Washington National Opera honors Katherine Goforth Award recognizes an artist who identifies as transgender or non-binary By LAURA FARMER
Katherine Goforth was recently announced as the inaugural recipient of Washington National Opera’s True Voice Award. This award was created to provide training and increase the visibility of opera singers who self-identify as transgender and non-binary. Each recipient will receive a financial award and the chance to participate in career training, artistic coaching, and a performance with the Cafritz Young Artists. Recipients will also be presented by the Kennedy Center in a recital at the Millennium Stage. Goforth’s recital will take place in May 2024. The Washington Blade chatted with this talented singer about her artistic journey, experience as a trans opera singer, her future plans for her own career, and how she hopes to shape the field of opera. Washington Blade: Can you share about your journey as an artist? How did you begin this journey and eventually pursue opera? Katherine Goforth: I had an interest in music and singing for my entire life, but I looked at it as more of a hobby until my high school choir teacher required me to take voice lessons. After a few months of lessons, I started winning prizes and getting special attention for my singing, which meant a lot to me at the time because I was struggling a lot socially and at home. It was easy to dedicate myself to singing after that and hard to imagine pursuing another career. … Since I was a kid, I felt like I had something to prove and have always tried to do more than what others thought possible in my performing and creative work. It has only
been since I transitioned that I really started to feel like I was enough. The part of me that wanted to prove myself could calm down and I learned that it is enough for me when I stand in my own values and desires. Blade: What has been your experience as a trans person in the field of opera? Goforth: As a young person coming into a sense of trans and gender non-conforming identity, opera was a damaging space to be part of. At the time, I believed there was no way to actualize my gender identity and continue working. Sure, there were queer people in opera, but almost all of them were straight-presenting men—and those who weren’t, didn’t seem to get the same opportunities. I have a strong memory of seeing the news about the premiere of As One [a chamber opera with a sole transgender protagonist] in 2014. It was the first time I had heard anyone mention trans people in an opera space. I don’t know how much this has changed for students, but I do think that fewer people are postponing their transitions for the sake of working in this industry, which is good. I haven’t worked in opera very much since I came out and it will be interesting to see how that develops over the next few years. I’ve heard a lot of people say that major opera companies aren’t ready for trans singers yet, but I hope they’re wrong. My struggle is that I feel much happier playing female characters, but I’m not capable of singing soprano-alto roles on stage right now. That’s something I hope will change in the future, but I think it’s important for me to
KATHERINE GOFORTH, the inaugural recipient of Washington National Opera’s True Voice Award, performing in the Portland Opera Gala, with pianist NICK FOX. (Photo courtesy Goforth)
accept my voice and try to find affirming projects to work on with the voice that I have. Blade: Congratulations on being the inaugural True Voice Award recipient. How do you hope to use this award as a platform to further your career, and more broadly, shape the field of opera? Goforth: I’d like to thank Washington National Opera, Kimberly Reed, Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell, and the rest of the selection committee for choosing me for this award. When I decided to come out, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to work in this industry again. It seems to me that trans people have never had this level of institutional support in our industry. I’m honored to receive it, but I’m also aware of all the other people who competed for this award and ways that my selection leaves them out.
Whitman-Walker announces leadership change
Dr. Ryan Moran, who has served since 2021 as CEO of the Whitman-Walker Health System, an arm of D.C.’s longtime LGBTQ and HIV health services provider Whitman-Walker Health, will be leaving his position next month after being named as Deputy Secretary of Health and Healthcare Finance and Medicaid Director for the State of Maryland. According to a March 21 statement released by Whitman-Walker, Moran will begin his new job as a member of the Maryland Department of Health’s senior leadership team effective April 12. The statement says Cindy Lewin, an official with nonprofit organizations for more than 25 years and who previously served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at the AARP, will serve as interim CEO at Whitman-Walker
Health System beginning April 10. Around that time, the statement says, Whitman-Walker will begin a nationwide executive search “to secure a permanent CEO” for the top position at Whitman-Walker Health System. The statement points out that Naseema Shafi will continue in her role as CEO of Whitman-Walker Health, the other component of Whitman-Walker that directly provides and oversees medical and health care services to patients and clients, including those from the LGBTQ community. “I am deeply grateful to Whitman-Walker for the opportunity to steward our mission-driven organization as a regional and national leader in LGBTQ+ care, advocacy, research, and education,” Moran said in the statement. LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Dr. RYAN MORAN is leaving his role as CEO of the Whitman-Walker Health System. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Trans teen shot to death outside Maryland bar
An 18-year-old transgender woman was shot to death in the parking lot outside a Mechanicsville, Md. bar shortly after 1 a.m. on March 24 in an incident that the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s investigators say does not appear to be a hate crime. But the sister of shooting victim Tasiyah Woodland told News 4 Washington that she and members of her family believe the killing was a hate crime based, in part, on the fact that Woodland had been subjected to “hate” in the recent past because of her gender identity. A Sheriff’s Office investigator, Capt. Edward Willenborg, told News 4 Washington the shooting took place after Woodland exited the Big Dogs in Paradise bar and grill and “some type of confrontation” occurred in the parking lot. “Detectives said they’re pursuing strong leads and reviewing surveillance camera video from inside and outside
the bar,” News 4 Washington reports. “The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division continues to actively investigate the murder of an 18-year-old victim killed in Mechanicville early Friday morning [March 24],” a statement released by the Sheriff’s Office says. The statement identifies Woodland as a transgender woman and resident of nearby Lexington Park, Md. It says the Sheriff’s Office investigators have been in regular contact with members of Woodland’s family to offer support and updates on the investigation. “The Sheriff’s Office has also been in contact with members of PFLAG Southern Maryland and the LGBTQ+ community to address concerns of personal and public safety,” the statement says. “At this time, it does not appear that Woodland was targeted because of her gender identity,” it
says. PFLAG, or Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, is a national organization with chapters in states and cities across the country. The statement issued by the Sheriff’s Office calls on anyone with information about the case, including anyone who may have taken video images related to the incident with their phone, to contact Sheriff’s Det. David Lawrence at 301475-4200, ext. 78130. Woodland’s sister, Ty’aliyah Woodland, told News 4 Washington that her sister was an outspoken person who sometimes got others upset. “She was one of a kind. She had no filter,” Ty’aliyah Woodland told the TV news station. “I mean, she was the true definition of living life to the fullest.” LOU CHIBBARO JR.
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