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VOLUME 52 ISSUE 49 ADDRESS PO Box 53352 Washington DC 20009 PHONE 202-747-2077 E-MAIL news@washblade.com INTERNET washingtonblade.com PUBLISHED BY Brown Naff Pitts Omnimedia, Inc. PUBLISHER LYNNE J. BROWN lbrown@washblade.com ext. 8075 EDITORIAL EDITOR KEVIN NAFF knaff@washblade.com ext. 8088 SR. NEWS REPORTER LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com ext. 8079 NEWS REPORTER CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com ext. 8083 REPORTER & INTERNATIONAL NEWS EDITOR MICHAEL K. LAVERS mlavers@washblade.com POP CULTURE REPORTER JOHN PAUL KING PHOTO EDITOR MICHAEL KEY mkey@washblade.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS TINASHE CHINGARANDE, DUNIA ORELLANA, REPORTAR SIN MIEDO, PARKER PURIFOY, PETER ROSENSTEIN, MARK LEE, LATEEFAH WILLIAMS, KATE CLINTON, KATHI WOLFE, ERNESTO VALLE, YARIEL VALDÉS GONZÁLEZ, LYNARE ROBBINS, RACHAEL ESPINET, PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN, KATLEGO K. KOLANYANE-KESUPILE, VICTOR MAUNG, KAELA ROEDER, TREMENDA NOTA, ALBERTO J. VALENTÍN, MAYKEL GONZÁLEZ VIVERO, ORGULLO LGBT. CO CREATIVE DESIGN/PRODUCTION AZERCREATIVE.COM SALES & ADMINISTRATION DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING STEPHEN RUTGERS srutgers@washblade.com ext. 8077 SR. ACCT. EXECUTIVE BRIAN PITTS bpitts@washblade.com ext. 8089 ACCT. EXECUTIVE JOE HICKLING jhickling@washblade.com ext. 8094 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION PHILLIP G. ROCKSTROH prockstroh@washblade.com ext. 8092 NATIONAL ADVERTISING RIVENDELL MEDIA 212-242-6863; sales@rivendellmedia.com For distribution, contact Lynne Brown ext. 8075. Distributed by MediaPoint, LLC

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Comings & Goings

Nathanson takes role at Outright Action 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.

The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ+ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.

Congratulations to Rikki Nathanson on her new position as Senior Advisor – Global Trans Program with OutRight Action International in New York. Nathanson will be based in D.C. “I am absolutely thrilled to be taking on this new role as Senior Advisor in OutRight’s Global Trans Program,” said Nathanson. “I have finally found the perfect fit for me: as a

By PETER ROSENSTEIN

RIKKI NATHANSON

trans woman who has been fighting for equality not only for myself, but for others globally, this position is not only a job, it’s intrinsically part of who I am. So, what better way to live, nurture and grow myself.”

Nathanson will be working closely with all program staff to ensure a cohesive and intentional approach to gender issues throughout OutRight’s programs, including its approach to gender ideology movements. She will lead new initiatives on gender advocacy and policy change, focused but not limited to legal gender recognition and anti-discrimination legislation and policies.

Prior to this Nathanson was director of housing programs at Casa Ruby in D.C. She has also held a number of other positions including: founder/executive director of Trans Research, Education, Advocacy & Training (TREAT), Zimbabwe; chairperson Southern Africa Trans Forum, SATF, Cape Town, South Africa; executive director, Ricochet Modeling Agency, Zimbabwe; and company secretary for Dunlop Zimbabwe Limited, Zimbabwe.

D.C.’s Pitchers, ALOHO receive $100K COVID relief grant

The D.C. LGBTQ sports bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own are among the nation’s first LGBTQ bars that serve food as well as alcoholic beverages to receive a $100,000 COVID relief grant under a $2 million Community Impact Grant Program.

The program, aimed at supporting LGBTQ+ owned and LGBTQ+ allied small businesses struggling from the COVID pandemic, was Pitchers is among several businesses to receive grants from NGLCC. launched in September as a joint project of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, which goes by the initials NGLCC, and the global online food delivery company Grubhub.

In a Nov. 30 announcement, NGLCC and Grubhub said Pitchers and A League of Her Own, which operate as one business in adjoining buildings in D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood, are among the first three recipients of $100,000 grants under the Community Impact Grant Program. The other two recipients are FOODE + Mercantile of Fredericksburg, Va., and Café Gabriela of Oakland, Calif.

“Following this initial round of recipients, more grants will be issued in late 2021 and

early 2022,” the announcement by the two groups says. In an earlier announcement, the groups said the application period for the grants program took place from September through Oct. 12, and the grants would range in amounts from $5,000 to $100,000.

“The impact of COVID-19 has been debilitating for countless restaurant and bar owners, including the many LGBTQ+-owned restaurants across the country who have persisted through lockdowns, operational changes and labor supply shortages,” said NGLCC CoFounder and President Justin Nelson. “We’re grateful to have partnered with Grubhub to offer real lifelines to support businesses throughout the nation,” Nelson said.

“Building community in a fun and safe place has been our mission since the very beginning,” said David Perruzza, the owner of Pitchers and A League of Her Own. “We’re relieved and thankful for these funds, and are looking forward to more stable days ahead,” Perruzza said.

The statement announcing the first three grant recipient says funds for the $2 million grant program were generated by Grubhub’s charitable “Donate the Change” program, with which NGLCC became a partner in June. Grubhub says the program asks customers receiving food delivered by Grubhub “to round out their order and donate the difference” to the charitable fund.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

SMYAL Director Shakir to step down Dec. 31

Sultan Shakir, who has served as executive director of D.C.’s LGBTQ youth advocacy organization SMYAL since August 2014, announced on Friday that he will be stepping down from his position effective Dec. 31.

In a Dec. 3 announcement, SMYAL said details of Shakir’s future career plans would be announced in the coming weeks.

“While we are sad to see Sultan leave, we wish him nothing but the same success in his new endeavor as he had at SMYAL,” said Rob Cogorno, SMYAL’s board chair. “His leadership and vision enabled SMYAL to expand greatly needed services to LGBTQ youth in the DC metro area throughout his tenure,” Cogorno said.

“I am immensely proud of the work we have been able to accomplish together in my time at SMYAL,” Shakir said in a statement released by SMYAL. “SMYAL has been an integral and vital resource in the DMV community for over 37 years, and while we have come a long way in combating homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexual health stigma, homelessness, violence against the LGBTQ community, and oppression, we have a long way to go,” he said.

“This work has never been about one person,” said Shakir. “SMYAL was founded by our community and we’re still around because of our community,” he said. “I leave knowing that the commitment and passion of the SMYAL Board, staff, volunteers, and youth leaders have created a solid foundation from which our work will continue to grow until LGBTQ 0 6 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • DECEMBER 0 3 , 2 0 2 1 • LO CA L NE WS

youth no longer need us.”

The SMYAL statement says that under Shakir’s tenure, SMYAL, which stands for Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders, expanded its programs and services for LGBTQ youth. Among other things, in 2017 SMYAL opened its first of several housing facilities for homeless LGBTQ youth that include culturally competent case management, education and employment assistance.

“The Youth Housing Program now comprises five programmatic models that serve a combined 61 youth residents,” the statement says.

It points out that also under Shakir’s leadership, SMYAL expanded the age range of the youth its programs serve under a new Little SMYALs program, which welcomes LGBTQ youth ages 6-12. And earlier in 2021 under Shakir’s guidance, SMYAL began a new Clinical Services Department “which provides affirming and accessible mental health counseling,” the statement says.

“The SMYAL Board of Directors will officially launch an Executive Search beginning in January 2022 and expects to have named a new Executive Director by summer 2022,” the statement says. It says the board will soon name an interim executive director to work with SMYAL’s Deputy Executive Director, Jorge Membreno, and the organization’s leadership team to oversee the day-to-day activities until a new executive director is named.

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Va. businessman apologizes for burning of rainbow flag poster ‘Shocked and horrified’: Ashburn incident caught on video

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

The owner of a Virginia technology company that hosted a private Veterans Day party on the grounds of an Ashburn, Va., brewery in which a company employee used a flamethrowing device to ignite a rainbow flag poster said the selection of the poster was a mistake and he and his company have no ill will toward the LGBTQ community.

Organizers of an event where a Pride symbol was burned say the incident was a misunderstanding.

The Washington Blade learned about the poster burning from a customer of the Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn, where the incident took place on its outdoor grounds. The customer made a video of the incident with his cell phone and sent a copy of the video to the Blade.

The video, which includes an audio recording, shows a man using a hand-held flamethrowing device to ignite the rainbow poster, which was hanging from a cable and appeared to be mounted on cardboard or a thin sheet of wood. Bystanders can be heard laughing and cheering as the poster is set on fire.

The poster consisted of a variation of the LGBTQ Pride rainbow flag that included the word “love” configured from an upper white stripe on the rainbow symbol.

The customer who took the video, who has asked not to be identified, thought the decision to set the poster on fire was a sign of disrespect if not hatred toward a longstanding symbol of LGBTQ equality and pride.

Chris Burns, Old Ox Brewery’s president, shared that view, telling the Blade he and his staff were “shocked and horrified” when they learned later that a rainbow flag poster had been burned on the brewery’s grounds. Burns said Old Ox supports the LGBTQ community and participated in LGBTQ Pride month earlier this year.

He said the company that held the private party paid a fee to hold the event on the brewery’s grounds, but the brewery did not know a rainbow poster would be burned.

“I’m mortified that our event was interpreted in this way,” said Nate Reynolds, the founder and partner of Hypershift Technologies LLC, the Falls Church, Va.-based technology company that organized the Nov. 11 party at Old Ox Brewery. “I can assure

The Symbol

you that ZERO ill-will or offense was meant,” Reynolds told the Blade in a Nov. 24 email.

“We held a small private party for a few clients, which included a demonstration of Elon Musk’s Boring Company ‘Not a Flamethrower,’” he said in his message. He was referring to one of billionaire businessman Elon Musk’s companies that specializes in boring through the ground to create tunnels for cars, trains, and other purposes.

“After so many being isolated during COVID, we wanted to have an event that was lighthearted and to some small effect, silly,” Reynolds said in his message to the Blade.

According to Reynolds, in thinking about what should be used for “fodder” for the flame-thrower, he went to a Five Below discount store and purchased items such as stuffed animals and posters, including a “Space Jam” movie poster as well as what he thought was a poster of the British rock group The Beatles.

“When I pulled the Beatles poster out of the tube it was instead the ‘Love’ poster,” he said, referring to the rainbow flag poster the Blade asked him about in an earlier email.

“All I focused on was the ‘Love’ wording and not the rainbow and did not draw the conclusion that the poster was an icon that represents the LGBTQ community,” Reynolds said. “It was my own ignorance of not connecting the symbolism of the poster. If I had realized it was a symbol of the LGBTQ community, I would not have used it,” he said.

“I feel terrible, and I want to emphasize that I am solely responsible for this mistake – not the Old Ox Brewery,” he wrote in his message. “Nobody at Old Ox had anything to do with this activity.”

Reynolds added, “Hate has no place in my heart, and I sincerely apologize for any offense that could have been drawn from what I now realize was poor judgement on my part. I simply didn’t correlate this poster with the LGBTQ pride symbol.”

Before Reynolds issued his statement of apology, Burns, the Old Ox Brewery coowner, told the Blade in an email he was “saddened and upset” over the rainbow poster burning on the grounds of his brewery.

“We do not wish to benefit from this event,” he said in his email message. “Therefore, Old Ox is donating 100% of the revenue generated from the private event to GLSEN.” GLSEN is a national LGBTQ advocacy group that focuses on education and support for LGBTQ youth. Burns said Old Ox Brewery also donated proceeds from a Pride month event it organized earlier this year to GLSEN. LGBTQ activists and organizations contacted by the Blade said they were unfamiliar with the variation of the rainbow flag with the word “love” that was the subject of the poster burning incident. The poster is available for sale at Five Below stores in the D.C. metropolitan area for $5.

Small print writings on the poster show it is produced by Trends International LLC, which describes itself on its website as “the leading publisher and manufacturer of licensed posters, calendars, stickers and social stationery products.” The Blade couldn’t immediately determine who designed the poster.

The video of the incident can be viewed at washingtonblade.com.

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‘Very familiar’: Mark Glaze’s story brings into focus mental health for gay men Experts see common story as LGBTQ people enter middle age

By CHRIS JOHNSON | cjohnson@washblade.com

The death by suicide at age 51 of Mark Glaze, a gun reform advocate who was close to many in D.C.’s LGBTQ community, is striking a chord with observers who see his struggles with mental health and alcoholism as reflective of issues facing many gay men as they enter middle age.

Glaze’s story resonates even though much of the attention on mental health issues in the LGBTQ community is devoted to LGBTQ youth going through the coming MARK GLAZE’s death by suicide is bringing into out process and transgender people focus mental health issues faced by gay men. who face disproportionate violence and discrimination within the LGBTQ community in addition to a growing focus on LGBTQ seniors entering later stages of life.

Randy Pumphrey, senior director of behavioral health for the D.C.-based Whitman-Walker Health, said Glaze’s story was “very familiar” as a tale of mental health issues facing gay men in the middle stage of life.

“You’re talking about a gay-identified man who is in his 50s, somebody who has struggled with alcohol misuse — or maybe abuse or dependence— and also depression,” Pumphrey said.

“I think that there has always been a higher incidence of suicide for men in general in their middle age 50 and above, but this increases when you’re talking about gay men, and also if you’re talking about gay men who suffer with mental health issues, or substance use disorder issues.”

Several sources close to Glaze said his death did not come as a surprise. His family has been open about his death by suicide last month while he was in jail after allegedly fleeing the scene of a car accident in Pennsylvania and a long history of depression and alcoholism.

Pumphrey said Glaze’s situation coping with mental health issues as well as the consequences for his role in the accident, were reflective of someone who might “begin to perceive that this is an issue that they can’t get away from, or the consequences they can’t get away from exposure and that can lead somebody to a fatal outcome.”

“My experience is that there have been gay men that I have worked with over the years — particularly in their 50s and early 60s — it’s taken them a long time to recognize the severity of the problem, whether it’s their depression or their substance abuse, and then they find themselves in a very precarious situation because of shame, and so they may not necessarily seek help even though they need help.”

A 2017 study in the American Journal of Men’s Health found the prevalence of depression among gay men is three times higher than the general adult population, which means they are a subgroup at high risk for suicide.

The study found “scant research exists about gay men’s health beyond sexual health issues,” most often with HIV, which means issues related to depression and suicidality “are poorly understood.”

“Gay men’s health has often been defined by sexual practices, and poorly understood are the intersections of gay men’s physical and mental health with social determinants of health including ethnicity, locale, education level and socioeconomic status,” the study says.

The study acknowledged being male itself is one factor incorporated in addressing mental health issues in this subgroup because “regardless of sexual orientation, men can be reluctant to seek help for mental health problems.” Another study quoted in the report found 23 percent, less than one quarter of gay men, who attempted suicide sought mental health or medical treatment.

In addition to mental health issues facing gay men in Glaze’s age group, others saw his situation as a common story in the culture of Washington, which is notorious for celebrating and prioritizing success with little tolerance for personal setbacks.

In the case of Glaze, who had sparred on Fox News with Tucker Carlson as executive director of Everytown for Gun Safety, the threat of exposure and threat to his career may have seemed overwhelmingly daunting.

Steven Fisher, who knew Glaze since the 1990s and worked with him at the D.C.-based Raben Group, said one factor that contributed to Glaze’s condition was “he could only see upward in terms of his career trajectory.”

“We saw that in him and it had me very concerned because I felt like he might end up in a place that wasn’t good once he left Everytown, and that’s tragically and sadly what happened,” 1 0 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • DECEMBER 0 3 , 2 0 2 1 • NAT I O NA L NE WS

Fisher said. “I think he just had trouble adjusting to what is usually a roller coaster ride, I think, in people’s careers, especially in the D.C. world.”

Along with Glaze, Fisher has worked on gun issues for Everytown, which has been a client of his since 2015 after he worked for them in 2012 after the Newtown shooting.

Compounding the challenges that Glaze faced is a culture among many gay men focused on sexuality, which prioritizes youth and appearance and presents problems as those qualities start fading when men enter middle age.

Fisher said another factor in Glaze’s condition was social media, pointing out public perception about his identity was important to him.

“If you look at his social media — I think this is instructive to the rest of us — a lot of the comments are about how Mark was so good looking and he was charming, and he was so smart and so funny,” Fisher said. “That’s all true, and that’s why he was very appealing to many people, but those qualities don’t really tell you everything about a person. In fact, one could argue they’re superficial in a way, and people have to remember people are more complicated than what you see on social media.”

One issue for gay men facing mental health issues as they enter middle age is they don’t have the same resources as those available to LGBTQ youth, who have been more of a focus in terms of mental health issues in the LGBTQ community.

Among the leading organizations for LGBTQ youth is the Trevor Project, which has resources and a hotline for LGBTQ youth facing mental health crises.

Kevin Wong, vice president of communications for the Trevor Project, said his organization would be receptive to an older LGBTQ person who calls the hotline, but ultimately would refer that person elsewhere.

“If an LGBTQ person above the age of 25 reaches out to The Trevor Project’s crisis services for support and expresses suicidal thoughts, our counselors will listen, actively and with empathy, and work with them to de-escalate and form a safety plan, like any other contact,” Wong said. “However, our organization has remained youth-centric since its founding and our volunteer crisis counselors are specifically trained with younger LGBTQ people in mind.”

Much attention is focused on the coming out process for LGBTQ people, a time that can upend close relationships — as well as reaffirm them — and a process more commonly associated with youth.

Ilan Meyer, senior scholar of public policy at the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, said data is scant about suicide rates among LGBTQ people, but information on suicide attempts shows they tend to be at a heightened rate for LGBTQ people as they go through the coming out process.

“What we do know is that there is a connection with the coming out period at whatever age coming out happens,” Meyer said. “And so, we see a proximity to coming out whatever age that happened, we see the suicide attempts proceeding and after that.”

Suicide attempts, Meyer said, are much higher for LGBTQ people than the population at large. The self-reported rate of suicide attempts in the U.S. population as a whole, Meyer said, is 2.4 percent, but that figure changes to 20 to 30 percent among LGBTQ youth, which about to 10 to 15 times greater.

Black and Latino people, Meyer said, have been less likely to make suicide attempts in their lifetimes, although he added that may be changing in recent years.

With the primary focus on mental health issues elsewhere in the LGBTQ community, Glaze’s death raises questions about whether sufficient resources are available to people in his demographic, or whether individuals are willing to seek out care options that are available.

Meyer said whether the resources for suicidal ideologies among LGBTQ people are sufficient and what more could be done “is the the million-dollar question.”

“It’s definitely not determined by just mental health,” Meyer said. “So many people have depression, but they don’t attempt suicide. And so, then the difficult thing is to find the right moment to intervene and what that intervention should be.”

Meyer said much of the focus on mental health is on a person’s last moments before making a suicide attempt, such as making suicide hotlines readily available, but some of the stressors he sees “are more chronic, ongoing things related to homophobia and the kind of experience that LGBT people have as they come to terms to realize their sexual identity.”

Pumphrey said another factor in mental health issues not to be underestimated for almost two years now is “dealing with the COVID and loneliness epidemic,” which appears to have no immediate end in sight with the emergence of the Omnicron variant.

“There was always this piece of sometimes the experience of being in your 50s and early 60s…we talk about the invisibility factor,” Pumphrey said. “But when there’s just this sense of being disconnected from community, especially in the early days of the pandemic, and kind of being locked down, I think that just raised the risk.”

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U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS being held virtually Fauci, Levine, Pelosi among speakers

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Dr. Rachel Levine, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health who became the nation’s highest-ranking transgender public official earlier this year, are among dozens of experts scheduled to participate in the 25th Annual U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS scheduled to take place virtually Dec. 2-3. (For updates, visit washingtonblade.com.)

Fauci and Levine were scheduled Dr. RACHEL LEVINE, the U.S. Assistant Secretary to join Harold Phillips, director of of Health, is among speakers at this week’s U.S. the White House Office of National Conference on HIV/AIDS. (Blade photo by Michael Key) AIDS Policy; and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, as speakers at the conference’s opening plenary session at noon on Thursday, Dec. 2.

Phillips and Levine were expected to provide information about President Joe Biden’s plans for updating the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which Biden was scheduled to announce on Dec. 1 at a White House World AIDS Day event.

Members of the U.S. People Living With HIV Caucus were also expected to discuss the federal policy agenda on HIV/AIDS at the opening plenary session.

In addition to the opening plenary and three other plenary sessions, one more on Thursday, Dec. 2, and two on Friday, Dec. 3, the conference was scheduled to include 140 workshop sessions on a wide variety of HIV/AIDS related topics.

The annual United States Conference on HIV/AIDS is organized by the D.C.-based national HIV/AIDS advocacy organization NMAC, which was formerly known as the National Minority AIDS Council before it changed its name to that of its widely known initials NMAC.

“NMAC leads with race to urgently fight for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America,” the organization states on its website. “Health equity with communities of color is everyone’s challenge.”

Several of the workshop sessions cover the topic of expanding the local, state, and national efforts of using pre-exposure prophylaxis drugs known as PrEP as a means of preventing HIV infection.

Other workshop sessions include: HIV CURE – Hot Topics in HIV Cure Research; A Town Hall on Aging and HIV; COVID, HIV, and Racism – How Providers Can Make a Difference; Expanding the Pleasure and HIV Prevention Toolkit: Kink As Harm Reduction; It’s About Time – HIV Research Just For Transgender Women; and Impact of COVID-19 on HIV Prevention Services Among U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-Funded Community Based Organizations.

The conference’s fourth and closing plenary session, Foundation Stones to Building the EHE Effort in Indian County, “will highlight the work of those addressing HIV and COVID in Indian Country, rural states and among Alaska Natives with limited infrastructure,” according to a conference agenda statement.

“This plenary addresses these challenges and provides innovative solutions by the Indian Country – making the case to support Native HIV care by providing essential building blocks,” the agenda statement says.

Paul Kawata, NMAC’s executive director, says in a statement in the conference’s agenda booklet that he and his NMAC team are disappointed that the 2021 conference is being held virtually for the second year in a row.

“But we felt the issue of safety was simply too critical to ignore,” Kawata said in his statement. “I’ve been very concerned about our loved ones over 50 living with HIV through the whole COVID pandemic,” he said, noting that people in that category were dealing with isolation as well as a higher risk for COVID. “I hope this conference, even though it is virtual, will help alleviate some of that isolation,” Kawata said. “We’ve worked very hard to make this conference not just an opportunity for training and education, but a chance to connect with others, reinforce those strands in your support net, and hopefully, establish some new connections.”

More information about the U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS and instructions on registering to attend can be obtained at nmac.org.

Biden recognizes LGBTQ survivors in World AIDS Day statement Trump failed to mention community during his administration

By CHRIS JOHNSON | cjohnson@washblade.com

President Biden recognized LGBTQ people as among the survivors of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on Tuesday in a statement recognizing World AIDS Day, marking a departure from consistent omissions of the LGBTQ community under the Trump administration.

“Ending the HIV epidemic is within our reach, and we are committed to finishing this work,” Biden said. “On World AIDS Day, we rededicate ourselves to building on the progress of the last 4 decades; upholding and advancing human rights; supporting research, science, and data-driven solutions; expanding access to housing, education, and economic empowerment; and fighting stigma and discrimination. No one living with HIV should suffer the undeserved guilt and prejudice that too many continue to experience.”

Biden, as the world recognizes World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, enumerated LGBTQ people as survivors in a paragraph acknowledging the coronavirus pandemic has presented new obstacles in efforts to beat HIV/AIDS. “The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the challenges our heroic health care and frontline workers face, yet they continue to deliver essential HIV prevention services and provide vital care and treatment to people living with HIV,” Biden said. “The pandemic has also interrupted HIV research and highlighted the work that still remains to achieve equitable access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment in every community — particularly for

‘Ending the HIV epidemic is within our reach, and we are committed to finishing this work,’ said PRESIDENT BIDEN in his World AIDS Day statement.

communities of color, adolescent girls and young women, and the LGBTQI+ community.”

The inclusion of LGBTQ people in a statement recognizing World AIDS Day stands in contrast to statements from President Trump, who consistently declined to mention the LGBTQ community in each of his statements. The consistent omissions took place even though top health officials under the Trump administration started the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, which seeks to beat HIV/AIDS by 2030.

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Last year, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, asked by the Washington Blade why the LGBTQ community was missing from the 2020 statement, responded with a false statement that Trump was the first to observe World AIDS Day by adorning the White House with a large red AIDS ribbon. In fact, the practice began under President George W. Bush and had continued through the Obama and Trump administrations.

The inclusion of LGBTQ people in Biden’s World AIDS Day statement is consistent with former President Obama mentioning LGBTQ people as among the survivors of HIV/AIDS in his final World AIDS Day statement. In 2016, Obama acknowledged “gay and bisexual men, transgender people, youth, Black and Latino Americans, people living in the southern United States, and people who inject drugs are at a disproportionate risk” of the disease.

Biden in his World AIDS Day statement says his administration “remains steadfast in our efforts to end the HIV epidemic,” ticking off policies his administration has pursued, including a budget request of $670 million to fight HIV/AIDS domestically and support for global initiatives to fight HIV/AIDS, which he said has save more than 21 million lives.

“This remarkable progress over the past 18 years has been made possible through strong, bipartisan United States leadership and American generosity,” Biden said.

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Canada introduces bill to ban conversion therapy The Canadian government on Monday introduced a bill that would ban socalled conversion therapy in the country.

The bill that Attorney General David Lametti and Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien introduced would amend Canada’s Criminal Code to specifically ban: • Causing another person to undergo conversion therapy; • Removing a minor from Canada to subject them to conversion therapy abroad; • Profiting from providing conversion therapy; • Advertising or promoting conversion therapy.

Canadian Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU said conversion therapy ‘is discriminatory and degrading.’ (Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

A press release the Canadian government issued said the bill would allow courts “to order the seizure of conversion therapy advertisements or to order their removal from computer systems or the internet.”

“The pain and trauma caused by conversion therapy practices continue to have a devastating impact on LGBTQ2 communities across Canada,” said Ien. “Our government is focused on promoting equality rights and tackling discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and twospirit people. Criminalizing this practice upholds basic human rights, while also ensuring that every Canadian is free to live their authentic lives.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a tweet said conversion therapy “is discriminatory and degrading, and has had devastating impacts on LGBTQ2 Canadians.”

“It has no place in our country,” he said.

Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault, who previously advised Trudeau on LGBTQ issues, also applauded the bill’s introduction.

“Conversion ‘therapy’ is akin to torture,” said Boissonnault. “I encourage all of my colleagues in the House (of Commons), to support this bill that will move to criminalize conversion therapy in Canada once and for all.”

Canada would join Malta and a handful of countries that ban conversion therapy.

Trudeau, who won re-election in September, has previously called for a prohibition of the widely discredited practice. The Canadian Senate earlier this year tabled a separate conversion therapy ban bill.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Dutch gov’t apologizes for sterilizing trans, intersex people The Dutch government on Saturday formally apologized to transgender and intersex people who were forced to become sterile in order to legally change their gender.

The Gender Change Act, which was also known as the Transgender Act, was in effect in the Netherlands from 1985 until its repeal in 2014.

Education, Culture and Science Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven and Law Minister Sander Dekker last year on behalf of the Dutch government apologized to trans and intersex people who had undergone forcible sterilizations. The Dutch government also agreed to pay 5,000 euros ($5,633.68) to around 2,000 trans people who had sterilization surgeries.

A ceremony did not take place because of the pandemic.

Van Engelshoven issued Saturday’s the formal apology during a meeting with trans and intersex people that took place at the Ridderzaal, a 12th century building in The Hague that the Dutch government uses for speeches from the country’s royal family and other important ceremonial events.

“For decades we have had a law that has harmed transgender

and intersex people,” said van Engelshoven. “People have undergone medical treatment that they did not want, or have been forced to postpone becoming themselves. Today, on behalf of the entire Cabinet, I make our deepest apologies. Recognition of and apologies for what has been done to these people and which has caused a lot of grief for those involved is extremely important and is central to this special day in the Ridderzaal.”

Transgender Netwerk Nederland in a press release said the Netherlands is the first country in the world to issue such an apology. The advocacy group notes the Dutch government last month began to compensate trans and intersex people who were forcibly sterilized, but adds the amount of money they will receive remains too low.

“The government has structurally disadvantaged and damaged transgender and intersex people for almost 30 years,” said Willemijn van Kempen, who spearheaded the campaign for the formal apology. “It is important that it now apologizes for that.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Hungarian lawmakers back LGBTQ referendum Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday approved a resolution that paves the way for a referendum on LGBTQ issues.

Reuters noted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is running for re-election in 2022, earlier this year proposed a referendum on a law that bans the promotion of homosexuality and sex-reassignment surgery to minors in Hungary.

“The Hungarian government proposes that citizens should have a chance to express their stance on the issues of gender propaganda,” Deputy Minister Balázs Orbán told Hungarian MPs, according to Reuters. “We are committed.

We believe that we … have to say no to LGBTQ propaganda in schools carried out with the help of NGOs and media, without parental consent.”

Orbán continues to face criticism over his government’s efforts to curtail LGBTQ rights in Hungary.

Lawmakers late last year amended the country’s constitution to define

family as “based on marriage and the parent-child relation” with “the mother is a woman, the father a man” and effectively banned same-sex couples from adopting children. Hungarian MPs in April 2020 approved a bill that bans transgender and intersex people from legally changing their gender.

Hungary in August issued a decree that restricted the sale of children’s books with LGBTQ-specific themes.

The European Commission in July announced legal action against Hungary after the law that will go before voters took effect.

Orbán in September said Brussels has withheld funds for the country’s pandemic recovery plan because of his government’s anti-LGBTQ policies.

An EU spokesperson said LGBTQ issues did not factor into the decision to withhold the money.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

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ISAAC AMEND

(he/him/his) is a trans man and young professional in the D.C. area. He was featured on National Geographic’s ‘Gender Revolution’ in 2017 as a student at Yale University. Isaac is also on the board of the LGBT Democrats of Virginia. Find him on Instagram @isaacamend.

Publish trans employment stats Not enough corporations that march in Pride are hiring non-binary staff On Nov. 10, the top-tier consulting firm McKinsey published a report on discrimination toward trans people in the workplace. The report came out with numbers that we have all known true for a long time and lead to one conclusion: Trans people have a harder time finding jobs, holding them down, and advancing in their careers.

Specifically, McKinsey cited the fact that cisgender people are twice as likely to be employed as trans people, and that more than half of trans employees are uncomfortable being out at work. Meanwhile, cisgender employees make 32% more than trans employees in the workplace, even if those trans employees hold the same positions or higher positions.

On top of this, trans people are 2.4 times more likely to be working in the food and retail industries, which pay entry level wages that are much less than decent pay.

These statistics are true based on a number of factors. For one, many trans people have a harder time passing at work, and people who don’t pass well face worse job prospects. (As a side note, on top of that, the study pointed to the fact that many trans people exert undue emotional and psychological energy into trying to pass really well and not be discriminated against, which takes a toll on their mental health.)

So what is a concrete step that corporations can take to make the trans experience in the workplace better? It’s time that corporations step up their game by publishing and making transparent the number of trans employees that they actually hire. Such numbers can be published in any kind of company document: a pamphlet, online report, or even annual shareholder’s report. As it is, most corporations do not publish numbers on LGBT employees.

“Rainbow capitalism” is a term we know all too well: major corporations and multinationals flaunting a rainbow and trans pride flag during the month of June, but seemingly doing little to hire more trans people or give back to the community during other months.

Every corporation surely has the time and company-wide infrastructure to get statistics on their trans employees. All they need to do is implement a company-wide survey to new hires. This takes extremely little effort and time in the grand scheme of company workings.

If major corporations like McKinsey, Bain, Deloitte, defense contractors, and hundreds of other huge companies published statistics on trans employees, they would be held accountable for their actions and words.

If these statistics were to be published today, we would probably find out that not enough corporations that march in Pride parades are hiring trans and gender nonconforming employees.

Turning the numbers against corporations will ensure that these same corporations finally live up to their words about workplace inclusion and diversity. It won’t cure everything about the issue of being trans in the workplace, but it’s a step in the right direction.

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PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

Should we be scared of Omicron?

A reminder to stay vigilant against latest mutation

It’s Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend when I sit down to write this column. The craziness in the world continues but other than the scare of the new COVID mutation, which has been named Omicron, there isn’t one headline to grab attention. Instead, there are many, including some manufactured by the news media to gain viewers or sell papers. Some like the car rampaging through the Christmas parade is frightening but incidents like this seem to be happening all too often.

The stock market went down 1,000 points on Friday because market players freaked out about the new COVID mutation coming out of South Africa. However that didn’t seem to stop people from spending their money on Black Friday.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) was again on the attack this time against fellow Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) accusing her of being a Muslim terrorist.

She apologized, or pretended to, but again the Republican leadership wouldn’t condemn her statements. These things seemed to be grist for the news media with no one else unfortunately really voicing concern.

Boebert’s comments were taken as old hat. They are disgusting, offensive, and dangerous, but as long as her constituents reelect her we will have to live with them.

She is joined by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.), Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), and Paul Gosar (R-Wyo.) who represent the worst in Congress and the worst of the American people. Yet again until their constituents throw them out we have to live with their stupidity and the absurdity of their being where they are.

The new COVID mutation out of South Africa is potentially a game changer.

But it will be important for scientists to look at this carefully to determine how quickly it spreads and whether or not the current vaccines will offer any protection against it. Countries around the world, including the United States, have quickly instituted travel bans for South Africans and those in countries surrounding it. The World Health Organization at this time has suggested this should not be done as it will have limited impact on its spreading and could have severe and detrimental economic impact on countries whose people are being banned. One thing we must learn from this is how important it is to ensure everyone all over the world has access to vaccines as we know the more people who are inoculated the harder it is for the virus to mutate. It is not time to panic yet and by Sunday there was some reporting this new mutation may not be any more difficult to deal with than the current ones and not lead to any more severe illness. The takeaway from all this is we need to keep vigilant, get vaccinated and get booster shots, and make sure we vaccinate our children. Continue to wear masks indoors and wash our hands.

Now the other interesting stories last weekend were about what will happen in the Senate in the weeks leading up to the Christmas holidays. Remember the House of Representatives passed President Biden’s Build Back Better bill as a reconciliation measure, which means it can pass the Senate with a simple majority.

That would mean every Democratic senator and the vice president. The focus is on two senators: Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sinema (D-Ariz.). In reality we need to look at a number of others who will fight to either take out or put something into the bill the House passed. It is clear it will not pass in the current form and then it has to go back to the House again.

Another issue that will be taken up is the debt ceiling. It may be a little easier than thought because as recently reported, “After taking a hard line and refusing to negotiate with Democrats during the last standoff over the debt limit, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is quietly looking for a way to get the issue resolved without another high-profile battle.” Then there is the budget and since none is passed Congress will have to pass another continuing resolution since the one they passed in September expires on Dec. 3.

So for the next few weeks there will be a focus on the Senate to see what they do and how obstructionist Republicans want to be. Seems while things change, they somehow remain the same.

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KATHI WOLFE

a writer and a poet, is a regular contributor to the Blade.

Sondheim’s art will be with us for the ages

Iconic work explored sadness, rage, irony, and love of humanity “The only regret I have in life is giving you birth,” his mother wrote in a letter to Stephen Sondheim.

The only regret so many of us feel now is that Sondheim, the iconic composer and lyricist, died on Nov. 26 at his Roxbury, Conn. home at age 91.

He is survived by Jeffrey Romley, whom he married in 2017, and Walter Sondheim, a half-brother.

F. Richard Pappas, his lawyer and friend, told the New York Times that the cause of death was unknown, and that Sondheim had died suddenly. The day before he passed away, Sondheim celebrated Thanksgiving with friends, Pappas told the Times.

“Every day a little death,” Sondheim wrote in “A Little Night Music.”

This isn’t the case with the passing of Sondheim. Whether you’re a Broadway star or a tone-deaf aficionado like me, you’ll sorely miss Sondheim, who the Times aptly called “one of Broadway history’s songwriting titans.”

Like multitudes of his fans, I don’t remember a time in my life when a song from a Sondheim musical hasn’t been in my head.

When I was a child, my parents repeatedly played the cast album of “Gypsy,” the 1959 musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sondheim and book by Arthur Laurents. My folks loved the story of the show, which was loosely based on the life of the burlesque artist Gypsy Rose Lee. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard Ethel Merman belt out “Everything’s Coming Up Roses!” When I need to jumpstart my creative juices, I remember that “You Gotta Get a Gimmick.”

In college, I felt that “Company,” the 1970 musical with music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by George Furth, spoke to my generation.

As was the case with Sondheim’s musicals, “Company” didn’t have a conventional plot, happy ending, or tidy resolution. It takes place during Bobby’s 35th birthday party.

Bobby, who is single, is celebrating with his friends (straight, married couples). Bobby likes having friends but doesn’t want to get married.

Sondheim didn’t come out as gay until he was 40. Yet, even in the 1970s, it was hard not to think that Bobby in “Company” wasn’t gay.

Once you’ve heard Elaine Stritch sing “The Ladies Who Lunch” from “Company,” it becomes indelibly etched in your brain.

Who else but Sondheim could have written, “And here’s to the girls who play/smart-/ Aren’t they a gas/Rushing to their classes in optical art,/Wishing it would pass/Another long exhausting day/Another thousand dollars/A matinee, a Pinter play/Perhaps a piece of Mahler’s/I’ll drink to that/And one for Mahler!”

In September, I, along with legions of other theater lovers, were thrilled when Sondheim told Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show,” that he was working with David Ives on a new musical called “Square One.” In his musicals from “Follies” to “Sweeney Todd” to “Sunday in the Park with George,” Sondheim, through his lyrics and music, revealed the internal depths of his characters and the sadness, tenderness, bitterness, rage, irony, wit, and love of humanity.

Sondheim’s wordplay was so brilliant that he did crossword puzzles for New York magazine.

Over his decades-long career, Sondheim won every award imaginable from the Pulitzer Prize for “Sunday in the Park with George” to the Presidential Medal of Freedom (awarded to him by President Barack Obama in 2015). He received more than a dozen Tony Awards for his Broadway musicals and revivals as well as a Tony Award for lifetime achievement in 2008.

Thankfully, Sondheim’s art will be with us for the ages.

A remake of “West Side Story,” directed by Steven Spielberg with a screenplay by Tony Kushner, premieres this month.

Sondheim is a character in the Netflix film “tick, tick BOOM!,” directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The movie is based on an autobiographical posthumous Jonathan Larson (the composer of “Rent”) musical. Sondheim is supportive of Larson’s work.

Thank you Stephen, for your art! R.I.P.

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The ultimate guide to queer gift giving 2021 These handpicked presents will leave recipients jumping for joy

By MIKEY ROX

Audio’s Evo 75, the sleek, cutting-edge, all-in-one system pumping out crystal-clear sound quality fit for a queen. $2,250, CambridgeAudio.com queen.

Stumped over what gifts to give your family, friends, and neighbors this year? Check this list then check it twice, because while you’ve been naughty, they’ve been nice.

YuJet Surfer Electric Jetboard

Wild Roots Spirits

If ocean-based watersports scare the bejesus out of you – because sharks! – the YuJet Surfer Electronic Jetboard offers a compromise to satisfy your thrill seeking, all limbs intact. With a top speed of 24 mph, range of 16 miles, and a 40-minute ride time, users can sit or stand on the battery-powered, remote-operated board that quietly glides across lakes, rivers, canals, and other bodies of water devoid of man-eating monsters. $10,000, YuJetUSA.com

Wild Roots Spirits’ five-times filtered, five-times distilled corn-based vodkas – in seasonal flavors like pear, cranberry, and apple-cinnamon – will spice up your soft and hard holiday seltzers and sodas for a little added zip on your lips. $30, WildRootsSpirits.com $30,

Takumi by Yokai Express

Not only can the Takumi machine cook ramen, dim sum, rice, dumplings, pasta and more, but it also has the dubious distinction of being the choice ramen-making machine of Tesla’s offices – because of course it is: Elon Musk wouldn’t be caught dead microwaving Oodles of Noodles like the rest of us. $400, YokaiExpress.com us.

Mind-Pop Casserole Pans

Perfect for campground cooking or gourmet meals made at home, Darling Spring’s ultra-pretty MindPop enamel casserole pans by Kapka add a Pollocksplashed joie de vivre to the meal-making experience, which seamlessly moves from stovetop to serving table without dirtying another dish. $45, DarlingSpring.com

Oliver Charles Sweater

Oclean Water Flosser

What do you get when Tibetan yak wool meets the world’s most advanced 3D-knitting machines?

An antimicrobial, soft-as-cashmere, day-to-night sweater that instantly becomes one of the most versatile and comfortable pieces in your closet that washing. $220, Oliver-Charles.com rarely needs washing.

Traditional floss isn’t exactly a budget buster, but the Oclean W10 Water Flosser is a sleek, no-waste and, yes, cheaper-in-the-long-run alternative with five distinctive modes and four high-performance nozzles to keeps the crevices between those pearly whites crud- and cavityfree. $60, Oclean.com

Flat Brim Wines

Bring a trio of varietals to the holiday table with Flat Brim Wines’ Not Series, including the 2020 “Not Tragic” Pinot Noir, 2020 “Not Basic” Picpoul/Roussanne, and 2020 “Not Extra,” which, if it were Opposite Day, two out of three would describe you to a T.

Playcraft Shuffleboard Table

Playcraft edges out its at-home gaming competition with the Georgetown Espresso Shuffleboard featuring solid wood construction, richly stained accent features, and furniture-grade finishes that are a far cry from the warped, frat boy-abused tables dying slow deaths in dive bars everywhere. $1,595, SawyerTwain.com

ChefWave Milkmade

Round up your favorite rice, soybeans, nuts and oats for homemade vegan milk alternatives that cost pennies on the dollar compared to pre-packaged versions of the same at your local supermarket. Just add water and a handful of your desired ingredient to churn out 20 ounces of liquid health in about 15 minutes. $200, MyChefWave.com MyChefWave.com

Cambridge Audio Evo 75

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Knitting Knowledge Starter Kits

If the summer Olympics taught us anything it’s that Tom Daley is a multitalented athlete poised to take knitting gold someday, and you can train for your spot on the team with Knitting Knowledge starter kits, including beginner socks, baby blankets, and beanies that include everything you’ll need – from yarn to needles to patterns – to complete the project with a perfect score. $18-$80, KnittingKnowledge.com score.

Electronic Bidet

If you’ve been on the fence about installing a backside-cleansing bidet in your bathroom, consider this: Toilet paper isn’t getting any cheaper, and it only takes a moderate COVID-induced run on the supermarkets before you’re forced to hunt it down on the black markets – again. $140-$650, Brondell.com again.

Stark Custom Kitchen Knives

Upgrade your store-bought block knives to a set of Stark Creations chef’s, paring, and nakiri custom knives, forged from scratch to complement your personality or overall kitchen aesthetic. $265-$515, StarkCreationsUS.com aesthetic.

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Roast your nuts by an open fire during an in-thebuff cuddle sesh featuring your fave holiday flicks in American Blossom’s herringbone weave blanket made from West Texas Organic Cotton. $195, AmericanBlossomLinens. com

CONTINUES ON PAGE 24

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Whiskey lovers who grab life by the horns will count this hand-blown, lead-free bull decanter among their prized possessions this Christmas while you enjoy the holly-jolly feeling of knowing that each purchase plants a tree. $80, prestigehaus.com tree. $80, (Mikey Rox is an award-winning journalist and LGBTQ lifestyle expert whose work has been published in more than 100 outlets. Connect with Mikey on Instagram @mikeyroxtravels.)

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DE C E M B E R 0 3 , 2 0 2 1 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 2 5

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CALENDAR |

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Friday, December 03 The Equality Chamber of Commerce DC will host the 2021 Black and Chic Holiday Extravaganza at 6 p.m. at Darcy Hotel’s Route Gainsbourg Ballroom. This event is sponsored by Diceros Law & Seven 16 Vodka. Tickets are $25 for members and $50 for non-members. More details are available at business.eccdc.biz/events.

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).

Saturday, December 04 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. There will be activities such as watching movies, poetry events, storytelling, and more.

For more information, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

Saturday Night Heated Rooftop Sagittarius Bash at 11:30 p.m. at Ivy City Smokehouse. There will be hookah, food, drinks, and music by DJ Sedrick Dayton and DJ MoMoney. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.

Sunday, December 05 Drag Show Brunch will be at 12 p.m. at Axes and Os. The event will be hosted by Frieda Poussay. Tickets include a show and brunch buffet. Visit Eventbrite for more details.

Trauma-sensitive gentle yoga will be at 6 p.m. at Eaton DC. This class offers trauma-informed approaches for an alignment-based, gentle vinyasa (flow) suitable for all levels. Visit Eventbrite for more details.

Monday, December 06 There will be a free LGBTQ+ dance-fitness outdoor class at 6:30 p.m. at Virginia Highlands Park. It is beginner friendly, and a safe inclusive space for all fitness levels and all body types. Visit Eventbrite for more details.

Not Another Drag Show will be at 8 p.m. at Dupont Italian Kitchen. This event will be hosted by Logan Stone.

This event is free and details are available on Eventbrite.

Tuesday, December 07 Center Aging: Women’s Social & Discussion Group will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This inaugural event is a place where older LGBTQ+ women can meet and socialize with one another. There will be discussion, activities, and a chance for guests to share what they want future events to include. For more details, email lydiat@ thedccenter.org.

Remake Happy Hour fundraiser will be at 6 p.m. at 1606 20th St., N.W. With a $10 donation (donations will be accepted at the door) to Remake, guests will receive a wristband that give access to food and drink specials throughout the event. For more information visit Eventbrite.

Wednesday, December 08 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.

The Town of Cheverly will host a strategic planning community input session at 6 p.m. at Cheverly American Legion. This meeting will help create a new vision, shape priorities that will move the town forward, strengthen internal operations and strategically allocate resources over the next five years. For more details, visit Eventbrite.

Thursday, December 09 Queer Book Club will be at 7 p.m. via Skype. This month’s discussion will be about “The Christmas Deal” by Keira Andrews. Email supportdesk@thedccenter.org for more details.

The DC Center’s Food Pantry Program will be all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community in partnership with Hungry Harvest to provide community members with fresh farm produce. No proof of residency or income is required. Visit the DC Center’s website for more information.

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OUT & ABOUT Team DC celebrates holidays by giving back Team DC will host a holiday and winter clothing drive on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 6 p.m. at Uproar Lounge and Restaurant.

Guests are encouraged to donate two items — two coats, sweats, pairs of gloves, shoes — to receive a complimentary rail drink or Bud Light. Team DC will provide food and holiday raffles.

To RSVP for this event, visit Team DC’s Facebook page.

Busboys and Poets to focus on peace in 2022 Busboys and Poets will host “The 2022 NYE Peace Party” on Friday, Dec. 31 at 9 p.m. at Busboys and Poets in Columbia.

The event will feature peace activists and literary powerhouses such as political activist, philosopher, academic, scholar and author Angela Davis, activist, scholar and educator Gina Dent, and renowned writer, poet, playwright and activist Sonia Sanchez, among others.

There will also be live music, food, party favors, champagne toast and free parking. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.

Team DC is accepting donations of coats, sweats,gloves,and shoes on Dec. 8 at Uproar.

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‘Capote’s Women’ is catnip to older pop culture fans Revisiting iconic author’s seven ‘swans’

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

Her lips are locked tight.

Your best friend knows all your secrets, and she’s keeping them; you told her things you had to tell somebody, and she’s telling nobody. You always knew you could trust her; if you couldn’t, she wouldn’t be your BFF. But as in the new book “Capote’s Women”

by Laurence Leamer, what kind of a friend are you?

For months, Truman Capote had been promising a blockbuster.

Following his success with “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “In Cold Blood,” he was “one of the most famous authors in the world” but he needed a career-booster. The novel he was writing, he teased, would be about “his swans,” seven wealthy, fashionable women who quite personified “beauty, taste, and manners.”

His first swan was Barbara “Babe” Paley, whom he’d met on a trip with the David Selznicks to Jamaica. For Capote, “Babe was the epitome of class,” simply “perfect” in every way; it helped that the famously gay writer was no threat to Paley’s “madly jealous” husband.

Babe’s “dearest friend” was Nancy “Slim” Keith, who quickly learned that if a lady wanted her confidences kept, she didn’t tell Capote anything. She shouldn’t have trusted Babe, either: When Slim left for a European trip, Babe asked if Slim’s husband could accompany Babe’s friend, Pamela Hayward, to a play.

Slim was aware of Pamela’s predatory reputation, but what could she say?

Of course, Pamela, another of Truman’s swans, stole Slim’s man, a scandal that Capote loved.

Gloria Guinness was highly intelligent, possibly enough

‘Capote’s Women’

By Laurence Leamer

c.2021, Putnam $28/356 pages

to be a spy in Nazi Germany. Lucy “C.Z.” Guest was an uppercrust “elitist” with a “magical aura.” Marella Agnelli “was born an Italian princess”; Lee Radziwill, of course, was Jacqueline Kennedy’s sister.

Through the late 1960s, Capote claimed to be writing his masterpiece, his tour de force based on his swans, but several deadlines passed for it. He was sure Answered Prayers “would turn him once again into the most talked-about author in America.”

Instead, when an excerpt from it was published, his swans got very ruffled feathers.

Every time you stand in line for groceries, the tabloids scream at you with so much drama that you either love it or hate it. Or, in the case of “Capote’s Women,” you cultivate it.

And that’s infinitely fun, as told by author Laurence Leamer.

Happily, though, Leamer doesn’t embellish or disrespect these women or Capote; he tells their tales in order, gently allowing readers’ heads to spin with the wild, globe-hopping goings-on but not to the point that it’s overdone. While most of this book is about these seven beautiful, wealthy, and serially married women – the Kardashians of their time, if you will – Capote is Leamer’s glue, and Truman gets his due, as well.

Readers who devour this book will be sure that the writer would’ve been very happy about that.

“Capote’s Women” should be like catnip to celeb-watchers of a Certain Age but even if you’re not, find it. If you’re a Hollywood fan, you’ll want to get a lock on it.

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Verhoeven returns with subversive tale of lesbian nun in ‘Benedetta’

Period drama delivers sex, violence, and horrors of the Black Death

By JOHN PAUL KING questions for themselves.

There was a time when Paul Verhoeven What concerns “Benedetta” more than was a big deal in Hollywood. any esoteric debate is a sly-yet-candid The Dutch filmmaker first attracted commentary on the various levels of international attention during an early societal hierarchy and the ways in which career in his homeland, with critically the flow of power perpetuates itself acclaimed movies like “Turkish Delight” through their devotion to maintaining and “Soldier of Orange,” which found the status quo. As Benedetta’s perceived an audience outside of the Netherlands holiness carries her upward through the and brought him greater opportunities in strata, from unwanted daughter of the America, Once here, he adapted his style merchant class to Mother Superior and to fit a more commercial mold and forged DAPHNE PATAKIA and VIRGINIE EFIRA beyond, more important than the veracity a niche for himself with violent, actionin ‘Benedetta.’ (Photo courtesy IFC Films) of her claims of divinity are the shifting packed sci-fi blockbusters, scoring major and carefully calculated responses of hits with “Robocop” and “Total Recall” those she encounters along the way. Fearing the loss of their own before reaching a pinnacle with “Basic Instinct” – arguably still his power, they ally and oppose themselves in whichever direction will most influential and iconic film. help them maintain it. It’s a Machiavellian game of “keep-away” Then came “Showgirls.” Although the Joe Eszterhas-scripted in which those at the top will not hesitate to use economic class, stripper drama is now revered as a “so-bad-it’s-great” cult classic, it gender, sexuality, and – if all else fails – torture and execution as was a box office bomb on its initial release, and its failure, coupled weapons to repress those they deem unworthy. with the less-spectacular but equally definitive flopping of his next Inevitably, the above scenario provides plenty of fodder for film, “Starship Troopers,” effectively put an end to his climb up the M-TH 11:30AM-10PM • F-SAT 11:30AM-11PM Verhoeven’s movie to make points about religious hypocrisy, Hollywood ladder.

SUN. BRUNCH 11AM-3PM / DINNER 3-10PM systemic oppression, and the way white heterosexual cisgender That was not, however, the end of his story. Verhoeven moved men keep the deck eternally stacked in their own favor – all of which back to his native country (where he was hailed as a returning 322 MASS. AVE. NE • 202.543.7656 invites us to recognize how little things have changed in the five hero) and rebounded with the critically lauded “Black Book” before centuries since Sister Benedetta’s time. That, too, is right in line with spending the next two decades developing and producing new the director’s usual agenda. projects with other filmmakers. In 2016, he assumed the director’s Ultimately though, the signature touch that makes the movie seat again, this time in France, and the resulting work (“Elle”) put him unmistakably his is the way it revels in the lurid and sensational. once more into the international spotlight.

Verhoeven delights in presenting imagery designed to shock Now, he’s back with another French film, and fans of his signature us, and key elements of the film – from hyper-eroticized religious style – a blend of social satire, psycho-sexual themes, graphic visions and explicit lesbian sex, to the prominent inclusion of a violence, and near-exploitation-level erotic imagery that has blasphemous wooden dildo as an important plot point – feel prompted some commentators to label him as a provocateur – have deliberately transgressive. This should be no surprise when one every reason to be excited. remembers that this is the director who brought us not only “Basic “Benedetta,” which receives its long-delayed (due to COVID) Instinct” and “Showgirls” but also “The Fourth Man,” a homoerotic release in the U.S. on Dec. 3, is the real-life story of a Renaissancepsychological thriller from 1983 still capable of making audiences era Italian nun (Virginie Efira), whose passionate devotion to her squirm uncomfortably today; and while all this titillation may trigger faith – and especially to Jesus – sparks disturbing and dramatic the most prudish of viewers, it makes “Benedetta” into a deliciously visions. When young novice Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia) enters subversive, wild-and-wooly ride for the rest of us. More to the point, it the convent and is assigned to her as a companion, it awakens a underscores the film’s ultimate observation about the empowering different kind of passion, and as their secret relationship escalates, nature of sexual liberation. so too do her miraculous episodes, which expand to include the Helping Verhoeven make maximum impact with this obscure physical manifestation of stigmata. Soon, despite the skepticism of historical narrative is a cast that clearly relishes the material as much the Mother Abbess (Charlotte Rampling), she finds herself heralded as he does. In the title role, the statuesque Efira successfully creates as a prophet by the other sisters and the local community, leading a compelling and charismatic figure while remaining an enigma, to controversy, investigation, and a power struggle that threatens someone we can believe in equal measure might be sincere or the authority of the church itself. corrupt and with whom we can empathize either way; likewise, Inspired by “Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Patakia exudes savvy and self-possession, transcending moral Renaissance biography of the real Sister A DItaly,” V E R Judith T I S I NC.GBrown’s PROO F judgment as the object of her affection, and the two performers Benedetta, Verhoeven’s latest work is perhaps his most quintessential 20-12-18 SALES REPRESENTATIVE: JOE HICKLING (jhickling@washblade.com) have a palpable chemistry, which is made all the more compelling to date. In his screenplay (co-written with “Elle” collaborator David EW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of proof. by their thrillingly contemporary approach to the characters. will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of the Birke), the Dutch auteur – who is also a widely recognized, if of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts media llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is controversial, religious scholar – gives free reign to his now-familiar Rounding out the triad of principal roles is Rampling, a cinematic nsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users nk through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws icon who brings prestige and sophistication to the table in a y rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of obsessions, weaving them all together into a sumptuously realized opyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or period drama that delivers copious amounts of nudity and sex, masterful performance as the Abbess; more than just a grounding ADVERTISER SIGNATURE ation, or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia ba the washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless By signing this proof you are agreeing to your contract obligations with the presence for her younger co-stars, she provides an important violence, and horrors oftothe Black Death while exploring any and all liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses bloody washington blade newspaper.

Thisthe includes but is not limited placement, may be incurred by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the payment and insertion schedule. oing representations and warranties. counterbalance with a subtle and layered performance as a woman the phenomenon of faith itself. Is Benedetta a saint or a harlot? Is she who has devoted her life to a belief in which she has no faith, only to chosen by God or mentally ill? Are her visions real or is she a fraud, find herself overshadowed by a charlatan. cynically exploiting the beliefs of those around her in a bold-faced “Benedetta” is not exactly the kind of film that’s likely to put grab for power and glory? And if she’s lying, in the larger context Verhoeven back on the Hollywood fast track – it’s far too radical in its of a world held firmly in the grip of a church that treats salvation as underpinnings for that. Nevertheless, it’s a welcome return to form transactional and levies its presumed moral authority to unlimited from a unique and flamboyant filmmaker we’ve missed for far too financial and political gain, which is greater evil? Though the film long, and his fans – along with anybody with a taste for provocative strongly implies the answers lie somewhere between the “either/ cinema – should consider it a must-see. or” of absolutes, it shrewdly leaves the viewer to contemplate such

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Meet the husbands and creative partners behind ‘Christmas Angel’ A funny, redemptive world premiere with a diverse cast

By PATRICK FOLLIARD

“Ours is like a lava lamp,” says composer Matt Conner describing the collaborative creative process he shares with musical writing partner and husband Stephen Gregory Smith. “We move together in motion in a continual ebb and flow.”

A couple for 23 years, married for eight, and making musicals together for 11, the talented pair’s current offering is “The Christmas Angel,” opening on Dec. 9 at Creative Cauldron in Fairfax.

A musical adaptation of the same-named 1910 novel by Abbie Farwell Brown, it’s the story of Angelina Terry (Kanysha Williams), a wealthy embittered recluse who learns the lessons of Christmas from a box of old toys that she casts into the street. Also featured in the hour-long one-act are Ryan Sellers as Horton, Angelina’s butler, and Carl Williams who plays her brother. The angel and toys are brought to life by an ensemble of a dozen teens plucked from the company’s musical theater training program.

Via phone from their home in Arlington, Smith and Conner shared thoughts on their new show and working style. In attendance are pug dogs Edgar Allan Pug and Lord Byron, whom they call Eddie and Byron in public – otherwise “it’s just too much,” says Conner whose ultimate fantasy involves living on a pug farm where he’d write music and present the occasional show.

Rather than finish each other’s sentences, the duo (both Helen Hayes Award winners – Smith for acting and Conner for directing) expound on one another’s thoughts.

While Conner composes the music, Smith writes the book and lyrics, and together they co-direct. “But there’s no end and beginning where my job ends and his begins,” says Smith. “What we do complements each other’s work.”

Still, there are differences. Smith’s approach is focused. He writes pages at night and edits in the morning. Conner’s method is more relaxed, preferring to sit at the keyboard and talk rather than writing things down. But throughout the creative process, there’s never a moment when the project isn’t on their mind. They can be watching TV or buying milk when an exciting idea pops up, says Conner.

A clever nod to Dickens, the novel is more than just a female “Christmas Carol,” says Smith. And in some spots, he’s beefed up the

55-page book, fleshing out both storyline and characters including the toys whose shabby appearance belies a youthful confidence.

He adds, “Every holiday season you go to the attic and pull down the box, or boxes in my case, of holiday decorations and it’s all old but it’s new. That’s the nostalgic feeling of toys from the attic that we’re trying to find through the show.”

The music is a combination of traditional carols performed by a hand bell chorus, and original Christmas songs that intentionally sound very familiar. The score includes songs “Don’t Hide Your Light,” “The Sweetest Gift,” and “Yestermore” – the moment when the past, present, and future come together.

Also, there’s Angelina’s Bah! Humbug! number “Fiddlesticks,” her great renunciation of the holidays. She believes the world a disappointing place to be, and the sooner realized the better.

Conner and Smith aren’t new to Creative Cauldron. Through the company’s Bold New Works project, the team was commissioned to write five world premiere musicals in just five years. The result was “The Turn of the Screw,” “Monsters of the Villa Diodati,” “Kaleidoscope,” “Witch” and “On Air.” Judging from some of the titles and their slightly macabre content, it seems the duo was better poised to write for Halloween than Christmas, but nonetheless, they were commissioned. Creative Cauldron’s producing director Laura Connors Hull brought them the obscure yet charming book that surprisingly had never before been reworked for stage or celluloid, and the pair got to work last spring.

Conner and Smith agree, “The show is a lot of things rolled up into one.”

Not only is it a funny, redemptive world premiere with a diverse cast, but it’s also a story largely unknown to today’s audiences.

Additionally, the show boasts intergenerational appeal while holding messages about Christmas, family, and finding light when you’re in a darker place.

More information about Conner and Smith, including links to their music and popular podcast “The Conner & Smith Show,” can be found on their terrific website at connersmithmusicals.com.

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Justin Noble

is a Realtor with Sotheby’s International Realty licensed in D.C., Maryland, and Delaware for your DMV and Delaware Beach needs. Specializing in first time homebuyers, development and new construction as well as estate sales, Justin is a well versed agent, highly regarded, and provides white glove service at every price point. Reach him at 202-503-4243 or Justin.Noble@SothebysRealty.com.

What to watch for during an open house Check condition of kitchen, flooring, windows, and more

By JUSTIN NOBLE

Flooring is next on the list. Not so much that the warm wood tones will clash with my Anyone who knows me might say that I am detail obsessed. This has proven to be client’s furniture, but more so the condition of the flooring and how much there is. Again, an amazing asset when looking at real estate. When I scour through listings for clients similar to the windows, coming from a place of utility and replacement. What condition I am analyzing the photos, floor plans, and square feet of each property to ensure that is the flooring in and what type? If I’m lucky enough to find original wood floors my everything flows properly into what my clients are looking for in their home. These items clients have been searching for, how many times have they been refinished and can they I search for also tell the tale of how recently renovated a property is, how well loved it be refinished again? If not, then how large was and a general idea of how much will is the home and what’s the cost to replace be needed to make improvements and the flooring. As I pointed out earlier, on get it into the condition and aesthetic of behalf of my lawyer, I am not a structural which my clients are dreaming. When the engineer either. I would take note of any time comes to see property in person, the low points or dips in the flooring and if fun begins and I am going to provide a needed, consult an engineer to take a few simple tips that you can use on your look at the support pieces of the home.

Sunday open house strolls that we all love Moving onto electrical components. to do.

An easy thing to look for is outlets. Identify The following is by no means an the type of outlets a home has. We are exhaustive list of things that I, and other fortunate here in the DMV to have a individuals, keep an eye out for when plethora of older homes. This comes with touring homes, but these are perhaps the its own set of challenges. If you see an most noticeable and least controversial. outlet that only accepts a two-prong plug Let me state here (for my lawyer warned then likely the electrical system is older me) I am by no means a home inspector, and will need to be upgraded. Looking at contractor, interior designer, etc. the electrical panel for the home is also a The kitchen truly is the heart of the very important step. If there are two prong home, especially with the holidays outlets and glass fuses in the electrical approaching. Some obvious items to panel then this is a great time to call Chip identify are the cabinets. Are they soft and Joanna Gaines as this home will likely close or can you slam them shut in an need a massive overhaul. argument and really get your point Again, this is in no way an exhaustive across? If they are not soft close this When touring a home, check out the condition of kitchen cabinets. list of things to identify as you are house means that likely they are on the older hunting but rather some items that I always look for and point out when advising clients side and as such most items in the kitchen are also on the older side. In the kitchen I with perhaps one of the most expensive and scariest purchases of their lives. These focus mainly on items that are difficult to remove, like cabinetry and counter surfaces. items above are not meant to condemn a home but instead identify if a home is a good Appliances, while sometimes costly, can easily be replaced due to wear and tear. fit for you based on a more in-depth look. Paint and light fixtures can be changed, similar Moving through the house I take note of windows. What material are they made out to hair color, but it’s a bit harder to change one’s heart. Ensuring the overall structure of of? Are they operational or painted shut? And how many are there? This last piece is the home and the more expensive components are in working order and have several CRUCIAL. This not only comes to mind when you need to replace windows but more useful years left is paramount. immediately for the purpose of window coverings — it all adds up quickly.

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+

Gourmet kitchens, including quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances

+

Hardwood-inspired flooring and spa-inspired baths

+

Washer and dryer in each apartment

+

TWO Resort-style saltwater pools with cabanas

+

TWO Rooftop bars with lounge seating

+

TWO Clubrooms with billiards

+

TWO Conference and co-working spaces

+

TWO Fitness centers

+

Pet-friendly and pet-free living options

+

Garage parking available for all residents

+

1.5 blocks to New Carrollton Metro and Amtrak

+

Monthly social resident events

Visit TheRemyApts.com or call 301.637.8065 to schedule your tour!

7730 Harkins Rd | Lanham, MD 20706 | TheRemyApts.com | 301.637.8065

DE C E M B E R 0 3 , 2 0 2 1 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 3 7

for your life EMPLOYMENT

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. Job Requirements Ability to lift up to 75 lbs. 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.

LIMOUSINES

EMPLOYMENT

SEEKING LIVE-IN SALARIED DRIVER/CHAUFFEUR

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

for older gay couple in NW, DC. Call Joel Martin at 202-498-1065 or email: jn1martin@aol.com

LEGAL SERVICES

ADOPTION, DONOR, SURROGACY

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

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

USE BLADE ADVERTISERS! and tell them,

“I saw your ad in the Blade!”

KASPER’S LIVERY SERVICE Since 1987. Gay & Veteran Owner/ Operator. 2016 Luxury BMW 750Li Sedan.

Proper DC License & Livery Insured. www.KasperLivery.com.

Phone 202-554-2471.

MASSAGE

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Results-Oriented • Affordable

Larry Cohen, LICSW

33 years serving the LGBT community

202-244-0903 socialanxietyhelp.com

See website for NPR story on my work

Courthouse, VA

QUIET, PRIVATE RETREAT for a discerning few.

Sun, Tues,Wed. Contact Gary, 301-704-1158 www.mymassagebygary.com

for your home CLEANING

FERNANDO’S CLEANING: Residential & Commercial Cleaning, Reasonable Rates, Free Estimates, Routine, 1-Time, Move-In/Move-Out 202-234-7050 / 202-486-6183

YOUR NAME HERE! EMAIL NOW TO PLACE YOUR AD

MOVING

PROFESSIONAL MOVING & STORAGE

Let Our Movers Do The Heavy Lifting.

Mention the Blade for 5% off of our regular rates.

Call today 202.734.3080.

classifieds@washblade.com

www.aroundtownmovers.com

CONTINENTAL MOVERS Local & long distance moving services since 1995. Family owned business $90 x 3 men plus driving time. Free 10 boxes 202-438-1489 or 301-340-0602 Email: Cmora53607@msn.com www.

continentalmovers.net

RENT / DC

CAPITOL HILL 1 BR

@ 1122 F St NE fully renovated with galley kitchen, wood floors. Call Joel Martin at 202498-1065 or email: jn1martin@aol.com

HANDYMAN

BRITISH REMODELING HANDYMAN

Local licensed company with over 25 years of experience. Specializing in bathrooms, kitchens & all interior/exterior repairs. Drywall, paint, electric & wallpaper.

Trevor 703-303-8699

SALE / ELSEWHERE

55+ LGBTQ/Allies –

www.villagehearthcohousing.com

Durham, NC: close-knit sustainable community, accessible homes, shared resources, open front porches, gardens, celebrating everything: hikes to holidays. Email: VillageHearthCohousing@gmail.com or call 561-714-8009.

PROOF #2

ISSUE DATE 170414

REVISIONS REDESIGN TEXT REVISIONS IMAGE/LOGO REVISIONS NO REVISIONS

PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIED AD ONLINE

SALES REPRESENTATIVE PHIL ROCKSTROH prockstroh@

washingtonblade.com/classifieds need help? email: classifieds@washblade.com

REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of proof. Proof will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless from any and all liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the foregoing representations and warranties.

just for fun MEN FOR MEN

DOMINANT, HORNY, GUY, 6’ 3”,

200 lbs, 9” ISO All American, horny, submissive, well hung, white jock! Calls only after 9 pm. 240-656-0140.

BODYWORK

THE MAGIC TOUCH:

Swedish, Massage or Deep Tissue.

Appts 202-486-6183, Low Rates, 24/7, In-Calls.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS from everyone at the Washington Blade!

3 8 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • DECEMBER 0 3 , 2 0 2 1 • C LA S S I F I E D S

A

By wa pa

63rd Annual

Presented by: FBC Chancel Choir A special offering will be taken for the Latin American Youth Center, which serves the greater Washington, DC area.

SUNDAY, December 12, 2021 4:00 p.m.

Christmas Candlelight Carols

1 3 2 8 1 6 T H S T N W, W A S H I N G T O N , D C 2 0 0 3 6 | + 2 0 2 3 8 7 2 2 0 6 www.firstbaptistdc.org

DE C E M B E R 0 3 , 2 0 2 1 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 3 9