Metro Weekly - 02-13-14 - Melinda Chateauvert

2 FEBRUARY 13, 2014 METROWEEKLY.
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3 METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 13, 2014
4 FEBRUARY 13, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM
Justice Department Goes Further
Eric Holder uses HRC gala to conrm expansion of federal recognition of same-sex
marriages in all states
Holder
by Justin Snow
T
HE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
will further expand federal
recognition of same-sex mar-
riages to the greatest extent
possible under the law, Attorney Gen-
eral Eric Holder announced in a speech
Saturday night, Feb. 8.
According to a new policy memo-
randum, issued Monday, Holder will
formally instruct Justice Department
employees to recognize same-sex mar-
riages in federal legal affairs such as
bankruptcy cases, prison visits and court
proceedings.
This means that, in every court-
house, in every proceeding, and in every
place where a member of the Depart-
ment of Justice stands on behalf of the
United States they will strive to ensure
that same-sex marriages receive the
same privileges, protections, and rights
as opposite-sex marriages under federal
law, Holder said at a Human Rights
Campaign gala in New York City. And
this policy has important, real-world
implications for same-sex married cou-
ples that interact with the criminal jus-
tice system.
The updated policy is expected to
apply in states that do not recognize
same-sex marriages due to its applica-
tion to federal matters. Among the new
policys implications, Holder listed the
following:
1) The Justice Department will rec-
ognize that same-sex spouses of indi-
viduals involved in civil and criminal
cases should have the same legal rights
as all other married couples including
the right to decline to give testimony
that might violate the marital privilege.
Under this policy, even in states where
same-sex marriages are not recognized,
the federal government will not use state
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views as a basis to object to someone in
a same-sex marriage invoking this right.
2) In bankruptcy cases, the United
States Trustee Program will take the
position that same-sex married couples
should be treated in the same manner
as opposite-sex married couples. This
means that, among other things, same-sex
married couples should be eligible to le
for bankruptcy jointly, that certain debts
to same-sex spouses or former spouses
should be excepted from discharge, and
that domestic support obligations should
include debts, such as alimony, owed to a
former same-sex spouse.
3) Federal inmates in same-sex mar-
riages will also be entitled to the same
rights and privileges as inmates in oppo-
site-sex marriages. This includes visita-
tion by a spouse, inmate furloughs to
be present during a crisis involving a
spouse, escorted trips to attend a spouses
funeral, correspondence with a spouse,
and compassionate release or reduction
in sentence based on the incapacitation
of an inmates spouse.
4) Moreover, the Justice Department
will recognize same-sex couples for a
number of benets programs administered
by the department, including the Radia-
tion Exposure Compensation Program and
the September 11th Victim Compensation
Fund. The Public Safety Ofcers Ben-
ets Program, which provides death ben-
ets and educational benets to surviving
spouses of public safety ofcers who suffer
catastrophic or fatal injuries in the line of
duty, will also be impacted.
When any law enforcement ofcer
falls in the line of duty or is gravely
injured, the federal government should
stand by that heros spouse no matter
whether that spouse is straight or gay,
Holder said.
The announcement comes as the Jus-
tice Department has sought to consult
with a number of federal departments
and agencies to implement the Supreme
Courts June ruling striking down Sec-
tion 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Since that ruling, the federal government
has sought to extend rights and ben-
ets to legally married same-sex couples.
Just last month, Holder announced the
Obama administration would grant fed-
eral benets to the approximately 1,300
same-sex marriages performed in Utah
between Dec. 20, 2013 when a dis-
trict court struck down Utahs same-sex
marriage ban as unconstitutional and
Jan. 6, 2014 when the U.S. Supreme
Court halted further same-sex marriages
in Utah pending an appeal.
According to HRC President Chad
Grifn, Holders announcement will
change the lives of countless committed
gay and lesbian couples for the better.
While the immediate effect of these
policy decisions is that all married gay
couples will be treated equally under
the law, the long-term effects are more
profound, Grifn said in a statement.
Attorney General Holder continues to
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Now online at MetroWeekly.com
Poliglot: Nevada drops marriage-ban defense
Stage: Brilliant Best Man at Keegan
Justice Department Goes Further
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that time.
[A]s all-important as the fight
against racial discrimination was then,
and remains today, know this: My com-
mitment to confronting discrimination
based on sexual orientation or gen-
der identity runs just as deep, Holder
said. Just as was true during the civil
rights movement of the 1960s, the stakes
show incredible leadership, and this latest
action cements his place in history along-
side Robert F. Kennedy, another Attorney
General who crusaded for civil rights.
In his speech Saturday, Holder the
nations rst African-American attorney
general made allusions to the Civil
Rights movement and Kennedys steer-
ing of the Justice Department during
involved in this generations struggle for
LGBT equality could not be higher. Then,
as now, nothing less than our countrys
founding commitment to the notion of
equal protection under the law was at
stake. And so the Justice Departments
role in confronting discrimination must
be as aggressive today as it was in Robert
Kennedys time. l
FEBRUARY 13, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM
Remembering
Deoni Jones
Family, friends mark two-year anniversary of transgender
womans fatal stabbing, express anger over delay in
prosecuting accused killer
by John Riley
I
TS BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE
Deoni Jones, a 23-year old trans-
gender woman, was stabbed in her
face and killed while waiting at a
Northeast D.C. bus stop. For family and
friends of Jones, as well as for the Dis-
tricts transgender community and allies,
the mourning continues.
On Saturday, Feb. 8, a range of local
political leaders, respected activists, rep-
resentatives of various LGBT organiza-
tions and family and friends of Jones and
two other murdered transgender women,
Elexuis Nicole Woodland and Nana-Boo
Mack, gathered at the St. Luke Center, of
St. Lukes Catholic Church, in Southeast
D.C. The location is just across East Capi-
tol Street from the bus stop where Jones
lost her life two years ago. In a memorial
service that combined prayer, singing, po-
litical speeches and other tributes, attend-
ees recalled the lives of those lost to anti-
trans violence in the District.
The memorial service came just one
day after D.C. Superior Court Judge Rob-
ert E. Morin found Joness accused killer,
Gary Niles Montgomery, competent to
stand trial for the third time. Since his ar-
rest in February 2012, Montgomery has
been subjected to at least four intensive
mental-observation hearings, with psy-
chiatrists and mental health experts from
St. Elizabeths Hospital nding him able
to comprehend the extent and severity of
the charges against him, and Morin ruling
twice before in March 2012 and April
2013 that Montgomery was competent
to stand trial.
However, the start of pretrial proceed-
ings was delayed after Montgomerys
legal team, attorneys Colle J. Latin and
Anthony Matthews, objected to initial
ndings and asked for further competen-
cy hearings. Subsequent evaluation re-
turned a designation of not competent
on Dec. 2, 2013, the last time Montgomery
appeared in person in court.
Friday, Feb. 7, both sides nally agreed
to a further nding that Montgomery is
competent to stand trial, prompting Mo-
rin to schedule a status hearing for March
28 and a preliminary trial date of Oct. 6,
2014 32 months and four days since
Jones was killed.
The delay in prosecuting Montgomery,
who faces a charge of felony rst-degree
murder while armed, has rankled the local
transgender community and its allies, as
well as Joness family and closest friends.
In an interview with Metro Weekly, Al-
vin Bethea, Joness father, said he and his
family were frustrated about the slow pace
of proceedings leading to trial and have
been angry with both the defense and pros-
ecuting lawyers from the U.S. Attorneys
Ofce for the District of Columbia as de-
lays have mounted over the past two years.
What Deonis mother and I are un-
happy about is really the lack of empa-
thy, the lack of sympathy, the disrespect
and the lack of professionalism that
the United States Attorneys Ofce has
shown towards us, as family members,
Bethea said. We think that, again, the
prosecution team has just not shown any
empathy, sympathy, and to some degree,
a measure of disrespect toward us, to the
extent that we get the impression they
blame us for what happened to Deoni, or
they blame Deoni for what happened to
her. And so, for that reason, weve asked
for a new prosecution team. Weve asked
those prosecutors, Holly Schick and Jen-
nifer Kerkhoff, that they be replaced by
somebody who has some respect for us.
Bethea said his family is still grieving
over the loss of his daughter, noting that
his other daughters still sleep in Joness
bed at night because they miss their older
sister. Bethea questioned why it seems to
be taking so long to move forward with
court proceedings against Montgomery.
Our hearts are just full of grief,
Bethea said. Like I told the judge, and
Ive told their particular supervisors
down at the U.S. Attorneys Ofce, any-
time youve got victims coming to you
like this, something is wrong with your
ofce. I sent [Ron Machen] an email ex-
pressing our displeasure. I have not got-
ten any response back from him. I led a
complaint with the Civil Rights Division
asking that the prosecution team be re-
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Judean Jones
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failed to show any remorse.
From all witnesses and all accounts,
he was down at Benco strip mall, panhan-
dling, says Bethea. When he left Benco
and sat down beside Deoni at the bus
stop, he saw Deoni was transgender and
decided to take advantage of it.
Requests for comment from the anti-
violence group Gays and Lesbians Op-
posing Violence (GLOV), which had been
tracking the progress of the case, were
not returned as of press time.
In spite of the sorrow surrounding the
loss of Jones and the other transgender
women memorialized at the Feb. 8 ser-
vice, there were some hopeful notes as
attendees applauded some of the recent
triumphs of the transgender community.
In particular, the memorial service
heaped praise upon several of the citys
political leaders who were in atten-
dance, from Mayor Vincent Gray (D)
to Councilmembers Tommy Wells (D-
Ward 6), Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), David
Grosso (I-At-Large) and David Cata-
nia (I-At-Large). Catania, in particular,
earned accolades for his role as the chief
sponsor of a bill, named posthumously
for Jones, which allows transgender
people to more easily obtain new birth
certicates and vital documents that
accurately reect their name and gen-
der identity. Following two unanimous
votes by the D.C. Council, Gray signed
the bill into law in August of last year.
Longtime local transgender activist
Earline Budd added that the birth-certi-
cate bill is already having a positive effect
for some transgender women, speci-
cally those on Medicaid, because if they
can obtain a birth certicate identifying
them as female, Medicaid has agreed to
cover the cost of hormones. Budd also
announced the formation of the Deoni
Jones Foundation, an organization that
will seek to engage the local community
around transgender issues. The founda-
tion will hold events on a regular basis to
raise awareness of issues of importance to
the transgender community.
More comes out of this passing of one
of greatness, as Deoni was, Budd said.
In addressing the crowd at the me-
morial service, Catania related the story
of a trip to Israel where he was shown
a ravine, a place where during biblical
times people were tortured and killed,
which locals called Hell. Catania drew
the parallel to that place and the idea of
hell on earth, where misery and hatred
are allowed to fester and be carried out
against others, including innocent vic-
placed, and, again, they are refusing to
replace them. They said Thats our best,
and I told them if thats your best, well
settle for your less. We cannot adequately
work with them on the prosecution of our
daughters murder.
When approached about Betheas
comments, a spokesman for the U.S. At-
torneys Ofce issued a statement defend-
ing the prosecutors actions and efforts to
reach out to Joness family and the larger
LGBT community in the District.
The U.S. Attorneys Ofce is committed
to achieving justice for the murder of Deoni
Jones, spokesman Bill Miller said in the
statement. The attorneys on our prosecu-
tion team have shown great dedication and
are diligently moving forward with prepa-
rations for the trial next fall of the man ac-
cused of rst-degree/premeditated murder
while armed in Ms. Joness death.
Our ofce has worked closely with the
family of Ms. Jones, as it does with other
families of victims of crime, and we once
again extend condolences for their loss,
Miller continued. Homicide Section su-
pervisors have spoken to and met with the
family on a number of occasions and be-
lieve that the case is appropriately staffed
with two very experienced prosecutors.
More generally, the U.S. Attorneys
Ofce has done extensive outreach with
the LGBT community, and most recently
has focused efforts on the transgender
community. A recent diversity forum, co-
sponsored by our ofce, featured a pre-
sentation on transgender issues led by a
community activist.
Bethea also had harsh words for the
defense, accusing Montgomerys lawyers
of piling on to what this individual did to
our daughter and saying that the delays
were another injustice adding to the
trauma of losing a child.
Deonis mother and I are suffering
with the constant continuations and no
closure, at least on that aspect of what
happened to Deoni. We have to continue
to go down there to the court. We have
to continue to look this individual in the
face, and justice has not come yet. And
thats torture for us.
Matthews, who works for the public
defenders ofce, and whose past clients
include Derrick Lewis, sentenced to 10
years in prison in 2004 for the August
2003 shooting of a transgender woman,
Emonie Kiera Spaulding, did not return a
request for comment as of press time.
Bethea says he believes that not only
does Montgomery understand his actions
on the night Jones was killed, but has
tims like Jones.
We have a choice, each of us, whether
or not we internalize fear, whether or not
we embrace it, and how we act upon it,
or whether or not we reject it, Catania
said, before shifting to honor Joness fam-
ily for their strength and dedication to
LGBT rights even after their daughters
death. You bring us together to remind
us that the devil and hell on earth cannot
divide this community, or keep this fam-
ily down.
Speaking on behalf of Councilmem-
ber Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), who
helped shepherd the Deoni Jones Birth
Certicate Equaly Amendment Act
through one of two crucial council com-
mittees, Alexanders senior policy advi-
sor, Ronald King, urged those present to
combat anti-transgender and anti-LGBT
actions and attitudes.
We have to stand up when any of us
is attacked, because its an attack on all of
us, King said. We cannot allow this ha-
tred, this hell on earth to continue.
Both Wells and local transgender ac-
tivist Jeri Hughes spoke of how D.C. has
made progress in the area of transgender
rights, but still has far to go. While Wells
said progress has been made, but not
near enough, Hughes pointed out that
the District has more transgender wom-
en housed in the D.C. Department of Cor-
rections than the number of transgender
women who are working for the District
government. Hughes urged the crowd to
be kind, be compassionate, and do the
right thing to combat both the hatred
directed at members of the transgender
community and the poverty that often
hinders the success and well-being of
transgender people.
The memorial service was punctu-
ated by musical interludes, including
a rendition of Amy Grants All I Ever
Have to Be, sung by Bobbi Strang, and a
group sing-along to Whitney Houstons
The Greatest Love of All in memory of
Joness decision to live openly and con-
dently as a transgender woman in the
years preceding her death.
Deonis mother, Judean Jones,
thanked the organizers and those in at-
tendance for honoring her daughters life,
and invited people to join again in years
time for another memorial service.
For all those who are out here, I want
you to come back, because its going to get
bigger, its going to get better, and were
going to take this thing all the way, until it
cant go no more, she said. I love you all,
and thank you. l
marketplace
Its Mega Networking Time
Professional partnerships amplify the Chambers 6th annual LGBT
networking and social event
Sterling Washington (center) of the Mayors Ofce of GLBT Affairs greets attendees at the
2013 MegaNetworking event
by Jessica Vaughan
F
OR THE SIXTH YEAR IN
A row, the Capital Area Gay
and Lesbian Chamber of Com-
merce (CAGLCC) will host
the LGBT Mega Networking and Social
Event at Town Danceboutique. The
event, coming up Feb. 26, has grown
by leaps and bounds every year with
more than 1,600 area movers and shakers
attending in 2013.
There is uniqueness to us that makes
this event successful, says Mark Guen-
ther, executive director of the Chamber.
In our community, one can make a
deep professional connection based on
perceived shared backgrounds or sen-
sitivity to our common cause that could
outweigh all other factors.
This local affair is made possible by
partnerships with community organiza-
tions and local businesses. The Chamber
has partnered with more than 30 LGBT
networking and social groups to get the
word out, including ofcial community
partners, who sign on for free and add
their support and listservs to the effort.
The DC Center, D.C.s LGBT com-
munity center, is one of these important
partners. In fact, The DC Center recently
relocated to 2000 14th St. NW with room
for a new ofce for CAGLCC.
Were thrilled that the Capital Area
Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Com-
merce has joined us at our new facil-
ity, says David Mariner, the centers
executive director. We always wel-
come the opportunity work with them.
The Chamber plays an important role in
building our collective strength in the
business sector.
Those sponsors and vendors who
make the evening possible offer all man-
ner of perks to attendees. The evening
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also includes a sweepstakes rafe for
fabulous prizes. One sponsor, TD Bank,
is a longtime supporter of LGBT causes.
Nationally, TD participated in 14 pride
parades in 2013. Mega Networking is just
one of the local events across the country
that they will invest in this year.
Through this extensive networking
with partners, sponsors and organiza-
tions, plus a major social media cam-
paign, Mega Networking lives up to its
name with a growing attendance every
year. The personal connections, of
course, are the highlight of the evening.
On this night, Town Danceboutique is
not just the hot place to party, but its also
a place for professionals to celebrate and
socialize.
The combination of professional
networking and fun draws many people
from the community who might not usu-
ally nd themselves together in such a
festive atmosphere.
Coming together for this event is a
priceless opportunity, says Guenther,
either to just connect on a social level or
to meet people that will one day help you
in your career.
The 6th Annual Mega Networking and
Social Event is Wednesday, Feb. 26, 6:30 to
8:30pm, at Town Danceboutique, 2009 8th
St. NW. For more information or to regis-
ter, visit caglcc.org. Its free and open to all.
The Chamber Means Business. For more
information visit caglcc.org or
facebook.com/CAGLCC. On Twitter,
follow @DCLGBTBIZ
Jessica Vaughan is a D.C.-based freelance
writer and a member of CAGLCC. l
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Its Mega Networking Time
DC FRONT RUNNERS running/walking/social
club welcomes all levels for exercise in a fun and
supportive environment, socializing afterward.
Meet 9:30 a.m., 23rd & P Streets NW, for a walk; or
10 a.m. for fun run. dcfrontrunners.org.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16
ADVENTURING outdoors group hikes 5 moderate
trail miles, Great Falls Park, Va. Bring beverages,
lunch, sturdy boots, transportation/trip fees.
Carpool 8:30 a.m., Dupont Circle Metro, north
entrance. Devon, 202-368-3379. adventuring.org.
WEEKLY EVENTS
LGBT-inclusive ALL SOULS MEMORIAL
EPISCOPAL CHURCH celebrates Low Mass at 8:30
a.m., High Mass at 11 a.m. 2300 Cathedral Ave. NW.
202-232-4244, allsoulsdc.org.
DIGNITY WASHINGTON offers Roman Catholic
Mass for the LGBT community. 6 p.m., St.
Margarets Church, 1820 Connecticut Ave. NW. All
welcome. Sign interpreted. dignitynova.org.
FRIENDS MEETING OF WASHINGTON meets for
worship, 10:30 a.m., 2111 Florida Ave. NW, Quaker
House Living Room (next to Meeting House on
Decatur Place), 2nd oor. Special welcome to
lesbians and gays. Handicapped accessible from
Phelps Place gate. Hearing assistance. quakersdc.org.
INSTITUTE FOR SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT,
God-centered new age church & learning center.
Sunday Services and Workshops event. 5419 Sherier
Place NW. isd-dc.org.
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF
NORTHERN VIRGINIA services at 11 a.m., led by
Rev. Onetta Brooks. Childrens Sunday School, 11
a.m. 10383 Democracy Lane, Fairfax. 703-691-0930,
mccnova.com.
NATIONAL CITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, inclusive
church with GLBT fellowship, offers gospel worship,
8:30 a.m., and traditional worship, 11 a.m. 5 Thomas
Circle NW. 202-232-0323, nationalcitycc.org.
ST. STEPHEN AND THE INCARNATION, an
interracial, multi-ethnic Christian Community
offers services in English, 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., and
in Spanish at 5:15 p.m. 1525 Newton St. NW. 202-
232-0900, saintstephensdc.org.
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF
SILVER SPRING invites LGBTQ families and
individuals of all creeds and cultures to join the
church. Services 9:15 and 11:15 a.m. 10309 New
Hampshire Ave. uucss.org.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17
WEEKLY EVENTS
The DC Center hosts COFFEE DROP-IN FOR THE
SENIOR LGBT COMMUNITY. 10 a.m.-noon. 2000
14th St. NW. 202-682-2245, thedccenter.org.
GAY DISTRICT holds facilitated discussion for
GBTQ men, 18-35, rst and third Fridays. 8:30 p.m.
The DC Center, 1318 U St. NW. 202-682-2245,
gaydistrict.org.
HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker Health,
Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, 1701 14th St. NW,
9 a.m.-5 p.m. 202-745-7000, whitman-walker.org.
PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBT-afrming social
group for ages 11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road
NW. Tamara, 202-319-0422, layc-dc.org.
SMYALS REC NIGHT provides a social
atmosphere for GLBT and questioning youth,
featuring dance parties, vogue nights, movies and
games. catherine.chu@smyal.org.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15
ADVENTURING outdoors group hikes 11 moderate/
strenuous miles, Scotts Run Nature Preserve to
Roosevelt Island via Potomac Heritage Trail. Bring
beverages, lunch, sturdy boots, money for fees/
transportation. Carpool 9:15 a.m., Roosevelt Island
parking lot. Devon, 202-368-3379. adventuring.org.
BURGUNDY CRESCENT gay volunteer
organization helps Lost Dog & Cat Rescue
Foundation at Falls Church PetSmart. To
participate, visit burgundycrescent.org.
RAINBOW YOUTH ALLIANCE holds a chaperoned
Valentines Dance for youth and allies 13-18.
ID check. 7-11 p.m. Unitarian Universalist
Congregation of Rockville, 100 Welsh Park Drive.
ryacoordinator@gmail.com.
TEAM DC WINTER CASINO NIGHT fundraiser
starts 8 p.m. Buffalo Billiards, 1330 19th St. NW.
teamdc.org.
WEEKLY EVENTS
ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH
offers free HIV testing, 9-5 p.m., and HIV
services (by appointment). 202-291-4707 or
andromedatransculturalhealth.org.
DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC) practice session at
Marie Reed Aquatic Center, 2200 Champlain St.
NW. 8-9:30 a.m. swimdcac.org.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13
BURGUNDY CRESCENT gay volunteer
organization helps at Food & Friends. To
participate, visit burgundycrescent.org.
JANET MOCK appears for discussion with
Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and reading and signing
of her Redening Realness memoir. 6-8 p.m. MLK
Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW. janetmock.com.
WEEKLY EVENTS
METROHEALTH CENTER offers free, rapid HIV
testing. Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW,
Suite 700. 202-638-0750.
DC LAMBDA SQUARES gay and lesbian square-
dancing group features mainstream through
advanced square dancing at the National City
Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle NW, 7-9:30 p.m.
Casual dress. 301-257-0517, dclambdasquares.org.
The DULLES TRIANGLES Northern Virginia social
group meets for happy hour at Sheraton in Reston,
11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, second-oor bar, 7-9
p.m. All welcome. dullestriangles.com.
IDENTITY offers free and condential HIV testing
in Gaithersburg, 414 East Diamond Ave., and in
Takoma Park, 7676 New Hampshire Ave., Suite 411.
Walk-ins 2-6 p.m. For appointments other hours,
call Gaithersburg, 301-300-9978, or Takoma Park,
301-422-2398.
WOMENS LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE for young
LBTQ women, 13-21, interested in leadership
development. 5-6:30 p.m. SMYAL Youth Center, 410
7th St. SE. 202-567-3163, catherine.chu@smyal.org.
US HELPING US hosts a Narcotics Anonymous
Meeting, 6:30-7:30 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave. NW.
The group is independent of UHU. 202-446-1100.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14
WEEKLY EVENTS
BET MISHPACHAH, founded by members of the
GLBT community, holds Friday night Shabbat
services followed by oneg social hour. 8-9:30 p.m.
Services in DCJCC Community Room, 1529 16th St.
NW. betmish.org.
Metro Weeklys Community Calendar highlights important events in
the D.C.-area LGBT community, from alternative social events to
volunteer opportunities. Event information should be sent by email to
calendar@MetroWeekly.com. Deadline for inclusion is noon
of the Friday before Thursdays publication. Questions about
the calendar may be directed to the Metro Weekly ofce at
202-638-6830 or the calendar email address.
LGBTCommunityCalendar
marketplace
GETEQUAL meets 6:30-8 p.m. at Quaker House,
2111 Florida Ave. NW. getequal.wdc@gmail.com.
KARING WITH INDIVIDUALITY (K.I.) SERVICES,
3333 Duke St., Alexandria, offers free rapid HIV
testing and counseling, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. 703-823-4401.
WASHINGTON WETSKINS Water Polo Team
practices 7-9 p.m. Takoma Aquatic Center, 300
Van Buren St. NW. Newcomers with at least basic
swimming ability always welcome. Tom, 703-299-
0504, secretary@wetskins.org, wetskins.org.
Whitman-Walker Health HIV/AIDS SUPPORT
GROUP for newly diagnosed individuals, meets
7 p.m. Registration required. 202-939-7671,
hivsupport@whitman-walker.org.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
WEEKLY EVENTS
ASIANS AND FRIENDS weekly dinner in Dupont/
Logan Circle area, 6:30 p.m. afwash@aol.com,
afwashington.net.
THE GAY MENS HEALTH COLLABORATIVE
offers free HIV/STI screening every 2nd and 4th
Tuesday. 5-6:30 p.m. Rainbow Tuesday LGBT
Clinic, Alexandria Health Department, 4480 King
St. 703-321-2511, james.leslie@inova.org.
Whitman-Walker Healths GAY MENS HEALTH
AND WELLNESS/STD CLINIC opens at 6 p.m.,
1701 14th St. NW. Patients are seen on walk-in basis.
No-cost screening for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and
chlamydia. Hepatitis and herpes testing available
for fee. whitman-walker.org.
THE HIV WORKING GROUP of THE DC CENTER
hosts Packing Party, where volunteers assemble
safe-sex kits of condoms and lube. 7 p.m., Green
Lantern, 1335 Green Court NW. thedccenter.org.
SUPPORT GROUP FOR LGBTQ YOUTH ages 13-21
meets at SMYAL, 410 7th St. SE, 5-6:30 p.m. Cathy
Chu, 202-567-3163, catherine.chu@smyal.org.
US HELPING US hosts a support group for black
gay men 40 and older. 7-9 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave.
NW. 202-446-1100.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19
BOOKMEN DC, informal mens gay-literature group, discusses Seminal: The
Anthology of Canadas Gay Male Poets, edited by John Barton and Billeh Nickerson.
7:30 p.m. AFSA, 2101 E St. NW. All welcome. bookmendc.blogspot.com.
THE TOM DAVOREN SOCIAL BRIDGE CLUB meets for Social Bridge. No
reservations or partner needed. All welcome. 7:30 p.m. Dignity Center, 721 8th
St. SE. 301-345-1571.
WEEKLY EVENTS
AD LIB, a group for freestyle conversation, meets about 7:45 p.m., covered-patio
area of Cosi, 1647 20th St. NW. All welcome. Jamie, 703-892-8567.
HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker Health. D.C.: Elizabeth Taylor Medical
Center, 1701 14th St. NW, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. At the Max Robinson Center, 2301 MLK
Jr. Ave. SE, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 202-745-7000, whitman-walker.org.
PRIME TIMERS OF DC, social club for mature gay men, hosts weekly happy
hour/dinner. 6:30 p.m., Windows Bar above Dupont Italian Kitchen, 1637 17th
St. NW. Carl, 703-573-8316; or Bill, 703-671-2454.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21
Highwaymen TNT and others hold REMEMBRANCE SERVICE FOR
NOKOMIS JEFFERSON. 7-9 p.m. Almas Temple, 1301 K St. NW.
trashandtravel.com. l
FOR MORE CALENDAR LISTINGS PLEASE VISIT
WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM
16 SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT AT WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM/SCENE
scene
Olympic Opening
Ceremony viewing
party sponsored by
Team DC, Capital
Pride, GLIFAA, Pride
House International
and HRC
Friday, February 7
HRC Equality Forum
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
WARD MORRISON
scan this tag
with your
smartphone
for bonus scene
pics online!
17 PURCHASE YOUR PHOTO AT WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM/SCENE/
FEBRUARY 13, 2014
VOLUME 20 / ISSUE 41
PUBLISHER
Randy Shulman
EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Randy Shulman
ART DIRECTOR
Todd Franson
MANAGING EDITOR
Will OBryan
POLITICAL EDITOR
Justin Snow
STAFF WRITER
John Riley
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Rhuaridh Marr, Doug Rule
SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Ward Morrison
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Christopher Cunetto, Julian Vankim
CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS
Scott G. Brooks, Christopher Cunetto
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Daniel Burnett, Christian Gerard,
Brandon Harrison, Chris Heller, Troy Petenbrink,
Richard Rosendall, Kate Wingeld
EDITOR EMERITUS
Sean Bugg
WEBMASTER
David Uy
MULTIMEDIA
Aram Vartian
ADMINISTRATIVE / PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
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ADVERTISING & SALES
DIRECTOR OF SALES
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2014 Jansi LLC.
19
BEFORE I JUMP
into writing about
football, I have to
share a few facts
about myself so you
can decide exactly
how seriously you
want to take me.
First, despite
hanging out with
lots of football players in my last year of
high school, my knowledge of the game
is decidedly dilettantish. I know how to
keep score, the basics of the gameplay,
and some of the no-nos like pass inter-
ference. Ive picked up this knowledge
from our football-saturated media, two
ex-boyfriends who were big fans, and a
brief irtation with sports video games.
Second, Im not a fan. If it werent
for baseball, football would be the most
boring team sport in the world. (In
case youre wondering, golf would be
the most boring individual sport in the
world.) All vanishingly short bursts of
action surrounded by unholy stretch-
es of ofciating, argumentation and
grandstanding, football is as legalistic
as it is athletic. Your mileage may vary.
I suspect Ill be hearing shortly from
some of my baseball fanatic friends and
golng family members.
Third, as with any sport that involves
being hit in the head on a regular basis,
Ive grown more than a little uncom-
fortable at the sight of stadium crowds
cheering as grown men compete their
way into chronic traumatic encepha-
lopathy. Any physically demanding
sport carries the risk of chronic and
career-ending injury, but theres a dif-
ference between a blown-out knee and
a battered brain.
So, I bring some baggage to the table
when I react to Missouri defensive end
Michael Sams decision to make his-
tory by coming out prior to this years
NFL draft. While I dont usually mind
being the guy to rain on a parade, I
dont want to undersell or undercut the
importance of what Sam has done. He
called professional footballs bluff that
a mans man game has no room for
a gay player, that a gay man in a locker
room somehow threatens other men,
that open homosexuality is a distrac-
tion a football team cant afford.
Thats a big deal. And despite the
past few years of reading the tea leaves
of various players Instagram accounts
and Facebook pages, the breakthrough
didnt come from a current NFL play-
er reaching the end of his career (the
approach Jason Collins took in the
NBA). Instead, we have a young, talent-
ed and highly regarded college player
already acknowledged as a prime pick
for the NFL draft coming out before
his pro career even begins.
Its a decision I admire and respect.
While Ive long hoped that a profes-
sional male tennis player would break
the barrier before this, I realize that that
wouldnt have the impact on Ameri-
can society that Michael Sam already
has. For past few days, ESPN has been
gayer than Logo, and despite a handful
of dunderheaded remarks, the report-
ing and discussion has been positive
and respectful. The pushback against
unnamed NFL sources who parroted
old-school, locker-room homophobia to
Sports Illustrated was surprisingly swift.
Will there be challenges and setbacks
for Sam? Probably. But my guess is that
once hes signed to a team and Im pos-
itive he will be there will be recurring
urries of press coverage during spring
training, pre-season and through the fall,
after which things will quiet down when
everyone accepts the obvious, that hes a
gay player whos one member of a team.
Thats the victory Sam deserves and our
community needs.
I may not be the worlds biggest
football fan, but I know a touchdown
when I see one.
Sean Bugg is editor emeritus of
Metro Weekly. He can be reached at
seanbugg@gmail.com. Follow him on
Twitter @seanbugg. l
Game Changer
Even if you dont like football, Michael Sams coming-out
challenge to the NFL is a dening moment in sports
LGBTOpinion
by Sean Bugg
METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 13, 2014
WE LAUGH TO
avoid screaming. Or
maybe we try thera-
peutic tweeting.
There were no
new media to dis-
tract us in 1989.
Cartoonist Garry
Trudeau did a series
of Doonesbury strips in which the char-
acter Andy Lippincott is diagnosed with
AIDS. Andy survives on morphine and
dark humor. When his doctor tells him,
You know your jammies clash with your
lesions, dont you? Andy replies, So
who are you, Ralph Lauren? His friend
Joanie Caucus asks, Andy, how can you
joke? He replies, How can you not?
I once watched a Gay Mens Chorus
ing Coke at its Sochi-related event. (Pity
the caterer.)
The American right took no Olympics
break. Austin Ruse of the Catholic Fam-
ily and Human Rights Institute strongly
defended Russias anti-gay propaganda
law, saying there is no human right to
tell the gay narrative to schoolchildren.
Peter LaBarbera of Americans For Truth
About Homosexuality denounced Coca-
Cola for including same-sex parents in
its America the Beautiful Super Bowl
ad; he missed the fact that the songs
author, Katherine Lee Bates, was lesbian.
On National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day, Feb. 7, Bryan Fischer of the Family
Research Council said he opposes nor-
malizing homosexual behavior because
I love black males. Back slowly away.
LGBT voices held their own. On Feb.
4, a group of Ugandan exiles called the
Kuchu Diaspora Alliance led a protest
outside the Ugandan Embassy in Wash-
ington. Also present were representatives
of the Unitarian Universalist Associa-
tion, HRC Global Engagement, and D.C.s
Center Global. The Ugandans, led by
Victor Mukasa, called out to the embassy
staff, declaring their love for their coun-
try and decrying anti-gay persecution.
On Feb. 6, President Obama made
gay-inclusive remarks at the National
Prayer Breakfast organized by the right-
wing group The Family. David Bahati,
who introduced the Anti-Homosexual-
ity Bill in the Ugandan Parliament, rst
proposed executing gays at The Fam-
ilys Uganda National Prayer Breakfast
in 2008. If the president wants to attend
an ecumenical prayer breakfast, cant
he nd a sponsoring group that doesnt
export hatred? As I embraced my Ugan-
dan friends after the embassy protest, I
was glad at least that they could continue
their efforts from the greater safety of
Washington.
Days later, President Obama con-
rmed that he included gay Olympic
delegation members to send a message,
while Attorney General Holder told an
HRC gala in New York about Justice
Department efforts to protect LGBT
families.
The madness never stops, but we can
pull back from it on occasion to count our
blessings. That is a luxury our brothers
and sisters in Sochi and Lagos and Kam-
pala might like to taste.
Richard J. Rosendall is a writer and
activist. He can be reached at
rrosendall@starpower.net. l
member nicknamed Stella in the ICU at
Washington Hospital Center telling an
elaborate joke between puffs on his oxy-
gen mask. Grace in the face of the abyss.
Another time, another war or wars.
Activist Pam Spaulding tweeted on Sun-
day, World gathers at anti-gay #Putins
#Sochi2014 #Olympics as Nigerian govt
foments #LGBT genocide. NYT: http://
goo.gl/pmdqbs #CheerstoSochi During
the Friday broadcast of the Winter Olym-
pics opening ceremony, the Twitterverse
owed with snarky observations.
Scott Gorenstein tweeted a pic of
police beating gay protesters and called it
a traditional Russian greeting. Charles
Butler wrote, When I design my anti-
LGBT Olympics opening, Im going to
skip the dancing men in periwinkle tuxe-
dos. The Human Rights Campaign hung
a large poster at its headquarters criticiz-
ing Putin, but then was slammed for serv-
20
LGBTOpinion
War Dispatches
LGBT pundits and protesters holding their own in a ght on many fronts
by Richard J. Rosendall
Sexual
law enforcement agencies, from the Department of Justice to
local police departments, have been slow to investigate crimes
against sex workers, from rape to murder. Theyve also contin-
ually shown little respect for those employed in the business,
Chateauvert argues.
Meanwhile, organizations in the LGBT community have
only recently started to advocate for sex workers. And other
activists on the left and right have generally only talked about
sex workers in terms of being powerless victims, forced into a
form of modern-day slavery.
I would say a miniscule number of people are coerced into
doing sex work, Chateauvert asserts. Instead, she says, the
vast majority of sex workers do it by choice or circumstance.
Chateauvert may be known to many for her involvement in
the leather community, whether as a member of Centaur MC,
the group that puts on the annual Mid-Atlantic Leather Week-
end, or serving on the board of the Chicago-based Leather
Archives and Museum. But shes also served on the boards of
the D.C.-based HIPS, or Helping Individual Prostitutes Sur-
vive, and the Baltimore-based National Coalition for Sexual
Freedom, where a decade ago she ran an emergency crisis line.
The Iowa City, Iowa, native credits her mother for her
lifelong interest in social justice. Says the youthful 55-year-
old: Ive been involved in social justice movements since I
was a young girl, with my mother dragging me off to various
Vietnam War protests.
To turn a phrase, you can take the woman out of Iowa, but
you cant take Iowa out of the woman.
INTERVIEW BY DOUG RULE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TODD FRANSON
Historian Melinda Chateauvert cites
that slogan, from a San Francisco health
and advocacy organization, in her new
book Sex Workers Unite! A History of the
Movement from Stonewall to SlutWalk.
Chateauverts book is a well-
researched examination of a sector of society and the U.S.
labor market that has grown from its legendary status as the
worlds oldest yet most maligned profession, to becoming
all-but mainstream, though certainly still underappreciated
and disrespected.
Its denitely not just about prostitutes anymore. Sex
workers are laborers who earn money to perform sexual ser-
vices or who provide erotic entertainment to clients individu-
ally or collectively, Chateauvert writes. From prostitutes to
escorts, from porn stars and webcam performers to go-go boys
and strippers and all the non-sex workers who support and
promote them the sex sector is no longer conned to a big
citys red-light district or bad part of town. Its services are
essentially available anywhere, to anyone with Internet access
or at least the means to travel.
Chateauvert, a longtime D.C. resident who is now a
research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, didnt write
Sex Workers Unite! merely to shine an overdue light on the
sex-worker movement. She intends it as something of a call to
action to ght oppression, criminalization and especially vio-
lence against sex workers. More than 3,000 women have died
in the last four decades in the line of sex work in the U.S., and
S
omeone you know is a sex worker.
UNION
Sexual
WITH A NEW BOOK, MELINDA CHATEAUVERT
AIMS TO BRING SEX WORK OUT OF THE
SHADOWS AND INTO THE LIGHT OF
RESPECTABILITY
METRO WEEKLY: Beyond your lifelong activism for social justice,
was there something specic that triggered you to write this
book, or triggered your obvious passion on this topic?
MELINDA CHATEAUVERT: I think the main impetus, maybe the
germination of what this book eventually became, was actu-
ally the Millennium March, and all the controversy around
the faith and family theme that was being promoted for that
march in 2000.
I was very much involved with groups that were challeng-
ing that theme. We felt that it was repressive, because it failed
to acknowledge that some of us dont give two cents Im
substituting a printable word for marriage. Were not reli-
gious. We dont nd a need to be involved in faith issues or
faith organizing. And it was very repressive, or dismissive, of
transgender people people who didnt conform to a hetero-
normative lifestyle. That was where I really plunged into these
issues about what it meant to be marginalized, what it meant
to be respectable.
MW: Especially in D.C., many people know you for your involve-
ment in the leather community. Thats tied to the Millennium
March and your advocacy for sex work too?
CHATEAUVERT: Many people involved in that Millennium
March that I got involved with were coming from the leather
community. And they were feeling that this was denitely a
slap in the face to people who werent interested in monoga-
mous, heteronormative marriages and picket fences. So that
was one thing about the leather community, in terms of getting
involved for me: seeing how politics looks differently if you are
not part of a mainstream.
The leather community is also really important in this
because a lot of work and a lot of the funding, a lot of the activ-
ism around some of these issues, has come from the leather
community, particularly the gay and lesbian leather commu-
nity. I think theres a lot of overlap in the issues that folks in
the leather community deal with, in terms of stigmatization.
MW: The subtitle of your book references Stonewall. What I
found interesting is that Stonewall in popular conception is
about the various gay men at the Stonewall Inn, but also the
drag queens who in fact led the protest against the police. Which,
as you detail in your book, is still not fully capturing the people
that were there including transgender people and sex workers.
CHATEAUVERT: Thats not just popular opinion, but the view
of most historians too. Lets be really clear here. Those drag
queens were transgender sex workers. [Laughs.]
MW: And when we refer to them simply as drag queens, its kind
of dressing up the naked truth.
CHATEAUVERT: [Laughs.] Lets just call it a lie, okay? Its ironic.
Yeah, its changing their representation into something thats
acceptable, in a sort of camp way. Not being totally dismissive
acknowledging that they were there.
But drag can sometimes be a very different performance
lifestyle, if you will, than being transgender. And to lump those
into the same category is, I think, not particularly useful.
MW: I know its been around a few decades, but is the term sex
worker in common usage now?
CHATEAUVERT: Its actually the preferred use in UNAIDS
and other kinds of outreach work around the world. Its not
accepted in the AP Style Manual, but the United Nations rec-
ognizes it.
MW: Does the AP Style Manual specify anything related to the
profession?
CHATEAUVERT: Theres been some debate on it. Theres been
no rule that Ive seen, although one of the bloggers who writes
about usage and a New York Times reporter has spoken or has
written about whether or not sex worker, versus prosti-
tute, should be used. There was a little bit of pressure to start
pushing The New York Times and other mainstream publica-
tions to use the term sex worker rather than prostitute, but
that hasnt become a universal rule, no.
MW: But the big LGBT organizations that a lot of LGBT people
give to, are they using the term? Are they doing anything to help
sex workers?
CHATEAUVERT: Some of the organizations are. The National
Center for Transgender Equality Executive Director Mara
Keisling has been doing some really good work. Some of their
statements have been very, very strong. Amnesty International
has been very good. ACLU as a national organization
has been very good, although not necessarily within
its LGBT-equality arm, more in its international work,
especially around violence and criminalization issues.
The Task Force, in conversations that Ive had with
Executive Director Rea Carey, is beginning to pick up
those issues and certainly has been fairly, if not having
a specic project, has become more vocal, as we saw
at Creating Change more aware that addressing the
issues of sex work are important for the LGBT commu-
nity. I have nothing to say about HRC. [Laughs.]
MW: Doesnt a lot of the stigmatization of sex work and sex work-
ers go back to the United States Puritan beginnings?
CHATEAUVERT: A lot of people want to say that, and as a his-
torian, one wants to base it within a Hawthorne/The Scarlet
Letter/New England puritanism. I understand that thats one
way of situating the history of that stigma. However, I think
its important to remember that prostitution was not a crimi-
nal offense in the United States until World War I. And most
countries in the E.U., as well as other places around the world,
abolished prostitution as a criminal offense after World War
II.
MW: Do you have hope for progress?
CHATEAUVERT: I see a lot of progress happening. I think that
this is a very complex movement. When we talk about decrim-
inalization, what are we talking about decriminalizing? In fact,
most workers in the sex industry work legal jobs. Thats the
other part to remember. If you work in a strip club, if youre an
adult entertainer, if you are a performer in pornography, and
all those other kinds of jobs that are involved or associated
with it, thats more than half of the people working in the sex
industry. Theyre already working in legal jobs.
MW: So now we just need to get the other half?
CHATEAUVERT: In some ways we are talking about the other
half actually less than the other half. The estimates are really
hard to judge. For places like California, there are more than
500 registered businesses in the sex industry, each employing
anywhere between two and over 1,000 people. Thats a very
different kind of number than just saying, Oh, were only
talking about the people who stand on the streets at night and
I am still enough of a feminist to believe
that MARRIAGE IS A PATRIARCHAL
INSTITUTION THAT I DO NOT
WANT TO SUPPORT.
solicit from passing cars. And its a very different picture.
MW: That raises a point from your book, about the crackdown on
prostitution in Logan Circle here in D.C. Early in the book you
write, Neighborhood residents take false comfort in the belief
that empty sidewalks discourage crime. Can you explain what
you mean by that?
CHATEAUVERT: The notion that empty streets means that theres
no crime, or leads to a lessening of crimes, actually means that
there are fewer people out on the street, or participating and
watching whats going on out on the street in order to, if you
will, sound the neighborhood alarm. Or to alert people that a
crime may be taking place.
Weve got this very strange, If you see something, say
something culture for every public place except when it comes
to streets. And sex workers who work on the street are just as
invested in not having muggers on the street, not having other
people out there who are interested in doing violence against
them, or robbing and stealing from them. They would like
safe streets too! Civilians seem to think that the presence of
people working on the street brings in other people who prey
on them, or prey upon the people who live there. If there was
better communication, if there was more openness between
allowing sex workers to report people who are doing violence,
or people who are breaking and entering, the situation would
be very different. Instead, we clean up the streets, thinking
thats safer. Having more people on the streets is actually safer.
MW: Youre saying its similar to the war on drugs, and the way
the police and neighborhoods deal with drugs: generally taking
easy ways out rather than tackling the harder, more systemic
issues.
CHATEAUVERT: Exactly. One of the things to remember is an
experiment that happened in England theres also been small
experiments here in the United States. When the cops de-
prioritize the arrests of prostitutes and focus more on violent
crime, especially violent crime against sex workers, they actu-
ally end up doing better in terms of arresting the people who
are more dangerous criminals than by simply going after what
[former New York Mayor Rudy] Giuliani liked to call quality
of life crimes.
Last week I was talking to some folks who were doing orga-
nizing in the San Francisco area this was South of Market, so
still a somewhat transitional neighborhood in different kinds
of ways. The residents were complaining to the police about
the screaming prostitutes and drag queens. They were out
on the streets disturbing their nights and the police werent
doing anything to get them quiet or get them out of there.
Thats a typical situation. What happened in this particular
instance was that when the residents met with the police,
members of the Sex Workers Outreach Project, SWOP Bay
Area, which is a very active sex-workers organization, were
also present. And when they started talking to the residents
and the police, they started breaking down what was actually
going on there.
The outcome of the story was that the residents realized
that the screaming was actually about issues around domestic
violence, around other kinds of structural violence that they
were experiencing. Simply arresting them and taking them off
the street, or pushing them into a new neighborhood, was not
going to solve the very human social problems that they were
actually facing. And so as an intervention to that, what they did
was they worked out that anytime there was a neighborhood
complaint that this was going on, they would send a small
team of social workers and other SWOP advocates to go in and
say, Okay, whats going on here? What do you need? Do you
need health care? Are you about to overdose on a drug? Do
you need help with your kids? Is this about some other kind
of violence? It showed that the issue was not sex work. The
issues were the things that the sex workers were experiencing
outside of their work. Their own personal/social problems.
MW: That gets to the idea that sex workers and sex work is not
just a matter of the powerful vs. the powerless, of abusers and
helpless victims.
CHATEAUVERT: Exactly. Theres a much broader and complex
dynamic going on.
The thing about sex work is that some people do it by
choice. Many engage in sex work because of circumstance.
There are a lot of sex workers out there who have full-time,
regular jobs, but then they do some escorting once or twice a
month. Or maybe they go and work on the street at the end of
the month because guess what? we just cut 6 billion dollars
in food stamps. We just cut off TANF Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families. We kick people out of public housing
because some member of the family has a drug conviction. We
dont allow people who have drug convictions to get nancial
aid to go to school or to do many other things. So what are
they left to do? The ways that they can make money, the only
way they can survive for many of them, is to choose to do sex
work. Now, you might say thats not quite the circumstances of
choice. I mean, the choice is forced on them.
One of the things that I have told a lot of people who are
very concerned about this notion around circumstance and
sex work is, Well, if youre really interested in changing what
prostitution looks like, what sex work looks like, and the peo-
ple who engage in it, why dont you work to support a living
wage? Because if we have living wages, there would be people
who would not feel like they have to moonlight as sex workers.
MW: Lets spend a few minutes talking about your background. I
understand you ed to San Francisco from your native Iowa as
a teenager.
CHATEAUVERT: I decided to drop out of high school because I
was bored silly. I went to San Francisco for what I thought
was going to be just a couple weeks or so I told my mother. I
ended up staying for two years and then decided that I needed
to come back to Iowa. I did my GED and started as a freshman
at the University of Iowa. I guess that would have been Janu-
ary 1979. And then just stayed in school. I nished my Ph.D. at
Penn in 92.
MW: In between you were at The George Washington University,
where you started exploring and advocating for sex work in D.C.,
including advocating for strip clubs. Explain your work on behalf
of strip clubs.
CHATEAUVERT: I was part of the D.C. Nighttime Coalition. I
was working with Bob Summersgill and GLAA [the Gay and
Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C.], and one of
the local restaurant organizations. We were trying to prevent
the bill that basically abolished strip clubs in the city. It was
all part of that gentrication of K Street and 14th Street, and
later on was used to help shut down all of the clubs to build
the stadium down by Tracks and Nation and all that. I was part
of that. Then there was another proposal, another bill, which
actually became Prostitution-Free Zone kind of legislation,
and I testied against that, about local legislative policy about
trying to create a public culture that was supportive of public
sex basically. And Ill use the term public sex because that
throws a lot of people off. I dont mean that people should be
able to have sex on the street, but I do think that not trying
to force it underground is healthier than the route that weve
chosen to take.
MW: Did your activist bent develop from your time in San Fran-
cisco, as it seems to do for so many who go there?
CHATEAUVERT: No, it developed in Iowa, when I was a kid. Seri-
ously, Iowa City as a university town was all caught up in the
anti-war movement. So I grew up in an environment in which
there were protests and sit-ins and demonstrations against
Dow Chemical, and demonstrations against napalm and all
the rest of it. Thats the kind of place that I grew up. When I
came back to Iowa City to go to college, I became involved in
things like the Rape Crisis Center I was an emergency coun-
selor for that. I did work as a programmer for the Womens
Resource and Action Center, the womens center on campus. I
was a womens studies major. I got involved in student govern-
ment, did the whole thing. So student politics, campus politics,
were really some of my rst real feet-getting-wet on my own
activism, both service work and policy work. I did one of the
rst studies on sexual harassment of students while I was at
the University of Iowa. That was in 1981.
MW: When did you come out?
CHATEAUVERT: The best way to put it is that I discovered what I
could be in San Francisco. I came out in my rst year or so of
being back in Iowa. Iowa City also has a huge gay culture and
a huge lesbian community. We had the womens coffee house,
which is an all-lesbian coffee house. I was on the womens
softball team. We did escorts to the clinic. Thats what, to me,
being an undergrad meant.
MW: Speaking to the progressive culture of your upbringing,
Iowa was one of the rst states to have marriage equality.
CHATEAUVERT: Lets rephrase that, lets make it even more
important Iowa City was one of the rst seven municipali-
ties in the nation to outlaw employment discrimina-
tion on the basis of sexual orientation. That was in the
early 1980s.
MW: I assume that didnt include transgender.
CHATEAUVERT: Not necessarily. Although I do know
that there were transgender people who did benet
individually from that law.
MW: Are you in a relationship?
CHATEAUVERT: I have a very long-term relationship,
and, no, Mary and I will never get married.
MW: Because youre against the concept of marriage?
CHATEAUVERT: I am still enough of a feminist to believe that
marriage is a patriarchal institution that I do not want to sup-
port. We are both of that persuasion.
MW: Speaking of feminism, on a personal level I found it particu-
larly fascinating when you write about the feminist movement
and its generally anti-porn advocacy. When I was in college tak-
ing womens studies classes, I always came up short in trying to
defend pornography because my experience with it is very differ-
ent as a gay man. I mean, maybe women in straight porn, maybe
they are victims, but it just seemed too easy to look at it that way.
And thats sort of what you express. But that was 20 years ago.
Has this changed at all in the decades since?
CHATEAUVERT: Twenty years ago, I was still very much involved
in the womens studies fora/movement. I did a masters degree
in womens studies and public policy at GW. Thats how I
ended up in D.C. in the rst place. It was the middle of the sex
wars, the so-called campus sex wars.
Its important to remember two things: One is that the porn
that people like Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon,
and all of the other 80s folks if you will, were criticizing the
heterosexual porn that they were criticizing, was often, yes,
really horrible! Actually, if somebody wanted to challenge it
on its artistic merits, or on its ability to move women, it would
lose. Thats important to remember. It wasnt that the people
who were defending porn thought that the porn that was
available was fabulous. There were some really very strong
critiques about the male-centered gaze and all that. The prob-
lem was who controlled it, perhaps. But by censoring it you
create other problems. For example, the Supreme Court of
Canada issued a ruling called Butler in 1992, which took that
Catharine MacKinnon argument that porn was harmful to
women. And notice how sexist, also, this is. Its only about
women. Its very black and white in that way. When Butler
There are feminist groups against pornography
who are likening it to drug addiction. THIS
IS YOUR BRAIN ON DRUGS. THIS IS
YOUR BRAIN ON PORN.
became the rule in Canada, the rst two types of people that
found themselves being criminalized for distributing porn,
was one, a gay mens group that was making safer-sex videos
for gay men in the sex industry; and, two, the Boston-based
radical sex lesbian group that was sending their magazine
to Canada, and it was stopped from going over the border as
being harmful to women. Even though this was an all-women
production of pornography. Because the way the law worked
is that the people who get criminalized are usually the people
at the lowest margin.
MW: You can say that about a lot of laws and legislation.
CHATEAUVERT: [Laughs.] Yeah, exactly. Heres the other new
thing thats coming on: Now the feminists who are against
porn have picked up the early 1990s Christian sex addict/porn
addict language which no accredited sexologist or psychia-
trist actually believes exist. But they have created this myth
they call porn addiction. There are feminist groups against
pornography who are likening it exactly to drug addiction.
This is your brain on drugs. This is your brain on porn. Its
the exact same language. I nd this to be particularly scary.
But its also very informative about how these languages and
these themes continue to get replayed, and to get recongured,
so that they need some sort of new moral panic/sex panic, to
outrage people.
MW: In your book, you call the view of feminists who are anti-
porn paternalistic.
CHATEAUVERT: And that paternalism is very much a part of a
lot of feminist action, or feminist calls for using the prison
system, or using laws to punish people. Its a Feminists Know
Best/Fathers Know Best language.
MW: Returning to your personal life, I understand youre now in
New Orleans. Do you live there full time now?
CHATEAUVERT: No, Im half-time. We came down because we
wanted to avoid the snow this winter.
MW: Youve become a snowbird?
CHATEAUVERT: I guess I am a yaway snowbird. But weve
actually had a house here long before Katrina. And so this has
been a way of now being able to be here longer and changing
our schedule so that we can be two places during a given year.
MW: Do you teach in D.C.?
CHATEAUVERT: No, my teaching is now going to be at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania.
MW: When do you get back to D.C.?
CHATEAUVERT: Ill be back in town on a regular basis beginning
in May. After I go to Saints and Sinners Literary Festival down
here in New Orleans.
MW: When youre in D.C., youll be doing research and writing?
CHATEAUVERT: Yeah, Ive got a research project right now that
Im not really ready to talk about, but it does continue looking
at some of these same issues, specically looking at people who
work in the legal sex industry.
MW: And D.C. is also where you have your social outlet with the
leather community?
CHATEAUVERT: Yeah. For me my home bar is the DC Eagle. Its
not anyplace else. It was never the Phase, it was never Hung
Jury. It was never any lesbian bars. It was the Eagle. And still
is the Eagle, even in exile.

Melinda Chateauvert will read from and sign copies of her new
book Sex Workers Unite! on Wednesday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m.,
at Busboys & Poets, 1025 5th St. NW. Call 202-789-2227 or visit
sexworkersunite.com and busboysandpoets.com. l
FEBRUARY 13 - 20, 2014
SPOTLIGHT
AMERICAN IDIOT
Four years after its Broadway debut and 10 years
after the concept album that birthed the idea, Green
Days Tony-nominated American Idiot musical is on
its rst national tour. An ADHD pop-culture junkies
dream come true, the show is extremely light on
story and book, but remarkably heavy on tuneful
music and power chords at times with more punch
than on record. Who knew punk rock could become
Compiled by Doug Rule
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SERIAL MOTHER
Mother Courages Kathleen Turner is a proud
mother all around
W
HEN I GOT THE SCRIPT FOR SERIAL MOM, I COULDNT
believe it, Kathleen Turner says. I kept picking it up and
throwing it down. And saying to my husband, Youre not
going to believe this!
Anyone whos seen John Waterss 20-year-old hysterical black
comedy can understand. Turner is brilliant as a gleefully murder-
ous mother, killing people in her suburban Baltimore neighborhood
for committing trivial faux pas. When I nally realized I was kind
of hooked, she says, I called John and said, I really need to know
that this is comedy. That this is not going to turn into some kind of
schlocky, awful slasher thing.
The end result was better than she dreamed. Are you kidding?
I had a ball! While theres no further work on tap with Waters
and she knows of no plans to turn Serial Mom into a Hairspray-style
Broadway musical Turner says the director has stayed a wonder-
ful friend, and hell be here to see this. This being the music-lled
adaptation of Bertolt Brechts Mother Courage and Her Children at
Arena Stage, where she is making her professional singing debut (see
review, page 36). I never have done a musical before, says Turner,
adding that Amy Irving got the singing parts to her animated character
Jessica Rabbit in 1988s Who Framed Roger Rabbit? I actually wanted
to sing that, concedes Turner, the husky-voiced actor who resigned
herself early to non-singing work. There were no leads in my range.
The sweet-young-things were sopranos. One year after Turners
breakthrough work in the 1981 lm Body Heat she appeared in her rst
Arena Stage production, A Midsummer Nights Dream. Mother Courage follows her dazzling return to Arena last season as Molly
Ivins in Red Hot Patriot, also directed by Molly Smith, Arenas artistic director since 1998. My stars, what Molly has done with
Arena Stage is spectacular, Turner coos. Shes built it into one of the top theater companies in the country.
Turns out, shes a proud mother all around, heaping praise on her own daughter, the bluesy singer-songwriter Rachel Ann
Weiss, who performed at the Mother Courage opening night party, as well as the shows ensemble cast, 16 actors strong. Im
knocked out by this company. Im so proud of them, she says. Youve got to remember, we put this together in four weeks. It
should have been impossible. Doug Rule

Mother Courage and Her Children runs to March 9 at Arena Stage, 1101 6th St. SW. Tickets are $55 to $90.
Call 202-488-3300 or visit arenastage.org.
chorus-drenched show tunes without one dint in
impact? American Idiot is the musical equivalent
of the best rock concert youve ever been to. Opens
Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. To Feb. 23. National
Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets are $48
to $128. Call 202-628-6161 or visit thenationaldc.org.
ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY
The Kennedy Centers main Valentines Day treat is
a romp through love songs from the Great American
Songbook and other clever, contemporary originals
by lesbian jazz singer-songwriter Ann Hampton
Callaway. Callaway has written songs for her mentor,
Barbra Streisand, and will perform her medley
of People/Being Alive from the recent cabaret
show The Streisand Songbook, as well as another
song Streisand sang at her own wedding written by
Callaway, Ive Dreamed of You. Friday, Feb. 14,
at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Kennedy Center Terrace
Theater. Tickets are $30. Call 202-467-4600 or visit
kennedy-center.org.
CHAISE LOUNGE
This D.C.-based jazz and swing band has been a
staple at hip martini bars around the area, along with
more storied venues such as the Kennedy Center
30
and Blues Alley. Theyve also performed with the
likes of Natalie Cole and Dizzy Gillespie and at the
Lilith Fair. They perform original tunes as well as
swing standards, including those from new album
Dot Dot Dot martini, which showcases the groups
sultry female vocalist Marilyn Older. They return to
the Barns at Wolf Trap for a special Valentines Day
show, Love and Kisses, Swings and Misses. Friday,
Feb. 14, at 8 p.m. The Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap
Road, Vienna. Tickets are $25. Call 877-WOLFTRAP
or visit wolftrap.org.
GORDON BINDER: FIGURES AND VISTAS
Gallery Plan B features paintings and drawings
from Dupont Circle-based gay artist Gordon Binder,
whose urban-themed artwork reects his training as
an architect and planner. Often based on drawings
done onsite, with some shaped by imagination,
Binders paintings offer up a rich play of shapes
and contours, textures and colors, rhythms and
contrasts. Closes this Sunday, Feb. 16. Gallery Plan
B, 1530 14th St. NW. Call 202-234-2711 or visit
galleryplanb.com.
PATTI LUPONE
Next week, this gay-popular Broadway veteran
appears onstage at two of D.C.s best venues. First,
Monday, Feb. 17, at Sidney Harman Hall, LuPone
is the focus of a Classic Conversations interview
conducted by Shakespeare Theatre Companys
Michael Kahn. The next night she kicks off a
weeklong run of a cabaret with Mandy Patinkin,
reuniting with her longtime friend 34 years after
their Tony-winning performances in Andrew Lloyd
Webers Evita. First presented in New York a couple
years ago, this cabaret tells a musical love story
entirely through a selection of great love songs
written for the stage that The New York Times raved
as nothing short of fearless, calling it an exercise
in exhilaration. Classic Conversations is Monday,
Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m. Sidney Harman Hall, Harman
Center for the Arts, 610 F St. NW. Tickets are $15 to
$45. Call 202-547-1122 or visit shakespearetheatre.
org. An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy
Patinkin is Tuesday, Feb. 18, through Sunday, Feb.
23, at 7:30 p.m. Also Saturday, Feb. 22, and Sunday,
Feb. 23, at 2 p.m. Kennedy Center Eisenhower
Theater. Tickets are $95 to $150. Call 202-467-4600
or visit kennedy-center.org.
RYAN SMITH
The opening DJ at last years Black Party in New
York, Ryan Smith has focused the past few years
on stirring up New Yorks gay dance-club scene,
most notably through his party Wrecked/NYC with
fellow DJ Ron Like Hell. Straying from the usual
gay club sound, Smith offers deep, sexy, soulful
rhythms not so dissimilar from San Franciscos
Honey Soundsystem, where he has guest DJed. On
a return visit to D.C.s U Street Music Hall, Smith
opens for Scuba, the alias of Berlin-based, British-
born DJ Paul Rose, who has become known for his
bass-heavy techno style. Saturday, Feb. 15, at 10 p.m.
U Street Music Hall, 1115A U St. NW. Tickets are $10.
Call 202-588-1880 or visit ustreetmusichall.com.
SEMINAR
Round House Theatre presents a new work by
Broadways most-produced female playwright
Theresa Rebeck. Seminar focuses on four aspiring
young novelists who sign up for private classes with
Leonard, an international literary gure who teaches
them lessons in survival as well as writing in this
comedy, directed by a Round House founder and
former artistic director Jerry Whiddon and starring
Marty Lodge, Tom Story and Alexander Strain. Now
to March 2. Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West
Highway, Bethesda. Tickets are $50 to $60. Call 240-
644-1100 or visit roundhousetheatre.org.
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heres no art form that stirs up passion in your heart like music,
says Jeff Buhrman of the Gay Mens Chorus of Washington. You
can hear just a few notes and be swept away, have such intense
feelings.
When putting together a Valentines Day-themed program, one of his
last as the choruss artistic director, Buhrman was drawn to the idea of
stirring passion among patrons. Passion for love, for music, for family, for
religion, for homeland, he says. And the passion for keeping this battle
going for LGBT equality. The result is a romantic program of diverse
love songs, ranging from Dolly Partons I Will Always Love You to three
songs from Miss Saigon to arias from La Traviata and The Marriage of
Figaro. It is an inspirational program with songs about who we are as
LGBT people, Buhrman says.
Buhrman also touts the concert venue, the wonderfully acoustic hall
at the Church of the Epiphany. And he notes that in addition to a pianist,
the chorus will also be accompanied by a string quartet and an oboist. The
string quartet will feature on violin none other than the choruss leader,
Chase Maggiano. This concert is going to be a fun chance for me to
actually be able to make some music with the guys, Maggiano says. Itll
be the rst time the classically trained violinist will have accompanied the
chorus since becoming its executive director last year.
Its going to be a great show for a date night, Maggiano says. And just
who will be his date to the concert? His parents. Says Maggiano: I think
this is actually my parents rst time seeing a Gay Mens Chorus concert.
Doug Rule
The Gay Mens Chorus performs Sunday, Feb. 15, at 3 and 8 p.m. at
The Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW. Tickets are $46.
Call 202-293-1548 or visit gmcw.org.
THE
PASSION OF THE CHORUS
Gay Mens Chorus offers a stirring romantic program this weekend
SIGNATURE THEATRES
WINTER CABARET FESTIVAL
Signature Theatres annual Winter Cabaret Festival
runs for most of February. Remaining programs
include: Our Funny Valentine with Chelsea and Geoff
Packard, now to Saturday, Feb. 15; Carolyn Cole, who
starred as Tracy Turnblad in Signatures Hairspray
and also appeared in the companys recent Company,
offers a series of rocking concerts in her farewell
to D.C., Wednesday, Feb. 19, through Saturday,
Feb. 22; and The Lost Songs of Broadway: 1980s,
Wednesday, Feb. 26, through Saturday, March 1.
Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington.
Tickets are $41, or $90 for an All Access Pass. Call
703-820-9771 or visit signature-theatre.org.
THE FRIDGES VALENTINES DAY LOVEFEST
The small art space The Fridge features a Valentines
Day variety show. Therell be live music courtesy of
Sara Curtin and Maureen Andary, who perform as
the harmonizing duo The Sweater Set, as well as an
opening act from Loves It, featuring real-life lovers
Jenny Parrot and Vaughn Walters. Therell be poetry
from Doritt Carroll. Therell be love-themed art on
the walls. Therell also be homemade cupcakes and
chocolate-dipped strawberries, even the chance to
create your own valentine with stamps and stickers.
Friday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m. The Fridge DC, 516 8th St.
SE, rear alley. Tickets are $18. Call 202-664-4151, or
visit thefridgedc.com or syriawhatwillbe.com.
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
Every Friday and Saturday night, Landmarks E
Street Cinema shows lms at midnight that are
more risqu or campy than the usual fare. And, no
surprise, once a month brings screenings of a certain
cult classic. Each screening is accompanied by the
shadow cast Sonic Transducers, who act out the
lm in front of the screen with props and costumes.
Friday, Feb. 14, and Saturday, Feb. 15, at midnight.
Landmarks E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call
202-452-7672 or visit landmarktheatres.com.
FILM
ABOUT LAST NIGHT
Yes, indeed, this is an African-American adaptation
of the 1986 Rob Lowe/Demi Moore lm from
Edward Zwick, which was based on the 1974 David
Mamet play Sexual Perversity in Chicago. Kevin
Hart, Michael Ealy, Regina Hall and Joy Bryant star
in this version of the movie about bar hookups. Hot
Tub Time Machines Steve Pink directs from a script
by Leslye Headland. Opens Friday, Feb. 14. Area
theaters. Visit fandango.com.
AMELIE
Artisphere offers a special Valentines Day screening
of this 2001 romantic French-language lm about an
ingnue, played by Audrey Tautou, who discovers
love with Mathieu Kassovitz. Friday, Feb. 14, at 8
p.m. The Dome Theatre at Artisphere, 1101 Wilson
Blvd., Arlington. Tickets are $10. Call 703-875-1100
or visit artisphere.com.
OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORT FILMS 2014:
ANIMATED, LIVE ACTION
Once again Landmarks E Street Cinema offers
two feature-length programs of the short lms
nominated at the 86th Annual Academy Awards, set
for March 2: a program with the animated shorts,
and a program of live action shorts. Now playing.
Landmarks E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call
202-452-7672 or visit landmarktheatres.com.
TIMS VERMEER
Teller, of the comedy duo Penn & Teller, directs
this documentary co-produced by the duos Penn
Jillette which follows a Texas-based inventor
who attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries
in all of art: How did 17th century Dutch master
Johannes Vermeer manage to paint so photo-
realistically 150 years before the invention of the
camera? Opens Friday, Feb. 14. Landmarks E Street
Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call 202-452-7672 or visit
landmarktheatres.com.
WINTERS TALE
Colin Farrell stars as a master thief who breaks into
a Central Park mansion, only to have his heart stolen
by the woman who lives there, played by Jessica
Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey). But, of course, the
love is star-crossed, as both are marked for death,
Farrell by Russell Crowe. Oscar-winning screenwriter
Akiva Goldsman (A Beautiful Mind) makes his big-
screen directorial debut with this fantasy he adapted
from a novel by Mark Helprin, also starring Jennifer
Connelly and William Hurt. Opens Friday, Feb. 8.
Area theaters. Visit fandango.com.
STAGE
BEACHES: A MUSICAL
Yes, its true: Signature Theatre presents a world
premiere musical adapted from the 1985 novel,
best remembered as the 1988 weepy lm starring
Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. Signatures
Eric Schaeffer directs Mara Davi (Broadways
A Chorus Line and The Drowsy Chaperone) and
Alysha Umphress (Broadways American Idiot)
in this musical adaptation by original author Iris
Rainer Dart, with assistance from book writer Thom
Thomas and composer David Austin. Opens in
previews Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. To March 23.
Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington.
Call 703-820-9771 or visit signature-theatre.org.
THE YOUNG LADY FROM TACNA
Jose Carrasquillo from Puerto Rico directs the
latest show at GALA Theatre, La Seorita de Tacna,
written by Peruvian 2010 Nobel Prize Laureate
Mario Vargas Llosa. This memory play, performed
in Spanish with English surtitles, is a moving and
humorous portrait of a family and its secrets, focused
on a 100-year-old spinster aunt and her canceled
engagement to a Chilean captain when she was
young. Carlos Castillo and Luz Nicolas star. Now to
March 9. GALA Theatre at Tivoli Square, 3333 14th
St. NW. Tickets are $38 to $42. Call 202-234-7174 or
visit galatheatre.org.
VIOLET
HHHHH
Now at Fords Theatre, Violet will touch you in its
unusual approach and its unexpected story line.
The show, with music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics
and book by Brian Crawley, follows the story of the
titular character, who we see as both a teenager in
rural North Carolina and as an adult traveling across
the South, often at the same time, in overlapping
scenes. That director Jeff Calhoun, ably assisted
by Tobin Osts complicated, movable set and sharp
projection screens, pulls off this feat without it
getting cluttered or confusing is one thing. That
Lauren Williams as Young Vi and especially Erin
Driscoll as Violet also regularly cross paths, even
cross dialogue in a couple scenes, without a hitch
in actor performance or audience comprehension
is yet another stunning accomplishment. The story
focuses on a young woman who wants to alter her
physical appearance chiey, to remove the scar
she sustained on her face from a wayward ax as a
teenager. She travels cross-country in 1964 in search
of a miracle, but along the way she instead nds
herself as well as love and friendship, principally,
shockingly, with two male soldiers, one white and
one black. The journey is beautifully complemented
by the strong, large company of local performers
Calhoun casted to sing tunes that are mostly variants
of roots-based music, from bluegrass to the blues,
gospel to country. Its all just as pretty as Violet. To
Feb. 23. Fords Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are
$20 to $52. Call 800-982-2787 or visit fordstheatre.
org. (Doug Rule)
YELLOW FACE
Theater J presents the regional premiere of Yellow
Face, in which playwright David Henry Hwang leads
a community protest against the casting of a famous
white actor as the Eurasian pimp in the original
Broadway production of Miss Saigon and then
faces his own headache when he mistakenly casts a
white actor in his own new play. Natsu Onoda Power
directs the Theater J production of this Pulitzer Prize
nalist featuring a cast including Tony Beckman,
Mark Hairston, Stan Kang, Al Twanmo and Jacob
Yeh. To Feb. 23. The Aaron & Cecile Goldman
Theater, Washington, D.C.s Jewish Community
Center, 1529 16th St. NW. Tickets are $30 to $55. Call
202-518-9400 or visit washingtondcjcc.org.
MUSIC
ASAF AVIDAN
Israeli singer-songwriter has drawn comparisons to
Janis Joplin, Jeff Buckley and Nina Simone and
youll be in awe of his voice, sounding like a husky
female even in his natural, non-falsetto range. He
tours in support of his solo debut Different Pulses.
Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 8 p.m. Sixth & I Historic
Synagogue, 600 I St. NW. Tickets are $25 in advance,
or $28 day of. Call 202-408-3100 or visit sixthandi.org.
BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Tchaikovskys final work, the magnificent
Pathetique Symphony No. 6, is the focal point of
this program led by conductor Gilbert Varga and
BSO concertmaster Jonathan Carney, who leads the
orchestra in a stunning rendition of Saint-Saenss
Violin Concerto No. 3. Also on the bill is Berliozs
Roman Carnival Overture. Saturday, Feb. 15, at 8
p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman
Lane, North Bethesda. Also Friday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m.,
and Sunday, Feb. 16, at 3 p.m. Joseph Meyerhoff
Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore.
Tickets are $29 to $109. Call 410-783-8000 or visit
bsomusic.org.
BERLIN PHILHARMONIC WIND QUINTET
Legendary Berlin Philharmonic director Herbert
von Karajan oversaw the founding of the Berlin
Philharmonic Wind Quintet over 25 years ago. In
a performance at University of Marylands Clarice
Smith Center, the quintet performs Mozarts Fantasy
for Mechanical Organ; Joseph Bohuslav Foersters
Quintet in D Major; and Kalevi Ahos Windquintet.
Saturday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. Clarice Smith Performing
Arts Centers Gildenhorn Recital Hall, University of
Maryland, University Boulevard and Stadium Drive,
College Park. Tickets are $40. Call 301-405-ARTS or
visit claricesmithcenter.umd.edu.
JOHN EATON
The Barns at Wolf Trap hosts the second in this years
two-part series on American pop and jazz standards
led by the local jazz veteran and pianist John Eaton.
The Fabulous Forties features legendary songs of that
70-year-old era, including big-band jazz hits from
Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller.
Saturday, Feb. 15, at 7:30 p.m. at The Barns at Wolf
Trap, 1645 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $25 to $27.
Call 703-255-1900 or visit wolf-trap.org.
KRONOS QUARTET, TRIO DA KALI
Former artists-in-residence at the University of Maryland, the eclectic classical
contemporary group the Kronos Quartet join in concert the famed Malian vocalist
Hawa Kass Mady Diabat and instrumentalists Fod Lassana Diabet and
Mamadou Kouyat in their rst visit to the U.S. as Trio Da Kali. Saturday, Feb.
22, at 8 p.m. Clarice Smith Performing Arts Centers Dekelboum Concert Hall,
University of Maryland, University Boulevard and Stadium Drive, College Park.
Tickets are $35. Call 301-405-ARTS or visit claricesmithcenter.umd.edu.
DANCE
FURIA FLAMENCA
As part of its Happenings at the Harman Happy Hour programming, Shakespeare
Theatre Company welcomes this local amenco company, founded 11 years ago
by Estela Velez. Furia Flamenca combines amencos gypsy heritage with modern
amenco choreography to create an elegant balance of motion and energy.
Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 5:30 p.m. Sidney Harman Hall Forum, Harman Center for
the Arts, 610 F St. NW. Tickets are free, no reservations required. Call 202-547-
1122 or visit shakespearetheatre.org.
KRASNOYARSK NATIONAL DANCE COMPANY OF SIBERIA
Stretching from the Arctic to China, Siberia is a world of cultures, and this
vibrant dance company brings inuences from many of them to the stage, from
leaping, twirling Cossack soldiers to brightly clad peasant dances drawn from
the centuries. Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 8 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301
Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $29 to $70. Call 301-581-5100 or
visit strathmore.org. l
FOR MORE
OUT ON THE TOWN
LISTINGS PLEASE VISIT
WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM
36
W
ITH A CHARIS-
ma that roars
like a coal-red
furnace, Arenas
Mother Courage and Her Children,
begins and ends with Kathleen
Turner in the title role. Yes, there
are other memorable players that
bring their own well-tended res,
but no one is as fully stoked as
Turner. And though her delivery
a gravelly mix of Ian McShane-
style proclamations, Marianne
Faithful-style vocals and Turn-
ers own potent phrasing might
throw another play off its axis,
here it is utterly and completely
compelling.
And this is no accident, either
on the part of Turner or direc-
tor Molly Smith. Written in the
aftermath of World War I and
as the clouds gathered for World
War II, Bertolt Brechts story of
a woman who loses her children
even as she prots from the war
that takes them, is a compromised
morality tale writ bold. Courage
must be larger than life because
in less than three hours she must
live all that is morally ambiguous
and blindly necessary in war, and
pepper it with dark humor and
the tiny nuggets of humanity still
cradled in her pragmatic breast.
Getting this, Turner plays it to
the hilt and in doing so brings into
stark relief the many questions
Brecht surely wanted asked: Does
she really love her children? How
does one love what one must also
prepare to lose? And if war, by its
nature, dismantles our moral GPS,
is it fair to judge us as we drive
blind and by necessity?
Turner captures something
else too, something that Brecht
may or may not have intended.
This Courage exists in a state of
genderless self-possession: Her
intelligence, wit and drive make
her what she is, not her femi-
nine wiles. When her daughter
dies, we may see a mothers grief,
but not seless motherhood as
we think of it. As such, she is an
extraordinary example of (if not
necessarily one to be aspired to)
feminism. It is also a portrayal of
womanhood rarely seen on the
contemporary stage as written by
contemporary playwrights.
Far more typical is Yvette, the
vamp haunting the solders camps.
Though she is played with verve
and athletic gusto by Meg Gillen-
tine, Yvettes identity and worth
is measured only in sexual cur-
rency. And this is the measure of
women today, in life and as we are
shown them on the screen and on
the stage. Women are portrayed
as sexually viable or invisible, an
either/or proposition. Its a real-
ity that makes Mother Courage all
the more fascinating, especially as
embodied by the spiritually and
physically formidable Turner. She
shows us that there is an entirely
other way of writing women for
the stage and screen and all one
has to do is start with Brecht. Or
wake up and look around.
As heavy-handed as this may
sound, Brecht is still all about
accessible storytelling and direc-
tor Smith keeps Mother Courages
adventures moving apace in keep-
ing with this page-turning mood.
The musical interludes, which
serve to recalibrate the play to
an arms length jollity or wistful-
ness, are handled here with a nice
blend of the folksy and the caba-
ret; nods to the plays 17th century
setting and when it was written in
the late 1930s.
David Hares contemporary,
sharply witted translation ensures
that nothing is lost of Brechts
rueful style of humor and the
players capably keep the bal-
ance between the dire and the
funny. And though the sets are
somewhat reminiscent of the
fake rocks of a vintage Star Trek
episode, they are also in keeping
with Brechts penchant for the
Kathleen Turner, utterly and completely compelling, owns the stage in her
portrayal of Brechts Mother Courage
Turner at the center of it all: Mother Courage
MOTHER
COURAGE AND
HER CHILDREN
HHHHH
To March 9
Fichandler
Arena Stage
1101 6th St. SW
$50-$99
202-488-3000
arenastage.org
Taking Courage
KATE WINGFIELD STAGE
T
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continues on page 41
R
ENAULT IS A NAME RELATIVELY UNKNOWN IN THE AMERICAN
automotive world. The 115-year-old French carmaker left these shores in the
late 1970s, never to return. Across the pond and around the world, however,
Renault has its hands in numerous four-wheeled pies. Its one of the worlds
leading car manufacturers, with operations on ve continents and sales of the Renault
brand and its subsidiaries reaching 2.6 million in 2013. In 1999, the company joined forces
with Japanese car giant Nissan, in a strategic partnership that aims to share technologies
and resources across both brands. Combined, the Renault-Nissan partnership is fourth
largest in the world in terms of sales.
However, global importance aside, its Renaults unique design touches that have made
it a force to be reckoned with. In the early 00s, a new design language was ushered in
that emphasized emotion, desire and an emphasis on curves. Safety became a top priority,
with Renault the rst marque to score a perfect ve in Europes crash-test ratings. But
substance was not without style.
Renault eschewed established design parameters with models such as the Mgane, a
ve-door hatch that sported a prominent, curvaceous derrire and a marketing push that
playfully featured the car shakin that ass. It worked. In a world of bland Euro-box cars,
Renault forged a bold design path that other manufacturers have been emulating and
enhancing to this day.
Its in its concepts, though, that Renault really goes hog wild on every front. Auto shows
are dominated by bold models that feature elaborate interiors, stunning exteriors and tech-
nologies that wont see the light of day for years to come, with equally sumptuous names
such as the Initiale Paris (an exhilarating mix of crossover, minivan and wagon) and the
DeZir (an all-electric supercar that teased Renaults current design language). What made
these concepts unique, however, was that the outlandish designs often were only partially
diluted into a more mainstream
vehicle that ended up in show-
rooms. Renault strives to maintain
as much of the extraordinary in its
ordinary lineup as possible.
Occasionally, however,
Renault produces a car so fantas-
tical that it will remain just that: a
fantasy. Enter the Renault Kwid,
a funky little crossover with pro-
portions not too dissimilar to
Nissans Juke. At rst glimpse,
its just your typical concept car.
Bold, bulging bodywork with
thick bumpers, brightly colored
guards and scissor doors give the
Kwid a chunky, beach-buggy sil-
houette. Through the slim glass-
house, a ve-seat layout that
puts the driver at the center of
an uncluttered, plastic dash, with
typically over-styled molded seats
and a futuristic design that would
be hellish in the real world to
operate. Still, this is a concept, so
it doesnt matter. Black, grey, yel-
low and white are the only colors
used on the Kwid, and its a pleas-
ingly utilitarian look for a vehi-
cle thats actually not very hardy
underneath chunky tires aside,
its powered by a 1.2-liter turbo-
charged engine that drives the
front wheels only. Dont expect to
venture into the great unknown
with the Kwid. This is a vehicle
designed for young urbanites.
Its that urban setting that
grants the Kwid its pice de rsis-
tance. Stuck in trafc while roam-
ing the city streets? Wondering
what the obstruction could be?
Simple. Grab the tablet integrated
into the Kwids dash and launch
an autonomous quadrocopter
that lives inside a compartment
in the roof. The ying companion
scouts ahead, relaying live video
of trafc jams, alternate routes
and other information to help you
negotiate the city streets pos-
sibly helping avoid clogged junc-
tions before you reach them. It
can be own from the tablet, or
left to automatically scout ahead
and send back pertinent informa-
tion as required.
Of course, its all purely con-
ceptual, and would only raise
With the Kwid and NEXT TWO concepts, the French carmaker throws in
drones, massage chairs and a car that comes to you
Renaults Kwid gives you wings
37
Renaults Flights of Fancy
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38
I
LL BE UP FRONT: IM NOT OLD BY ANY STRETCH. AT 25, IM ONLY A
short seven years into my adult life, legally speaking. I still do things most young
guys are able to do in the gym: lift an unnecessary amount of weight, recover after
a single day, and enjoy a high level of elasticity to help avoid injuries. Thats not the
case for everyone under the same gym roof as me, though.
The two people I most often lift with are both older than 50. Lifting with them during
the past year has taught me plenty about what its like to intentionally damage yourself for
the sake of feeling better.
The primary lesson is that just because youre the oldest, that doesnt mean you
shouldnt be there. Its bound to happen at some point. Age is eeting and we will all look
around one evening and realize were no longer the newest rooster in the coop. By no
means should that stop you from going to the gym.
Science has been showing for some time that working out not only improves body
composition, but also chemical balance in the body. It releases the same endorphins that
you experience during sex, and puts you on an emotional high. The increased oxygen
consumption also creates a pseudo-high for hours after you exert. There are too many
advantages to ignore.
On the ipside, post-workout recovery does take longer. The bodys metabolism slows
down as you age, generally reaching its peak in your 20s. This means the food you con-
sume is processed more slowly. Its not completely detrimental, but it would benet most
BRANDON HARRISON
to switch to a sort of body-builder
split, working one or two muscle
groups per day. That focus allows
you to rest each muscle group for
a longer period, insuring a full
recovery between workouts.
While its hard to make an
argument against lifting as you get
older, you shouldnt expect the
world. With that slower recov-
ery comes slower results. Again,
as we age, our bodys chemical
processes slow, and that includes
hormone generation. Barring a
thyroid issue, testosterone levels
usually decrease with age. Nota-
bly, TRT (testosterone replace-
ment therapy) is a viable option
for most men over 40 to regain
that advantage in the gym, and can
speed up your results. If youre
opposed to those injections, just
expect fewer gains.
Youve also got to pay far more
attention to diet, which seems to
be routinely overlooked. Think
of pro football linemen once their
careers end they stop exerting
themselves as much while getting
older and tend to balloon to ridic-
ulous weights. When the metabo-
lism slows down, you should con-
sume less to maintain the same
weight. People condition them-
selves to eat a certain amount,
and that can be very difcult to
change. Difcult, but crucial.
Useful at any age, but particu-
larly as an older gym-goer, is nd-
ing someone to push you. Com-
placency is deadly. Our success
as a species has hinged on our
ability to move. Take a moment
to sit completely still, and look at
the same spot on the wall, oor,
or your monitor for a few sec-
onds. For many of us, were hard
pressed to last more than 30 sec-
onds. Its basic human instinct
to move. Just the same, it can
be very monotonous and boring
to go into the gym day after day
and lift the same weights, in the
same order. Find someone who is
going to push you to lift heavier,
run longer, or try something new.
Classes are also a great option for
this anything to develop some
new accountability.
Hitting the top of the hill isnt
HEALTH & FITNESS
Getting past your peak calls for more gym dedication, not permission to
coast to the nish line
Harder, Better, Older
C
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VERY CHILD HAS THAT
moment. You don a hat
or wrap a piece of cloth
around your head in a
makeshift bandana, put on an eye-
patch or draw on a fake goatee,
grab a stick or toy sword and then
proceed to swashbuckle and ter-
rorize your way across the imagi-
nary seven seas. Playing pirate is a
classic role-play for a fertile imagi-
nation its anarchic, endlessly
fun and more than a little naughty,
but not so much that Mom chas-
tises you for vanquishing your best
friend in ctitious combat or pre-
tending to loot a Spanish galleon.
Of course, as adults, stepping
into the role of a pirate is some-
thing reserved for Halloween or
the coasts of Africa, or relegated
to the screen in increasingly lack-
luster installments by an omni-
present corporation. As a grown-
up, its very difcult to let loose
and live out every 18th century
fantasy of plundering, boozing
and roaming the high seas. Un-
less you count Assassins Creed IV:
Black Flag, of course.
Assassins Creed, as a franchise,
has existed for more than six years
now, and in that time weve been
exposed to 16 iterations of the
game across consoles, PCs and
handheld platforms. Thats a lot
of stealthy assassinating, and its
little wonder that when the third
installment, Assassins Creed III
(which was actually the fth main
title come on now, stay with me)
dropped, the whole ordeal of mys-
terious assassins and secret mis-
sions was becoming rather stale.
Thats why this fourth iteration
is such a breath of fresh, albeit
slightly salty, air.
Black Flag follows the 18th
century exploits of infamous pi-
rate Edward Kenway, grandfather
of Connor from Assassins Creed
III the story here is a histori-
cal prequel of sorts. What makes
Kenway unique is that he isnt an
RHUARIDH MARR
assassin. Hes a pirate, a marauder,
someone seeking his fortune on
the sun-kissed beaches and schoo-
ner-lled seas of the Caribbean.
The story opens with Kenway un-
wittingly killing an assassin, who
tells him of a task he must com-
plete in Havana. Kenway grabs
his robes, checks his pockets, and
thats it. Were now a pirate pos-
ing as an assassin. Theres none of
the hand-holding and slow drip-
feeding of story and talents that
the third installment imposed on
players. Instead, after about an
hour of story missions, players
have gained most of their abilities
and are granted the freedom to
start exploring Black Flags world.
And what a world. Despite re-
leasing on last generation consoles
rst, Assassins Creed IV manages
to be one of the prettiest games
available on Xbox One and PS4
which is saying something given
the caliber of graphics available
on games specically designed for
both systems. The game features
three main Caribbean cities: Ha-
vana, Nassau and Kingston, with
another 50 unique locations to ex-
plore, as well as numerous islands
and other areas to venture onto.
Everywhere you look, theres
something waiting to take your
breath away. Sunlight ltering
through dense jungle; thunder-
ing waterfalls throwing rainbows
across an island; sails billowing as
they pick up the wind and thrust
your ship forward; bedraggled lo-
cals working hard as they try to
survive in a small island commu-
nity; towering castles defending
the Spanish, British and pirate-
controlled strongholds; epic ex-
plosions and ying debris as ships
lock horns in seaborne combat.
AC4 is constantly throwing things
at you, pulling you from gorgeous
locale to gorgeous locale. Its one
of only a few games in which play-
ing on the largest screen possible
is practically mandatory, as there
are so many details to appreciate
as you navigate the world.
Incidentally, these worlds
arent created equal. PlaySta-
tion owners will have the crisper,
smoother, more detailed experi-
ence as AC4 runs at a native 1080p
and makes use of more advanced
anti-aliasing than the Xbox One
version, which runs at 900p. Un-
less you have a direct compari-
son, though, you likely wont feel
GAMEFACE
AC4: Black Flag delivers the next best things to an actual trip to the
Caribbean, right down to frolicking dolphins and pirate booty
The pirate of pixels: Black Flag
ASSASSINS
CREED IV:
BLACK FLAG
HHHHH
PS4
Xbox One
Ubisoft
$59.99
39
Shiver Your Timbers
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shortchanged, but its something to con-
sider if you own both consoles.
Much of the joy found in Assassins
Creed IVs setting is in simply exploring
it. Commanding my ship, the Jackdaw,
the most fun I had was sailing through the
ocean waves, listening to my crew singing
sea shanties, watching seagulls oat over-
head as I quested for treasure hinted at by
discovered maps, or looked for booty-lad-
en ships through my spyglass. Using the
special ram Id upgraded my ship with, Id
re chain shots at an enemys rigging be-
fore bracing my men and crashing into the
hull of the other vessel. A few bow shots
and mortar rounds later and it would be
ready to board. Swinging by rope onto
their deck, Id engage in some fast-paced
combat, dueling with deckhands and foot
soldiers until their vessel was ours to pil-
lage for goods and materials to sell or to
upgrade our own ship. Any straggling sail-
ors were recruited onto my vessel or sent
down with theirs. This is exactly what I
want from a pirate game. This is the free-
dom and the fantasy I pictured as a child.
That fun continues onto land where, be
it missions or simply free-roaming, theres
the usual wealth of things to do. Assas-
sin missions, couriers to tail and loot,
treasure chests to track down, messages
in bottles to discover and wind-battered,
sea-sprayed locales to walk through. The
actual story of Black Flag frequently fell to
the side as simply exploring the world and
completing side-quests was often more
rewarding.
For the main campaign, the Templars
are seeking to undo the current world or-
der by removing powerful empires with
the use of the Observatory an ancient
complex that allows an individual to spy
on another by using a drop of their blood
to take control of their vision. The story
has numerous set pieces, but aside from
the excellent seafaring, its business as
usual for Assassins Creed, with stealth,
action, combat and, yes, plenty of tail X
to point Y without being discovered mis-
sions thrown in.
It all works, though. Whats more it
works and plays incredibly well. Theres
the staple of all Assassins games: excel-
lent navigation of environments, with Ed-
ward clambering up buildings and leaping
across gaps with gay abandon. Occasion-
ally he would climb onto something I
didnt want him to, and negotiating ships
can sometimes be an infuriating ordeal
as he tries to scamper up rigging when
youd rather he be jumping onto a cannon,
but its more pleasure than pain. Combat
is dense and enjoyable, though slightly
easy. Theres a wealth of swords and pis-
tols available, which makes for a nice mix,
but every encounter can be won by sim-
ply waiting for the visual cue which pops
up when someone is about to strike you,
pressing the button to counter and then
pressing the button to deliver a deadly
blow. Hardly the tension-soaked swash-
buckling Id have liked.
Really, fun seems to be the entire point
of AC4. Gone is a lot of the slightly-too-
serious tone of the previous installments,
and in comes all of the rip-roarious fun and
salty humor youd expect from a group of
nefarious pirates. Whatever youre doing,
be it blasting through a Spanish armada,
dancing between the blades of a British
army or simply strolling along a pristine
beach, gazing at the azure water as dol-
phins leap through the waves and crabs
sidestep around your feet, its all incred-
ibly good fun.
Thats all before you touch the multi-
player, which sadly neglects to offer any
sea-based combat a severely missed op-
portunity, as teaming up with friends to
take down other ships would have been
overwhelmingly enjoyable but does of-
fer some pretty good land-based action. I
also havent mentioned the present-day
setting of part of Black Flags story, which
all Assassins Creed games have. Where
Edwards story is something of a prequel,
the present day setting is a sequel to the
story of Desmond Miles in other games.
Presented in a rst-person format, you are
a modern pirate of sorts, stealing informa-
tion and data from Abstergo entertain-
ment, the company that has you loading
into the Animus to follow the historical
story of Edward Kenway in order to cull
ideas for a game. Fourth walls are broken
everywhere. Its very tongue-in-cheek,
but its also pretty interesting.
Really, though, Assassins Creed is great
because it strips away a lot of the baggage
of being an Assassins Creed game. This
isnt a stealth-action game that features a
pirate as the protagonist. Assassins Creed
IV feels very much like the developers set
out to make the best possible pirate game
they could, before realizing they were
supposed to be making a new Assassins
Creed game and shoehorning all that re-
FITNESS
continued from page 38
GEARS
more questions than the problems it seeks
to solve. Who is liable should a quadro-
copter hit something? Is there a system to
prevent use while driving? What if it fails
to return to the car? What if the battery
dies? None of these matter, as Renault has
admitted that the idea will likely never
see the light of day. Still, its a fun thought
for the next time youre sitting in trafc
and clueless as to whats causing the hold
up. Launch the quadrocopter, scout ahead
and see who it is that you need to mentally
curse for delaying your journey.
One concept that could easily make its
way to our roads in the not-too-distant
future is Renaults NEXT TWO. Based
on the companys adorable Zoe electric-
powered sub-compact, the NEXT TWO
tackles a different aspect of trafc jams to
the Kwid. Its inevitable that, while driv-
ing in a city, youre going to hit a delay
or snag of some sort and, lets face it,
jams are just a complete drag to negoti-
ate. Stopping, starting, ipping off the guy
next to you for trying to cut in. Trafc
jams are just unnecessary stress.
Enter the NEXT TWO to solve two
problems with one cute little hatchback.
Mixing autonomous driving with a mas-
sage parlor, the NEXT TWO would take
over from the driver in dense trafc and
only relinquish control should it feel con-
ditions require. Capable of driving itself at
speeds of up to 18mph, it would operate
on protected routes free from pedestrians
and cyclists, where lane changes arent
needed. Think negotiating an inner-city
freeway. Find yourself in slow-moving
trafc and simply push a button for the
NEXT TWO to take over.
the end of the game for anyone. Like-
wise, just because its downhill from there
doesnt mean its time to coast. That gym
dedication will leave you feeling younger,
feeling better, and, frankly, who doesnt
like feeling like they just had sex?
Working out has the power to age you
gracefully. Only you have the power to
make the commitment.
Brandon Harrison covers health and t-
ness for Metro Weekly. Read more at
MetroWeekly.com/health. Follow him on
Twitter at @ttrbrandon. l
theatrically stark. And there is enough
action and emotional pace to lessen the
distraction.
As for the scene introductions, deliv-
ered by various members of the ensemble,
the less said the better. Brecht may have
wanted it, but it doesnt make it any less
toe-curling.
But these are details easily forgiven
as Turner commands the space with her
quips and bellows. Giving her plenty to
play against, the other standouts here are
Rick Foucheux as The Chaplain, a man
who nds his identity increasingly com-
promised, and Jack Willis, whos worldly
Cook appreciates Mother Courage, at
least as far as necessity allows.
Foucheux, who recently delivered a
poignantly subtle rendering of the lone-
liness of aging as Sorn in Woolly Mam-
moths Stupid Fucking Bird, here shows
his versatility in giving his Chaplain the
right broad-brush combination of per-
sonable and selsh. Williss Cook is an
intriguing concoction of savvy suitor, old
coot, and all-around wit, even if there
isnt enough in the way of chemistry with
Courage to explain his long-term interest
in her.
In the non-speaking but noise-making
role of Courages mute daughter Kattrin,
Erin Weaver delivers a strongly dened
character and expresses well the grief of
this girls thwarted life. It is her interac-
tions with Turners Courage that bring
the clearest glimpses of loves ambiguities
in the face of crisis and speaks interest-
ingly to the expectations all mothers grap-
quires into their title. And thats no bad
thing. Instead, we have a wonderful mix
of both. All of the great gameplay Assas-
sins Creed has been offering for six years,
but with a fresh, endlessly exciting, con-
stantly engrossing context of being the
best goddamn pirate you can be.
My inner-child, the part that longs to
don a captains hat and shout, Sail, me
hearties! he couldnt be happier while
playing Black Flag. I never tire of batter-
ing my ship through a hurricane, chas-
ing down a frigate I wish to plunder, as
massive waves roll my crew around the
deck, rain obscures the camera and glints
of sunlight stream through my billowing
sails. Im obsessed with getting every ani-
mus fragment, nding every bottled mes-
sage, looting every sunken ship. Im not
done with exploring every glorious inch
of this world. Im Edward Kenway, cap-
tain of the Jackdaw, and Im the best damn
pirate the Caribbean has ever seen. l
ple with when it comes to their daughters.
As the two sons Courage loses to the
war, Swiss Cheese and Eilif, Nehal Joshi
and Nicholas Rodriguez acquit them-
selves well, though the roles as written are
more symbolic than emotionally engaged.
Some smaller roles are given compelling
color by Dan Istrate as the Sergeant and
Jacobi Howard as the Recruiting Ofcer.
Finally, mention must be made of the
musicians and singers, as led by Nathan
Charles Koci, for bringing much palpable
joy or pathos in the musical interludes.
Still, even with these pluses, the reason
to see this production remains Turner,
whose hard-bitten hawker-philosopher
persists in the memory and the minds
eye with the determination of the Cour-
age eternally plying her wares in wars
wasteland. l

STAGE
Using a mixture of cameras, sen-
sors and an ultrasound eld, it monitors
other cars and maintains an appropriate
space and distance. A heads-up display
and smart seat keep the driver notied
of any dangers the car detects, allow-
ing them to step in and resume control
should the automated system feel its nec-
essary. Should the driving be smooth and
clear, however, the seat can automati-
cally move into a more comfortable posi-
tion for relaxation, activating a special
massage function to help further remove
stress from the daily commute. Add in
a mobile hotspot, hands-free entertain-
ment, a built-in tablet and the ability to
book concert tickets and restaurants, and
the NEXT TWO becomes a productive
hub in which to work or relax as you nego-
tiate the city streets.
What about when you reach your des-
tination? Never fear. Renault envisages a
self-parking mode, enabled via a smart-
phone app, which will have the NEXT
TWO seek out an appropriate parking
space near your home or ofce and wait
until you require it. Summon the car,
and itll automatically adjust heating and
entertainment as it negotiates to your
position. Need to make it to a meeting or
scheduled event? The NEXT TWO will
scan local trafc and GPS routes, notify-
ing you when it needs to be summoned
to make it on time, as well as offering to
take control on protected routes to ensure
you make it to your destination on time.
It all sounds relatively advanced, which
it is, but Renault says with the right road
networks the technology could be brought
relatively cheaply to market by 2020.
Now, can we have a self-driving car
with a built in quadrocopter, Renault? I
cant be the only one who wants to watch
my own progress from outside the car,
video-game style. l
NIGHT
LIFE
43 METROWEEKLY.COM
M
THURS., 02.13.14
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm Multiple
TVs showing movies,
shows, sports Expanded
craft beer selection No
cover
ANNIES/ANNIES
UPSTAIRS
4@4 Happy Hour,
4pm-7pm $4 Small
Plates, $4 Stella Artois,
$4 House Wines, $4
Stolichnaya Cocktails, $4
Manhattans and Vodka
Martinis
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 9pm
GREEN LANTERN
Shirtless Men Drink Free,
10-11pm
JR.S
$3 Rail Vodka Highballs,
$2 JR.s drafts, 8pm to
close Top Pop Night
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Beat The Clock Happy
Hour $2 (5-6pm), $3
(6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm)
Buckets of Beer $15
Drag Bingo
NUMBER NINE
drink, 5-9pm No Cover
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
All male, nude dancers
Shirtless Thursday DJ
Tim E in Secrets 9pm
Cover 21+
FRI., 02.14.14
9 1/2
Open at 5pm Happy
Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink,
5-9pm Friday Night
Videos with resident
DJ Shea Van Horn VJ
Expanded craft beer
selection No cover
LISTINGS
44
WITH THIS WEEKS ISSUE, WERE RELAUNCHING NIGHTLIFE
Coverboy as Coverboy: Bartenders Edition. Each week, we
will feature one of the gay communitys most personable drink
slingers. Be sure to stop by during their week and pay them
a visit.
I
F YOU ROLL INTO THE GREEN LANTERN ON ANY GIVEN
night, chances are youll encounter Will. Now residing
in Arlington with his anc, Luke, this Midwest-raised
outdoorsman rst came to Washington after attending St.
Johns College in Annapolis. A longtime bartender at various
gay bars around the city, the 31-year-old says he most enjoys
getting homosexuals drunk. Though Will was shy, quiet and,
as he puts it, boring and dull as a youth, hes since matured
into a condent, funny man armed with quick bartending
hands and an even quicker wit. Although hes sometimes
been embarrassed on the job, the target of some vulgar sexual
offers, Will says he enjoys the job because he likes meeting
and talking with new people and getting them to crack a smile.
45
DC BEAR CRUE
@Town Bear Happy
Hour, 6-11pm $3 Rail,
$3 Draft, $3 Bud Bottles
Free Pizza, 7pm Hosted
by Charger Stone No
cover before 9:30pm 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 9pm
ANNIES
4@4 Happy Hour, 4-7pm
$4 Small Plates, $4 Stella
Artois, $4 House Wines,
$4 Stolichnaya Cocktails,
$4 Manhattans and Vodka
Martinis Upstairs open
5-11pm
JR.S
Buy 1, Get 1,
11pm-midnight Happy
Hour: 2-for-1, 4-9pm $5
Coronas, $8 Vodka Red
Bulls, 9pm-close
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
DJ Matt Bailer Videos,
Dancing Beat The Clock
Happy Hour $2 (5-6pm),
$3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm)
Buckets of Beer $15
M
bartenders
COVERBOY
EDITION
NUMBER NINE
Open 5pm Happy Hour:
2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm
No Cover
PHASE 1
DJ Styalo Dancing
$5 cover
PHASE 1 OF DUPONT
1415 22nd St. NW
For the Ladies DJ Rosie
Doors at 9pm 21+
PWS SPORTS BAR
9855 Washington Blvd. N
Laurel, Md.
301-498-4840
Drag Show in lounge
Half-price burgers and
fries
TOWN
Drag Show starts at
10:30pm Hosted by
Lena Lett and featuring
Tatianna, Shi-Queeta-
Lee, Jessica Spaulding
Deverreoux and BaNaka
Doors open at 10pm
For those 21 and
over, $5 from 10-11pm
and $10 after 11pm
For those 18-20, $10 all
night 18+
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Ladies of Illusion with
host Kristina Kelly, 9pm
Cover 21+
Interview by John Riley // Photography by Julian Vankim
Shot on location at The Beacon Hotel in Washington.
Visit beaconhotelwdc.com.
46
SAT., 02.15.14
9 1/2
Open at 5pm Happy
5-9pm $5 Absolut &
Titos, $3 Miller Lite after
9pm Expanded craft
beer selection No cover
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Diner Brunch, 10am-3pm
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke and/or live
entertainment, 9pm
JR.S
$4 Coors, $5 Vodka
highballs, $7 Vodka Red
Bulls
NELLIES
Guest DJs Zing Zang
Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer,
House Rail Drinks and
Mimosas, $4, 11am-5pm
Buckets of Beer, $15
NUMBER NINE
Pop Goes the World,
Global Pop Music Video
Party 9:30pm, with VJ
Wesley Della Volla
Doors 5pm Happy Hour:
$5 Absolut and Bulleit
after 9pm No Cover
PHASE 1
Dancing, 9pm-close
PHASE 1 OF DUPONT
Doors at 9pm 21+

PWS SPORTS BAR
Laurel, Md.
301-498-4840
Karaoke in the lounge
Charity Bingo with Cash
Prizes 3rd Sat. of Every
Month
Whats on your nightstand?
A lamp, an alarm clock. I wouldnt keep
anything on a nightstand. I have friends
come over my house. Do you want to
ask me whats in the closet?
Okay, whats in the closet?
A bunch of pornography, some lube and
condoms, stuff I havent used in a long
time. Some dusty dildos.
What are your three favorite TV
shows of all time?
Battlestar Galactica, Battlestar
Galactica, and Lost. I cant say
Battlestar Galactica three times. Well,
I can. But I dont want people to think
Im crazy.
47
TOWN
Shot to the Heart Music
by Nikno DJ Wess
Drag Show starts at
10:30pm Hosted by
For those 21 and over,
$8 from 10-11pm and $12
after 11pm 21+
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
All nude male dancers,
9pm Ladies of Illusion
with host Ella Fitzgerald,
9pm DJ Steve
Henderson in Secrets DJ
Spyke in Ziegfelds Doors
8pm Cover 21+
SUN., 02.16.14
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
cover
FIREPLACE
Skyy Vodka, $3 $5 cover
with $1 off coupons
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Champagne Brunch
Buffet, 10am-3pm
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm
Drag Show hosted by
Destiny B. Childs featuring
performances by a rotating
cast, 9pm No cover
Karaoke follows show
JR.S
Sunday Funday Liquid
Brunch Doors open at
1pm $2 Coors Lights &
$3 Skyy (all favors), all
day and night
NELLIES
Drag Brunch, hosted by
Shi-Queeta-Lee, 11am-3pm
$20 Brunch Buffet
House Rail Drinks, Zing
Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie
Beer and Mimosas, $4,
11am-close Buckets of
Beer, $15
NUMBER NINE
TOWN
WTF presents 2014
Homolympics Guest DJ
Majr joins WTF DJs Aaron
Riggins and Ed Bailey
BaNaka, Jaxknife, Pussy
Noir, Stephen Benedicto
21+ Free 10-11pm, $5
after 11pm
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Decades of Dance DJ
Tim-e in Secrets Doors
8pm Cover 21+
MON., 02.17.14
9 1/2
Open at 5pm Happy
5-9pm Multiple TVs
showing movies, shows,
sports Expanded craft
ANNIES
Martinis
FREDDIES
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 9pm
JR.S
Happy Hour: 2-for-1, 4-9pm
Showtunes Songs &
Singalongs, 9pm-close
DJ Jamez $3 Drafts
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Hour $2 (5-6pm), $3
(6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm)
Buckets of Beer $15
Poker Texas Holdem, 8pm
NUMBER NINE
No Cover
PWS SPORTS BAR
Laurel, Md.
301-498-4840
Buzztime Trivia
competition 75 cents off
bottles and drafts
TUES., 02.18.14
9 1/2
Open at 5pm Happy
5-9pm Multiple TVs
ANNIES
Happy Hour, 4-7pm $4
Stella Artois, $4 House
Wines, $4 Stolichnaya
Cocktails, $4 Manhattans
and Vodka Martinis
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 9pm
JR.S
Underground (Indie Pop/
Alt/Brit Rock), 9pm-close
DJ Wes Della Volla
2-for-1, all day and night
Youd probably have to eat snails and
other nasty stuff.
As long as theres something on
Bear I get to eat, too.
What annoys you?
People who are entitled or rude in their
behavior, especially at a bar.
What pleases you?
People who are polite and generous in
their behavior, especially at a bar.
Whats your greatest fear?
Spiders. Every type of spider. Oh, and
bugs. Anything that has its shell on the
outside. So I guess the guys from Halo,
too. Anything with an exoskeleton.
Roller coasters: wooden or steel?
Steel, because the wooden ones,
youre just sitting in a bowl, going
around. But the steel ones you get to
ip, and go upside-down, and around
all over the place, and theres potential
youll accidentally kick somebodys head
off. Which happened one time when I
was at a Six Flags.
What?
They actually had to close the whole
damn park. This dude lost his hat and
jumped over the fence, into the Dont
Go Here area, and when the roller
coaster went by, someones leg hit the
kids head and snapped it off.
Whats your guilty pleasure?
Laffy Taffy.
If you could have one superpower,
what would it be and why?
I would have the same superpower as
the Scarlet Witch. Shes able to affect
the outcome of any probabilistic event.
If you could do any job in the world,
what would it be?
I would be a professor at St. Johns
College. I like the breadth and depth of
conversations you get into when you
get to talk about Aristotle and Plato and
Tolstoy and Euclid, and all the sciences
and mathematics.
Youre stranded on a desert island
with one person. Who do you pick?
Bear Grylls. He could feed me and treat
me right. I mean sexually, of course.
Hes a very attractive man.
48
THURS., 02.20.14
9 1/2
TVs showing movies,
cover
ANNIES/ANNIES
UPSTAIRS
4@4 Happy Hour,
4pm-7pm $4 Small
Plates, $4 Stella Artois,
$4 House Wines, $4
Stolichnaya Cocktails, $4
Manhattans and Vodka
Martinis
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 9pm
GREEN LANTERN
Shirtless Men Drink Free,
10-11pm
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Hour $2 (5-6pm), $3
(6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm)
Buckets of Beer $15
Karaoke
NUMBER NINE
Safe Word: A Gay Spelling
Bee, with Bee-Rett 8pm
Start, Sign-Up Prior, $7
1st Place: $50 Bar Tab
No Cover
PWS SPORTS BAR
Laurel, Md.
301-498-4840
75 cents off bottles and
drafts Movie Night
WED., 02.19.14
9 1/2
Open at 5pm Happy
5-9pm Multiple TVs
ANNIES
Happy Hour, 4-7pm $4
Stella Artois, $4 House
Wines, $4 Stolichnaya
Cocktails, $4 Manhattans
and Vodka Martinis
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm Drag
Bingo, 8pm Karaoke,
10pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour Prices,
4pm-Close
JR.S
Trivia with MC Jay
Ray, 8pm The Queen,
10-11pm $2 JRs Drafts
& $4 Vodka ($2 with
College I.D./JRs Team
Shirt)
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Hour $2 (5-6pm), $3
(6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm)
Half-Price Burger Night
Buckets of Beer $15
SmartAss Trivia, 8pm
NUMBER NINE
No Cover
PWS SPORTS BAR
Laurel, Md.
301-498-4840
Free Pool 75 cents off
Bottles and Drafts
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
New Meat Wednesday DJ
Don T 9pm Cover 21+
JR.S
$3 Rail Vodka Highballs,
$2 JR.s drafts, 8pm to
close Top Pop Night
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
Hour $2 (5-6pm), $3
(6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm)
Buckets of Beer $15
Drag Bingo
NUMBER NINE
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Shirtless Thursday DJ
Tim E in Secrets 9pm
Cover 21+
FRI., 02.21.14
9 1/2
Open at 5pm Happy
5-9pm Friday Night
Videos with resident
DJ Shea Van Horn VJ
Expanded craft beer
selection No cover
ANNIES
Martinis Upstairs open
5-11pm
DC BEAR CRUE
@Town Bear Happy
Hour, 6-11pm $3 Rail,
$3 Draft, $3 Bud Bottles
Free Pizza, 7pm Hosted
by Charger Stone No
cover before 9:30pm 21+
FREDDIES BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-7pm
Karaoke, 9pm
What turns you on?
Does Laffy Taffy count? No,
beards and jockstraps.
What turns you off?
Glitter.
Whats your idea of
a romantic getaway?
Camping on Assateague. Just pulling
up with a tent, and some food and
rewood, building a re on the beach.
Dene good in bed.
Responsive and aggressive.
Can men fake it? Should they?
Ive spit on many a back before.
If you were a porn star, what would
your name be and what would
you be known for?
Ty Pennington. And I would be known
for Extreme Ass Makeover.
Name two people you dont ever
want to picture having sex.
Any priest and any child.
Whats the best tip you ever got?
To go back to school. I know you mean
money, but money comes and goes.
Whats the craziest thing someone
ever ordered from you?
Someone asked me to pee in a water
bottle once. I didnt do it.
When you go to a bar, what
do you order?
Diet Coke.
Gin or Vodka?
Gin.
Scotch or Bourbon?
Bourbon.
Wine or Beer?
Beer.
Mustard, Mayo or Ketchup?
Ketchup.
Miley or Britney?
Thats a hard one. Britney.
Whats your favorite cocktail
to make?
Budweiser. It is simple and easy and
my ngers dont get sticky.
49
JR.S
Buy 1, Get 1,
11pm-midnight Happy
Hour: 2-for-1, 4-9pm $5
Coronas, $8 Vodka Red
Bulls, 9pm-close
NELLIES SPORTS BAR
DJ Matt Bailer Videos,
Dancing Beat The Clock
Happy Hour $2 (5-6pm),
$3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm)
Buckets of Beer $15
NUMBER NINE
No Cover
PHASE 1
DJ Styalo Dancing
$5 cover
PHASE 1 OF DUPONT
1415 22nd St. NW
Doors at 9pm 21+
PWS SPORTS BAR
Laurel, Md.
301-498-4840
Drag Show in lounge
Half-price burgers and
fries
TOWN
Drag Show starts at
10:30pm Hosted by
Doors open at 10pm For
those 21 and over, $5 from
10-11pm and $10 after
11pm For those 18-20,
$10 all night 18+
ZIEGFELDS/SECRETS
Ladies of Illusion with
host Kristina Kelly, 9pm
Cover 21+ l
You become master of the world.
Whats your rst act?
To establish a committee!
Is cuddling the best, or
a waste of time?
The best. It is nice and calm and
comfortable and easy and warm.
What are you most grateful for?
Luke. My anc. Weve been engaged
for a year and together for ve.
Whats your motto?
No le illegitimus catarate. Dont let the
bastards shit on you.
Watch more of Wills interview on video
at MetroWeekly.com. l
C
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B
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F
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B
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D
O
U
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R
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Stagg Sweethearts
S
50
Local developers launching gay matchmaking app Stagg with a JR.s Valentines party
B
RAD BRENNER HAD
no prior experience
working in app
development, but the
psychologist with a private
practice in D.C. just couldnt
turn down the chance to
help develop a matchmaking
app for gay men.
One thing that I love
about my job is I get to help
people become what they
want to in life, Brenner
says. With this opportunity,
I could potentially help a lot
of people nd these great
connections that they might
not have otherwise.
Brenner is talking
about the app Stagg, for
which hes tapping into
his psychological expertise
to help match gay men.
As psychologists, he
says, what we know
helps form relationships,
whether theyre friendships
or long-term romantic
relationships, depends
on four variables. This
goes beyond proximity and
attraction, which current
apps such as Grindr and
Scruff have mastered,
to include similarity and
compatibility. Brenner says
Staggs custom-made
algorithm will work off of
an initial assessment and
regular quizzes to match
users based on those two
variables, going beyond
even what Match.com or
eHarmony offer.
Most compatibility
algorithms are based on
either birds of a feather,
the similarity approach,
or opposites attract,
Brenner explains. Our
algorithm is basically able to
do both. Itll be completely
customized to the person,
depending on how similar
or how different the user
species he wants in a
matchup.
An early iteration of the
app has been available for
a while, but Brenner says
theyre working to nalize
a more advanced version.
Brenner and his fellow
D.C.-based developers will
launch an Indiegogo capital
campaign this Friday, Feb.
14, with a party at JR.s.
What better night
to kick off the efforts for
a gay dating app than
Valentines Day? asks
Mike LaRosa, a business
consultant planning the
party, which is billed as
an anti-Valentines Single
Awareness Day event. In
addition to Stagg T-shirts,
giveaways including free
personal coaching sessions
with the local matchmaking
company Gay Love Project,
and a heart piata lled with
goodies intended especially
for someone feeling rather
scorned that evening, the
Stagg party at JR.s will
include games of Valentines
Day-themed trivia, led by
Brock Thompson.
Brenner says the new-and-
improved Stagg will launch in
a few months using the same
freemium model of its
competitors, meaning therell
be an ad-supported free
version, but users will have to
pay for the best features.
The Stagg launch party is
Friday, Feb. 14, starting
around 8 p.m., at JR.s,
1519 17th St. NW.
Call 202-328-0090 or visit
facebook.com/JRsBarDC. l
52 SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT AT WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM/SCENE
scene
DIK Bar
Saturday, February 1
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
CHRISTOPHER CUNETTO
scan this tag
with your
smartphone
for bonus scene
pics online!
I
KNOW I BRING A LITTLE
bit of a different sound
to the clubs that I play,
Nicholas Moede says, and
its great to see that sound
getting a great response from
the crowd.
Moede, who goes by the
alias DJ Nikno, was pleased
with the crowd response
he got during his debut at
Town last November. The
club was pleased, too, opting
to bring Nikno back just two
months later. I denitely
play a lot of vocals, says
Nikno, who spins at Town
again this Saturday, Feb. 15,
during the clubs Valentines
Day-themed Shot To The
Heart party, complete with
a text-based message board.
I dont necessarily play a lot
of pop music, but its all very
uplifting, euphoric music. I
like to get the crowd very
motivated, and get a lot of
people putting their hands
in the air and getting very
into the music.
The 45-year-old Nikno
says his sound is a variant
of high-NRG/house, inspired
chiey by todays biggest
European EDM artists, such
as Swedish House Maa
and Avicii. Its all a far cry
from hip-hop, which is what
he played when he rst
started DJing a decade ago
as DJ Niknotic, a spin on
his name and the alcoholic
drink Hypnotic. Back then,
he owned a club called The
Flame in San Diego.
I started out DJing
because I was unhappy
with the DJs that we were
hiring, he says. And a
number of my friends kind
of challenged me and said,
Well, if you think you can
do it better, then do it.
Nikno played there a
couple years before he
became owner of San
Diegos biggest gay dance
club, Richs, and became its
main resident DJ. A couple
years ago the Milwaukee
native, who originally moved
west to study literature at
the University of California,
San Diego, decided to move
to New York to take classes
in musical production. Hes
now produced about 10
ofcial remixes, including
one for Chers new single
Take It Like A Man.
Im working on
some original tracks and
pitching those to some
different singers, he
says, hopefully trying to
get some artists on board
with doing some tracks with
me and collaborations. He
mentions Rihanna and Katy
Perry as dream teams.
In addition to increasing
production work, Nikno also
hopes to pick up more DJ
residencies beyond Town,
Richs and Philadelphias
Voyeur. I would love to
expand and play more cities,
he says, and I would love to
have the chance to play some
of the bigger music festivals
at some point.
For DJ Nikno, obviously,
the only way is up.
DJ Nikno performs Saturday,
Feb. 15, after 10 p.m. at Town
Danceboutique, 2009 8th NW.
Cover is $8 before 11 p.m., or
$12 after. Call 202-234-TOWN
or visit towndc.com. l
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Niknos Time
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53
Nicholas Moede, aka DJ Nikno, offers another spin this Saturday at Town of his
high-NRG/house sound
I am an openly,
proud gay man.
MICHAEL SAM, defensive lineman for the Missouri Tigers, in an interview with ESPN. Named Associated Presss SEC Defensive
Player of the Year, Sam is eligible for the NFL draft in May, and, if selected, could become the sports rst out gay player.
(ESPN)
If an athlete comes to me and feels very strongly about
being able to speak out,
we would not impede them doing that.
MIKE HAY, leader of Britains Winter Olympic squad, speaking to a press conference at the games, conrming that British
athletes will not be stopped from protesting Russias law banning gay propaganda. Hay stated that the British Olympic
Association would ensure athletes felt safe and that their security was not compromised, but that any protests
could still be punished by Olympic authorities.
(Pink News)
Its important to show our solidarity with cities across Canada.

Its also important to show our support of those athletes
that are at the Olympics or that didnt go this time.
And to speak out against the laws that have been put into effect.
RACHEL LOEWEN WALKER, executive director of Saskatoons Avenue Community Centre for Gender & Sexual Diversity, arguing
for her city to join many others in Canada in raising a rainbow ag during the Winter Olympics.
(CBC News)
There are dozens of issues that are important
to the people living in the district, and that is not one of them.
Former American Idol star CLAY AIKEN stating that he believes that his being gay will not play a role in his
recently announced North Carolina congressional campaign.
(Associated Press)
Ive been in business 44 years. I think

I can spot a freak or faggot.
GARY JAMES, owner of Garys Chicaros Club restaurant in Enid, Okla., speaking with NBC afliate KFOR-TV. James has come
under re for discriminating against customers based on sexuality, race, religion, income and whether or not they
are able-bodied, all while wearing the restaurants ofcial T-shirt, which carries derogatory slogans against gays and
blacks and sanctions violence against Democrats, Muslims and others.
(KFOR)

Metro Weekly - 02-13-14 - Melinda Chateauvert

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2 FEBRUARY 13, 2014 METROWEEKLY.

Its important to show our solidarity with cities across Canada.

Ive been in business 44 years. I think

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