays and TV shows. He’s written two children’s books; a novel; a book of photographs and stories; and the memoir “Not My Father’s Son.” His film roles range from the James Bond movie “GoldenEye” to “Eyes Wide Shut” to the “Spy Kids” trilogy.

Cumming has won the Olivier, BAFTA and Emmy for his stage and screen work. On the London stage, Cumming has performed in “Hamlet,” “Bent” and other plays.

He has appeared in the “Threepenny Opera” and “Design for Living” on Broadway. Cumming created and appeared in his one-man adaptation of “Macbeth.”

On TV, he is known for playing Eli Gold on “The Good Wife” and Dylan Reinhart on “Instinct,” the first broadcast television drama to have a lead gay character. Recently, Cumming played Mayor Aloysius Menlove on the Apple TV+ show “Schmigadoon!”

All of this would exhaust most of us. But Cumming has energy to spare. He hosts the podcast “Alan Cumming’s Shelves” and is the amateur barman at Club Cumming in New York City.

Cumming is known for his LGBTQ rights advocacy. He has worked for marriage equality in Scotland and with the Human Rights Campaign and other LGBTQ organizations.

In 2009, Cumming was appointed an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honors List. In “Baggage,” Cumming writes that he received this honor because of his work for LGBT rights.

Cumming’s first memoir “Not My Father’s Son” is the story of his harrowing childhood. Growing up, Cumming endured physical and psychological abuse and violence from his father. In the memoir, Cumming grapples with secrecy and shame and with the post traumatic stress brought on by his father’s sadistic treatment of him. “There is never shame in being open and honest,” he writes.

“Baggage” tells many entertaining showbiz stories. Who wouldn’t want to hear the tales of a writer whose friends include Liza (as in Liza with a Z)?

Yet, “Baggage” isn’t a vapid, Tinsel Town celeb concoction.

In “Baggage,” Cumming examines his relationships to his family, significant others and himself. It begins with his divorce from the actress Hilary Lyon and ends with his marriage to Shaffer.

Cumming, who has dual United Kingdom/United States citizenship, talked with the Blade by phone about a range of topics from “Baggage” to politics to getting Helen Mirren on board with crocs.

Cumming was pleased by the positive response to “Not My Father’s Son.” He was happy that readers felt his words helped them to confront people who had abused them and to “reckon” with their shame.

But, Cumming worried that people might think he’d “triumphed” over the despair caused by his father’s abuse.

That he’d never encounter this trauma again.

“I wrote ‘Baggage,’” Cumming said, “to overcome this idea of triumph.”

“You don’t actually recover,” he added, “you manage it.

You always have to manage it.”

Cumming is witty and exudes hopefulness. But, he’s worried about what the future might bring for LGBTQ and women’s rights. The election of Joe Biden as president “was a real reprieve,” Cumming said, “but the way we’re headed, things could go the other way any second.”

We need to be vigilant, Cumming said. “Women’s rights – with what’s happening with abortion in Texas – are in real danger,” he said.

But life isn’t all worries for Cumming.

There is his work. In 2022, he’ll continue performing “Och and Oy! A Considered Cabaret” with NPR’s Ari Shapiro. He’s making the film “Rare Objects” with Katie Holmes.

And there are his friends. “Liza is lovely,” Cumming said of his friend Liza Minnelli. One day, Cumming was rehearsing with Minnelli. Along with Joel Grey, Bebe Neuwirth, Chita Rivera and other celebs, they were going to put on a salute to the songwriting team Kander and Ebb. They were going to perform Minnelli’s signature song “New York, New York.” “It looked so easy,” Cumming said, “But I couldn’t get Liza’s dance moves. First, Liza tried to help me.”

But, without success. “Then Chita came over to help me,” Cumming said, “it was overwhelming having two legends trying to teach me.”

After these attempts failed, Minnelli said to him, “Oh, darling, just make it your own!”

There was the time when Cumming made Helen Mirren see the light on Crocs. He was in Hawaii filming “The Tempest” with Mirren. “We were in the desert. I’d wear my Crocs,” he said, “she said my Crocs were ugly.”

“I said, ‘Helen, that’s fair enough. But when I say things are ugly, I use my inside voice,’” Cumming added.

A few weeks later, Cumming saw Mirren. She was wearing Crocs. “She said she’d been wearing flip-flops and they made her feet sore. Now she loved Crocs.”

“I told her ‘you were a hater, now you’re a lover,” Cumming added, “It’s a beautiful thing.”

Cumming is currently on a book tour in the U.K. The tour stops in Miami on Nov. 20; Chicago on Nov. 21 and several other U.S. cities through spring 2022. For more info on Cumming’s new book, visit alancumming.com.

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ALAN CUMMING’s new book is a worthy followup to his biography.

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CALENDAR |

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Friday, November 05

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 - Metro DC’s LGBTQ+ Community Hub will host “First Friday LGBTQ+ Social” at 7 p.m. at The Commentary. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea sharing and community building or just unwinding and enjoying the extended happy hour. Visit Eventbrite for more information.

Saturday, November 06 SMYAL’s 24th Annual Fall Brunch will be at 10:30 a.m. at the Marriott Marquis in D.C. The event will be hosted by MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart and includes a cocktail reception featuring a silent auction, a three-course brunch, and a chance to hear from some of our community’s most inspiring leaders. For more information, visit SMYAL’s website.

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 the strives to be safe and judgment free. For more information, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

Sunday, November 07 Rainbow Families will host an Annual Outing at Cox Farm’s Fall Fest at 11 a.m. in Centreville, Va. This event includes giant slides, hayrides, farm animals, conundrum cornfield adventure and more. Tickets cost $23. For more information, visit Cox Farm’s website.

AfroCode DC Sunday will be at 3 p.m. at Decades DC. This exclusive day party will be an experience of non-stop music, dancing, and good vibes. There will also be a crossover of genres and fusion of cultures including hip-hop, afrobeats and soca. Tickets are $60. Visit Eventbrite for more details.

Monday, November 08 The Center Aging Coffee Drop-in will be at 10 a.m. at the DC Center. 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.

Free Zumba in the Park with Colton will be at 6:30 p.m. at Virginia Highlands Park. This event is a beginnerfriendly, safe and inclusive space for all fitness levels and all body types. Visit Eventbrite for more details.

Tuesday, November 09 Coming Out Discussion Group will have a hybrid meeting at 7 p.m. This peer support group is a safe space to share experiences about coming out and discuss topics as it relates to doing so. For more information, visit Coming Out Discussion Group’s Facebook page.

Trans Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This event is intended to provide emotionally and physically safe space for trans people and those who may be questioning their gender identity/expression to join together in community and learn from one another. For more information, email supportdesk@thedccenter. org.

Wednesday, November 10 The DC Center for the LGBT Community and the DC Department on Aging and Community Living (DACL) will host a watch party for “Black Art: In the Absence of Light” at 5 p.m. on Zoom. The event will include a short discussion about the film after the viewing. For more information please reach out to adamheller@ thedccenter.org.

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, November 11 #OFTNThursdays will be at 10 p.m. at 1423 H St., N.W. This event is open to all to come enjoy great vibes, amazing music, good food, and meet new people within our community. For more details, visit Eventbrite.

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OUT & ABOUT

ANC to host citywide cleanup The Advisory Neighborhood Commissions will host a citywide cleanup on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 9 a.m. in Washington D.C. Event attendees have two options. The first includes starting at their houses and ending at the nearest dropoff point. The second includes joining ANC for as much of the route as they’d like. Bags and gloves will be provided.

For more information, contact Peter Wood at 1CO3@ anc.dc.gov or Sabel Harris at 1B12@anc.dc.gov.

Busboys & Poets highlights Fannie Lou Hamer’s activism Busboys and Poets Books will host a discussion about “Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America” by Keisha Blain on Thursday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m. online.

The book is a love letter to Black activist Fannie Lou Hamer, whose ideas and political strategies continue to influence modern activists.

The event will begin with an introduction from Busboys and Poets Books Director of Operations, Lori Barrientos Sanchez, before the conversation with Dr. Keisha Blain and Clint Smith to hear more about the radical life of Fannie Lou Hamer and the legacy she left.

For more information, visit Eventbrite.

SMYAL’s annual Fall Brunch returns on Saturday.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

SALVADOR Flamenco Aparicio Dance Co. (US)

Nov 5 - 7 “powerful... brilliantly staged and performed”

-DC Metro Theater Arts

DE PASO

Sara Pérez Dance Co. (Spain) One of the most awarded Spanish artists, presented in collaboration with Fundación Conservatorio Flamenco Casa Patas of Madrid

Nov 11 - 14 Masks and proof of vaccination or recent negative COVID test required 202-234-7174 | galatheatre.org | 3333 14th St NW, WDC 20010 |

@teatrogala

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Exploring a complicated father-daughter relationship

Mosaic’s ‘Birds of North America’ unfolds over 10 years

By PATRICK FOLLIARD

DAVID BRYAN JACKSON and REGINA AQUINO in ‘Birds of North America.’

(Photo by Chris Banks)

CALL FOR RESERVATIONS M-TH 11:30AM-10PM • F-SAT 11:30AM-11PM SUN. BRUNCH 11AM-3PM / DINNER 3-10PM

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In the leafy backyard of a suburban Maryland home, a father and daughter watch birds and talk about life. Sounds amiable, but in Anna Ouyang Moench’s “Birds of North America” it isn’t, well not entirely.

The affective and humorous two-hander, now at Mosaic Theater Company, covers nearly 10 tense years of annual October visits home during which John and adult daughter Caitlyn, both avid birders, indulge in their gentle hobby when they’re not fighting.

“A tufted titmouse,” says John (David Bryan Jackson) motioning toward a heard but unseen songbird. Caitlyn (Regina Aquino) who’s down from New York to see her parents, quickly picks up the binoculars and the feathery friend takes center stage. It’s the same when they spy a nuthatch, cardinal, or morning dove, but after the birds fly off with an audible swoosh, the conversation inevitably turns from the latest hawk or barn owl sighting back to Caitlyn’s lack of ambition or John’s intractability and seeming inability to empathize.

He hates her job choices (working at a conservative news website and later doing marketing for the oil industry), and wishes she’d complete her novel or help to save the planet. She mocks him for putting solar panels on a large house, much too big for two people.

Time passes. Father and daughter continue to masterfully press each other’s buttons. Initially, he seems cringingly unaware of the impact of his wounding words, particularly when it comes to Caitlyn’s pain surrounding infertility issues.

But sometimes he goes for the jugular. She fights back similarly. Despite the ongoing brutal contretemps, there’s still love, and some laughs, between them.

Without a lot of reference to specific time and place, the playwright cleverly moves the years forward, revealing the details of new relationships, job changes, illness using sometimes quotidian dialogue that rings particularly true. Yet, the work is simultaneously lyrical.

Mosaic’s out managing director and producer, Serge Seiden, smartly directs the piece with a light, elegant touch, resulting in a thought-provoking and pleasurable 90 minutes. He ably helms a topnotch design team: Alexa Ross creates a simple backyard (worn picket fence, picnic table, and unassuming lawn chairs) backed by a feathery wing of blazing autumnal colors. Brittany Shemuga bathes the intimate stage with the dappled sunlight of a fall day, and David Lamont Wilson’s appealing sound design includes coos, caws, chirps, and pecking sounds. In between scenes, an increasing number of crunchy leaves are scattered over the stage/yard.

Aquino and Jackson share a combative chemistry, and throughout the years covered, both effectively age, mostly through voice and demeanor. Though stubborn until the end, John seems increasingly resigned and vulnerable; Caitlyn becomes less youthfully exuberant, and more practical and self-contained.

While Caitlin’s eco-friendly father can be preachy, the play isn’t. The urgency of climate change is couched in unstilted conversations that all of us have overheard or been a part of more than once.

And by spacing the piece over a decade, Moench demonstrates the vicissitudes of life and relationships, and what a warming climate entails (i.e., decreased bird migration, a longer tick season that results in more dreaded Lyme disease, etc.)

Unfortunately, John continues to criticize Caitlyn’s professional choices. She fires back that unlike her father, she needs to earn a paycheck. It seems the mother, a practicing doctor and family bread winner, has long made it possible for John to pursue an unpaid career in vaccination research, an endeavor that he is certain, unfoundedly so, will one day result in a big money payoff.

As the audience becomes invested in the actors’ finely assayed characters, there also comes a sense of frustration, regret about what might have been. And some hope.

“Birds of North America” marks Mosaic’s first in-person production after 18-months of closure. COVID-19 infection prevention measures include proof of vaccination, masks, and socially distanced seating. A streaming version will also be available.

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Queer ‘whodunit’ fans will love ‘The Long Call’ New limited series puts gay detective on the case

By JOHN PAUL KING

If there’s anything a year plus of binge-watching has taught us about human beings as a species – yes, including LGBTQ human beings – it’s the fact that we love a good police procedural. And for the true connoisseur, nobody makes a better police procedural than the British. Now, a new limited series from UK network ITV – available in the U.S. via Britbox – has finally given queer “whodunit” fans what we’ve all been waiting for: a gay detective on the case.

In “The Long Call,” based on the book by popular mystery author Ann Cleeves, DI Matthew Venn takes charge of his very first murder investigation after returning (with a husband in tow) to the small town where he grew up – a place he turned his back on 20 years before when the religious sect in which he was raised refused to accept his sexuality. Now he is being pulled deep into the secrets of a community that once rejected him, forced to confront regrets and resentments he thought he had left behind as the clues in the case point closer and closer to home.

Executed with the polish and nuance one has come to expect from these UK productions, it’s highly recommended for a multitude of reasons. But what makes it particularly appealing to queer viewers is the casting of Ben Aldridge, who himself recently came out publicly as gay, in the central role. Aldridge took time to talk about his experience with the project – and about coming out – with the Blade. Our conversation is below.

BLADE: Were the parallels between you and your character all coincidental?

BEN ALDRIDGE: It’s what drew me to the project in the first place. I’d actually done the read for the audiobook, before it was commissioned as a TV piece, and I wasn’t out publicly at the time but I was like, “I wonder if someone in that publishing house knows that I’m gay?” And I was pleasantly surprised by the book, and how Ann had chosen to write a queer character at the center of one of her novels.

When it came ‘round as a TV piece, and they were interested in me being in it, what drew me in was the exploration of his queerness, how it’s central to his journey and to the whole piece as well. Yes, of course you have the whole thrust of the ‘whodunit’ story – which is why we all love these shows – but it’s the personal focus in it that really intrigued me.

BLADE: It really does make your character’s queerness a core component of the plot ALDRIDGE: Yes, that’s something I’m particularly proud of about this show, because – I mean representation is at the forefront, and rightly so, of many producers’ and content creators’ minds right now, but there’s a version of this kind of show where that can just be box-ticking, where you’re including queer characters and characters of color without exploring how that affects their life.

And this one does explore that. It’s not just a gay detective who happens to have a husband, and we have one scene with them drinking tea together and then we don’t ever talk about his queerness, at all, again.

BLADE: Speaking of talking about queerness, let’s talk about your decision to come out publicly.

ALDRIDGE: It just felt like something I had to do for myself, or claim for myself. I was already very much open in my day-to-day life, anyway, about my sexuality. But doing that publicly – I guess I was protecting some sense of ambiguity, and that was maybe a hangover from early on when, either via osmosis or by direct conversation, I’d been told it would ruin my career. I think that was still with me, quite strongly, even though I’ve said personally and in private to myself for a long while that if my sexuality means I’m not hired for something then I don’t want to work with those people anyway.

But there was some part of me that thought ‘I’ll still maybe fly under this radar, I don’t need to come out and do this.’ And it just got to a point where I was like, ‘Actually, I do need to do this.’ It felt important to me to be visible, and to say who I am and not try and hide from it.

BLADE: And how has it changed things for you?

ALDRIDGE: I feel like something has opened up for me, like there’s this

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BEN ALDRIDGE stars in ‘The Long Call.’

(Photo courtesy Britbox)

well of emotion that’s available to me that hadn’t been before. To be able to navigate the world and not ever to feel like I’m avoiding or guarding something – I feel like things are better than they ever have been, really.

BLADE: Life is always better when you don’t have to hide significant parts of yourself.

ALDRIDGE: Definitely. And I think I was doing that, managing that, even on a very “micro” level that I wasn’t aware of. To stop doing that is really just… a weight lifted.

And really, the whole fear around actors being out is capitalism. That fear that people won’t pay, or watch, if they can’t believe they can have a relationship with the person that they’re watching. If they can’t suspend their disbelief. I think what we’re slowly discovering is that this actually isn’t the case.

BLADE: Like your character, you grew up in a strict religious environment.

How does that factor into your being out now?

ALDRIDGE: I was raised ‘round the religious right focus of “praying the demons away,” and conversion therapy – it was never spoken to me about directly, but I was certainly around the language of being “cured,” and being “saved” from that. There are people from my past who would struggle with who I am. And I don’t desire to be in a room of people that don’t accept who I am.

BLADE: Finally, since you’re now officially an out and proud actor, where do you fall in the debate over whether straight performers should play LGBTQ+ characters?

ALDRIDGE: It’s something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about. I think the important thing is that there is attention being paid to it. We’re in a place of learning, which is great. For me, it can afford to be nuanced. I don’t think we need rules, I think rules are radical, and rules are the opposite of what “queerness” is. Obviously, when queerness is central to a story, then yes, a lived insight is needed to bring that to life. And maybe we do have to force things a bit before we settle into a place where there CAN be more nuance to it – but that doesn’t necessarily mean there has to be a queer actor in a queer role.

I think the whole wider creative team needs to be responsible for bringing authenticity, with queer people in the writer’s room, and if the right actor is the right actor, they’ll do a good job.

I don’t think that it’s as simple as, “Only queer actors for queer parts.”

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Proud to be a Fury

New film a touching tribute to the history of women’s rugby

By KEVIN MAJOROS

The last time that the Blade checked in with DC Furies player Liz Linstrom, she mentioned that she would always contribute to the club even if injuries sidelined her ability to play.

That statement proved to be prophetic as Linstrom experienced her third ACL tear while in the beginnings of filming a documentary about the Furies.

Linstrom had created a short documentary on women’s rugby and femininity as an undergraduate student at William & Mary and the itch was still there to produce more creative work.

Even though she was working three jobs and playing with the Furies, she felt she had enough work flexibility to pitch a documentary to the club in the fall of 2019.

The original idea was a past, present, and future look at women’s rugby in the United States through the lens of the players.

Established in 1978, the Furies quickly developed into a highly competitive club, and they are currently competing in the Mid-

teams couldn’t afford to push people away. If you wanted to hit someone, you were on the team,” Linstrom says. “By the 1990s, the women’s rugby community was advocating for LGBTQ rights and the Furies had Candace Gingrich as a long-time player.

Eighty percent of the team were lesbians.”

Other aspects of women’s rugby that are brought to light are the camaraderie, commitment, sense of family, and the queer elements of the community.

One Fury player breaks her nose 20 minutes into a match, shoves a tampon up her nose, and goes back in as a blood substitution. Another player breaks her wrist and carpools five hours the next day to North Carolina to support her team during a game.

Toward the end of the film, Linstrom addresses the impact of COVID on a club team such as the Furies. Some are concerned about coming back to play and wonder whether the excitement

(Photo courtesy of Coleen McCloskey)

Atlantic Rugby Union and the Capital Geographic Union, with both Division 1 and Division 3 teams.

In March of 2020, the Furies were ramping up to host their 40th annual Ruggerfest tournament, one of the largest all-women’s rugby tournaments in the United States with brackets including high school, college, social, and competitive clubs.

Then the unexpected happened.

“COVID hit, the tournament was cancelled, and filming of the documentary came to an abrupt stop,” says Linstrom. “The story shifted to the resilience of women and club sports in a way that professional and semi-professional sports teams can’t relate.”

The resulting film, “Furious,” is a touching tribute to the history of women’s rugby, women’s rights, the Furies, tradition, family, and maneuvering through COVID. Four gay women are central figures in the film with one being married and another nonbinary. The players share what women’s rugby was like in the 1970s.

“The beginnings of women’s rugby in the United States coincided with Title IX in 1972. As a sport in its early beginnings,

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will still be there. Others think about trying to replace the players who are leaving the D.C. area.

“Nothing will keep us from getting together. We are not pro athletes, but the highest levels of women’s rugby in the United States is still club teams,” says Linstrom. “The legacy of the club is very important to all of us. Every time we step onto the pitch, we are standing on the shoulders of the players who came before us.

They are our founding bricks.”

“Furious” premiered online in September for family, friends, and Furies players with viewership in 15 states. Linstrom funded the project as producer and director along with a grant from Arlington Cultural Affairs. The film will now be submitted to festivals to reach a larger audience.

Linstrom has moved on from her three part-time jobs and is now working full-time as a video editor at a production studio in Alexandria along with coaching rugby at American University.

The Furies were able to play sevens rugby over the summer and had the first game of their fall fifteens season on Sept. 25.

The trailer is available here: https://vimeo.com/547215559.

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‘Allies’ helps young readers to show up

Straight talk with a light touch and accepting you will screw up

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

You’d do anything for your friends.

You help them in school when they need it, or with a loan in a pinch. Your home is their home, and vice versa. You might share clothes with your friends, seats, secrets and for sure, support but what about people you don’t know that well? In the new book “Allies” by various authors, you start upright and on your feet.

School has started and some kids – kids of color, queer kids, different kids – are struggling.

You want to help but you don’t know how to even begin. So now what?

The first thing to know about being an ally is in the first chapter of this book: You will screw up sometimes. It’s not fun, it’s comfortable, and you can’t just dump your guilt back on whoever you’re trying to support. Instead, learn from it, and get used to it.

But wait. Can’t you help?

“It’s complicated,” says Dana Alison Levy, the first author.

You can loudly be an ally, but when it’s not your time to speak, then hush. Allies remember that pronouns are important things (see above: you’ll screw up) and when someone reveals their preferred name, an ally makes sure it’s used. Allies know that the letters “LGBTQIA” don’t stop at “G.” When they see someone with a disability, they don’t rush in and act like superheroes. They ask first if they can help, and they never see a disabled person as a “tool” to get extra privileges. Likewise, they don’t finish sentences for a stutterer and it should go without saying that allies are never bullies. Nope, they reach for understanding, and if they don’t understand, they can be schooled.

Being an ally doesn’t stop at sexuality or disability, though. You can be an ally for women by standing up to misogyny. You can stand up by seeing color and acknowledging it. You can stand up and admit that there are things you’ll never experience.

And sometimes, being an ally is knowing when it’s time to walk away.

When it comes to being a better friend to those who need one, you always want to do what’s right – but sometimes, right is wrong and arrrrgh! It seems like maybe you need something of an ally to be an ally, and this book can help.

With straight talk but a light touch, “Allies” helps young readers dispense with the awkwardness of not knowing how to act, through reassuring stories meant to show that merely just showing up is a great start. The chapters aren’t long – some are told with artwork – and they’re as diverse as the writers themselves.

They’re not preachy, either: Each is told by an appreciative person who’s received muchneeded support and others whose eyes were opened, giving readers the upbeat, forward-looking, I-can-dothis feeling they might get in the eager moments before a march or a rally.

That makes “Allies” a great first step for any progressivethinking 12-to-18-year-old who needs a good launchpoint. Find this book, read it, and share it with your friends.

FEATURING Jerusalem Quartet

Featuring Pinchas Zukerman, violin/viola and Amanda Forsyth, cello Sunday, Nov. 7 at 4 p.m.

Performing Romantic-era works by Bruckner, Dvorák, and Brahms

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TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Virginia Opera

La Bohème: Rodolfo Remembers

Saturday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 14 at 2 p.m.

A stunning condensed version of Puccini’s masterpiece

‘Allies: Real Talk about Showing Up, Screwing Up, and Trying Again’ Edited by Shakirah Bourne & Dana Alison Levy c.2021 | $16.99 | 240 pages

Keyboard Conversations® with Jeffrey Siegel

The Glorious Music of Chopin Sunday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.

An evening of dynamic performances and fascinating stories

Canadian Brass

Making Spirits Bright

Saturday, Nov. 27 at 8 p.m.

Impeccable music and witty repartee that’s perfect for the whole family

Additional tickets on sale for performances featuring Kristin Chenoweth and more!

TICKETS | cfa.gmu.edu or 703-993-2787 Located on the Fairfax campus of George Mason University. For information on health and safety protocols, visit cfa.gmu.edu/vaccination.

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Freddie’s Halloween

Many patrons dressed in costume to watch Saturday’s drag show (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Patrons dressed in Halloween costumes to watch the Freddie’s Follies drag show at Freddie’s Beach Bar and Grill in Arlington, Va. on Saturday, Oct. 30.

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Potential impact of blockchain on real estate Fostering additional trust in the buying process?

By JEFF HAMMERBERG

Without question, the world of finance and technology is ever changing, and ever evolving, now more than ever before. Cryptocurrency and blockchain are increasingly popular buzzwords, and our world is moving rapidly toward incorporating some of these digitized financial entities into mainstream financial transactions. The real estate market is no exception. LGBTQ+ homebuyers and sellers across the country have been wondering, like many in the real estate market, how something like blockchain might impact the buying and selling process. It’s an important question to ask – and one for which the answer is evolving.

WHAT IS

BLOCKCHAIN ANYWAY ?

At first, the concept of blockchain may seem complicated – but in essence, it is simply a type of database that stores data in digital blocks that are chained together. When new data comes in, it is entered into a new block. After that particular block is filled with data, it is “chained” onto the previous block, which keeps the data in chronological order, with each block being timestamped upon being added to the chain.

Essentially, the blockchain process works as follows: • A request is made for a transaction or a record; • The request is then sent to a network of computers; • Using certain algorithms, the computers process and verify the request; • After being verified, the ledger is updated with a new block of data; • The block of data is time-stamped and added to the blockchain, which can’t be deleted or altered.

Although different types of information can be stored on a blockchain, it has been most commonly used thus far as a ledger for transactions. Bitcoin, for example, uses blockchain as a decentralized way of ensuring that no one single person or group has control – rather, it belongs to all of the users together. The data in a decentralized blockchain is unchangeable – which means that the transactions are permanently recorded, and visible to anyone.

JEFF HAMMERBERG

is founding CEO of Hammerberg & Associates, Inc. Reach him at 303-378-5526, jeffhammerberg@gmail.com or via GayRealEstate.com.

What is blockchain and how might it improve the real estate buying process?

A CLOSER LOOK AT R EAL ESTATE USES

While blockchain certainly has many potential uses, many anticipate that it may have several implications for the real estate market, primarily because its use would foster additional trust in the real estate process.

Blockchains can be used to verify, secure, and automate many parts of a real estate transaction. Some impacts might include: Verifying title: The capability to have a verifiable record of property data that would allow two parties, who may not know one another, to trust that the seller has true ownership of a property and that there are no other claims against the title is incredibly important.

This is one significant potential advantage of using blockchain, which might make the real estate process far more effective and efficient than it is now.

Smart contracts: Smart contracts aren’t just digital versions of existing legal contracts. Instead, they are pieces of computer code that can be used on top of blockchains to automatically trigger certain portions of the real estate process. Smart contracts might be used for things like escrow management, payments, transfer of title, and more. Traditionally, real estate transactions have been conducted face-to-face, although the introduction of smart contracts using blockchain

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platforms may allow real estate assets to be tokenized, and traded in much the same way that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether are traded.

Cutting costs: The transparency and trust fostered by a decentralized blockchain network also have great potential for trimming costs in a real estate transaction.

There could, of course, be savings associated with cutting out the commissions and fees of various intermediaries, as well as costs associated with inspections, loans, and tax assessments, to name a few. If the real estate process became increasingly automated, some of these costs might be reduced, or even eliminated.

Despite all of the potential impacts and uses for blockchain in the real estate market, many experts feel that it will still likely be several years before it is truly utilized in the mainstream real estate industry.

Nevertheless, it is certainly something on the horizon with a great deal of potential and is well worth learning about that potential and how best to plan for it in future real estate transactions.

Without question, blockchain could have a significant impact on the real estate market in the future. Regardless of the way it might change the process of buying or selling real estate, one thing that remains constant in the real estate process is the need for finding and hiring the right real estate agent. That can make all the experience between a satisfying and successful real estate experience, and a stressful one.

10 202.262.7762 michael.moore@compass.com

Michael’s average days on market

103.4% Leveraging repeat business and a steady stream of referrals, Michael’s past performance has paved the way for the success he enjoys today. Adopting a hands-on approach, Michael ensures that each transaction is seamless from start to finish.

Michael’s average list to sale price

Michael loves that in real estate, no one day is the same, and he’s prepared for anything — whether it be an unexpected barrier to tackle or a new chance to go above and beyond for his clients.

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. 1232 31st Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 |202.448.9002

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EMPLOYMENT DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONAL FOR BUSY LGBTQ ACTIVIST

RCM of Washington, a premier disability service provider agency with community-based locations throughout the District of Columbia, is hiring two (2) Direct Support Professionals who will work oneon-one with a life long resident of DC and activist for the LGBTQ community within DC. The person supported is in his fifties, lives in NW, and enjoys bowling in his spare time.

Staff will assist with cooking, laundry, household chores/cleaning, reading/ organizing mail and correspondence, and attendance at rallies, public meetings, and other events for the disability and LGBTQ communities.

When in the community, the person supported uses a motorized wheelchair, prefers to work with a male who is also a lifelong resident of DC and will support and encourage his activism. Must be able to work 24 - 32 hours Mon-Fri. If selected you will be required to attend 1-week orientation session & complete Dept. of Disability Services’ Phase I training. This is during bus. hours (Mon-Fri, 9:00 AM– 5:00 PM). The selected candidate must submit your COVID-19 vaccine records or approval of exemption from DC Health in order to successfully complete onboarding process.

Please visit the job listing link below for further qualifications and details.

RCM of Washington, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer.

Please apply online. No telephone calls, please. https://bit.ly/3bgZjxv

WHOLISTIC SERVICES INC.

is looking for dedicated individuals to work as Direct Support Professionals assisting intellectually disabled adults with behavioral & health complexities in our residential location in the District of Columbia & Maryland.

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Completion of required trainings prior to hire, Completion of Trained Medication Certifications (TME) and/or CMT (Certified Medication Technician) within 6 months of hire, Cleared DOH background Check prior to hire, Valid Driver’s License, Valid CPR & FIrst Aid, Negative COVID-19 test results prior to start of work (taken within 3 days prior to date of hire). COVID-19 vaccination within 45 days of hire.

Contact the Human Resources Department @ 202-832-8787 for information.

COUNSELING COUNSELING FOR LGBTQ

People Individual/couple counseling with a volunteer peer counselor. GMCC, serving our community since 1973.

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No fees, donation requested.

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See website for NPR story on my work

YOUR NAME HERE! HANDYMAN BRITISH REMODELING HANDYMAN

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Trevor 703-303-8699.

LEGAL SERVICES

ADOPTION, DONOR, SURROGACY

legal services. Jennifer represents LGBTQ clients in DC, MD & VA interested in adoption or ART matters.

240-863- 2441, JFairfax@Jenniferfairfax.com.

LIMOUSINES

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BELFORT Time for cozy . . .

Welcome a new season with inviting looks you and your guests will love. Shop Belfort for the area’s largest selection, featuring over 300 sofas in our showroom.

IN-STOCK NEW! HARPER SOFA $799 Design the perfect modern living room with the Harper sofa featuring plush pillow back and seat cushions for extra comfort $799, list $1199. Matching chair $599, list $899. Solid wood, live-edge cocktail table with hairpin legs $999; matching side table $399. Verona leather chair, special order, $1299, list $2199.

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Face masks are recommended for all customers visiting our showrooms.

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