JANUARY 20, 2017 volume 48 issue 03

Americas LGBT News Source

washingtonblade.com

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

L O CA L NEW S

J A N U A RY 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 0 5

Comings & Goings

Equality Calif. names
policy director; Smith
moves to Gtown
By PETER ROSENSTEIN
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing
the professional successes of our community.
We want to recognize those landing new jobs,
new clients for their business, joining boards of
organizations and other achievements. Please
share your successes with us at comingsandgoings@washblade.com.

VALERIE PLOUMPIS
PHOTO COURTESY OF PLOUMPIS

Congratulations to Valerie Ploumpis,

who was named National Policy Director
for Equality California. In making the
announcement it said, The reason for
hiring their rst national policy director
is because of the unprecedented threat
to LGBT civil rights represented by the
incoming Donald Trump Administration
and 115th Congress.
Ploumpis will handle their legislative
and
administrative
programs
in
Washington, D.C., including their ght
to protect LGBT civil rights gains at the
federal level, monitoring executive orders
and directives that protect LGBT people
from workplace discrimination, expand
Title IX to include discrimination based
on gender identity, protect transgender
students, shield many of Californias
250,000 LGBT undocumented immigrants
from deportation, and more.
The position is also focused on
Equality Californias eorts to defend
the Aordable Care Act, which for the
rst time brought healthcare coverage
to millions of LGBT people who had
previously been shut out because of
HIV status or preexisting conditions.
Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality
California, said, Were thrilled that Valerie
will move into this new role leading our
federal advocacy eorts. Now more than
ever, California is positioned as a bastion
of LGBT civil rights and as a beacon of
hope in Donald Trumps America. Valerie
will play an instrumental role as we
ght attacks on the Aordable Care Act
that so many LGBT people rely on, on
undocumented immigrants and on the

LGBT community in general.

On accepting the position, Ploumpis
said, As a native Californian and longtime D.C. resident, I am thrilled to be
joining Equality California at this critical
juncture. With the incoming Trump
Administration and the 115th Congress,
Equality California will be on the ground
to defend the programs on which every
LGBT Californian, our families, and our
communities rely. The stakes are high but
so is our resolve and passion.
Ploumpis has more than two decades of
experience in issue-advocacy campaigns,
grassroots education and mobilization,
coalition building, lobbying and media
outreach. She is a past co-chair of the Gay
and Lesbian Victory Fund. Recently, she
was a principal at Burnside & Associates,
where she managed political and
mobilization campaigns.
A mother of two in their early 20s
(both of whom are members of Equality
California), Ploumpis considers herself to
be a native Californian, though she grew
up in Greece, Nigeria and Italy. Ploumpis
holds a bachelors in international
relations from Mills College and a
masters in international relations from
Johns Hopkins University.

the National Law Journal named him

one of the 40 Most Inuential Lawyers
of the Past Decade. That same year, he
received the Thurgood Marshall Award
from the ABA Section of Civil Rights and
Social Justice for his work promoting civil
rights and civil liberties. More notable
that same year he married his longtime
partner Michael. Smith attended Amherst
College and Yale Law School.
I end this column on a sad note. My

good friend Alan B. Teitzman, DDS,

passed away on New Years Day of
pancreatic and liver cancer. According to
Rich Fennell, his life partner and husband,
he was in much pain and the end came
fast. Alan and Rich were a team for many
years living in both D.C. and Rehoboth
Beach. Some knew Alan as their dentist,
others as a friend, and many as both. My
condolences to Rich and to all of Alans
family and friends. He will be missed.

ALAN TEITZMAN died Jan. 1.

PHOTO BY TONY BURNS

Alan Teitzman dies at 62

Popular dentist was well known in D.C., Rehoboth
PAUL SMITH
PHOTO COURTESY OF SMITH

Congratulations also to Paul M. Smith

who is starting his next career as a
professor at the Georgetown Law School.
He will also be working part-time as a vice
president at the Campaign Legal Center,
which focuses on voting rights and
campaign nance reform.
Smith was a partner in Jenner & Blocks
D.C. oce for 22 years. For the last 16
years, he has chaired the rms Appellate
and Supreme Court practice. He has
argued 19 Supreme Court cases, including
Lawrence v. Texas, the landmark gay
rights case, and Brown v. EMA, involving
the First Amendment as applied to video
games. Smith was a clerk for Supreme
Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. He is in
the ABA House of Delegates, a member
of, and former chair of, the board of the
American Constitution Society, and a
former co-chair of Lambda Legal. In 2010,

Dr. Alan B. Teitzman, who practiced general dentistry and orthodontics on

Capitol Hill for more than three decades, died Jan. 1 at Sibley Memorial Hospital.
He was 62 and died after a brief illness, according to his partner of 40 years,
Richard Fennell, with whom he lived in Washington. Burial was at Star of David
Memorial Cemetery in North Lauderdale, Fla., on Jan. 6.
Teitzman received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida at
Gainesville and was a graduate of the Howard University College of Dentistry in
Washington.Beginning in 1986, he joined in practice with Dr. Robert Hood, with oces
two blocks from the U.S. Capitol. Among their patients were members of Congress
and the Supreme Court and numerous congressional staers over the years.
Teitzman was born March 23, 1954, in New York City, and grew up in Hollywood,
Fla. He was preceded in death by his parents, Michelle Galutin Teitzman and
Philip Teitzman, and by a younger brother, Larry Teitzman.
In addition to husband Rich Fennell, he is survived by three cousins, Richard
Nassau of New York City, and his wife Lori; Ian Nassau of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; and
Steven Nassau of Lauderhill, Fla. Teitzman is also, according to Fennell, survived
by his beloved Westie, MacDougal, also known as Doogie.
Teitzman was an avid runner and enjoyed travel, dogs, vacationing at
Rehoboth Beach, volleyball and movies.
Commemorative gifts can be made to the Washington Humane Society and
Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary. Plans are being made for a memorial service
in Washington, at a date to be determined.
JOEY DiGUGLIELMO

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

0 6 J A N UA RY 2 0 , 2017

LO CA L N E W S

the shooting death of Zella Ziona.

Prosecutors allege that LeBlond shot Ziona in the head and groin in an alley behind
a shopping center in Gaithersburg, Md., on Oct. 15, 2015. Ziona died at a local hospital
a short time later.
John McCarthy of the Montgomery County States Attorneys Oce told the
Washington Blade that LeBlond and Ziona had known each other since they were in
middle school. McCarthy also said LeBlond and Ziona had some type of relationship
that we believe was a romantic relationship that began after she transitioned.
NBC Washington said prosecutors plan to retry LeBlond this summer.
Ziona is among the more than 20 trans people of color who were reported killed in
the U.S. in 2015.
A Baltimore jury last week acquitted Shawn Oliver of Hagerstown, Md., of all charges
in connection with the 2014 murder of Mia Henderson.
Prosecutors alleged that Oliver stabbed Henderson in the chest, arms and back in an
alley near Lake Ashburnton in Northwest Baltimore.
Hendersons brother is Reggie Bullock of the Detroit Pistons.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS
SHAWN OLIVER was acquitted of all charges in the murder of Mia Henderson.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Suspect acquitted in murder

of Baltimore trans woman
Shawn Oliver, 46, was acquitted of all charges on Jan. 12 in the murder of Mia
Henderson that took place in 2014. Oliver was arrested in August 2015 after
police discovered DNA evidence on Hendersons ngernails that matched Oliver.
He had been charged with rst-degree murder as well as second-degree murder
and rst-degree assault.
In opening arguments in court on Tuesday, public defender Isabel Lippman,
according to the Baltimore Sun, blasted the states case, saying Oliver had
consensual sex with Henderson the night before she was found dead and
then drove back to Hagerstown. She said phone records showed Olivers phone
in Hagerstown while Henderson was still alive. Assistant States Attorney Charles
Fitzpatrick said the time of death was unknown.
Hendersons body was found July 16, 2014 just before 6 a.m. in an alley in the
3400 block of Piedmont Avenue near Lake Ashburton in Northwest Baltimore.
Police alleged that Oliver, a Hagerstown man, stabbed Mia Henderson, 26, in the
chest, arms and back, according to charging documents. She was the sibling of
NBA player Reggie Bullock.
That murder came just six weeks after the murder of another Baltimore
transgender woman, Kandy Hall, whose body was discovered in a Northeast
Baltimore eld. That case remains open.
The Sun reported that Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby said in a
statement that her heart goes out to the family and friends of Mia Henderson,
as well as the entire lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
As prosecutors, we can never guarantee the outcome of a case, but what we
do guarantee is to work tirelessly to bring forth the strongest case possible, she
said.
The acquittal was hard for members of Baltimores transgender community
to take.
The defenses argument was layered over cultural biases against the trans
community, Ava Pipitone, executive director of The Baltimore Transgender
Alliance, told the Blade.
There was bias in the defense attorney, the jury, and the lack of code of
conduct for ocers of the court. The message: you can kill a trans person in this
city and walk away. Our hearts go out to Mias family.
Oliver, with a long criminal record, is currently in custody serving a 10-year
sentence after pleading guilty on drug charges in Washington County.
STEVE CHARING

Md. judge declares mistrial in death of trans woman

A Montgomery County judge on Friday declared a mistrial in the case of a man who
prosecutors said killed a transgender woman in 2015.
NBC Washington reported Circuit Court Judge Anne Albright declared the mistrial
after a jury deadlocked on whether to nd Rico LeBlond guilty of rst-degree murder in

Va. Senate committee tables marriage ban repeal

A Virginia Senate committee on Monday tabled a bill that would have repealed state
laws banning marriage and civil unions for same-sex couples.
Members of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted 10-2 to table Senate Bill
782, which state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) introduced last summer.
State Sens. Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg), Richard Saslaw (D-Fairfax County),
Thomas Norment (R-James City), Janet Howell (D-Fairfax County), Ryan McDougle
(R-Hanover County), Richard Stuart (R-Staord County), William Stanley (R-Franklin
County), Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsvylvania County), A. Benton Chan (R-Russell County)
and Glen Sturtevant (R-Richmond) voted to table SB 782. State Sens. L. Louise Lucas
(D-Portsmouth) and R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath County) voted against it.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014.
The Virginia Code Commission has been examining the issue. GayRVA.com reported
the outcome of Mondays vote on SB 782 was expected.
Ebbin and state Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County) last July introduced House Joint
Resolution 538, which would begin the process of repealing Virginias constitutional
amendment that denes marriage as between a man and a woman.
State Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William County) a vocal opponent of LGBT rights
in the Virginia General Assembly proposed the amendment that bares his name.
Voters in 2006 approved it by a 56-43 percent margin.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Herring launches initiative to ght hate crimes

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring last week announced an initiative designed to
combat hate crimes in the state.
Herring unveiled www.NoHateVA.com, a website that provides information about
hate crimes and resources for victims, during a press conference at his oce in
Richmond. Equality Virginia Executive Director James Parrish and Imad Damaj of the
Islamic Center of Virginia are among those who attended.
Herring on Friday held a second press conference at the All Dulles Area Muslim
Society (ADAMS) Center in Sterling.
No Virginian should be singled out for abuse, harassment or mistreatment because
of who they are, what they look like, how they worship, where they come from, or whom
they love, said Herring in a press release.
The release notes there were 155 reported hate crime oenses in Virginia in
2015, which represents a 21 percent increase over the previous year. Statistics from
the Virginia State Police indicate 22 of these reported incidents were based on sexual
orientation.
Virginias hate crimes law is not LGBT-inclusive.
State Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington County), state Del. Rip Sullivan (D-Fairfax
County) and Herring on Friday announced a bill that would add sexual orientation,
gender identity and disability to the statute.
The press release that Herrings oce released says, this more inclusive denition
will more closely match the federal denition of a hate crime, which has included sexual
orientation and gender identity since President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard
and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009. It also noted the bill would
provide the Virginia State Police with a more complete set of hate crimes to be tracked
annually, allow prosecutors to seek enhanced penalties against those who are charged
with committing hate crimes and enable their victims to sue them.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS

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0 8 J A N UA RY 2 0 , 2017

NATIONAL NEWS

LGBT rights advocates plan to defy Trump

But Log Cabin working
with transition team to
preserve exec order
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
With the stage set literally for the
inauguration on Friday of Donald Trump
as the 45th president of the United
States, LGBT advocates fearing a roll back
of progress are bracing for the change
and see little hope of advancement under
the new administration.
The list of those who have pledged to
boycott the inauguration including
gay U.S. Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and
Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) continues to grow
as the president-elect remains deant on
Twitter and said it is turning out to be
even bigger than expected.
Similar to the boycott of the
inauguration, LGBT advocates are
taking a hands-o approach to Trump
and anticipating a possible battle on
preserving progress after he takes oce.
After all, Trump during his campaign
assumed anti-LGBT positions, such as
support for the First Amendment Defense
Act and North Carolinas House Bill 2 and
a pledge to appoint to the U.S. Supreme
Court judges in the mold of the late antigay U.S. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.
Moreover, many of his Cabinet choices
have anti-LGBT histories, such as Sen.
Je Sessions (R-Ala.), Trumps choice for
U.S. attorney general who voted against
LGBT rights measures in Congress,
and Ben Carson, who has called LGBT
people abnormal and even during his
conrmation hearing derided LGBT rights
as extra rights. (At the same time, Trump
last week appointed Anthony Scaramucci,
a Republican hedge fund manager who
supports LGBT rights, for an outreach
position in the White House.)
In an email blast to supporters ahead
of the inauguration, the Human Rights
Campaign has launched a new defy logo
converting its equal sign symbol into
an e urging the LGBT community to
defy Trump if he takes action that would
harm LGBT people. Among the items
on which theyd seek to defy Trump are
Cabinet secretaries who would treat us
like were less than other people or the
appointment of judges who would roll
back LGBT progress.
JoDee Winterhof, the Human Rights
Campaigns senior vice president for
policy and political aairs, said her
organization will take the opportunity to
advance LGBT rights wherever it can be
found, but sees little hope of working
with Trump.
Whether in state legislatures around
the country or Congress, we will work

President-elect DONALD TRUMP will be sworn in Friday as the 45th president.

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

with members of either party who believe

that LGBTQ people should be able to
live free from fear of discrimination and
with full legal protections, Winterhof
said. Unfortunately, Donald Trump and
Mike Pence campaigned against LGBTQ
equality and have been assembling an
anti-equality cabinet from top-to-bottom.
We hope that changes.
Already, LGBT voices are emerging in
the greater progressive pushback against
Trump. Participants in the Womens March
on Washington planned for the day after
the inauguration on Saturday include the
National Center for Lesbian Rights, the
Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the
National Center for Transgender Equality,
said we dont have full information yet on
the new administration, but is prepared
for a ght and pledged to stand in
solidarity with the progressive movement.
President-elect Trump is lling his
administration with anti-LGBT extremists,
so we are not hopeful, Keisling said. We do
know that we will be vigilant and assertive.
We will hold them to following the law and
administrative procedures. We know that
our greatest tool will be solidarity with
other organizations and other movements
uninching solidarity.
Keisling
said
the
transgender
movement has grown signicantly in
a short amount of time and wont turn
backeven with Trump in the White House.
Ours is a movement and an organization
than has grown so much in 15 years,
Keisling said. We will do both oense and

oensive-oriented defense. We have not

come this far to only come this far.
Given Trumps campaign positions,
many LGBT groups are skeptical hell
advance LGBT rights, but nonetheless
signaled a willingness to work together to
achieve any shared goals.
Matt McTighe, executive director
of Freedom for All Americans, said
he intends to reach out to the Trump
administration because sharing the
stories of LGBT people would be the best
way to preserve progress.
As an organization whose founding
principles include the belief that equal
treatment for all LGBT people can
only be achieved through bipartisan
collaboration, we will work with whoever
we need to in order to ensure that
LGBT Americans are protected from
discrimination, McTighe said. Since
the start of the transition weve been
working through all of our channels
to engage with this administration,
advocate for our positions and ensure
that the administration takes the time
to meet with LGBT people, families and
supportive businesses to listen to the
personal stories of how their policies
could impact LGBT Americans. We plan
to continue that strategy going forward.
McTighe said the goals of his
organization are the same as theyve
always been to advance rights, but consist
of making clear any rollback would be
unacceptable.
Our primary goal is demonstrating
the urgent need to preserve existing

LGBT protections and to showcase the

real-world impact any rollbacks would
have on real LGBT people and their
families, McTighe said. This includes
the positive impact of existing federal
executive orders, the harms of the socalled First Amendment Defense Act and
the economic and business case for why
LGBT people should be treated equally.
The American Civil Liberties Union has
pledged to take the Trump administration
to court for any attempt to undermine
civil liberties whether it be undermining
protections
for
Muslims,
young
undocumented immigrants or LGBT people.
Ian Thompson, legislative director for the
ACLU, said his organization is prepared to
meet with the Trump administration to
discuss policy proposals including LGBT
rights, but is skeptical of being able to
come to an agreement.
We will not compromise by settling
for something less than full equality,
Thompson added. We will vigorously
oppose any eort by the Trump
administration to roll back or undermine
the gains for LGBT people in recent years.
If necessary, were fully prepared to bring
legal challenges to prevent such moves.
The Log Cabin Republicans issued an
email blast declaring the Trump transition
team has asked the organization to
prepare a brief on why the presidentelect should preserve President Obamas
executive order prohibiting anti-LGBT
discrimination among federal contractors.
Gregory Angelo, president of Log
Cabin Republicans, said the invite came
about during talks with the transition
team in which his organization made
clear its No. 1 priority is preserving the
executive order.
In conveying this in my ongoing
conversations with the Trump transition
team, they suggested preparing a
document outlining the reasons why
maintaining the EO makes for good
policy, and we took them up on that
oer, Angelo said.
Log Cabin Republicans was set on
Wednesday to present the transition
team with the white paper along with a
petition of individuals who support the
directive. Angelo said the petition had
around 800 names.
Although Log Cabin declined to
endorse Trump during the election, citing
anti-LGBT positions the president-elect
had taken, Angelo said his organization is
prepared to work with the president-elect
after he takes oce.
I speak with the Trump transition
team several times a week and have
been for months now, Angelo said. We
always said that if Donald Trump won the
election we would support him and work
with his administration, and we are doing
exactly that.

W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM

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1 0 J A N UA RY 2 0 , 2017

NATIONAL NEWS

Womens March to include LGBT presence

Jan. 21 event comes in
response to rhetoric of
past election cycle
By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
lchibbaro@washblade.com
At least three national LGBT rights
organizations and a large number of LGBT
supporters will join tens of thousands of
people expected to turn out for a Womens
March on Washington scheduled for Jan.
21, one day after President-elect Donald
Trumps inauguration.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights,
the Human Rights Campaign, and the Gay
and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation are
among 158 mostly progressive organizations
listed as partners of the march.
Jackie Savage, one of the coordinators
of a group organizing participation in the
march from the D.C. area, said the local
coordinators have been reaching out
to the LGBT community among other
communities in the area to encourage

their participation.
Absolutely everyone in support of the
cause of womens rights is welcome to
join the march, including men and LGBT
people, Savage said.
HRC announced on Wednesday that it
is organizing a contingent of HRC sta,
members, and volunteers to participate
in the march.
The Womens March on Washington
is scheduled to kick o at 10 a.m.,
Saturday, Jan. 21, at the intersection of
Independence Avenue and Third Street,
S.W., near the American Indian Museum
and the U.S. Capitol.
Savage said she was not aware of plans
for an LGBT contingent in the march other
than the HRC contingent, but she said
members of the D.C. area organizing group
would welcome such a contingent and
announce it on the local groups website,
wmwdclocal.com. The site for the national
group organizing the Womens March on
Washington is womensmarch.com.
She said at least two of the citys gay
bars, Cobalt and Nellies, expressed

interest in joining other local businesses

in supporting the march and were looking
into hosting events for marchers on the
evening of the march.
This march is not a protest. It is not
about one person, Savage told the Blade.
It is a showing of solidarity for the cause of
womens rights and womens equity, she said.
But the ocial mission statement on
the marchs national website, while not
mentioning Trump by name, suggests
that organizers had Trump in mind when
they drafted the statement.
The rhetoric of the past election cycle
has insulted,, demonized, and threatened
many of us immigrants of all statuses,
Muslims and those of diverse religious
faiths, people who identify as LGBTQIA,
Native people, Black and Brown people,
people with disabilities, survivors of
sexual assault and our communities are
hurting and scared, the statement says.
We are confronted with the question
of how to move forward in the face of
national and international concern and
fear, it says.

In the spirit of democracy and

honoring the champions of human
rights, dignity, and justice who have come
before us, we join in diversity to show our
presence in numbers too great to ignore,
the statement continues.
The Womens March on Washington
will send a bold message to our new
government on their rst day in oce and
to the world that womens rights are human
rights. We stand together, recognizing that
defending the most marginalized among
us is defending all of us, it says.
HRC President Chad Grin said in a
statement released Jan. 11 that HRC was also
serving as a sponsor of the Womens March
and a separate rally for immigrant rights.
At a time of great uncertainty in our
country, we join our fellow Americans
in standing up and speaking out for our
shared values and equality and justice
for all, he said. Next week and beyond
we will stand in locked arms with our
progressive partners, reminding our new
president that our communities are as
diverse as the fabric of this nation.

Immigrant advocates rally against Trump

Gutirrez, Van Hollen
speak out at D.C. church
By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
Javier Cifuentes, an intern at the Human
Rights Campaign who is from Guatemala,
was a child when he arrived in the U.S.
with his mother and brother in 2002.
He told the thousands of people who
attended the pro-immigrant We Are Here
to Stay rally at the Metropolitan AME
Church in Northwest D.C. on Saturday that
his mother worked as a housekeeper after
she arrived in this country, even though
she had graduated from a university in
Guatemala. Cifuentes, who is now a U.S.
citizen, said he only understood why she
brought him and his brother to the U.S.
when he came out to her in 2002.
At an early age my mother realized that
I was queer, he said as the crowd that was
gathered a few blocks north of the White
House began to applaud. Fearing for my
safety and knowing that the opportunities
that I would have here would be less
limited by my identity than they would
be at home, my mother gave up her own
dreams so I could live an authentic life.
Cifuentes is among those who spoke at
the rally that CASA de Maryland, United
We Dream and other groups organized. It
is one of dozens of pro-immigrant events
that took place around the country ahead

Rep. LUIS GUTIRREZ (D-Ill.) speaks at the We Are Here To Stay immigrant rights rally at
Metropolitan AME Church on Saturday, Jan. 14.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

of President-elect Trumps inauguration.

We are not going to allow Donald
Trump or anybody else turn back the clock
on social justice in the United States of
America, said U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen
(D-Md.) as he spoke at the Metropolitan
AME Church. We are going to continue
to move forward to build a more perfect
union in this country.
Van Hollen pointed to a new Human
Rights Watch report that notes Trumps
election capped a campaign marked by

misogynistic, xenophobic and racist rhetoric

and the president-elects embrace of
policies that would cause tremendous harm
to vulnerable communities contravene the
United States core human rights obligations
or both. Van Hollen also said we are not
going to allow Donald Trump to bury the
Statue of Liberty.
We are a nation of all peoples,
regardless of religion, regardless of
background, regardless of who you love,
said Van Hollen.

Illinois Congressman Luis Gutirrez,

who announced earlier this week that
he would boycott Trumps inauguration,
told the crowd in Spanish the presidentelects comments toward women are not
normal and not acceptable. The Illinois
Democrat who is of Puerto Rican descent
cited his vote against the Defense of
Marriage Act in 1996 and his support of
immigrants, which includes the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program
that President Obama signed in 2012.
Trump wrote on his campaign website
that anyone who enters the U.S. illegally
is subject to deportation. He has also
spoken in support of banning Muslims
from entering the country.
We are here because the immigrants
in this country sacriced everything, said
Gutirrez, speaking at the rally in Spanish.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile
Richards, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry
and New York City Council Speaker
Melissa Mark-Viverito are among those
who also spoke at the rally.
Attendees held signs and posters
that read, We will resist Trumps hate,
among other things. A young boy who
was attending the rally with his mother
was wearing a hoodie that said, Dont
deport my mom.
The Metropolitan AME Church can
accommodate 3,000 people. Rally
organizers said more than 300 people
were marching outside during the event
because it had reached capacity.

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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

1 2 J A N UA RY 2 0 , 2017

NATIONAL NEWS

Obama commutes Chelsea Mannings sentence

Trans inmate to be
freed on May 17
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
President Obama has granted clemency
to Chelsea Manning, a transgender
former Army intelligence analyst serving
at a mens prison for violating the
Espionage Act.
Obama would commute the sentence
for Manning as part of a group of 209
commutations and 64 pardons, the White
House announced in a statement on Tuesday.
Manning, 29, was serving the seventh year
of her 35-year-sentence at Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas. According to the White House,
Obama commuted her sentence so that it
willend instead on May 17.
LGBT groups led by the American
Civil Liberties Union had joined calls on
Obama to commute the sentence for
Manning, who applied for clemency with
the White House in November. Convicted
in 2013 for leaking classied documents
and diplomatic cables to Wikileaks,
Manning has served time in prison longer
than anyone else in U.S. history convicted
of leaking classied information.
Chase Strangio, a sta attorney with
the American Civil Liberties Unions LGBT
Project representing Manning, said in a
statement hes relieved and thankful that
the president is doing the right thing.
Since she was rst taken into custody,
Chelsea has been subjected to long
stretches of solitary connement
including for attempting suicide and
has been denied access to medically
necessary health care, Strangio said.
This move could quite literally save
Chelseas life, and we are all better o
knowing that Chelsea Manning will walk
out of prison a free woman, dedicated
to making the world a better place and
ghting for justice for so many.
The White House announcement that
Manning would receive clemency is
consistent with signals from the Obama
administration in the past week. NBC News
reported Manning was on Obamas short
list of possible commutations. On Friday,
outgoing White House Press Secretary
Josh Earnest asserted a stark dierence
exists between the cases of Manning and
Edward Snowden, whom he said ed to
Russia into the arms of an adversary
instead of facing justice like Manning.
Manning has been a controversial
gure. Supporters say a video of a
Baghdad airstrike she made public
exposed war crimes the United States
committed during the Iraq war, but
opponents point to a subsequent dump
of 251,287 State Department cables as
evidence she was indiscriminately leaking

CHELSEA MANNING is to be released

on May 17.
IMAGE BY ALICIA NEAL

information and jeopardized the lives and

work of U.S. intelligence analysts.
Manning, who came out as transgender
on the rst day of her sentence, has
faced challenges in federal prison and is
conrmed to have attempted suicide at
least twice, once in July and again as she
was sentenced to solitary connement
in November for that initial attempt.
The Army initially refused to provide
her with hormone therapy, but agreed
to provide the treatment last year as
a result of a lawsuit led by the ACLU.
The Army also initially refused to grant
her gender reassignment surgery, but
reversed its decision in September after
she underwent a hunger strike.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the
National Center for Transgender Equality,
said in a statement clemency for Manning
may have saved her life and exemplies
the values President Obama has
demonstrated throughout his presidency.
He has stood up for the basic rights of
individuals who are incarcerated, and his
administration worked to reduce mass
incarceration and eliminate inhumane
conditions, including the extreme abuse
too often faced by transgender prisoners,
Keisling said. President Obama has been
a strong advocate for second chances
and has granted clemency to nearly 1,600
Americans. At a moment when civil rights
are threatened, we are deeply grateful to
this president for a decision that may very
well have saved this womans life.
Last week, Wikileaks founder Julian
Assange signaled hed agree to extradition
to the United States if Obama grants
clemency to Manning. Assange has been
in self-imposed exile at the Ecuadorian
embassy in London to avoid extradition
to Sweden, where he faces sexual assault
charges. He also could face espionage
charges in the United States for his
release of U.S. government information.
In a conference call with reporters,

White House ocials said clemency for

Manning was not inuenced in any way
by comments by Mr. Assange or the
Wikileaks organization.
Asked whether the hardships Manning
faced as a result of being a transgender
woman in a mens prison were a factor in
granting clemency, White House ocials
said they couldnt speak to whether the
unique aspects of her incarceration
impacted Obamas decision.
Chelsea
Manning
accepted
responsibility for the crimes that she
committed, one ocial said. Chelsea
Manning expressed remorse for the
crimes she committed and Chelsea
Manning served now more than six years
behind bars because of the crimes that
she committed. The president believed
those six years behind bars was sucient
punishment for the serious crimes that
she committed.
Asked whether clemency for Manning
was intended as a signal for fair treatment
of transgender people in prison, one
ocial said Obama believes the hallmark
of the criminal justice system is that
everybody is treated the same regardless
of their race, their sex, what they look like,
who they love or who they are.
Those are principles that we uphold
throughout the government, the president
believes that those are principles that we
should ght for in our society and the
president certainly believes that that kind
of equal treatment should prevail in the
criminal justice system, including our
military justice system, the ocial said.
One LGBT group opposing clemency
for Manning is Log Cabin Republicans,
which joined Republican lawmakers in
criticizing the move and called Obamas
decision appalling.
Chelsea Manning is no hero, and the
commutation of her sentence is appalling,
Log Cabin Republicans President Gregory
Angelo said. Manning was not imprisoned

PRESIDENT OBAMA announced a series of

commutations and pardons in his nal week
in oce.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

for being transgender in fact, the

government agreed to accommodate and
facilitate her transition during her welldeserved sentence; she was imprisoned
for traitorous clandestine activity that
put military lives at risk. Her actions
and President Obamas clemency are
nothing to celebrate.
Ending Mannings sentence in May
instead of immediately, White House
ocials said, is standard practice because
commutations typically come with a 120day transition period to prepare prisoners
for their release.
The announcement of commutations
may not be the last before Obama leaves.
White House ocials said additional
commutations are likely before the
president leaves oce and will most likely
be announced Thursday.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

N A T I O NA L NEW S

J A N U A RY 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 1 3

DeVos rejects anti-LGBT views, but bruised in bumpy hearing

Education nominee says
she never supported
ex-gay therapy
By CHRIS JOHNSON
cjohnson@washblade.com
Betsy DeVos defended herself late
Tuesday against assertions she has an
anti-LGBT history by making a distinction
between herself and family members
who donated to anti-LGBT groups, but
was bruised in response to other tough
questions during her conrmation hearing.
DeVos, Trumps pick to become the
next education secretary, faced questions
about her views on LGBT students and
assertions she has an anti-LGBT past under
questioning before the Senate Health,
Education, Labor & Pensions Committee.
The nominee rst came under
questioning on LGBT issues from Sen.
Al Franken (D-Minn.) who railed against
her family donations to Focus on the
Family, a group that advocates for social
conservative approaches to family
rearing and supports widely discredited
ex-gay conversion therapy.
Pointing out the Focus on the Family
website states homosexual strugglers
can and do change their sexual behavior
and identity, Franken said the DeVos
family has given over $10 million to Focus
on the Family and asked DeVos whether
she still supports conversion therapy.
DeVos denied she ever supported the
practice, saying, Sen. Franken, Ive never
believed in that.
Let me say I fully embrace equality
and I believe in the innate value of every
single human being, and that all students
no matter their age should be able
to attend a school and feel safe and be
free of discrimination, DeVos said.
DeVos also warned against making
inferences about her views on LGBT
students based on donations her family
made to anti-LGBT causes, saying the two
shouldnt be conated.
Your characterization of contributions,
I dont think, accurately reects those of
my family, DeVos said. I would hope
that you wouldnt include other family
members beyond my core family.
DeVos family has a history of opposing
LGBT rights that may be an indication
of how she would guide schools to treat
LGBT students as head of the Education
Department. Its unclear what DeVos
meant by her core family, but the record
shows her spouse, Dick DeVos, was
among those funding anti-LGBT causes.
According to a 2013 report in the
Michigan LGBT publication PrideSource.
com, Devos and her husband led the eort
to put an anti-gay marriage amendment
on the ballot in 2004 and contributed
more than $200,000 to the campaign,

BETSY DEVOS at her Senate conrmation

hearing.
WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

which ultimately succeeded. Dick DeVos

also contributed $100,000 in 2008 to pass
Amendment 2 in Florida, an eort that
banned same-sex marriage in the state.
A $20,000 campaign contribution from
Dick Devos in 2004 to Citizens for the
Protection of Marriage, the campaign
that advocated for the anti-gay marriage
amendment in Michigan, is in the public
record, according to Buzzfeed.
In 2012, the revelation that the Douglas
and Maria DeVos Foundation, nancially
supported by Betsy Devoss brother-inlaw and Amway president Doug DeVos,
donated $500,000 to the National
Organization for Marriage in 2009
prompted calls in the LGBT community
for a boycott.
Betsy DeVoss father, Edgar Prince,
was a co-founder of the anti-LGBT Family
Research Council, and her mother, Elsa
Prince Broekhuizen, contributed $75,000
to pass the anti-gay marriage amendment
in Michigan.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the only
out lesbian in Congress, said she was
heartened by the nominees response
on conversion therapy, but the anti-LGBT
groups to which her family donated not
only back conversion therapy, but also
oppose LGBT non-discrimination eorts,
marriage equality and same-sex adoption.
I assume that there are LGBT students
and their parents watching tonight,
Baldwin said. What would you say to them
to assure them that youre going to use
your position as secretary to support LGBT
students or students with LGBT parents?
DeVos insisted the donations to these
organizations from her family shouldnt
be confused with her and she would
embrace equality for all students.
I rmly believe in the intrinsic value of
each individual and that every student
should have the assurance of a safe and
discrimination-free place to become
educated, and I want to restate those
principles, those values for me, DeVos said.
On the anti-LGBT contributions, DeVos

said, You may be confusing some other

family members in those contributions,
and also looking at contributions from 18
or 20 years ago.
As a mom, I just cant imagine having a
child that would feel discriminated against
for any reason, and I would want my child
in a safe environment, DeVos added.
Baldwin said if Devos feels her family
donations to anti-LGBT groups have been
conated to include her, she should state
that to the committee in writing.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) also
questioned DeVos on the anti-LGBT
donations, asking whether she was aware
the Edgar & Elsa Prince Foundation her
mothers foundation donated more
than $5 million to Focus on the Family.
DeVos never answered whether she was
aware of the foundation, but denied she was
a member of the board and said my mother
makes the decisions for the foundation.
One LGBT issue that didnt explicitly
come up during the hearing was whether
DeVos would support rolling back Obama
administration
guidance
prohibiting
schools from discriminating against
transgender students, such as by denying
them access to the restroom consistent
with their gender identity, or whether she
thinks Title IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972 bars anti-LGBT discrimination.
Points of greater contention during the
hearing came up at other times. Under
questioning from Franken on whether
growth or prociency is the best model for
measuring students, DeVos appeared not
to know the dierence. Franken said this
is a subject that has been debated in the
education community for years and it
surprises him she was unaware of the issue.
DeVos also raised eyebrows during the
hearing in response to a question from
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), an advocate
for gun safety legislation, who asked
simply: Do you think that guns have
any place in or around schools? DeVos
replied: I think thats best left to locales
and states to decide.
Murphy, who represents the state where
shootings at Sandy Hook elementary
school left 20 children dead, seemed like
he was trying to contain his rage over the
response and repeated his question.
I will refer back to Sen. Enzi and the
school that he was talking about in
Wapiti, Wyo., DeVos replied. I think
probably there I would imagine theres
probably a gun in the school to protect
from potential grizzlies.
Asked whether she supports Trumps
plan for lifting gun-free zones at schools,
DeVos said she would support the
president-elect and added, If the question
is around gun violence and the results of
that, please know that my heart bleeds
and is broken for those families that have
lost any individual to gun violence.
Concluding his questioning, Murphy

replied, I look forward to working with

you, but I also look forward to you coming
to Connecticut and talking about the role
of guns in schools.
Under questioning from Sen. Tim Kaine
(D-Va.) on whether she thinks schools
should comply with the Individuals with
Disabilities Act, which requires them to serve
the educational needs of eligible students
with disabilities, DeVos said, I think that is a
matter thats best left to the states.
Another point of contention during the
hearing between Democrats and Senate
HELP Committee Chair Lamar Alexander
(R-Tenn.) was the restriction to only a
single round of questioning. Alexander
insisted hes following precedent for the
Obama administrations two nominees for
education secretary, but Democrats said
one round of questioning isnt enough
for Trumps nominee and precedent is
already violated because the U.S. Oce
of Government Ethics hadnt yet cleared
the nominee before the hearing.
An advocate of charter schools, DeVos
faces steep opposition from union
groups and Democrats who say shes
unt for the role. In a letter coordinated
by the Center for American Progress and
made public on the day of the hearing,
38 progressive groups signaled they have
strong concerns about the nominee.
David Stacy, government aairs director
for the Human Rights Campaign, said in a
statement DeVoss rejection of conversion
therapy and eorts to distance herself
from anti-LGBT groups is good, but
answers to more questions are needed.
But will she protect LGBTQ young
people and commit to keeping crucial
protections in place for transgender
students? Stacy said. That is a key, critical
question and should be an easy answer.
Does she reject Focus on the Familys
call for the Department of Education to
rescind guidance ensuring the safety of
transgender students? Will she reject
attempts by the Becket Fund for Religious
Liberty to have taxpayers foot the bill for
discrimination against LGBTQ students
and families? We still dont know those
answers and we must.
Eliza Byard, GLSENs executive director,
said in a statement the DeVos hearing
raised a lot of additional deeply troubling
issues of grave concern to all parents and
the organization will oppose the nominee
if things remain as they stand.
While we are relieved to hear DeVos
rejecting the dangerous and thoroughly
discredited practice of conversion therapy
her family has previously supported, it was
chilling to hear DeVos dodge questions
about whether she would keep essential
protections for transgender students,
and basically refer all other civil rights
protections for students with disabilities,
students of color, and religious minority
students back to the states, Byard said.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

1 4 J A N UA RY 2 0 , 2017

NATIONAL NEWS

Former Foreign Service officer welcomes lavender scare apology

Joseph DeCola was
forced to resign in 1960s

was homophobic. I internalized all that shit.

DeCola added he ultimately felt
blessed by his experience during the
lavender scare.
He later helped produce the Mission
to Yenan, a documentary about Foreign
Service personnel in China who were
forced to leave the State Department
during
McCarthys
anti-Communist
crusade. DeCola later worked as a

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS
mlavers@washblade.com
Hundreds
of
State
Department
personnel had already been red during
the so-called lavender scare when
Joseph DeCola began working at the U.S.
Embassy in Uruguay in July 1967.
His wife was pregnant with their
rst child when he received a State
Department cable that told him to return
to D.C. for a consultation.
DeCola told the Washington Blade on
Tuesday during a telephone interview
from his home on Manhattans Upper
West Side that he remembered walking
through the warrens of the State
Department looking for the room to
which he was told to report. He rst
realized he was going into the oce of the
State Departments Bureau of Diplomatic
Security when he saw the abbreviation
SY on a plaque by the door.
I was like, Wow, what on earth would
the Security Bureau want to talk with me
about, DeCola told the Blade. [Their job
was to] nd and kick out or whatever gay
people. Thats what it was.
It was the faggot oce, he added. I
didnt know that going in and didnt know
that until the interview began.
The agents confronted DeCola about
a sexual encounter he had with a young
soldier from Fort Belvoir, Va., whom he
met in the locker room of a YMCA that
was located near the White House a
decade earlier.
President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964
asked his longtime aide Walter Jenkins
to resign after D.C. police arrested him
for alleged homosexual conduct at the
YMCA in which DeCola and the soldier
with whom he had the sexual encounter
met. The Blade previously reported that
Jenkins was arrested on a similar morals
charge at the same facility in 1959.
DeCola, who is originally from
Columbus, Ohio, was the national
executive director of the Young
Republicans National Federation when
he met the soldier. DeCola told the Blade
that he gave names, including mine
after the D.C. police arrested him.
This was 10 years after the fact, said
DeCola. I was denounced by him.
DeCola entered the Foreign Service
in June 1963. He had worked in the
Dominican Republic during the countrys
1965 revolution.
The agents who interrogated DeCola told
him he could either have a hearing or resign,
in spite of his previous Foreign Service
experience. He decided to step down.
There was an apparatus, DeCola told
the Blade. The State Department had

producer at CBS News.

He also worked on the Today show,
NBCs Nightly News with Tom Brokaw
and produced documentaries during the
26 years he was at NBC News.
DeCola, who is now 79, came out as gay
in his 50s. He now has six grandchildren
who call him gay nonno.
Im so grateful to have had that
experience, said DeCola.

Department personnel forced JOSEPH

DECOLA to resign from the U.S. Foreign
Service during the so-called lavender scare.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DECOLA

been so totally horried or whatever or

shocked or thrown into disarray by the
charges made by Joe McCarthy, Roy Cohn
and some Republican senators.
They conated Commies to perverts,
he said.
DeCola is among the more than
1,000 people who were dismissed
from the State Department for alleged
homosexuality during the 1950s and
1960s. Outgoing Secretary of State John
Kerry last week issued a formal apology
to State Department personnel who were
red during the lavender scare.
I was delighted of course, DeCola told
the Blade in response to a question about
Kerrys apology.
DeCola added Kerry was also cleaning
up what former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton began in terms of making the
State Department more LGBT-friendly.
To her credit she did more than anybody
else had ever done to clean up that Augean
stables of homophobia and fear at the
State Department that had been left over
from the McCarthy years, said DeCola.
She did a lot. She did it quietly. She didnt
make a big deal about it.
DeCola told the Blade that he doesnt
feel the need for the State Department to
compensate him. He said Foreign Service
personnel who were further along in their
careers than he should have their pensions
and other retirement benets restored.
DeCola added some who were red
during the lavender scare ultimately
took their own lives.
They devoted a large part of their lives
to government service and they were
treated this way, he said. Those people
should have been helped.
DeCola told the Blade his forced
resignation from the State Department
was devastating.
I was destroyed at the time, he said. I

The FBI on Jan. 16 arrested the wife of the gunman who killed 49 people and injured 53
others inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., last June.
WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL K. LAVERS

FBI arrests Pulse nightclub

gunmans wife
FBI agents on Monday arrested the wife of the gunman who opened re inside
the Pulse nightclub last June.
The New York Times reported agents took Noor Salman into custody at her
home near San Francisco. A source told the newspaper that she has been
charged with obstruction.
Salmans husband killed 49 people and injured 53 others when he opened re
inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., on June 12, 2016.
The massacre which is the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history
took place during the gay nightclubs weekly Latino night. Nearly half of the 49
victims were LGBT Puerto Ricans.
Salman told the New York Times last fall she was unaware that her husband
was planning a massacre at Pulse. The newspaper reported she told FBI agents
she was with him when he bought ammunition and when he drove to the
nightclub before the shooting.
Salmans husband claimed his allegiance to the so-called Islamic State in a 911
call he made from inside the nightclub. There is no evidence that suggests ISIS
prompted him to carry out the massacre.
The New York Times reported Salman is expected to appear in federal court
in San Francisco on Tuesday.
MICHAEL K. LAVERS

W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM

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Keep your promise to protect each other.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

16 J A N U A R Y 20, 2017

BA LT I MO RE N E W S

Drinkery owner sells business

Frederick Allen, 88, the longtime owner of The Drinkery, a mainstay of
Baltimores Mount Vernon neighborhood since 1972, is selling the business,
according to Baltimore Fishbowl.
Allen intends to sell The Drinkery, situated on the corner of Park Avenue and
Read Street, for $250,000 including a down payment of $1,000, the site reported.
The buyers are Amy Louise Miller of Bel Air and Stanley Freeman of Baltimore,
organized as Read-Park Inc., says the Baltimore Fishbowl, an online local news
source.
The Drinkery made news last spring when the city liquor board voted not to
extend the bars liquor license based on a petition from neighboring businesses
and residents alleging rowdiness, excessive noise, drug activity and violence in
and around the establishment.
However, two weeks later, the board overturned that decision based on a
technicality.
Miller, who will own 99 percent of the business, is Allens granddaughter.
There is no indication that there will be any signicant change in The Drinkery
and it should remain a gay bar.
The hearing for the license transfer takes place on Jan. 19 beginning at 11 a.m.
at City Hall.

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Kris Fair, general manager of New York, New York Salon and chair of The
Frederick Center board, a non-prot LGBT support organization in Central
Maryland, announced he is running for Alderman in Frederick, Md. If successful,
he would be the second openly LGBT individual to ever hold that oce.
After the presidential election, I realized how critical it is for local leaders
to step up, Fair, 32, told the Blade. Im running because I see opportunity to
strengthen every Frederick City neighborhood. Indeed, his three main priorities
are: enhancing the citys infrastructure; fostering ecient and responsive
government that is open to public debate and free exchange of ideas; and
ensuring equitable services for every city neighborhood.
If elected, Fair promises to continue advocating for LGBTQ priorities. The
Frederick Center has worked closely with the City of Frederick to increase its
HRC municipality equality index, he said. As Alderman, I will investigate ways
we can make our city more inclusive of the LGBTQ community and of diversity
in general.
Brian Gaither, co-founder of the Pride Foundation of Maryland, a non-prot
organization that makes no political endorsements, applauded Fairs candidacy.
With the work hes done at The Frederick Center, Kris has shown himself to be
a real advocate for Marylands LGBT community, Gaither told the Blade. I have
no doubt hell work for all his constituents as tirelessly as he has worked for us.

Consent decree includes LGBT police interactions

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F and the Department of Justice announced on Jan. 12 that they
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have agreed on a consent decree to bring about a wide range of reforms in

the Baltimore Police Department. The decree, which needs to be approved by
a federal judge, stemmed from a scathing report by DOJ on Baltimore police
practices after then-Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake requested an investigation
by DOJ.
Within the 227-page document, under the section, Impartial Policing, the
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It also Prohibits ocers from inquiring about intimate details of an
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The full decree can be found at: justice.gov/crt/page/le/925046/download.
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REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of
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responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users
can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or
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J A N U A RY 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 1 7

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

18 J A N U A R Y 20, 2017

H E A LT H N E W S

Study explores link between online sex, other activities

Sign up for one of our knit or crochet classes!

VANCOUVER Men who seek sex online with other men are more likely to
spend social time with other gay and bi men according to a new study published
in December in the journal Sexual Health.
For the study, researchers from the University of British Columbias Simon
Fraser University and the University of Victoria polled 774 gay and bi men in
Metro Vancouver in an attempt to understand what relationship exists between
seeking gay sex online, other community connections and sexual behavior.
The most common forms of community involvement were reading gay news
(75 percent) and visiting gay bars or clubs (73 percent). Over half of the men
either watched (45 percent) or participated in (11 percent) a Pride parade.
Researchers found, however, that they experienced less emotional connection
to a general LGBT community identity.
While this may seem contradictory researcher Nathan Lachowsky explained to
the Georgia Straight by phone from Victoria (where he is an assistant professor
at the University of Victoria) that there is a dierence between identifying with
something versus spending time doing something.
He said that they found that guys who tended to use apps ascribed less importance
to collective queer identity. While in the past, he said, there may have been more
involvement in becoming part of a larger group or movement, but that things have
shifted toward more personalized networks, the Georgia Straight reports.

Study considers syphilis rates and antiretrovirals

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VANCOUVER Gay and bisexual men taking antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV infection
may be at increased risk for syphilis, HealthDay News reports citing new research.
Based on a review of available evidence, researchers concluded that the drugs
may boost susceptibility to the bacterium that causes syphilis, although the
study did not prove cause and eect.
The nding might explain why new and repeat cases of syphilis in gay and
bisexual men have risen sharply compared to other sexually transmitted
infections over the past decade, researchers wrote.
The study team was led by Dr. Michael Rekart, from the University of British
Columbias School of Population and Public Health in Vancouver. The ndings
were published in the Jan. 16 issue of the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.
The authors of an editorial that accompanied the study said the theory is intriguing
and warrants careful consideration. But the editorial also suggested that the increase
in syphilis cases among gay and bisexual men may be due to other factors.

Trans-specic hormone training often lacking

ROCHESTER, Minn. The need for hormone therapy often prompts
transgender patients to seek treatment from endocrinologists, but many
clinicians have received little formal training in this area, according to study
results published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
As awareness and insurance coverage of transgender healthcare has
increased, there is growing demand for health care providers with expertise
in this area, study author Caroline Davidge-Pitts, MD, from the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minnesota, said in a news release. It is crucial for endocrinologists
to receive the necessary training to feel condent providing the highest quality
care for this population.
For this study, conducted by Davidge-Pitts and colleagues, the Mayo Clinic and
the Endocrine Society conducted an anonymous, web-based survey of practicing
U.S. endocrinologists and endocrinology fellowship program directors, with
the goal of evaluating the understanding of transgender health care among
practicing clinicians, as well as the status of education in this area.
Of the 411 practicing clinicians who responded to the survey, 79.8 percent
reported treating a transgender patient during their career, with 55 percent
treating more than ve patients per year.
However, of 382 clinicians who responded, 80.6 percent had never received
training on care of trans patients. Of those who had received training, 58 percent
did so during their fellowship, 52.7 percent at meetings, 18 percent online, 30
percent by attending lectures, 26 percent through continuing medical education
activities, and 20 percent through other means, such as self-directed learning,
experience in transgender clinics, and participation in committees or through
development of guidelines. Only 4 percent received training during medical
school and 6.7 percent during their internal medicine residency.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

F I T NES S

J A N U A R Y 20, 2017 19

Plyometric training 101

Jump squats, speed skaters great
for improving overall explosiveness
There are many ways to improve
your athleticism. Running long
distances improves your endurance
and aerobic capacity. Stretching
improves exibility and mobility.
Weightlifting can improve your
strength and power. But theres a
place for plyometric exercises as well.
DAVID MAGIDA is founder of Elevate Interval Fitness, a member of the Reebok Spartan Race Pro
Plyometric training can improve
Team and author of The Essentials of Obstacle
you
overall explosiveness and power
Racing: A Beginners Guide. You can catch a class
using just your body weight. They
with him at Elevate on 14th Street or at its new
location in the Mosaic District in Fairfax, Va.
have value in increasing your speed
and acceleration as well. Theyre also
fantastic for workouts while youre traveling because they require no equipment and
use limited space. Below are a few basic plyometric exercises that can boost your
athleticism with regular application and can help take your training to a new level.
Jump squats: Adding a jumping burst to rise out of a squat allows the body
to simulate moving a heavy load of weight. It utilizes a burst of power from the
quads, glutes and calves to propel your body vertically. Adding jump squats to
your routine regularly will increase leg strength and your vertical jump.
Tip: Focus on driving the hips and allowing your hands to pass by your hips as you
rise up to maximize your kinetic energy and get the largest vertical burst possible.
Speed skaters: One of the most well-rounded plyometric skills, speed skaters
can be phenomenal for developing strength in the muscles around your hips,
knees and ankles while also engaging your core, both abs and lower back, and
developing your lateral quickness. This move requires you to drive your weight
laterally, bounding from one foot to the other, catching yourself on one foot,
changing direction and bounding back.
Tip: Adding a powerful swing of both arms and a rotation of your core allows
you to generate power in the direction youre bounding.
Jump tucks: A useful move both for developing explosiveness but also
ramping up your heart rate is the jump tuck. The move takes the squat out of the
equation and merely requires you to jump up, driving your knees high in front
of you and then landing softly, before repeating. The spring is coming mostly o
your toes, using your calves for burst, but the knee tuck also engage your abs.
Tip: Minimize your time on the ground, opting to jump right into the next one
rather than resetting each time you land.
Plyometric Push Ups: If youre training without weights, plyometric push ups
are a great way to develop strength and power in the chest and triceps. All it
takes is a twist on a traditional push up. Start with your hands at on the oor
beneath your chest, squeezing your abs and glutes and lower yourself to within
an inch of the oor. Drive up through your hands with enough burst to propel
yourself completely o the ground, then catch yourself softly on your hands and
return back down.
Tip: Drive up with one uid motion instead of breaking the motion into two parts.
Broad jumps: An explosive forward movement based exercise, the broad jump
can be used to develop power and burst in the quads, glutes and hamstrings.
When completing the move, dont just jump, but rather start by hinging your
hips back with a slight bend in the knees, then propel your entire body forward
by driving your hips, swinging your arms forward and driving the ground away
from you. The goal is to cover as much distance as possible.
Tip: The move can be done either by limiting time on the ground and
stringing together many jumps quickly or by landing, completely resetting and
then exploding forward for the next jump. Each has its own value, the rst for
providing an additional test to your cardiovascular and muscular endurance, the
second for being superior for pure explosiveness training.
Adding plyometric training to your routines, either at the end of workouts or
on plyometric specic days provides your body with an entirely new training
modality designed to continue your forward progress. They will add a new
element of fun to your routine. And most importantly, youll get faster, quicker
and improve your leaping and direction changing ability dramatically, all of
which make you a better athlete.

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48

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Say no to normalizing Trump

Protest, march, resist
because its worse
than you think

KEVIN NAFF is editor of the Washington Blade

and can be reached at kna@washblade.com.

Dont listen to those who seek to normalize Donald Trump and downplay the
setbacks to come.
Dont worry, they say, marriage is settled law. Yes, but Roe v. Wade is more
established than Obergefell yet its at the
top of the GOP target list.
Dont worry, they say, the countrys
come a long way on gay rights and its too
late to turn back the clock. That may or
may not be true for privileged gays like
Peter Thiel, but make no mistake that the
trans community, among others, will suffer under President Trump.
Dont worry, they say, the marquee issues of the LGBT movement are nished

marriage, Dont Ask, Dont Tell repeal, a federal hate crimes law. Yes, but
what about the less visible issues like
LGBT youth homelessness, HIV infection
rates, violence targeting trans people of
color, not to mention all the myriad ways
in which a hostile Trump administration
could undo executive orders, guidance to
federal agencies, and other such changes. Make no mistake that the negative
repercussions of this election on LGBT
progress are already underway. A Justice
Department led by racist Sen. Je Sessions wont continue the Obama administrations guidance on trans students
use of bathroom facilities. An Interior
Department led by Rep. Ryan Zinke isnt
going to designate any more LGBT sites
as historically signicant, even though the
National Park Service last year unveiled a
Theme Study recommending more than
100 such sites.
And the climate for LGBT federal workers has already changed; a chill has descended across the government, sending
many back into the closet. For a recent
story, the Blade reached out to more than
a dozen LGBT federal workers for their
thoughts on the incoming Trump administration. We even oered them anonymity. No one would speak even o the
record or on background.
I remember walking into OPM shortly
E DIT OR IA L C A R T OON

after President Obama took oce where I

was meeting with several gay and lesbian
employees. The atmosphere was cheerful. It was as if a cloud had lifted. After
eight hostile years under George W. Bush
in which gay whistleblowers were targeted for retaliation and LGBT federal workers mostly remained closeted, Obamas
victory was liberating.
Over the course of Obamas eight
years, I had the privilege of a front-row
seat to the change he fostered: the signing of Dont Ask, Dont Tell repeal; White
House Pride receptions; and numerous invitations to speak to various federal agencies about LGBT rights and the
Blades work, including to the SBA, the
Census Bureau and, most memorably,
to the Pentagons Defense Media Activity
sta at Fort Meade. I couldnt have imagined when I began working at the Blade in
2002 that soon Id be an invited speaker
at a U.S. military installation celebrating
Pride month. But those days are over
and, sadly, many federal workers will be
afraid to openly celebrate Pride. Already,
some have told the Blade they wont attend this weekends Womens March for
fear of being spotted by their new bosses.
This is not a joke. It really will be as bad
as you fear. This is a time to again embrace protest and civil disobedience as
thousands will do this weekend. A president who would attack civil rights legend
Rep. John Lewis during MLK Weekend
respects no one and will eventually come
for the gays, too. Thats why its more important than ever to come out, stay out
and stand up. After years of complaints
that our Pride celebrations are nothing
more than shallow corporate-sponsored
street parties, we have an opportunity
to reinvent the annual rituals into something more meaningful, bold and powerful. Capital Pride organizers should seize
this opportunity to embrace a provocative new vision for the 2017 event. With
the U.S. Capitol as Capital Prides backdrop, we have a unique responsibility
to send an unwavering message to the
country that we will not sit idly by as LGBT
rights are undermined and reversed.
Kudos to the handful of journalists, including Ben Smith at Buzzfeed, who are
challenging Trump and his cronies. Kudos
to Rep. Lewis and the other Democrats
boycotting the inauguration (as Hillary
Clinton should have done). Kudos to the
women who will march this weekend. We
must all in our own way say no to normalizing Trump.

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V I E W PO I N T

J A N U A RY 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 2 1

Trumps anti-LGBT plan to remove press from White House

Filling the ranks with
supporters-turned-reporters
By CHRIS JOHNSON
The incoming Trump administration has
just signaled its rst move against the LGBT
community. Did you miss it? It was buried under news of the president-elects Twitter rants
against civil rights leader John Lewis on MLK
Weekend as Democrats and others drop plans
to attend the inauguration.
As Esquire rst reported over the weekend
and Trump adviser Reince Priebus conrmed
on NBCs Meet the Press, the Trump team
is considering moving the White House press
corps from on-site access in the West Wing and
to instead hold briengs in the Eisenhower Executive Oce Building.
Priebus defended the ideaby pointing out
the EEOB is on White House grounds, so it
isnt really a move, and would be benecial
because four times the number of reporters
would have access.
I think people should be encouraged that so
many people in the press want to participate,
Preibus said. We had 500 or 600 folks at the
press conference last week. We started thinking: Man, if we can have more people involved

instead of less, wouldnt it be a good thing?

No, it wouldnt. The press secretary isnt
going to extend the White House brieng to
four times its length to accommodate four
times the number of reporters, nor should
he, because the brieng would become so
bloated it would obscure, rather the clarify,
the administrations views. What would happen with four times the number of reporters
is the opportunity for anyone to ask a question would decrease signicantly.
As reporter Glenn Thrush pointed out on
Twitter, the expulsion of the press corps from
the West Wing to the EEOB seems like an invitation to drown out the press with Trump supporters who will create news organizations and
send reporters to the briengs.
Sean Spicer, the incoming press secretary,
foreshadowed the greater number of questioners in the brieng room who would be
sympathetic to Trump in a statement explaining the potential move, which apparently hasnt
yet been nalized.
While no decisions have been made, there
is enormous interest in covering Donald Trump
and his agenda to improve the lives of every
American, Spicer said. The current brieng
room only has 49 seats so we have looked at
rooms within the White House to conduct briefings that have additional capacity to accommodate members of media including talk radio,

bloggers and others.

Another important factor is the symbolic
nature of allowing the press corps in the
White House with the president a practice
that began with Teddy Roosevelt and continues to this day. Guided by the principles of
freedom of the press and freedom of speech,
the press is at the White House to heighten its
ability to ask the administration tough questions, to be close to key sources and to deliver
messages to the American people.
I participated last week in the White House
Correspondents Associations annual town
hall, where reporters voiced anxiety about the
change because we know the Trump team
wants to shake things up and maybe even
hold some briengs o camera. A few reporters brought up rumors the Trump team
wanted to kick us out of the White House because the incoming administration wants the
real estate, but they werent considered serious because WHCA President Je Mason said
that didntcome up in discussions between the
board and the transition team.
Amid news reports with senior administration ocials on the record asserting the change
could happen, Mason met with Spicer for two
hours on Sunday, then issued a statement
making clear the position of the press corps.
I emphasized the importance of the White
House press brieng room and noted that it is

open to all journalists who seek access now,

Mason said. I made clear that the WHCA would
view it as unacceptable if the incoming administration sought to move White House reporters
out of the press work space behind the press
brieng room. Access in the West Wing to senior administration ocials, including the press
secretary, is critical to transparency and to journalists ability to do their jobs.
Heres why the potential move is anti-LGBT.
For eight years of the Obama administration,
the Washington Blade used the White House
news briengs to get clarity on LGBT rights advances, and, for severalyears, why they werent
happening as quickly as many wanted.
Theres a chance if Family Research Council President Tony Perkins has his way that
we could see much of that progress reversed
under Trump. If the Washington Blade were
drowned out at the news conference by four
timesthe number of reporters there are now,
the opportunity for us to ask questions would
be limited, maybe non-existent. I imagine mainstream news outlets that occasionally asked
a question on LGBT rights would similarly be
drowned out by Trump supporters-turnedreporters in the news briengs.
CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
CHRIS JOHNSON is the Blades White House
reporter. Reach him at cjohnson@washblade.com.

V I E W PO I NT

Even core responsibilities create conicts for Trump

He must release tax returns
and sell his businesses
By BRIANNE J. GOROD
The Senate is conducting a conrmation
blitz for 10 of President-elect Donald Trumps
announced Cabinet-level choices. The dizzying
speed and compressed time in which these
hearings are being held is troubling enough
to those who prefer more thoughtful consideration of anyone who, if conrmed, would
wield great power. Worse, because we dont
know the full extent of the President-elects
nancial holdings, each nominee could intentionally or inadvertently place their bosss
private business interests over their duty to
protect the national interest.
As he appoints agency heads throughout
the federal government, Trump is or will be
choosing people to lead agencies that not only
are investigating or could investigate his businesses, but also that could enrich them. Thats
why the Senates constitutional duty of advice
and consent is so important: it is supposed to
help ensure that nominees can be trusted to
work in the interest of the public, not in the in-

terest of the man advancing their careers.

Of course, the Senate cant provide informed advice and consent without a full picture of the potential conicts. And it cant know
that full picture unless Trump fully discloses
his debts and assets. As if Trumps imminent
collision with the Constitutions Emoluments
Clauses were not enough, this additional possibility of conict is a signicant reason why
Trump should release his tax returns, sell his
businesses, and place his assets in a blind
trust.
The U.S. Constitution provides that the
President, and the President alone, nominates
the heads of federal agencies and other top
federal ocers. Each executive branch ocer
will swear an oath to support and defend the
Constitution. Unless Trump sells his businesses, he will test the strength and independence
of each appointee to avoid decisions designed
to serve the Presidents private interests.
Consider some of the possible conicts
that could arise: Trumps chosen Attorney
General, who will oversee the Oce of Legal
Counsel within the Justice Department, could
bless Trumps violations of the Emoluments
Clauses. His Secretary of State could weigh
policy decisions based on how they will aect

Trumps overseas properties. His Transportation Secretary could make infrastructure

choices that benet his domestic properties.
A number of serious conicts are already
looming.
Trump claimed during the presidential
campaign that he is regularly audited by the
IRS. Every year they audit me, audit me, audit
me, he said. The current IRS Commissioners
term will expire in late 2017, and Trump will
name his successorthe person who will
lead the agency that, according to Trump, has
been auditing him for more than a decade.
In appointing the next IRS Commissioner, will
Trump be motivated, at least in part, by which
candidate he thinks would look most favorably on whatever has drawn the attention of
the auditors? And will Trumps choice for the
post feel a sense of debt to the man who elevated him or her to high oce?
Or consider the many Trump hotels subject
to labor laws enforced by the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB). One need not imagine labor conicts arising between Trump
hotel employees and management; theyve
already occurred. Until a month ago, a Trump
hotel in Las Vegas refused to negotiate with
the union representing hotel employees. The

NLRB heard the case, and although the parties

settled, one complaint is still pending. Trump
will soon have the opportunity to appoint two
of the NLRBs ve members, and he will be able
to appoint a third at the end of this year. Its no
stretch to think he might favor candidates who
most often side with management in disputes
or that his nominees will feel indebted to the
man who appointed them.
Last month, the New York Times reported
that South Carolina regulators are deciding if
a failed business venture owned by an aliate
of the Trump Organization qualies for a program that permits voluntary environmental
cleanup and protects against liability. Although
this case involves a state program, its not beyond reason that other Trump ventures could
draw the notice of federal environmental regulators. Trump, in fact, has already named his
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt,
a climate change denier, who has long battled
against unnecessary EPA regulations.
CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
BRIANNE J. GOROD is chief counsel for the
Constitutional Accountability Center. Follow
her on Twitter @BrianneGorod.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

2 2 J A NUA RY 2 0 , 2017

VIEWPOINT

Womens March a powerful launch of the resistance

We wont sit quietly while
rights are stripped away

KATHI WOLFE, a regular contributor to the

Blade, was the winner of the 2014 Stonewall
Chapbook Competition.

People say it wont get that bad, my

friend Penny whos studied political science
told me recently, but it can! This isnt Nazi
Germany. But the upcoming Trump era is a
lot like Germany in the 1930s.
Millions of us nationwide are frightened at the dawn of Donald J. Trumps
presidency. But were not going to be
immobilized by our fear. Were going to
cast a spotlight on bigotry, misogyny and
heartlessness. On Jan. 21, the day after
Trumps inauguration, hundreds of thou-

sands of women from across the country

will come to the nations capital for the
Womens March on Washington.
It appears, by some estimates, that there
will be as many or even more people at the
march as there will be at the inauguration
of the 45th president. Local marches in
support of the WMW will be held throughout the country from Tallahassee, Fla. to
San Diego. Though its called the Womens
March, men are welcome to participate.
The WMW is for any person, regardless
of gender or gender identity, who believes
womens rights are human rights, according to the March website.
I write this as Trump vows to repeal the
Aordable Care Act (which provides health
insurance for some 20 million people) and,
on the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr.s
birthday, demeans Rep. John Lewis, a revered icon of the civil rights movement.
Thats just the beginning of the litany of injustice that the upcoming Trump administration has planned for us. Trumps promised to appoint Supreme Court justices
who could roll-back abortion rights for
women or possibly undo marriage equality. Mike Pence, his vice president, and Tom

Price, his Health and Human Services Secretary nominee, are anti-LGBT. Steve Bannon, with alt-right ties, is his chief strategist. Theres that wall that Trump insists is
needed to secure our borders. And who
could forget, the I grabbed them by the
pussy video?
Our communities are hurting and scared,
the WMW mission statement says, the
rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized and threatened many of
us immigrants of all statuses, Muslims and
those of diverse religious faiths, people who
identify as LGBTQIA, Native people, Black
and Brown people, people with disabilities,
survivors of sexual assault.
In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity
and justice who have come before us, the
mission statement continues, we join in
diversity to show our presence in numbers
too great to ignore. The Womens March on
Washington will send a bold message to our
new government on its rst day in oce.
Its important not to get lost in rhetoric.
Human lives and hardship are at stake
here. In the 1950s, my mother who had
Type-1 diabetes, for health reasons had to

have an abortion. Because this was before

Roe v. Wade, she had to live with the emotional fall-out of going across state lines to
have the abortion. Do we want to go back
there? Some of my queer friends are rushing to get married because they fear that
under a Trump administration, same-sex
marriage could become illegal. Do we want
to go there? Rep. John Lewis was brutally
beaten in Selma. How will we live in an era
when Je Sessions, likely to become our
next Attorney General, could very well signicantly weaken civil rights protections?
Will we stand up against a president whos
mocked disabled people?
Injustice is up close and personal. Queer
people could be hit hard if laws protecting LGBTIQ people from discrimination in...
housing, jobs, etc. are annulled, Catholic,
lesbian, feminist theologian and co-director,
Womens Alliance for theology, Ethics, and
Ritual, Mary E. Hunt emailed me.
Lets be real. The march, however unifying
and on-message, wont be enough by itself
to stop Trumps presidency from being unjust. But it will be a powerful launching point
for our long ght against injustice. Heres to
WMW!
I N SI D E LG BT W A SH I N G T O N

On Friday, the unthinkable happens

Then on Saturday, we march

PETER ROSENSTEIN is a D.C.-based LGBT rights

and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly
for the Blade.

What so many thought unthinkable

takes place at noon on Friday, Jan. 20,
when Donald Trump is sworn in as the
nations 45th president. How did it happen and why did every pollster and just
about every legitimate news source get it
wrong? What do we do now?
Are there that many deplorable Americans or just so many who have lost all
faith in government? So many who are
scared of the future and how they t into
this new world? How did someone with so
little experience convince voters he could
be president and demolish 16 other candidates in the Republican primary? Then
go on despite losing the popular vote
by three million to win the Electoral

College and defeat the most experienced

candidate ever to run by about 80,000
votes in three crucial states?
Many ponticators suggest Hillarys
campaign should have sent her to Wisconsin and Michigan suggesting they took
votes for granted. But the campaign had
the same polls as everyone else and not
even Donald Trump, on the morning of
Nov. 8, thought he would win.
Trump won because of a series of
events, actions, sexism, fear and economic reality conspiring to defeat Hillary. I
dont think extra visits to Wisconsin would
have helped. Those voters made up their
minds at the last minute and were willing
to believe in Trumps call for change and
lies about Hillary and how he would do
things while Hillary wouldnt lie to them.
While President Obama is personally
popular he was rarely able to transfer his
popularity to anyone else. Case in point is
Wisconsin, which has seen a sharp Democratic decline. The Obama years politically have seen his partys historic slide at
other levels of government in Wisconsin.
Democrats lost a U.S. Senate seat (Russ
Feingolds) and U.S. House seat (Dave
Obeys) in 2010. They also lost the governors oce and both chambers of the
Legislature that year.They failed twice to

oust Gov. Scott Walker (in 2012 in a recall

and 2014 re-election) and came out of the
2016 election with their fewest state Senate seats since the 1970s and their fewest
state Assembly seats since the 1950s.
Obama is unquestionably a great president but has overseen the decline of the
Democratic Party across the nation. Many
blame this on his lack of support for, and
lack of interest in, the Democratic National Committee. Instead he formed his own
organization, Obama for America.
There was Russian hacking with the
intention of harming Hillarys campaign,
which we are only now hearing the extent
of. FBI Director Comeys outrageous handling of the Clinton email issue from his
inappropriate remarks when announcing
she didnt do anything illegal to his reopening the discussion just days before
the election with his letter to Congress
only to announce days later there was
nothing there. Now there will be an investigation into how he mishandled this.
There was the medias fascination with
Trump. They refused to hold him accountable for his lies until the very end of the
campaign when they suddenly woke up to
what was happening. But by the end of the
campaign Trump earned the equivalent
of more than $5 billion in free advertising.

Clinton was in a no-win situation. She

could either fully embrace Obama or
run against his administration of which
she was a part. She did the right and
smart thing and embraced it. That left
no room to become a change candidate
and after eight years of Obama enough
people were looking for change to make
a dierence. The people who ended up
voting for Trump in Florida, Wisconsin,
Michigan, and the middle of Pennsylvania wanted change. The great economic
advances Obama oversaw hadnt reached
them. Hillary couldnt embrace Obamas
economic gains and then attack him at
the same time. The closest she came was
saying, Under Obama we learned to walk
again, now we have to learn to run.
Whatever the reasons, Trump will be
president. A president who thinks nothing of attacking a civil rights icon and this
generations most venerated actress. A
president who has yet to gure out those
attacks make him look petty and small.
We must stand together, be vigilant
and willing to call out the administration
whenever needed. First, we march on Saturday. Then we mobilize state-by-state,
rebuild the Democratic Party, and as a
unied force ght for our Democracy. We
shall overcome!

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

V I E W PO I NT

J A N U A RY 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 2 3

Get ready to ght hard for civil rights

A hostile govt can put
hundreds of LGBT
protections at risk
By MARA KEISLING
In the weeks since the election, the incoming administration has started to take
on a very denite shape: a full-on assault
on immigrants, Muslims, people of color
in general, women, LGBT peopleespecially transgender peopleand the poor.
Whether or not we also belong to these
other communities, LGBT people cannot
aord to live in a country where anyone
is under assault because of who they are.
So many people Ive talked to across the
country are teetering between despair
and anger. Anger is the better response
resolute anger. Not just because despair
can be deadly for queer and trans people,
but because anger can be leveraged more
eectively. With so much about the administration thats unprecedented, there
are many possibilities of how things could
go, from bad to worseand the biggest
variable is how much of a ght we put up
against rolling back our rights.
Theres a saying in Washington: personnel is policy. If we want to stop regressive policies, we must rst recognize the
cabinet for the potential horror show it
is, and overwhelm the Senate with pressure to reject anti-LGBT extremists and

longtime civil rights opponents. If the

people he appoints to actually run things
are extremely anti-LGBT, its no use talking about how Trump isnt that bad on
LGBT issues. We cant duck and hope
theyll go after someone else instead of
LGBT peoplewe know where that leads.
Perhaps the most devastating attacks
will be on Americas poortrans people
are twice as likely to live in povertyand
on immigrants, including LGBT asylumseekers. So lets get real: the U.S. Senate
Republican leadership is trying to ram
through:
An attorney general who was rejected
for a federal judgeship forbeing too racist, is a longtime opponent of LGBT civil
rights, and seems to spend most of his
time stoking fear of immigrants. (What a
change from an AG who tells trans people
We see you, we support you.)
An Education Secretary who has been
a big donor to the anti-LGBT Focus on the
Family, which promotes ex-gay conversion therapy and believes trans people
should be banned from teaching.
A Health and Human Services Secretary who calls protections for transgender people absurd and wants to eviscerate Medicare and Medicaid as well as
Obamacare.
A Housing and Urban Development
Secretary whosays trans people are abnormal and that government shouldnt
help the poor.
A Labor Secretary who is against basi-

cally everything the Department of Labor

does, and whose company has no policy
protecting transgender workers.
A National Security Adviser who says
Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL, retweets
conspiracy theories, and made transgender people a punchline in his RNC speech.
A CIA director consumed by fear-mongering and conspiracy theories about
Muslims, and with (of course) a perfect
anti-LGBT record.
An EPA Administrator who is currently
suing the EPA to roll back environmental protections and suing the Education
Department to overturn protections for
trans students.
A White House budget director who is
proud of shutting down the government,
spoke to the racist John Birch Society, and
would love to see schools discriminate
against transgender students.
Even though the conrmation hearings
have started, none of this is a foregone
conclusion. These extreme nominees can
be stopped by moving just a few Senate
votes, but it will take extraordinary pressureand those who are not stopped
can be politically chastened.
Together, a hostile Congress, president, and cabinet could put hundreds of
federal policies protecting LGBT people,
the poor, and everybodys civil rights at
risk.
What does ghting back look like? Every time Trump and his extreme team
come after usor after anyone elsewe

have to put up a big, loud ght. We have

to bring the ght to every single member
of Congresswe have to pressure our
strongest allies to not to let anything go
without a ght, and force our ercest opponents to moderate their stances and
pick their battles. We have to sue the
administration when it does something
illegal. We have to keep everyone talking
about just how wrong it is to attack peoples dignity and rights. We have to lock
arms with our allies when any community
is under attack. And have to do it all while
also ghting a raft of anti-LGBT state bills.
At the same time, we as LGBT people
need to keep telling our stories and bringing every other institution in American
life along with us. The president and Congress matter, but theyve never been the
only people that matter, or even the ones
that matter most. We must also keep
working for change through state and
local government where we can (check
out our state and local policy agendas),
as well as engaging directly with local
schools, health care providers, businesses, the courts, the media, faith groups,
and our families and neighbors.
If we ght hard, we can minimize and
mitigate the damage at the national level.
And while were at it, we can keep nding
ways to do good.

MARA KEISLING is executive director of the

National Center for Transgender Equality.

B R O CK PA PE R SCI SSOR S

An open letter to President Trump from a gay American

I wish you well as your
success is Americas success

BROCK THOMPSON is a D.C.-based freelance

writer. He writes regularly for the Blade.

Dear Mr. President,

That salutation will take some getting
used to for both of us, for all of us really.
I asked last week on social media what
LGBT Americans would say to you if given
the opportunity. Leave it to gays, comments ranged from smile more, and try
tweeting less to the inevitable questions
about your hair. But there were also some

very serious questions and concerns surrounding your future in the Oval Oce.
I wanted to approach you on your favorite medium. But, alas, that only allows
for so many characters, and these columns have to be 500 words or I dont get
paid. So, here we are.
As a gay American, I can tell you, like so
many other members of the myriad other
minority groups in this country, I greet
your presidency with extreme trepidation. That being said, I do wish you well.
Simply because your success is also our
countrys success. But, going forward, allow me to share some advice.
You dont know us. But in all fairness, I
feel like I hardly know us either. Theres just
too many to know, and I dont pretend to
speak for everyone. In all shapes, sizes, colors, aliations, backgrounds, genders, the
queer community in America is as vast and
varied as America itself. So, too, are the issues we face and the problems our various

communities attempt to solve, issues such

as fair housing, employment non-discrimination, the right of healthcare, or the bullying of gay kids, to name but a few. Were
not a one-trick-pony group, not that any
segment of our population is. With more
and more Americans identifying as LGBT,
we and the issues we face will demand your
constant attention.
The Civil Rights Movement is not to be
spoken of in the past tense. By speaking
of Seneca Falls, Selma and Stonewall, your
predecessor in his second inaugural address alliteratively linked the ongoing and
evolving struggle for civil rights in America.
The look, the mission, the vision is constantly changing, and to refer to the movement
as something conned to the history books
would be a grave mistake. As indicated
above, the LGBT struggle is far from over.
Securing gay marriage may have been our
greatest court achievement to date, it carried with it no magic wand to solve the is-

sues such as those mentioned above. And

know we are ready to link arms with anyone oppressed by future policies.
Well be watching. It was dierent with
Stonewall. But it wasnt so long ago, either.
The drag queens and the queer people of
color that threw the rst bricks in protest had
very little to lose. In America, public opinion
can change fast, and that should be a warning to both of us. Your record on LGBT rights
is spotty at best, someone could say nonexistent since youve never really held public oce. But your No. 2 has. Mike Pence is
extremely frightening to us. We have much
more to lose now. But still more to ght for.
You often speak of American exceptionalism. Your predecessor did as well. He
saw this exceptionalism as our greatest
strength, and the diversity of this country
one of our greatest assets. For us all, consider championing diversity as well.
Mr. President, I hope you do well, and I
hope you do good.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

2 4 J A NUA RY 2 0 , 2017

VIEWPOINT

Europes Islam problem and U.S. immigration policy

We must contain this very
real threat to liberty
By SHANNON GILREATH
I come from the American Left. I am a feminist. I am a gay rights activist. These commitments form the core of my professional and
personal life. Consequently, the argument
I am about to make for tighter U.S. controls
on the immigration of Muslims may surprise some readers. It shouldnt. Islam is endemically antithetical to the well-being of gay
peopleprimarily the people about whom
and for whom I write. American liberals dont
want to hear this argument, however, because they share, ironically, with American
conservatives a rather unreective commitment to the defense of religion at all costs.
Conservatives think the answer to most any
problem is their religion. Increasingly, liberals
seem to think that the answer is simply more
religionsomething they like to call diversity.
Because I am a lawyer, evidence matters to
me. As the world still reels from the attack in
Berlin, in which a Muslim drove a truck into

a crowded market leaving 12 dead, we must

realize that pretending that these attacks
are random is a deadly charade. The Berlin
massacre was a copycat of an even deadlier
massacre, also perpetrated by an Islamist in
a vehicle, in Nice, France. Only days before
the Berlin attack, a 12-year-old Muslim boy
attempted to blow up a crowd of people (by
blowing up himself) elsewhere in Germany.
In July, a Muslim attacked tourists with an
ax on a German train. Deadly bombings in
Paris and the Charlie Hebdo murders were
also committed by Muslims. The list goes
on. In America, the deadliest mass shooting on record was perpetrated by a Muslim
who purposefully targeted the gay community by shooting up an Orlando gay club.
And, of course, there is a much longer list
of Muslim homicidal acts, including the wellpublicized San Bernardino shootings and the
Boston marathon bombings. If anything approaching this kind of destruction had been
unleashed under the banner of any political
organization, the Nazis or Klan for examples,
the Left would be quick to condemn and
short on tolerance for adherents who ask us
to believe that they only subscribe to the ideologys nonlethal tenets. Because this may-

hem is perpetrated in the name of religion,

however, the gloves stay on. Even when the
murderers tell us so in no uncertain terms,
we are admonished not to believe them that
their religion commands their behavior.
Of course, there are Muslims who do not
subscribe to anti-gay views. I am frequently
told that there are 1.5 billion Muslims, with
the majority being peaceful and tolerant, etc.,
ad nauseam. Actually, the opposite is true. A
majority of the worlds Muslims participate
in an Islam that is overtly hostile to gays and
to Western ideals of equality. Islamic law is
clear: the penalty for homosexuality is death.
The exact method varies depending on the
version of sharia law enforced, but dead is
dead. In most sharia countries, homosexuality is punishable by death. In those where
it isnt, whippings, public humiliation, and/or
prison are par. And Muslims, unlike many immigrant communities, generally have no intention of integrating into more enlightened
Western concepts of equality or tolerance.
A survey of Muslims living in Britain in 2016
found more than half of them believing that
homosexuality should be illegal. In Amsterdam, long revered by my generation as the
gay capital of Europe, gay-bashings and

murders have risen sharply with the inux

of Muslim immigrants and refugees, with
some primarily Muslim neighborhoods now
being entirely o-limits to Dutch gays.
The Koran, which I have read cover to cover,
calls unequivocally for conquest and colonization for the propagation of Islam. Sadly, colonization of Europe may now be irreversible. In
the United States, their numbers are still small
enough to make the threat Islam poses less
grave. Weparticularly those of us who cherish ideals like gay rights and the equality of
women and mencannot aord political correctness. We cannot aord the propaganda.
Of course, certain exceptions must be made
for women and gay people facing real oppression at the hands of Islamic families and
governments, but we must not risk an open
door to an ideology that imperils our most
cherished valuesand our lives. We owe it to
ourselves and our most vulnerable citizens to
contain this very real threat to liberty.

A professor of law and of Womens, Gender,

and Sexuality Studies at Wake Forest University,
SHANNON GILREATH is the author of The
End of Straight Supremacy: Realizing Gay
Liberation.

O U R BU SI N E SS MA T T E RS

Temper tantrums, name-calling dont win us friends

LGBT scaremongers risk
alienating allies, crying wolf
undermines credibility

MARK LEE is a long-time entrepreneur

and community business advocate. Follow
on Twitter: @MarkLeeDC. Reach him at
OurBusinessMatters@gmail.com.

Social media has become nearly intolerable. LGBT timelines are among the
worst examples of the childish and churlish temper tantrum being thrown by too
many. Hysteria and hyperbolic exaggeration have become the norm on our feeds.
Theres name-calling. Theres cultural
insulting. Theres a constant accusatory
stream deriding claimed broad-based
intrinsic racism, bigotry, homophobia, or
just plain stupidity among others. Theres
mocking people who are less educated,
live dierent lives, have lower incomes,
arent as cool. Theres derision of those
outside the womb-like economic and cul-

tural bubbles those of us who live in them

think are normal.
You know, the stu of bullies.
If the heel were on the other foot, the
outrage would come like a tidal wave. But
the vitriol is forgiven because its the insular behavior of the cool kids wearing
resentment like fashion. The types we
hated when we were younger and less
cynical. Maybe even victimized by them.
Before many of us became just downright
mean ourselves.
You can cut the hypocrisy with a knife.
Most people look the other way. Perhaps post pet pictures and wait for it all
to soon subside. Maybe the Nazi images
of Hitler will someday go away. Hope
springs eternal.
Good goddess, is it possible that those
still upset over the election results will get
a grip on their emotions? Will the over-thetop spittle-laced venom eventually cease?
The news media is little better. Not
those Facebook-targeted pseudo-news
articles pumped out for re-posting by
easily manipulated fools of all stripes.
Nope, the regular press.
Smug reporters and pundits, always
relishing high-drama, gin-up conicts and
subsequently sit back and watch the ensuing explosion. They then move on to
manufacturing the next indignation, not

seeming to realize everything eventually

gets lost in the mind-numbing muddle of
continuing rage. When everything is an
atrocity, nothing is.
The latest imbroglio involving iconic
civil rights pioneer and long-serving Congressman John Lewis is a perfect example
of how we have become objects of easy
exploitation.
Lewis is undoubtedly frustrated by his
partys newly worsened and historically
low electoral status due massive Democratic losses in local, state and federal
elections across the country over the past
10 years. He faces ongoing diminished
inuence as a member of a House minority and a national party cast-out of both
sides of the Hill and the White House,
state legislatures and governorships.
Lewis publicly characterizing Donald
Trumps presidency as illegitimate only
days before inauguration was inappropriate
and itself malfeasant. Lewis wont be attending the inaugural, a repeat of his stay-away
from George W. Bushs 2001 swearing-in.
Sure, it was a calculation. Baiting Trump
on Twitter is no magicians trick.
Either Trump will prove to be savvy disruptor of the politics-as-usual Americans
detest, or chaotic destroyer of a national
institution. But he is due the respect appropriately aorded the newest and, in

the words of his outgoing predecessor,

fairly elected national chief executive.
Its likely that this weeks Presidential
Inauguration wont quell the Im so hip,
Im displeased online certications, but
only exacerbate this trendy behavior.
Such embarrassing foot stomping wins
lesbians and gays few friends. We risk
alienating actual and potential allies by
unseemly hegemony and hatred.
Worse are the ridiculous claims of impending LGBT Armageddon most gays
dont believe and only sabotage a communitys credibility.
Were not headed to concentration
camps, nor is Trump gassing up any
transport trucks. Illusory victories won
by presidential orders signify we opted
for transient gains by seeking only convenience and not consensus.
Weve won civil equality not so much
by legislative at, but by coming out to
family, friends and associates, telling our
stories, having a face. The modest work
remaining is dependent on that foundation and relies mostly on the support of
others notably the business community
that takes a positive view of potential
post-election policy reforms.
Its time to heed the cautionary tale
that falsely crying wolf will result in later
being ignored.

W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM

J A N U A RY 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 2 5

Travel with the BEST,

well do the rest!
Free Wi-Fi Available
Free Water for Everyone
Electric Plugs Under Every Seat

2 6 J A NUA RY 2 0 , 2017

W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

ARTS

AND

ENTERTAINMENT

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

VOLUME

48

ISSUE

03

JANUARY

20,

2017

PAGE

27

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Surviving Trump

OUT AUTHOR OFFERS WAY FOR LIBERALS TO MOVE FORWARD

By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Feeling helpless in the impending
Trump administration? Author Gene
Stone is here to help with his new book
The Trump Survival Guide.
The new book, out Jan. 10 from Dey
Street Books (a HarperCollins imprint), is
a trade paperback priced at $9.99 thats
subtitled Everything You Need to Know
About Living Through What You Hoped
Would Never Happen.
Bereft for about eight days after the
Nov. 8 election, Stone, a New York Times
bestselling author with 40 eclectic titles
of several genres to his credit, says he
couldnt bear to watch or read the news.
Survival Guide was written over the next
12 days (Ive had magazine deadlines
that were much longer, he says) with the
help of seven co-writers.

Its chapters are devoted to topics like

civil rights, the economy, education,
energy, national security, LGBT issues
and more. Its billed as a serious call
to action for all anti-Trump dissenters
across the political spectrum that
succinctly analyzes crucial social and
political policies, explains how Donald J.
Trump has the power to undermine them
and provides concrete practical solutions
ordinary people can use to ght back.
Stone spoke to the Blade by phone
from his oce in New York City. His
comments have been slightly edited for
length.
WASHINGTON BLADE: How did you
channel your election funk into this
project so quickly?

GENE STONE: After about a week of

feeling sorry for everything, I decided,
you know and this is the point of the
book its one thing to be depressed
and mopey and God knows I have friends
who are still crying, but you have to do
something. Being depressed doesnt get
you anywhere. Being dejected and crying
doesnt solve anything. Sitting around
doing nothing accomplishes nothing. I
thought, Well, I have to do something.
Im not the deepest thinker in the world,
but Im certainly one of the fastest and I
realized I could do this. I knew that I could
turn this book around in a short period
of time. I have a pretty solid publishing
history so I knew I had the credibility to
get a book contract for something like
this. They knew I was dependable, that

Id done it before and could do it again.

All that meant that I should do the book, I
could do the book so therefore I felt I had
to do the book.
BLADE: How unusual is this tight of a
turnaround time in the book publishing
world?
STONE: There was a time years ago
when instant books were much more
common. Bantam Books was famous
for being able to turn around books
in a couple of weeks. It has actually
gotten much less common because
the way those books were often sold
was through the bookstores that would
support the book, put it on their counters
CONTINUES ON PAGE 39

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

2 8 J A N UA RY 2 0 , 2017

Q U E E RY : 2 0 Q U E ST I O N S F O R CH RI S A LLE N

WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

CHRIS ALLEN
By JOEY DiGULIELMO
joeyd@washblade.com
Chris Allen is a self-described big believer in limited government and
personal responsibility. Its why hes been in the D.C. Log Cabin Republicans
a chapter of the national LGBT GOP group for seven years, six of which
hes been on the board; four as president.
I think government works best when it has less to do and can do it more
eciently, the 33-year-old Jacksonville, N.C., native, in Washington a decade, says.
Allen wont say if he voted for Donald Trump (the D.C. chapter voted 56-44
not to endorse him) but says hes hopeful.
Trump can be very brash, which is o putting to some people, but
ultimately his past actions give me hope that he can do great things while
president, Allen, wholl spend the weekend celebrating the inauguration at
various events, says.
Allen came to D.C. for an internship program the summer before his senior
year at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. He returned for another
six months later and segued into an appointment in the George W. Bush
administration. By day he works now as project manager with a small Native
American consulting company.
Allen is single and lives near 17th and T streets, N.W. He enjoys travel,
theater, TV, politics and trying to be a foodie in his free time.

How long have you been out and who

was the hardest person to tell?
I think the hardest person to tell was
myself. Growing up in conservative
eastern North Carolina, I didnt have a
lot of exposure to people in the LGBT
community, which I think made it
harder. It wasnt until I came to D.C. for
a summer internship and met others in
the community that I nally accepted it
to myself. From there it was fairly easy,
as Im lucky to have a very loving and
supportive family and friends.
Whos your LGBT hero?
I know that society and Hollywood like
to highlight pioneers and activists, but
ultimately everyone in our community

is a hero in my eyes simply by being

ourselves. Whether youre the gay
neighbor or uncle or youre out there
on the front lines as an activist, youre
making a dierence by being yourself.

Whats Washingtons best nightspot,

past or present?
One of my favorite aspects of D.C.
nightlife is the diversity of options it
has to oer. If youre looking for a crazy
night of dancing, a place to catch up with
friends, a night out at the theater or a
monthly themed party or happy hour,
you can nd it in D.C.

Describe your dream wedding.

I once told my ex that for one day,

whether it was my wedding day, birthday

or just a special day, that I wanted the
entire day to play out as if I were the
star in a musical. Animated characters,
choreographed songs and dance
numbers, the whole works! But given my
limited singing and dancing abilities, that
may best remain a fantasy, and Ill shoot
for an exotic destination wedding with
close friends and family.

What non-LGBT issue are you most

passionate about?
A serious issue facing not only our
community but society as a whole,
is this age of mean tweets and
uninhibited trolling online. Theres a
place for sarcasm, productive debate
and even some good-hearted shade
throwing from time to time. However,
too often it leads to online bullying,
hateful intolerance and downright
oensiveness. Theres a line that too
many people cross under the veil of
anonymity. I dont think this problem can
necessarily be solved by laws and policy,
but rather through cultural shifts and
fair condemnation from society.

What historical outcome would you

change?
There are many events throughout
history that are horric that come to
mind. However, some of the greatest
things and historical events arise
because of tragic moments. For the
Phoenix to be reborn, it must die and
rise from the ashes.

Whats been the most memorable pop

culture moment of your lifetime?
Its a toss-up between the wardrobe
malfunction with Justin Timberlake and
Janet Jackson during the Super Bowl
XXXVII half-time show and the overblown
hysteria over Y2K.

On what do you insist?

Respect and an open mind. In
D.C. especially, if you cant have a
constructive conversation with someone
of opposing views, you miss out on
opportunities to grow and learn. Get out
of the kitchen if you cant stand the heat!

What was your last Facebook post or

Tweet?
A check-in post at Signature Theatre
where I was seeing Titanic the Musical.

If your life were a book, what would

the title be?
I Had a Plan and Then God Laughed

If science discovered a way to change

sexual orientation, what would you
do?
Save the scientic breakthroughs for
diseases. I wouldnt change a thing about
me!

What do you believe in beyond the

physical world?

There are too many wonderful mysteries

in our physical world to not believe there
is something morebeyond it.

Whats your advice for LGBT

movement leaders?
Listen, listen, listen. Our community
is always changing and the goal posts
are always moving. If you want to see
change, dont sit on the sidelines. Get
out there and do something.

What would you walk across hot coals

for?
Eternal happiness, obscene wealth (to
do good with, of course), lifelong good
heath and a talented doctor to mend my
feet.

What LGBT stereotype annoys you

most?
This silly notion that your sexual
orientation also determines your
political party or views on a whole
plethora of issues. LGBT rights will
never truly advance while being viewed
along party lines. The LGBT community
should celebrate the diversity within its
community, including the diversity of
thoughts and ideas.

Whats your favorite LGBT movie?

There are so many LGBT movies Ive
enjoyed (even the low-budget bad ones).
However, I am really appreciative of
some of the earlier, mainstream movies
(like The Bird Cage, Philadelphia and
Brokeback Mountain) that brought
many LGBT issues to the forefront and
into living rooms around the world.

Whats the most overrated social

custom?
Diamond engagement rings. I like to
think Im a bit of a romantic, but my
reality backbone says a down payment
on a house to live in together symbolizes
a lot more.

What trophy or prize do you most

covet?
So many prizes, awards and trophies
are tainted with bias and politics today.
The greatest rewards in life are seeing or
knowing how your actions have helped
other people.

What do you wish youd known at 18?

Our experiences and mistakes help
shape who we become, but I wouldnt
turn down knowing the winning the
lottery numbers when I was just starting
out on my own.

Why Washington?
Im from a fairly small town, and what I
like about D.C. is that it has everything a
big city oers, while maintaining a smalltown feel. Its geographic location also
has its benets. Just a few hours in any
direction and you can be at the beach, in
the mountains, New York City or I can be
back home with family.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

T HE ATE R

J A N U A R Y 20, 2017 29

Robert Battle, Artistic Director

Masazumi Chaya, Associate Artistic Director

PHOTO BY STAN BAROUH

KIMBERLY GIBERT, left, as D and BELLANA DUQUESNE as Mama in Charm.

Mosaic production
explores class, gender
in endearing dramedy
By PATRICK FOLLIARD
Diamonds may be some girls best
friend. But for 67-year-old trans woman
Darleena Andrews, who goes by Mama,
her life-long most trusted companion has
been a book Emily Posts Etiquette.
And Mama isnt selsh with her BFF, she
likes to share whats found between the
tomes cover with those who need it most.
In out playwright Philip Dawkins
engaging Charm now at Mosaic Theater
Company, Mama (BEllana Duquesne)
volunteers to school at-risk youth in the
social graces at the local LGBT center.
With her warm yet unappable demeanor
and professional attire, Mama seems the
ideal instructor. But because Mamas
ideas on gender expression are so rooted
in tradition (she believes if you present
as female then you need to call yourself
a girl), the centers harried director D
(Kimberly Gilbert) feels Mama might not
help in creating a safe space for everyone.
When D (who identies with no gender)
says tranny is an unacceptable term,
Mama, whos been living as a woman
since she was 19, quickly replies, Back
in the day, tranny was about the nicest
thing anybody ever called me. Despite
Ds misgivings, things move forward.
Held in a rundown classroom, Mamas
charm lessons attract a racially diverse
group of transgender and ostensibly
straight street kids. The unpolished
group played by a strong cast include
smart and leggy Jonelle (Justin Weaks);
shy, mentally unstable Lady (Joe Brack);
initially intimidating Beta (Clayton
Pelham, Jr.); a struggling straight couple
Victoria (Jade Jones) and Donnie (Louis E.

Davis) who appear to have come for the

free food. Theres also Ariella (Nyla Rose),
a 33-year-old trans woman streetwalker.
Later, a curious college boy Logan (Samy
El-Noury) joins the classes to observe.
What starts as raucous meetings soon
calm under Mamas rm hand. She imparts
the philosophy that good manners can
carry you through life, but also engenders
love and respect within the room while
neatly doling out instruction on how to
eat, dance, dress appropriately and apply
makeup (An Adams apple is a speed
bump on the way to glamour).
Becoming close to a needy student
creates problems when Mama rebus
a less needy students eorts to forge a
closer friendship. Drama ensues.
As Mama, Duquesne radiates as a wise
and loving elder with a rich and perhaps
not easy past. Duquesnes life experience
gives her insight into the part.
Playwright Dawkins drew inspiration
from Chicagos real life Mama Gloria
Allen, a transgender, African-American
woman who taught a class in charm for
low-income, transgendered and often
homeless teens in Chicago.
Director Natsu Onoda Power move the
action at a swift clip, deftly bringing out the
plays humor, heartbreak and joy. Daniel
Conways rough set and Frank Labovitzs
spot-on costumes add grit and realness
to the production while Max Doolittle
and Roc Lees striking lighting and sound
design, respectively, up its intensity.
Charm presents characters as they
are in all their glorious complexity. While
their outcomes arent always happy,
theyre real and illuminating.
CHARM
Through Jan. 29
Mosaic Theater Company
Atlas Performing Arts Center
1333 H St., N.E.
$40-60
202-399-7993 ext. 2
Mosaictheater.org

Yannick Lebrun. Photo by Andrew Eccles

February 712 | Opera House

Tue., Feb. 7 at 7 p.m.

The Winter in Lisbon (Billy Wilson)
Walking Mad (Johan Inger)
Ella (Robert Battle)
Revelations (Alvin Ailey)
Wed., Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Deep (Mauro Bigonzetti)
After the Rain Pas de Deux
(Christopher Wheeldon)
Untitled America (Kyle Abraham)
Revelations
Thu., Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
r-Evolution, Dream. (Hope Boykin)
Masekela Langage (Alvin Ailey)
Ella
Revelations
Fri., Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Deep
After the Rain Pas de Deux
Untitled America
Revelations

Sat., Feb. 11 at 1:30 p.m.

The Winter in Lisbon
Awakening (Robert Battle)
Revelations
Sat., Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Exodus (Rennie Harris)
Walking Mad
Revelations
Sun., Feb. 12 at 1:30 p.m.
The Winter in Lisbon
r-Evolution, Dream.
Revelations
Explore the Arts
Sat., Feb. 11 matinee
Free Post-Performance
Discussion
Sat., Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m.
Free Revelations workshop
on the Millennium Stage

Explore the Arts is made possible by

Support for JFKC: A Centennial Celebration of

John F. Kennedy is provided by Ambassador
Elizabeth Frawley Bagley and The Blanche
and Irving Laurie Foundation.

Additional support is provided by The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.
and The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation.
Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is made possible
through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts and
the Presidents Advisory Committee of the Arts.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

3 0 J A N UA RY 2 0 , 2017

O U T & A BO U T

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

From protests to celebratory

balls, inaugural events
span the spectrum
By MARIAH COOPER
mcooper@washblade.com
The upcoming inaugural weekend will
be lled with events of all kinds including
protests, dance parties, panel discussions
and balls as the country ocially shifts to
its 45th President of the United States.
The 16th Street House (16th Street N.W.
and Van Buren Street N.W.) hosts Not
My Inauguration, a music, arts and
wellness festival, from Thursday, Jan. 19
through Sunday, Jan. 22. Local musicians
such as War on Women, Lisa Said Band,
Oh He Dead, FuzzWueen, Thrust Club,
Go Cozy and many more will perform.
There is a suggested $5 donation. All
proceeds benet Planned Parenthood
and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
For a complete performance schedule
and for more information, search Not My
Inauguration on Facebook.
Answer Coalition hosts Protest at the
Inauguration: Stand Against Trump,
War, Racism and Inequality on Friday,
Jan. 20 from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Protestors will
gather at the U.S. Navy Memorial (701
Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.). at 7 a.m. For
more details, visit answercoalition.org.
Capital Fringe (1358 Florida Ave., N.W.)
hosts Resist: A Counter Cabaret on
Friday, Jan. 20 from 6-11 p.m. Dancers,
musicians, theater artists, comedians,
clowns and more will come together to

perform perform. The Fringe Arts Bar opens

at 6 p.m. and the cabaret starts at 8 p.m.
Admission is free. For more information,
visit facebook.com/capitalfringe.
Nellies Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.0
hosts Inauguration is a Drag, a drag
brunch, on Friday, Jan. 20 from 10:30
a.m.-3 p.m. Shi-Queeta Lee and her divas
will perform impersonations of Diana
Ross, Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton and
more. There will be an all-you-can-eat
buet.There will be drag shows at 10:30
a.m. and 1 p.m. Tickets are $36.83 and
includes one mimosa or bloody Mary. For
more details, visit nelliessportsbar.com.
Join protestors outside of the U.S.
Capitol Building (East Capitol St., N.E.
and First St., N.E.) on Jan. 20 at midnight
through Jan. 21. Protestors should
come with clothing or posters with
#NotMyPresident written on them.
For more information, visit facebook.
com/notmypresidentnyc.
Black Friday, another protest at the
U.S. Capitol Building, will be on Friday,
Jan. 20 from 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Protestors
are asked to wear all black and bring
American ags to hang upside down.
For more details, search Black Friday
Trumps Inauguration on Facebook.
DisruptJ20, an activist organization,
holds a protest at McPherson Square
Park (14th St., N.W. and Pennsylvania
Ave., N.W.) on Friday, Jan. 20 from 9
a.m.-10 p.m. For more information, visit
disruptj20.org.
Dardanella hosts The Great Gatsby
Presidential Inaugural Ball at the
National Portrait Gallery (8th and F streets,

N.W.) on Friday, Jan. 20 from 8 p.m.-1 a.m.

The event is a non-political celebrating
the United States history of democracy.
There will be period orchestras, an open
bar, photo booths, hors doeuvres and
more. Guests are encouraged to dress in
period attire from the 1910s, 1920s and
1930s. White tie, black tie or period attire
is mandatory. Tickets range from $250450. For more details, visit facebook.com/
dardanellacelebrations.
Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.) hosts
No Thanks: A Night of Anti-Fascist
Sounds, a counter-inauguration protest
show, on Friday, Jan. 20 from 6:30-11:30
p.m. Performers include Waxahatchee,
Sadie Supuis, Pure Disgust, Flasher, Free
Children of Earth, Marc Ribot, Jonny Grave
and more. Tickets are $20. All proceeds
go to Casa Ruby and One D.C. For more
information, visit blackcatdc.com.
The Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.)
hosts The Anti-Inauguration on Friday,
Jan. 20 from 8-10 p.m. Speakers include out
British journalist Owen Jones, journalist
Naomi Klein, professor Keeanga-Yamahtta
Taylor, author Anand Gopal. Tickets are
free but seating is not guaranteed. For
more details, visit lincolndc.com.
Bet Mishpachah and GLOE host LGBTQ
Inauguration Shabbat: Strengthening
One Another, at Washington Jewish
Community Center (1529 16th St., N.W.)
on Friday, Jan. 20. There will be a panel
discussion with journalist James Kirchick
on how anti-Semitic rhetoric connects
with homophobia and transphobia at 7
p.m. There will be a shabbat service at 8
p.m. For details, visit betmish.org.

Washington Ethical Society (7750

16th St., N.W.) hosts The Resistance
Un-Ball on Friday, Jan. 20 from 5-9
p.m. There will be protest art-making,
open mic, inauguration bingo, and
music and dancing for all ages. For
more information, visit facebook.com/
washingtonethicalsociety.
The Velvet Lounge (915 U St., N.W.)
hosts Inaugural PALL on Friday, Jan.
20 from 7:30 p.m.-midnight. Sam Cooper
& The Sleepwalkers will perform. Guests
should dress in mourning attire. For more
information, search inaugural pall on
Facebook.
Womens March on Washington
begins Saturday, Jan. 21 at 10 a.m.
at the intersection of Independence
Avenue and Third Street S.W. Celebrities
including Amy Schumer, Uzo Aduba,
America Ferrera and Zendaya will make
appearances. Speakers have not yet
been announced. For more details, visit
womensmarch.com.
Scorpio Entertainment hosts Unity
Ball, an inauguration dance party, at
District Architecture Center (421 7th St.,
N.W.) on Saturday. Jan. 21 from 8 p.m.1 a.m. DJ Edward Daniels and DJ Alexis
Moran will spin tracks. La Ti Do and No
Small Children will perform. There will be
light appetizers and an open bar. Partial
proceeds will benet Planned Parenthood
of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. and
Bread for the City. This is an all-ages party.
Tickets are sold out online but will be sold
on a rst-come, rst serve basis at the
door. For more details on ticket prices and
other information, visit unityballdc.com.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

FI L M

J A N U A R Y 20, 2017 31

Mariinsky Ballet
The Little Humpbacked Horse
(Konyok Gorbunok)
with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra
Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
Music by Rodion Shchedrin

PHOTO COURTESY OF FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

NATALIE PORTMAN is considered a likely Oscar nominee for her work in Jackie.

Fresh as a daisy bubbling

over with high spirits

Look for slight improvements

in diversity in Tuesdays
nominations
By BRIAN T. CARNEY
Without a doubt, when the ceremony
for the 89th Academy Awards is broadcast
on Feb. 29, it will look much dierent
than last years show. For one thing, mildmannered Jimmy Kimmel will serve as
host for the rst time, although some of
the winners will still undoubtedly choose
to follow in Meryl Streeps footsteps and
make political statements.
For another, there will be a denite shift
away from the male-centered dramas
that dominated last years Best Picture
category. In fact, the most interesting and
hotly contested categories may be for
Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.
And most importantly, there will almost
denitely be several African Americans
among the nominees for Best Director,
Best Actor and Best Actress.
On the other hand, while the Academy
has made some baby steps toward
diversity, there is still a long way to go.
Asian Americans and Hispanics are
underrepresented across all categories, as
are openly LGBT artists. Women are still
underrepresented in the directing category.
In fact, many of the movies generating
Oscar buzz this year would not be
eligible for consideration for key awards
oered by the British Academy of Film
and Television Arts. In December, BAFTA
announced new diversity standards
that provide a shared framework
for measuring diversity so that the
industry can track progress over time
and can adopt a shared language for
understanding diversity.
According to the BAFTA press release,
beginning in 2019, the Outstanding
British Film and Outstanding Debut by
a British Writer, Director or Producer

categories will adhere to the diversity

standards set out by the British Film
Institute. That means productions will
need to demonstrate that they have
worked to increase the representation
of under-represented groups in two
of the four following areas: on-screen
representation, themes and narratives;
project
leadership
and
creative
practitioners; industry access and
opportunities; and opportunities for
diversity in audience development.
In addition, membership in the British
Academy will no longer be dependent
on a recommendation from a current
member. This move is expected to further
diversify BAFTA membership, which has
already shown signicant change.
As for Hollywood, 2016 did see an
explosion of excellent Oscar-caliber movies
that focused on the African-American
experience, some of which were also
helmed by black directors. These included
Hidden Figures, Moonlight, Fences,
Loving, The Fits, The Birth of a Nation,
The Queen of Katwe, Southside With
You and the outstanding documentaries
13th, O.J.: Made in America and I Am
Not Your Negro.
Unfortunately, despite this cluster, Oscar
is still pretty white, male and straight.
Nonetheless, there are some great
movies to celebrate in this years race.
Here are some of the names to look for
when the nominees are announced next
Tuesday morning:
Moonlight,
the
groundbreaking
movie about a gay, African-American youth
has already won several major awards,
including several honors from the AfricanAmerican Film Critics Association and the
Black Film Critic Circles Award. Look for
nominations for writer and director Barry
Jenkins, supporting actor Mahershala Ali,
supporting actress Naomie Harris and
cinematographer James Laxton.
CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

Photo by Natasha Razina

The New York Times

For its annual engagement, the legendary Mariinsky brings

Alexei Ratmanskys charming contemporary take on the classic
Russian fairy tale in a D.C. premiere showcasing plenty of personality,
humor, and creativity with a score by Rodion Shchedrin.

January 31February 5 | Opera House

Support for Ballet at the Kennedy Center is generously provided by Elizabeth and Michael Kojaian.
International Programming at the Kennedy Center is made possible through the generosity of
the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts.

LIVE

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

32 JAN U A R Y 20, 2017

O U T & A BO U T

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

BETTYE

LAVETTE
WEDNESDAY JAN

25

BRONZE

RADIO

RETURN
W/ AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER

THURSDAY JAN

26

SAT, JAN 28

THE ALTERNATE ROUTES

W/ ME & MY BROTHER

By MARIAH COOPER

SUN, JAN 29

ALL GOOD PRESENTS

ERIC KRASNO BAND

AND THE MARCUS KING BAND
MON, JAN 30

AN EVENING WITH

JEFF DWYER

TUES, JAN 31

J BOOG

W/ JO MERSA MARLEY AND JEMERE MORGAN

PHOTO COURTESY OF NOH8

NOH8 campaign to host photo shoot

NO H8 Campaign holds an open photo shoot at Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) on
Sunday, Jan. 22 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Participants are asked to wear a plain, white shirt for the photos. NOH8
temporary tattoos will be given onsite. Solo photos are $40. Couple or group
photos are $25 per person. Cash and credit cards will be accepted. Photos are
rst come, rst served.
For more information, visit facebook.com/noh8campaign.

THEHAMILTONDC.COM

PHOTO COURTESY OF WOLF TRAP

Singer/actor Tveit to
make Wolf Trap debut
Actor and singer Aaron Tveit performs
at the Barns at Wolf Trap (1635 Trap Rd.,
Vienna, Va.) on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m.
and Sunday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m.
Tveit recently starred as Danny Zuko
in Grease Live! on FOX. He has also
performed in the national running tours
of Hairspray and Rent. This will be
Tveits rst performance at Wolf Trap.
Tickets range from $40-55.
For more information and to purchase
tickets, visit wolftrap.org.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BUCKLESWEET MEDIA

Orchestra visits D.C. under baton of out maestro

Washington Performing Arts presents a performance by the Philadelphia
Orchestra at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 8 p.m.
The show will feature Conductor Yannick Nzet-Sguin. Guest soloist Louis
Lortie will also play Chopins Piano Concerto No. 1. Tickets range from $40-110.
For more details, visit kennedy-center.org.

2000s dance party

slated for Jan. 28
The 9:30 Club hosts Hot in Herre:
2000s Dance Party on Saturday, Jan. 28
from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.
This dance party will feature popular
music from the 00s such as Missy Elliot,
Britney Spears, Destinys Child, and many
more. DJ Will Eastman and DJ Brian Billion
will spin tracks. This is an all ages party.
Tickets are $16.
For more details, visit 930.com.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

D I N ING

J A N U A RY 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 3 3

PHOTO COURTESY OF NCD

The beverage board at New Columbia Distillery, a local spot thats oering inauguration-themed specials this weekend.

If you want to drown

your sorrows, theres no
shortage of D.C. options
By KRISTEN HARTKE
Drowning
your
sorrows
during
Inauguration weekend? You wont be alone.
Were accustomed to plenty of partying
during Inauguration here in D.C., but this
year is oering a new spin that is making
it hard to predict where the biggest
parties will be found, as it remains to be
seen whether Friday nights inaugural
festivities will be outshone by Saturdays
protest marches.
For many restaurants, this years
inauguration requires a delicate balancing
act; restaurants are typically nonpartisan,
cheerfully
catering
to
politicians,
lobbyists and other political players on
both sides of the aisle. However, the
inammatory comments made by Donald
Trump during the campaign regarding
immigrants, women, minorities and other
disenfranchised groups rubbed many
restaurateurs the wrong way, famously
leading to chefs Jos Andrs and Georey
Zakarian to each abandon the upscale
eateries they had planned for the Trump
Hotel at the Old Post Oce Pavilion.

The weekend traditionally provides a

big nancial boost to D.C.s restaurant
industry every four years, but perhaps the
most talked-about event this time around
is All In Service, a restaurant industryled event bringing together nearly 100
local eateries are taking the opportunity
this time to use the proceeds from the
weekends business receipts to support
a variety of LGBT, womens and other
charitable organizations, including the
Trevor Project, Whitman-Walker Health
and La Clinica Del Pueblo.
One of the participating businesses is
New Columbia Distillers (1832 Fenwick
St., N.E.), which brought craft distilling
back to the nations capital in 2011 with
Green Hat Gin, donating 100 percent of its
sales on Jan. 21 to Planned Parenthood.
Its sta will be mixing up specialty
cocktails from their own craft spirits at
the Ivy City distillery that day, with names
like R. B. Ginsburg, Pantsuit Nation and
Suragette City.
The Constitutional Pizza, inspired
by Thomas Jeersons Revolutionary
Garden, will ll the plates at chef Ruth
Gressers Pizzeria Paradiso through
Jan. 24, but it will be best eaten when
accompanied by a glass of Denizens
Brewing Company beer on Jan. 21. Thats
the day that the restaurant and brewery,

which are each women-owned, are

joining forces to tap a keg of Lowest Lord,
an English-style ESB (extra special bitter),
which will be available for 12-ounce $5
pours at Pizzeria Paradisos Dupont Circle
location (2003 P St., N.W.), with proceeds
beneting the League of Women Voters.
At
Ristorante
i
Ricchi
(122019thSt.,N.W.), youll nd that chef
and owner Christianne Ricchi is trying to
bridge the partisan divide, oering up
special red and blue Inaugural cocktails
throughout the week the Trumptini, a blend of gin, pomegranate and
lemon topped with prosecco, and the
Barack Rocks, featuring vodka, lime and
curaao. Perhaps tipping her hat as to
her true feelings, Ricchi is also inviting
women attending the Womens March on
Washington to come to the restaurant for
restorative hot drinks and conversation
following the march, noting with some
pride that tandem marches will even be
taking place in Italy that day.
Le Diplomate (1601 14th St., N.W.) is
another spot oering warming beverages
over the entire weekend, with a streetside
cart where passersby can scoop up cups
of peppermint chocolat chaud and coee
on both Friday and Saturday. Meanwhile,
District Distilling Company (1414 U
St., N.W.) will warm customers a little

dierently, highlighting the weekends

tequila-based Manzana Ilegal cocktail,
proceeds from which will be donated to N
Street Village; theyll end the festivities in
style on Monday, Jan. 23, with a Swine and
Spirits bash with free food and drinks for
sta of any businesses that participated
in the All In Service event and a suggested
donation of $25 for anyone else, with
proceeds going to N Street Village, Marthas
Table and Whitman-Walker Clinic.
If you need to do something to keep your
hands busy this weekend, Via Umbria (1525
Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) is hosting a cocktail
class supporting Planned Parenthood
called Cheers to Powerful Women on
Jan. 19-20 (be sure to call ahead to make
sure that theres still room available, as the
class is proving to be highly popular). Guest
mixologist Matt Demia from True Syryps will
shake up ve drinks inspired by American
women, from the Molly Pitcher to the Nasty
Woman to the Pink Pussycat.
Dont worry about the hangover.
Theres a long four years ahead of us and
a few drinks this weekend are the least of
our worries, no matter which side of the
political spectrum youre on.
KRISTEN HARTKE is a D.C.-based food
and beverage writer. Follow her kitchen
adventures on Twiiter, @khartke.

3 4 J A NUA RY 2 0 , 2017

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A D V I CE

MICHAEL RADKOWSKY, Psy.D. is a licensed

psychologist who works with gay individuals
and couples in D.C. He can be found online
at personalgrowthzone.com. All identifying
information has been changed for reasons
of condentiality. Have a question? Send it to
Michael@personalgrowthzone.com.

MICHAEL,
Im a pretty shy guy and am very selfconscious about my looks. I recently met
Scott at the small neighborhood coee
shop he manages.
Something about Scotts manner made
me feel comfortable and we struck up
a conversation. He was so kind and
solicitous that he made me feel special,
wanted and needed.
A couple days later I brought a small
gift to thank him for being so thoughtful
and sweet and making my insecurities
seem to disappear. It was late in the
evening and the shop was deserted.
Scott and I were talking when he
suddenly pulled me close to him in an
alcove of the shop and we started kissing
passionately. He told me how much he
liked it because he hadnt had that in a
very long time. Nor I.
We exchanged numbers and made
a plan to have dinner. We texted back
and forth before the dinner and Scott
mentioned that he really liked me but
didnt want to get too close for fear of
hurting me. So we agreed to take it slow.
However, we had a great time at dinner
and then went back to his place where we
made out passionately again.
I texted him when I got home to invite
him for breakfast in the morning and
he replied that the next week would
be better. The following afternoon, I
suggested that it would be great to see
each other, just for a bit, after I got o
work. He responded that he didnt want
to get close because all he did in past
relationships was hurt people when
he realized he wasnt truly in love with
them.He didnt want our situation to be
the same, so he wanted to keep it slow.
I told him that he shouldnt push away
good people who come into his life, and
he responded that Im pushy. I called him

J A N U A R Y 20, 2017 35

to apologize but got his voicemail and he

never responded.
Im thinking of having a bouquet of
owers delivered to the shop to again
apologize for my actions and suggest
dinner. Is this a good idea?

MICHAEL REPLIES:
Hes sent you the message that he isnt
interested. Reaching out to Scott again is
setting you up for more disappointment.
When someone tells you who he is,
what he wants and what he doesnt want,
its a good idea to pay attention. And I
dont think you were paying attention to
Scott when he made it clear that he is not
relationship material for you.
Im not saying this because Scott
wanted to take it slow. Taking it slow is a
ne, thoughtful way to move forward. Im
saying this because:
Scott overtly says he doesnt want to
get too close and decent relationships
require closeness.
Scott is big on mixed messages, saying
he wants to take it slow but then making
out with you. Mixed messages lead to
confusing relationships.
Scott doesnt take responsibility for his
behavior, moving forward with you to a
point, then shaming you for wanting to
continue going in the same direction.
Scott describes an awful track record,
stating that he doesnt fall in love and has
hurt every guy hes been involved with.
Im not faulting you for missing this
data. I understand that youve been
lonely and that Scotts attention felt really
nice. But when you feel special, wanted
and needed by someone you just met,
youre going into a fantasy.
In real life, there is no Prince Charming
who will ride in on a white horse to rescue
you and make you feel secure. Only you
can make yourself feel secure. And that is
what you must work on. Until you do, you
will be vulnerable to thinking that some
guy you just met can make it all OK, and
youll be apt to feel desperate and pressure
him if he shows any sign of backing o.
Of course, this sort of behavior is likely
to push guys away, not only wobbly ones
but also solid men who would like a
relationship of two equals.
I cant tell you fully in an advice column
how to become a more secure person,
but you can start by taking care of
yourself and developing a fullling life
on your own. Doing so will help you be at
ease when you meet people with whom
youd like to spend time, rather than
conveying neediness and having a sense
of desperation if they dont reciprocate.

NOW PLAYING

THE HARD
PROBLEM

Dont get too eager too

fast in a new relationship

BL

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

3 6 J A N UA RY 2 0 , 2017

CA LE N D A R

E-mail calendar items to calendars@washblade.

com two weeks prior to your event. Space is limited so priority is given to LGBT-specic events
or those with LGBT participants. Recurring
events must be re-submitted each time.

TODAY
Gay District meets at the D.C. Center
(2000 14th St., N.W.) tonight from 8:309:30 p.m. The facilitated group discussion
covers building understanding of gay
culture and personal identity and
awareness of community events for LGBT
men between the ages of 18-35 in the D.C.
area. For more details, visit thedccenter.
org or gaydistrict.org.
Touchstone Gallery (901 New York
Ave., N.W.) presents exhibits Whats
Next?, a look on the future based on
present-day culture and issues and
Looking Back: Across Time and Cultures
by Dee Levinson. The exhibits run
through Jan. 29. For more information,
visit touchstonegallery.com.

SATURDAY, JAN. 21
KhushDC hosts its monthly South Asian
LGBT support group meeting at the D.C.
Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) today from
1:30-3:30 p.m. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.
Crystal City Shops (1750 Crystal Dr.,
Arlington, Va.) hosts a 1k Wine and Beer
Walk today from 2-6 p.m. Participants
can choose a wine or beer passport that
allows them to sample either wine or
beer throughout the event. Guests will
stop at hydration stations for their taste
of wine or beer. All beer and wine pours
end at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 online
and $25 at the door. For more details,
visit facebook.com/crystalcityva.

SUNDAY, JAN. 22
Perrys (1811 Columbia Rd., N.W.) hosts
its weekly Sunday drag brunch today
from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The cost is $24.95
for an all-you-can-eat buet. For more
details, visit perrysadamsmorgan.com.
Nellies Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.)
hosts a drag brunch today with shows
at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. For more
information, visit nelliessportsbar.com.

MONDAY, JAN. 23
The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.)
hosts coee drop-in hours this morning
from 10 a.m.-noon for the senior LGBT
community. Older LGBT adults can
come and enjoy complimentary coee
and conversation with other community
members. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.
Us Helping Us (3636 Georgia Ave.,
N.W.) holds a support group for gay
black men to discuss topics that aect
them, share perspectives and have
meaningful conversations. For details,

PHOTO COURTESY OF MCCUTCHEN

Trump by Pete McCutchen is on display now at Touchstone Gallery.

visit uhupil.org.

TUESDAY, JAN. 24
Genderqueer D.C. holds a discussion
group at the D.C. Center (13181 U St.,
N.W.) at 7 p.m. tonight. The group is for
anyone who identies outside of the
gender binary as bigender, agender,
genderuid or any label outside of
cisgender. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 25
The Lambda Bridge Club meets at
7:30 p.m. tonight at the Dignity Center
(721 8th St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge. No

reservations required and new comers

welcome. If you need a partner, call 703407-6540.
SMYAL hosts an open mic night today
from 5-7 p.m. Gay youth can come to
talk openly about the issues they face
with their sexual orientation or gender
identity. For more information, visit
smyal.org.

THURSDAY, JAN. 26
Nice Jewish Boys D.C. hosts a happy
hour at Number Nine (1435 P St., N.W.)
today from 5-8 p.m. There will be two-forone drink specials. For more information,
visit facebook.com/njbdc.
The D.C. Anti-Violence Project hosts a

meeting at the D.C. Center (2000 14th St.,

N.W.) from 7-8:30 p.m. Project members
work to reduce violence against LGBT
individuals through community outreach,
education and assisting members of antiLGBT violence. For more details, visit
thedccenter.org.
The Washington D.C. Pancakes and
Booze Art Show is at Big Chief (2002
Fenwick St., N.E.) tonight from 7 p.m.2 a.m. There will be an underground
art show with more than one hundred
emerging artists live body painting
and DJ sets. There will also be a free
pancake bar. Cover is $5 at the door. VIP
tickets to skip the line are $10 and only
available online. For more information,
visit pancakesandbooze.com.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

A UT O S

J A N U A R Y 20, 2017 37

JAGUAR XE 35T R-SPORT

The Clubman, Jaguar XE

among new standouts
By JOE PHILLIPS
Its hard to escape politics in
Washington, especially this month with
the change in administrations. But the
D.C. auto show rolls into town next week,
with plenty of new models to distract
even hardcore political junkies. Here are
three top cars to scope out.
MINI Cooper S Clubman
$30,000
Mpg: 22 city/31 highway
0 to 60 mph: 7 seconds
The Clubman known as the maxi Mini
because of its stretched wheelbase rst
arrived back in 2008. The slick, second-gen
redo is a foot longer and almost ve inches
wider, giving the driver and passengers
more breathing room. Theres also a
whopping 46 percent increase in rear cargo
space, which is accessed easily via twin
barn-style doors that open automatically.
Fit and nish is better too, with fancier trim,
sportier seats and quieter interior. Even the
stereo sounds better.
The quirky styling and retro toggle
switches remain, as does the Frisbeeshaped infotainment system with its modish
mood ring that changes color. As for safety
gear, the forward collision warning and
emergency braking systems are optional.
But theres no blind-spot monitoring or rear
cross-trac alert, which is disappointing.
Still, the Clubman with superb handling,
acceleration and handling, is a joy to drive,
especially with the spunky turbo and allwheel drive in the high-test S model. You
can even switch between eco, normal and
sport driving modes to mix things up on
your commute home.
Inniti QX30
$30,000.
Mpg: 24 city/33 highway

0-to-60 mph: 6.9 seconds

Think of the Inniti QX30 and Mercedes
GLA as long-lost twins. Both are cuttingedge compact crossovers, with rad
designs and high-end features. And they
actually share lots of automotive DNA:
the QX30 is built on the GLA platform,
with the same engine and many of the
same parts. Yet the QX30 has plenty of
key dierences, including edgier styling,
lower price tag and four trim levels
(versus three for the GLA). The Inniti is
also lighter, faster and more responsive.
And those brakes are simply stunning,
as if they were tuned for Gran Prix racing.
The QX30s interior design may not be as
outr as the exterior, but its comfortable
and rened. Some nice touches include a
at-bottomed steering wheel, Bose audio
and panoramic moonroof. Creature
comforts include automated parking
assist, automatic high-beam headlights
and a 360-degree, birds-eye camera.

Jaguar XE 35t R-Sport

$52,000
Mpg: 20 city/29 highway
0-to-60 mph: 5.1 seconds

Daily Power Lunch $20.95

How hot is Jaguar? Its U.S. sales surged

116 percent last year, thanks to eye-catching
designs and Jags rst-ever crossover. Now
comes the new entry-level XE sport sedan,
which takes direct aim at the BMW 3
Series and Audi A4. The XE delivers nicely,
with punchy acceleration and responsive
feedback. But beware the top-of-the-line
R-Sport with its 340-hp, supercharged V6.
This speed demon is hard to resist,
with performance-tuned suspension, rear
spoiler and artsy alloy wheels. Options
include power rear sunshade, power
trunk lid and head-up display. Theres
also adaptive cruise control, emergency
braking, trac-sign recognition and other
safety items. And tech geeks will love the
pop-up transmission knob, mobile Wi-Fi
hotspot and large 10.2-inch touchscreen
monitor on the infotainment system.

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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

38 J A N U A R Y 20, 2017

BO O KS

IMAGE COURTESY OF THE NEW PRESS

Ask the tough questions before

you head down the aisle

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER has been reading

since she was 3 years old.She lives in Wisconsin
with two dogs and 12,000 books. Reach her at
bookwormsez@yahoo.com.

The box was too small for a toaster.

There was no pony in there, no new
car, not even a stued animal. The box
was too small for all that, but it held so
much more: dreams, ideas, happiness,
congratulations. And if youre lucky, your
wise new anc tucked Before I Do by
Elizabeth F. Schwartz in the box with your
beautiful engagement ring.
So you put a ring on it, made the
proposal, and now youve got a wedding
to plan. Its all quite exciting, but slow
down a minute. If youve grown up
thinking that this day would never come,
then you might notve thought about
what marriage entails.
LGBT people, says Schwartz, have not
lived in a world with premarital guidance
for LGBT couples. We have suered
systemic exclusion.
Just because you can be married now is
no reason that you should, she points out.
Yes, youre in love, and yes, youve been
together forever, but nows the time to be
sure you know exactly what youre in for.
That starts by asking yourselves a series
of dicult but important questions.
Once youve gotten that (perhaps
uncomfortable) part out of the way,
be sure that any past relationships are
completely and legally nished and
do not create confusion with multiple
statuses with multiple people. Know
what paperwork you need in order to
proceed and what questions youll be
asked as youre lling it out.

This pre-wedding period is a good

time to talk to a nancial expert, a tax
consultant and a lawyer. Dont trust
word-of-mouth to protect your nances;
the laws in your state may horrify you if
wedded bliss goes bust. Talk about debt:
how much each of you has and how you
perceive it. Educate yourself on insurance
coverage, asset protection, pre-nups and
estate planning.
And if all this preparation makes you
start to think that maybe marriage isnt
such a good idea after all, Schwartz
says its OK. There are valid reasons for
not taking the plunge and there are
alternatives. One of them may be a much
better t for you.
Getting engaged is an exciting time.
Putting the brakes on everything isnt the
most romantic notion, but its maybe the
most prudent. Before I Do explains why.
Though she says her advice in this
book is appropriate for anyone, author
Elizabeth F. Schwartz focuses more
on gay and lesbian couples, as well as
trans individuals and their prospective
spouses. She does so, in part, because
she feels that theyve only seen marriage
on the fringes.
That somewhat sets this book apart
from the thousands of other weddingplanner books on bookshelves; what
really makes it dierent, however, is
that Schwartz admits her no-nonsense
words may talk prospective brides and
grooms out of having a wedding. Readers
who mightve somehow taken marriage
lightly before will absolutely be convinced
otherwise.
Failure
to
plan
has
terrible
consequences, says Schwartz, and this
book erases that omission. Read Before
I Do, though, and rest assured that you
can toast one another smarter.

BEFORE I DO
By Elizabeth F. Schwartz, afterword by Jim
Obergefell
The New Press
$14.95
20 pages

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

A R T S & EN TE RTA I NMENT

J A N U A RY 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 3 9

Tea Party playbook may have lessons, author claims

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27

and make people aware of it that way,

but as bookstores have less and less
market share, its actually harder to get
something like this out now. A book like
this on a counter priced at $10 is a very
appealing prospect that doesnt quite
have the same appeal on Amazon . so
its become less and less common.
BLADE: Obviously all the chapters
were important to you but did the LGBT
chapter have any special signicance
being gay yourself?
STONE: I cant really say any were less
important than the others but when it
came time to do the book I had some
friends help me; I couldnt do it all myself,
so I hired a few friends to help write,
research and fact check, etc. but I
needed right away to come up with a
template for each chapter and the LGBT
chapter was the one I wrote rst myself
the night I got the book contract staying
up till God knows when in the morning in
order to get the template done because
frankly, it was a chapter I knew really well.
That established the pattern for the
rest of the book.
BLADE: When you mention the
agencies readers may want to support
at the end of that chapter, you mention
GLAAD, GLSEN, Lambda Legal and others
but only sort of mention the Human
Rights Campaign, the largest, under and
dont forget Why?
STONE: (pauses) As you can tell, I have
some issues there.
BLADE: You also wrote The Bush
Survival Bible. Did his presidency end up
being better or worse than you expected
at the outset?
STONE: Well, theyre in fact much
dierent books. The Bush book was
actually kind of a funny book. A mix of
satire and jokes and some serious advice,
but in the guise of a funny book. When
Bush won, I was also depressed, unhappy,
I didnt like it, but at least Bush was in the
ballpark. I didnt agree with it, but there
was no sense that the world was going
to be turned upside down. The Trump
book is not a funny book, its a serious
book because I do have a strong sense
that theres a possibility that the world
could be turned upside down and theres
nothing funny about that.
BLADE: Are there any lessons we can
glean from the Bush years as a sign of
things to come or is it not analogous
enough to justify that sort of thinking?
STONE: Well, again, even with that
Republican administration, even though
we disagreed with so many of their

Author GENE STONE has written 12 books

that have made the New York Times Bestseller
list. Five hit No. 1.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEY STREET BOOKS

policies, it felt nonetheless that there

was some kind of dialogue available
between the right and the left . but Im
not getting that feeling with the Trump
administration. Obviously it hasnt started
yet, but in looking at his cabinet picks and
watching his rst press conference, Im
not getting the sense that things are going
to seem as normal as they seemed during
the Bush administration so its almost like
you look back and think, Gee, could it ever
be worse? and now you realize, Oh man,
it is worse. Its much worse. So Im not
sure the lessons we learned in the Bush
years really apply because were dealing
with an entirely new creature and I dont
think he is going to abide by the rules.
Previously theres been a norm in politics
and civil discussion that both sides, with
a bit of a stretch, have maintained. Were
not seeing that now and thats one of the
things that worries me most.
BLADE: Does Trumps impulsiveness
and reactionary personality lessen the
value we would ordinarily perhaps glean
from all the endless prognostication and
tealeaf reading we see at the outset of
any administration?
STONE: Two months ago, I probably
would have said yeah, but now we have
been seeing a fairly consistent pattern so
Im beginning to think the mixed signals
from Trump are a thing of the past. What
were seeing now is a pretty consistent
formula of appealing to the alt right or
right policies. We havent seen anything

to the left or even the center so its

been pretty consistent. It feels like the
inconsistency of the past is melting into
this kind of dreary consistency.

I also like to think that unless the damage

Trump does to our democracy is really
overwhelming, that the pendulum will
eventually swing back again.

BLADE: Ideology aside, is that a good

sign or do you still feel he could go o on
some crazy limb at any point?
STONE: Yeah, the latter. Obviously we
dont know whats going to happen till it
happens, but all the signals so far have
been pretty negative if not very negative.

BLADE: Did progressives get too

complacent? If this shakes us from our
complacency, is that the silver lining?
STONE: I agree with that. I think
liberals have a tendency to think that
were right. We know whats right, were
kind and decent and empowering. Thats
the way humans are supposed to be
but unfortunately, thats not the way all
humans are. We did get very complacent
having a terric president for eight years
and this is going to shock us out of our
complacency and hopefully make us
work in a way we saw the Tea Party work.
As much as I dont agree with anything
they stood for, I admire the way they
got their objectives into the policies of
America and we need to do the same.
If my book is really about anything, its
about ghting back and nding ways to
take on the Trump administration, not
by waiting four years to vote against it,
but by turning every day of your life into
some kind of act of resistance. If theres
anything thats going to make me happy,
and Ive heard it a few times already, it will
be to hear people say, I read your book
and I joined an organization or I donated
money or now Im going to go march in
the womens protest. The point of the
book is to try to get people to move.

BLADE: What do you think was the

biggest factor in Hillarys loss?
STONE: Thats something we always
want to do in the media, and Im as much
to blame as anybody else, but we want to
talk about the thing, the one thing, that
made this happen but I would say it was
really a combination of the Comey letter,
perhaps faulty campaigning on her part,
the country wanting change and any
number of other factors. I really think it
was the imperfect storm of factors and
remember she did win the popular
vote. It was very close. Hes also coming
in with the lowest favorability ratings
since polling began.
BLADE: By design, this book will have a
short shelf life. Are you OK with that?
STONE: Thats just the nature of a book
like this nobody will be reading this in
two years. I write a lot of books. I co-wrote
a book on how not to die based on plantbased diets and its sort of an antidote to
the major causes of death in America and
I like to think that book will be around
for many, many years to come. Id be
very happy if all the sales of this book
took place in the next six months. For the
lessons here to be applied, people need
to read the book now.
BLADE: There are a lot of things one
could point to eight years of Obama,
the Obergefell ruling, the outcry from the
Trayvon Martin case and so on, that made
it feel like wed really turned a corner
on the straight, white, old boys club in
politics then bam, in one fell swoop the
old boys club came roaring back to win
the White House and both chambers of
Congress. Is it just that entrenched or
something else?
STONE: It does speak to entrenchment
yes, but it also points to another factor
thats been prevalent in American politics
since the beginning, its back and forth
nature. Carter to Reagan, Bush to Clinton,
Clinton to Bush, Bush to Obama its
been a lot of back and forth. And also the
fact that they barely made it in this time
makes me hopeful. I mean here we had
a centrist, liberal woman running with
very, very negative favorability ratings
and yet she came really close to winning.

BLADE: But how much can really be

accomplished in this environment. How
was the Tea Party able to become such
a force while, say, the Occupy movement
seemed like it had diculty sustaining
itself or harnessing that energy into
something with any measurable impact?
Is the right just better at mobilizing than
the left? How can you be eective when
youre not the group in power at any
given moment?
STONE: Well, I think one of the things
that motivated the Tea party is that it
didnt have a titular head. You couldnt
say so-and-so ran everything because
it was such a grass roots thing taking
place in so many parts of the country.
We need to learn from that. You dont
need a powerful leader. You dont need
a spokesperson. Every one of us can be
a spokesperson just as everybody in the
Tea Party felt they could go to the media
and say whatever they wanted, we can
do the same. I also think politics tend
to trickle up from the local level and we
just dont seem to get that. We get all
excited about presidents and senators
but it starts with local representatives
and school boards. We just dont seem
to organize on the local level the way the
Tea Party can do.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

4 0 J A NUA RY 2 0 , 2017

P H O T O S BY MI CH A E L KE Y

The 2017 Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather competition was held at the Hyatt Regency at Capitol Hill on Sunday, Jan. 15. Martel Brown, Jr. of Pittsburgh took home the title.

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W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

Alexandria

7614 Holiday Drive

$969,900

This stunning home has been recently remodeled and expanded

to showcase an open floor plan and beautiful kitchen with all
the bells and whistles. Perfect for entertaining! The first floor
family room, better known as the Breezeway, has exposed
brick walls and leads to the enormous attached two-car garage.
A haven of its own, the glorious master suite features vaulted
ceilings, a gallery hall with wall-length windows and patio
doors that open to the pergola covered slate patio and hot tub.
Three additional bedrooms on this level have large closets. One
bedroom has a dramatic vaulted ceiling and French doors that
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There is a full finished basement with a third full bath as well.
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Robin Arnold
703.966.5457
robinarnoldsells.com

When You Think Real Estate, Think Robin!

W
A SH I NGTO N B LA DE.C
WA
D E.C OM

N MBE
U A RYR 2009,, 22001176 4433
D EJ ACE

REALESTATE

Visitors will find D.C. is no swamp

How will Trump impact real estate market?
Were a city of diversity,
tolerance and inclusion
By VALERIE M. BLAKE
If you havent noticed the street closures,
excess law enforcement, or the influx of
red-capped tourists, then you may not realize that today marks the inauguration of
the
45th President
of the
United States.
Biggest
risk is
reduction
Its also possible that youve seen pigs
in fedl
workforce
flying
overhead
or that youve been living
under a rock for the past year or two.
all theGOODHART
pomp underDuSHUTTLE
some strange
ByWith
ALLISON
circumstances, some of my friends and
colleagues
to take
time
to
Its now have
been opted
a month
since
theout
elecsmell
thethe
roses
out elsewhere.
tion and
dustand
haschill
(mostly)
settled.So,
They
are sniffing
in places
like Aruba,
everyone
is asking,
what impact
will Hothe
nolulu
and Cancun, where
thethe
roses
smell
new administration
have on
market?
like
and
rum. who you talk to.
Ourcoconut
answer?It
depends
Meanwhile
in of
D.C.,
celebratory,
Much of theback
impact
the election
and
social
protest activities
are
changeand
in administration
is basedalike
on emoplanned
for this weekend,
prompting
tion and consumers
reactions to
the elecpeople
acrossThis
the iscountry
to flock
tion andfrom
its results.
one of the
only
to
our fair
andbeen
allowable
those
us with
factors
wecity
have
toofmeasure
athus
spare
to make
a small fortune
by
far.room
In typical
Washington
fashion,
offering
it as
a weekend
rental.
weve had
calls
from clients
on both sides
during
an reviews.
inauguration
of Ordinarily
the aisle, with
very mixed
weekend,
bedtoand
esWhile itshotels,
too soon
tell,breakfast
so far weve
tablishments
and furnished
noticed no discernible
changeapartments
in the marare
in advance,
but likeclients.
everyket booked
or with far
most
of our current
thing
else seem
thats to
outhave
of the
ordinary
this
Emotions
leveled
o since
year,
are
stilland
rental
accommodathose there
rst few
days
we anticipate
they
tions
available.
will continue
to do so as time goes on.
As
this major
writing,change
there are
726Interest
listings
Theofonly
so far:
on
Craigslist,
a favorite
rates
are on the
rise. advertising venue.
While
re-posts,
there
stillexa
The some
majorare
tangible
change
weare
have
sufficient
of homes,
condos,
spare
periencednumber
has been
a notable
increase
in
bedrooms
and Dont
sofas worry,
to allowits
the
toptime
2 perinterest rates.
not
to

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

The full impact of the DONALD TRUMP administration remains unknown, but a reduction in
the federal will
workforce
certainly
hurttothe
D.C.ormarket.
Thousands
flock towould
D.C. this
weekend
party
protest.

panic. For the last few years, rates have

cent,
middle
class,
andso
the
been the
at truly
historic
lows,
welast-minute
have been
road-trippers
find
placeWe
to stay.
anticipating a to
rise
in arates.
are inclined
a mere
$2,000
pera
to For
thinkexample,
rates will for
continue
to rise,
but at
night,
you can
a lovely
slow pace.
Thatrent
being
said, if two-bedroom,
youre thinking
two-bath
condominium
a garage
about a move
sometime in with
the near
future,
parking
space
along
thetoUact.
Street Corridor.
now might
be the
time
Want to spend just as much for less
space? Try a studio apartment in ColumWhere do we go from here?
bia Heights for $6,000 for the week.
If
you need
something
bit cheapera
Before
the election,
we aanticipated
and
aremarket
traveling
withlead-up
friendstowho
dont
slower
in the
it and
an
mind
a two-night
active sharing
late fall space,
market.theres
In reality,
we saw
stay
in a private
room evenly
that sleeps
this year
track pretty
with three
other

years in terms of business in the fall maron

Hill for
$1,000
you slower
can take
ket.Capitol
If anything,
it may
haveorbeen
in
athe
spot
a couchmonths
in the living
for a
lateonsummer
and aroom
bit busier
mere
$300 per
night
per
couch.
than usual
in the
nal
month
prior to the
HaventWell
hit see
yourwhat
price
range yet?
You
election.
December
brings.
may
want
to stay far
crowd
Our
prediction
forfrom
the the
New
Yearbut
is
still
come
into the
day.coverIf so,
similar.
Despite
allcity
of for
the the
media
try
room with
a sharedand
bath
for $125
ageaaround
the election
administraper
Fairfax,
where
tionperson
change,inwe
dontVirginia
anticipate
anyyour
mahost
will let you
on the
front
porch.
jor changes.
Wesmoke
do expect
some
possible
A parking
space
the Navy
Yardhow
can
growing
pains
as near
our area
decides
be
rented
for amight
daily rate
This is
quickly
change
comeofto$100.
Washington
one
of the
best
there,
espe and
what
thatbargains
change out
might
mean
for
cially
you plan on
sleeping
in your
car
as
them.ifDemocrats
may
be a little
more
pes-

I did at Mardi Gras in New Orleans in 1973.

Interestingly, you can even rent a fourbedroom, four-bath, bargain-priced penthouse at National Harbor where you
have no requirement to attend a sales
presentation unless you desire. (Hmmm.
Think Ill go up for the inauguration, listen
to a two-hour pitch and buy a timeshare
while Im there.)
I hope that people will treat our homes
gently and with respect. Some hosts
have
wisely
No parties
among
simistic
aboutposted
the economy
while Republitheir
rules.
arent anyThis
wellcans may
be Since
a little there
more optimistic.
is
known
rock bands
perform,
Washington,so
that iscoming
nothingtonew.
that
shouldnt
belook
a problem,
there
Heres
what to
out for inbut
monitorwill,
of course,
be private
drinking
ing where
we go
from here:
The games.
biggest
My
game
wordlocal
is unprecedented
and I
threat
to our
market is a potential
should
be sloshed
a.m. workforce,
major reduction
inby
the10federal
I have noshutdown.
balls, but Ifthere
orRegrettably,
another government
that
are
scalpers
ontoCraigslist
willing
to sell me
doesnt
come
pass, there
shouldnt
be
tickets
to some
if I will
meet
in D.C.
any major
impact
from
thethem
election
or
with
cashadministration
in hand. Unfortunately,
theres
the new
on our housing
not
a ball
to be found
in all
of D.C.,
market
orgown
local economy.
If the
promised
so
Flowers
towe
loan
me
taxunless
breaksNina
do come
intowants
eect,
might
one
hers,
Ill have
to pass.
evenofsee
a small
surge
in the market as
I will alsofeel
notlarger
be hosting
anymonthly
strangpaychecks
and the
ers
in my
It just
feelsintoo
scary
budget
inhome.
ates. The
change
interest
out
there
right now. to
Butwatch,
whether
we area
rates
is something
though
celebrating,
marching,
or much
just watching
all
slow rise likely
wont do
to change
the hoopla
market.from a safe distance, we have
theStay
perfect
opportunity
to showtothat
D.C.
tuned!
We will continue
monitor
is
a swamp
but know
a cityifof
diversity,
tolthenot
market
to let you
anything
changerance,
and
es. In theinclusion
meantime,
itssolidarity.
business as usual.
Perhaps the people who visit us this
week will see the value of that. One can
ALLISON
only
hope.GOODHART DUSHUTTLE is lead
agent for The Goodhart Group, Alexandrias

and McEnearney Associates top producValerie

M. Blake
be reached
202-246ingreal estate
team.can
In2015,
shewasatnationally
8602
or Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com.
Eachnamed
Keller
recognized
byRealtor Magazine, being
Williams
Realty
office
is
independently
owned
and
to its 30 Under 30 club. Reach her at703-362operated.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
3221orallison@thegoodhartgroup.com.

44 J A N U A R Y 20, 2017

W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

REALESTATE

An 8-year review of the D.C. real estate market

City has come a long way
since Great Recession
By TED SMITH
A new year is a good time to look back, so
in this column I am looking at various trends
in District real estate for the last eight years. I
chose eight years because 2009 is when the
D.C. market hit its bottom and began the
climb back up to the market where we find
ourselves today, basically the market we have
had since 2012.
Here I want to look at trends and statistics for 4 categories: active listings, sold listings, median sold prices and days on market
(DOM). Ill discuss each of these categories in
this column.
Active listings. We have seen a decreasing
number of active listings since 2009. This number dropped the most year-over-year in 2012
(by almost 33 percent!), when we began the
current sellers market. Since 2013, the number of active listings has only fallen or risen by
plus or minus 100 listings each year, which has
kept the market in a sustained state of limited
inventory to sell. The average American used
to sell their home every 4.9 years; since the
Great Recession, that number climbed to every nine years. This is mainly due to uncertainty about the real estate market and about the
larger financial markets. Additionally, in a situation of tight housing inventory, potential sellers are holding back because they are not sure
theyll be able to find a home they like as much
as their current home. So it is not uncommon these days for sellers to find a replacement home first, and then to put their existing
home on the market. In the greater DMV real
estate market, we are not seeing much use of
the buyers contingency to make the purchase
of a new home contingent on the sale of their
existing one. Selling their home is easy; its
finding a new one to buy thats difficult!
Sold listings and median sold prices. The
number of sold listings has slowly risen the
last 8 years, from the 500s range from 20092012 to the 600s range in 2013-2016. 2016
has been a good year for real estate sales;
we saw the greatest number of active listings
since 2012, and the greatest number of sold
listings and the highest median sold prices
since the real estate market recovery began in
D.C. in 2009. The current median sold price in
the District (as of December 2016) is $550,000.
Days on market (DOM). Days on market
measure how long a property stays on the
market before there is a contract on it. This
measure is a good inverse indicator of how
hot a real estate market is (i.e. the fewer the
days on the market, the hotter the market).
This number has fallen fairly steadily from
around 50 DOM in 2009 to around 15 DOM in
2013. For the past three years, it has hovered

2017 Provided by MRIS as of Jan. 11, 2017

between 14-15 DOM.

Two categories not represented here are
also of interest:
Median price to original list price ratio. This
measure is also an indicator of the competitiveness of real estate sales market. The closer
to 100 percent (i.e. a home sold for its original
list price), the more competition for sale properties there is. Since 2013, this ratio has hovered at or above 100 percent, with the winter
months showing typically slight dips (but only
by 1 or 2 percent).
Months of supply. This measure shows the
time it would take to sell off the existing inventory of homes if no new listings were added
to the market. The formula to calculate this
figure divides the total number of homes for
sale last month (active listings) by the number
of home sold in that month (sold listings). For
example, in December 2016, there were 1080
active listings and 632 sold listings. So, dividing
1080 by 632 gives us 1.70; that means it would
take 1.7 months to sell off the December inventory if no new listings were added to the
market. What does this measure signify? The
lower the number, the quicker the sale time
of the existing inventory of homes, and the
more competition for those homes. Typically
a three-month supply of homes indicates a
balanced market between sellers and buyers,
while less than 3 indicates a sellers market
and more than 3 indicates a buyers market.
At certain points in the District real estate market this year, there was a .75 months supply
of homes!
So there you have it, an eight-year review of
D.C. real estate statistics since the market recovery began. As I mentioned previously, we
are still very much in a sellers marketlargely
because of the short supply of housing. But
buyers, take heart: Were seeing more new
housing developments in and around the
District. And if you buy within these next two
months, youll be able to take advantage of the
lowest prices of the year in the winter market.
Happy hunting!
Ted Smith is a licensed Realtor with Real
Living | at Home specializing in mid-city D.C.
Reach him at TedSmithSellsDC@rlathome.com
and follow him on www.Facebook.com/MidCityDCLife, www.Youtube.com/TedSmithSellsDC
or @TedSmithSellsDC. You can also join him on
monthly tours of mid-city neighborhood open
houses, as well as monthly seminars geared
toward first-time homebuyers. Sign up at www.
meetup.com/DCMidCity1stTimeHomeBuyers/.

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4 6 J A NUA RY 2 0 , 2017

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Not Just Another

WHITE HOUSE
Alexandria $1,849,000
Stately 6-bedroom home
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Nanny suite, screening
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Open Sun 1/22 2-4pm

J A N U A RY 2 0 , 2 0 1 7 4 7