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Ernesto Santalla designs Annual Cherry Weekend Charges dropped against
calming spaces; city’s features parties galore, four protesters who
real estate market surges — including performance targeted Nancy Pelosi
see our special section. by Deborah Cox. with sit-in last month.
Home & Garden, PAGE 26 PAGE 20 PAGE 6

dcagenda.com • vol. 2, issue 15 • april 9, 2010

With clock ticking, all eyes on Congress

Inaction on LGBT bills
likely to trigger ‘anger
in the community’
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@dcagenda.com
Supporters of LGBT rights are turn-
ing up the heat on Congress in their
efforts to pass several key bills after law-
makers return from recess next week.
Allison Herwitt, legislative director
for the Human Rights Campaign,
alluded to potential political conse-
quences if the bills don’t advance in
this Congress.
“I do think that there will be many
LGBT Americans frustrated and dis-
appointed if any of these [bills] don’t
move,” she said. “Even though we
don’t have a pro-LGBT majority in
the House and the Senate — this is
our highest majority that we have
and we need to obviously capitalize
on the members that we have in the
House and the Senate to pass legis-
lation. So, in short, I do think that
there will be anger in the community.”
Herwitt said this anger would like-
ly manifest itself in LGBT voters feel-
ing disconnected from Congress and
from the Obama administration.
This disconnect, Herwitt said,
could affect political donations or dis-
courage people from getting involved
in re-election campaigns as well as
“not door knocking, literature drop-
ping, all that kind of stuff.”
Herwitt also urged a stronger
voice from the White House in advo-
cating for legislation like the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act
and the Domestic Partner Benefits &
Obligations Act, as well as repeal of
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“I do think that it is important that DC Agenda photo by Michael Key
the president and the administration
do strongly indicate to the House and President Obama joined families on the White House lawn for this week’s Easter egg roll. LGBT rights supporters are calling
on him to be more vocal in his support for several key bills still pending in Congress, including repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’
Continues on page 16

Evans, Brown enter

race for Council chair
Anti-gay candidate
runs in at-large contest
nationalagenda By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@dcagenda.com
Actress Anna Pacquin comes out as bisexual in web video. Page 6
D.C. City Council members Jack
Evans (D-Ward 1) and Kwame Brown
(D-At Large) have announced they
are candidates for the Council chair-
man’s seat, creating another citywide
contest where LGBT voters must
choose between friends.
Evans and Brown entered the
Council chairman race after the cur-
rent chairman, Democrat Vincent
Gray, declared his candidacy for
mayor, challenging Mayor Adrian
Fenty’s bid for a second term in
nationalagenda September’s Democratic primary.
Two gay Georgia teens prepare for controversial prom date. Page 14 Much as they did with the mayor’s
race, most gay Democratic activists
have said they are not ready to take
sides in the Council chair contest,
expressing an interest in seeing the
LGBT-friendly candidates for mayor
and Council chair speak out on both
gay and non-gay issues.
However, Evans’ strong support for
LGBT rights extends over 20 years in
his role as the Council’s most senior
member. His longer record on LGBT
issues is expected to give him an
edge over Brown for the gay vote — at
least in some parts of the city.
“We have a process for endorsing
candidates and we’re going to follow DC Agenda photo by Michael Key
that process,” said Jeffrey Richardson,
president of the Gertrude Stein D.C. City Council member Jack
Democratic Club, the city’s largest Evans, seen here at an event cele-
LGBT political group. brating the passage of same-sex mar-
In a timetable approved earlier this riage, is running for the Council chair-
year, the club will hold an endorse- man’s seat. He will run against
Council member Kwame Brown.
Continues on page 16
2 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 3
4 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
localagenda
Getting our stories told
PR expert Cathy Renna
among business
chamber honorees
By DAVID J. HOFFMAN
Special to DC Agenda
Cathy McElrath Renna, founder of
Renna Communications, an LGBT
media strategy firm, said she laughed
when told she was this year’s recipient
of the Business Leadership Award
from the Capital Area Gay & Lesbian
Chamber of Commerce.
“I just laughed, because I would
have never imagined my activism as
a business,” she said.
Renna will receive her award
tonight at CAGLCC’s 20th anniver-
sary awards dinner.
Longtime New Yorker and current
Mount Pleasant resident Renna is
quick to share credit for the success of
Renna Communications with her wife.
“I wouldn’t have this business if it
weren’t for my wife,” she said. “Don’t
ask me to even balance a checkbook,”
she added, noting that her wife, Leah
McElrath Renna, has experience as a
financial planner and “I trust her more
than anyone in the world.”
The firm was founded in March
2006, when their daughter Rosemary
— now 4 — was just 6 months old.
“On Friday I’m not going to step from
that podium until Leah joins me on the
platform,” Renna said, “because she
so deserves to do so.”
They’re not legally married yet. “But
we’re working on it … we’ve just been too
busy working on D.C. marriage equality.”
Helping to spearhead the media
coalition work of the D.C. Campaign
for All Families, D.C. for Marriage and
On a roll at the White House
Several families headed by same-sex couples joined the festivities Monday at the White House’s annual Easter Egg Roll. The
event included appearances from author J.K. Rowling, tennis champion Billie Jean King, and the cast of “Glee.”
Photo courtesy of Renna
‘I would have never imagined my
activism as a business,’ says Cathy
Renna of Renna Communications.
D.C. Clergy for Marriage Equality has
ironically been getting in the way of
planning their own wedding. But the
couple made time to take Rosemary
to the White House Easter Egg Roll
this week. Renna Communications
got a big boost from the White House
Easter Egg Roll event in April 2006
— just a month after the firm opened.
“It was the first big thing the firm did,”
she said. “In 2006, there were about
150 LGBT families, about 400 people.
We understood it was not a political
issue, but for us, I like to say that just
like breathing, our existence is political.
“So we wore rainbow leis, so festive
and appropriate, and lots of straight
families had them on also, they knew
who we were, and they were supportive.
In some ways it was a political state-
ment,” she said, “to highlight that families
can come in all shapes and sizes, and
we’ve gone every year since.”
She described such direct mes-
saging “the goal of the work we do as
a firm — and the tagline for our firm
is ‘we’ll get your story told.’” She said
the LGBT community has come of
age in the last 20 years.
“We are no longer abstract — we
exist. … Change won’t come until peo-
ple understand the stories behind that
need for marriage equality or for
employment rights. We’re doing a bet-
ter job now, but we still have a long way
to go, but we’re getting there because
now we’re a whole lot smarter.”
Also being honored at the awards
dinner April 9 are:
• David von Storch, owner of
Capitol City Brewing Company and
Vida Fitness among other business-
es, for excellence in business;
• Jonathan Blumenthal, co-founder
and president of Burgundy Crescent
Volunteers, as volunteer of the year;
• Thomas Sanchez, principal of
Wamwaw LCC, a web development and-
strategy firm, as emerging entrepreneur;
• Bob Summersgill, longtime
LGBT activist instrumental in passing
the marriage equality law in D.C., for
community advocacy;
• and Wachovia as corporate partner of
the year.
The awards dinner is at the Mandarin
Oriental Hotel, 1330 Maryland Ave.,
S.W. It begins with a silent auction and
networking at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $180
for CAGLCC members and $195 for
non-members.
DC Agenda photo by Michael Key
Gansler dodges
impeachment attempt
Saber-rattling from Maryland Republicans against Attorney General
Douglas Gansler’s same-sex marriage ruling, including calls for
impeachment and state funding cuts for agencies that recognize out-of-
state marriage licenses, have so far amounted to nothing.
Del. Don Dwyer (R-Anne Arundel) demanded a House floor vote on
his resolution to impeach Gansler, but was denied by Speaker Michael
Busch, who acted on advice from the parliamentarian that any resolution
should be referred to the House Judiciary Committee first.
Only delegates were permitted to speak at a hastily arranged hearing
at 3 p.m. March 31, but Dwyer declined to speak to the substance of the
impeachment charges, saying to do so would legitimize what he labeled
a “kangaroo court.”
Dwyer, a Judiciary Committee member, instead used his allotted time
to declare that he would bring charges against Busch.
Gansler did not attend the hearing, but Democratic delegates on the
committee defended him and his marriage opinion during their allotted times.
The committee voted 17-5 that there was insufficient evidence to pro-
ceed with impeachment. A second vote was held to dismiss the resolution.
Later that day, Equality Maryland operated a phone bank to persuade del-
egates to oppose Dwyer’s announced state budget amendment to cut funding
for recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriage licenses. Ultimately, no such
amendment was presented before either legislative chamber.
“We’re pretty confident this is over for now,” said Morgan Meneses-
Sheets, Equality Maryland’s executive director.
A committee hearing on House Bill 462, which would add LGBT non-
discrimination protections for teachers in public schools, was scheduled
for Wednesday, after DC Agenda deadline. To become law, the bill must
pass the Senate before April 12.
HARLEY DENNETT
Hearing set for suspect in gay man’s murder
More information surrounding the murder of a gay man inside his car
in Southeast D.C. is expected to surface during a court hearing this
month for the 20-year-old man arrested in the case.
Police on March 12 charged Antwan Holcomb of D.C. with first-degree
murder while armed in connection with the shooting death of Anthony
Perkins, 29, on the 2900 block of Fourth Street, S.E.
Police said Perkins was pronounced dead on the scene around
5:15 a.m. Dec. 27 after neighbors reported hearing gunshots. Officers
found Perkins unconscious inside his car, which had steam billowing
from its engine.
A friend of Perkins said the man might have been the target of a thug
who had been “terrorizing” the Congress Heights neighborhood. Rev.
Anthony Motley, a D.C. minister running for an at-large seat on the D.C.
City Council and a longtime friend of Perkins, said a mutual friend told
him that the killing might be linked to a man believed to be responsible
for a string of robberies that Perkins learned about.
“It is said that the individual Anthony knew who was robbing people
had become paranoid that Anthony would talk [to police],” Motley told DC
Agenda in January. “It’s assumed that is why he was shot.”
Police said Holcomb was being held at the D.C. Jail on an unrelated
matter when he was charged with Perkins’ murder. Police have not said
whether Holcomb is the person Perkins’ friend believes was robbing peo-
ple in the neighborhood where Perkins was killed.
Holcomb, who is being held without bond, is scheduled to appear
April 21 in D.C. Superior Court. Prosecutors at that time could outline the
evidence that police obtained linking him to the murder.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Md. group steps up gay marriage support
The Maryland Black Family Alliance is taking a more public profile in
the fight for same-sex marriage.
“We wanted to make sure that people know who we are what we
stand for,” said Lea Gilmore, one of the group’s founders. “We want it
known that there is significant and organized support in Maryland’s black
communities for marriage equality and LGBT civil justice.”
Gilmore said to counter the perception that there are no visible
straight black allies in the LGBT civil rights movement, MBFA recently
conducted a photo shoot outside Brown Memorial Park Avenue
Presbyterian Church in Baltimore.
“The images will be included in ads that will appear in our very
respected African-American local and regional media,” Gilmore said. “We
will do a broader campaign in the near future.”
The ads, funded by the Human Rights Campaign, are intended to illus-
trate black support for same-sex marriage and LGBT civil rights issues.
“As African Americans, we more than most know the pain that injus-
tice causes,” Gilmore said, “so we hope with these ads to galvanize even
more organized support for equality.”
STEVE CHARING/BALTIMORE OUTLoud
april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 5
6 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
nationalagenda
Charges against ENDA
protesters to be dropped
Demonstrators must
stay away from
Pelosi’s office
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@dcagenda.com
Charges against Capitol Hill
demonstrators who last month tar-
geted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,
accusing her of failing to advance the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act,
will be dropped provided they abide
by certain conditions.
Jay Carmona, Samantha Ames,
Chas Kirven and Michelle Wright plead-
ed not guilty in D.C. Superior Court
Tuesday to misdemeanor charges of
unlawful entry. They were arrested
March 18 following a sit-in protest in
Pelosi’s office in the Cannon House
Office Building. The group refused to
leave despite police orders to do so.
The group demanded that Pelosi
move a transgender-inclusive ver-
sion of ENDA to the House floor by
the end of March. The demonstrators
said they wanted a vote on the bill —
even if it lacked the necessary votes
for passage — to best determine
where lawmakers stand.
Representing the protesters in court
was Claire Morris Clark, an attorney for
D.C. law firm Schertler & Onorato.
Clark said the U.S. attorney gen-
eral’s office would drop the charges if
demonstrators met the terms of the
agreement by their next scheduled
court appearance, Oct. 6.
If the protesters meet the terms of
the agreement, Clark said, they
wouldn’t have to appear in court. Any
violators would be required to make
an appearance and potentially face
additional penalties.
One term of the agreement is that
demonstrators arrested March 18 must
stay away from Pelosi’s office in the
Cannon House Office Building unless
invited in writing. Another term is that the
protestors must not be arrested under
probable cause before Oct. 6.
Additionally, she said the two protest-
ers who are D.C. residents, Carmona
and Ames, must complete 60 hours of
community service. Clark noted that
because Kirven and Wright aren’t D.C.
residents, the D.C. government doesn’t
have jurisdiction to require them to meet
this term of the agreement.
Clark said another term of the agree-
ment is that protesters cannot engage in
activity in the U.S. Capitol that the U.S.
attorney’s office deems disruptive.
But she noted that Judge Harold
Cushenberry said in court he would-
n’t enforce this part of the agreement
because he didn’t think the agree-
ment clearly defined what the U.S.
attorney’s office might find disruptive.
The protesters who consented to
the agreement said they were happy
with the outcome of the proceedings.
Ames, a queer D.C. resident, said
she’s “actually quite excited” to do the
community service assigned to her as
part of the agreement. She planned to
Charges filed against (from left) Jay Carmona, Samantha Ames, Chas Kirven
and Michelle Wright following a sit-in protest last month in House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi’s office will be dropped if they abide by certain conditions.
fill her time with Transgender Health
Empowerment in D.C.
Noting that the ENDA protesters
who were arrested weren’t transgen-
der, Ames said being arrested as a
transgender person is “so much
more dangerous.”
“Working for an organization that
does community service that is work-
ing making that right and working
toward making the prisons safer for
transgender folks in the area is, I think,
something that I should feel fortunate
to have the opportunity to do,” she said.
Carmona, a lesbian D.C. resident,
called the court agreement “just
another step” toward “getting ENDA
passed for equality.”
“So, I think I don’t really feel a sense
of joy or accomplishment so much as I
feel like we just took another step,” she
said. “It’s definitely not party time.”
Noting that an early version of
ENDA was first introduced in the U.S.
House in 1974, Carmona said that
LGBT people have been waiting
“close to 40 years for basic employ-
ment protections, and we’re not
going to wait another 40.”
Clark said after the protesters’
court appearance that the agree-
ment was a “very good outcome.”
“The U.S. attorney’s office has a
couple different mediums where they’ll
try and work things out, and this is the
best one,” she said. “It doesn’t require a
guilty plea. It’s a very good deal.”
The protesters also expressed
satisfaction with the result of their
protest. Ames said she thought the
protest led to showing sufficient
votes exist to pass ENDA, despite
claims to the contrary.
As she was being handcuffed at
the end of her protest March 18,
Ames said a member of Pelosi’s staff
asked her if she thought there were
enough votes to pass ENDA.
“And I said, ‘Yes,” Ames said. “And
she said, ‘We don’t.’ And I said I really
wish we could have had this conversa-
tion earlier because I would have liked
to have this conservation with her.”
Following her arrest, Ames said
media reports emerged quoting Rep.
Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) as saying
that enough support existed in the
Anna Pacquin comes out as bi
Anna Paquin, the 27-year-old star of ‘True Blood,’ came out last week as bisex-
ual in a video published on wegiveadamn.org, a site designed for straight peo-
ple interested in LGBT issues.
DC Agenda photo by Chris Johnson
House to pass ENDA.
“So the fact that that was starting the
next day — I don’t want to make this
about egos, I want to make this about
ENDA — but it would seem that it got
something accomplished,” she said.
Present in the courtroom Tuesday
to show support for the ENDA pro-
testers was Lt. Dan Choi, who was
arrested the same day after chaining
himself to the White House fence in
opposition to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,”
and Robin McGehee, co-chair of
GetEqual.org, which helped coordi-
nate the protests.
Choi said he wanted to show his sup-
port for the ENDA protesters because
the shared experience of being arrested
following their respective protests is “in a
lot of ways, like being in combat.”
“We have waged war against
inequality,” he said. “Sometimes, as sol-
diers, you don’t have a lot of money, you
don’t have a lot of trappings of what we
have in terms of political power — but
we have each other, and until we have
full equality, this is a battle that none of
us are going to step away from.”
Asked whether further acts of civil
disobedience could occur to further
LGBT civil rights, Choi replied, “Of
course,” and said that he personally
plans to take part in such protests.
“Until we have that American
promise of equality and access to
truth and truthful living manifest to
everyone, it has to continue,” he said.
McGehee said GetEqual.org is
planning further acts of civil disobedi-
ence to push for LGBT civil rights.
“We will be back and we will con-
tinue to organize non-violent civil dis-
obedience throughout D.C. and other
areas across the United States until
we’re equal,” she said.
McGehee declined to offer any
details, but said she expects the next
such event will occur in D.C. before
the end of April.
“Our goal with GetEqual is to cre-
ate the lunch-counter moments that
so clearly defined the civil rights
movement around racial justice,” she
said. “In an equality movement, we
believe that we need to create those
images that highlight the injustices
that are clearly out there.”
Image courtesy of wegiveadamn.org
Army secretary retracts
comments on ‘Don’t Ask’
WASHINGTON — Army Secretary John McHugh has retracted comments
he made that the new “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” regulations constitute a moratori-
um on discharges and that he wouldn’t pursue soldiers who came out to him.
“I was incorrect when I stated that [Defense] Secretary [Robert] Gates
had placed a moratorium on discharges of homosexual service mem-
bers,” he said in a statement. “There is no moratorium of the law and nei-
ther Secretary Gates nor I would support one.”
The changes to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” unveiled last month by Gates,
limit third-party outings by requiring such information to be given under
oath, and raise the rank of the officers handling inquiries and discharges.
But until Congress repeals “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” McHugh said the
statute “remains the law of the land” and that he and the Army “will fulfill our
obligation to uphold it.”
According to the New York Times, McHugh told reporters last week it
would be “counterproductive” to “take disciplinary action against some-
one who spoke with me openly and honestly.” He was quoted as saying
he had no intention of pursuing the discharges of active duty service
members who recently told him that they are gay.
McHugh clarified the comments in his later statement, saying it would
have been better for him to have counseled three soldiers who came out
to him that “statements about their sexual orientation could not be treat-
ed as confidential and could result in their separation under the law.”
McHugh said he couldn’t identify the soldiers who disclosed their sex-
ual orientation because of “the informal and random manner in which
these engagements occurred.” He noted that he would not formally pur-
sue the matter. — CHRIS JOHNSON
General apologizes for remarks
on gays in Dutch military
WASHINGTON — A retired general who supports “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell” has apologized for remarks blaming gays in the Dutch military for a
Bosnian massacre.
In a March 29 letter obtained by DC Agenda and other media outlets,
retired Marine Corps Gen. John Sheehan says he’s sorry for testify-
ing before the Senate that open service in the Dutch military contributed
to the Srebrenica massacre in 1995.
During testimony last month before Congress, Sheehan said he heard
from Dutch chief-of-staff General Henk van den Breemen of the Royal
Dutch Marine Corps that allowing gays to serve openly in the Dutch mili-
tary — which Sheehan called part of the liberalization of the country’s
armed forces — contributed to the inability of the Netherlands to prevent the
execution of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys during the massacre.
But in the letter to van den Breeman, Sheehan acknowledges he mis-
stated before the congressional committee the Dutch official’s under-
standing of the situation and apologizes.
“I am sorry that my recent public recollection of those discussions of
15 years ago inaccurately reflected your thinking on some specific social
issues in the military,” Sheehan says. “It is also regrettable that I allowed
you to be pulled into a public debate.”
Sheehan also writes he doesn’t believe Srebrenica was “the fault of
the individual soldiers” serving in the Dutch military at the time.
“Unfortunately, the rules of engagement were developed by a political
system with conflicting priorities and an ambivalent understanding of how
to use the military,” he said. “As we know, the consequences of those
compromises were devastating.” — CHRIS JOHNSON
Gay former pro wrestler found dead
NEW YORK — A man recognized as among the first openly gay pro-
fessional wrestlers was found dead April 2 in his New York City apartment.
The Associated Press reported that 40-year-old Chris Klucsaritis, who wrestled
under the name Chris Kanyon, apparently committed suicide. A note was recovered.
Klucsaritis began his career in the late 1990s and was part of the
championship tag team “Men at Work” before joining World Wrestling
Entertainment. He retired in 2004.
 april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 7

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  !'$##]T¿QS Gary Gates of the Williams Institute said data from the U.S. Census Bureau helps quantitatively demonstrate
  !'$!! TOf the benefits associated with repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ or passing the Uniting American Families Act.
Advocates push for greater
LGBT inclusion in Census
2010 marks first time married
gay couples will be counted
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@dcagenda.com
Looking to advertise in LGBT rights advocates are pushing the
importance of participation in the U.S. Census as
dcagenda?
they call for greater outreach and the opportunity
for more informed responses from gay people.
During a congressional briefing April 1 for
the LGBT Equality Caucus, panelists empha-
Contact Lynne Brown sized that getting LGBT people counted in the
2010 Census will reveal useful information.
Gary Gates, a research fellow at the
at lbrown@dcagenda.com Williams Institute, a think tank at the University
of California, Los Angeles, noted that 2010
marks the first time that married same-sex
couples will be counted as such in the Census.
Still, Gates said the count wouldn’t neces-
sarily reveal the number of legally married
same-sex couples in the United States.
“Same-sex couples, have, as we all know,
many, many legal ways in which they can be rec-
ognized, and it’s not clear that in options that
include either husband and wife or unmarried
partner capture all those different ways,” he said.
“We certainly know that there are many more
couples who see their relationships as one where
the person is spouse and legally married.”
Gates said earlier data — particularly from the
larger American Community Survey issued by
the U.S. Census Bureau — provided the basis for
finding important information about LGBT peo-
ple, including that an estimated 565,000 same-
sex couples live in United States and 150,000
same-sex couples identify as married.
This data, Gates said, also led to findings
that around 66,000 gay service members
serve in the military under “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell” and 36,000 bi-national couples would
benefit from the Uniting American Families Act.
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DC Agenda photo by Michael Key
get out some very basic messages,” he said.
Ruddell-Tabisola also said the 2010
Census is the first to have LGBT public service
announcements. He noted that 19 such
announcements were to be unveiled this week.
While stressing the importance of the
Census as a means to collect data about
LGBT people, panelists expressed concerns
about the count not gathering sufficient infor-
mation and employing inadequate outreach.
Glenn Magpantay, staff attorney for Asian
American Legal Defense and Education Fund,
said there might not be enough diversity
among Census takers so that minorities —
including LGBT people — would be comfort-
able answering questions truthfully.
“So when the door-knockers come, and if I
come from a two female household, and the
Census taker doesn’t look really receptive to
my family household and structure, basically
will I be harassed by the Census taker?” he
said. “Will they have the diversity and the abili-
ty to enumerate a diverse America?”
Panelists also discussed the possibility of ask-
ing responders to identify their sexual orientation
and gender identity in subsequent censuses.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the
National Center for Transgender Equality, said
transgender people have discussed the feasi-
bility of a question asking to list gender identi-
ty on the survey because of the general lack of
information about the transgender community.
“We know very little about transgender peo-
ple,” she said. “There are almost no studies about
transgender people. We really know almost noth-
ing. We don’t know how many of us there are. We
don’t know what our economic situation is.”
Keisling said many transgender people are urg-
ing others to mark their gender as “transgender” on
the Census form, although she said many are
resisting that idea because the majority of trans-
gender people identify as either male or female.
Following the briefing, Ruddell-Tabisola told
DC Agenda that the Census Bureau is consider-
ing a number of ways to update forms in the
future, but is cautious about making any changes.
“The Census is different. It’s a survey of
households, not individuals,” he said. “So by
design, one person fills out the Census for every-
body else. So what happens if you have room-
mates and one person has to identify the sexual
orientation and gender identity [for everyone] in
the house? What if he doesn’t know? Is he going
to ask? Are we going to tell him to ask?”
Ruddell-Tabisola said there are ethical and
privacy concerns about asking people whether
they identify as LGBT.
“It’s a big deal if you constitutionally mandate
people to identify their sexual orientation and
gender identity,” he said. “It’s not like a poll where
you can hang up the phone if you don’t want to
answer the question. The Census is mandated
by the Constitution, and so all the questions on
there are really serious questions.”

nationalagenda
‘Don’t Ask’ experts assail Obama’s Justice Department
Claim administration
misrepresented views
in new legal brief
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@dcagenda.com
Experts on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
are lambasting the Justice Department,
claiming the administration misrepre-
sented their views in a legal brief aimed
at thwarting a court challenge to the
ban on open service.
Nathaniel Frank, a senior fellow at
the Palm Center, a think tank at the
University of California, Santa Barbara,
said the Obama administration mis-
characterized his views on the
impact that open service would have
on privacy issues.
“The way they portrayed me is
preposterous and I’m not sure that
any person in good faith hearing
what I had to say could conclude
what the [Department of Justice]
concluded in their [request for] sum-
mary judgment,” he said. “I specifical-
ly said having a concern about priva-
cy is not irrational, but using that pri-
vacy concern as an argument for the
need to ban gays is irrational.”
Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm
Center, similarly claimed the Justice
Department misrepresented what he
said in depositions about privacy
arguments, and even went so far as
to say the Obama administration
lawyers weren’t being truthful.
“They completely misrepresented
my statement in the deposition,”
Belkin said. “They were not being
truthful about my statement because
they said that I claimed that there is
a rational basis for the privacy argu-
ments, and I claimed no such thing.”
In a request for summary judg-
ment released last week, the Justice
Department names Frank and Belkin
as among the experts on “Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell” who gave depositions in
the case of Log Cabin v. United
States. The lawsuit seeks to overturn
the ban on the basis that it infringes
upon the First Amendment rights of
LGBT service members.
Both Frank and Belkin were ques-
tioned during deposition about whether
privacy concerns for service members
constituted a rational basis for the enact-
ment of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 1993.
The brief says Frank “acknowl-
edged” during his deposition that
“privacy concerns such as those on
which Congress relied were not irra-
tional.” But Frank disputed this char-
acterization, pointing to his remarks
during deposition.
According to an excerpt of the dep-
osition obtained by DC Agenda, Frank
was asked about privacy issues in the
context of whether former Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Colin
Powell’s statement in 1993 that service
members “are required to live in com-
munal settings that force intimacy and
provide little privacy” was based on
professional military judgment.
Frank replied that Powell —
whose position has since evolved to
endorse the Pentagon’s process for
repealing the law — may have had
concerns with privacy as a general
President Barack Obama’s Justice Department is drawing fire for allegedly misrepresenting the views of certain ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ experts.
matter based on professional judg-
ment, but said Powell’s statement
doesn’t “constitute an argument for
keeping out open homosexuals.”
“Because what he says here is that
service members are required to serve
with very little privacy, so it doesn’t
make any sense to me to conclude
from that that there is a justification to
exclude open homosexuals since he’s
just acknowledged that part of being in
the military means sacrificing privacy,”
Frank said in his deposition.
It’s for this reason that Frank is
now saying the Justice Department
misrepresented his views in the brief
against the lawsuit.
“So I really said the opposite of
what the DOJ motion claims,” he said.
“I made very clear that I would not call
those feelings [about privacy] irra-
tional, but nor would I call it rational to
use that feeling as a legitimate basis
for excluding a whole group of people.
And that’s all there in the record.”
Belkin similarly cried foul, claim-
ing the Justice Department mischar-
acterized his deposition in the brief.
The administration says that Belkin
testified that “the privacy basis is
rational in circumstances such as
combat where private accommoda-
tions are not possible.”
“Dr. Belkin studied the experience
of the Israeli military and found that
heterosexual concern about privacy
necessitated, in certain instances,
separate accommodations or work
arrangements for heterosexual serv-
ice members,” says the brief. “Dr.
Belkin also acknowledged similar
findings with respect to Congress’
concern regarding sexual tension
within the military.”
According to the brief, Belkin also
“pointedly admitted” people in the mil-
itary have sex with each other, and
some service members have “sex
with other members of the same sex.”
But Belkin said the Justice
Department’s account of his deposition
and his alleged acknowledgement of a
rational basis for privacy concerns was
completely off the mark.
“People who defend ‘Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell’ for almost 20 years have
been confusing up with down and left
with right,” he said. “If the Obama
administration lawyers think that my
remarks in any way constitute an
acknowledgement of the rational
basis for the privacy rationale, then
they need a new legal team.”
Belkin said the Justice Department
neglected to mention major points
about his deposition. He said he
brought up men having sex with other
men because he believes straight men
would be having sex with men in the
military regardless of the ban.
“Think for a minute about prisons,”
he said. “It’s not exactly the same, but
the point is not that gays are responsi-
ble for gay sex, but a lot of people have
same-sex sex in the military and the
privacy rationale does not take that
into account. The privacy rationale is
premised on the assumption that it’s
only gays who having sex, so you
have to get rid of the gays if you want
to get rid of that kind of thing.”
Belkin also said the Justice
Department misconstrued his take on
there being a rational basis for “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell” because some straight
service members are uncomfortable
around gay service members.
“It’s absolutely true that some het-
erosexual service members are
uncomfortable in front of gay service
members, but that in no way consti-
tutes a rational basis for the privacy
rationale because gays and lesbians
are already serving with straight
service members — and the condi-
tions in the barracks and the showers
are not going to change after the
repeal of the ban,” he said.
april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 9
The Justice Department didn’t
respond to a request for comment on
Frank and Belkin’s assertions that they
were mischaracterized in the brief.
Frank also took issue with the
Justice Department’s repeated refer-
ences to experts on “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell” with the use of quotation marks.
For example, the brief says in a
footnote that “LCR’s ‘experts’ ultimate-
ly seek to challenge the wisdom of the
DADT policy, a challenge that is irrele-
vant under rational basis review.”
Frank said the repeated reference
to experts in quotation marks is “high-
ly unusual” for the Justice Department
and “may have gone too far.”
“That’s a favorite tactic of the reli-
gious right to polish their anti-intel-
lectual credentials, and make it seem
like there’s no such things as a
homosexual, so they’ll put homosex-
ual in quotes,” he said.
The Obama administration defense
of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” statute
against the challenge from Log Cabin
is causing consternation among advo-
cacy groups seeking to repeal the law.
Joe Solmonese, president of the
Human Rights Campaign, said “we
took a step backward” with the
Justice Department brief in the move
to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and
that the brief “relies on arguments
that were debunked and discredited
in 1993, and even more so now.”
Solmonese also called on the
administration to “show leadership,
move the debate forward, and work with
Congress to get repeal done” this year.
“While the Pentagon undertakes its
review of how to implement repeal,
Congress can and must move forward
in repealing DADT in the same bill that
put it into law more than 17 years ago
— the defense authorization act,” he
said. “And the president can and must
provide the leadership necessary to
get the law passed this year.”
Photo by Joe Tresh
Aubrey Sarvis, executive director
of the Servicemembers Legal
Defense Network, expressed simi-
lar disappointment in a statement
responding to the brief.
“SLDN understands the Justice
Department’s role in defending the
constitutionality of federal laws, even
ones with which its leaders do not
agree,” Sarvis said. “However, there
continues to be a big and unnecessary
disconnect between what DOJ files in
court and what the president says on
Capitol Hill and to his top [Department
of Defense] leadership team.”
Sarvis said he wants the White
House to make clear to Congress that
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is a priority this
year for President Obama and for the
president to include repeal language
in budget language headed to Capitol
Hill in the coming weeks.
“The president’s defense budget
repeal language should mirror the
words in his State of the Union
speech to Congress and the
American people,” Sarvis said.
In a statement, Tracy Schmaler,
spokesperson for the Justice
Department, said the administration
is defending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as
“it traditionally does when acts of
Congress are challenged.”
“The department does not pick
and choose which federal laws it will
defend based on any one administra-
tion’s policy preferences,” she said.
Schmaler said Obama disagrees
with the underlying judgments Congress
used to pass “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,”
and noted that the president “believes
and has repeatedly affirmed that
[‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’] is a bad policy
that harms our national security and
undermines our military effectiveness.”
“The president and his adminis-
tration are working with the military
leadership and Congress to repeal
this discriminatory [law],” she said.
10 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
nationalagenda
HRC staff shakeup leads to 2 key departures
New communications
VP to start next month
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@dcagenda.com
The director and deputy director of
the Human Rights Campaign’s com-
munications department have left their
jobs following a staff restructuring.
Both departures come after HRC
announced March 15 that it had creat-
ed the new position of vice president
of communications and marketing,
naming the communications head of
the gay-oriented Gill Foundation, Fred
Sainz, to fill the post.
In creating the position, HRC
eliminated its position of director of
communications, resulting in the lay-
off of Brad Luna, who held that post
for the past four years, according to
David Smith, HRC’s vice president
for programs.
Luna’s departure from HRC on
March 26 was followed one week
later by the resignation of HRC’s
deputy communications director,
Trevor Thomas, who’s now consult-
ing for the Servicemembers Legal
Defense Network.
“In this rapidly changing and often
volatile political environment, HRC
must continue to both prod and per-
suade in our mission to improve the
lives of LGBT people across the coun-
try,” HRC President Joe Solmonese
LGBT groups take stance on priest sex abuse edge their responsibility, the cycle of
Catholic League criticized
for linking scandal to
homosexuality
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@dcagenda.com
The National Gay & Lesbian Task
Force has joined LGBT religious groups
in criticizing Pope Benedict XVI and the
Catholic Church hierarchy for not taking
sufficient action to stop alleged sexual
abuse by priests against children and
teenagers in the U.S. and Europe.
In a joint statement, leaders of five
groups that are part of the Task
Force’s National Religious Leadership
Roundtable cited recent allegations that
a priest who headed a school for deaf
children in Wisconsin sexually abused
more than 200 youths at the school
over a period of more than 20 years.
“The appalling story from Wisconsin
of the priest who abused over 200 stu-
dents, and whose sins and crimes were
covered up by the Catholic hierarchy,
wrenches the heart and tests a per-
son’s faith,” said Francis DeBernardo,
executive director of the gay Catholic
group New Ways Ministry.
“It gets to the heart of what has
too often been the case in stories like
this — the clerical system of secrecy,
silence and unaccountability is the
main culprit,” he said. “Sadly, until the
bishops responsible for moving
abusers to other locales acknowl-
‘A key component in changing hearts and minds or moving recalcitrant elected officials is an aggressive and creative commu-
nications strategy,’ Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said in a statement. Brad Luna, HRC’s director of com-
munications, was laid off last month after four years on the job.
said in a March 15 statement announc-
ing Sainz’s appointment.
“And often a key component in
changing hearts and minds or mov-
ing recalcitrant elected officials is an
aggressive and creative communica-
tions strategy,” Solmonese said.
He said Sainz, who served as
press secretary for San Diego Mayor
abuse will continue.”
For more than a decade, LGBT
media advocacy group Gay &
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
has lobbied the news media for fair
coverage of the priest sex abuse
scandal. Literature on the group’s
web site points to scientific studies
showing that abuse of children simi-
lar to the reported action by priests is
related to pedophilia, which is not
linked to homosexuality.
But the March 30 statement from the
Task Force and leaders of its National
Religious Leadership Roundtable repre-
sents one of the first instances of a
national, secular LGBT political group
taking a visible stand on the widening
priest abuse scandal.
Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, director of
the Task Force’s Faith Work project,
said the group’s decision to speak
out on the issue was in keeping with
its mission to advance the cause of
social justice for all people, not just
the LGBT community.
Among the people the group
stands in solidarity with, she said, are
the victims of priest sexual abuse.
She said the Task Force and its reli-
gious roundtable leaders also wanted
to clarify and debunk claims by some
church officials that the priest abuse
cases are rooted in homosexuality and
perpetuated by gay priests.
“Rather than taking responsibility for
and creating an atmosphere of justice,
the church has chosen in many, many
Jerry Sanders before joining the Gill
Foundation, “brings deep political
instincts and a commitment to LGBT
equality that will enhance our work.
We’re thrilled to have him join our sen-
ior team.” Sanders is a Republican
who made headlines in 2007 after a
tearful news conference in which he
endorsed same-sex marriage rights.
contexts to basically blame the problem
on, quote unquote, homosexual
priests,” Voelkel said. “This goes against
everything we know about sexual
abuse being perpetrated 95, 99 percent
of the time by heterosexual men.”
Voelkel and GLAAD spokesper-
son Richard Ferraro said their
respective groups were concerned
about media coverage of a renewed
campaign begun last week by Bill
Donohue, president of the Catholic
League, claiming that the priest
abuse case in Wisconsin was rooted
in homosexuality.
In interviews on CNN and in a full-
page ad in the New York Times,
Donohue pointed to findings that
most of the male youths in a
Wisconsin school for the deaf were
above the age of puberty. Victims of
the abuse, who are now adults,
reported they were targeted by
Father Lawrence Murphy between
1950 and 1974. Murphy died in 1998.
Donohue said that because the
youths were post-pubescent, the
abuse was a “homosexual issue,” not a
matter of pedophilia, which he said is
linked to pre-pubescent sexual abuse.
GLAAD and other groups monitor-
ing the case in Wisconsin and other
alleged priest abuse cases have said
sexual abuse is no more linked to
homosexuality than it is to heterosex-
uality, noting that abusers should be
criminally prosecuted and prevented
from harming other children or youth.
“Donohue is feeding a hostile cli-
DC Agenda file photo by Michael Key
Smith told DC Agenda on Friday
that the restructuring of the HRC com-
munications department was prompt-
ed by political and societal changes in
recent years. He said Sainz is sched-
uled to begin at HRC on May 10.
Smith did not respond to a ques-
tion asking whether Luna’s layoff
and Thomas’s resignation stemmed
mate that gay people continue to
face in this country,” said Rashad
Robinson, GLAAD’s senior director
of media programs.
Voelkel said the Task Force is
most concerned about the lack of
action against Murphy by church
authorities in Wisconsin and possibly
the Vatican, which reportedly had
learned of specific abuse allegations
against him while he still headed the
Wisconsin school.
Marianne Duddy-Burke, president
of the national LGBT Catholic group
Dignity USA, said Donohue’s claims
linking priest sex abuse to homosex-
uality go against comments made by
Pope Benedict himself during his
visit to the U.S. in 2008.
When asked at that time about
homosexuality, Benedict said he pre-
ferred not to talk about that subject
on his U.S. visit, but added that
pedophilia and sexual abuse of
minors was not related to homosexu-
ality and instead was “another thing.”
Rev. Debra Haffner, executive
director of the Religious Institute, an
LGBT supportive organization and a
member of the Task Force’s National
Religious Leadership Roundtable,
called on Benedict to take immediate
steps to moderate the church’s posi-
tion on human sexuality.
“The pope now has an urgent
responsibility — and an extraordi-
nary opportunity,” she said. “He must
not only move beyond apologies to
action, but could also use his influ-
from disagreements over HRC poli-
cy or strategy.
On March 18, two days after it
announced the appointment of Sainz
and the restructuring of its communi-
cations department, HRC came
under fire from some activists for
teaming up with comedienne Kathy
Griffin in a Washington rally support-
ing the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell.” The rally, which drew about
1,000 people, took place in Freedom
Plaza in downtown Washington.
Sentiment by some activists that
Griffin’s off-color humor was not
appropriate for a serious issue like
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was under-
scored by gay Army Lt. Dan Choi,
who expressed such a view in
unscheduled remarks at the rally.
On stage, Choi asked the crowd
to march with him to the White
House, about four blocks away.
Several hundred people followed
Choi to the White House, where
he and former Army Capt. Jim
Pietrangelo handcuffed them-
selves to the White House fence in
an action the two did not announce
in advance.
Police arrested Choi and
Pietrangelo, along with activist Robin
McGehee, who assisted the men,
creating a civil disobedience event
that overshadowed the HRC rally
and triggered a national debate
among LGBT activists over the
movement’s strategy and tactics.
Photo courtesy of Voelkel
Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, director of the
National Gay & Lesbian Task Force’s
Faith Work project, said rather than
take responsibility for the priest sex
abuse scandal, the church continues
to ‘blame the problem on, quote
unquote, homosexual priests.’
ence to urge all religious institutions
to address sexuality in healthier,
more open and responsible ways.
“Pope Benedict, the world is
watching and waiting.”
Others who contributed to the
joint statement on the priest abuse
scandal were Rev. Darlene Nipper,
the Task Force’s deputy director,
and Mary Hunt, co-director of the
Women’s Alliance for Theology,
Ethics & Ritual.
 april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 11

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12 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
healthagenda

directoryservices U.S. senators seek review

Becky Carroll, Ph.D.
of FDA’s gay blood ban
WASHINGTON — A group of 18 U.S.
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a recent FDA statement said.
A Health & Human Services advisory
committee on blood safety plans to
review the issue in June.
The federal government mandated a life-
time ban on blood donations from men who
have had sex with men in the 1980s. The
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a movement has begun seeking an end to
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men excludes blood donations by all men wrote to the FDA asking for a review of the agency’s ban
who have had sex with another man, on blood donations from men who have sex with men.
even one time, since 1977.
Obscure California law seeks cure for homosexuality
LOS ANGELES — A quirky California law requires health experts to find a cure for homosex-
uality and one lawmaker is working to overturn it.
Bonnie Lowenthal, author of Assembly Bill 2199, represents Long Beach in the California Assembly,
and wrote a piece this week for the Los Angeles Times about the origins of the obscure 60-year-old law.
The law came in response to public outcry over sex crimes in California, specifically the
molestation-murder of a 6-year-old girl, Lowenthal wrote, but the murderer was not a gay man and
there was no connection between the crime and homosexuality.
“Well-meaning California legislators passed a law that not only required health officials to seek
‘the causes and cures of homosexuality,’” she wrote, “but likened people who are gay to child
molesters. Amazingly, it’s still on the books. You might call it ‘Linda’s Law.’”
Linda Joyce Glucoft went out to play after dinner on Nov. 14, 1949, and never came home. She
was raped and murdered by the grandfather of one of her playmates, a repeat sex offender,
according to Lowenthal, and even before the killer had been sentenced to death, Gov. Earl
Warren called a special session of the Legislature to deal with the issue of sexual predators.
Lawmakers ordered the state’s mental hospitals and universities to find a solution.
“It was at this step, as the Legislature defined the role of science in solving the ‘sexual psy-
chopath’ problem, that gay people — simply because they vexed the psychiatric profession —
were swept up in the net,” Lowenthal wrote. “In 1950, homosexuality remained, officially, a men-
tal disorder. So when the Legislature promised funding for a study into the causes and cures of
sexual deviance, it was, tragically, natural to add homosexuality to the list.”
One of the bills Warren signed included a command that the “Department of Mental Hygiene

• Coming Out • Depression plan, conduct and cause to be conducted scientific research into the causes and cures of sexu-
• Phobias • Spirituality al deviation, including deviations conducive to sex crimes against children, and the causes and
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• Anxiety • Intimacy Assembly Bill 2199, authored by Lowenthal, seeks to overturn the law. It was set for its first
hearing this week after DC Agenda deadline.
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San Francisco backs early antiretroviral drugs for HIV
Want a subscription to SAN FRANCISCO — The city’s Department of Public Health is expected to release new
guidelines that call for HIV-positive patients to begin taking antiretroviral drugs as soon as they
dcagenda? are diagnosed, the New York Times reported.
Previous guidelines directed physicians to delay antiretroviral treatment, due to potential side effects.
The new policy follows research that early HIV treatment can help patients live longer and
Contact decrease their likelihood of experiencing health complications such as cancer, heart disease or
kidney failure, the Times reported.
Robbie Barnett at Under the new guidelines, people who test positive for HIV will be offered combination anti-
retroviral therapy. Antiretroviral drugs currently cost about $12,000 per year and account for about
rbarnett@dcagenda.com $350 million of the California AIDS Drug Assistance Plan’s budget, according to the Times story.
 april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 13

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14 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
nationalagenda
Gay Georgia teens prepare for controversial prom date
Derrick Martin lost
his home, but won
supporters nationwide
By DYANA BAGBY
Special from Georgia Voice
ATLANTA — Richard Goodman
hopes to spend some quality time
with his boyfriend this weekend,
maybe catching a movie and looking
for a tuxedo to wear to the prom.
“He’s thinking black and white but
I told him we should go and look to
see what they have,” Goodman said
in a phone interview.
Goodman, 18, is dating Derrick
Martin, also 18. Martin made inter-
national headlines after receiving
approval from school officials to bring
Goodman to his senior prom, set for
April 17 at Bleckley County High
School in Cochran, Ga.
Cochran is a small middle-
Georgia town with a population of
approximately 5,000. Goodman is a
senior at Tift County High School in
Tift, Ga., about two hours south of
Cochran. He and Martin talk regular-
ly on the phone, but it’s been awhile
since they’ve spent time together.
“If I’m lucky I see him once a
month,” Goodman said. “I kind of feel
like they’re pulling him away.”
They? The media?
“Yeah,” Goodman answers. “He’s
gotten a lot of attention. I usually fly
below the radar.”
Neither Martin nor Goodman pre-
dicted the attention their story would
receive. Martin has given numerous
newspaper, radio and television inter-
views, and is a major topic in the gay
blogosphere. Martin said he even got
a call from Ellen DeGeneres asking
him to come on her show.
And while Martin has been getting
all the press, Goodman acknowl-
edged he felt a little left out. After all,
he is Martin’s boyfriend.
“It bothers me just slightly,” he
said with a shy laugh.
Martin said he has been privately
working on getting approval to bring
Goodman to the prom since
December. Bleckley Principal Michelle
Masters at first told him it was not
going to happen because it had never
been done before and because the
school “was not ready for it.”
“She gave several reasons but I
wasn’t going to back down. I wasn’t
confrontational, I was just telling the
truth,” he said.
So Masters said she would take
his request to the school board. The
board met twice before following an
attorney’s advice that there was no
policy prohibiting Martin from bringing
a same-sex date to his senior prom.
“It took them until the second
Tuesday in March to approve but
they said they were afraid for my
safety,” Martin said.
And he does fear for his safety.
He’s gotten one threat from someone
saying he better “watch his back.”
“What can you do? I don’t give
them the satisfaction,” Martin said. “I
do walk with a friend always and
even put keys between my knuckles.”
Masters told the Macon Telegraph
Photo by Shannon Jenkins
Derrick Martin made headlines after
winning approval from school officials
to bring his boyfriend to his senior
prom, set for April 17, in rural Georgia.
she could not turn down the request.
“You don’t have the right to say
no,” Masters said. “As a principal, I
don’t judge him. I’m taught not to
judge. I have to push my own beliefs
to the background.”
‘Bringing Bleckley
into the gay era’
Martin is working with local gay
activists to find security for his prom.
Bleckley students held a rally at
Cochran City Hall March 25 to
protest the school’s decision to let
him attend prom with his boyfriend,
and now some of those students plan
to hold an alternate prom.
Martin decided to go to the March
25 rally to see what was happening.
“I just wanted to show my face and
show them I wasn’t afraid. They were
saying I was bringing a bad name to
Cochran,” he said. “They said I was bring-
ing Bleckley County into the gay era.”
One reason the students gave for
protesting was the claim that if Martin
brought the county into the “gay era,”
more gay people would move there.
“There were a lot of ignorant com-
ments to be honest,” he said.
Bleckley senior Amber Duskin,
who organized the rally and is lead-
ing a charge to have an alternate
prom, told the Macon Telegraph she
would not attend her senior prom
because of Martin.
“I don’t believe in going up there and
dancing with gay guys like that,” she
said. “It’s also not just him bringing a boy.
It was bringing all this attention to it.”
Martin said he confronted Duskin
recently in the school cafeteria after
she shouted at him and told other stu-
dents to “come protest these queers.”
“She was talking bad stuff, saying
she wishes we wouldn’t show up. You
have to ignore people like that. She said
I should just go with a girl. I was trying to
figure out the mindset of these people,”
he said. “She said I wasn’t a Christian.
I went off, but you have to try to be nice.”
Martin has also endured name-
calling — “queer” and “faggot” — by
members of the baseball team.
“Sometimes you have to laugh
and say, well, that’s true, what’s your
point,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Goodman
Richard Goodman’s parents are
accepting of his sexual orientation
and his relationship with Derrick
Martin. The two met on Facebook.
Martin’s choice to fight for his right
to take his boyfriend to the prom has
inspired numerous activists and sup-
porters from across the country to
donate money to help him cover
costs for his prom. Supporters have
also launched two Facebook pages
to back him and PFLAG Macon
helped him set up a PayPal account.
“The only reason I set up a PayPal
account is because the school was
being inundated and my old house was
being inundated. I’m not doing this for
the money. The only thing I want is for
people like me to know you can go to
prom,” Martin said. “I didn’t go to the
media first. This is not about money.”
Martin said he’s received several
donations already.
“It’s more than I ever thought. It’s
not a substantial amount, but defi-
nitely enough to make my prom
amazing,” he said. “I’ve never been
one to ask for help, I’ve always done
things on my own, and now I’m rely-
ing on others — it’s all so new to me.”
Martin has promised 25 percent
of the money he receives will go to
Constance McMillen. Learning about
McMillen, the Mississippi lesbian
whose prom was canceled by school
administrators after she asked to
bring her girlfriend as her date, made
him continue to fight to bring his
boyfriend to his prom.
“She was an inspiration for me,”
he said. “And now my goal is to
inspire others. I know what it’s like to
be inspired.”
Locally, the Atlanta chapter of
Sisters, which aspires to be a full
house of the San Francisco-based
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, is
also looking for ways to raise money
for Martin and hopes to plan
fundraisers in the near future.
“As soon as I read his story, it
struck a chord with me,” said Rick
Westbrook, aka Rapture Divine Cox.
“I’m from Cumming, Ga. I’m old
school and never could have done
what Derrick is doing. It does my heart
good to see young people stand up.”
On March 26 and March 27,
Martin was a guest of honor at the
Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus for the
conclusion of its “Georgia on My
Mind” tour. The renowned group
brought Martin to the stage at
Virginia Highland Baptist Church,
praised his bravery, and named him
an honorary member.
Martin sings baritone in his
school’s show choir and said he was
thrilled by the unexpected honor.
“It’s been surprising how many
people care,” he said. “If I move to
Atlanta I would definitely want to be
part of the AGMC.”
While Goodman, who is also in
his school’s show choir and plays the
trumpet, is worried about his
boyfriend’s safety, he is comforted by
the number of Facebook fans on the
page “We support Derrick Martin
going to his prom.” To date, there are
more than 6,000 members.
“Cochran only has about 5,000 peo-
ple. They could take over Cochran if they
wanted,” Goodman said with a laugh. “It
helps to know we are not alone.”
Problems at home
Martin’s parents kicked him out of
his home after news broke in the
Macon Telegraph and local TV news of
him bringing Goodman to the prom.
His father is a math teacher at
Bleckley County High School and
Martin says he still talks to him. His
mother has pancreatitis and has been
in and out of the hospital since he was
a small boy, Martin said, which adds to
the difficulty of their relationship.
“I had moved out one time before
so I was a little prepared for it,” he said.
Martin said he was emancipated,
but not through the court system,
when he was 17. His parents agreed
to allow him to move back in and while
he has personal feelings about what
his parents have done, he is also a bit
defensive when others criticize them.
“They’re still your parents, your
family,” he said.
Martin said being kicked out of his
home by his parents because of the
media attention this story has gar-
nered hasn’t dissuaded him from
being who he is.
“I know they had the right
because it’s their house. Now I just
want to get an apartment and then
go to college,” he said.
Martin has a scholarship to
Georgia Southern University where he
will major in pre-law. Goodman hopes
to go to Georgia Southern University
as well to study veterinary medicine.
Martin said the day he was told to
leave his home was an average day. He
went to school and then to his job with
a state tutoring program for at-risk third,
fourth, fifth grade students and middle
schools students to help them pass the
state assessment exams. When he got
home that evening his mother told him
to pack his bags and leave.
“So I packed my stuff and left,” he
said. “She said it was disrespectful of
me” to interview with a local TV sta-
tion. He is now staying with a female
friend in Cochran.
His parents vehemently disapprove
of Martin’s relationship with Goodman
as well. The two have been dating for
nine months and when Goodman would
drive to Cochran to visit he was never
allowed to come to Martin’s house.
“I wasn’t allowed in his house,”
Goodman said. “One day his mother
threatened to call the cops because I
was in the yard. His parents are not
very nice.”
Martin said he came out a year-
and-a-half ago. He told his best
friend first. Then his parents found
text messages he’d exchanged with
a boy he was dating at the time.
“They knew something was up. I
told them. Then they took my car, my
iPod, my phone, my laptop — every
way they could think of to try to keep
me from communicating with him,” he
said. “It was really hard back then …
but everything I’ve gone though has
made me stronger.”
Martin said he knew he was gay
from a young age.
“Realizing it for myself was not
hard,” he said. “I knew that I was
more attracted to boys than girls — I
knew that since the ninth grade. If
you’re not attracted to girls, you’re
not attracted to girls.”
Goodman also came to grips with
being gay and came out when he
was 17. Interestingly, his mother also
found text messages on his cell
phone that made her suspicious he
was dating a boy.
“I had an idea when I was little,
but I ignored it,” Goodman said.
“Finally, I was like, OK, I think I’m gay.
I did have a girlfriend for three years.”
Goodman’s parents are very
accepting of him being gay and his
relationship with Martin.
“At first momma wasn’t happy but
she’s come around and now she’s
great. She loves Derrick. My dad was
always, ‘You are my son and I love
you,’” Goodman said.
How the two young men met can
be credited to Facebook.
“He randomly added me on
Facebook. He said he was watching
a movie with a character named Dick
and he wanted a friend named
Richard so he could call him that,”
Goodman said. “We had a mutual
friend — that’s how he came up with
an excuse of why he added me.”
The two began corresponding reg-
ularly and dated a little while before
breaking up for about a week because
of the distance between their homes.
“We worked through it,” Goodman said.
What does Goodman like about
Martin?
“There’s so much, I don’t know
how to narrow it down,” he said. “He’s
smart, he’s funny and he knows how
to take care of me when I need it.”
Martin plans on taking Goodman to a
nice dinner the night of the prom, either
in his 2007 Monte Carlo or a rented lim-
ousine. And while he admits he’s not a
great dancer, he looks forward to sharing
a special night with his boyfriend.
“There was a time when I wasn’t
sure I could go to the prom. But you can
take your boyfriend or your girlfriend to
prom even if you are gay,” he said.
“It’s prom. In the big picture, it’s a
good first step,” Martin added. “Then
someone else starts with marriage or
any rights or anything that’s hard for
us as a community to achieve.”
For Goodman, who has no desire
to go to his high school prom, the
night is important, but he also plans
to have a good time.
“I think it could be fun. And I just
want to go to the prom with Derrick,”
he said.
april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 15
16 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
districtagenda
Hopes remain high for three key LGBT bills this year
Continued from page 1
the Senate their support and their
desire to move on ENDA, ‘Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell’ and DPBO,” she said.
Michael Mitchell, executive direc-
tor of the National Stonewall
Democrats, voiced similar views.
“I think that we’re seeing some —
donors are starting to put their
money elsewhere or holding off,” he
said. “I think that there are rank-and-
file folks who are getting frustrated.”
Mitchell said he thinks “we need to
remember” that Obama has been in the
White House for fewer than 18 months.
“On the other hand, a lot of people
have been working on these issues for
decades, and people don’t want to
wait any longer, and we’ve been laying
a lot of groundwork for a very long time
and we see this as our window to get
this stuff through,” he said.
The November elections are weigh-
ing heavily on the minds of LGBT rights
advocates. Mitchell said the passage of
LGBT bills this Congress is important
because of the strong possibility of
reduced Democratic majorities.
“The landscape could certainly be
more difficult for us, especially if it
gets closer in the House,” he said. “I
said recently somewhere that [you]
only need to look back about 18
months or two years to see how hard
it was to pass our agenda when we
didn’t have control, and I think it will,
again, be like that.”
Races for mayor, Council chair feature pro-gay candidates
Continued from page 1
ment meeting June 14 for Democratic
mayoral candidates, who will be invit-
ed to speak and answer questions
from club members. The club is sched-
uled to vote on an endorsement after
the candidates speak.
Stein Club officials scheduled a sim-
ilar endorsement meeting July 12 for
Democratic candidates running for the
Council chairman seat as well as one of
two at-large Council seats up for grabs,
in which gay Democratic activist Clark
Ray is challenging pro-gay Democratic
incumbent Phil Mendelson.
City Council insiders have said
Mendelson is considering running for
the Council chairman seat now that
Gray is giving it up to run for mayor. But
unlike Evans and Brown, Mendelson
remained silent this week on his inten-
tions, leading some City Hall observers
to speculate that he has decided to run
once again for his at-large post.
A decision by Mendelson to give up
his at-large seat to run for Council chair-
man was expected to greatly boost
Ray’s chance of becoming the Council’s
third openly gay member. Gay Council
incumbents David Catania (I-At Large)
and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) are also up
for re-election this year.
Meanwhile, in a little noticed devel-
opment, gay rights opponent Richard
Urban, who has testified repeatedly in
favor of a ballot measure to kill the
city’s same-sex marriage law, filed
papers to run as an independent can-
didate for an at-large Council seat.
Key pieces of pro-LGBT legisla-
tion in Congress have encountered
roadblocks.
Advocates are urging for the inclu-
sion of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal as
part of the upcoming defense authori-
zation bill, but whether the votes exist
in the Senate Armed Services
Committee to attach the provision to
the legislation remains to be seen.
President Obama hasn’t spoken
publicly in favor of repealing the ban
since his mention of the issue in his
State of the Union address, and
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told
reporters in response to a DC Agenda
question last month that he doesn’t
recommend legislative action this year
before the Pentagon working group
completes it study of the issue.
For ENDA, a House committee
markup of the legislation has been
pushed back since late last year and
still has yet to be scheduled, although
advocates are saying activity could
happen in April or May. Multiple sources
have told DC Agenda that the Senate
lacks the 60 votes needed to overcome
any attempted filibuster of ENDA.
Problems also plague legislation
that would provide benefits to the
same-sex partners of federal employ-
ees. Supporters of the bill in the
Senate have said they won’t move
the bill to a floor vote until the U.S.
Office of Personnel Management pro-
vides information on how it will offset
the bill’s costs.
Under the city’s unusual election rule
governing the Council’s at-large seats,
Urban would be competing for the seat
held by Catania, the author and lead
advocate for the gay marriage law.
The city’s election law, which
Congress wrote at the time it
approved the city’s home rule charter
in the early 1970s, requires at least
one of the two at-large seats up for
election this year to go to a non-
majority party candidate. Since
Democrats make up the majority
party, only one of the two seats can
go to a Democrat and both, theoreti-
cally, can go to a non-Democrat.
So far, Mendelson and Ray are the
only Democrats competing for the
Democratic nomination for the majori-
ty party seat. The Washington City
Paper reported this week that Kelvin
Robinson, who served as chief of staff
to former Mayor Anthony Williams, is
strongly considering entering the
Democratic primary contest against
Mendelson and Ray. Robinson is
believed to share Williams’ strong
views in support of LGBT rights,
including same-sex marriage.
Most political observers consider
Mendelson the strong favorite to win
the nomination and the general elec-
tion should he decide to stay in the
race, with the gay vote expected to
split between Ray and Mendelson.
Mendelson, a longtime supporter of
LGBT rights, is credited with shep-
herding Catania’s same-sex mar-
riage bill through the Council in his
role as chair of the committee with
Months have passed since House
and Senate committees marked up the
bills late last year and sent them to the
floors of their respective chambers, but
OPM hasn’t yet made the offset infor-
mation public. The agency didn’t imme-
diately respond to DC Agenda’s
request for an update on the situation.
During a panel discussion last
week on the U.S. Census, Mara
Keisling, executive director of the
National Center for Transgender
Equality, took time from her remarks
to urge advocates on Capitol Hill to
redouble their efforts.
“The LGBT community is very,
very serious about getting all these
three things done and it does not yet
appear that Congress is serious
about it,” she said.
Keisling later clarified for DC
Agenda that her comments were
“just me saying, ‘Hey pass these
things.’ It wasn’t me saying, ‘You guys
aren’t passing them.’”
“The clock is running down, but
there is still time to do it and we have to
demand they do it,” she said. “It gets
harder and harder for them the longer
they put it off. Health care is out of the
way — start getting stuff done.”
The window of opportunity for
Congress to act on these bills before
lawmakers break to run their re-election
campaigns is steadily becoming smaller.
After lawmakers return this month,
Herwitt said they’ll work through July
before they break again for August
jurisdiction over the bill.
Urban’s candidacy, while consid-
ered a long shot, could potentially
galvanize voters who oppose gay
marriage, possibly turning Catania’s
re-election bid into a surrogate refer-
endum on marriage. Catania, howev-
er, could benefit from yet another
independent candidate who also
opposes same-sex marriage, Rev.
Anthony Motley, who has been cam-
paigning for the so-called non-
Democratic at-large seat since June.
Unlike Urban, Motley has expressed
support for LGBT rights in all areas
other than marriage, saying he sup-
ports civil unions instead of same-sex
marriage. Urban’s candidacy could
potentially split the anti-same-sex mar-
riage vote, strengthening Catania’s
chances of winning the second, non-
Democratic at-large seat.
In addition to opposing same-sex
marriage and calling for a voter initiative
to overturn the same-sex marriage law,
Urban has campaigned against includ-
ing gay-related content in the D.C. pub-
lic school system’s sex education cur-
riculum. He has also emerged as one
of the city’s strongest advocates of
abstinence until marriage as the main
method of preventing the spread of
HIV/AIDS. He’s expressed strong oppo-
sition to the city’s current policy of dis-
tributing free condoms to all groups
considered at high risk for HIV, includ-
ing high school students.
On his campaign web site, Urban
lists at the top of his platform a call for
“marriage defined as the union of one
recess and then do more work in
September and October before leav-
ing to focus on re-election.
Herwitt said she’s heard talk about a
lame duck session following the
November election, but said she does-
n’t “know if that will play itself out or not.”
While concerned about the pas-
sage of these bills before the end of the
year, advocates are anticipating some
activity in the coming weeks when law-
makers return from spring break.
Herwitt said she’s expecting the
House Education & Labor Committee
to take up ENDA and send it to the
floor sometime in April or May.
That timetable would square with
remarks Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) made
to Karen Ocamb, a lesbian Los Angeles-
based journalist, that ENDA would pass
committee by the end of April and reach
the floor a week or two later.
Herwitt said Rep. Barney Frank
(D-Mass), the House sponsor of
ENDA, has said he’s ready to move
forward with the legislation and to
have a floor vote.
“This is not new — you even
wrote a story about it — the Senate
is much more of a challenge for us on
ENDA, but I think, at least from
HRC’s perspective, getting a strong
vote in the House will help us push
the Senate forward,” Herwitt said.
Regarding “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell” repeal, advocates are working to
include the language as part of the
Senate version of the defense
man and one woman only.” In a posi-
tion paper on the city’s public schools
curriculum, he calls for eliminating all
references to sexual orientation and
gender identity from school sex edu-
cation courses — components of the
curriculum that LGBT activists lob-
bied to put in place.
Urban, who is white, is expected to
reach out to socially conservative black
voters in wards 7 and 8, as well as in other
parts of the city, who have expressed
strong opposition to gay marriage.
Under the city’s election law, the
two at-large seats are awarded to the
two candidates — regardless of their
party affiliation — who receive the
highest vote counts in the general
election in November.
Catania enjoys widespread sup-
port among voters across the city on
a wide range of issues, and he’s con-
sidered the strong favorite to retain
the non-Democratic seat. But
Urban’s status as the first full-fledged
anti-gay candidate to run for a City
Council seat in many years is expect-
ed to put to the test the strength of a
vocal group of socially conservative
ministers who have vowed to push
for the defeat of Council members
who voted for the gay marriage bill.
Numbers filed with the city’s
Office of Campaign Finance, howev-
er, show Urban had raised just $570
for his campaign as of the reporting
period ending March 10, an amount
that would lead most political
observers to conclude he has yet to
become a serious candidate.
authorization bill when the Senate
Armed Services Committee takes up
the legislation in May.
“Either it’s in the chairman’s mark
or we do it as an amendment, and
that’s why we’re focusing very strate-
gically in some of our key states that
coincide with many of the members
that sit on the Armed Services
Committee,” she said.
In the House, Herwitt said gay
rights supporters are pushing for an
amendment on the floor to include
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal as part
of the defense authorization bill after
the Senate committee takes it up.
Herwitt said advocates are looking
at a floor vote in the House as opposed
to a committee vote because they “are
challenged” with the number of conser-
vative Democrats on the panel and the
virtually non-existent support from
Republicans.
Supporters of repeal, Herwitt said,
are “in a very good place to move for-
ward with a vote” in the House. Rep.
Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), the sponsor of
the House bill, has said he has the
votes to pass repeal on the House floor.
“We are always, I think, in a bet-
ter, or I should say, a stronger posi-
tion, when both bodies act on what-
ever provision it is that we’re trying to
move forward,” she said. “So I think
that we’re in a stronger place if we
have the language repealing ‘Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell’ in the Senate bill and
we have a House floor vote.”
Catania, by comparison, raised slight-
ly more than $134,000 as of the same
reporting period, according to records.
Each of the remaining Council
members up for re-election this year
have strong records of support for
LGBT rights and each voted for the
same-sex marriage bill. They include
Graham (D-Ward 1), Mary Cheh (D-
Ward 3), Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5)
and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6).
So far, each of the four is consid-
ered favorites to win re-election,
although Graham and Thomas face
candidates who could wage a compet-
itive race. Gay marriage opponents in
Ward 5 vowed to target Thomas for
defeat. The views on same-sex mar-
riage among three of the four candi-
dates running against Thomas could
not be immediately determined.
One of Thomas’s challengers, gay
Republican Timothy Day, said he sup-
ports same-sex marriage and would
run against Thomas on non-gay issues.
Among the few gay Democratic
activists who have taken sides in the
mayor’s race, most emerged as sup-
porters of Gray, including two of the
12 openly gay members of the D.C.
Democratic State Committee, the
governing body of the city’s
Democratic Party. Five of the gays on
the committee said they would
remain neutral in the race for the time
being. Among the gay State
Committee members remaining neu-
tral is Stein Club Vice President
Sheila Alexander-Reid, a prominent
Fenty backer in 2006.
 april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 17
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personalagenda
Reconvene the D.C. summit on HIV/AIDS
City must respond
to this alarming
health emergency
By PETER ROSENSTEIN
A recent report that shows 14 per-
cent of gay men in D.C. are HIV pos-
itive must be a wake-up call to the
entire community. I agree with City
Council member David Catania that
these numbers are totally unaccept-
able. The release of the study clearly
indicates that we need to upgrade
the District’s education and testing
programs. Because this study may
have been skewed to wealthier men
and gay men who go to bars, we also
need to do what Ron Simmons of “Us
Helping Us” suggested and conduct
“an accurate study that reflects the
entire community.”
I call on the D.C. HIV/AIDS
Administration to immediately recon-
vene the summit of HIV/AIDS organi-
zations and health care providers from
across the District that was held in
April 2007. The summit was part of a
promise by Mayor Adrian Fenty during
his campaign to fight the HIV/AIDS
epidemic. I participated in that first
summit but there was never a follow up
to that meeting. It is time to bring that
group back together to review where
we have come from, where we
are and to share new ideas and have
input into where we go from here.
It is crucial that we discuss and for-
mulate new plans to fight this epidemic,
which impacts not only the gay com-
munity but all communities across the
city. It is clear that we are still not doing
enough to fight the epidemic. We need
to find new ways to educate people
Do your homework before saying ‘I do’
Follow your heart but
listen to reason and
rational thought
By MICHAEL L. FINE
A man about to have a heart
transplant was offered the choice of
either a heart from a 26-year-old
marathon runner or the heart of a 62-
year-old IRS agent. He picked the
IRS agent’s heart because he was
certain it had never been used
before. Are you done rolling on the
floor laughing? Good, now it’s time to
pay attention. The IRS doesn’t care if
you are married in Washington, D.C.
We all know this, right?
In early March, the first gay cou-
ple was married here in the District.
It was a very moving moment for me
and my partner to watch, but that
moment was short lived as a small
wave of fear crept over me. So many
in our community have been register-
ing as domestic partners, eager to
get the benefits of marriage, without
fully understanding the massive tax
implications that will now befall them.
And now that we can legally marry, I
DC Agenda photo by Michael Key
The summit on HIV/AIDS held in April
2007 was part of a promise by
Mayor Adrian Fenty during his cam-
paign to fight the epidemic. There
was never a follow up to that meeting.
across the District on the impact of
HIV/AIDS on their lives. The numbers of
gay men who have HIV/AIDS in the
District and their lack of understanding
of how serious this is, along with the
numbers released earlier in the year for
the entire community, scream “more
work is needed and it is needed now!”
I am from a generation that read
the obituary columns each day to see
who we knew that had died of AIDS. I
had to rewrite my address book on a
weekly basis. I sat by the bedside of
friends who became emaciated and
went blind before they died. I attended
‘’
The IRS doesn’t
recognize your
relationship in
the same way
that D.C. does
fear this problem will just get worse.
You see, as a D.C. tax accountant,
I have spent the better part of the
past year and a half fixing some pret-
ty big errors that have come across
my desk with respect to domestic
partnerships. Many of these errors
come from accountants, outside the
D.C. Metro area, who don’t under-
stand the nuances of D.C. tax code,
or they come from people who have
“self prepared” their taxes in prior
years with no institutional knowledge
of tax preparation. Some of these
errors have cost gay couples thou-
sands of dollars in taxes, penalties
and interest and all of them could
have been avoided with some simple
planning or research.
‘ ’
We need our community leaders and
politicians to speak out on this epidemic
every day, at every community meeting,
and in every faith-based institution.
and cried at countless funerals of men
who died much too early.
I am thankful that the younger gen-
eration doesn’t have to see that today.
But because they don’t, as a commu-
nity we need to recognize that those
men between the ages of 30 and 40
who were studied in the report and
didn’t even know their partner’s HIV
status and don’t use condoms never
learned the same fear of AIDS. Many
of them went to school before educa-
tion on HIV/AIDS was a part of the cur-
riculum. They grew up to think that
AIDS is a chronic disease that you
keep under control with a pill.
I recently had a conversation with
two young men in their 30s and one of
them said it wasn’t the responsibility
of an HIV-positive person to inform his
potential sex partner of his status. I
find that scary. You should inform your
partner of any sexually transmitted
disease you may have whether it is
HIV, herpes or any other.
I have marched in 20 AIDS Walks,
served on the Whitman-Walker
Development Committee for 10 years
and now sit on its community adviso-
ry committee. I find it frightening that
today, when we know how to prevent
HIV/AIDS, people are still becoming
infected at alarming rates.
The studies show that we are
doing more testing and that more
The problems we encounter are
both D.C.- and IRS-related. Once you
are either registered as domestic
partners or legally married you must
start preparing your D.C. taxes
together with your partner or spouse.
Your options no longer include filing
as “single” for two very good reasons;
Your spouse will be upset that you are
telling people you are “single” and the
D.C. government is going to be equal-
ly upset because you will be in viola-
tion of the District tax laws.
Also, even though D.C. says “I do,”
the IRS does not. Before you run
down to the bank, title company or
real property office and begin tossing
your names onto each other’s prop-
erty titles, deeds, mortgages, bank
accounts and investments, you need
to consult a professional. This isn’t
like a heterosexual marriage and you
may be creating irreversible federal
gift tax situations. Remember, the
IRS doesn’t recognize your relation-
ship in the same way that D.C. does,
and therefore your marriage rights,
from a tax perspective, do not extend
beyond our city limits.
Does all of this infuriate me? Of
course it does. But rather than stay-
ing angry I have been telling those
people are discovering their HIV sta-
tus earlier and with medication pre-
venting cases of full blown AIDS.
That is a good thing. But if people are
still becoming HIV positive, it means
that they will be spending their lives
on medication at an extremely high
cost to the community, to themselves
and their families, which is some-
thing that should be unacceptable to
all of us. The impact on the District’s
healthcare budget is huge and it will
be cheaper in the long run to pro-
vide the education needed to pre-
vent this disease than to pay for it
later to keep people alive. Our
young people need to know that liv-
ing with HIV or AIDS is not easy and
we need to educate them on what
the impact on their lives will be.
We are facing a community-wide
health emergency and must treat it
as such. We need our community
leaders and politicians to speak out
on this epidemic every day, at every
community meeting, and in every
faith-based institution. Only through
education will we finally get a handle
on this epidemic and it must start
now and we must come together to
determine how people will learn.
Peter Rosenstein is a D.C.-
based LGBT rights and Democratic
Party activist.
who come to me for advice that we
need to arm ourselves with the best
information. At the end of the day it
may be a while before we can be
globally married and have the IRS be
as nice to us as they are to hetero-
sexual couples, financially speaking.
But until that day comes there is no
reason to get into trouble.
Am I discouraging anyone from
getting married because the tax impli-
cations are tough to navigate? No, I
am not. Follow your heart but also lis-
ten to reason and rational thought.
Let’s make sure we are all prepared
for everything marriage means. The
emotional part of marriage is not new
to us, but the financial and legal impli-
cations are, and they should be
something we all consider.
You would never buy a car or a
house without doing a little research.
Why would you get married without
putting in the same effort?
Michael L. Fine, CSA is the
owner and president of Finesse Tax
Accounting, LLC. He was voted
Business Person of the Year by the
readers of the Washington Blade for
2006, 2007 and 2008. Reach him at
finessetax@gmail.com.
dcagenda
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personalagenda
2011 may be a taxing year for same-sex couples
Onerous federal estate
tax set to return
By JOSEPH KAPP
Congratulations, you assembled
your friends and family and got mar-
ried in Washington, D.C. Now it is rec-
ognized in both D.C. and Maryland.
Well, guess what? The IRS does-
n’t care. That’s right, to the IRS, you
are still strangers. If your estate and
retirement plans include leaving your
partner your estate, next year may
well prove to be an expensive year to
die regardless of marital status!
Thanks to the Defense of Marriage
Act, even though same-sex couples
can now get married in D.C. and have it
recognized in the state of Maryland, the
IRS still does not recognize the validity
of that marriage. As a result, unlike het-
erosexual married couples who can
pass an unlimited amount of assets
between spouses at death, same-sex
couples can be hit with the federal
estate tax, regardless of marriage sta-
tus. Understanding how the federal
estate tax rules work and following a
couple of action items could significant-
ly reduce or entirely eliminate this tax.
The federal estate tax is due
when a person leaves assets above
a certain dollar amount to someone
other than a heterosexual married
spouse. Straight married couples get
a free pass. In 2010 only, there is an
unlimited exemption. As a result, a
person can leave an unlimited size
estate to anyone, regardless of mar-
riage status.
In 2011, however, unless Congress
acts, federal estate tax rules change. As
a result, same-sex couples could wit-
ness a significant tax bite if a partner
dies next year. Next year, at the death of
a partner, the value of any estate above
$1 million will be taxed at 55 percent.
To determine whether an estate is hit
by the federal estate tax, it is important
to understand how the IRS calculates
the tax. For the purposes of the estate
tax calculation, the IRS includes almost
everything. The biggest ticket items usu-
ally include savings and checking
accounts; investment accounts; retire-
ment accounts; personal property and
real estate titled in the decedent’s own
name or the percentage portion that is
titled as tenants in common; the gross
value of life insurance proceeds in the
decedent’s own name; property that is
titled as joint tenants with rights of sur-
vivorship (which allows the property to
pass automatically to a partner at death,
the way many gay and lesbian couples
have their homes titled).
The last two items are important and
frequently overlooked. Most people know
that life insurance passes income tax
free, but if it is owned by the person who
dies, the IRS includes the entire amount
of the life insurance proceeds in the total
amount of the estate tax calculation. As a
result, if you own a $500,000 life insur-
ance policy in your name and have your
partner as the beneficiary, your estate
increases by $500,000.
The IRS also includes the gross
value, less any mortgages on property
titled as Joint Tenants with Rights of
Survivorship in the estate of the first
person to die unless payments or con-
tributions can be proven.
Let’s take a look at a hypothetical
example: Mark, age 55, and Max, age
60, are looking to retire in five years.
They own a $550,000 home with a
$50,000 mortgage titled as joint tenants
with rights of survivorship. Max has
been paying the mortgage, while Mark
has been paying all the living expenses.
Max also owns two life insurance poli-
cies: one from work worth $250,000 and
a personal policy worth also $250,000.
His 401(k) has taken a hit with the mar-
ket but is still valued at $425,000 and he
has a rollover IRA with $25,000. He also
has a brokerage account worth $25,000
and a $25,000 CD.
While drinking a martini in
Rehoboth, Max chokes on an olive
and dies. Unless Congress acts, the
IRS will be owed $275,000 in 2011
(55 percent of the taxable estate)
compared to zero in 2010.
Because Max made all the contribu-
april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 19
tions, the IRS adds the home to his
estate, even though it is titled jointly.
Mark could not show that he contributed
to the mortgage payments. He was pay-
ing for the utilities, car payments, etc.
In 2011, Mark has to pay
$275,000 in federal estate taxes.
Again, straight married couples pay
zilch. Mark still walks away with a
cool $1,225,000, right?
Well, not exactly. Because Mark will
continue to live in the home that part of
the estate is not liquid or immediately
accessible. And Mark, like any hetero-
sexual married beneficiary, is going to
have to pay legal/probate fees.
By re-structuring some of their
assets today, Max and Mark could
reduce their estate size to potentially pay
zero federal estate taxes. How?
Calculate the gross estate includ-
ing all your assets. Be sure to calculate
it the way the IRS does. Review your
estate planning documents and bene-
ficiary designations. Review the titling
of all your assets to determine in
whose estate the asset falls. Review
the ownership of your life insurance
including both your personal and work.
By re-titling the ownership of the life
insurance to either a trust or putting it
in your partner’s name you may be
able to remove it from your estate. Use
caution, however, because re-titling
assets incorrectly could trigger a cost-
ly current gift tax if not done correctly.
DC Agenda, Equality Maryland
and the DC Center will sponsor a
series of free estate and financial
planning workshops to help local
couples navigate new laws related
to same-sex marriage. RSVP to
Kevin Walling at Kevin@equality-
maryland.org or 410-685-6567.
Join us in Baltimore, Silver Spring
or Washington to learn more:
April 13, 7 p.m., 190 W. Ostend
St., Suite 201, Baltimore, MD.
April 14, 7 p.m., 8720 Georgia
Ave., Suite 303, Silver Spring, MD.
April 15, 7 p.m., 1330
Massachusetts Ave., NW,
Washington, D.C.
Review how your home is titled and
who is making payments on the mort-
gage. Re-titling your home incorrectly
could trigger a costly current gift tax of
55 percent if not done correctly. In some
jurisdictions, even if it is done correctly,
it may trigger a local transfer tax.
Consult a professional to determine
what is the best way to structure your
estate and minimize your estate taxes.
*This information is not legal or
tax advice.
Joseph Kapp is a financial planner
with Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.
Reach him at joseph.kapp@LFG.com.
20 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010

socialagenda
friday, april 9
THANK GLAAD IT’S FRIDAY from
7-9 p.m. at Nellie’s Sports Bar, 900
U St., N.W.
BACHELOR AUCTION at EFN
Lounge, 1318 9th St., N.W., from 6:30-
9:30 p.m. Complimentary Admission,
must be 21+ to enter
Volunteers are needed for the
CAPITAL AREA GAY & LESBIAN
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’S
20TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER at
the Mandarin Oriental. If you would
like to volunteer, please e-mail
tojonathan@burgundycrescent.org.
CAGLCC will honor local leaders in
the business community, including
PR guru Cathy Renna, at the dinner.
Tickets start at $180 for members.
Silent auction begins at 6:30 p.m.;
dinner and program start at 8 p.m.
Visit caglcc.org for information.
THE JULLIARD STRING QUARTET
plays at the Library of Congress at
8 p.m. in the Jefferson Building,
ground floor, Coolidge Auditorium.
Admission is free. Call 202- 7 0 7 -
5502 for further information.
saturday, april 10
NATIONAL CHERRY BLOSSOM
FESTIVAL PARADE 10 a.m. – noon,
rain or shine. The parade runs along
Constitution Avenue from 7th to 17th
Streets, N.W.
THE SAKURA MATSURI JAPANESE
STREET FESTIVAL is held 11 a.m.-
6 p.m., 12th Street and Pennsylvania
Ave., N.W.
DAVID SEDARIS brings his comedy
show to Baltimore’s Meyerhoff
Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St.,
at 8 p.m. Tickets range $30-40; call
410-783-8000 for box office.
METRO DC PFLAG holds its 13th
annual gala dinner at 6 p.m. at the
Grand Hyatt, 1000 H St., N.W.
Tickets are $175; visit pflagdc.com
for information. The evening will be
emceed by Ann Gillespie and will
feature an appearance by Mike
Manning of MTV’s “Real World D.C.”
sunday, april 11
TRANS TOWN HALL DINNER from
2-5 p.m. at HIPS, 1309 Rhode Island
Ave., N.E., 2B. For more information,
visit dctranscoalition.org or call
202.557.1951.
The Vajrayogini Buddhist Center,
1803 Connecticut Ave., N.W., 2nd floor,
conducts its DHARMA FOR KIDS AND
FAMILIES from 10-11 a.m. This class is
a place families can go to learn togeth-
MIKE MANNING of the recently wrapped MTV series ‘Real World D.C.’ will
appear at Metro DC PFLAG’s 13th annual gala dinner on Saturday.
er how to develop harmony, confidence
and methods to calm minds. Kids are
$4, parents $6 and suitable for ages 4-
12. Visit meditation-dc.org for more
information or contact the center at 202-
986-2257 or info@meditation-dc.org.
monday, april 12
BEARS DO YOGA. Classes begin
at 6:15 p.m. in the DC Center
Activity Room, 1810 14th St. N.W.,
and last for one hour. There is a sug-
gested $5 donation. To RSVP, e-mail
yoga@thedccenter.org.
Volunteers are needed for FOOD AND
FRIENDS. VOLUNTEERS will help
with food preparation (chopping veg-
gies) and packing groceries. If you are
interested in volunteering, please e-
mail jonathan@burgundycrescent.org
tuesday, april 13
DC Agenda is co-sponsoring a
series of three FINANCIAL SEMI-
NARS along with the DC Center
and Equality Maryland. The free
seminars are conducted by financial
planner Joseph Kapp and will help
answer financial questions related
to same-sex marriage laws in D.C.
and Maryland. The first is April 13 at
7 p.m., Maryland Association of
Nonprofit Organizations, 190 W.
Ostend St., Suite 201, Baltimore.
wednesday, april 14
THE VAJRAYOGINI BUDDHIST
CENTER 1803 Conn. Ave. NW 2nd
FL. conducts it’s General Program
which provides an introduction to
R&B and dance music star DEBORAH COX headlines the annual Cherry
Weekend with a performance at Town on Saturday night. See last week’s
Agenda or visit dcagenda.com to read our interview with Cox.
Photo courtesy of MTV
basic Buddhist view, meditation, and
practice. Each class is self-contained.
You can drop in at any point. Visit
www.meditation-dc.org for more infor-
mation or contact the center at 202-
986-2257 or info@meditation-dc.org
The second FINANCIAL SEMINAR
sponsored by DC Agenda, the DC
Center and Equality Maryland is held
at 7 p.m. at the Maryland Association
of Nonprofit Organizations, 8720
Georgia Ave., Ste. 303 (at Cameron
St.), in Silver Spring, Md.
thursday, april 15
GALACTICA AND THE CHOCOLATE
FACTORY. Ganymede Arts’ Special
Agent Galactica will perform a two-set
act at ACKC Cocoa Bar Café, 1529
14th St., N.W., from 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Free admission.
The third FINANCIAL SEMINAR spon-
sored by DC Agenda, the DC Center
and Equality Maryland is held at 7 p.m.
at 1330 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Team DC and Jacob Pring Events
present: JOCK-A-THON AT TOWN
DANCEBOUTIQUE, 2009 8th St.,
N.W., from 8-11 p.m. (Gaming night
will go until close.) Players represent-
ing several LGBT area recreational
sports teams will be present to
recruit, gain new supporters and net-
work with the other sports teams.
This event will also kick off the Team
DC monthly Gaming Night at Town
that will be held on every third
Thursday each month. Entry is free
from 8-9 p.m.; $5 after 9 p.m. with
unlimited game play. 21+ to enter
Photo courtesy of Cox
cherry weekend events
The Cherry Fund Presents: “Cherry Weekend: A Return to Tradition.”
Some of the hottest DJs are in town this weekend for a series of parties
for the annual Cherry Weekend. The Cherry Fund was incorporated in
1999 and has made more than $900,000 in grants to various community
organizations, of which 95 percent comes from individual ticket sales.
This year’s VIP Event Pass is $125 and grants entry into all Cherry Weekend
events, including the Deborah Cox show at Town. Tickets can also be pur-
chased for individual events. Visit cherryfund.org for more information.
Passes will be available to purchase online. Visit boxofficetickets.com/cher-
ry and click “Contributions” and make a $125 contribution. Print out your
confirmation and bring it to the Welcome Center located at the DC Center,
1810 14th St., N.W., on Friday, April 9 from noon-9 p.m. Tickets for individ-
ual events will be sold at the door at the appropriate venue.
This weekend’s schedule of events for “Cherry Weekend: A Return to
Tradition” is as follows:
friday, april 9
• BACHELOR AUCTION AT EFN LOUNGE, 1318 9th St., N.W., 6:30-
9:30 p.m. Complimentary Admission, must be 21+ to enter
• NIGHT PARTY with DJ Alyson Calagna and opening/backroom DJ Jason
Horswill at Apex, 1415 22nd St., N.W. from 10 p.m.-4 a.m. Individual event
ticket price is $12, 18+ to enter
saturday, april 10
• MOODY MIA (Moody’s birthday party) with DJ Joe Gauthreaux at
Town Danceboutique, 2009 8th St., N.W. from 2-7 p.m. Tickets can be
purchased separately through appropriate organization. 21+ to enter.
• Town presents DEBORAH COX w/ DJ Ed Bailey (sanctioned event) at
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event ticket price is $25; 21+ to enter.
sunday, april 11
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22 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
theateragenda
celebrating the best of local theater
McNally pays tribute
to Albee, his ex,
at Helen Hayes Awards
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
It’s not every day that two ex-
boyfriends take center stage to sing
one another’s praises before a rapt
audience. But that’s exactly what hap-
pened at the 26th annual Helen Hayes
Awards at the Warner Theatre on
Monday night.
In what was arguably the high
point of an exceedingly lively evening,
famed gay playwright Terrence
McNally, 70, warmly presented the
Helen Hayes Tribute to his “friend,
colleague, and ex,” the even more
famous gay playwright Edward Albee
(the pair were lovers in the 1960s).
McNally lauded Albee’s genius as
evidenced by a long list of extraordi-
nary works, including “Who’s Afraid of
Virginia Woolf?,” “The Zoo Story,” and
“A Delicate Balance;” as well as the
82-year-old playwright’s serious dedi-
cation to bolstering the careers of
younger artists.
In return, Albee, whose career will
be celebrated in a festival next season
at Arena Stage’s revamped Southwest
complex, spoke eloquently of
McNally’s courage to tackle the difficult
issues, citing his controversial “Corpus
Photo courtesy of Albee
Gay playwright EDWARD ALBEE
Christi,” a passion play with gay male
characters, as an example. Impishly,
Albee slipped in an account of when
he first met McNally at a Manhattan
cocktail party — “A knockout blonde
— he had hair then.” Clearly these
great writers share a history, a sense
of humor and a mutual respect.
While the theater elders were
indeed honored, so too were the up-
and-comers. Particularly the wildly
enthusiastic young cast of The
Keegan Theatre’s hot production of
the musical “Rent” who were named
outstanding ensemble for a resident
musical. Cast member Parker Drown
was singled out as outstanding lead
actor in a resident musical for his
high-energy take on Angel, a feisty
drag queen percussionist battling
gentrification and HIV/AIDS.
Each year the Helen Hayes
Awards are doled out to reward
standouts in Washington-area pro-
fessional theater. The nominees and
recipients are painstakingly selected
by 63 judges.
Rather than rely on a single
emcee, Monday’s show was hosted
by an ever-changing pair of presen-
ters comprised of local talent.
Livening up the proceedings was a
group of talented singers and
dancers including John Lescault,
Amy McWilliams, Aaron Reeder,
Lauren Williams, and Bobby Smith
who graced the “In Memoriam” por-
tion of the show with a poignant ren-
dition of “Any Time (I Am There)”
from “Elegies”).
Holly Twyford was named out-
standing actress in a resident play
for her performance as Diane, the
Hollywood super agent in Signature
Theatre’s production of gay play-
wright Douglas Carter Beane’s
comedy “The Little Dog Laughed.”
Impressively, Twyford was also
nominated in the same category for
work in Folger Theatre’s “Arcadia,”
and Theatre J’s “Lost in Yonkers.”
Looking chic in a simple black dress
and deep red heels, Twyford, who
has been out her entire career,
thanked her parents for taking her
to the theater as a kid and her long-
time partner (now fiancée) for her
unflagging support.
Cate Blanchett won outstanding
actress in a non-resident production
for her luminous portrayal of Blanche
Dubois in the Kennedy Center’s “A
Streetcar Named Desire.” Karl Miller,
who played Prior Walter, a gay man
with AIDS, in Forum Theatre’s
“Angels in America: Millennium
Approaches,” shared outstanding
actor in a resident play honors with
Stacy Keach who played the title role
in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s
“King Lear.”
Jim Brochu was named outstand-
ing lead actor in a non-resident pro-
duction for his work in “Zero Hour” at
Theatre J. The affable gay actor
charmingly thanked everyone con-
nected with the show (currently play-
ing off-Broadway at the DR2
Theater), and gave a special shout
out to his partner of 25 years: “He’s
the wind beneath my wings, and it
takes a lot of wind to lift me.”
The always-entertaining Maurice
Hines took choreography honors for
a resident musical for MetroStage’s
“Cool Papa’s Party,” an original
piece based on the life of Sammy
Davis Jr. When the trophy fell apart
in the gay dancer’s hands, Hines let
loose a quick expletive and moved
on like the professional he is, thank-
ing colleagues, past teachers, his
brother (the late Gregory Hines),
and then plugged his next project-
Arena Stage’s soon-to-open pro-
duction of “Sophisticated Ladies” at
the Lincoln Theater.
The D.C. love-in continued:
Broadway’s Christiane Noll couldn’t
say enough about the local theater
scene as she picked up her best
actress prize for her role in the
Kennedy Center’s “Ragtime” (book by
Terrence McNally) And presenter John
Glover (who is wowing audiences as
Mendy the opera queen in Terrence
McNally’s “The Lisbon Traviata” at the
Kennedy Center through April 11)
stressed that D.C. is “Fab-u-lous!”
The John Aniello Award for out-
standing emerging company was
presented to 1st Stage of Tysons
Corner. A well-loved patron of the
D.C. arts scene, the late Aniello was
the longtime partner of Helen Hayes
Chairman Victor Shargai.
Prior to naming Shakespeare
Theatre Company’s “King Lear”
outstanding resident play, Shargai
expressed a heartfelt thanks to the
members of the Washington the-
ater community for the joy they
bring to his life. By measure of the
explosive applause, those in atten-
dance on Monday night couldn’t
have agreed more.
For a complete list of Helen
Hayes Awards winners and nomi-
nees visit helenhayes.org.
 april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 23

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26 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
HOME&GARDEN decorating
contemporary creations
Gay Georgetown designer
says homes should be
efficient and calming  propped against a desk — the office
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
jdiguglielmo@dcagenda.com
Walking into the upstairs offices of
Studio Santalla in Georgetown on a
warm, sunny spring day this week, it’s
clear that different people designed the
exterior and interior. You climb an almost
fire escape-like set of outside steps to
get to the nondescript door but upon
entering the spacious office a different
vibe emerges. There’s one mammoth
room with a day bed and coffee table in
the entry way, a conference table nearby
and a fleet of desks on one side of the
room while large protruding bookcases
built into the walls on the other side jut
outwards in perfect synchronization.
Owner Ernesto Santalla emerges
from a rear corner with a soft-spoken
greeting. Over the course of a nearly
two-hour conversation, the unflappably
calm gay architect and interior designer
explains his philosophies, peppering
his postulates with biographical rabbit
trails and side projects that reveal a
modern-day renaissance man.
Without a trace of ego, it emerges
from the natural flow of conversation
that he’s also a writer and photogra-
pher who speaks four languages.
G a r d e n Wi s e
FINE LANDSCAPE AND
DC 202/543-3422
VA 703/243-5982
GARDENWISEINC.COM
After
GARDENWISEINC.COM
Even with piles of work paraphernalia
around — backdrops he’s planning for
the gay chamber of commerce dinner,
mammoth enlargements of his photos
doesn’t look like a mess, though he
apologizes for the slight disarray.
Santalla, whose work is contempo-
rary, uses the office to illustrate one of
his design principles: Welcoming
rooms should create a sense of calm.
He points to blinds on the windows
that form large white rectangles.
They’re echoed on the floor in swatch-
es of white carpet that divide the room.
They appear again as doors on the
ends of the bookshelves.
“It doesn’t hit you over the head,
but your mind reads it and it’s uncon-
scious and you say, ‘Oh, this is a well-
organized space,’” Santalla, 49, says.
“And so that’s part of how we use col-
ors and materials to create a sense of
calm. You’ve come in from the outside
where you’re on information overload.
In here is more of an oasis.”
One imagines — though it isn’t
discussed — Santalla has been just
as careful planning and arranging the
intersections of lines and planes on
his face. Impeccably manicured eye-
brows peer above tiny but severe
rectangular silver glasses. He’s a
striking presence and much more
soft-spoken than one might guess.
Santalla — who was profiled in the
Washington Post in February and is get-
GARDEN DESIGN
Before
ting a minority business leader award
from Washington Business Journal this
month — is a local entrepreneurial suc-
cess. He and a former boyfriend moved
here immediately after finishing college
at Cornell University in 1984. He worked
for a local architectural firm for 10 years,
then started Forma Design Company
with his former colleague Andreas
Charalambous in 1994. In 2001 he
started Studio Santalla and has stayed
busy with it ever since. He usually has
between eight and 10 projects on the
table at once. Spring and fall are his
busiest seasons. He’s rebounded
nicely from the recession, though
there was a rough period.
“One fine day the phone just
stopped ringing,” he says. “The sum-
mer had been slow, but it’s always
slow. Or slower. But then people start
calling in September. Well in 2008,
they didn’t. And of course it kept going
down, down, down, down, down until
April of last year because the luxury
business was affected immediately. It’s
the first thing people give up. But we
started to rebound last year.”
Santalla was born in Cuba but
immigrated with his family to the U.S.
11 days before the missile crisis in
1962. He was 2. They lived in St.
Louis where they remained until DC Agenda photo by Michael Key
Santalla was 10 when they moved to
San Juan, Puerto Rico where he ERNESTO SANTALLA is being honored with a minority business leader award
from Washington Business Journal this month.
Continues on page 28
HOME & GARDEN • april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 27
28 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
HOME&GARDEN decorating
gay georgetown designer creates calming spaces
Continued from page 26
stayed until college. It was a tough
move, he says. He and his sister had
been completely assimilated into
U.S. culture and then had to radically
switch gears. He found it a blessing
in retrospect, though.
He knew he had an artistic drive
early on but found few outlets for it in
school. He was discouraged from
taking an art elective course in junior
high and opted for French instead.
“There was a stigma with it,” he says.
“You either took one or the other, French
or art, so it was kind of like, ‘Oh, well you
can’t do French, then you do art.”
It came in handy years later though.
Six years of French study proved
advantageous for the biggest project of
his career — renovating a 700-year-
old, five-story second home of his
clients Holly and Jan Grent in the south
of France. He’d already done two hous-
es for them in Gainesville, Va., where
they live about half the year. He imag-
ined a radical redesign that incorporat-
ed nearly all facets of his architectural
and design skill, knocking down walls,
taking out staircases, building new
rooms, installing a swimming pool and
a patio and terrace.
“He did a complete redesign and
an architectural miracle on this place,”
Holly Grent says. “Everyone who
comes to the house in France, even
just people selling magazines, the
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minute they walk in the door, they say,
‘Oh, I love the way your house is.’”
She describes his work as “simple
yet elegant, straightforward and con-
temporary.”
He elicits similar raves from another
former client who became a friend.
Nancy Penczner was getting her nails
done shortly after moving to Potomac,
Md., from Nashville where she and her
husband, Marius, directed country
music videos. She knew she wanted
some radical work done on her new
house but didn’t know where to begin.
She and Santalla clicked immediately.
“He said, ‘You know, Nancy, the
most important thing in the room
should be you,’” Penczner remembers
with a laugh. “I said, ‘You’re hired.’”
She says the renovations, com-
pleted five years ago, haven’t aged at
all and she still loves her home.
“I just admired his style and I
wanted a clutter-free home,” she
says. “I think you have to find some-
body whose style you admire but he
was also good at collaborating with
me. My furniture was in a jumble. I
had inherited a lot of stuff. He did a
great job of understanding where I
came from. It’s modern and sleek,
but it also has charm.”
Grent says it’s amazing to watch
Santalla at work.
“I’m not exaggerating — he can
walk onto a room. He puts his hand
on his chin. I know because I’ve seen
him do this so many times. He pans
the room and he starts seeing things
and starts verbalizing and then Jan
and I see it also once he describes it.
And really, like 99 times out of 100,
we agree with him.”
Santalla’s motto is “sustainable
space for life.” He’s committed to
moving toward sustainable living and
work spaces and believes houses
and offices should be designed so all
their space is used. He loathes big
McMansions in which certain rooms
or spaces sit empty. He says his
architectural training gives him an
edge other designers don’t have.
“They’re one in the same in a way,”
he says. “Architecture doesn’t end at
one certain place where design picks
up. It’s our unique selling point, this
whole integrated approach.”
So how true is the stereotype that
DC Agenda photo by Michael Key
all interior designers are gay?
“The word on the street is yes,” ERNESTO SANTALLA, who loathes McMansions in which certain spaces sit
Santalla says with a chuckle. But he empty, says his architectural training gives him an edge.
quickly points to several famous
architects who were straight. He says up becoming his partner — local attor- we’re part of society in general. … I
it’s not a big deal and most of his ney Glen Ackerman, whose condo don’t segregate myself. I’ve been
clients have been straight. Santalla renovated when Ackerman invited to join people of color groups
“I know a lot of artists, they might relocated here from Florida in 2006. and that’s fine, it’s my heritage. But it
be straight or gay. I don’t really care They’d both been in long-term previous should really come down to am I
one way or the other. It’s like there’s relationships but were single and good or not. Hire me because I’m
this big thing now, ‘Oh, Ricky Martin’s bonded during the project, which was good, not because you think it’s
gay.’ So? It’s not like I stand a chance featured in the Post in February. They going to be cheap, because it’s not,
anyway or any of my female friends live together now with their two dogs. or because you want to work with a
did, so what does it matter to me?” “We’re just a same-sex couple,” Hispanic or a gay. Work with me
One of Santalla’s gay clients ended Santalla says. “We live together and because I’m good and you like me.”
HOME & GARDEN • april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 29
30 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
HOME&GARDEN real estate
d.c. real estate market steady and stable
City outpaces
national economy
with healthy sales  Valerie Blake, who’s straight but
By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
jdiguglielmo@dcagenda.com
Washington is an anomaly in
many ways among other U.S. cities
of similar size. That’s resulted in a
real estate market that, while not
wholly impervious to dips and spikes
happening in the rest of the country,
operates largely at its own pace.
Local gay and gay-friendly Realtors
say the District is in the midst of a
robust housing market that’s found an
equilibrium that was wildly out of whack
in the mid ’00s and is showing steady
growth such that it’s neither a “buyer’s”
or “seller’s” market at the moment.
Evan Johnson, a gay Realtor with
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
who runs the web site mygayagent.com
with his partner, Tom Bauer, says that
while unemployment is high and eco-
nomic recovery remains sluggish in
general, the D.C. real estate market has
been simmering nicely as buyers hurry
to take advantage of the $8,000 tax
credit that was extended but runs out at
month’s end.
“We’ve been extremely busy with
people taking advantage of the low
interest rates and reasonable prices in
Northwest D.C.,” Johnson says. “We
haven’t seen things fall as they have in
some of the suburbs. It shows how
stable our immediate market is.”
works with mostly gay and lesbian
clients through Prudential Carruthers
Realtors, says she, too, is seeing
signs of stabilization but that small
condos — a staple of D.C. city life —
took the hardest hit in the recession.
“We had so many of them built,
several developers had to turn them
into apartments and people were tak-
ing these monstrous hundred-thou-
sand dollar hits in places like Penn
Quarter, Columbia Heights, Logan
Circle a little bit but it’s still growing.
Dupont always holds its own.”
Johnson predicts the glut of too
many condos won’t last long. Because
new condo construction has com-
pletely stopped, what has been built
will be in demand again more and
more in the next year or two.
“We’re already starting to see it a
little bit,” he says. “We don’t have the
inventory coming in like we’ve expect-
ed for the last 10 years so there will be
a much higher demand very soon.”
Delta Associates, a real estate
analysis and research firm, corrobo-
rates Johnson’s report. It says fourth
quarter 2009 condo sales were higher
than in the third quarter though sale
prices are slightly down about 5.8 per-
cent from what they were in fall 2008
when the stock market crashed. Delta’s
latest data shows there are 6,071
unsold new condos in the D.C. metro
area, a decline of about 40 percent
from the year before. That’s enough, it
reports, to keep inventory steady for
about two-and-a-half years.
Gay Realtor Kevin McDuffy, also with
Coldwell Banker, says his business has
doubled from what it was a year ago.
“This last quarter proved to be fair-
ly strong,” he says. “It wasn’t strong
enough to move prices tremendously,
but we were moving a lot more units
than we were last year. My office alone
sold almost double the units we did in
the first quarter last year. To double our
tending inventory, that’s a real good
sign that the engine is moving.”
But is some of that just an artificial
prop from the government that will start
going south again once the tax credit
ends? McDuffy says probably not
because not only is the economy slowly
rebounding, but D.C. residents who are
first-time home buyers still have a feder-
al $5,000 tax credit to fall back on, which
isn’t available to those who take advan-
tage of the $8,000 credit. The lesser one
has been in place for several years.
None of the Realtors interviewed
for this story predicted any substan-
tial left hook in the coming months,
but they predict steadily increasing
stabilization of the market.
“I think for the past couple of months
and maybe even longer, we’ve seen a
Photo courtesy of Evan Johnson
This five-bedroom house at 1019 Otis Place, N.W., in Columbia Heights, is for sale
for $799,900.
steady increase in the confidence level Northwest, where the Realtors inter-
of the buyers,” McDuffy says. “Good viewed for this piece specialize.
location, well-staged, nice-looking prop- “People are still amazed to find that
erties that are priced right, you get nice things are going close to list,” Blake
offers. I’m feeling really confident. We’ve says. “It’s difficult to explain to people
had a good three to four months of coming from other parts of the country.”
increases in sales. Prices are going up Johnson says for those thinking of
slowly, which is healthier than having buying, now is a good time. He does-
them jackknife all at once.” n’t predict any major savings likely to
The Realtors also say it takes time come in holding out.
for new Washingtonians to under- “There’s not going to be a chance to
stand how the market here is differ- get something significantly cheaper in
ent. Some moving to the city don’t Northwest in the next six months or so
realize there aren’t nearly the number mostly because there’s no large produc-
of foreclosures here, especially in tion of Northwest properties,” he says.
Peddlers Cottage The Plains
Charming home boasts three bedrooms and two
baths in the picturesque village of The Plains.
Delightful den with brick fireplace. Wood floors in
spacious living room with fireplace and lovely man-
tel. Virtually entire dwelling remodeled since 2006.
Exceptionally well-maintained property with exten-
sive plantings. Convenient to shops, restaurants,
services, I-66 and other major routes. $379,000
Walter Woodson703-499-4961
Conde Road Marshall, Virginia
Stunning villa perched high on 8.4+ acres in heart
of Fauquier. First floor master with luxurious bath
and walk-in closet. Home flows from open living
room to elegant dining room, gourmet kitchen and
family room to club-like library. Downstairs offers
two bedroom suites with private baths, rec room,
sitting room, wet bar. 4 fireplaces. Stately pool and
entertaining area. Three car garage. $895,000
Walter Woodson 703-499-4961
Saint Louis Road Purcellville, Virginia
Solid brick colonial located between Middleburg
and Purcellville. 4 bedroom home with hardwood
floors throughout, 3 1/2 baths, open kitchen and
family room with wood burning fireplace, bright
sunroom, large unfinished basement. Mature
plantings surround the pool and gazebo. Gorgeous
bank barn with space for an apartment above.
$850,000 Margaret Carroll 540-454-0650
The Corner House Rectortown, Virginia
Lovely 3 Bedroom, 2.5 bath well maintained, easy
weekend retreat with open, newly remodeled coun-
try kitchen complete with soapstone countertops,
Viking Stove and wine cooler. $549.000
Alix Coolidge 703-625-1724
P.O. Box 1380
Middleburg, Va 20118
(540) 687-5588 •
Metro (703) 478-1806
www.sheridanmacmahon.com
 HOME & GARDEN • april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 31

Prime Country Club Hills.

4 Bedrooms, 4.5 Baths.
$1,749,000.
Rare brick, stone and stucco Tudor
in one of the nicest neighborhoods
in Arlington. Steps to Washington
Golf & Country Club. Jamestown,
Williamsburg, Yorktown schools. Walnut coffered
dining room ceiling. Ceramic tile granite kitchen
with cherry cabinets, Dacor gas range, second wall oven, double
sinks, wine cooler, breakfast bar and butlers pantry. Master suite with
vaulted ceiling, balcony, walk-in closet and super bath. 2-car garage.
3-zone gas hot water heat. Renovated and expanded in 2000.

HAVE YOUR OWN

GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
Excellent party place for large groups, friends and family to enjoy comfort and
total privacy. Remodeled Rancher on 3/4+ acre lot. Home has been tastefully redone inside and out.
New modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances, new bathrooms, windows, flooring, lighting, land-
scaping, new HVAC, pool liner and equipment for 20x42 in-ground pool. Home offers 3 bedrooms and
2 full baths, huge living and family rooms, both with fireplaces, full lower level
that could be finished for an additional 2000 sq.ft., w/plumbing for an addi-
tional full bath, 26x50 garage, paved drive/parking for 10+cars and so much
more. Very private. To see this home call AMALIA at 717.891.4730 Direct
OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY APRIL 10TH from 1pm - 3pm.
Refreshments provided.
AMALIA LOCKER
REALTOR
LONG AND FOSTER REAL ESTATE, INC
717.338.3406 OFFICE
32 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
HOME&GARDEN directory
DC Agenda would like to thank the following
local advertisers for supporting this week’s
Home & Garden issue. Be sure to patronize
these businesses for your home decorating,
gardening and real estate needs.

FURNISHINGS
THE BRASS KNOB
www.thebrassknob.com
2311 18th Street, NW
(202) 332-3370
Photo by stock.xchng/Leonardi
MITCHELL GOLD + BOB WILLIAMS
www.mgbwhome.com
1526 14th Street, NW REAL ESTATE
(202) 332-3433 CINDY BELINE & GAIL PERFETTI
Gale Storm Team, Weichert, Realtors
MORE SPACE PLACE www.belineandperfettirealtors.com
www.morespaceplace.com (703) 304-1258
1301 S. Joyce St, Suite D12B
Arlington (703) 415-2500 VALERIE BLAKE
Prudential Carruthers Realtors
WINDOW WEARS www.dchomequest.com
adam@windowwears.net (202) 246-8602
(202) 265-6650
THE NEIGHBORHOODS OF EYA
www.eya.com
DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION
A & S SALES JAY FELDMAN
www.asgranite.com Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate
458 South Pickett St www.floridafantasyfulfilled.com
Alexandria (703) 461-8200 (202) 241-5293

CLOSETS BY DESIGN EVAN JOHNSON REALTY GROUP

www.closetsbydesign.com Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Ask for Rob www.mygayagent.com
(703) 330-8382 (202) 536-3092

PJ McTAVISH & CO ROOFING RAY GERNHART

301-476-8551 Re/Max Allegiance
www.talktoray.com
SHELF GENIE (703) 824-4731
www.shelfgenie.com
(703) 622-0019 DENNY HORNER
Evers & Company Real Estate
SIGNATURE DESIGN GALLERY www.dennyhorner.com
www.signaturedesigngallery.com (703) 629-8455
a cleaning service, inc.

a clean house
5534 Wilkins Court, Rockville
(301) 704-6222 BRIAN KLOTZ
Re/Max Allegiance
TABOR DESIGN BUILD www.brianklotz.net

a clean mind www.tabordesignbuild.com

15740 Crabbs Branch Way
Rockville, MD
301-417-6570
(703) 980-8218

DAVID LLOYD
Weichert, Realtors
www.davelloyd.net
(730) 593-3204
HOUSE TOURS
CAPITOL HILL HOUSE TOUR AMALIA LOCKER
www.chrs.org Long & Foster Real Estate
(202) 543-0425 www.amalialocker.com
1-800-667-2027

LANDSCAPING MADRIGAL LOFTS

CHAPEL VALLEY LANDSCAPE COMPANY www.madrigallofts.com
www.chapelvalley.com 811 4th St, NW
(703) 406-0802 (202) 408-0007
(301) 924-5400
(410) 442-2310 KEVIN McDUFFIE, REALTOR
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
DRAGONFLY FARMS www.cbmove.com/Dupont
www.dffarms.com (202) 387-6180
satisfaction guaranteed (240) 353-8408
DWIGHT MORTENSEN
GARDENWISE DAVID BEDIZ
www.gardenwiseinc.com Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
services provided in DC, VA and MD (703) 243-5982 www.dwightanddavid.com
(202) 361-4400
commercial and residential GINKGO GARDENS (202) 352-8456
licensed, bonded, insured www.ginkgogardens.com
911 11th St, SE • (202) 543-5172 SHERIDAN MacMAHON, LTD. REALTORS
free estimates www.sheridanmacmahon.com
MERRIFIELD GARDEN CENTER (540) 687-5588
www.merrifieldgardencenter.com
8132 Lee Highway, Falls Church
703.892.8648 703-560-6222
12101 Lee Highway, Fairfax
RENTAL PROPERTY
PARK PLACE
www.acleaningserviceinc.com 703-968-9600
6895 Wellington Rd, Gainesville
www.parkplace-dc.com
850 Quincy Street NW
703-368-1919 1-877-614-4210
 HOME & GARDEN • april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 33

20% OFF PLUS

FREE INSTALLATION
20% off any order of $1000 or more. $100 off any order of $700 ore more. Not valid with any other offer.
Free installation with any complete unit order of $500 or more. With incomeing order at

McLean EVERYONE IN THE POOL! $949,900

JUST LISTED • OPEN SUNDAY 1-4PM

This stately 5 bedroom, 2.5 bath Colonial is nestled on a gorgeous 19,878
square foot garden lot in McLean’s premier close-in Dolley Madison
Estates neighborhood. Enjoy 3 finished levels, sweeping room sizes,
freshly refinished hardwood flooring, fresh paint throughout, elegant for-
mal living and dining rooms, family room, HUGE sun room addition, large
backyard with in-ground swimming pool, custom decking & private patio,
and a two car garage with brick driveway and walk-ways. All just min-
utes to downtown McLean and nearby access to GW Parkway for easy
commuting to D.C. 6130 Ramshorn Drive.

DAVE LLOYD & ASSOCIATES

703-593-3204 • WWW.DAVELLOYD.NET
34 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010

Whitman-Walker Clinic’s 17th Annual Spring Gala

Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium Washington, DC
6:30 pm – 11:00 pm | Black Tie

April 23, 2010

Honoring Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron

& POZ Magazine.

Hosted by Jack Mackenroth from “Project Runway”

Please join us for an intriguing evening of dinner, dancing and
a special live auction of one of Herb Ritts’s finest portraits.
Dress to impress and don’t forget your mask!

To purchase tickets or for more information, please call 202.797.3543 or visit www.wwc.org/gala2010
 april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 35

Come and see

what you’ve been
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All STD/HIV testing Information
36 dcagenda.com • april 9, 2010
dcagendaclassifieds
LEGAL NOTICES
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CIVIL DIVISION C.A. NO. 0001815-10
IN RE: HOWARD LEE SMITH, Applicant
ORDER OF PUBLICATION - CHANGE OF NAME
Howard Lee Smith, III having filed a complaint
for judgement changing Howard Lee Smith, III
name to Cookie Lee Smith and having applied to
the court for an Order of Publication of the notice
required by law in such cases; it is by the Court
this 22 day of March 2010. Ordered, that all per-
sons concerned show cause, if any there be, on
or before the 1st day of May 2010, why the
prayers of said complaint should not be granted;
provided that a copy of this order be published
once a week for three consecutive weeks before
said day in the DC Agenda. Provided further
that pursuant to SCR 205(b) notice be sent to
applicants creditors by registered or certified
mail and that proof of service mailing be made in
the manner provided in SCR Probate Rule 19(b).
A True Copy Test: Clerk Superior Court of the
District of Columbia.
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CIVIL DIVISION C.A. NO. 0002053-10
ORDER OF PUBLICATION--CHANGE OF NAME
IN RE: APPLICATION OF JEREMY LEWIS MOON
Jeremy Lewis Moon, having filed a complaint for
judgment changing Jeremy Lewis Moon name to
Jeremy Lewis Léon and having applied to the Court
for an order of publication of the notice required by
law in such cases, it is by the Court, this 31st day of
March, 2010 ORDERED that all persons concerned
show cause, if any there be, on or before the 8th day
of May, 2010, why the prayers of said complaint
should not be granted: Provided, That a copy of this
order be published once a week for three consecu-
tive weeks before said day in the Washington Blade
dba The DC Agenda. Provided further that pursuant
to SCR 205(b) notice be sent to applicants creditors
by registered or certified mail and that proof of serv-
ice mailing be made in the manner provided in SCR
Probate Rule 19(b). A True Copy Test: Clerk Superior
Court of the District of Columbia.
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
CIVIL DIVISION C.A. NO. 0002054-10
ORDER OF PUBLICATION--CHANGE OF NAME
IN RE: APPLICATION OF MARLON BRYAN
IRWIN PAREL LEGASPI
Marlon Bryan Irwin Parel Legaspi, having filed a
complaint for judgment changing Marlon Bryan
Irwin Parel Legaspi name to Bryan Parel Léon
and having applied to the Court for an order of
publication of the notice required by law in such
cases, it is by the Court, this 31st day of March,
2010 ORDERED that all persons concerned
show cause, if any there be, on or before the 8th
day of May, 2010, why the prayers of said com-
plaint should not be granted: Provided, That a
copy of this order be published once a week for
three consecutive weeks before said day in the
Washington Blade dba The DC Agenda. Provided
IT'S TAX TIME!!!
Tax Return Preparation -
Professional Tax Advice -
Serving the Entire Community -
Specializing in
Same Sex Couples
Michael L. Fine, CSA
(202) 664-2490
2035 2nd St. NW - #GL-05,
Washington, DC 20001
finessetax@gmail.com
www.finessetax.com
Voted Washington Blade's "Best
Business person of the Year"
'06, '07' & '08.
further that pursuant to SCR 205(b) notice be
sent to applicants creditors by registered or certi-
fied mail and that proof of service mailing be
made in the manner provided in SCR Probate
Rule 19(b). A True Copy Test: Clerk Superior
Court of the District of Columbia.
MASSAGE
SPRING INTO WELLNESS with body work to heal
your winter aches & pains. Relaxing & rejuvinating,
Swedish, deep tissue & pressure point techinques.
Adams Morgan / Dupont RON 202-641-1078
INDULGE YOURSELF WITH RELAXING, deep tis-
sue massage. Feel the stress leave your body. CMT
with 15 years experience. Located in Logan/Dupont
Circle. www.DCMassageTherapist.com. Visa, MC.
David (202) 213-9646 Lic#MT410
N.ARLINGTON CMT - Enjoy your massage in a pri-
vate, in-home studio. Great location. Clean, quiet,
discreet. mymassagebygary.com - 301-704-1158
GREAT TOUCH! Full sensual body massage by
Latin Male. Swedish, deep tissue. Relieve stress!
Parking available. In/out. 703-401-9093.
ITALIAN JOCK Give full body massage.
Masculine, muscular, VGL masseur, offers, full-
body, Swedish, sports, deep tissue massage on
a table, near fireplace, including stretching. See
my photos on www.massagem4m.com/jockguy.
Located downtown, parking available. Brian
312-961-7724.
RELAXING, SOOTHING MASSAGE by
experienced massage therapist. Convenient
Arlington location. Evenings and weekends.
$60/hr, $85/90 min. Visa/MC
Errol (703) 525-4616.
www.goodhands2.biz
ASIAN MALE MASSAGE Swedish, Deep Tissue,
Sports, Shiatsu, Stretching Techniques. Intuitive,
Therapeutic. Glebe Rd/395. $70/hr; $90/1.5 hrs.
Dant65@hotmail.com. (202) 425-5105.
RELAX, REGENERATE, REJUVENATE The
3 Rs to Health. Experienced Certified
Massage Therapist helps you with the 3Rs:
Swedish, Deep Tissue, Reiki, Energetics.
Call Bruce (202) 491-8306. MT0697.
EXPERTLY CRAFTED MASSAGE BY DAVID.
SWEDISH, DEEP TISSUE, ATHLETIC, PAIN
MANAGEMENT. DUPONT. (202) 257-9726
TREAT YOURSELF to a Great Massage by a
Professional Male Massage Therapist. Relaxing &
healing massage soothes the soul & promotes
well being. Special rates call Marcio (202) 271-
9440. Dupont Circle. www.marciomassage.com
WEDDINGS & SERVICES
RC priest, American Catholic affiliation, licensed
DC marriage officiant. Many years experience
working with gay & straight couples in secular &
religious services. No venue too small. Let me
help you make your special day simple, elegant,
memorable. Call Ed (202) 445-0366, ed.ingebret-
sen@gmail.com.
PHOTOGRAPHY
STEVE O’TOOLE PHOTOGRAPHY Fine Art
Photographer for portraits, weddings & dating
photos for the internet. Call (703) 532-3031.
www.steveotoolephotography.com
LIMOUSINES/DRIVERS
KASPERS LIVERY SERVICE Since 1987 Gay
Owned Luxury Sedan or Stretch Limousine 24
HR Reservations (202) 554-2471 or (800) 455-
2471. www.KasperLivery.com
COUNSELING
LGBTQ AFFIRMING THERAPY at Dupont Metro.
Individuals, couples, families, adolescents. Over 15
years serving the community. Mike Giordano, LICSW.
202/460-6384, mike.giordano.msw@gmail.com,
www.WhatIHearYouSaying.com
COUNSELING FOR GAY MEN. Individual/cou-
ple counseling with volunteer peer counselor.
Gay Men's Counseling Community. 202-265-
6495. gaymenscounseling.org. No fees, dona-
tion requested.
LEGAL SERVICES
FULL SERVICE LAW FIRM Representing the
GLBT community for over 25 years. Family adop-
tions, estate planning, real estate, immigration,
employment. (301) 891-2200. Silber, Perlman,
Sigman & Tilev, P.A. & Kirstin Gulling, Of Counsel.
www.SP-Law.com
EMPLOYMENT LAW ATTORNEY - Wrongful
Discharge, Sexual Harrassment, Contract
Review, Whitleblowers. The Law Office of Carl
Roller (202) 531-2777, www.carlroller.com
EMPLOYMENT
FLORAL DESIGNER - Top special event company
seeking highly motivated, experienced floral design-
er for full time or part time work. Email/fax resume to
amaryllis@mindspring.com or 202-529-0142.
AUTOS
FAST CASH!!! Wanted Cars & Trucks. Don’t throw your
money away, call me! I will buy your vehicle. Call Marty
Salins, at Auto Plaza, in Rockville, (301) 340-1390.
BUY/USED BOOKS
ALL GAY THEMES. G BOOKS. 1520 U St, NW.
202-986-9697 Brandonchan99@msn.com. 4pm-10pm.
P.S. our lubes, DVDs & gear cheaper than online.
PETS & SUPPLIES
ADOPT AN ADORABLE PUPPY OR DOG All-breed,
non-profit rescue. 100% volunteer run. Donations wel-
come & needed. www.aforeverhome.org.
MOVING
JOHN HENRY MOVERS Since 1990, the area's
favorite gay owned crew. Expert packing, pianos.
Experienced, equipped & punctual as hell.
Cheapskates love us! 703-597-5561
GULLIVER'S MOVERS - Swift & gentle reloca-
tion's. Packing, pianos, antiques. Local & long dis-
tance 202-483-9579 www.gulliversmovers.com
CLEANING
TOO NEAT GUYS INC. Residential & commercial clean-
ing in DC & Northern VA. Over 12 years experience, gay
owned, licensed, bonded & insured (703) 622-5983.
POWER CLEANERS, LLC. Experienced, depend-
able service seven days a week. Gay owned
and operated. Call Matt for free estimates at
202-352-0739 or visit www.powercleaningdc.com
A CLEANING SERVICE invites you to relax while
our team of experienced, dependable & friendly pro-
fessionals provides top-quality cleaning service to
your home or office. Excellent refs, satisfaction
guaranteed. Licensed, bonded & insured.
Reasonable rates. Call today for a free estimate.
(703) 892-8648. www.acleaningserviceinc.com
FLOORING
GREEN, ECO-FRIENDLY HARDWOOD FLOOR
REFINISHING Specializing in all areas of wood
floors, installations, dust-free sanding and refin-
ishing. Call 202-468-2660 for a free estimate!
BEACH RENTAL/DE
REHOBOTH BEACH: Contemporary 2br/2ba
condo w/ balcony overlkng pond in pool/tennis
court complex nr Arena's Cafe (Rte 1), about 7
mins to beach/town. Sleeps up to 6, min. $600 to
max. $850/week. Inquiries: shaughn40@msn.com
HOME
SHARE/DC
CAP HILL (2-1/2 blocks eastern mkt) small bright
furn/unfurn BR share w/ 3 leather friendly men,
$595+, Pete 202-544-5688
SALE/MD
SILVER SPRING $265,000
Terrific Brick/Stone House! Fireplace!
Remodeled! Fenced! Yard! Driveway!
Walk to Grocery/Shopping Plaza!
LARRY PERRIN, Realtor (R)
301.983.0601 LJPerrin@aol.com
RENT/VA
FURNISHED APT, 1 BR, 1 BA, $995/ month,
Walk To Huntington Metro, All utilities included.
703-485-5239, http://www.idkent.com/apartment
OPEN/VA
2 UNITS OPEN SUN 1 - 4 PM
The Eclipse on Center Park
3600 S. Glebe Road.
Arlington, Virginia 22202
Unit# 820W- $599,900
2 master suites plus den, 2 ba's,
1,423 sq ft of living space, fabulous wrap around
terrace with fantastic 8th floor views, huge eat-in
granite/SS kitchen, walls of windows, glistening
hardwood floors & 2 car gar prkg.
Unit# 421W-$445,000
2 br's, 2 ba's, 1,150 sqaure feet of living space, gran-
ite/SS island kitchen, LR w/FP, W/D in unit & 1 car
gar prkg. Enjoy 5 star building amenities (front desk
service, pool, fitness room, fabulous club room
w/roofdeck overlooking the city etc.) in this ultra con-
venient community with Harris-Teeter, health club,
shopping and banking right on the premises. Stellar
locale close to Metro and restaurants
DAVE LLOYD & ASSOCIATES
Weichert, Realtors ®
703-593-3204
www.davelloyd.net
SHARE/VA
HERNDON – Seeking prof NS M to share newly
remodeled, 3 lvl, 3 BR, 3.5 ba TH. 11x11 rm & priv
BA. $800/mo. Util incl. Call Kevin (703) 955-1982
MANASSAS: M-nonsmoker, share bath, W/D full priv-
ileges, Directv Utilities included. Available immediately
703-969-8521 $595 joeylambda@comtekmail.com
VIENNA METRO - Basement room in TH available
unfurnished. Walk to Vienna metro, $480+1/4 utilities and
deposit. Contact Stephen at slopez621@gmail.com
ESTATE SALE
ESTATE SALE 1610 V ST, NW - Art, Furniture,
Books, Housewares, Saturday, April 10, 10-5;
Sunday, April 11 10-3.
Looking to advertise in
dcagenda classifieds?
Contact Phil Rockstroh
at 202.747.2077, ext. 8092
 adult april 9, 2010 • dcagenda.com 37

WHEN QUALITY COUNTS Male/TV/TS,

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SENSUOUS BOD 2 BOD Friendly, creative, erotic

massage…Your willing body, for a toe curling
experience! Chad (202) 329-7097

THAI-AMERICAN – NUDE BODY MASSAGE,

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10PM Call Robert (703) 655-2130

BOYISH CUTE LATINO 19 yo very smooth slen-

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BODYWORK Want a
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LIBERATE YOUR LIBIDO-destress now! I’M ERIC
Nationally Certified, Irish-Italian, Former-US Navy,
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Contact
Robbie
Swimmer, Gymnast offering exceptional deep tis- EROTIC SWEDISH MASSAGE - healthy clean cut
sue / bodywork for IN SHAPE GENTLEMEN. guy, 6'1", 160lbs, Dupont Circle, massage table, noon
Private Studio (Shower, Metro 2.5 blks, Prkg). Call to 1:00 a.m., indulge your body. Bill 202-728-0238
(202) 544-7905, cell (202) 321-8439. In Calls only.