Washington Blade, Volume 54, Issue 45, November 10, 2023

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Roem wins Va. state Senate race as Democrats triumph, PAGE 08

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VOLUME 54 ISSUE 45 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, ISABELLE KRAVIS, CAL BENN 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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50+ LGBTQ athletes from D.C. competing in Gay Games Guadalajara Team D.C. says locals participating in wide range of sports

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

At least 50 or more LGBTQ-identifying athletes from the D.C. area are in Guadalajara, Mexico this week participating in the Gay Games, the quadrennial international LGBTQ sports competition, according to Team D.C., an association of LGBTQ sports clubs.

“D.C.-area athletes have a long history of participation in the Gay Games and once again, Team D.C. is organizing a delegation of athletes to represent our metro area with pride in a diverse range of sports including, but not limited to, track and field, powerlifting, cheerleading, tennis, long distance races, bowling, and dance sport,” a statement released by Team D.C. says.

For the first time in its history, this year’s Gay Games 11 is taking place at the same time in two cities, Guadalajara and Hong Kong. And also, for the first time, the event is taking place in a Latin American country and in Asia.

The Gay Games competition is taking place in both locations from Nov. 3-11.

“The Team D.C. delegation is also crafting its own place in local history given the diversity of its roster,” the Team D.C. statement says. “Ages of the athletes range from 26 to 78, which includes first-time participants like dance athlete Kevin Romero Ortiz – as well as returning Gay Games veterans such as footballer (soccer player) Robert

York, who has previously participated in the 2018, 2014, 2010, 2006, 2002, and 1998 editions,” according to the statement.

(Photo courtesy of Gay Games 11 Hong Kong organizing committee.)

The statement says that another of the D.C.-area participants, Francisco Alvarez-Higareda, is originally from Guadalajara and has been assisting in Team D.C.’s organizing of its participation in this year’s Gay Games.

“I like to refer to Guadalajara as the queer capital of

Comings & Goings

Jim Endean joins BSD in Rehoboth Beach

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 Jim Endean on his new position as Director of Design and Business Development at BSD in Rehoboth Beach, Del. “I am joining the BSD team to cultivate and grow their cabinetry division creating kitchens, baths, mudrooms, and beyond,” he said.

Prior to this he was with Atlantic Kitchen & Bath LLC,

JIM ENDEAN

Lewes, Del., and was SVP New Business Development with Innomark Communications, New York. He has

Mexico,” Alvarez-Higareda says in the statement. “Hosting and participating in the Gay Games in Guadalajara is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to remind family and neighbors I grew up with that LGBTQ+ people are not anomalies and that my identity as a gay or queer man doesn’t make me less capable as an athlete.”

Reports have surfaced that the combined attendance of this year’s Gay Games in Guadalajara and Hong Kong is significantly lower than in Gay Games in previous years.

One reason for that, observers have said, is the postponement of this year’s Gay Games by one year due to COVID-related restrictions imposed by the Chinese government in Hong Kong.

Observers familiar with the two cities have also said concern over restrictions on LGBTQ rights in China, which governs Hong Kong, and worries about safety in Guadalajara, where crime and kidnappings related to drug cartels are common, may have played a role in a lower turnout for the Gay Games.

Francisco Javier, the Team D.C. 2023 Gay Games Coordinator who was in Guadalajara this week, couldn’t immediately be reached to find out if the D.C.-area participation in the Gay Games this year is greater, lesser, or about the same as previous years. worked in corporate retail and brand design presentation for department stores, Nike, and Calvin Klein. He began his career with May Co. – Kaufmann’s, Hecht’s and Strawbridges divisions. His focus was on creating and executing brand vision for experiential customer environments at retail. He then translated that experience into the retail technology arena where he sold and implemented stateof-the-art 3D visual design and merchandising software transforming the way retailers and brands presented their identities to mass markets. Endean then went into residential interior design. He grew up in New England and Western Pennsylvania. He spent 20 years in corporate positions in New York City. He has been a visitor to Rehoboth Beach for 26 years and moved to the beach permanently in 2020. He lives there with his husband John, an architect, and their dog Levi.

Endean earned his bachelor’s degree in Communications and Marketing, Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh.

Activists hail new doc on gays in the military after D.C. showing

About 150 people, including LGBTQ rights advocates, their supporters and friends, turned out last Wednesday for a premiere D.C. showing of a new documentary film called “Serving In Secret: Love, Country and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

A production of MSNBC Films and Time Studios, the film chronicles the hardships and discrimination faced by LGBTQ people serving in the U.S. military going back to the early years of the nation’s armed forces up through the passage by Congress of the controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law and the eventual repeal of that law under the administration of President Barack Obama.

The repeal by Congress of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” cleared the way for the first time in U.S. history for gays, lesbians and bisexuals to serve openly in the military.

The film showing, which was organized by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, took place at the auditorium of the recently opened John Hopkins University Bloomberg Center at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Two of the leading figures in the film’s production, U.S. Naval Academy graduate and former Marine Corps fighter pi-

lot Thomas Carpenter, and his nephew, filmmaker Jonathan Baker, who served as producer and director of the film, appeared as guest speakers on stage following the showThe D.C. premiere of ‘Serving in ing of the film.

Secret: Love, Country and Don’t A discussion with Ask, Don’t Tell’ took place at John Hopkins University Bloomberg the two, which inCenter on Nov. 1. cluded questions (Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro Jr.) from the audience, was moderated by Ryan Bos, executive director of D.C.’s Capital Pride Alliance.

Moving and sometimes highly emotional on-camera interviews with Carpenter make up a significant part of the film, which focuses on his personal story as a gay man who had to hide his sexual orientation during his distinguished

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tenure as a military officer.

Carpenter’s story includes his love relationship with fellow military member Courtland Hirschi, which the two had to keep secret, and Hirschi’s discharge from the military after authorities discovered he was gay. Carpenter also tells of his struggle in coping with Hirschi’s discharge and the emotional toll when Hirschi, who he considered his spouse, died of AIDS in the early years of the epidemic in the 1980s.

Others who appear in interviews in the film include former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who served in the military; former Army Secretary Eric Fanning; LGBTQ activist David Mixner, who spoke out against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” when President Bill Clinton first embraced it; and Aubrey Sarvis, former executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which led the lobbying effort for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“Serving In Secret” is scheduled to be shown nationwide on Nov. 12 on MSNBC and on Nov. 13 on Peacock.

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Danica Roem wins Va. state Senate race in big night for Democrats Party takes full control of legislature in major defeat for Youngkin

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS | mlavers@washblade.com

MANASSAS, Va. — Virginia state Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) on Tuesday won her race the state Senate.

The Manassas Democrat defeated Republican Bill Woolf by a 51.7-48.3 margin.

“I’m grateful the people of Virginia’s 30th Senate district elected me to continue representing my lifelong home of western Prince William County and greater Manassas,” said Roem in a statement after she declared victory. “The voters have shown they want a leader who will prioritize fixing roads, feeding kids and protecting our land instead of stigmatizing trans kids or taking away your civil rights.”

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson is among those who canvassed with Roem and other Democratic candidates on Monday in Manassas.

HRC in a tweet noted Roem will be the second transgender person elected to a state senate in the U.S. (Roem in 2018 became the first trans person seated in a state legislature in the country. Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride took office in 2021.)

“Congrats to pro-equality and HRC-endorsed Senator-elect Danica Roem,” said HRC. “Senator-elect Roem is only the second openly transgender person elected to a state

Virginia state Sen.-elect DANICA ROEM (D-Manassas) speaks to supporters at the Virginia Portuguese Community Center in Manassas, Va., on Nov. 7. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

senate in the country. This is an historic step toward building power for the transgender community and LGBTQ+ folks everywhere.”

The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and Equality Virginia’s PAC also congratulated Roem.

“Danica faced an unprecedented deluge of anti-trans hate on the campaign trail, but she was not phased nor distracted,” said Victory Fund President Annise Parker in a statement. “She made LGBTQ+ history tonight because she put constituents first, speaking to the real issues that impact children and their families in Virginia, from fixing roads to ensuring kids and families have food on the table.”

Roem spoke to supporters at the Virginia Portuguese Community Center in Manassas after she declared victory.

DEMS REGAIN FULL CONTROL OF ASSEMBLY

Democrats on Tuesday regained control of the Virginia House of Delegates, which they lost in 2021 when Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin won the governorship. Democrats maintained control of the state Senate.

Abortion and trans rights — including new guidelines for trans and nonbinary students — are among the issues that loomed over Tuesday’s election.

“Today, Virginians made their voices heard at the polls and sent a clear message to Gov. Glenn Youngkin and MAGA Republicans that we will not follow other Southern states who turned back the clock on progress,” said former House Speaker Eileen Fill0 8 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • NOVEMBER 1 0 , 2 0 2 3 • LO CA L NE WS

er-Corn in a statement. “Virginians have voted to reject extreme abortion bans and have once again chosen a vision of a Virginia that is more open, welcoming, and prosperous.”

Robinson also highlighted these issues when she spoke with the Washington Blade on Monday.

“We’ve seen more bills attacking trans youth in the state of Virginia than at any other point in the commonwealth’s history,” she said. “People are clear about what’s at stake right now and really wanting to get politicians in office who are going to put the state back on track.”

OTHER LGBTQ CANDIDATES WIN

Roem is among the many LGBTQ candidates who won their respective races on Tuesday.

State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) defeated Republican Sophia Moshasha in Senate District 39 by a 78-21.7 percent margin. State Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County) won re-election in House District 17. Ebbin and Sickles are both gay.

“Virginians don’t want the government banning books, and interfering with their personal freedoms — whether it’s their reproductive rights, the right to breathe clean air, the safety of our communities from gun violence or the sanctity of our democracy,” said Ebbin in a statement.

“Despite breaking spending records, Gov. Youngkin was just served the biggest political rejection by voters of any Virginia governor in over three decades,” he further stressed.

“Virginians sent Youngkin a message loud and clear tonight. In spite of his unprecedented campaign spending — and attempts to deny the right to vote to thousands in the run up to this election — his campaign to divide Virginia failed.”

Human Rights Campaign President KELLEY State Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler ROBINSON, center, with now state Sen.-elect (D-Virginia Beach), who is bisexual, Danica Roem (D-Manassas) on Nov. 6, in Manassas, defeated Republican Mike Karslake Va. (Photo courtesy of HRC) in House District 43 by a 54.9-41.5 percent margin. Pansexual state Del. Marcia “Cia” Price (D-Newport News) won re-election in House District 85.

Former state Del. Joshua Cole, who is bisexual, defeated Republican Lee Peters in House District 65 by a 52.6-47.1 percent margin.

Democrat Rozia Henson won in House District 19. Democratic Fairfax County School Board member Laura Jane Cohen defeated Republican Marcus Evans by a 61.2-38.6 percent margin, while Democrat Adele McClure won in House District 2.

Henson, Cohen and McClure are gay, bisexual and queer respectively.

State Del. Barry Knight (R-Virginia Beach) defeated Zach Coltrain, a gay Gen Zer, in House District 98.

FRISCH RE-ELECTED TO SCHOOL BOARD

Fairfax County School Board Vice Chair Karl Frisch won re-election. Robyn Lady, who is a lesbian, and Kyle McDaniel, who is bisexual, won their respective campaigns for the school board.

“Tonight’s results show people are fed up with the political attacks targeting our worldclass public schools and teachers, and putting our students in danger,” said Frisch. “Fairfax County residents have made it clear: They want safe and inclusive schools for every student, including those who identify as LGBTQ+.”

Michael Pruitt on Tuesday became the first bisexual man elected to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors. Allison Spillman, whose child is trans, won a seat on the Albemarle County School Board.

Big Stone Gap Town Councilman Tyler Hughes, who is gay, won re-election. It is not immediately known if Blacksburg Town Councilman Michael Sutphin, who is also gay, won his race.

(Christopher Kane contributed to this story.)

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D.C. bill would fund local news outlets

First-of-its-kind legislation lets residents decide which businesses receive funds

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com

D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) has introduced a first-of –its-kind bill that would allocate city funds to support news media outlets that report local news and would authorize registered D.C. voters to decide which news organizations would receive the funds.

The legislation, the Local News Funding Act, calls for setting aside 0.1 percent of the city’s annual budget to create a Local News Grant Program to fund media outlets that report local news, a statement released by Lewis George says.

The statement says the legislation was co-introduced

by Council member Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1).

“After years of declining revenue, painful layoffs, and discontinuations, the bill would provide a stable source of funding for local journalism that is decided by the public,” the statement says. “Critically, it would be solely up to the residents to determine which news outlets are funded and how much funding they receive,” the statement continues.

Under the provisions of the bill, each D.C. registered voter would receive news coupons to give to their preferred news outlets, and the number of news coupons each news outlet receives would determine its share of the funding.

A summary of the 22-page bill released by Lewis

George’s office says each registered voter would receive five news coupons that can be allocated to any news outlet that registers to join the program through a newly created independent Community Journalism Board. News outlets that receive at least 250 news coupons will receive a grant that would be issued quarterly. The bill authorizes registered voters to re-allocate the news coupons to different news organizations each quarter.

“The Local News Grant Program would be open to a broad range of news outlets that provide original factbased information focused on local events, including local sections of national newspapers, online local news sites, outlets serving residents who primarily speak Spanish or other languages, community-focused blogs focused on specific neighborhoods, radio stations or podcasters, independent journalists, and breaking news sources on social media,” Lewis George’s statement says.

The statement says the bill excludes television outlets from the program “because the District already has a separate grant program to develop TV content that is aired on public, educational, and governmental channels and funded with cable franchise fees.”

The D.C. Council’s website shows that the bill has been sent to the Council’s Committee of the Whole, which is

chaired by Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), and the Committee on Business and Economic Development, which is chaired by Council member BRIANNE NADEAU Council member (D-Ward 1) co-introduced the Local News Funding Act with Council member Kenyan McDuffie Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4).

(I-At-Large).

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key) Spokespersons for Mendelson and McDuffie said the committees have not yet scheduled a hearing on the bill and due to the Council’s busy schedule, a hearing on the bill would not likely be scheduled before January.

“Local news organizations are a vital part of a healthy and functional democracy,” Ken Miguel, president of the national board of NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists, told the Blade in a statement. “The Local News Funding Act may provide much needed support for the newsrooms working to provide the D.C. community with fair and accurate news coverage,” Miguel said.

D.C.’s lesbian Furies house under consideration for National Historic Landmark Capitol Hill rowhouse already placed on Register of Historic Places

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com A rowhouse on Capitol Hill used in the early 1970s as headquarters for a lesbian feminist group called the Furies Collective is under consideration by the National Park Service for designation as a National Historic Landmark.

The National Park System’s National Historic Landmarks Committee was scheduled to discuss and make a recommendation on the Furies Collective house designation at a Nov. 16 virtual meeting, according to information on the National Park Service website.

“As the headquarters of the short-lived, but consequential Furies Collective, the rowhouse at 219 11th Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. is nationally significant for the important role it played in the articulation of lesbian feminist separatism, an influential school of thought that upholds heterosexuality as a key element in perpetuating women’s oppression,” a National Historic Landmark Executive Summary of the proposed landmark designation says.

“Lesbian feminist separatism had a dramatic impact

on lesbian culture for the next two decades, inspiring the creation of a women’s culture and national network of women-owned businesses, women artists, and feminist thinkers,” the statement says.

The proposed designation of the Furies Collective house as a National Historic Landmark comes seven years after the National Park Service in May 2016 added the house to its National Register of Historic Places. That same year, the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board voted unanimously to designate the house a historic landmark on the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites.

“The Furies Collective played a key role in the articulation of lesbian feminist separatism through its nationally circulated newspaper, The Furies, which they produced at this location,” the Executive Summary for the historic landmark status says.

The summary says the current owner of the house is supportive of the historic landmark designation.

The Furies Collective is under consideration by the National Park Service for designation as a National Historic Landmark. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

“The city is pursuing recognition of other LGBTQ-related sites, and this designation will help highlight the importance of that history,” it says.

The Park Service write-up identifies Susan Ferentinos, Ph.D, independent historian and consultant from Point Townsend, Wash., as the lead advocate for the designation of the house as a National Historic Landmark.

Trans pastor helps those on the margins find grace

The ceiling of this church is the sky. There are no stainedglass windows, just graffiti-covered concrete walls. No pews, only chairs unfolded on a vacant lot in Station North.

Church members arrive by motorized wheelchairs, walkers, canes. A few smoke cigarettes or drink out of bottles wrapped in plastic bags. Many have slept on the streets, and some still lack permanent housing. Then there is Pastor Elazar Schoch Zavaletta, a religious leader as unique as this congregation. He is joyfully and proudly trans at a time when many who identify as Christian are leading efforts to curbs the rights.

Known until now as North Avenue Mission, the church meets on Mondays at rush hour near a busy Baltimore street

corner. Buses whoosh by, music throbs from a passing car, sirens howl. Yet here there is a sense of the holy. When Pastor Elazar lifts his arms and Deacon Bridgette says, “We are here,” this unlikely congregation calls back, “God is here too!”

The church is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, although some who worship here do not consider themselves Christian. Many have struggled with alcohol or drugs and have spent time behind bars. Many have significant health problems; this fall, one core member was hospitalized with pneumonia and another was hit by a truck and spent two weeks in Shock Trauma. They are acutely aware of the fragility of life; in the three and a half years since North Avenue Mission began, five founding members have

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died.

Much is precarious. The church members do not own the lot where they worship. They also do not own the lot where they built Red Shed Village, a space for unhoused people to sleep. Sometimes church members disappear for weeks or months.

Despite these challenges, church members are dedicated to helping others, giving away groceries and clothing at a free market every other Wednesday, serving meals after services, distributing Narcan and condoms, and caring for the residents of the Village.

Continues at washingtonblade.com JULIE SCHARPER/BALTIMORE BANNER

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Bellwether elections spell victory for Democrats, LGBTQ candidates Voters turn out to defend abortion rights

By CHRISTOPHER KANE | ckane@washblade.com

Tuesday’s off-year elections, seen as a bellwether for the 2024 races, spelled victory for Democrats, LGBTQ candidates, and abortion rights while also signaling the failure of anti-trans attacks that were intended to motivate conservative voters.

Especially notable was the reelection of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), an LGBTQ ally who vetoed the ban on gender affirming care for minors passed by his deep-red state legislature, as well as Virginia Del. Danica Roem’s successful bid to become the country’s second trans state senator.

Especially notable in Tuesday’s results was the reelection of Kentucky Gov. ANDY BESHEAR (D), an LGBTQ ally who vetoed the ban on gender affirming care for minors passed by his deep-red state legislature. (Screenshot/YouTube MSNBC)

AdImpact found Beshear’s Republican opponent, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, spent more than $5 million in television ads attacking LGBTQ rights, while

Roem’s Republican challenger had lobbed anti-trans attacks against her throughout the campaign.

LGBTQ Victory Fund President and CEO Mayor Annise Parker said the newly anointed Virginia state senator “made LGBTQ+ history tonight because she put constituents first, speaking to the real issues that impact children and their families in Virginia, from fixing roads to ensuring kids and families have food on the table.”

Parker added, “Her win tonight will make national headlines and serves as a deafening rebuke to bigots who continue to try and silence the LGBTQ+ community and trans people in particular.”

The Mississippi House of Representatives and Philadelphia City Council are also slated to welcome their first LGBTQ representatives, Fabian Nelson and Rue Landau, while Luanne Peterpaul became the first LGBTQ woman elected to serve in the New Jersey General Assembly.

“Voters for LGBTQ equality and everyone’s fundamental freedoms came out in force in the 2023 election, reflecting the reality that a supermajority of Americans support LGBTQ people and our right not to be discriminated against,” GLAAD said in a statement.

“The results will lead to a better lived reality for LGBTQ people in the South and Midwest, and send a message to all lawmakers: LGBTQ people are valued members of our communities, we value everyone’s freedom to be themselves and make their own health care decisions, and we embrace diversity in our elected officials,” the group said.

After canvassing on Monday for Roem and Josh Thomas, whose victory on Tuesday was key in securing Democratic control of the Virginia House of Delegates, Human Rights

Campaign President Kelley Robinson told the Washington Blade voters she spoke with were concerned about their neighborhoods, their kids, and their schools.

The experience, just days after a national New York Times and Sienna College poll showed disappointing levels of support for President Joe Biden, was a reminder, she said, of “that old adage, ‘all politics is local.’”

Along with LGBTQ rights, abortion was on the ballot on Tuesday. Both chambers of Virginia’s legislature were won

by Democrats after a deluge of advertising focused on abortion, following Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) decision to push for “reasonable” restrictions on the procedure.

In Ohio, meanwhile, by a double digit margin voters elected to have the right to abortion enshrined in their state constitution — a blow to Republicans, especially considering how Ohioans had overwhelmingly supported former President Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections.

“Ohioans and voters across the country rejected attempts by MAGA Republican elected officials to impose extreme abortion bans that put the health and lives of women in jeopardy, force women to travel hundreds of miles for care, and threaten to criminalize doctors and nurses for providing the health care that their patients need and that they are trained to provide,” Biden said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This extreme and dangerous agenda is out-of-step with the vast majority of Americans,” the president said.

“My Administration will continue to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law once and for all.”

Ala. mayor dies by suicide after website publishes photos of trans persona

F.L. “Bubba” Copeland was the mayor of Smiths Station, a town in Lee County, Alabama. It is part of the neighboring Columbus, Ga., metropolitan area. Copeland was also pastor of the First Baptist Church of Phenix City, which sits across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus.

By all accounts “Bubba,” as he was known in this small town of 6,756, was very popular, respected and beloved but early Nov. 3 he died by suicide after a far-right publication published photos and a story detailing the pastor-mayor’s private and secret life.

Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones told media outlets that Copeland, a married father of three, “took his own life” around 5 p.m. According to the sheriff, at around 4:15 p.m. CT, his deputies received information regarding the mayor needing a possible welfare check. Deputies found Copeland in the Beulah community area, where a slow pursuit began. Officials say the mayor turned onto Lee Road and pulled over.

When he exited his vehicle, he produced a handgun and used it to take his own life.

The tragic death of the pastor-mayor stemmed from an article published by writer Craig Monger on the far-right wing media website 1819 News earlier in the week. 1819 News is a website that was once owned by the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative group that is staunchly anti-LGBTQ and has filed multiple lawsuits against same-sex marriage.

Monger’s article disclosed Copeland’s secret online social media alter persona Brittini Blaire Summerlin, which listed Copeland self labeled as a “transitioning” transgender woman. Monger went on to publish screenshots of other

photos and entries including some photos that 1819 News alerted readers with the caution: “WARNING: EXPLICIT PHOTOS.” Copeland told Monger that he could confirm that he operated the various social media accounts and it was him who was featured in the photos. He claimed it was only a means of “getting rid of stress” and called the postings a “hobby” and a “fantasy.” The pastor-mayor said his erotica and transgender persona was “purely fiction.”

According to Monger, after the interview, Copeland promptly deleted the accounts and asked them not to be made public due to his family and position as a Baptist pastor.

The day the article was published online, that evening Copeland delivered a sermon from the pulpit at his church telling his congregation: “The article is not who or what I am … I apologize for any embarrassment caused by my private and personal life that has become public. This will not cause my life to change.

This will not waiver my devotion to my family, serving my city, serving my church,” Copeland said.

He then read from the 23rd Psalm telling parishioners, “God will always protect you, take care of you,” Copeland said. “He will see you through anything, absolutely anything.”

WTVM in Columbus reported that reacting to the news of Copeland’s suicide, some people in the community said they were saddened by the news in so many ways.

“What he did in his personal life… his business, you

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F.L. ‘BUBBA’ COPELAND (Photo courtesy of Instagram)

know,” said Jennifer Schmitt.

Reaction from the Christian anti-LGBTQ right groups, however, was unsympathetic.

“We have become aware of the alleged unbiblical behavior related to the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Phenix City. We are praying for the leaders of the church family as they seek to determine the truth concerning these accusations,” the Alabama Baptist State Convention and Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions said in a statement to the Alabama Baptist, a news outlet for the state’s Baptist churches.

Former Phenix City Schools Superintendent Larry DiChiara angrily posted on his personal Facebook page: “I am so angry right now and heartbroken. I witnessed a good man be publicly ridiculed and crucified over the last few days to the point that he just took his own life today. I just want to ask you people who thought it humorous to publicly ridicule him, ‘Are you happy now?’ What crime did he commit?”

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More than 1 million attend Buenos Aires Pride march

In a vibrant and colorful event that drew more than a million people to the streets of Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital’s Pride march took place on Saturday.

“Not one more adjustment, not one less right,” was the march’s slogan. “Anti-discrimination Law, comprehensive trans law now!”

This urgent call for equality and nondiscrimination resonated strongly on the eve of the presidential election’s second round that will take place on Nov. 19.

Esteban Paulón, the former president of the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender People who won a seat in the Argentine Congress on Oct. 22 as a member of the Santa Fe Socialist Party, told the Washington Blade that “we celebrate a massive march that once again broke a record, that summoned many people from the (LGBTQ) collective, many families, more and more plural, more diverse and with a clear message that was (Javier) Milei no.”

The march, which various LGBTQ rights organizations and activists from all over Argentina attended, became a unified cry for equal rights and the rejection of any form of discrimination. Attendees carried banners and flags showing their support for the demands of trans and gender diverse communities.

“The march was in a very propositional tone of defending the rights (that we have won,) of stating that there is not going to be a step backwards, of stating that if there

is any attempt to go backwards we are going to be mobilized,” said Paulón. “That was the tone and obviously the … law was not clearly a slogan, it was not the official slogan of the march, but it was perceived and felt in the whole atmosphere.”

More than 1 million people took part in the Buenos Aires Pride parade in Argentina on Nov. 4. (Photo courtesy of Estebán Paulón)

Argentina’s political context adds a special dimension to this demonstration, as the country is on the verge of a presidential runoff that pits Libertarian economist Javier Milei, a far-right candidate who is known for his anti-LGBTQ stances, against Economy Minister Sergio

Massa, who has publicly spoken out in favor of further advancing the queer agenda.

LGBTQ activists fear a Milei victory could have a negative impact on laws and policies that protect the community.

“They come with a very fiery hate speech against different collectives, among them the LGBTQ+ community,” said Paulón.

Congressman Maximiliano Ferraro of Buenos Aires, a gay member of the center-right “Civic Coalition” political coalition who won re-election on Oct. 22, told the Blade the march served as “an opportunity to remember once again that in a society that educates us for shame, Pride is a political response.”

Ferraro added “Pride marches have political, social and cultural meaning.”

“They are also for celebration, discovery and vindication,” he said. “Here we are defending and raising the flags of equality, freedom and plurality.”

In emotional speeches during the march, activists and representatives of LGBTQ organizations stressed the urgency of passing the Anti-Discrimination Law and the Comprehensive Trans Law to guarantee equal rights and nondiscrimination in Argentina. They also called on the population to vote for candidates who support LGBTQ rights in the upcoming election.

ESTEBAN RIOSECO

U.K. lifts travel ban on Ugandan official over anti-gay song lyrics

The U.K. has lifted a travel ban on Robert Kyagulanyi, a renowned Ugandan rapper known as Bobi Wine who has become the leader of the country’s opposition, over a 2014 song with homophobic lyrics.

Wine on Sunday confirmed the British government’s decision after about 10 years of being banned from his controversial anti-gay lyrics perceived to incite homophobic attacks against individuals he referred to as “battymen.”

BOBI WINE (Screen capture via ABC News YouTube)

“I am very glad to inform you that the ban against me from entering the U.K. has finally been overturned, and I will soon be visiting the U.K. after more than 10 years,” he said.

The homophobic lyrics the LGBTQ rights groups cited in petitioning the British government to ban him from traveling to the U.K. were: “Fire will burn the batty man.

Burn all the batty man. All Ugandans get behind me and fight the batty man.”

LGBTQ rights activists in a petition they launched in July 2014 on Change.org demanded the British Home Office “immediately” deny Wine’s entry into the country and cancel his concerts in London and Birmingham.

The petitioners accused Wine of writing “blatant homophobic lyrics (that) call for gay people to be attacked or killed” and cited the U.K.’s 2008 Criminal Justice and Immigration Act that criminalizes the incitement of hatred based on sexual orientation. The activists said that allowing Wine to proceed with his two concerts in August of the same year would “raise tensions” and prove “unacceptable” to the U.K., which “prides itself on tolerance and understanding.”

The petitioners not only wanted Wine banned from performing in the U.K., but also in the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Denmark and other European countries.

Wine at the time was unremorseful and stressed he would not be coerced into backing homosexuality by the cancellation of his performances to support the Ebonies, a Ugandan drama and music group.

“I am a Ugandan and not a Londoner and I’m following the Ugandan constitution,” Wine told a Ugandan media outlet. “I did not make the laws, I follow them.”

He also claimed his strong anti-gay position was a reflection of “99 percent of Ugandans” and mocked socalled proponents of homosexuality for priding themselves in “their liberalism and support for human rights.”

He demanded they allow “me my right of expression,” even if they were not comfortable with his homophobic opinion.

Wine’s controversial anti-gay stand also included criticism of then-U.S. President Barack Obama over his support of LGBTQ rights in response to Uganda’s 2014 Anti-Homosexuality Act that imposed a life sentence for gay people. The country’s Constitutional Court overturned it.

Wine in 2017 entered politics and won a seat in the Ugandan Parliament. He ran against incumbent President Yoweri Museveni, who rules the country with an iron first, in 2021.

Wine, who is a member of the National Unity Platform, is currently Uganda’s opposition leader. He has been vocal in demanding the international community hold Mu-

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seveni accountable for his government’s widespread human rights violations.

While acknowledging the British government’s move to lift his travel ban, Wine applauded his lawyers in England for the “relentless fight” and his political supporters, including those in the diaspora, for “constantly raising our voice through protests” and petitioning higher offices.

“Their main argument has been that it is unfair to open their doors for Gen. Museveni, a world-renowned tyrant, and yet continue to shut the door for me who, together with many others are trying to build a free and democratic country,” he said.

His sentiments are in response to Museveni’s democracy and human rights record, particularly his signing of the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 into law in May. Several Western nations have imposed sanctions on Uganda and several government officials behind the punitive law. The Biden-Harris administration last week announced plans to remove Kampala a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. The U.S. announcement came after increased pressure on Museveni to reverse the implementation of the law and meeting with several Ugandan human rights activists and exiled dissidents.

Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, an award-winning Ugandan author who is exiled in Germany, has written books that are critical of Museveni’s governance. He applauded the U.S. decision and noted his and other activists’ visit to the State Department earlier this year.

“We, a few months ago visited the Department of State in the USA and explained how Uganda as a beneficiary of AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) would violate the American foreign policy on human rights,” said Rukirabashaija on his X account. “I’m glad that they listened. May you continue to listen to the cries of Ugandans.”

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Gay Prince Eddy, Kind, Caring, Un�it to Murder 20 Million

(Part 10 in a series)

RENE MELENDEZ

is a trans activist based in New York City.

We must eliminate barriers to gender-affirming care How I overcame refusal by insurance company to cover surgery

In July 2015, I wrote something down that would change my life forever. In a note in my journal, I scribbled: “I think I am a trans woman.” I was 55 years old, but that moment was the first time I knew what it felt like to love myself.

I knew I was a transgender woman, but for some reason I didn’t have the strength to write “I am transgender.”

Like many people coming out, I worried. It was scary to know that my life was going to change. I wondered if my family and friends would accept me. But I realized that I was fighting the urge to be my authentic self my entire life, and I wasn’t going to live a lie anymore.

Thankfully, at that moment I knew I needed to speak with someone. I went to the LGBT Community Center in New York City and met with a counselor. This lifted a tremendous weight off my shoulders. They soon directed me to Apicha Community Health Center – a local medical facility with doctors, therapists, and social workers that have expertise in serving people of trans experience.

At this point, I chose to pursue gender-affirming surgery. While I was nervous, I was also excited for my body to finally align with my brain. After waiting a year, it was time to have my first procedure. I then encountered an obstacle that stands between many trans people and their ability to access the care they need: My insurance company told me it wouldn’t cover my care. This is unfortunately all too common: a survey from 2020 found that 46% of trans people had their gender-affirming care denied by insurance.

I was devastated. I didn’t want to have to continue living a lie. Thankfully, my health providers referred me to Amida Care – a Medicaid Special Needs Health Plan in New York that specializes in helping people affected by HIV. It also provides gender-affirming care to transgender, gender-nonconforming, and non-binary (TGNCNB) people. Amida Care was one of the first to advocate for gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy and surgeries. Thanks to Amida Care, I was elated to be able to have my surgery on the date it was initially scheduled for.

From being stonewalled by insurance companies, to discrimination from healthcare providers, trying to access gender-affirming care can be a minefield.

This is the case in progressive places like New York – but even more so for trans people in openly hostile states. It was a godsend to have people in my corner to help me navigate the process. From the counselors at the LGBT Community Center, to the providers at Apicha, to the gender-affirming care team at Amida Care, I’m so thankful to the people who helped me access the care I needed, and to my friends and family who continue to love and support me.

As I celebrate my 7th Transgender Awareness Week as a trans woman, I feel stronger, more confident, and more at peace with myself than I did before I took that leap. I have the healthcare I need—from primary care, to being cured of Hepatitis C, to mental health services—to take care of my full self. Recently, I joined Amida Care’s Member Advisory Council, which allows me to use my lived experience to advocate for the needs of people of trans experience. I want to live in service to my community, because everyone should know what it feels like to love themselves. We can make that possible by eliminating barriers to access gender-affirming care.

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JASON FELDMAN

is principal of JMF Communications and a member of the Atlanta Mayor’s LGBTQ Advisory Board.

To my queer community: You are failing your Jewish members

Our struggle is your struggle, so stand with us, or stand down

In the landscape of identity and activism, there comes a moment when peoples’ true intentions and unabashed biases are unveiled, revealing the stark incongruities within our own communities. As a Jewish gay man, I can say this moment is now, and the battlefield is none other than the war-torn narratives surrounding Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization, which has been the de facto governing body in the Gaza Strip since 2007 when it ousted the Palestinian Authority from power (this is after Israel completely withdrew from Gaza in 2005).

Let’s cut through the noise: In the grand theater of activism, where the LGBTQ community has long demanded education, patience, and understanding on queer issues, it seems these courtesies vanish when the topic switches to Middle Eastern politics. “Apartheid!” they scream, from the comfort of their free societies, neglecting the fact that in parts of the Middle East, being queer isn’t just taboo, it’s a crime.

The stark parallels here are maddening. As queer individuals, we’ve spent lifetimes imploring others to look beyond black-or-white narratives. “Educate yourselves,” we’ve pleaded, “understand the spectrum, the stories, the struggles behind each letter of LGBTQIA+.”

Yet, when it comes to Israel, a land teeming with stories as diverse as our own community, the rainbow lens suddenly flips to monochrome.

This isn’t just hypocrisy; it’s a betrayal of the very principles of social justice. It’s a slap to those of us who sit at the intersection of being queer and Jewish, fighting on two fronts for recognition and understanding. We have not demanded that others walk on eggshells, only that they walk in knowledge before they talk.

Let’s address a big elephant in the room: the claim of “pinkwashing” by Israel. Critics, quick to label, fail to grasp the genuine strides Israel has made in LGBTQ rights, which are not a facade but a reality for countless people who live, love, and thrive there. The accusation of pinkwashing is not only reductive, but it negates the lived experiences of an estimated 25% of Tel Aviv’s residents alone who identify as LGBTQ, and the undeniable fact that Israel has become a sanctuary for LGBTQ Palestinians seeking asylum. These are not hollow gestures meant for international optics; they are tangible freedoms, hard-won by local activists and safeguarded by an independent judiciary.

The blunt truth? Our queer spaces, once sanctuaries, have now turned into forums where Jewish voices are drowned out, where our history and pain are oversimplified into soundbites. The irony is biting—our community, which fiercely demands inclusivity, has become selectively deaf to our cries against anti-Semitic propaganda.

I have never felt more embraced for my queerness than in my Jewish circles, yet I am watching in dismay as parts of the queer community dismiss the perils we face. When a popular LGBTQ platform with more than a million followers on Instagram alone labels Hamas, a brutal terrorist organization, as a mere “resistance movement,” it’s a sobering wake-up call fraught with unspeakable danger.

Israel stands as a haven for LGBTQ rights in a region where such freedoms are scarce.

From the legal milestones achieved in the 1960s to Tel Aviv’s renowned Pride parade, Israel has been at the forefront of LGBTQ advocacy. The path isn’t perfect—same-sex marriage isn’t legal, but Israel recognizes same-sex unions from abroad and grants comprehensive rights domestically. The Israeli Supreme Court’s decisions to uphold LGBTQ rights are beacons of hope, shining examples of progress that have come from the demands of its citizens, not from the desire to distract.

Yet, here we are, witnessing a disturbing paradox. While Israel fosters LGBTQ rights, in the territories under Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization, being queer can mean imprisonment, and yes, death. This dichotomy is conveniently ignored by too many self-proclaimed progressives. Their silence on this is deafening and damning.

It’s time for the larger queer community to wake up. Our struggle for rights doesn’t stop at our doorstep; it stretches across the globe. To my queer “social justice warriors” who soak in the sun at Tel Aviv Pride but cast shadows on Israel, or for that matter don’t speak up at all, your hypocrisy and silence are noted. Your selective advocacy is not only noticeable; it’s a betrayal.

To the queer activists who have let anti-Semitism taint their advocacy: Your narrative is not complete until it includes us. We demand a seat at the table. We demand to be heard.

And to those who stand with us, know this: our fight is united, our cause is just, and our spirit is indomitable. We will not retreat into the shadows.

CO NT I NUE S AT WA S H I N GTO N B L A D E.CO M

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SIONS GO

NS

PETER ROSENSTEIN

is a lon time ri hts and emocratic Part activist. e writes re ularl for the lade.

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Family Building through: • Adoption • Donor Agreements • Surrogacy

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Brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of will hurt ou. f rump s cult wins ou will lose. plain this to voters who are thin in your ad. Advertiser is responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement of votin for rump or not votin . or misapporpriation of any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of antihere is time. f ou are a ainst srael and thin iden is too supportive of srael rump is ADVERTISER SIGNATURE discrimination law or regulation, or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington By signing this proof you are agreeing to your contract obligations with the blade) harmless from any and all liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees washington blade newspaper. Thisstron includes buter is not placement, inlimited histosupport of etan ahu and is anti Palestinian. f ou a ree ussia and Putin and expenses that may be incurred by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach payment and insertion schedule. of any of the foregoing representations and warranties. are merica s enem remember rump is Putin s bi est supporter. f ou uestion iden s forei n polic ou need to understand rump s is more dan erous for merica. e live in a world where unfortunatel people often vote for what the thin is the lesser of two evils. ou ma not believe li e do that iden is a reat president. ut what is clear is rump has shown us he is the most evil. o if ou vote for rump or don t vote ou will et the evil that is onald rump.

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Meet two key figures behind the most LGBTQ-friendly video game ever made Baldur’s Gate 3 debuted in August to widespread critical acclaim

By BRYNN TANNEHILL LONDON, UK – Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) is perhaps the most LGBTQ-friendly AAA video game ever made. It’s also one of the best role-playing games ever, according to Metacritic, the premier website owned by Fandom that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums and video games.

Baldur’s Gate 3 by Ghent, Belgium-based Larian Studios, is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. The game has spawned two series, known as the Bhaalspawn Saga and the Dark Alliance.

Baldur’s Gate 3 was released on Aug. 3, 2023 to widespread critical acclaim. Unusually for a AAA game, it had spent six years in development, and almost three years of that in early access open beta testing. Larian Studios developed BG3 as a sequel to the first two games, which were released in 1998 and 1999 respectively.

Recently the Blade had the opportunity to interview two of the key figures in the game’s development.

Actress Jennifer English played the role of Shadowheart, one of the main characters of the game with whom the player can have a romantic relationship, regardless of their gender. Her partner is Aliona Baranova, an actress and motion capture (mocap) performer who worked as one of the Performance Directors on the game. They met during the production of the game and worked closely together during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Jennifer identifies as lesbian and queer, while Aliona identifies as bisexual and queer. They graciously agreed to give the Blade an hour of their time, right after a grueling weekend at London Comic Con. BLADE: How was London Comic Con 2023? How were you both received?

JENNIFER: It was like being a rock star. It was incredible. We were both there for Comic Con [2022] this time last year [and] when I first turned up there was no one in my queue [for autographs]. Now this year, there were people queuing for 6 hours at one point. It was absolute madness. But it was also just really beautiful.

We did one of the panels [this year]. And I was expecting it to be like a 500 or 1,000 seater. When I looked out, it was about 4,000 people. It was really wonderful because Aliona was next to me the whole time, and so many people wanted her autograph as well–like a good third to a half.

ALIONA: The number of people that wanted to take a photo of the both of us was so touching, as was how many people [that] came up to us and said, “We watch your streams” and told us that the representation that we gave them, and how open we are about being neuro divergent, was so meaningful.

(Image courtesy of Larian Studios Games Ltd.)

got along with everyone; she was so friendly. I thought, “you’re making this so hard for me”.

Then we went in to record, and I thought, okay, well, maybe she’s not that good at the role, and I can swoop in and save the day and be Shadowheart instead. But she was amazing. I wanted to hate her even more, but I couldn’t, because she was so talented and incredible. I was very naive and very confident. I definitely couldn’t do what Jen has achieved, and she was a far better performer than I was back then. I’ve learned a lot from her since then to become a better performer myself.

It could have gone one of 2 ways: I could sabotage her and direct her really badly, or I could help this incredible and kind woman out and be a good director for her. The rest is history. And I think we nailed it with Shadowheart.

BLADE: Jennifer, how did you find out Aliona wanted to be frenemies initially?

JENNIFER: I can’t remember how I found out, but I remember being shocked, to say the least. And now we laugh about it quite a lot.

BLADE: What was it like finding the character of Shadowheart?

JENNIFER: I found the voice quite easily, and felt like I accessed her [character] reasonably quickly. There was a lot of collaboration and creativity involved with it. But the one thing I really struggled with at the beginning was the physical side of it, because it’s such an overwhelming thing…you’re put into a grey room with loads of cameras on you, and you’re wearing what is essentially a Velcro cat suit with bobbles on it, and then you’re just told to act naturally.

One thing that Aliona quickly picked up on was the fact that I have ADHD. A lot of our creative process together was working to find Shadowheart within that—to not fight against it, but use it. That was really wonderful.

BLADE: Did either of you play Dungeons and Dragons before you started work on this game?

JENNIFER: I always wanted to. I just hadn’t been invited.

ALIONA: No, never!

JENNIFER: I was really lucky that the first time I got to play D&D was with the cast for High Rollers, and we got Mark Humes, who was the best dungeon master, to walk us through it. We felt so safe and guided. It was a really wonderful start into D&D. The space felt very welcome as well, which was nice, and no one seemed to mind too much that we were fumbling through somewhat. And it was really nice to play together as a couple.

BLADE: Are you having any problems with people blurring the line between Shadowheart and Jennifer when you meet them in real life or online, or are people pretty good about keeping them keeping them distinct?

JENNIFER: I think if I had [Shadowheart’s] kind of black cat energy, perhaps. But I am a golden retriever puppy with blonde hair that’s five foot one. I don’t have that kind of statuesque, armor-clad cleric-of-Shar thing going on. So I think our energies are so distinct that it would be pretty impossible to get us confused.

There is a lot of me in Shadowheart, because I wanted to make her as truthful as possible. [She’s] the part of myself that you’d have to find me in a very vulnerable state to see. That’s a deeper part of myself. Certainly not one that you’d see at Comic-con, or if you bumped into me on the train.

BLADE: You posted how you auditioned for the role of Shadowheart in BG3, and Jennifer got it. This led to an interesting start to your relationship.

ALIONA: So I auditioned, and didn’t get the part. And then another call went out looking for people that had mocap (motion capture) experience, which I did have, to direct. When I sent in my mocap reel I was secretly hoping they’d watch and think, she should be in the game as an actor. But no, they didn’t. They rang me to say they thought I should direct.

I came to direct, did a couple of sessions, and then, during my fourth or fifth session, Jen comes in to record Shadowheart. Everyone is telling me “Jennifer is coming in today. She’s lovely. You’re gonna love her”. And I’m like, yeah, yeah, I’ll see.

When Jen came into the studio she was an absolute ray of sunshine. It was sickening– she was so wonderful, I could not hate her. I wanted to, so badly, but I just couldn’t. She

BLADE: I know people who generally don’t like video games who are really into BG3.

What’s your take on why this is?

JENNIFER: Yeah, it’s interesting, isn’t it? Baldur’s Gate 3 is mainstream. It’s been on South Park.

ALIONA: It’s the mocap. It’s not often that you have nearly all 248 actors do their own mocap. I think that’s why it feels like a TV show or film. I’m biased, but I do think it makes a difference, because I’ve looked at another recent release and you can tell that the voice is done separately from who’s doing the body. You can’t care for them as much as you do in this game, because there’s a disconnect.

JENNIFER: It feels quite jarring because you can’t be immersed in this in the same way, you can tell everyone’s acting, whereas [Baldur’s Gate 3] feels like people are their characters. They’re so good in them.

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CALENDAR

By TINASHE CHINGARANDE

Friday, November 10

Sunday, November 12

Wednesday, November 15

“Center Aging Friday Tea Time” will be at 12 p.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. For more information, contact adam@thedccenter.org.

Women in their Twenties and Thirties will be at 8 p.m. on Zoom. This is a social discussion group for queer women in the Washington, D.C. area. For more information, join WiTT’s closed Facebook group.

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Dinner & Conversation” at 6 p.m. at Federico Ristorante Italiano. This event will be an evening of Italian-style dining and conversation with other LGBTQ+ folk on the enclosed front patio. Admission is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

“People Uncorked: Voting Block or Voting Bloc” will be at 7 p.m. at GlowHouse. This event is for people who want to talk about sex, but are worried about friends saying it’s TMI. All genders welcome. Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased 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 www.thedccenter.org/ careers.

Saturday, November 11 “50 Shades of Play: Queer Kink Workshop and Mixer” will be at 6 p.m. in Downtown Silver Spring. This event will be an exploration of queer kink where guests celebrate diversity and self-expression. Tickets start at $40 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. Guests are encouraged to come enjoy brunch with other LGBTQ+ folk. Admission is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Monday, November 13 Center Aging Monday Coffee and Conversation will be at 10:00a.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 Aging’s Facebook or Twitter.

Tuesday, November 14 Coming Out Discussion Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This event is a safe space to share experiences about coming out and discuss topics as it relates to doing so. For more details, visit the group’s closed Facebook page.

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

Go Gay DC will host ‘LGBTQ+ Brunch’ at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Tony Rivenbark)

Thursday, November 16 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.

The DC Center’s Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. To be fair with who is receiving boxes, the program is moving to a lottery system. People will be informed on Wednesday at 5 p.m. if they are picked to receive a produce box.

No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org or call 202-682-2245.

OUT & ABOUT Mayor’s office to host LGBTQ housing fair

Local dance company celebrates 30 years

The D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs will host the first “LGBTQ+ Housing Summit Resource Fair” on Wednesday, Nov. 29 and Thursday, Nov. 30 at the MLK Jr. Memorial Library.

This event is ideal for those who want to connect with community members and experts in the LGBTQ+ housing field. The summit also aims to find innovative solutions to the challenges in the current housing system by amplifying the voices of the LGBTQ+ community for effective and efficient housing services.

To reserve a table at the resource fair, visit the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs website.

The Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company will celebrate 30 years with a performance on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

Performances will feature a mixed repertory accompanied by live musicians. Works will include “Transformations,” “Fractures, A Tribute to Marian Anderson excerpted duet number 1,” and “Surroundings: A Tribute to Maya Lin, and Mandala.”

Tickets are $55 and can be purchased on the Kennedy Center’s website.

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THEATER

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KATE KENWORTHY, RAGHAD ALMAKHLOUF, MISS KITTY, and IRENE HAMILTON (Photo by Ryan Maxwell Photography)

New play explores love through unique, years-long journey Spooky Action’s ‘Agreste’ highlights powerful voice from queer Brazilian theater

By PATRICK FOLLIARD ance and understanding, as well as violence toward the LGBTQ+ From the sidelines, love can be misunderstood, attacked, celecommunity and perhaps pathway to overcoming that viciousness. brated, or simply accepted and left alone.

Dressed in loose tunics, headscarves, and rustic boots (compliIn “Agreste (Drylands),” a queer story penned by gay playwright ments of costume designer Danielle Preston), the most appealing Newton Moreno, one of the most powerful voices in the queer cast of four — Raghad Almakhlouf, Irene Hamilton, Kate KenworBrazilian theater, love is explored through a unique, years-long thy who is nonbinary, and Miss Kitty, a nonbinary/genderqueer/ journey currently being recounted at Spooky Action Theater in transfemme performer — fearlessly rise to the challenge. As told Dupont. by a choric quartet sharing parts, main and ancillary, the love story It’s the tale of Maria and Etevaldo, star-crossed kindred spirits is crammed with passion, sadness, and wonderful whiffs of saucy who fall in love from opposites sides of a fence. From a distance vivacity. their feelings grow; when they can, they leave flowers and piecWhile there is striking cohesion among the players, each adds es of cloth on the fence, mementos of their love. Eventually they their strengths to the piece. And though “Agreste” isn’t a musical boldly come together living happily as a romantic pair for 22 years or even a play with music per se, at the top of the show Miss Kitty in the arid northeast part of Brazil. Their bliss is interrupted by unserves up a memorable rendition of “Nature Boy” made famous by expected tragedy and further destroyed when locals unleash a Nat King Cole, and further along Almakhlouf delivers a haunting torrent of hate and bigotry on what remains. melody.

Spooky’s exquisite offering (the first professional U.S. premiere Spooky Action’s artistic director Elizabeth Dinkova is kicking off of Moreno’s play) is both directed and translated from Portuguese her inaugural season with Agreste, and it’s a good move. She’s tito English by Danilo Gambini. Like the playwright, Gambini is gay ADVERTISING PROOF tled the season “Beyond Borders,” acknowledging her own status and Brazilian. He’s also the new associate artistic director at Studio 23-02-03 SALES REPRESENTATIVE: PHIL ROCKSTROH Theatre. prockstroh@washblade.com as the first immigrant to helm Spooky as well as her vision of a EW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of future world made limitless through art. In spring, Dinkova directs Agreste is performed in Spooky’s welcoming home in the Uni. Proof will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 s of the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.

Phillip Howze’s Frontières Sans Frontières, a funny take on cultural n naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of versalist National Memorial Church at 16th & S Streets, N.W. Its ad. Advertiser is responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or material to which users can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement serviceable, intimate, subterranean space is configured as an alley imperialism. ot violate any criminal laws or any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as ADVERTISER SIGNATURE gement or misapporpriation of any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other with seating Something terrific for now, and something promising to look sides, making an ideal By signing thison proofboth you are agreeing to your contract obligations with the runway for scenic derietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of washington blade newspaper. This includes but is not limited to placement, brity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser forward to.

Giorgos Tsappas’ stunning amalgam of scorched earth and and insertion schedule. es to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts signerpayment media llc (dba the washington blade) harmless from any and all liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes tion, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred by brown naff pitts omnimedia subtle yet ravishing monumentality. Colin K. Bills’ brilliant lighting ising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the foregoing representations and warranties. design effortlessly summon expanses, domestic scenes, fires and escape hatches; and sound designer Aria Velz adds to the atmoThrough Nov. 12 | Spooky Action Theater sphere with jarring bell tolls and the sound of falling water, a precious commodity in this parched part of the world.

1810 16th St NW (the Universalist National Memorial Church) In less than an hour, Gambini’s precisely staged mythic account $37.50 | Spookyactiontheater.org (reportedly based on true happenings) explores themes of intoler-

Agreste (Drylands)

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FILM

Long-awaited ‘Rustin’ restores queer hero to the historical record

A career-making, Oscar-worthy turn for Coleman Domingo

By JOHN PAUL KING Though his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement were monumental, the late Bayard Rustin has long been considered one of America’s most unsung heroes.

Now, that name (or the second half of it, at least) is the title of one of the year’s most highly anticipated movies, and if the real Rustin was anything like the Rustin delivered to us by star Colman Domingo in the film – and we’d like to believe that he was – it’s likely he’d get an ironic chuckle out of all that.

What the real Rustin was like, of course, is the essence of what “Rustin” – now playing in theaters for a limited run due before dropping on Netflix next week – aims to convey. Like all historical biopics, its essential goal is to present an iconic figure as a relatable human being, and thanks to a slickly crafted screenplay by Julian Breece and Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black, this one devotes much of its screentime to doing exactly that. But since their script must also address the additional challenge of educating a presumably unfamiliar audience about their subject’s place in history, they also apply the same knack for conveying both political atmosphere and cultural context that Black deployed with such success in 2008’s “Milk” to chronicle Rustin’s signature political accomplishment – spearheading the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, at which Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his culture-shifting “I Have a Dream” speech – with all the succinct-but-nuanced precision necessary to get the point across.

The film – after establishing Rustin’s initial break with King (Aml Ameen) when threats to expose his homosexuality threatened to undermine the latter’s political viability – follows Rustin as he conceives the largest demonstration in history and sets about reuniting with his estranged comrade to make it a reality. Observing the interplay between politics and idealism as it interweaves the romantic dramas of Rustin’s fictionalized private life, it chronicles the various hurdles the pair face on the treacherous path toward fruition of their history-making plan.

Breece and Black’s screenplay – upon which the success or failure of “Rustin” as a worthy tribute to the queer man whose life it aspires to encapsulate hinges – succeeds to a higher degree than most biopics. By limiting its scope to a single chapter in Rustin’s career, it’s able to emphasize the qualities that define Bayard Rustin as both a man and a cultural hero, and that scores a lot of points; many ambitious biopics have settled for an idealized portrait in an attempt to define an entire life, only to fall short by ignoring or sugarcoating the darker corners that exist within any person’s tenure on Earth.

Still, a screenplay is only one aspect – albeit a crucial one – contributing to the success or failure of a film’s am-

COLEMAN DOMINGO (with AML AMEERN, left) stars in triumphant biopic ‘Rustin.’ (Image courtesy of Netflix)

bitions, and fortunately for “Rustin,” the other indispensable elements are all firmly in place, too.

To begin with, attention must be called to the direction by George C. Wolfe, a two-time Tony-winning theater veteran (“Angels in America: Millennium Approaches”, “Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk”) whose screen credits include the much-acclaimed “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and who brings a larger-than-life sense of dramatic storytelling to the mix. Blending tried-and-true narrative approach with an internet-era edginess of flow, he manages to weave a story involving multiple important-yet-little-known historical facts and figures without being mired in clumsy exposition.

Far more importantly, his finger is planted firmly on the human element, allowing factual details to become secondary to the insights he ekes from the history explored in his film. Though he never fails in delivering the emotionally weighted cinematic call to action his subject demands, he allows the personal to take center stage within historical events that far eclipse the individual lives of any of its players. The personal impact of warring ideologies – and of deeply ingrained cultural homophobia – comes to the forefront of the story as he tells it; driven by a freeform, improvisational-toned jazz soundtrack from Branford Marsalis, and informed by a commitment to lived truth over normalized homogenization, his film is clearly designed to cut through political posturing in pursuit of a scrupulously honest portrait of both its titular character and the vastly important sociopolitical movement in which its story is set.

Most important of all, however, is the contribution of the film’s leading player. As Rustin, Domingo is a singular force to be reckoned with, an unflinching and entirely approachable portrait of a man both physically and psychically scarred by a life of uncompromising activism. It seems a shame even to have to add that his identity as an out gay man lends an aura of authenticity that provides measureless value and impact to his performance; it’s a career-making, Oscar-worthy turn which in our view places him neatly as a front-runner for this year’s “awards season” honors. If the film lands solidly – and it does – it’s on the strength of this star-making performance.

There’s also a host of outstanding supporting perfor-

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mances, though Chris Rock’s turn as NAACP leader Roy Wilkins feels jarringly one-dimensional, in addition to being hampered by a less-than-convincing application of age makeup to bridge a gap of not-very-many years; yet “Rustin” can’t help but be slightly diminished by a permeating aura of Hollywood “gloss.” Well-intentioned as it may be, it’s a film with an obvious imperative to present its title character as a hero, though it must be said that, for queer audiences, Rustin’s refusal to obscure his own sexuality for the sake of political convenience renders such efforts unnecessary. Nevertheless, while it never flinches from presenting Rustin’s queerness or exploring the (arguably problematic) inconstancy of his romantic commitments, it conveniently avoids addressing more challenging aspects of his record – for example, his latein-life evolution away from pacifism and embrace of neoconservative ideals in international policy – in service of cementing his reputation as a pillar of the modern human rights movement.

In the long run, of course, such matters do not erase his earlier contributions, nor can they be summarily condemned in the context of contemporary world politics.

Yet we can’t help but feel that, by omission, they render a less than-fully-honest cinematic portrait of a man who, as a queer person of color, inarguably deserves his status – warts and all – as one of the most impactful forces in the fight toward equal rights, regardless of either race or sexual identity.

That said, “Rustin” is still one of the most engaging and unflinchingly heartfelt films we’ve seen this year, a perfectly apt tribute to a towering figure who is only now – nearly a decade after receiving a posthumous Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama – receiving due credit for his impact on the fight for equality, and possibly the most overdue recognition Hollywood has ever bestowed upon a non-heteronormative public figure in recent memory.

There’s a reason it’s accompanied by a buzz, one that’s more than enough to make it a must-see for anybody “in the fight.” And if you can lend your support to Black-andqueer filmmaking by buying a ticket to see it in the theater before it streams on your TV screen at home, all the better.

202.882.1648

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BOOKS

A good read for anyone who’s ever struggled at work Memoir ‘All Pride, No Ego’ reminds us to ‘leave space for the possible’

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER right, you won’t have to change who you fundamentally Auditions are always nerve-wracking. Will the part be are. Learn to “define FAMILY however it works for you...” yours?

Know the difference between want and need. Trust your You sure practiced enough before you were judged – intuition, tamp down impulsiveness, but be flexible – and that’s what an audition is, a judgment. Can you hanwhich will help you attract and keep the best team possidle the lines? Are you a fit for the part you want, or would ble. Know that selfishness is a righteous thing sometimes. you be better at a walk-on? Being someone else in a play Strive always for “cultures of excellence.” is fun, but not always easy. Neither, says Jim Fielding in And always “leave [your] corner of the world a better his new book “All Pride, No Ego,” is being someone else place than [you] found it.” Donate. Volunteer. Do good. at work.

In his preface, author Jim Fielding says that he wrote Born in Toledo into a big extended clan, Jim Fielding this book because he “realized that my leadership style says that it looked like he was a member of “the perfect, and success... are completely dependent on my personal nuclear family.” The truth was, though, that “vulnerabilijourney.” Those words should alert readers that “All Pride, ties and dysfunctions were numerous” and that includNo Ego” is preponderantly a memoir, which isn’t a bad ed homophobia, which was a problem: when he was six thing but it bears mentioning. years old, Fielding realized he was gay.

If you don’t have the patience it takes for rambling stoTo cover for it, he became an overachiever with a lack ries, you won’t like this book at all, in fact. Fielding is a of self-confidence and an abundance of insecurities. To storyteller, and he smartly uses his experiences to show, help him to conquer his weaknesses, he built a great supnot tell, in a way that’s pleasant and relatable for anyone port system but still, “I wish I had a book like this when I who’s ever struggled at work. Yes, the workplace tales was starting out in my career.” mean that business advice is sometimes embedded, His first point here is his mantra: “Control the controllasometimes apparent, and sometimes down a rabbit hole ble, but leave space for the possible.” for you to follow but for most readers, it’ll be a useful Color “within the lines” if you must, but do it at “a comscavenger hunt. pany whose ethics and values align with your own.” If While this book is perhaps best for the person who’s you’re in control, set clear goals, “hire people who are looking for a first job or who just found one and is sweatsmarter than you are” and get to know them well. ing to fit in, “All Pride, No Ego” is worthwhile for anyone.

“Never stop learning.” Accept that you can forgive withEnjoy the memoir, find the helpful parts. out forgetting transgressions. Remember that if the job is

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‘All Pride, No Ego: A Queer Executive’s Journey to Living and Leading Authentically’

By Jim Fielding

c.2023, Wiley | $28 | 213 pages

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BOOKS

Explore the history of drag in ‘Glitter and Concrete’ Book traces art form from 1800s through Prohibition to present day

By TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER You simply have nothing to wear.

Old joke, that one. Really old because these days, it’s easy for anyone to have racks and shelves and dresser drawers full of casual wear, fancy duds, comfy things, and finery to put on their body.

Yes, you have plenty to wear but, as in the new book “Glitter and Concrete” by Elyssa Maxx Goodman, you just have to look in the closet.

Like nearly every kid in America, Elyssa Maxx Goodman loved to play dress up. In her case, though, she didn’t hope for a princess costume. She wanted to dress like the characters in “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.” Later, as an adult, she “sought to learn as much about drag as” possible and she began to see New York City as its epicenter.

“From the mid-1800s to 1900, gender impersonation became a beloved genre of theater” in New

‘Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City’

By Elyssa Maxx Goodman

c.2023, Hanover Square Press | $32.99 | 464 pages

PERFECTION

IS EFFORTLESS

York, she says, but social attitudes and morals changed in the early 20th century. Female drag performers were often scrutinized, and worked under sometimes-unpredictable rules while male impersonators might have enjoyed the ability to live as a man, travel alone, and keep company with women in public.

By the beginning of World War I, social reformers had begun to shut down places where they thought homosexuality might be found, and that included drag venues. They did so despite that gender impersonations were important to the morale of soldiers.

Says Goodman, “female impersonator roles were incredibly popular with enlisted men” and one drag show became “an instant hit.”

Prohibition sent both booze and drag underground, but while the former was widely available again in 1933, the latter was

not. And yet, it was impossible to keep drag performances from happening; in fact, the mob ran several drag clubs, including one owned by Anna Genovese, the bisexual wife of mobster Vito. Yes, drag could be found in the years 1933 to 1968, but audiences both straight and gay had to search for it.

Still, change was coming.

Then again, doesn’t it seem like change never stopped happening in the world of drag? Like, a now-you-see-it, oops, now-you-can’t kinda thing? Understanding that, and the future of drag, entails knowing its history and that’s easy to do, once you’ve read “Glitter and Concrete.”

In taking readers back some 170 years, author Elyssa Maxx Goodman shows how New York City led the way for drag to be both condemned and enjoyed in the rest of America, often seemingly in the same breath. Intuiting the difference between illegal and permissible was a matter of splitting hairs then; the scandalous nature of drag was often you-know-it-when-you-see-it, and not always firmly defined. That repeating juxtaposition, a social flip-flop-flip, if you will, is fascinating to follow here. Indeed, it was sometimes a case of one man’s trash being another man’s pleasure.

So what’s changed about that? So much and not much, and the rest of the story is inside this necessary book. Read it, and “Glitter and Concrete” will make you wear a smile.

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Slay Them

Trevher voted the winner of Red Bear Brewing drag competition (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Desiree Dik and Evry Pleasure hosted the monthly drag competition ‘Slay Them’ at Red Bear Brewing Company on Friday, November 3. Trevher was voted the winner.

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Femme Fatale D.C. receives city grant

Women-owned shop features products from local female entrepreneurs

By OMARI FOOTE Femme Fatale D.C., which is women and LGBTQ-owned, received a $375,000 grant from Mayor Bowser’s Commercial Property Acquisition Fund (CPAF) to help purchase its commercial property.

“We believe this [is] a really important component to wealth generation as well as growing equity enterprises in Washington, D.C.,” said Acting Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Nina Albert.

The CPAF is specifically created to help businesses that are owned by a majority-number of economically disadvantaged people and those subjected to cultural bias.

Femme Fatale D.C. is a women-owned shop-in-shop that features a collection of products from local women entrepreneurs. Its owners have a mission to amplify, support, and catalyze community.

Femme Fatale D.C. started as a party to bring women together, then a pop-up shop, and finally a storefront in Cleveland Park with hundreds of products from ashtrays to woven purses.

Present CEO Cee Smith and COO Adirana Mendoza were initially involved as entrepreneurs, participating in the brand’s first pop-up shops, but came together to purchase the brand in 2018.

Smith, who has a background in angel investing, said that she saw a need for providing financial assistance specifically to women entrepreneurs.

“What I saw with Femme Fatale was an opportunity to help a lot of women-owned brands, female entrepreneurs all at once,” said Cee Smith. “With help, a lot of these brands can flourish.”

Femme Fatale D.C. hosts nearly 100 entrepreneurs in its store. Unlike other pop-up shop models, Femme Fatale D.C. runs the store so the entrepreneur can generate money without being there.

“People thank us for providing this type of space,” said Mendoza.

Acting Deputy Mayor Albert visited the business on Oct. 24 to commemorate the purchase of the building through the CPAF grant.

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(Photo courtesy Office of Planning & Economic Development)

“We’ve been here for eight years and we have definitely made an impact on our city.

Now, our city is making an impact for us,” said Smith.

M-F 8am-7pm Sat 9am-6pm Sun 10am-5pm

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REAL ESTATE

Let there be light

An essential aspect of home design

By VALERIE M. BLAKE

If you have ever shopped for a home, built a home, renovated a home, read a book in your home, or approached your home at night, this article is for you.

What do all these things have in common? Lighting.

Lighting is an essential aspect of home design, contributing to the overall atmosphere and functionality of a space. Various areas of the home may require different lighting solutions to fulfill specific needs and create the desired ambiance.

Often, my clients cite natural light from windows, glass doors, and skylights as being a very important criterion in their home search. As one afflicted with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) who is currently struggling through a return to standard time, I make natural light a priority as well.

Although I sit in front of a light bar for 20 minutes a day during fall and winter, I find that natural light enhances my mood, promotes better sleep, and reduces eye strain while reading or watching television. If there is a harsh glare that interferes with working on my computer, I draw the curtains or pull down a shade.

Ambient (general) lighting ensures overall illumination of a room. Chandeliers, recessed lights, and ceiling fans with light kits are popular choices for ambient light, and builders are offering switch-operated ceiling fixtures as standard features in bedrooms again.

The placement and intensity of ambient lighting should depend on the room’s size and purpose. Entering a dark room without a switch that connects to an overhead light can be daunting. On the other hand, rooms that feature multiple rows of recessed lights can make an open floor plan feel like the operating room of a hospital or an airport runway, although dimmer switches can be used to tone down particularly bright lights.

Task lighting is essential for specific activities that require focused illumination, such as reading, cooking, or working. Task lights are typically adjustable and provide bright, directed light to enhance visibility, prevent eye strain, and improve clarity and comfort. Examples of task lights include desk lamps, under-cabinet lights in the kitchen, and vanity lights in the bathroom.

Accent lighting is used to highlight specific features or

Exterior lighting can improve the appearance and security of your home.

objects in a room, such as artwork, curio cabinets, mirrors, or architectural elements, and can add depth and drama to a room by creating contrast and visual interest. Spotlights, track lights, rope lights, and wall-mounted fixtures with adjustable heads are popular choices for accent lighting.

Decorative lighting fixtures serve both functional and ornamental purposes. Chandeliers, pendant lights, table lamps, and sconces can add a touch of style and elegance to a room. The decorative fixture you choose can complement your décor or serve as a statement piece, such as an heirloom or vintage lamp, to create a cohesive and aesthetically pleasing environment.

Exterior lighting can serve a multitude of purposes.

Landscape architects often recommend illuminating pathways, gardens, and architectural features. Proper lighting contributes to safety and security by improving visibility, reducing the risk of accidents, and ensuring a secure environment for residents and visitors, especially if you entertain outside at night.

In addition, exterior lighting can create a warm and inviting tone, adding character and drama to the landscape and transforming outdoor areas into cozy retreats.

Spotlights are often used to highlight a particular item, such as a tree, a garden sculpture, the property address, or holiday decorations. Solar fixtures that do not require underground wiring are a popular option.

With advancements in technology, integrated home lighting systems with smart bulbs and fixtures provide

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convenience, energy savings and environmental sustainability while allowing homeowners to control the intensity or color of lights, and even schedule when fixtures turn on and off or dim through smartphones or voice commands. They can also be linked to other items such as garage door openers, motion sensors, and security systems.

You may want to consult a lighting designer to develop a plan for your home. If you want to take more of an active role, check out free apps like Light ARchitect from Cooper Lighting Solutions or the Planning Guide: Lighting at www.hgtv.com.

Then, rather than head off to the big box store for builder-grade items, look at online options from www. lampsplus.com, www.shadesoflight.com, www.lightology.com, and www.lumens.com, to find something that suits your style and isn’t seen all over town.

The right lighting can enhance the ambiance of a room, highlight a favorite piece of art, let you comfortably read a good book or cook a gourmet meal, and increase security. But remember what your mother always said: Turn out the lights when you leave the room!”

VALERIE M. BLAKE

is a licensed Associate Broker in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia with RLAH Real Estate / @properties.

Call or text her at 202-246-8602, email her via DCHomeQuest.com, or follow her on Facebook at TheRealst8ofAffairs.

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Donate a dollar or more to my campaign. I am John Clayton, an LGBTQ+ candidate, running for county supervisor in Iowa. Please join others to make our voices heard.

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including probate, small estates and foreign estates. Public notices are required to be published in newspapers of general circulation because these venues (now both print and online) reach the largest number of people in the community, while offering an easily archivable and verifiable outlet to make sure the notice was published when and how it was intended.

Further, newspapers display notices in the context of other news and information that people in the community read. Newspapers and their associated websites are the appropriate forums for notices that affect citizens and the general public. Ask the court to publish yours here!

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FREE THE HOSTAGES

Antisemitism, Homophobia, and Transphobia Travel Together As LGBTQ Americans and allies, we will not be silent.

We ask you to join us in our grief for all the innocent lives lost, and in our determination that all hostages be released immediately.

Stand on the right side of history.

Read our open letter and add your name today. www.lgbtqandalliesunited.com

SIGN THE PETITION Paid for by ONE Community Foundation.