Community celebrates life of beloved drag performer Ba’Naka
Associate Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs TYLER EDGE presents a letter of appreciation from Mayor Muriel Bowser honoring Dustin Michael Schaad. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Members of the community gathered at the gay bar Pitchers in D.C. last Saturday to celebrate the life of late drag performer Dustin Michael Schaad. Schaad, who performed for many years in the D.C. metro area as the drag personality Ba’Naka, died on Jan. 11 due to complications associated with a longstanding illness. Friends and family of Schaad joined with dozens of mourners, many of whom were dressed in black and some in drag. Associate Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Tyler Edge presented a letter of appreciation from Mayor Muriel Bowser to Schaad’s family. “He was a dynamic performer and a really vital part of D.C. LGBTQ nightlife,” Edge said as he handed the framed letter to Schaad’s mother. Schaad, as Ba’Naka, performed in several venues throughout the city, but is perhaps best known in his leading role among the Ladies of Town at Town Danceboutique for many years. The popular female illusionist was voted “DC’s Best Drag Queen” in the Washington Blade’s Best of
LGBTQ D.C. Readers’ Poll for more years than any other recipient to date. Schaad continued to make appearances as Ba’Naka all the way to near the end of his life, including entertaining at Pitchers. Despite mobility issues in the last few years, Ba’Naka continued to be a crowd-pleaser. Several participants shared stories of the drag performer, including businessman Ed Bailey, the former owner of the now-shuttered Town Danceboutique. “She just had this thing that attracted you to her — whether it was good or bad,” Bailey shared with the crowd. “Everyone in this room knows that you were somehow mesmerized by this person who would not leave you alone. I just totally loved her.” A drag show featuring some of Schaad’s favorite numbers followed the remarks. The show was hosted by Schaad’s drag mother Kristina Kelly and Schaad’s longtime co-worker from Town Danceboutique Tatianna. MICHAEL KEY
New documentary revisits murder of Robert Wone
A new documentary airing on Peacock takes another look at the unsolved murder of Robert Wone, a D.C. attorney found stabbed to death in the home of his gay friend in 2006. “Who Killed Robert Wone” begins airing on March 7 in two parts. Wone’s murder made sensational headlines in August 2006 after bizarre details about the stabbing began to emerge. Wone, who was married to a woman, was spending the night in the upscale townhome of
The mysterious murder of ROBERT WONE is the subject of a new Peacock documentary.
his friends Joe Price and Victor Zaborsky and their roommate Dylan Ward. All three are gay. Wone was found stabbed in the chest lying in bed; later, syringe marks were found on his neck suggesting he’d been drugged or incapacitated before being stabbed. Police noted a surprising lack of blood at the scene, which led many to speculate the crime scene had been cleaned. Adding to the spectacle, police released details of a collection of S&M devices found in the
home, prompting speculation Wone had been sexually assaulted. The three men were never charged with the murder and a D.C. Superior Court judge later found them not guilty of obstructing justice in the case, even though the court rejected a defense theory that an intruder killed Wone. The three gay men were later named as defendants in a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit and agreed to an out-ofcourt settlement in the case with Wone’s widow. Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr., who covered the Wone murder for years, was interviewed extensively for the Peacock documentary and is featured in the series. Visit washingtonblade.com for extensive coverage of the case and its aftermath. FROM STAFF REPORTS
Comings & Goings
Magpantay named to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights By PETER ROSENSTEIN
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 Glenn D. Magpantay, Esq. on his appointment to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The commission is an independent, bipartisan federal agency, to advise Congress and the White House on the enforcement of federal civil rights laws and development of national civil rights policy. Magpantay will be the third Asian American, third openly LGBTQ, and first LGBTQ Asian American to serve on the commission. On his appointment Magpantay said, “It’s an enormous honor to serve my country and represent my community. We’ve been overlooked too long. This would not have happened without Sen. Schumer, Rep. Meng, and my community’s support. I hope to make you all proud.” Magpantay is a longtime civil rights attorney, professor of
law and Asian American Studies, and LGBTQ rights activist. He has been organizing in the community for more than 30 years. He is currently a principal at Magpantay & Associates, a nonprofit consulting and legal services firm. He was selected for a prestigious George Soros Equality Fellowship from the Open Society Foundations. Magpantay co-founded and served as the executive director of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA), a national federation of Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander LGBTQ organizations for nearly a decade. His efforts were recognized by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) with its Trailblazer Lifetime Achievement Award and Walter & Evelyn Haas, Jr. Fund Outstanding LGBTQ Leadership Award for Immigrants’ Rights. Magpantay was a nationally recognized civil rights attorney at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) for nearly 20 years. Instinct magazine showcased Magpantay as one of the nation’s “25 Leading Men” in 2004. He organized the first-ever LGBTQ testimony before The White House Initiative on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders in 2000 and spoke at the National March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation in 1993. Magpantay has brought 15 briefs to the United States Su-
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GLENN MAGPANTAY
preme Court; testified before the United States Congress; published 20 scholarly legal and academic articles; authored impactful public reports; and has given commentary to The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Associated Press, MSNBC-TV, NBC Asian America, and others. He served as a trustee to the Boehm Family Foundation, and currently serves on the Gold Futures Challenge Selection Committee of Asian American Futures Fund. He chairs the LGBT Committee of the Asian American Bar Association of New York.