Washington Blade, Volume 54, Issue 12, March 24, 2023

Blade editor tells all in new book, page 20

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VOLUME 54 ISSUE 12 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 WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT CHRIS KANE ckane@washblade.com extg 8083 INTERNATIONAL NEWS EDITOR MICHAEL K. LAVERS mlavers@washblade.com ext. 8093 POP CULTURE REPORTER JOHN PAUL KING PHOTO EDITOR MICHAEL KEY mkey@washblade.com ext 8084 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS DANIEL ITAI, EDICIÓN CIENTONCE, QUORUM, WDG, STEPHANIE MONDRAGÓN, ISAAC AMEND , 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, PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN, KATLEGO K. KOLANYANE-KESUPILE, KAELA ROEDER, TREMENDA NOTA, ALBERTO J. VALENTÍN, MAYKEL GONZÁLEZ VIVERO, ORGULLO LGBT. CO, ESTEBAN GUZMAN, ANDRÉS I. JOVÉ RODRÍGUEZ, WINTER HAWK 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 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 at 202-747-2077, ext. 8075.

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Capital Pride reveals 2023 theme, plans for 2025 World Pride Celebrating ‘Peace, Love, Revolution’

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

About 300 people turned out Thursday night, March 16, for the annual D.C. Capital Pride Reveal celebration, which organizers say served as the official kick-off of the LGBTQ Pride events for 2023 in the nation’s capital.

Capital Pride’s ASHLEY SMITH at Among other plans the 2023 theme reveal party last for the 2023 Pride week. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key) events, including the annual Pride parade and festival, organizers announced this year’s theme for the Pride festivities will be “Peace, Love, Revolution.” he event took place in one of the large ballrooms at D.C.’s Kimpton Hotel Monaco at 700 F St., N.W. fficials with Capital ride lliance, the group that organizes D.C.’s annual Pride events, also announced at the Reveal celebration that the 2023 Pride events will set the stage for 2025, when D.C. will serve as the host city for World Pride 2025.

World ride is an international B event that takes place over a period of several days that usually draws a million or more visitors from countries throughout the world to the host city.

Organizers of the World Pride celebration announced last year that they had accepted D.C.’s bid to host World Pride 2025. The bid was prepared by Capital Pride Alliance and D.C. government officials, including officials from the office of ayor uriel Bowser and the city s convention and visitor’s bureau.

“We are thrilled to introduce our theme for Capital Pride

2023 as we gear up to welcome the world to D.C. in 2025, which is also the 50th anniversary of Pride in D.C.,” said Capital Pride Alliance Executive Director Ryan Bos in a statement released on riday. his year s theme kicks off a three-year campaign leading into the message that we want to share with the world in 2025,” Bos said.

In the statement it released on Friday, Capital Pride explained its rationale for selecting its theme, saying it was based in part on the LGBTQ rights movement’s history.

“Social justice issues, including those involving the LGBTQ+ community, were shaped by moments that turned into movements beginning in the 1950s and in the years that followed,” the statement says. These movements created a E I of change that sparked the beginning of newfound freedoms,” it says. he fight for these liberties instilled a sense of ride in members of the LGBTQ+ community in the decades since,” the statement continues. “PEACE and LOVE motivated many of these pioneers to be brave and inspired others to fight for human rights for years to come, it says.

The statement points out that “recent challenges” have arisen in state legislatures and in the U.S. Congress that have once again placed the B community under fire from those who would deny us our basic civil rights.” It says these challenges will re uire a continuation of the fight for freedom “through direct action in the streets and the halls of government.” mong those who spoke at the eveal event, in addition to Ryan Bos, were Capital Pride Board President Ashley Smith, and Capital Pride’s public affairs director, Marquia Parnell. lso speaking was aper Bowles, director of the D.C. ayor s ffice of B ffairs, who told the gathering that the city government, especially Mayor Bowser, will be working diligently to provide full city support for World

Pride 2025.

D.C. drag performer Shi-Queeta-Lee drew loud applause from the crowd that filled the hotel ballroom for a drag performance after the speakers addressed the crowd.

“We’re going to be focused on peace, love, and revolution over the course of this next year,” Capital Pride Board Chair Ashley Smith told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the Reveal event. “We’re super excited about it because this is a part of the movement that adds to the historical pieces as we approach 2025 and World Pride in 2025,” he said.

In its statement released on Friday, Capital Pride Alliance announced the Capital ride arade will take place Saturday, une , and will travel the same route as last year s D.C. ride arade. ride block party will also take place this year in a two-block section of th Street, .W. near Dupont Circle in the same location as last year, the Capital Pride announcement says.

And it says the annual Capital Pride Festival and concert will take place on Sunday, une , also at the same location as last year – along a stretch of Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. with the .S. Capitol as a backdrop.

“Through the events of Capital Pride and its many partnerships, last year Capital Pride Alliance was able to raise over $200,000 for the Pride 365 Fund,” according to the Capital Pride statement.

“The success of last year allowed CPA to invest and partner with the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community to establish a new LGBTQ+ community center for Washington, D.C., and continue the support of partner organizations that organi e events such as DC Black ride, rans ride, outh ride, Silver ride, atin ride, and sian and acific Islander Pride,” the statement says.

Further details of plans for Capital Pride 2023 can be accessed at CapitalPride.org.

Comings & Goings

Inouye named Deputy ssistant Secretary in communications at Dept. of Education

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.

Congratulations to Shin Inouye on his apSHIN INOUYE pointment as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Communications and utreach, .S. Department of Education. He said, “I’m honored to join the Biden-Harris administration and the amazing team under Secretary Cardona. Working with my outstanding colleagues, I am confident we will meet our goal to raise the bar and promote academic excellence in America.”

Previously, Inouye served as Executive Vice President of Communications, The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Human Rights, The Leadership Conference Education und. e also held a number of high-level positions in the Obama administration, including Press Secretary and Acting Senior Adviser for Intergovernmental and External Affairs, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; Adviser for Intergovernmental and E ternal ffairs, E ecutive ffice of the resident White ouse ffice of Communications Director of Specialty edia and as an authori ed spokesperson for the Obama Inaugural Committee, with a focus on specialty media outlets.

Inouye has received many honors, including being named one of 25 “LGBTI next generation leaders to watch”

by Out in National Security and the Atlantic Council; and one of sian merican acific Islander ational Security & Foreign Policy Next Generation Leaders” by New merica and the Diversity in ational Security etwork.

Congratulations also to Tristan Fitzpatrick, on his promotion to Senior Communications Consultant at APCO Worldwide. it patrick said, I am thrilled to start this new position and look forward to the start of a new chapter

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advising clients on how to best achieve their communications and public affairs goals. ristan has worked with C for the past year and a half. They are the fifth largest independently owned firm in the nited States. rior to that, it patrick was a Digital Media Specialist with the National Public Pension Coalition in D.C. e worked as a Communications and Digital TRISTAN FITZPATRICK Adviser, to the Biden for President campaign. He advised the campaign’s Out for Biden Coalition on communications and digital best practices for turning out 11 million LGBTQ and 57 million pro-equality voters. Tristan has also been a Communications Manager and Digital Outreach Coordinator, Cancer Support Community, Washington, DC.

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Bowser s highest-level adviser resigns after se ual harassment allegation Female staffer accuses John Falcicchio of longstanding abuse

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

Lawyers representing a D.C. government employee shook up the city’s political establishment on Monday when they announced that the employee filed a se ual harassment complaint against John Falcicchio, the now former D.C. Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s longtime chief of staff. he attorneys, Debra at and ayla orin, did not identify the city employee.

The announcement by Katz and Morin in a press release came shortly after Mayor Bowser issued her own announcement at a news conference on the same day. he mayor confirmed that alcicchio s sudden resignation last Friday, March 17, followed her decision to launch an investigation into allegations against alcicchio.

But Bowser said issues surrounding her longtime adviser’s departure amounted to “a sensitive matter that includes privacy concerns” that prevented her from disclosing why she initiated the investigation and why Falcicchio abruptly resigned.

She said the investigation was being conducted by the city s ffice of egal Counsel, which is following established policies and procedures” and that all relevant D.C. government staff members were fully cooperating with the investigation.

harassment by former Chief of Staff “I can also tell you that this invesand Deputy Mayor for Planning and tigation does not involve any alleEconomic Development John Falgations of improprieties related to cicchio,” the statement released by business transactions,” Bowser told attorneys Katz and Morin says. reporters attending the news con“It is our understanding that this ference, which was initially called behavior is longstanding, and our to celebrate the completion of the client is cooperating fully with the city s th Street, .W. protected bike investigation, which Mayor Bowser lane project and to discuss updates initiated immediately,” the stateon the Capital Bikeshare program. ment continues. “Our client is couraI have every confidence in my geous. She came forward to ensure new chief of staff, Lindsey Parker, and Mayor Bowser accepted the resignation accountability and protect other in our new Interim Deputy Mayor for of JOHN FALCICCHIO on Monday.

(Screen capture via WUSA9) women,” it says. “Given the gravity Planning and Economic Developof our client’s allegations – which inment, Keith Anderson,” Bowser said volve unwelcome advances and se ual contact we ask at the news conference. nd I have immense confidence the media to respect her privacy,” the statement says. in the 37,000 employees of the D.C. government who will It concludes by encouraging “everyone affected” to keep us moving forward,” she said. contact Maia Ellis, the Associate Director of the Mayor’s arker has served as the city s chief technology officer ffice of egal Counsel, who s leading the investigation, since 2019 and as assistant city administrator since 2022. at aia.Ellis@dc.gov.

Anderson has served as director of the D.C. Department Katz is a founding partner and Morin is an associate of of General Services, which oversees the city’s buildings the D.C. law firm at Banks umin, which speciali es in and properties. se ual harassment law, whistleblower law, and employWe represent an employee of the District of Columbia ment law, according to a write-up on its website. who came forward to report serious allegations of se ual

Foster parents need more vetting, training for LGBTQ children 30,000 queer kids age out of system each year

By WINTER HAWK

About 30,000 children age out of foster care each year and 70 percent of those children wind up homeless. The majority of the homeless population under the age of 18 are B youth, often who can t find an inclusive home and enter group homes where more prevalent mental, se ual, and psychological abuse turns them to the streets.

When an B child enters the foster care system, the pot of eligible homes becomes smaller, said Rob Scheer, the founder of Comfort Cases, a non-profit that supplies personal care items to youth entering the foster care system.

About 30,000 children age out of foster care each year and 70 percent of those children wind up homeless.

he first thing we think of as kids in our system when we realize that we are part of the LGBTQ+ family, is why am I damaged said Scheer, a gay man who e perienced the foster care system as a child. Why am I not given that open space to be free and be who I am?”

The average child in foster care moves from three to

four homes before finding a long-term placement. his is often due to foster care agencies’ neglect to inform foster parents that a child is a part of the LGBTQ community.

However, when foster parents are informed of the child’s identity, less movement occurs.

Even when children come out as being LGBTQ and the foster parents allow them to stay, some homes do so in order to receive a monthly stipend from the government or private foster agency, Scheer said. This puts children at risk of both direct and indirect mental abuse.

Indirect heterose ism that sends micro-messages of shame is e tremely harmful to kids, according to Chloe Perez, the CEO of Hearts and Homes for Youth, a non-profit working with children with higher levels of need, such as therapy appointments for a mental health diagnosis.

We have had parents who have talked about, h, you know, his frilly, girly, feminine ways,” said Perez. “Maybe they’re not saying I hate gay people…but it’s that subliminal messaging all the time that is equally detrimental.”

It’s common for LGBTQ children to either stay quiet about their se uality or identity or act out to disrupt a placement before they risk rejection from the family.

By age five or si , many children already e perience rejection and the resulting trauma from multiple placements, Perez added. However, when foster parents know how to manage disruptive behaviors, there’s less risk of additional placement disruption.

But this re uires specific vetting and training procedures for potential foster parents.

Once potential foster parents complete all of the state’s criteria, Hearts and Homes for Youth provide an additional, e tensive training program. Since some kids come into the non-profit s care after or placements, this process includes trauma-response training that informs parents of a child’s possible emotional reactions.

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If any foster parent says they don’t want to foster LGBTQ or BIPOC kids, Perez said they try to understand where the parents’ concern stems from to resolve the issue.

Whether it s cultural, age or based around religion we have seen that sometimes just really having that indepth conversation can help them shift,” said Perez. “If they’re not willing to do that, then that’s a no-go.”

Parents are often more direct when it comes to saying they won’t take an LGBTQ child as opposed to a child of color, Perez added, because people are more comfortable openly e pressing their opinions about se ual orientation or identity than race, which is more commonly condemned.

If problems arise once a child is in a foster home, an agent conducts an at-home check-in to assess whether the foster parent needs to redo training. However, most issues after the placement are centered around parents’ discipline practices, such as smacking a child, rather than discrimination.

In the case that a foster home isn’t suitable, Hearts and omes for outh also offers five group homes and an independent living program for pregnant and parenting teen moms.

However, the high rate of suicide among LGBTQ children in foster care continues to re ect the conditions for most LGBTQ kids beyond their care.

What we need to do in society is step up our social responsibility and make sure that we are giving these kids everything that I give to my five children, said Scheer.

“Guidance, unconditional support, and unconditional love.”

For information on how to become a foster parent in D.C., visit cfsa.dc.gov/service/become-foster-or-adoptive-parent.

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Trans people lost to drug overdose remembered at D.C. tribute About 50 people turned out on Saturday, March 18, at D.C.’s Metropolitan Community Church for a Citywide Memorial Celebration of Life for at least seven local transgender people who lost their lives from a drug overdose within the past two months.

“We lifted up the lives EARLINE BUDD organized of those who recently and last weekend’s memorial.

(Blade file photo by Michael Key) before passed amongst the transgender community,” said longtime D.C. transgender advocate Earline Budd, the lead organizer of the event. he goal was to send a clear message to D.C. officials that we will not sit by silently while members of the

LGBTQ community are dying as a result of the OVERDOSE epidemic here in D.C. and around the country,” Budd said in a Facebook post.

Budd told the Washington Blade this week that she and others involved in organizing the memorial celebration are planning a series of conversations with city officials and B community stakeholders to push for strengthening the city’s overdose prevention and response programs targeting LGBTQ people at risk for a drug overdose.

Among those participating in the March 18 celebration of life event were Rev. Elder Akosua McCray of Unity Fellowship Church of D.C.; Rev. D. Amina B. Butts of New Hope Baptist United Church of Christ of D.C.; and Rev. Cathy Alexander of D.C.’s Metropolitan Community Church.

Among those who spoke at the event was Tyler Edge, the associate director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of B ffairs.

The trans people who recently lost their lives to a drug

overdose and whose names were listed in the program book handed out at the memorial tribute include Diva Chole Mason, Kenneth Isaac “Candy,” Terri Holland, Lourica Potts, Cee Cee Creek, Tyneisha Phillips, and Danielle inkney.

Budd said among the plans by her and community supporters to address the overdose problem faced by some in the LGBTQ community include arranging for a more targeted approach to distribute and make accessible the lifesaving medication Narcan, which reverses an opioid overdose if administered quickly through a nasal spray device.

She said the plan also calls for pushing for a wider distribution of test kits for determining whether the deadly substance fentanyl, the cause of most drug overdose deaths, is present in recreational drugs such as cocaine, MDMA, and crystal meth.

“That’s what our goal is, and we may end up saving some lives, Budd said.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

D.C. government to hold ‘LGBTQIA+ Emergency Training’ event D.C. ayor uriel Bowser s ffice of B ffairs and the city’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management gency are inviting all B I non-profit leaders, management and event production staff to attend a firstof-its-kind LGBTQ community Emergency Preparedness Event scheduled for April 5. he event, officially called an B I Emergency Preparedness Training, will be held at the headquarters of the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency at 1015 Half St., S.E. on-profit partners will receive a special briefing on potential crime trends and threats,” an announcement of the event issued by the mayor s office says. he reparedness Training will teach partners how to assess behavioral threats, manage risk factors such as warning signs of violence,” the announcement continues.

“Partners will also hear more information about how to apply for non-profit security grant programs to support physical security enhancements,” according to the an-

nouncement. aper Bowles, director of the ayor s ffice of B Affairs, sent an email invitation on Tuesday, March 21, to various LGBTQ community leaders to attend the event. In his email message Bowles told of why an emergency preparedness training may be needed.

“We are a strong and diverse LGBTQIA+ community, even though we are increasingly under threat of violence for being who we are, for loving who we love, and for creating spaces for our community to do the same,” Bowles wrote. “I commend you all; we must continue to support each other and share resources!”

The training session announced by Bowles and the mayor s office was scheduled to take place about four months after D.C. police announced they were stepping up police patrols around LGBTQ events and establishments, including gay bars, following the Nov. 19 shooting incident at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub called Club Q. -year-old lone gunman later identified as nderson

Md. Senate approves trans rights bill The Maryland Senate on Monday approved a bill that would re uire the state s edicaid program to cover gender-affirming treatment for transgender people.

Senate Bill 460 or the Trans Health Equity Act passed by a - vote margin.

“Requiring, beginning on Jan. 1, 2023, the Maryland Medical Assistance Program to provide gender-affirming treatment in a nondiscriminatory manner re uiring that the gender-affirming treatment be assessed according to nondiscriminatory criteria that are consistent with current clinical standards; prohibiting the issuance of an adverse benefit determination related to gender-affirming treatment unless a certain experienced health care provider has reviewed and confirmed the appropriateness of the determination etc, reads a summary of the bill.

The Maryland House of Delegates on Saturday passed a similar measure.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

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ee ldrich is charged with firing a ri e inside the club, killing five people, and in uring at least others. ne of the patrons of the club is credited with tackling Anderson and grabbing the barrel of the ri e and removing it from ldrich s grip as horrified patrons attempted to ee from the club.

The incident, which prosecutors have listed as a hate crime, raised concern among LGBTQ clubs across the country and prompted some, including nightlife businesses in D.C., both gay and straight, to arrange for security and active shooter training sessions for their managers and employees.

“Nightlife hospitality establishments understand the importance of being constantly vigilant about, and prepared for, any and all incidents that could occur whenever people are gathered,” said Mark Lee, the former coordinator of the D.C. Nightlife Council, a group representing bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and entertainment establishments.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Former Log Cabin leader named to Va. LGBTQ advisory board Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has named former Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper to the Virginia LGBTQ+ Advisory Board.

“Proud to accept appointment from Gov. Glenn Youngkin to serve on the Virginia LGBTQ+ Advisory Board,” wrote Cooper in a post on his LinkedIn page. “Every citizen of the commonwealth has God given inalienable R. CLARKE COOPER rights, envoys individual liberty and is charged with indi(Blade file photo by Michael Key) vidual responsibility.”

“May Virginians judge our neighbors on the content of their character, not by their sexual orientation,” he added.

Youngkin announced Cooper’s appointment on March 10.

Cooper, an rmy eserve officer who served in the Ira War, as og Cabin epublicans e ecutive director from .

He was Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs from 2019-2021. Cooper is currently a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

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West Texas A&M president cancels drag show West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler is drawing ire for canceling a student drag show, arguing that such performances degrade women and are “derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny.”

Students and First Amendment lawyers reject those assertions, calling his comments a mischaracterization of the art form. They also argue that the cancellation violates student’s constitutional rights and a state law that broadly protects free speech on college campuses, potentially setting the university up for a lawsuit.

“Not only is this a gross and abhorrent comparison of two completely different topics, but it is also an extremely distorted and incorrect definition of drag as a culture and form of performance art, students wrote in an online petition condemning Wendler’s letter and urging him to reinstate the show.

Students plan to protest every day this week on the campus in the small West e as city of Canyon, according to a social media post by the pen and ffirming Congregations of the Texas Panhandle.

“Drag is not dangerous or discriminatory, it is a celebration and expression of individuals,” student Signe Elder said in a statement. “Amidst the current climate of growing anti-trans and anti-drag rhetoric, we believe that it is important now more than ever to stand together and be heard.”

Elder is part of a group of students who have organized under the name Buffs for Drag to protest Wendler’s actions.

Drag shows frequently feature men dressing as women in exaggerated styles and have been a mainstay in the LGBTQ community for decades. Drag performers say their work is an expression of queer joy — and a form of constitutionally protected speech about societal gender norms.

But Wendler said drag shows “stereotype women in cartoon-like extremes for the amusement of others and discriminate against womanhood in a onday letter that was first obtained by marillo news site y igh lains.com. Wendler said the drag show was organized to raise money for The revor ro ect, a nonprofit that works to reduce suicides in the LGBTQ community. Wendler noted that it is a “noble cause” but argued the shows would be considered an act of workplace prejudice because they make fun of women.

“Forward-thinking women and men have worked together for nearly two centuries to eliminate sexism,” Wendler wrote.

“Women have fought valiantly, seeking equality in the voting booth, marketplace and court of public opinion. No one should claim a right to contribute to women’s suffering via a slapstick sideshow that erodes the worth of women.” is comments and decision to cancel the campus drag show come amid surging uproar over the lively entertainment as far-right e tremist groups have recruited conserva-

West Texas A&M University President WALTER WENDLER (Screenshot/YouTube WTAM Channel)

tives to protest the events, claiming that drag performances are sexualizing kids.

Republican Texas lawmakers have also homed in on the performances with a handful of bills that would regulate or restrict drag shows, including some legislation that would classify any venue that hosts a drag show as a sexually oriented business, regardless of the show s content. n hursday, a Senate committee will debate a scaled-back bill that would impose a , fine on business owners who host drag shows in front of children — if those performances are sexually oriented. he bill defines a se ually oriented performance as one in which someone is naked or in drag and “appeals to the prurient interest in sex.”

KATE MCGEE

State Dept. report reveals ongoing abuse, conversion therapy Duterte after he “mockingly” endorsed The State Department’s annual human conversion therapy and joked he had rights report that was released on Mon“cured” himself of homosexuality. day details the prevalence of so-called The report indicates “social, culturconversion therapy and the treatment of al and religious intolerance” in Kiribati intersex people around the world. “led to recurrent attempts to ‘convert’ The report notes LGBTQ+ and intersex LGBTQI+ individuals informally through rights groups in Kenya have “reported an family, religious, medical, educational, or increase in so-called conversion therapy other community pressures.” and ‘corrective rape’ practices, includungarian law prohibits ransgender ing forced marriages, exorcisms, physiThe State Department’s annual or intersex individuals from changing cal violence, psychological violence, or report was released this week.

(Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress) their assigned sex/gender at birth on detainment.” The report cites the Kenya legal and identification documents and ational Commission on uman ights there is therefore no mechanism for legal gender recognithat said “infants and children born with physical sex charaction. he report also cites statistics from the tt r Society, teristics that did not align with either a typical male or female a ungarian B and interse rights group, that indicate body were subjected to harmful medical practices for years one out of B and interse ungarians have gone in attempt to normali e them. through some form of ‘conversion therapy.’”

A landmark law that extended legal protections to intersex he report notes then-British rime inister Boris ohnenyans took effect last uly. son’s government in April 2022 announced plans to ban conThe report notes “many reports of conversion attempts version therapy based on sexual orientation in England and conducted or recommended by evangelical and Catholic Wales. Activists sharply criticized the exclusion of Transgenchurches” in Brazil, even though the country has banned conder people from the proposal, and the British government version therapy. It also cites the case of Magomed Askhabov, later cancelled an LGBTQ+ and intersex rights conference a man from the Russian republic of Dagestan who “demandafter advocacy groups announced a boycott. ed a criminal case be opened” against a rehabilitation center Congress requires the State Department to release a huin the city of Khasavyurt in which he and other residents “were man rights report each year. physically abused and subjected to forced prayer as part of resident oe Biden last une signed a sweeping B their ‘treatment’ for homosexuality.” and interse rights e ecutive order. Secretary of State nt“There were reports police conducted involuntary physical ony Blinken at the beginning of this year’s report notes the exams of transgender or intersex persons,” notes the report. mandate directed the State Department to specifically in“The Association of Russian-speaking Intersex reported that clude enhanced reporting on so-called conversion ‘therapy’ medical specialists often pressured intersex persons (or their practices, which are forced or involuntary efforts to change parents if they were underage) into having so-called normala person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender exization surgery without providing accurate information about pression, as well as additional reporting on the performance the procedure or what being intersex meant.” of unnecessary surgeries on interse persons.

The report notes Afghan culture “insists on compulsory uman rights are universal, Blinken told reporters on heterosexuality, which forced LGBTQI+ individuals to acquionday as he discussed the report. hey aren t defined by esce to life-altering decisions made by family members or any one country, philosophy, or region. hey apply to everysociety.” The report also refers to LGBTQ+ and intersex activone, everywhere.” ists in the Philippines who criticized former President Rodrigo 1 2 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • MARCH 24, 2 0 2 3 • NAT I O NA L NE WS

he Biden- arris administration in released a memorandum that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ+ and intersex rights abroad.

The State Department released the report hours before .S. mbassador to the . . inda homas- reenfield hosted a meeting at the nited ations that focused on the integration of LGBTQ+ and intersex rights into the U.N. Security Council’s work. awmakers in ganda on uesday approved a bill that would further criminalize LGBTQ+ and intersex people in the country. Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in dozens of other countries around the world. ctivists in kraine with whom the Washington Blade has spoken since Russia launched its war against the country in February 2022 have said LGBTQ+ and intersex people who lived in Russia-controlled areas feared Russian soldiers would target them because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The report’s release also coincides with Republican efforts to curtail LGBTQ+ rights in states across the U.S. The report notes LGBTQ+ and intersex rights advances around the world in 2022. ntigua and Barbuda, Barbados, St. itts and evis and Singapore decriminali ed consensual same-se se ual relations last year. he report notes Chile s marriage e uality law took effect on arch , , but lists violence against B and interse people as one of the significant human rights issues in the country. Swit erland, Slovenia and Cuba also extended marriage rights to same-sex couples in 2022. he report cites the case of Brenda D a , a rans Cuban woman with I who is serving a -year prison sentence because she participated in an anti-government protest in uly . he report also notes several B and interse ournalists including elson lvare airata and ancel oreno left the country because of government harassment and threats.

The Cuban government also blocked the websites of Tremenda Nota, the Blade’s media partner on the island, and other independent news outlets.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

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at l IDS official calls for increased funding from Congress arold hillips, director of the White ouse ffice of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), said Monday that Congress must increase funding to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including for programs designed around the lives and needs of Americans who are living with the disease.

“We have the support of the Biden-Harris administration, and we have the support at HHS, but without congressional funding we can’t get there,” said Phillips, who delivered his remarks during the AIDS United annual AIDSWatch conference in Washington, D.C. Phillips echoed remarks by other speakers in calling for Congress to increase appropriations funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Ryan White I IDS rogram, but he also emphasi ed the importance of “making space for people living with HIV in other aspects of the budget.”

Consistent with the Biden-Harris administration’s focus on employing a whole-of-government approach, Phillips said stakeholders must understand that while “HIV is, yes, a public health threat,” the disease is also “the result of systemic and structural racism,” an intersectional problem requiring more than narrowly focused biomedical or public health responses.

Therefore, he said, these conversations about matters like HIV’s impact on Black lives, or considerations for aging folks who are living with the disease, must be held at places like the White House Gender Policy Council, the National Economic Council, and the U.S. Department of

Labor.

“When we talk about ending HIV as a public health threat,” Phillips said, “we also want to end HIV such that it s not the defining characteristic for people living with HIV and that they can have access to housing, access to employment, good mental health and substance abuse treatment.”

Under Phillips’s leadership, data on these considerations for those living with HIV/AIDS will be measured for the first time with s rollout of new uality of life indicators in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy Federal Implementation Plan.

“There’s an indicator in there that’s self-reported quality of life,” Phillips said, which asks respondents to consider, “how do I feel?” This is important, he added, because people living with HIV may have positive lab results but still feel poorly.

Phillips advised those AIDSWatch participants who are slated to meet with members of Congress and their staffs after hosting a rally on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Tuesday morning to “build a common bond” with lawmakers by emphasi ing the human impact of the appropriations funding for which they are advocating.

An AIDS United spokesperson told the Washington Blade by email Monday that 187 congressional meetings have been scheduled for Tuesday.

Phillips also noted that while “conversations need to happen in Washington, there’s also conversations that

need to happen on the state and local level,” where we re finding a level of hate and stigma and discrimination that’s on course to try to either stop our progress or take he leader o the hite o se fice us backwards.” o ational olicy has asked or Speaking bemore nding to combat the disease. ( ashington Blade photo by Michael Key) fore Phillips, Equality Federation Public Health Policy Strategist Mike Webb stressed the importance of policies under consideration by state and local lawmakers. “Our access to PrEP shouldn’t be based on a patchwork of laws by the states,” they said, and HIV-related legislative proposals in many cases would add criminali ing aspects. aws already on the books that criminali e the transmission of, or perceived exposure to, HIV and other infectious diseases,” the Movement Advancement Project writes, “create a strong disincentive for being tested for HIV, and result in adverse public health outcomes.”

Phillips and the Biden administration have made moderni ing or repealing those laws a top priority.

CHRISTOPHER KANE

SPLC condemns Ga.’s passage of anti-trans healthcare bill The Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund published a statement Tuesday condemning the Republican-controlled Georgia Legislature’s passage of S.B. 140, a bill that will criminali e gender-affirming health care for minors.

The statement, issued by Beth Littrell, senior supervising attorney of the lobbying and advocacy arm of the civil rights organi ation, urges eorgia ov. Brian emp to veto S.B. 140, calling on him to not “give into pressure from his party” when “the health and wellbeing of young people are at risk” through the denial of “safe, effective medical treatment to transgender youth based only on pre udice and political pandering.”

Kemp should “leave personal healthcare decisions in the capable hands of parents, children, and their doctors,”

Littrell’s statement continues. “We hope the governor will elevate himself and the State of Georgia above this cynical partisan attack on transgender youth, medical autonomy, and parental rights.”

S.B. specifically prohibits se reassignment surgeries, or any other surgical procedures, that are performed for the purpose of altering primary or secondary sexual characteristics” when they are “performed on a minor for the treatment of gender dysphoria.”

“Limited exceptions” are made for the treatment of conditions other than gender dysphoria, if deemed medically necessary by the physician or healthcare practitioner, and for the treatment of patients with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development.”

The mainstream medical societies with relevant clinical expertise have repeatedly spoken out against legislation that limits access to or criminali es, as in the case of eorgia’s bill, guideline directed interventions for the treatment of trans and gender nonconforming youth.

On March 16, far-right GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who represents Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, called for the state legislature to make the bill more restrictive.

Specifically, in a tweet she urged the lawmakers to amend S.B. 140 such that treatment of gender dysphoria in minor patients with puberty blockers would be criminali ed alongside the other interventions covered in the bill and also to remove the covered exceptions.

CHRISTOPHER KANE

HRC settles lawsuit with its former president According to a joint statement released last week, the Human Rights Campaign and its former president, Alphonso David, reached a settlement agreement over David’s racial bias lawsuit against the organi ation, merica s largest LGBTQ rights group.

The parties’ statement said they “have chosen to amicably resolve” the litigation without specifying the terms of their settlement agreement, which are confidential.

Provided that “HRC and Mr. David share the mission of advancing human rights for all B people and reali ing a world that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all, they agree it is in their mutual best interests, and the interests of the communities that they serve, to put this matter behind them.”

A probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James turned up evidence that David had solicited signatures for a letter that sought to undermine the credibility of a woman

Former HRC President ALPHONSO DAVID ( ashington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

1 4 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • MARCH 24, 2 0 2 3 • NAT I O NA L NE WS

who accused Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment.

David, who at the time served as counsel to Cuomo, then the governor of ew ork, was subse uently fired from his post leading HRC in September 2021 — and then sued the group, alleging racial discrimination. ccording to filings in the case, ad udicated by the .S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, HRC argued David was terminated because his work on behalf of Cuomo constituted a violation of C s Con ict of Interest policy and the mission,” causing damage to the group’s “interests, reputation and prospects” and compromising David s ability to lead the organi ation.

David was succeeded by interim HRC President Joni Madison before Kelley Robinson took over in November, becoming the first Black ueer woman to lead the organiation.

CHRISTOPHER KANE

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Security Council urged to focus on

mbassador inda homas- reenfield chaired

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS | mlavers@washblade.com

UNITED NATIONS — U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda homas- reenfield on onday chaired a meeting at the nited ations that focused on the integration of B and interse rights into the . . Security Council s work. he .S. ission to the . . co-sponsored the meeting along with lbania, Bra il, Cyprus, the C ech epublic, rance, reece, apan, alta, Swit erland, the . . and the B I Core roup, a group of . . countries that have pledged to support B and interse rights. homas- reenfield announced four specific steps the .S. will take to better integrate B I concerns into the . . Security Council s daily work.

• A regular review of the situation of LGBTQ and interse people in con ict zones on the ec rity o ncil’s agenda that incl des reg larly soliciting information from LGBTQI+ human rights defenders.

• nco raging the . . ecretariat and other . . o ficials to integrate B concerns and perspecti es in their reg lar reports to the ec rity o ncil.

• A commitment “to raising abuses and violations of the human rights of LGBTQI+ people in our national statements in the ec rity o ncil.

• A promise to propose, “when appropriate, lang age in ec rity o ncil prod cts responding to the situation of LGBTQI+ individuals.”

We are proud of these commitments, said homas- reenfield during onday s meeting. hey are ust the beginning. ictor adrigal-Borlo , the independent . . e pert on B and interse issues, provided a briefing on B and interse rights around the world. y mandate is based on one single fact Diversity and se ual orientation and gender identity is a universal feature of humanity, he said. or too long, it has been made invisible in national level contributions to peace and security, including policies and programs and in the political and programmatic action of the nited ations. ar a Susana eralta of Colombia Diversa an B and interse advocacy group in Colombia that participated in talks between the country s government and the evolutionary rmed orces of Colombia that led to an B -inclusive peace agreement then- resident uan anuel Santos and thenC Commander odrigo imochenko ondo o signed in and fghan B rgani ation Director rtemis kbary also took part in the meeting. eralta said Colombia s peace agreement has created a standard by which other countries can use, but noted the country s Special ustice for eace has yet to prosecute anyone who committed human rights abuses based on se ual

ope rancis

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.

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, interse rights

onday meeting

spoken said B and interse peoorientation or gender identity during ple who lived in ussia-controlled arthe war. eas of the country did not go outside kbary noted the persecution of and tried to hide their se ual orientaB and interse people in ftion or gender identity because they ghanistan has increased since the aliwere afraid of ussian soldiers. ban regained control of the country in he Security Council s first-ever . kbary also said B and inB -specific meeting, which foterse fghans cannot ee to Iran and cused on the Islamic State s persecuother neighboring countries because tion of B Syrians and Ira is, took of criminali ation laws. place in . hen- .S. mbassador he whole world is watching as the to the . . Samantha ower, who rights of B people are systematJESSICA STERN the special . . en oy is now director of the .S. gency ically violated in fghanistan, said kfor the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad, center, speaks outside the for International Development, and bary.

B people on the ground . . ec rity o ncil on March . then-International ay and esbian in fghanistan need and deserve pro(Blade photo by Michael K. a ers) uman ights Commission E ecutive tection.

Director essica Stern, who is now the epresentatives of . . delegaspecial .S. envoy for the promotion of B and interse tions from rance, Bra il, lbania, apan, Ecuador, Swit errights, are among those who participated. land, the . ., alta, Colombia, South frica, Ireland, erStern, along with .S. eps. David Cicilline D- .I. and many, the etherlands and the European nion spoke in itchie orres D- . . , attended the meeting alongside utfavor of the integration of B and interse rights into ight International E ecutive Director aria S din, among the Security Council s work. others. person s actual or perceived se ual orientation, genhe Security Council in une formally condemned der identity or gender e pression or se characteristics ofthe ulse nightclub in rlando, la. he . . uman ights ten increases the risk of of becoming the target in con ict Council a few months later appointed itit untarbhorn as and crisis situations, said uis uilherme arga Cintra of the first independent . . e pert on B and interse Bra il. issues. adrigal-Borlo succeeded untarbhorn in .

British mbassador to the . . eneral ssembly ichhen- .S. mbassador to the . . elly night Craft ard Crocker made a similar point. and then- .S. mbassador to ermany ichard renell in We know the con icts have disproportionate impact during a . . eneral ssembly meeting hosted an on marginali ed communities Women and girls, persons event that focused on efforts to decriminali e consensual with disabilities, members of ethnic and religious minority same-se se ual relations around the world. groups, he said. It is only right the Security Council is disresident oe Biden in signed a memo that comcussing this issue today. mitted the .S. to promoting B and interse rights mbassador arlito unes, who is imor- este s permaabroad as part of the Biden- arris administration s overall nent . . representative, read a statement in support of foreign policy. hen-State Department spokesperson ed the Security Council discussions about B and interse rice later told the Washington Blade the decriminali aissues. epresentatives from China, ussia and hana who tion of consensual same-se se ual relations is one of the spoke said the Security Council is not the appropriate place White ouse s five priorities as it relates to the promotion of to discuss them.

B and interse rights overseas.

Se ual orientation is an individual choice of every indihe .S., the . ., rance, China and ussia are the Sevidual, said the ussian representative. curity Council s five permanent members. lbania, Brahe meeting took place less than months after ussia il, Ecuador, abon, hana, apan, alta, o amlaunched its war against kraine. bi ue, Swit erland and the nited rab Emirates are the ussian airstrike on arch , , killed Elvira non-permanent members.

Schemur, a -year-old law school student who volunteered hana and the nited rab Emirates are two of the do for harkiv ride and yiv ride, while she was volunteering ens of countries in which consensual same-se se ual relainside the krainian city of harkiv s regional administration tions remain criminali ed. building. ctivists with whom the Washington Blade has

ender ideology a dangerous coloni ation

ope rancis earlier this month said gender ideology is one of the most dangerous ideological coloni ations in the world today. ender ideology, today, is one of the most dangerous ideological coloni ations, rancis told a aci n, an rgentine newspaper, in an interview that was published on arch . Why is it dangerous Because it blurs differences and the value of men and women. ll humanity is the tension of differences, added the pontiff. It is to grow through the tension of differences. he uestion of gender is diluting the differenc-

16

B

es and making the world the same, all dull, all alike, and that is contrary to the human vocation. he atican s tone towards B and interse issues has softened since since rancis assumed the papacy in . rancis publicly backs civil unions for same-se couples, and has described laws that criminali e homose uality are un ust. Church teachings on homose uality and gender identity have nevertheless not changed since rancis became pope. rancis told a aci n that he talks about gender

ideology because some people are a bit naive and believe that it is the way to progress. he Catholic ews gency further notes rancis also said these people do not distinguish what is respect for se ual diversity or diverse se ual preferences from what is already an anthropology of gender, which is e tremely dangerous because it eliminates differences, and that erases humanity, the richness of humanity, both personal, cultural, and social, the diversities and the tensions between differences.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

M A R C H 2 4 , 2 0 2 3 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 1 7

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

Democrats, including the LGBTQ community, must stick together to win

Ensuring our campaigns resound with the most general election voters As we watch with revulsion what Republicans are doing, both in Congress, and in state legislatures, it is clear the diverse members of the Democratic Party must stick together if we are to have any chance of winning in . o do that will re uire we understand, and accept, that in it will not be only about us individually, rather about ALL of us, collectively. All of us who are being demonized by epublicans. hat includes the B community, the frican- merican community, and Asian and Latino communities. It includes women who are being stripped of their right to control their own healthcare by Republicans. Republicans who are trying to take away voting rights, and pretend climate change doesn’t exist. Republicans like Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump, who want us to return to isolationism and retreat from world leadership. herefore, if we want to move forward, each of us must accept our Democratic candidates may not be highlighting every issue we want them to, every day, in their campaigns.

They might not mention LGBTQ issues in every speech. They might not talk about the Equality Act in every speech. They might not talk about protecting drag queens in every speech. But we must understand if they lose, and we lose Congress, the presidency, state houses and legislatures, we will all lose.

Some Democrats questioned the response of the president and senators to Republicans in Congress going after the D.C. crime bill, asking why a Democrat would not stand strong for D.C. home rule. I have spoken out saying while their response may be a threat to home rule, and one I objected to, crime is an issue across the nation. They saw what happened to Lori Lightfoot in Chicago and determined this action on their part was needed if they are to win in . If Democrats lose the presidency and Senate in , home rule for D.C. will only be one of the many things we could lose.

So Democrats must play our cards right and ensure our campaigns resound positively with the most general election voters. Those voters are becoming more moderate and crime is striking fear in them. This is not about changing the minds of the 30% of Trump voters in the party of Trump. We will never get their votes. It is about making sure the voters we need will come out and vote for Democrats. Those voters in states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, and Arizona.

So yes, I want the E uality ct passed. fter all, I was working for Bella S. b ug D- . . when she first introduced it in . But even more important now is re-electing a Democratic president and holding the Senate. That will enable us to continue to nominate and confirm udges, who with lifetime appointments, will protect us for decades.

We must focus on electing Democratic governors who will protect us from Republican legislatures we might not win. here are states with gubernatorial elections in .

Only three with incumbent Democrats and one in a red state, Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina, is term limited. Keeping that seat will not be easy. There are 33 Senate seats up for election in . f those, are currently held by epublicans,

by Democrats, and three by independents. Clearly, we are at a disadvantage. So, we must all recognize in the Senate it is often the first vote a senator casts that is the most important. hat is the vote for a ority eader. So even a Democrat you may not like, such as oe anchin D-W. a. , can cast a vote for Chuck Schumer D- . . and give Democrats control of the agenda, and if we have , control of committees. So, I say to the B community, and every other minority community and women voters: Even if you must hold your nose when you vote, vote for the Democrat. Life for all of us will be so much worse if Republicans take control.

This is a year in which Democrats, especially in close Districts, should not be running primaries against incumbents who have shown they can win. his is not the time for progressives in the party to show they can win a primary, but then see their candidate lose in the general election.

It is the general election results that will determine how we can live our lives. Whether we will be able to move forward, even if not as fast as we want, instead of having Republicans take us back into the dark ages.

1 8 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • MARCH 24, 2 0 2 3 • V I E WP O I NT

DEREK SMITH

is a law student at the City University of New York and the Spring 2022 Civil Rights Intern at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project.

When Discr33t_T0P’s a discreet cop

Law enforcement creating fake profiles to trick people into revealing intimate information The headless torso with the cheeky username that just tapped you on Grindr might not be the person you’re hoping them to be. American law enforcement, including BI and D S, now create fake profiles on dating apps and social media to trick people into revealing their most intimate information. olice in lorida created fake profiles on Grindr and Scruff to arrest 60 people allegedly linked to drug sales. Black activists who organi ed and attended protests in inneapolis were victims of catfish cops a report from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights showed that the Minneapolis olice Department utili ed fake social media profiles to surveil Black leaders and organizations. Police went so far as to send messages asserting they had met individuals at protests.

These surveillance techniques are the modern incarnation of the FBI’s “Sex Deviate” program during the Lavender Scare era, only this time it’s not just the FBI you need to worry about. With the criminalization of drag in states like Tennessee, state and local law enforcement are further empowered to target the queer and trans community. For B activists, especially those who are Black, there is a high likelihood of being surveilled through a hookup app.

Imagine you ust had a long day standing outside the local drag story hour facing down bigots calling you a groomer from behind a line of their state-sponsored protection units. James, a faceless torso messages you asking if you were also at the counter-protest. ames thought it was pretty cool that a few people actually physically pushed back against the homophobes and is wondering if you know who organized the counter-protest, so you invite him to a closed acebook group. he ne t thing you know, your friends are being slapped with assault charges and your rindr conversation with James is being used as evidence against them – just like in Florida.

While some tech companies like eta make a show of pushing against these practices, they do nothing to actually stop the abuse of their platforms by law enforcement.

Without legislation prohibiting fake profiles, cops will continue to catfish and surveil you. s anti-drag protests rise with the escalation of trans homophobic rhetoric, B people engaging in protest of any form should remain vigilant. rotest is hot, and although it is extra titillating to imagine organizing with a potential hookup, it could be Lieutenant Jones on the other end carefully gathering information to be used against you. nfortunately, law enforcement doesn t only rely on fake profiles to get information about you. eo-location features, which conveniently let you know that asc op bttm is 2ft away, are another tool that law enforcement can use to track protesters. Many companies sell this information to third parties, often to facilitate targeted advertising. lthough rindr asserts that it underwent a policy change in , limiting the information they share, some think it was too little too late. Just last week, The Washington Post reported that a conservative Catholic group spent millions to track priests on gay hookup and dating apps in Colorado, sharing the data with bishops nationwide. Across many platforms, a whole host of information that can ultimately be traced back to you is still currently sold to third parties. These third parties include law enforcement who use data purchasing as a way to skirt the law and avoid obtaining warrants from judges – some of which are also unconstitutional. fter a record-setting year in , the attack on trans and ueer rights seems to only be ramping up across the country. In ew ork, Senate Bill S the Stop akes ct would prevent law enforcement officers from creating fake social media profiles and allow for anyone whose information was gathered through a fake profile to file a civil action against the offending agency for monetary damages. Protest is an integral part of B history and community. ntil states outlaw surveillance tactics like fake profiles, protesters must protect themselves and their data. Companies that profit off the B community should create products that provide the highest level of protection regardless of legislation. The library may be open, but our data isn’t for anyone else to read.

JORDAN WILLOW EVANS

is a policy analyst and writer living in Goffstown, N.H. She is chair of the Libertarian Policy Foundation and treasurer of MassEquality, the leading Massachusetts statewide queer organization.

CPAC attack on trans rights is a pathway to authoritarian gov’t Speaker advocated eliminating ‘transgenderism’

Earlier this month, activists and thought leaders from across the country met in Maryland for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, commonly called CPAC. Speakers and presenters from all walks of conservative life, including former President Donald Trump, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and former Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro, met across several days and spoke on a multitude of issues impacting conservatism today.

One of them, a commentator and host with The Daily Wire named Michael Knowles, plunged the audience head-first into the culture war. Speaking to a crowd, he said, “for the good of society […] transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely — the whole preposterous ideology, at every level.”

Shortly after Knowles’ speech, social media lit up, and prominent advocates for the trans community and several media outlets criticized him for wanting to eradicate the transgender community. Knowles denies these claims and has called on media outlets to retract articles stating as such. Meanwhile, conservatives supportive of Knowles and transgender individuals have fought over the overarching meaning of eradicating “transgenderism” from public life.

So what is “transgenderism,” and does it truthfully differ from transgender people? Above all else, why does this language matter so intensely?

The term “transgenderism” is not a formal medical category or classification. he phrase for transgender people has evolved over the years to include such words as transsexual and gender dysphoria, but never “transgenderism.”

It’s also not a social term actively embraced by most—if virtually any—recent transgender individuals due to its implicit politicization. Transgender history is full of stories detailing identity and self-discovery, many erratically spread across books, zines, and personal stories. or those instances where the term transgenderism does appear, it is significantly more descriptive. For example, in the 1994 text “Transgender Nation” by Gordene Olga MacKenzie, “transgenderism” acts as a term similar to how homosexuality is applied to the gay and lesbian community and encompasses the general state of being a person who is transgender.

Meanwhile, a simple Google Books search from the past several years using the phrase yields a plethora of charged texts, many of them highly critical of legal and social advancements made by the trans community — and occasionally critical of transgender individuals themselves. Often, these texts portray “transgenderism” as a deliberate ideology akin to how one voluntarily upholds conservatism or libertarianism. In another literary example, the te t ow ransgenderism is edefining eality by atie oche, the term is fre uently used as a broad catch-all, including pursuing affirming medical care, publically expressing your identity, and even accessing other transgender individuals in the broader world for the sake of a sense of community.

So when Knowles says he wants the eradication of “transgenderism” yet bristles when people say that means transgender people, he is making a distinction without a difference.

Since 2015, the phrase has slowly grown in popularity, with Google Trends showing an increase in its overall consistency—incidentally coinciding with the Obergefell v. Hodges decision and the beginning of the “bathroom bill” discourse. For social conservatives, the phrase has gradually taken life to strike at the heart of identity itself. From changing your legal name and amending your birth certificate to openly respecting and honoring the individuality of others, it seeks to subsume any action or concept seemingly legitimizing

transgender identities in public life.

Simply stated, everything that validates the dignity and conceptual existence of a trans person is inherent in so-called “transgenderism.” It’s irresponsible not to acknowledge the colloquial use of the phrase in conservative circles. Those concerned are rightfully alarmed when used at a platform such as the CPAC mainstage during a national culture war.

On a recent episode of his show hosted by The Daily Wire, ichael nowles ustified his thinking by stating that the transgender community does not exist. “[W]e ought not to indulge the transgender false anthropology, you know, that, one is a little bit different in that transgender people is not a real ontological category,” he stated, “it’s a euphemism to describe deeply confused men and women who ought to have psychological and spiritual help.”

While everyone should take notice of these words, conservatives and proponents of a smaller government should particularly be alarmed by this way of thinking and specific use of language. Such reasoning relies on the concept that transgender people are not a real group of people—something transgender people and their families would find disagreeable—therefore, it’s not an identity to suppress but rather a social and mental deviancy to fi .

To that end, all cultural development and social actions openly validating a trans person in any form encourage that deviancy and are part of the broader scope of “transgenderism” seen in public life.

When juxtaposed with his overarching philosophy, his statement should perturb those who value the principles of tolerance and uphold the principles of limited government as it applies to government intrusion into individual identities. Moreover, it would require a degree of regression beyond the scope of the push for basic LGBTQ tolerance from several decades ago, let alone the acceptance earned in the past ten years. Such a regression would imply a society that has removed or withdrawn from all forms of social recognition, medical advancements, and institutional pathways that allow someone to transition and be what is regarded in modern culture as a transgender person.

And suppose you are someone who has gender dysphoria or otherwise feels your gender identity is incongruent with what was understood at the time of your birth. In such a society, your neighbor should not respect or acknowledge you as you are but rather pity you for being mentally unwell until you one day believe with as much sincerity as them that your concept of self is wrong.

What exactly happens when minds don’t change, or individuals inevitably refuse to hold malice against their neighbors in this hypothetical society, has yet to be examined.

What is known, however, is that efforts to force someone out of their identity are not well received. For example, a 2019 study published in the Journal of the American Medical ssociation found that lifetime e posure to gender identity change efforts was significantly associated with multiple adverse outcomes, including severe psychological distress during the previous month and lifetime suicide attempts.”

With political conservatives straining under the weight of a national culture war, allowing this form of speech to reverberate without context is a reckless pathway to a more authoritarian government. It denies the antagonistic usage of the phrase and perpetuates a misnomer. Moreover, it denigrates transgender individuals in alarming words and betrays the values of conservatives and libertarians who preach tolerance and freedom from state suppression.

V I E WP O I NT • M A R C H 2 4 , 2 0 2 3 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 1 9

Washington Blade editor tells all in new book

evin aff revisits years in the battle for B e uality in tome that is part history lesson, part celebrity dish

By ROB WATSON here was the day I finally snapped, in seventh grade, Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff this week pubwhile being taunted by a kid in gym class. he insults and lished his first book, ow We Won the War for B threats became too much and all the anger rushed out of E uality nd ow ur Enemies Could ake It ll way. me I defended myself. nd it felt good, aff reveals. e he book commemorates aff s years editing the acknowledges that his bullies forced me to cultivate an Blade and features two decades of his work updated with inner strength. new insights and commentary, touching on everything ears later, as a ournalist and conscience for public from the fight for marriage e uality and repeal of Don t progressives, aff s unwillingness to back down, and passk, Don t ell to celebrity encounters and the outing of sion to stand and fight, emerge time and time again in public figures. the book.

It s part history lesson and part celebrity dish, available While he writes of contempt for eorge W. Bush s now at ma on.com and kevinnaff.com. opportunistic use of same-se marriage as a campaign he following is adapted from an interview between wedge issue, aff stepped up his fight to the ne t level ob Watson of ated B adio and aff. o listen to when facing aryland ov. artin alley. alley was the full interview, visit blogtalkradio.com ratedlgbtradio. a progressive who used B goodwill and campaign muscle to get elected. When an appeals court re ected he two-decades long war in fghanistan was the lonsame-se marriage, alley went from champion to cad gest in .S. history. Wars for civil rights have been much at light speed. e issued an offensive statement about longer, and for many, nowhere near over. urs for B Catholic sacraments and asserted his opposition to marrights is a prime e ample. riage e uality.

While gains in our particular war have been many, and So, aff outed the governor s brother, atrick. hat the by historical standards, have come incredibly fast, they brother was gay was a fact commonly known in social cirhave now been fought by several generations. cles, but had not reached the media level previously .

Author and Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff highhe governor was mad, but aff landed a one-on-one lights this perspective in his new book ow We Won the interview with alley, and eventually a path to the govWar for B E uality. ernor ipping support on the issue. wo decades represents a mere blip in the arc of a civaff s unwillingness to allow B people to be il rights struggle, yet in that span, the B community pushed around is not ust with public figures who use us in the nited States went from legally second-class status and then abandon us, people he calls duplicitous allies, to en oying near full protection of federal law along with but he feels no hesitancy in confronting ollywood icons widespread societal acceptance and even full marriage and their cults, as ohn ravolta found out. rights, aff writes. aff went viral with a piece in when he wrote a e is aware that this look into our collective history repblog post critici ing the casting of a potentially closeted resents a glimpse into a broader, and more painful fight, and indoctrinated Scientologist ohn ravolta, as the Diwhere many B families lost their fights. ot a week vine-inspired drag role in ohn Waters musical version of has gone by in my years at the Blade that I didn t think airspray. of the generation of gay men before me who didn t live to hat post generated the most attention and traffic of see all of this progress, he writes. hey inspire me. I do anything I ve written, aff says. y blog post encourthis work for them. hey did not die in vain. ot ust the aged gay fans to boycott the new film because its star, men who died, but the lesbians who cared for them when ohn ravolta, was Scientology s o. spokesperson and no one else would. hey are not forgotten. his cult was known to engage in reparative therapy, the his is not a dry history lesson type of book, but if you debunked practice of changing one s se ual orientation. want to learn, the book does tell the marriage e uality ainstream gossip media declared that the gays were battle, Don t sk Don t ell, and how a lot of our wins boycotting airspray. Soon aff found himself inundatunfolded, aff declared when he sat down with me on ed with death threats, and being summoned by both o the ated B adio podcast. ews and the Church of Scientology itself. e s right. ow to Win shares many of aff s articles aff agreed to a face off with o s Bill eilly whose written as events were unfolding. bsorbing these as a friendly off-air persona turned rabid in front of the cammodern reader, I found my deep desire to fight against eras. When aff pointed out that he was comparing gay anything less than full e uality, and repression against our people to drug addicts, eilly snarled, Don t be a wise abilities to self-actuali e, getting hungrier and hungrier. guy, r. aff. or those wanting shade and the truth, this book deaff s biggest sin, according to the Church of Scienlivers, as it s filled with page-turning anecdotes to keep tology, was referring to it as a cult. o prove that they you glued and voracious right to the very end. weren t, the president of the D.C. church invited aff for a ike many of us, aff was persecuted for being permeeting. pon arrival at the Scientology mansion in Duceived as gay when he was a kid. he walk home from pont Circle, the church president gave aff a tour, which school was particularly terrifying I walked alone and my included an immaculate first- oor formal office. fter intormentors would often follow, hurling rocks and anti-gay uiring whose office it was, aff was told that it was r. slurs. Sometimes the fear was so intense that I would ubbard s office and that every church location had one. feign sick ust to avoid a day of the torture, he writes. is youth was not a time when there was much sympathy, or help, for B children. It was the time of do-it-yourself.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 22 2 0 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • MARCH 24, 2 0 2 3

Washington Blade Editor KEVIN NAFF’s new book is out this week.

(via the Washington Blade)

M A R C H 2 4 , 2 0 2 3 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 2 1

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20

Blade editor warns of challenges ahead in new book Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard had been dead for 21 years at that point.

“Cult!” Naff and I exclaimed in unison as he told me the story.

As editor of the Washington Blade, Naff is an established invitee to the journalistic event of each season: The White ouse Correspondents ssociation Dinner. e writes about his dates he has taken each year from the heavenly udith ight to the disastrous athy riffin .

The latter made a point to scream expletives at Trump administration officials in attendance.

Blade editor KEVIN NAFF with guest KATHY GRIFFIN, The White House Correspondents Association Dinner 2018. ( ashington Blade file photo)

KEVIN NAFF, CHRIS JOHNSON, LAVERNE COX & STEPHEN RUTGERS at the 2015 White House Correspondents Association Dinner. ( ashington Blade file photo)

While aff could appreciate the sentiment, riffin left D.C. the next day, while he, the in-town professional, had to face all of her targets.

Laverne Cox was also a standout date. She accompanied Naff the night after Caitlyn Jenner’s televised coming out interview aired. “If one more reporter asks me about fucking Caitlyn Jenner, I’m going to lose it,” Naff reports Co confiding. is story about averne Co was not so much about Jenner, however, but reads like something out of “Oceans 8.”

Unlike the movie, Naff’s evening did not feature a planned jewel heist, nor were Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett anywhere in sight, but it did feature a pricey borrowed diamond bracelet that went missing off of Cox’s wrist. She feared the jeweler would accuse her of theft. The dilemma ultimately had one of the most famous transgender actresses of all time, and the editor of the nation’s oldest LGBTQ publication frantically crawling under banquet tables surrounded by the Washington elite and press corps.

Co finally found the bauble at a.m., deep at the bottom of her purse. ow We Won covers the arc of B history over two crucial decades and hits on topics from bullying of youth, the “ex-gay” movement, the military, religion, police, and, of course, marriage equality. Besides his adventures with cults chasing him down, A-lister dates and angry governors, Naff also shares poignant emotional moments of his own.

One came in shocking fashion when he arrived to the Washington Blade offices one morning to find two men from the Blade’s then-parent company. They were there to shut the place down after a Chapter bankruptcy filing. aff retreated to his office, scrambling to think out the next move. The Blade staff resolved to not give up and successfully put out a slim newssheet for a few months until they could recover the Blade’s assets from the bankruptcy court and keep the legacy alive.

One of the great ironies of the LGBTQ movement is that many people who have fought for progress are not the ones who live to enjoy all the gains. They win the battles but leave the new world for others to fully enjoy. aff is one of those pioneers. fter an adult life fighting for LGBTQ people to exercise the right to marry our loves in a fully public, accepting way, challenging all who might deny a same-sex couple service, Naff had a life-changing revelation that made him choose to walk away from a huge wedding event for himself.

Months before his own wedding, he was in a serious automobile accident. e called his fianc and pitched the idea of a small ceremony on the beach, followed by a gay cruise together around Asia. “Something happens when you are faced with a life-or-death kind of moment.

It changes what’s important. It changes your perspective,” he tells me.

Naff started out his writing career as a 10-year-old writing to the Washington Post as a pissed-off Baltimore Orioles fan protesting the Major League Baseball strike of 1981. “I am STILL a pissed off Baltimore Orioles fan,” he says. From day one, he found his knack for observation

2 2 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • MARCH 24, 2 0 2 3

Washington Blade Editor KEVIN NAFF (right) with senior news reporter LOU CHIBBARO JR. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

and his gift for pointed communication. Those are the same qualities he brings to his participation in, and presentation of, our B historic trek to e uality victory.

In ow We Won, he tells an unvarnished story, as he saw it, as he wrote about it, and continues to tell it, at the helm of the Washington Blade. He tells of the rightwing figures he confronted and continues to confront. e thinks of the term “outing” as an archaic term. Today, it is simply “truth-telling” of those in the public eye. As much as the title of his book implies a “win” and completion, I am confident that the -year-old pissed-off Baltimore Orioles fan within is not done.

Naff’s subtitle, after all, is “And How Our Enemies Could Take it All Away.”

A post-war recap for Kevin Naff might have been best e pressed by the fictional r. Incredible when he said, “No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in eopardy again. Sometimes I ust want it to stay saved!”

As homophobic, transphobic Republican legislation sweeps the country, it is clear, we are not done and a new chapter in the war has begun. t the end of he Incredibles,” continuing the allegory, after a family of progressives have saved the world, a huge noisy crew disrupts it symbolic of the wave . ut pops the nder- iner who declares, Behold, he nder- iner I am always beneath you, but NOTHING is beneath me! (As it seems so for the GOP.) I hereby declare war on peace and happiness Soon all will tremble before me The music swells, and the family of authentic-selves look at each other with a smirk, opening their shirts to reveal that they are Incredibles. They know that this time, like last time, they will not be defeated.

So stands Kevin Naff, looking back and looking forward, with his band of Incredibles, LGBTQ journalists worldwide, and the rest of us, ready to fight the fight again.

As we prepare for the new battles ahead, the principles of ow We Won will be our tools for ultimate victory be visible, be assertive, confront lies and injustice, reinvent, rebirth and in the end, hold our personal loves sacred.

Kevin Naff and Mr. Incredible would stand for nothing less. Neither should you.

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M A R C H 2 4 , 2 0 2 3 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 2 3

CALENDAR

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Friday, March 24 Center Aging Monthly Lunch and Yoga will be at 12 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. Lunch will be held in the atrium at the Reeves Center. To RSVP, visit the DC Center’s website.

Women in Their Twenties and Thirties will meet at 8 p.m. on Zoom. This event is a social discussion group for queer women in the Washington, D.C. area and a great way to make new friends and meet other queer women in a fun and friendly setting. For meeting updates join WiTT’s closed Facebook group.

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

Saturday, March 25 Virtual Yoga Class with Charles M. will be at 12 p.m. online. This is a weekly class focusing on yoga, breath work, and meditation. Guests are encouraged to RSVP on the DC Center’s website, providing your name, email address, and zip code, along with any questions you may have. A link to the event will be sent at 6 pm the day before.

Black Lesbian Support Group will be at 11 a.m. on Zoom. This is a peer-led support group devoted to the joys and challenges of being a Black Lesbian. For more details, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

GoGay DC will host ‘Drag Show for Charity’ at 8 p.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Tuesday, March 28 Coming Out Discussion Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This peer-facilitated discussion group is a safe space to share experiences about coming out and discuss topics as it relates to doing so. For more information, visit acebook.

Genderqueer DC will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This support group is for people who identify outside of the gender binary, whether bigender, agender, gender uid, or just not 100% cis. For more details, email supportdesk@ thedccenter.org.

Wednesday, March 29

GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Coffee & Conversation” at 12 p.m. at As You Are. This event is for those looking to meet new faces in the LGBTQ community. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

GoGay DC will host “Drag Show for Charity” at 8 p.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. Tips to the drag performers will benefit rlington ood ssistance Center, which feeds those in need by providing dignified access to nutritious supplemental groceries. Tickets are free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This 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 information, email centercareers@thedccenter.org or visit thedccenter.org/careers.

Comedy & Cocktails - Open Mic Wednesdays will be at 7:30 p.m. at Pure Lounge. This event is an open mic featuring comedians from the DMV. There will be drinking games, free prizes and music by DJ K-OZ. Admission is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Monday, March 27

Thursday, March 30

Center Aging Monday Coffee and Conversation will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. LGBT Older Adults — and friends — are invited to enjoy friendly conversations and to discuss any issues you might be dealing with. For more information, visit the Center ging s acebook or witter.

Queer Book Club will be at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom. This club to discuss queer books by queer authors. The book to read for this meeting is The Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. For more details, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.

“Wasted & Gay Thursdays” will be at 9 p.m. at Wasted Lounge. The event will be hosted by Nelly Nellz and there will be a music performance by DJ Ro. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Sunday, March 26

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OUT & ABOUT History conference to explore D.C.’s complicated past The DC History Center, DC Public Library and HumanitiesDC will join forces to host the 49th Annual DC History Conference with a series of panels beginning on Thursday, March 23 and ending on Saturday, March 25 at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.

The program will feature more than 100 presenters across 25 sessions, panels, and presentations that focus on disenfranchisement, Black women’s experience under slavery, displacement, and the fight for disability rights, among others.

On Friday, March 24, there will be a panel titled “Swann ueen emembering DC s first Black ueer Icon, William Dorsey Swann” taking place at 10:15 a.m. Following that, other panels of interest to the LGBT community on Saturday, March 25 include: “The Repersaissance: Honoring DC’s First and Last Professional Black Theater Company” at 10:15a.m., “Queer Rights, Policing, and Public Activism in Lafayette Park As told through the history of the Lafayette Park Lodge” at 11:45 a.m., and “The LGBTQ Significance of ucy Diggs Slowe frican merican Educational Leader” at 3:30 p.m.”

For more information, visit the conference’s website.

Celebrating LGBTQ people in tech ut in ech will celebrate its five-year anniversary on Thursday, March 30 at 8:30 p.m. at Booz Allen Hamilton eli .

Guests are encouraged to come meet and network with other members of the organization’s community in-person while enjoying food, drinks, and games provided by event sponsor GLOBE+, the Business Resource Group for LGBTQ+ Employees at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Dress Code is business casual or cocktail chic.

The event is free to attend and more details are available on Eventbrite.

THEATER

Gay actor went after role in ‘Angels in America’ like a bloodhound Nick Westrate on the importance of remembering AIDS in the ‘80s

By PATRICK FOLLIARD By playing Prior Walter in Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches” at Arena Stage, New York actor Nick Westrate is hitting a career milestone. The part of Prior, a young gay New Yorker besieged by AIDS and abandonment, is a role he’s long wanted to do, and almost did several times, but somehow it never worked out until now with Arena’s stagedin-the-round production helmed by Hungarian director János Szász.

Set in mid-80s New York City, the 1993 Pulitzer and Tony and Pulitzer-winning epic is an American tragedy tempered by humor. After Prior is diagnosed with AIDS, his partner Louis leaves him for Joe, an ex-Mormon conservative whose wife Harper is having a Valium-fueled nervous breakdown. Thrown into the mix are – among others—loathsome lawyer Roy Cohn (a vicious, closeted conservative who died of AIDS in 1986), the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg, and an angel who appears to Prior and decrees his role as a prophet, a mantle Prior struggles with donning.

For the out actor, saying the playwright’s words is both a thrill and responsibility: “Tony Kushner is the most remarkable living playwright we have. His words are poetry, and he makes poetry practical and the political personal.

He’s second to none in that way.”

Westrate grew up on a Christmas tree farm in southern Michigan. At 17, he left his home state for New York to study acting at the Juilliard School. After a busy but rough start, an eclectic and successful career ensued.

His ample stage credits include originating roles for Harvey Fierstein’s “Casa Valentina” and Theresa Rebeck’s comedy “Bernhardt/Hamlet.” He toured in “The King’s Speech” as Bertie (the monarch who overcame a debilitating stutter to inspire a nation), played feckless young Leo in Ivo van Hove’s “The Little Foxes” and the depressed Donald in the 2010 off-Broadway revival of “The Boys in the Band.” On television, he was Robert Townsend for three seasons on AMC’s “Turn: Washington’s Spies,” and on film, he starred in William Sullivan s merican Insurrection.”

When asked how the part of Prior came to him, Westrate replies without hesitation, “I sought after it like a bloodhound.” Short version is Westrate heard Szász was doing “Angels” at Arena. He liked his work but didn’t know how to contact him, so he reached out to an Eastern European contact who put them in touch. They met in New York in October and hit it off. After a few hours of reading sections of the play together, director and actor decided to join forces.

It was a fit, and I knew that rena had the resources and integrity to do it well,” he adds.

WASHINGTON BLADE: You’re too young to remember the early days of AIDS. How do you tap into the terror?

NICK WESTRATE: A lot of reading, things like Andy Shilts’ “And the Band Played On” and Paul Monette’s great memoir “Borrowed Time.” And the more you learn about people and how cases of the virus ravaged their bodies, the more terrifying it becomes. You can only take in so much at a time and luckily, I’ve had a long runway to prepare for this.

Terror is also knowing the joy and liberation before the fall. How free gay life was becoming and how much fun

everyone was having. If this had never happened, we’d be so much further along. We would have discovered 400 genders by now and wouldn’t have Ron DeSantis braying about it. AIDS was such a huge missile into the soul of our community.

BLADE: You had an auspicious meeting with János Szász in October. How’s working with him?

WESTRATE: He’s a marvel. Not only does he direct without an agenda but he brings a unique perspective: János was driven out of Hungary by fascist leader Viktor Orbán for being Jewish and leftist. He and his wife and children are refugees in this country. An interesting viewpoint, especially at this time when refugees are streaming across borders in Europe, America, the Middle East, and Africa.

BLADE: In this moment of trans and drag persecution do you think about that?

WESTRATE: All the time. Prior and Belize [Prior’s best friend played by Justin Weaks] are former drag queens.

BLADE: Talk about the sand.

WESTRATE: Yes, there’s a lot of sand [28,000 pounds of sand to fill a -foot diameter circle at si inches deep .

János was very moved and inspired by footage from “How to Survive a Plague” that shows people throwing the ashes of loved ones over the fence and on to the White House lawn. It’s important for János that we’re doing this play in the ashes of the dead.

NICK WESTRATE stars in ‘Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches.’ (Photo by Emil Cohen)

BLADE: And the physicality of the role? Prior becomes increasingly ill throughout the play.

WESTRATE: A lot of things. Again, there’s reading including media material and actual accounts – there’s a great book called “From A Burning House,” a nonliterary compilation of short letters from people living with the virus. There’s artistic preparation involving the movement director and costume and wig and makeup designers as well, and figuring out how to e press all that.

Also, I lost 30 pounds to play the part. Because of the long run up to the play, I was able to do it gradually.

BLADE: Tell us about the cast.

WESTRATE: Half the cast are queer people. It’s so amazing to do this play with gay people — the references and understanding is there. You don’t have to apologize; the kissing isn’t weird. There’s an almost immediate intimacy of doing this play together that’s very beautiful.

I’ve worked with straight actors in gay plays who’ve asked “OK, why Judy Garland?” Or they tell me how they’ve researched to be gay. It’s borderline offensive.

But when you’re with gorgeous queer people it just happens so naturally so easily. [Castmates] Billie Krishawn, Justin Weaks, Michael Kevin Darnall and I have such a shorthand with each other. We have a text chain and send it each other weird GIFs. It’s a lot of fun.

BLADE: For some gay theatergoers “Angels” is a tough show. They’re hesitant to revisit that time.

WESTRATE: I understand if you don’t want to see it on a specific day but gird your loins and put on your grownup panties and come to the theater, it needs to be witnessed and attention must be paid. he crisis filled the tanks of the bigoted and the hateful and shifted us politically and personally in ways we still can’t fathom. And that’s why it’s so important why we’re doing this play and keep doing this play and never stop talking about it.

I have my aunts (gay men who’ve survived the crisis) coming to see the show, and I’m here for those who aren’t here. I get emotional just talking about it. It’s a huge responsibility that none of us are taking lightly.

BLADE: It’s timely?

WESTRATE: Not long ago we had a president who was barking “bring me my Roy Cohn.” Looking around America, you might wonder how the fuck did we get here. Why are we persecuting our most vulnerable people? Why are so many so greedy, specious, and blind? Come see this play. This is where so much of it started.

BLADE: Clearly it means a lot to you.

WESTRATE: I’ve loved the play since I started to love plays. And I’ve seen many productions: the most recent Broadway version, Michael Greif’s on Broadway, Ivo van ove s at B . ike ichols film. Doing a full production is very important to me.

I’ve worked with a lot of the great gay writers like Mart Crowley and Harvey Fierstein and Edmund White and now my friend Tony Kushner. It’s meaningful for me to do these pieces from not only the American theatrical canon but also the gay canon.

BLADE: Thanks for taking time.

WESTRATE: Nothing makes me happier than talking about this play and this production.

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M A R C H 2 4 , 2 0 2 3 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 2 7

FILM

Master and student go to war in ‘The Tutor’ An unsatisfying thriller that fails to surprise

By JOHN PAUL KING There was a time when horror movies weren’t taken nearly as seriously as those falling into the more so-called “legit” genres. Even the now-iconic early masterpieces from the silent and early sound eras were largely dismissed by critics as mere lowbrow entertainment enhanced by big studio production values, offering little but shock value and occasionally a clever script and a memorable performance or two.

Today, of course, there is widespread critical appreciation for the horror genre. In recent years, especially, the horror movie field has taken a sharp step up in terms of ambition and perceived legitimacy, with smart and multi-layered movies from artists like M. Night Shyamalan, Guillermo Del Toro, and Jordan Peele pushing boundaries and daring to let the genre wear its once-coded cultural subtext on its sleeve.

“The Tutor,” from sophomore feature director Jordan Ross and screenwriter Ryan King, clearly aims to be cut from that same cloth. It centers on Ethan (Garrett Hedlund), a professional academic coach whose ability to improve his pupils’ educational standing has placed him highly in demand among the rich and elite; despite his success, Ethan and his girlfriend Annie (Victoria Justice) – who are e pecting their first child as they make plans for a future together are struggling financially, making it impossible for him to refuse a secretive, under-the-table offer from an anonymous one-percenter who wants to hire him at a life-changing daily rate to tutor his teenage son Jackson (Noah Schnapp). However, true to the old adage about things that seem too good to be true, Ethan soon discovers that not all is as he expected; arriving at his new employer s palatial estate, he finds it mostly deserted save for a butler, a pair of vaguely insolent houseguests, and Jackson himself. Though his new student turns out to be a promising one, Ethan is disturbed by the teen’s almost obsessive fascination with his private life; though he tries to maintain a healthy distance, Jackson’s increasingly inappropriate overtures continue to escalate, and soon the boy’s intrusions threaten to sabotage the tutor’s life and career before he can even make sense of what’s behind them. t first, oss s movie seems rooted in the familiar horror trope of the Damien-esque child of privilege, a creepy rich kid (in this case, a more grown-up version) whose demeanor suggests something evil lurking beneath his scrubbed and pampered exterior. However, as any horror fan knows, the more recognizable a trope may be, the less trustworthy it becomes – because if there’s anything a good horror story likes to do, it’s to pull the rug out from under us by turning our expectations on their ear with a clever, unforeseeable twist. hat makes it difficult to discuss he utor without giving away too much; though anyone who has watched

NOAH SCHNAPP and GARRETT HEDLUND in ‘The Tutor.’

a lot of films like it will find it easy to spot the sleights of hand Ross and King employ to misdirect their audience’s attention, it s probably best to avoid the specific details of how the plot eventually unfolds. Instead, we can simply sum things up by calling it a cautionary tale about the dangers of judging a situation – or a person – based on appearance alone.

Citing lfred itchcock and David incher as his in uences, Ross approaches his movie more as a psychological thriller than as outright horror; there’s little onscreen violence, and the tension is built more on uncertainty than fear. Nevertheless, he leans into the macabre with his brooding visual style, evoking a sense of dread. They also rely on a tight, streamlined narrative, moving with brisk and broad strokes through the preliminaries to get right into the business of unsettling us. In this way, they get us invested uickly and manage to deliver a solid first half that makes up in creep factor for what it lacks in intricate plotting.

It also uses this not-so-slow build to introduce some intriguing themes. Most obviously, it plays with our cultural biases around money, class, and privilege, emphasizing both the extravagant luxury of Jackson’s home and the smallness of Ethan and Annie’s humble apartment, not to mention his disregard for boundaries and the thinly veiled, mocking arrogance of his dissolute cousins (Jonny Weston, Ekaterina Baker), who may be more tied up in Ethan’s dilemma than their seeming disinterest in him suggests.

Then there’s the undercurrent of queerness – another familiar horror trope – that manifests in Jackson’s apparent “infatuation” with his new teacher and becomes one more red ag for Ethan to dismiss if he wants to keep his lucrative gig. The casting of Schnapp – the young “Stranger Things” star who came out as gay in January after previously disclosing that his character in the et i hit series is also queer – plays into the expectations we have of these scenes.

On the subject of the casting, Schnapp gives an im-

2 8 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • MARCH 24, 2 0 2 3

pressively nuanced performance in a volatile role that is both very different and oddly similar to the one his fans know him for, and manages to keep our sympathies – if not always our trust – even when he’s on his worst behavior. He also sparks a believable chemistry with Hedlund, who as Ethan, has to serve as a proxy for the audience; he succeeds by making him as much an everyman figure as possible for a character whose defining feature is his intellectual prowess; still, he keeps a palpable distance from the audience when it comes to his inner landscape, something that works in his favor once the story begins to sow doubt about what’s really going on.

Unfortunately, after “The Tutor” gets all its pieces in place and begins to move toward a clima and a final confrontation, it doesn’t quite deliver on its promise. Instead of delving deeper into the mystery it’s worked to establish, it devolves into a game of cat-and-mouse that sometimes stretches credibility a little too thin in the name of raising the stakes and ends up feeling more like a dark episode of “Scooby Doo” than “Strangers on a Train.” Less forgivable, perhaps, is a tendency to reveal previously withheld and unknowable key information as a device for shifting the plot – and our assumptions – in a different direction. Used once, it feels like a cheat; used repeatedly, it feels like laziness.

Of course, all this is part of the movie’s tactic to “gaslight” us so that we won’t see what’s coming. Yet somehow, we still do.

“The Tutor” does have reasons to recommend it. Besides Schnapp and Hedlund, it offers a striking, dramatic visual aesthetic and a sumptuous location setting. It also offers some food for thought by exploring certain thematic elements about narcissism and toxic masculinity, though to say more about that might constitute a spoiler.

Still, by the time it delivers its final surprise twist, it won’t be much of a surprise to most viewers; and while provocative themes might stimulate some conversation after the final credits roll, they don t do much for creating a satisfying thriller. Or, for that matter, a scary one.

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SPORTS

Put this out gay trailblazer’s supportive coach in your bracket

‘Coach Willard’s awesome,’ says Derrick Gordon of Maryland’s Kevin Willard

By DAWN ENNIS

When the 8th seeded Maryland Terrapins faced off against No. 1 Alabama in the second round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships last weekend, it wasn’t just the players on the hardwood who were working hard for the win. Nate Oats coached the Crimson Tide to a 73-51 victory less than an hour from KEVIN WILLARD is not just a seasoned coach, but a strong LGBTQ ally. their home court.

And on the other side was Kevin Willard, who is not just a seasoned coach, but a strong LGBTQ ally.

Willard was Derrick Gordon’s coach at Seton Hall when he transferred from UMass in 2015, a year after he came out as the first out gay Division I en s basketball player in the NCAA.

Gordon has credited Willard with creating a comfortable environment, after he “bumped heads” with former UMass coach Derek Kellogg during his two seasons with the inutemen. In contrast, he said he instantly connected with Willard, and told his teammates and Willard following his final season at Seton all that he wished he had another year of eligibility remaining. He’s said he considered Willard the best coach he’d ever played for.

“He just made it comfortable for me,” Gordon told Glenn Clark Radio in an interview broadcast on March 22, 2022.

“He said, ‘You know what, we’re more focused on who you are as a person and a basketball player and what you bring to the team. e voiced that over and over again. When I went on my visit, I ust felt even more comfortable, met a couple of the guys. They made me feel right at home as well, so it was kind of like an easy decision. Coach Willard’s awesome. He’s an amazing guy.”

If you don t believe ordon, ask the West irginia ountaineers, who lost to the errapins in the first round - . aryland s win took the paint off the oor at egacy rena” in Birmingham, Ala., as Brendan Quinn wrote in The Athletic. He described Willard’s style of coaching this way: “Willard paced the sideline, as he does. The man is intense. Doesn’t suffer fools. Serious stuff. No BS. Black eyes screwed deep in a bald head, no pupils. He regards things sideways, incredulous toward anyone who doesn’t come correct. It s his whole thing. If uy itchie cast a college

3 0 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • MARCH 24, 2 0 2 3

basketball coach, it’d be Willard.”

Gordon told Glenn Clark Radio that he particularly recalled the kind of support Willard gave him in one practice early in his Seton Hall career, according to Press Box Online.

I remember a particular situation that happened in practice came down the court and I was wide open and I didn t shoot it, ordon said in the interview. Willard stopped practice and he said, ou re not at ass anymore. I trust you. I believe in you. Shoot the ball. Ever since then, my confidence was through the roof, especially dealing with I had to deal with when I was at ass with that coach to playing under Coach Willard and him telling me that specifically, he ust let me play my game. ast uly, ordon posted on Instagram that after playing a few seasons in Europe for Cyprus and ermany, I decided to end my career as a professional athlete.”

Gordon is now 31, and he told his followers he is working on a book about his life “on and off the court,” in hopes he might “help gay young people, student athletes in particular and others who are struggling to pursue careers in professional sports or any career paths they chose without fear or shame.”

Since Christmas, he’s been sharing posts that include photos with his boyfriend, actor Scott Backman of Los ngeles, including one from last week, captioned Every time we’re together, it’s like falling in love all over again.”

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BOOKS

eading Blue unger is like watching a Stanley ubrick film

ush, dreamlike, and you won t be able to stop thinking about it

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER You can’t stop thinking about it.

It’s been rolling around in your mind since it happened and you can’t stop. You replay it over and over, how it started, how it progressed, why it ended. ou wonder if it ll happen again and in the new novel Blue unger by iola Di rado, you wonder if you truly want it to.

Shanghai was not her first choice for a place to live. Sometimes, she wasn t really even sure why she came there, e cept that it was uben s dream. or months and months, he spoke of Shanghai, showed her maps, talked of a life as a chef living in a high-rise apartment, and he taught her a little bit of the language. She never fully understood why uben loved China and she never thought to ask before her other half, her twin brother, her only sibling died.

She was brushing her teeth when it happened. ow, weeks later, she was in his favorite city, a teacher of Italian languages in a Chinese culture, alone, friendless. hen she met u.

It happened at the nightclub called o and she later wondered, with a thrill, if u had been stalking her. u claimed that she was a student in the Italian class, but though she was usually good with faces, she didn t remember the slender, glorious woman with milk-white skin and luminous eyes.

She did remember the first place she and u had se .

It was a hotel, but u liked it outside, too in public, on sidewalks, in abandoned buildings, and in crowded nightclubs. hey took yellow pills together, slept together in u s s ualid apartment she told u she loved her but never got a reply e cept that u starting biting. u had used her teeth all along but she started biting harder.

Soon, she was bleeding, bruising from u s bites, and seeing people in the shadows, and she began to understand that uben wouldn t have liked u at all. ou know what you want. ou re someone with determination. nd you may want this book, but there are a few things you ll need to know first. eading Blue unger is like watching a Stanley ubrick movie. It s surreal, kind of gau y, and loaded with meanings that are somewhat fu y until you ve read a paragraph

several times and even then, you re not uite sure about it. uthor iola Di rado writes of sharp, unfinished mourning with a grief-distracting obsession layered thickly on top, of control and submission, and while the chapters are each brief, they feel too long but not long enough. here are so many uestions left dangling within the plot of this story, so many small bits unsaid, but also too much information of the mundane sort. ou ll feel somewhat voyeuristic with this book in your hands, until you notice that the se scenes here are humidly uber-fiery but not very detailed. verall, then, Blue unger is different but compelling, short enough to read twice, uickly. It s lush, dreamlike, and once started, you won t be able to stop thinking about it.

‘Blue Hunger’

By Viola Di Grado,

translated by Jamie Richards c.2023, Bloomsbury | $27 | 216 pages

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cfa.gmu.edu

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For information on health and safety protocols, visit cfa.gmu.edu/expect.

Interested in learning about Barrie School?

• Join us for a small group tour on Wednesdays • Attend one of our upcoming information sessions

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M A R C H 2 4 , 2 0 2 3 • WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M • 3 3

The Little Gay Pub opening night New LGBTQ venue opens in Logan Circle (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

D.C.’s newest LGBTQ venue The Little Gay Pub (1100 P Street, N.W.) had a soft opening on Friday, March 17.

3 4 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • MARCH 24, 2 0 2 3

THE GREAT WORK IS

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REAL ESTATE

A guide to mortgage pre-approval for potential homeowners eview your credit report to ensure there are no errors

By JEFF HAMMERBERG

For many potential homebuyers, the mortgage pre-approval process can be a daunting and confusing experience. However, obtaining a mortgage pre-approval is an essential step in the home buying process, as it demonstrates your financial readiness and helps you stand out as a serious buyer in a competitive market.

In this article, we will outline the exact steps for getting pre-approved for a new mortgage loan, so you can confidently embark on your home buying journey.

Step 1: Research potential lenders.

Step 5: Sub it your ort a e pre-approval application.

Once you have chosen a lender, complete their mortgage pre-approval application. This will typically involve providing your financial documents, Social Security number, and permission for the lender to perform a credit check. Be prepared to answer uestions about your income, employment, and financial history.

Step 6:

Await the lender’s decision.

There are various mortgage lenders to choose from, including banks, credit unions, After submitting your application, the lendThere are seven key steps to follow when seeking a mortgage. and non-bank lenders. Take the time to reer will review your financial information and search and compare interest rates, fees, and credit history to determine your eligibility for a customer reviews to find a lender that best suits your needs. eferrals are always great, mortgage. his process is pretty uick and often happens the same day. If approved, the and the real estate professionals at ay ealEstate.com can refer you to B mortlender will issue a pre-approval letter, which outlines the maximum loan amount, loan gage lenders they trust and have a relationship with. type, and interest rate you ualify for.

Step 2: Review your credit report and score.

Before starting the preapproval process, it s essential to review your credit report and score to ensure there are no errors or discrepancies. our credit score plays a significant role in determining your eligibility for a mortgage and the interest rate you ll receive.

If necessary, take steps to improve your credit by paying down debts, disputing errors, and making timely payments.

Step 3: Gat er necessary financia docu ents.

enders will re uire a variety of financial documents to assess your creditworthiness and ability to repay the loan. Some of the essential documents you ll need include • Recent pay stubs • W-2 forms or 1099s from the past two years • Federal tax returns from the past two years • Bank statements from the past few months • Asset statements (e.g., retirement accounts, investments) • Proof of any additional income sources

Step 4: Deter ine your bud et.

Before seeking pre-approval, it s crucial to determine how much you can afford. our ay ealEstate.com ealtor will help you to crunch the numbers. ogether, you ll consider your monthly expenses, debt-to-income ratio, and desired down payment to establish a budget for your new home. Be realistic and remember to factor in additional costs such as property ta es, homeowners insurance, and maintenance e penses.

3 6 • WASHINGTONBLADE.COM • MARCH 24, 2 0 2 3 • B U S I N E S S

Step 7: Keep your pre-approval up-to-date.

mortgage pre-approval is typically valid for days. If you don t find a home within that time frame, you may need to update your pre-approval with your lender.

Be sure to maintain your financial stability during the home search process, as any significant changes in your credit, income, or debt could affect your pre-approval status.

Don t make any new large purchases like furniture, cars, boats, etc.

By following these steps and obtaining a mortgage pre-approval, you ll be well-prepared to navigate the competitive real estate market and confidently make an offer on your dream home.

(Jeff Hammerberg is a distinguished entrepreneur and broker, and the founder of GayRealEstate.com. For more than 25 years, he has been a prolific writer, coach, and author who has been instrumental in advancing the cause of fair, honest, and equitable representation for all members of the LGBTQ community in real estate matters. GayRealEstate.com, which he established, is the largest and longest-running gay real estate agent referral service in the nation, boasting more than 3,500 LGBTQ Realtors who operate in cities across the United States. His commitment to promoting inclusivity and accessibility in real estate has earned him a reputation as a passionate advocate for the LGBTQ community.)

JEFF HAMMERBERG

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

EXPECT MORE

Whether you are looking for a vibrant and spirited Independent Living lifestyle, an enriching Assisted Living and Memory Support neighborhood, or the peace of mind and security that comes with a Life Plan Community, Ingleside will exceed your expectations. Discover a rich and diverse community made up of interesting friends and neighbors, living an active and engaging lifestyle.

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MASSAGE

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Contact for details and scheduling,

202.491.3441 – Ian

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY

ANNOUNCEMENTS

COUNSELING

Adult Public Charter School

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

ACADEMY OF HOPE REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS HVAC

The Academy of Hope Adult Public Charter School located in Washington, DC requests proposals for HVAC. Proposals are due March 31st, 2023.

You can find the detailed request for proposal and submission information at https://aohdc.org/jobs/

ACADEMY OF HOPE Adult Public Charter School

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS PLUMBING

The Academy of Hope Adult Public Charter School located in Washington, DC requests proposals for plumbing.

Proposals are due March 31st, 2023.

You can find the detailed request for proposal and submission information at https://aohdc.org/jobs/

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GRAND OPENING

LOGAN CIRCLE

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