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Local Gay Legislators Win Fellowships: Adam Ebbin and Mary Washington to attend elite summer development program at Harvard's Kennedy School

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:33:14 EST

News:

Two local LGBT legislators will be Harvard-bound this summer.

The Gay & Lesbian Victory Institute, the educational and research arm of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which seeks to increase the number of qualified, openly LGBT elected and appointed officials, has announced that Virginia state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Arlington, Alexandria) and Maryland Del. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore) were part of its 2012 class of Bohnett LGBT Leadership Fellows.

MD Del. Mary L. Washington

The fellows are a group of 11 elected officials from throughout the country receiving scholarships, provided by the Victory Institute and the David Bohnett Foundation, to attend an elite executive-development program, ''Senior Executives in State and Local Government,'' at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, as well as follow-up programming and networking events.

''Each of the 2012 Bohnett Fellows has already dedicated his or her life to public service and social progress,'' Chuck Wolfe, president and CEO of the Victory Institute, said in a statement. ''We are thrilled to be able to help them reach the next step of success in their careers through participation in this outstanding program.''

Both Ebbin and Washington have been at the forefront of the legislative fight for LGBT rights in their respective states. First elected to the House of Delegates in 2003, Ebbin served for 8 years before becoming the first openly gay person elected to the Virginia Senate, where he fought bills that sought to restrict LGBT equality. Washington was first elected in 2010 to the Maryland House of Delegates, becoming a strong advocate for LGBT-friendly legislation, including Maryland's recently passed marriage-equality law.

VA Del. Adam Ebbin

Former Bohnett fellows include Houston Mayor Annise Parker (D), Arizona congressional candidate and former state legislator Kyrsten Sinema (D), Dallas Sheriff Lupe Valdez (D) and San Francisco City Treasurer José Cisneros (D).

''Graduates of this program include some of the country's most visible and successful openly LGBT public leaders,'' said Michael Fleming, executive director of the David Bohnett Foundation. ''We're proud to partner with Victory to help them grow their potential to make lasting change.''

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Whitman-Walker Launches Transgender Legal Clinic: Free clinic will help clients with name and gender changes for official documents

Thu, 31 May 2012 15:34:00 EST

News:

Whitman-Walker Health, the nonprofit community health center specializing in HIV/AIDS and LGBT health care, announced today that it will provide a free, ongoing legal clinic for transgender clients beginning in June.

The ''Name and Gender Clinic'' will be held every other month – following initial June and July – and will allow clients of WWH to meet one-on-one with trained attorneys from Trans Legal Advocates of Washington, who will provide counseling and assistance with processes for changing one's name and gender in public records and other official documents, such as driver's licenses, passports and birth certificates.

''Having identity documents, Social Security and other legal records that accurately reflect one's name and gender is so vital for any transgender person to live, work and thrive in our community,'' said Don Blanchon, Whitman-Walker's executive director, in a release announcing the clinc. ''The processes and procedures to make changes to these documents can be burdensome and confusing. As part of our ongoing commitment to care for the transgender community, we are proud to offer this service that will make a difference in people's lives.''

The first three clinics will be held at Whitman-Walker Health's Elizabeth Taylor Center, 1701 14th St. NW, on Tuesday, June 12, Wednesday, July 11, and Wednesday, Sept. 12, at 6:30 p.m. Clients are served on a walk-in basis and no appointment is necessary, but participants are encouraged to RSVP by calling 202-939-7627 or emailing lbrubaker@whitman-walker.org.

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AGLA Awards 2012 Scholarships: Arlington LGBT group honors two high school seniors for support of diversity and fairness

Thu, 31 May 2012 14:56:54 EST

News:

The Arlington Gay & Lesbian Alliance (AGLA), a nonpartisan LGBT organization in Northern Virginia, awarded two public high school seniors with $2,000 scholarships at the group's annual reception May 29.

The reception was held in the backyard of Hamish Park and Roland Watkins, of Arlington. The scholarships, which have been awarded annually since 2001, are managed by the Arlington Community Foundation and honor Arlington County students who have demonstrated a commitment to LGBT equality, either through efforts to promote diversity, fairness and inclusion for LGBT students at their school; or participation in their schools' Gay-Straight Alliances.

This year's scholarship winners are Anne Budway, of H-B Woodlawn High School and Caitlin O'Connor, of Washington-Lee High School.

''This splendid reception helps keep AGLA's scholarship program vibrant and helps deserving students with future academic pursuits,'' T.J. Flavell, AGLA's president, said in a release from the group. ''It's a celebration of accomplishments and diversity.''

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Concept Man: Arena's tinkering with tried-and-true ''Music Man'' may leave you scratching your head at points, yet still manages to impress

Thu, 31 May 2012 14:42:09 EST

Stage:

Beloved for more than half a century since its Broadway debut, The Music Man is certainly a musical comedy that's earned the label ''timeless.'' Yet what director Molly Smith does with that concept at Arena Stage doesn't exactly do Meredith Willson's 1957 masterpiece any favors.

Unmooring the paean to small-town life from the 1912 setting Willson specified and setting it adrift in a twilight zone of ever-shifting 20th century decades (ranging up to at least the '50s, it appears), Smith executes what's described in the program as ''a vision of America's past, with echoes of today,'' an approach that feels as heavy-handed as it sounds and that adds more of a contextual burden than the show can comfortably bear.

The Music Man

(Photo by Joan Marcus)

Inspired by his childhood years in Iowa, composer-lyricist Willson, who co-wrote the book with Franklin Lacey, beckons you to get lost in the tale of Harold Hill (Burke Moses), the con man redeemed by the love of Marian the librarian (Kate Baldwin) while trying to pull one over on River City by claiming that the corrupting power of a new pool table at the billiard hall can only be offset by the virtues of a boys' band, which he will happily supply and lead – unless, of course, he happens to be on a train out of town, fistfuls of cash in hand, before the first note is played.

But it's hard to completely immerse yourself in Willson's world when you hear a reference to knickers and there is nary such a garment in sight among costume designer Judith Bowden's dizzying array of gorgeously executed looks. Or when Harold repeatedly mentions that he was in the Gary Conservatory of Music's ''class of aught-five'' and you try to do the math based on the decade of the moment, since the apparently 40-something Moses would at times have to be pushing something like 70. Or when Smith decides to have the town ladies, suspicious of Marian's intellectualism, jarringly resort to book burning, as if they're casual fascists having a bit of Nazi-style fun in the '30s.

Thankfully, the radiant score – brimming with treasures such as ''Ya Got Trouble,'' ''Seventy-Six Trombones'' and ''Till There Was You'' – and the top-notch cast are resilient enough to transcend moments of directorial over-/under-/what-was-she-thinking. Moses and Baldwin are nothing less than delightful, creating potent romantic chemistry in their portrayals of Harold's suave confidence and Marian's hopeful yearning, which Baldwin voices beautifully in songs such as ''Goodnight My Someone'' and ''My White Knight.''

Using a minimalist approach to fine effect on the expanse of the Fichandler Stage, set designer Eugene Lee gives choreographer Parker Esse plenty of room to fill with attractive young dancers who pull off several big production numbers with effortless flair, although even they can't compensate for Esse's glaring misstep: his laughably bad choices for the already ridiculous song ''Shipoopi.'' (A squatting motion that corresponds with Willson's made-up word? Never a good idea.)

THE MUSIC MAN and a half To July 22 Arena Stage 1101 6th St. SW $46 to $91 202-488-3300 www.arenastage.org

The initially muted tones of Bowden's costumes effectively, if predictably, give way to vibrant colors as enthusiasm builds for the boys' band and the townsfolk awaken to the vibrance that music infuses River City with, courtesy of the Music Man who can't even read the first note. It would be a cold, cold heart that isn't warmed by the emotional high points that Smith and company expertly hit, especially when Harold connects with young Winthrop (Ian Berlin), Marian's little brother, filling the void left by the death of their father, and when Harold finally lets down his con-artist guard enough to recognize his feelings for Marian, in one of those breathtaking romantic moments that musicals are made for.

You may wish that this Music Man marched forth with a lighter step – that you didn't see so much of the director's concept leading the way, when the material is on such solid footing to begin with. But this is still an impressive spectacle that many won't want to miss.

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God Only Knows: As a longtime person of little faith, it's a small cosmic irony to find myself married to a husband who's decidedly devout

Thu, 31 May 2012 07:16:40 EST

Opinion:

It can be a challenge, being the nonbeliever in a relationship with someone who's devout. If I believed in such things, I would have to think it was the universe's own little joke to pair me — who, if there were a Kinsey scale of religiosity, would an absolute zero — with my husband, whom I often suspect of being a closeted monk.

This isn't quite as difficult as it may sound. While my profound levels of disbelief grow directly out of my experience as a born-and-raised Protestant Christian — Cumberland Presbyterian if you want to be specific — my husband's devoutness comes from his experience as a born-and-raised Vietnamese Buddhist.

Trust me, if you're going to be an agnostic in a relationship with a true believer, for ease of living and laissez-faire faith you can't do better than a Buddhist, with the possible exception of an Episcopalian.

There is a reason for my flippancy about God. The only time in my life that I actually believed was in my youth and that belief was dictated by the fact that everyone around me believed so, therefore, I had to believe. Being a Protestant, my baptism was supposed to come when I opened my heart to Jesus and accepted the call, delivered at the end of every Sunday morning sermon, to come forward for baptism.

Generally, this was supposed to occur after some personal and intense revelation that statistically would seem to hit sometime at the onset of puberty. For myself, the revelation was that my younger sister went up one Sunday morning and I was horribly embarrassed that she was being saved before me, so I scooted my butt right up front alongside her.

Fortunately, we were sprinklers, not dunkers, so it was much less of a production than the Baptist kids across the street had to go through. But the feeling I had as the water dripped down my forehead and along my nose was not one of transcendent belief but temporary relief. For the moment, at least, I still belonged where I was supposed to belong.

Despite Sunday school stories about the importance of Thomas's doubts, our own doubts were never something I felt encouraged to indulge, so I kept them private. But I couldn't ignore them, whether it was the multiplicity of denominations believing different things yet all apparently being right (or right enough for heaven) or whether I would go to hell for not trying to convert the one Jewish friend I had. Then there was the question of billions of non-Christian heathens and such who were doomed to hell for being born into non-Christian families that defined their beliefs by their upbringing.

But the doubts didn't tear at me, they just seemed blandly obvious. It's not that I experienced a crisis of faith, but that I lacked the capacity for one.

I choose to call myself agnostic because, first, we live in an awe-inspiring universe of nearly infinite possibilities that none of us ever has a prayer of comprehending. Second, and more importantly, the fact that I could be wrong makes it incumbent on me to treat those who do believe with respect. And I truly admire the work that LGBT people from a multitude of faiths have undertaken to make their homes of worship more welcoming.

And despite my own agnosticism, my life happens to be better for having a believer in it. That's a cosmic irony I'm happy to accept.

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Legal Leadership: Lambda Legal's Kevin Cathcart has overseen two decades of enormous change, and looks forward to the years to come

Thu, 31 May 2012 07:08:11 EST

News:

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund's executive director, Kevin Cathcart, marvels at the changes in the law and the legal world since he began running the nation's largest LGBT legal organization in 1992.

''I think people that are newer to the legal profession today can't even imagine,'' Cathcart, who joined Lambda 20 years ago this month, says at a coffee shop in D.C. before a May 21 fundraiser celebrating his anniversary with the group. At the event, he noted that it was a celebration, not a wake, and says he no plans other than to stay with the organization.

Kevin Cathcart of Lambda Legal

(Photo by Todd Franson)

''I tell stories and I sound like I'm 5,000 years old, because the climate inside of law firms is so different today. The notion that partners weren't out 10 or 20 years ago, that firms wouldn't co-counsel cases with a group like Lambda.''

His work with LGBT nonprofits didn't begin at the New York-based group. He started eight years earlier at the Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD).

''In 1984, I became the executive director of GLAD … and we had an annual budget of $30,000,'' he says. Looking at the change since then, he notes, ''It was harder to raise $30,000 in New England in 1984 than it is to raise $13 million for Lambda Legal today – and I'm not gonna say that it's easy, because if it was easy we'd have a budget of $15 million, but still.''

It wasn't only the money. ''When I went to New York in 1992 to Lambda Legal, you could still count the number of openly gay partners at major law firms in New York City on your fingers,'' he says. ''And then there would also be some debate. It was like, 'Well, they're sort of out, but don't call them at the office.'''

It's the same with the cases – once brought primarily by GLAD, Lambda Legal, the ACLU Gay and Lesbian Rights Project (now, the LGBT Project) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and now brought by those groups, several others and individuals.

''When I went to Lambda Legal in 1992, you could still keep track of every case that was going on,'' he says. ''Even two or three years ago, who would have predicted how many DOMA challenges there are now? Who actually knows how many DOMA challenges there are?

''So, we're talking about 20 years ago when you could know every lesbian and gay case, because I'm not even going to pretend – there wasn't an LGBT docket in those days. It was a gay and lesbian and HIV docket in those days.''

''[The] total today,'' he says of DOMA challenges alone, ''is bigger than the total docket 20 years ago on everything.''

With all this progress, though, he does acknowledge that there is more that could be done. At Lambda Legal, he says, ''We have one person who does trans work full time, we have one person who does HIV work full time. Most of our people are generalists – that doesn't mean only one person is doing HIV or trans work – because other people are doing pieces, but … [we] have 18 lawyers in the legal department covering, basically, the country.

''Shouldn't we have more people doing trans work? Sure. Shouldn't we have more people doing youth and schools work? Of course. … Shouldn't we have more people doing HIV work? The epidemic is still completely out of control in this country. Shouldn't we – fill it in.''

But, he says, limited resources limit their and other groups' work. The empowering point, as he sees it, is how well advances are going whenever they are attempted: ''The amazing thing right now is how much opportunity there is in all of these areas to make changes.''

Looking back over his nearly 30 years at the helm of two of the LGBT legal organizations – since before the Supreme Court upheld sodomy laws in Bowers v. Hardwick in 1986 – he says of the case that reversed that decision, ''It's really hard to know when 'it' happened, but I don't think we can ever overestimate the role that Lawrence [v. Texas] played in ratcheting up … the country's evolution … on gay issues.

Calling Bowers an ''enormous sort of kick in the gut to everyone in the community,'' he says of the 2003 decision in Lawrence, a Lambda Legal case, ''It was amazing to see how much that meant to people when that changed.''

''When the historians look back on this and sort it all out,'' Cathcart says that he thinks they will write about ''how the Lawrence decision and the country's reaction and the way it was talked about in the press was the turning point.

''It was an amazing thing.''

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National LGBT Briefs: Protest, Praise and 'Ex-Gay' in Oregon: Infamous ''fence'' pastor both challenged and supported, while an Oregon psychiatrist faces complaint and Biola gets a gay group

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:48:33 EST

News:

North Carolina’s Rev. Worley Warmly Welcomed

It was May 13 when Pastor Charles Worley of Maiden, N.C.'s Providence Road Baptist Church told congregants how to ''get rid of all the lesbians and queers.'' His simple plan featured fenced-in pens, lesbians in one, gay men in the other, where they would remain till they died. Worley did not address the fact that gay people are largely the result of heterosexual couplings.

Reaction to the sermon, which made national headlines, was seen most poignantly Sunday, May 27, in nearby Newton, N.C., about six miles from Maiden. There, about 2,000 people rallied against Worley's plan, carrying signs with messages such as, ''Jesus had 2 dads and he turned out just fine,'' according to the Hickory Daily Record.

Laura Tipton, identifying herself as a member of Catawaba Valley Citizens Against Hate, told the Record, ''Hopefully our protest today will send a message that we, as a community, as a state and as a country, will not stand in the background in silent acceptance. … I hope his congregation sees that we are gathering in love. Their messages are wrong, and we will not accept them.''

Those congregants, meanwhile, packed the pews for Worley's May 27 sermon, which the Record also covered. Worley received a standing ovation as he took the pulpit, with the mood during the service described by the newspaper as ''vocal and jubilant.''

''I appreciate all the support,'' Worley told those gathered, which included about 100 visitors beyond the regular congregants. ''I've been a preacher for 53 years. Do you think I'm going to bail out on this?''

SPLC Challenges Psychiatrist For ''Conversion'' Therapy

The Southern Poverty Law Center filed an ethics complaint May 8 with both the American Psychological Association and the Oregon Psychiatric Association on behalf of a gay Oregon man who says his psychiatrist attempt practicing so-called ''reparative'' or ''conversion'' therapy to change his sexual orientation, the Associated Press reports.

The patient, Max Hirsh, 22, a student of physics and psychology at the University of Oregon in Eugene, says he went to the psychiatrist, who was not named in the report, for depression and to improve his romantic relationships with men.

''He said the expected conversion to become more popular in the future as the country becomes more conservative,'' Hirsh told AP, referring to the psychiatrist.

Christine Sun, SPLC's deputy law director, told AP that her organization wants the complaint to prompt greater restrictions and possibly legislative action with regard to this type of dubious psychotherapy.

Evangelical School’s ''Queer Underground'' Comes Out

The Biola Queer Underground announced its existence May 9, MSNBC reported, causing a stir at the evangelical Christian college in Southern California.

The announcement included a statement reading, ''We want to bring to light the presence of the LGBTQ community at Biola. Despite what some may assume, there are Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, and Queers at Biola. We are Biola's students, alumni, employees, and fellow followers of Christ. We want to be treated with equality and respected as another facet of Biola's diversity.''

Among the alumni of the 104-year-old Christian college is David M. Pérez, a Metro Weekly Next Generation Award winner and current president of D.C.'s Latino GLBT History Project.

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Global LGBT Briefs: Moscow Melee, Malaysia Book-Banning: Police arrest activists, Manji's Asia tour ends with a ban, and UAE suspect says blame the gay neighbor

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:46:18 EST

News:

Orthodox Christians Rough Up Moscow Pride

Following an ongoing trend in Russia, dozens of gay-rights protesters were arrested May 27 for attempting to hold two Moscow Pride rallies in the nation's capital.

According to Reuters, the country's most prominent LGBT-rights activist, Nikolai Alexeyev, was among those arrested.

Alexeyev tweeted that day, ''I am arrested at Moscow Pride City hall protest for just opening my mouth to talk to a crowd of journalists. I have no words.'' That tweet was later followed the same day with, ''I am released from police! Charged with unsanctioned event.''

While police arrested the gay-rights activists, it was actually Russian Orthodox Church activists who first struck at the Moscow Pride activists, Reuters reports.

''Russian Orthodox Church activists broke up two gay rights protests, throwing water and shouting prayers at demonstrators,'' according to Reuters. ''Some Orthodox activists threw punches at the protesters, grabbed their rainbow flags … and trampled on them in front of television cameras.''

Malaysia Bans Manji Book – Again

Following Irshad Manji's tour through Asia to promote her new book, Allah, Liberty and Love, the Malaysian government has banned the book, the country's New Straits Times reports.

On the same tour, Manji, a Muslim, Canadian lesbian who heads New York University's Moral Courage Project, was blocked from speaking in Jakarta, Indonesia.

According to the Times, Deputy Home Minister Datuk Abu Seman Yusop issued a May 24 statement citing a report on the book by the country's Islamic Religious Development Department.

''Based on the report, it says that the book promotes mixed marriages between Muslims and non-Muslims,'' Yusop said. ''This could lead to pluralism.

''It also contains insulting elements towards the prophet, which were described in such a way that could pollute the sanctity of Islam.''

Malaysia banned Manji's previous book, The Trouble with Islam Today, in 2009.

Suspect in Beating Death Says Closeted Neighbor To Blame

An Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, resident accused of killing her maid by hitting her over the head with a frying pan, is claiming her neighbor is the actual killer. The unnamed defendant says her neighbor killed the Indonesian worker because he's gay and the maid threatened to divulge his sexual orientation the police, according to UAE's The National newspaper.

According to the report, which lists no full names, the accused has requested her neighbor ''be examined by a doctor to prove his sexuality.''

Another witness, an Ethiopian woman who worked briefly for the accused, told the court the victim was ''beaten almost daily by her employer.''

According to Pink News, ''Europe's largest gay news service,'' which reported on possible arrests of 30 gay men at a party in Dubai, UAE, in March, ''The [UAE] has strict federal laws regarding homosexuality and each emirate has their own specific laws,'' though these laws may be loosely enforced in areas of the country with large populations of Westerners.

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The Power of Print: D.C. Printing Executive David Rowley Helps Customers Market Themselves

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:42:27 EST

Business:

In an era when laptops and Kindles are as ubiquitous as rainbow flags at Gay Pride, and using a pencil and paper seems as quaint as a quill pen and powdered wig, David Rowley, owner of the Crystal City MinuteMan Press still finds that there is a thriving market for the printed word.

''Print is still one of the top ways to market yourself,'' says Rowley, ''whether it's a direct-mail campaign, fliers, presentation folders, or posters and banners.'' His many customers, both gay and straight, agree. Over the past two years, Rowley has built a reputation as the ''go to'' provider among hundreds of offices in the Crystal City neighborhood when customers run out of office supplies or have a rush job.

David Rowley

(Photo by Rick Reinsch Digital Recollections)

Rowley says that an effective marketing campaign should combine both printed and electronic elements, rather than relying solely on one or the other. He markets his own company with printed materials including brochures, magnetized signs for the sides of his company vehicles, direct mail and printed advertising. At the same time, his Minuteman Press is also on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, in addition to email distribution and online advertisements.

Many of his colleagues in the industry agree. ''Print is a medium that is tactile, curated and lasting,'' said Eileen Kessler, founder and president of OmniStudio Inc. ''Because printing is becoming less of a commodity, it's noticed more, and special touches like embossing and die-cutting help you stand out from the crowd.''

Mike Larson of Spectrum Printing & Graphics added: ''Print pieces allow a person to experience so many things at once – touch, visual, emotional. While electronic marketing is very effective, there will always be a place for print.''

Rowley, an alumnus of the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, considered various business models ranging from coffee shops to specialty stores before deciding to pursue what many consider a declining industry. The MinuteMan Press located in Arlington's Crystal City, which had been established in the 1970s and was one of the first MinuteMan franchises in the Washington area, was up for sale.

''The Crystal City MinuteMan had everything I was looking for in a business,'' Rowley said. ''It was profitable. It had an established customer base. And it had regular operating hours. I saw the potential to acquire an already booming business and build on it.''

Rowley's investment paid off handsomely. Once he had mastered the intricacies of the printer's trade, he expanded his company to offer almost anything a business might need in the way of printed marketing materials, from business cards to banners. Rowley began providing a selection of specialty promotional products with logos and company names imprinted directly onto items ranging from T-shirts to coffee mugs to iPhone cases. Due to increased demand for graphic design services, Rowley has two full-time designers to assist with everything from typesetting to logo creation and branding.

Recently, Rowley's business was certified by the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce as part of its Supplier Diversity Initiative (SDI). One of only 267 such businesses nationwide, the Crystal City Minuteman has been recognized as an LGBT Owned Business Enterprise by the chamber and is part of its exclusive LGBT-supplier database.

Although the Internet and email have replaced many printing jobs, he is finding that many customers are returning to the traditional printed newsletter. ''Many customers are returning to print newsletters, because they find that customers are not reading their emails. And to reach new customers or stay in front of existing ones, mail can often be the best way,'' he said.

The Chamber means Business. For more information, visit caglcc.org.

John F. Stanton, a CAGLCC member, is the president of SRP & Associates Inc., a strategic marketing and public relations firm in Northern Virginia.

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Glambert Goodies: Adam Lambert's ''Trespassing'' is an album of songs with melodies and messages that resonate better than you'd expect

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:33:09 EST

Music:

Adam Lambert doesn't cover Destiny's Child on his new set Trespassing. But for some reason, something about the beat and the attitude of the album's start reminds me of the gritty, swaggering ''Bootylicious,'' the 11-year-old hit with the prominent '80s-era Stevie Nicks sample. (Although the chorus of track two, ''Cuckoo,'' echoes Quiet Riot's 1983 hit ''Cum On Feel The Noize'' – but that's a topic for another day.)

''I don't need no sympathy, I won't cry and whine,'' Lambert sasses on the title track. ''Life's my light and liberty, and I shine when I wanna shine.''

''Read my lips, carefully, if you like what you see. Move, groove, prove you can hang with me,'' Beyoncé and company could one-up, at a slightly faster pace.

In fact, the funky, Pharrell Williams-produced ''Trespassing'' is a stadium-style fight song, and finds Lambert one-upping Madonna in successfully channeling Toni Basil's ''Mickey,'' but making it his own. In this case, Lambert is saying he can go wherever he sets his mind to go, ''No Trespassing'' sign be damned.

And what do you know, he's right.

After all, Lambert almost went all the way on American Idol. Though he didn't technically come out until after his second-place finish on season eight – losing to milquetoast Kris Allen, who's been all-but forgotten just three years later – anybody paying attention knew the flamboyant glam-rocker was gay all along.

And now, the 30-year-old has even bested season two Idol Clay Aiken – or for that matter Elton John and George Michael – to reportedly become the first out gay artist to have an album debut atop the Billboard Hot 200 album chart.

And sure enough, Trespassing is a move in the right direction for Lambert, a significant improvement over his brash, messy 2009 major-label debut For Your Entertainment. Lambert still overdoes it here and there, with melodramatic pop and his signature bombastic wailing. And he also shows himself a bit too enamored of today's dance fad known by the name dubstep – or really, the Skrillex-popularized, mind-numbingly bad dubstep offshoot called brostep. But Lambert has toned down his most blustery antics, from outright shrieking to peeling electric guitars, to create an album of songs you're happy to listen to repeatedly, with melodies and messages that resonate.

More than anything, Trespassing reflects the love that Lambert has found in his personal life in the past couple years. The winsome Bruno Mars-penned, Dr. Luke-produced first single ''Never Close Our Eyes'' is a sweet electro-pop ditty about wanting to make a great night last forever, in the company of someone you want to grow old with.

The stronger, second half of the album is steeped in love balladry, but of a realistic, very adult bent. ''I can be obnoxious at times, but try and see my heart, 'cuz I need you now,'' Lambert sings on ''Better Than I Know Myself.''

''You're gonna see things you might not wanna see,'' he sings on ''Underneath.'' ''[But] I don't wanna hide any part of me from you.'' On the affecting rock ballad ''Chokehold,'' Lambert conveys commitment issues as he metaphorically tries to avoid getting caught in a lover's chokehold. ''I keep running away…from you,'' he sings. ''But I can't stand breaking the chains…It's too good.''

Trespassing's most adventurous, accomplished song is the slow, somewhat menacing ballad ''Broken English.'' Each line in the chorus ends in three brostep twitches – but it works here, because the effect is subtle, not showy, and because it matches the lyrical content. ''I know, now your body language is bro-ken, bro-ken Eng-a-lish.'' And then there's a sweet, wholly distinct bridge with Lambert singing a short, wordless aria, operatic style.

Adam Lambert Trespassing RCA $9.99 AND ONE HALF

Sometimes, you like someone or something better than words can express. Or at least better than you thought you would.

Turns out, to turn the ''Bootylicious'' phrase, we're all ready for Lambert's jelly.

Download These: ''Never Close Our Eyes,'' ''Broken English,'' ''Chokehold."

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Dance to the Music: Thanks to Parker Esse, everyone gets the dancing bug at Arena Stage

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:31:11 EST

Stage:

''I played Harold Hill in high school,'' laughs Parker Esse, when asked how familiar he is with The Music Man.

Of course, his starring role at his Houston performing arts school ''was a far cry'' from Arena Stage, where he's choreographed a new production of Meredith Wilson's classic musical.

The Music Man

(Photo by Joan Marcus)

The Music Man is the fourth show Esse has choreographed for director Molly Smith at Arena Stage, and the most recent since he won the Helen Hayes Award for his work on Oklahoma! Esse, who lives in Connecticut with his wife and young son, also worked as an associate choreographer on the Kennedy Center's Tony-nominated revival of Follies.

He sees his role to be integral to any musical's story. ''I read the script over and over again just to make sure that my choreography is always furthering the plot,'' he explains. ''You [should] never feel like you're stepping away from the production to watch dance movement.''

In the case of The Music Man, much of the choreographed movement at, least indirectly, shows the influence of Hill, the traveling salesman from Gary, Indiana. The show's River City, Iowa, was ''devoid of art completely before Harold Hill comes to town,'' Esse says. ''I wanted to show he affected them in many ways, not just with forming a boys' band, but also encouraging them to dance.''

As a result, the first time we see anyone truly dance in Arena's The Music Man – during the song ''76 Trombones'' – ''it's not a completely polished look. [But] as the number progresses, [the dancing boys] get more confident in expressing themselves through dance, and the steps become a little bit more refined.''

Eventually, everyone in River City has gotten what you might call the dancing jitterbug. ''By the time we get to 'Shipoopi' in act two,'' he says, ''the entire community has come together, and they want to dance as a group.''

The Music Man runs to July 22 at the Mead Center for American Theater, 1101 6th St. SW. Tickets are $51 to $66. Call 202-488-3300 or visit arenastage.org.

[Also, read Jonathan Padget's review of The Music Man.]

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The A Word: Steven Dietz's play ''Lonely Planet'' has had lingering, ''gratifying'' significance

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:27:57 EST

Stage:

''Our friends were just vanishing!'' says playwright Steven Dietz of the 1980s. ''It was hard to not write a play about AIDS.'' But unlike Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart or Tony Kushner's Angels In America, Dietz's Lonely Planet ''is more oblique, more indirect.'' So oblique, in fact, there's no direct mention of AIDS in the script.

''There can be words in our conversation with an audience that just simply make an audience stop listening,'' explains Dietz, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin. ''And whether those words are 'AIDS' or 'abortion' or 'death penalty' or 'tea party' – whatever it is, a word that an audience has fashioned a definitive opinion about is seldom going to listen.''

Loneley Planet

(Photo by Christopher Banks)

Lonely Planet has had lingering significance because people have listened – and more so in far-flung places than on Broadway or big theaters.

''Regional theater has embraced this play and kept it alive,'' says Dietz. ''I've seen this play done in very, very conservative communities, or big regional theaters with a very conservative theater base.''

Right now, Alexandria's MetroStage offers a deeply evocative production of the two-character play ''about a couple of guys, both with their eccentricities, neither of whom initially come off as stereotyped gay characters. [And] the play attempts to have [the unnamed disease of AIDS] sneak up on the audience in the same way that this disease sneaks up on us.''

Another distinction between Dietz's play and those better-known AIDS plays: Dietz is straight. ''If I were limited to writing about what I know, I'd have nothing but 40 plays about growing up in the suburbs of Denver,'' he says. In fact, Dietz wrote the play for two prominent gay actors in Seattle, Michael Winters and Laurence Ballard. ''For a play that I wrote 20 years ago to have a [continued] life like this,'' he says, ''is extremely gratifying.''

Lonely Planet runs to June 17 at 'MetroStage, 1201 North Royal St., Alexandria. Tickets are $45 to $50. Call 800-494-8497 or visit metrostage.org.

[Read Doug Rule's review of Lonely Planet.]

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Some Enchanted Story: Marcelo Guzzo finds it enlightening how the audience connects with ''South Pacific''

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:26:18 EST

Stage:

The precursor to today's fight for marriage equality was, of course, the fight for interracial marriage. And that didn't reach its biggest milestone, the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, until 1967. But Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the musical South Pacific, focused on interracial relationships, in 1949.

''You can only imagine the amount of courage they had in 1949, and all of the obstacles that they faced to put this story in the show,'' says baritone Marcelo Guzzo. ''That's why today we can reflect on it in such a wonderful way. It will never be outdated.''

South Pacific

Guzzo plays the musical's lead in the touring production now at Wolf Trap. ''[French plantation owner] Emile de Becque, he's one of the type of guys you want to be one day,'' marvels Guzzo. ''He stands for what he believes.''

Born to Italian parents in Uruguay, Guzzo studied voice and opera in France, Italy and South Carolina before launching his singing career in New York about a decade ago. South Pacific is the established opera singer's first musical. Guzzo wanted to challenge himself by branching out to musical theater. Though his schedule is booked with international opera gigs for the remainder of the year, he says he hopes to do more musical theater. The experience has been enlightening.

''In opera, you sing, people clap, and that's it," he says. "Usually the exchange is powerful, but it's not so evident like in musical theater.... You can feel the audience during the show, connecting and sharing [with the story]. It's absolutely magnificent.'' -- Doug Rule

South Pacific runs Thursday, May 31, to Sunday, June 3, at 'Wolf Trap, 1645 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $20 to $80. Call 703-255-1900 or visit wolftrap.org.

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Superstars: Layered, cohesive and atmospheric, ''Tooth'' and ''Bacchae'' do justice to their end-of-era stories and their musical accompaniment

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:23:46 EST

Stage:

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, WSC Avant Bard's spring rep of Euripides's The Bacchae and Sam Shepard's The Tooth of the Crime deliver a sense of epic, musically oriented storytelling from two equally interesting angles. For those hungry to be challenged, it's a modest but stimulating compare and contrast you'll find nowhere else in the city.

An ancient Greek tragedy set in Thebes and its surrounding bucolic hills, The Bacchae is a tale of divine revenge. Born of a mortal woman and the god Zeus, the young god Dionysus is outraged at the Theban royal family's refusal to accept his heritage. When, in retaliation, he bewitches the women of Thebes, the new King Pentheus swears to rout him. Despite his determination, Pentheus also falls under Dionysus's influence, accepting his offer to observe The Bacchae while disguised as a woman. In true Greek fashion, things go horribly wrong and the royal house of Thebes self-destructs and the gods are finally sated.

The Bacchae

(Photo by Kristina Sherk)

Carried by the original music of Mariano Vales, whose rustic acousticals and simple but effective drumming are sometimes wistful sometimes sensually vibrant, this is an intimate production, a place for language and emotion versus spectacle. And without doubt, thanks in large part to director Steven Scott Mazzola's earthy approach, you will detect the echoes of 1970s experimental theater -- earnest, thoughtful, and ever-so-occasionally amusing.

Still, as per a more ancient tradition, the Chorus remains the integral narrator and general commentator and given a central physical place in this production, they offer a strong visual and aural glue to the proceedings. Sweetly cohesive, with some excellent voices (indeed a CD of the music is available for sale or download), standouts include Jase Parker singing and moving with fluidity and Heather Haney offering strong vocals and an engaging physical presence. But for the edgy dimension and color that make Avant Bard unique, a nicely feverish Kari Ginsburg and coolly mysterious Mundy Spears deliver the goods. Both possess rich, textured voices that emerge effectively from the group song.

Though Jeremy Pace's Dionysus is perhaps incongruently Dupont Circle versus godly, his fey yet volatile way nevertheless suggests an interesting androgynous super-nature. As the self-righteous King Pentheus, Elliot Kashner delivers a convincingly angry energy, but does not quite feel the language or his transitions. In the role of Agave, his ill-fated mother, MiRan Powell brings a satisfying intensity to her deluded and later horrified woman, though at times she is slightly muffled. Hitting it out of the park is a transcendent Frank Britton who in a single herdsman's monologue brings a fluency and emotional authenticity that sets the production alight.

Knocking forward 2,400 years, Tooth of the Crime is also about a fall, but this time of a rock legend, not a Theban king. Set in suggestions of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Shepard envisions a world in which unseen Keepers decide who, among rival music performers, will reign. It's a battle of old versus new, genre versus genre in a language that Shepard concocted from all manner of motor, music and street slang. How such a world would ever evolve…. Well, you just have to roll with Shepard's early existential leanings. It's all about the essence here and, thanks to the work of T. Bone Burnett, the music.

Matters begin and end in the "kingdom" of Hoss, an aging king of blues-based rock, as he angsts over his urge to ride out into the desert amid ominous astrological readings and rumors of rivals eager to topple him from the charts. Though his band and back-up singer/manager Becky seem loyal, true to reality, there is a pervasive sense that everyone is out for No.1. The tension finally breaks when Crow, an outsider to the Keeper's system, breeches Hoss's kingdom and challenges him to a duel to the musical death.

THE BACCHAE THE TOOTH OF THE CRIME In rep to July 1 Artisphere Rosslyn $25-$35 703-418-4808 www.wscavantbard.org

Without doubt a play that could produce nothing but unintended comedy in the wrong hands, director Kathleen Akerley dispels any silliness by mining the darkness here – both from her actors and with Jessica Moretti's cleverly desolate sets. Though not quite as resonant as the role demands, John Tweel brings a credibly stern charisma to his Hoss and some nice shades of self-doubt. Despite a hokey costume, Jennifer J. Hopkins is convincingly savvy even if Shepard denied his only female character anything of substance. Excellent supporting moments also come from Vince Eisenson as Hoss's drummer-cum-doctor Doc, hailing from another century, and a scene-stealing Cyle Durkee as Ruido Ran, who both wonders at and toys with Hoss's cosmic needs. Most memorable of all is the impossibly young-but-self-possessed Tom Carman who, looking like a Gary Neuman knock-off, carries off both the written and sung with mesmerizing edge and credibility. Despite some over-choreographed bobbing and weaving, it is a seriously interesting and compelling performance.

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Vice Squad: ''Bachelorette'' makes for an awfully vulgar, awfully funny 90 minutes of bite but it's far from bitter

Thu, 31 May 2012 06:21:04 EST

Stage:

It's worth knowing that Bachelorette has made playwright Leslye Headland a very, very popular woman. This was the play, after all, that attracted Hollywood goofballs Will Ferrell and Adam McKay during its off-Broadway debut back in 2010, which in turn led to a film adaptation that premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Headland, now headed for stardom, went from black boxes to red carpets largely thanks to the ribald wit she displayed in Bachelorette.

So, the Studio Theatre had a proven winner with Bachelorette even before director David Muse had a chance to unpack the script. Nevertheless, he's not twiddling his thumbs: Muse's sensibilities inform, rather than undercut, the razor-sharp humor that already works so well on paper. Packed with Headland's riffs on blowjobs (''Women suck. Men just taste bad.''), friendship (''We were close! We threw up every meal together!''), and fashion (''It feels like a tent made out of the skin of infants!''), Bachelorette makes for an awfully vulgar, awfully funny 90 minutes. It has bite, but it's far from bitter.

Bachelorette

(Photo by Scott Suchman)

The story opens in a hotel room -- the lavish kind of unconsciously expensive hotel room that's typically only used by the filthy rich, but in this instance, a filthy rich man's bride-to-be Becky (Tracy Lynn Olivera) -- as two women stumble in. ''What. The. Fuck!'' one of them shouts, in a tone that's somewhere between drunk and awed. They are not classy, as that sort of language immediately suggests. Gena (Laura C. Harris), discovers a bathtub filled with champagne and scampers out of the bathroom double-fisting bottles. Between swigs from one of her own, Katie (Jessica Love) jams on an air guitar while dancing on the couch. The duo keeps chugging bubbly and, soon, moves to cocaine -- bumping lines off the reflective wrapping paper of a wedding present, natch -- while waiting for the real party to start. Of course, they end up handling a lot more than they expected after Regen (Dylan Moore), the maid of honor, turns up with two random guys in tow: Jeff (Eric Bryant) and Joe (J.D. Taylor). Before long, dresses are torn, uglies are bumped, and 911 is called.

These women are far from prim and proper ladies -- and thank God for that. They're intense and emotionally stunted and bitchy and terrible, for sure, but they're not the least bit boring. Harris plays Gena as a manic tangle of emotion, snorting coke and smoking weed between bouts of gloom about her ex-boyfriend. Love's Katie is a judgmental force of nature, lashing out with jokes about Becky's weight to hide her own failures and disappointments. And Moore turns what could have been a stereotypical queen bee into a character forced to recognize her self-destructive habits. They're all doomed, actually. That's the plight of their pleasure from excess.

BACHELORETTE To July 1 Studio Theatre 1501 14th St. NW $35-$60 202-332-3300 www.studiotheatre.org

Bachelorette is Headland's take on gluttony -- it's a part of what she calls the ''Seven Deadly Plays'' series -- so it's intimately concerned with the lacerating effects of modern debauchery. Reconciling that idea with the play's more outrageous comedy, though, is where things begin to get tricky. Subverting a dramatic moment with humor is a timeless way to pull laughter from trauma – and Muse's production is worth the price of admission just to see how it pulls off visual absurdities again and again – yet, that dissonance ultimately isn't resolved.

As Bachelorette's madness dies down, and Becky finally arrives to survey the damage and dole out judgments, the story doesn't offer a resolution as much as it does a realization. Without another joke to dole out, or another swear to hurl, it becomes clear why everyone in this outrageous world is chained to a vice, whether it be coke, or pills, or social standing: That excess is a moral poison, driving each character away from maturity and toward something much more menacing and unpredictable. It's not the strongest moment of the play, or even the most memorable, but the message is nonetheless profound. All of these people are caught in a drug-addled, never-ending adolescence. They're man-children, with vaginas.

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Lizzbian Power: Comic, pundit and progressive, Lizz Winstead talks about her politics, her Catholic roots and Michele Bachmann's Minnesotan congeniality

Thu, 31 May 2012 05:55:58 EST

Feature Story:

Maybe you've heard the story about Lizz Winstead, as a budding comic, getting yanked off her feet by a bit of theater machinery as she prepared to introduce the acts at a bitchin' air-guitar contest in her native Minneapolis.

The mechanical roller that lifted young Winstead, dressed to a sort of 1984 punk-glam hilt, off the stage did quite a bit more to her dress. With stars perfectly aligned, the venue's air conditioner was also busted, forcing her to take special measures to get some air flow under the vintage wedding dress. You know where this is going.

''I was in panic mode. I knew I only had a split second to do something to turn this around. So I went with my instinct. I kept talking. But with my big '80s vagina the club's immediate focal point, I had to get people to listen to what I was saying, so it had better be fucking funny – funny like I had never been funny before and maybe never would be again. This was about survival.''

Just how did Lizz Winstead wiggle her way out of that wacky predicament? To find out, you'll either have to buy the book, Lizz Free or Die, or look for one of the reviews that cites the passage. It's getting lots of attention.

While Winstead is refreshingly unafraid to give her vagina its due, that's not the heart of this book, a collection of nonfiction essays. Rather, it's the observations of an unconventional all-American girl, adolescent and woman.

Many are already familiar with Winstead, co-founder of The Daily Show, Planned Parenthood super booster and comic. She also helped found Air America Radio and pops up on MSNBC. At 50, she's had a place – not a raging spotlight, mind you, at least not since 1984 – in American culture for decades. Should she ever become a U.S. ambassador, Winstead is the type of person who would remind the world that Americans can be rebellious, idealistic, crass, funny and so endearingly friendly.

She's also, to put it lightly, political. Winstead's progressive politics have recently been put to use in her native Minnesota and adopted New York, raising money for Minnesotans United for All Families, the group leading the fight against a measure to add a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

It's not all house parties, though. Lizz Winstead has a book to promote. To that end, she lands in D.C. mid-June for a night at the National Press Club, followed by two more at The Forum at Sydney Harman Hall.

''It's a three-fer,'' Winstead promises from Los Angeles, a stop on the tour. ''It's going to be incredibly fun, because it's some standup and some book reading and some signing. I'm doing it in the Forum, only like 160 seats. Normally I do bigger venues, so I'm really excited about the intimacy and all of that. I'm so excited.''

It shows. And after you've been hung up naked in front of an audience, why hide it?

METRO WEEKLY: Starting June 14, you've got five events planned for D.C. Compared to the rest of the tour, that's huge.

LIZZ WINSTEAD: I love D.C. I love it. I have so many friends that live there.

It's unending. It starts with a bunch of pals throwing a party for me Wednesday night, and I don't leave till Sunday night. I'm at Harman Hall doing four shows, which will be really fun. National Press Club? I'm not sure what happens there, but it's exciting.

MW: Speaking of D.C., have you been following Rep. Trent Franks's (R-Ariz.) attempt to use congressional authority to limit access to abortion services in D.C? He wouldn't let Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) testify. He's been nicknamed ''Mayor Franks'' for this interest in the District, with residents pestering his office for services.

WINSTEAD: And he's from Arizona, to top it all off. If he's so concerned with D.C., he should get in there. Looking at why Trent Franks decided to take on D.C., I think it's because Arizona has successfully removed all civil liberties from all residents, so he needed to find a new place. I don't think a woman can even exfoliate in Arizona at this point. It's truly remarkable.

MW: There could be viable DNA in that skin you're sloughing off. With cloning technology, those cells might have a future.

WINSTEAD: That's what I'm saying. We must be careful at every turn. Women are obviously careless. We are careless whores that need to be regulated at all costs. Even when you're doing the Lord's work, like the nuns. Clearly, prioritizing poverty over stopping people wanting to be happy and married and go to PTA meetings, the muscle's got to come down.

MW: It was sort of gratifying to read about the nuns standing their ground.

WINSTEAD: [Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of Network, an organization of American nuns] is awesome. I just love that she was like, ''You can't define what our church is. Our church, for us, is fighting poverty and for social justice. And if you're actually saying to us, 'We think you're not spending enough time on abortion and gay marriage, and need to lay off the poverty,' we will fight back.'' She's awesome.

The bottom line is she's not afraid to say, ''Bring it. We welcome you to publicly act out what you're trying to do.'' Now the Vatican wants to bring in bishops to sort of monitor the activities of these women. I hope there are cameras every step of the way to show these women working in soup kitchens, trying to get health care for folks who are poor. I want to see that. I'm not sure it's a real good PR move on the part of the Big V, the Vatican.

MW: Like you, I was raised Catholic. I left the church, and I'm always surprised that more people in conflict with the Vatican don't. There are lots of alternative denominations.

WINSTEAD: That is the part I've always been sort of amazed with. The big warning sign for me is that organization seems to instill this gut-wrenching fear in people that they will do everything but leave. It's like [presidential candidate Rep.] Ron Paul (R-Texas) people. ''I really like his 'Pull the troops out.''' Yeah, but there are people who haven't had racist newsletters who also have those stances. Holding up one piece of lovely platform that's sort of lost in a sea of a lot of other oppressive stuff, why don't you find a place that will nurture the larger narrative that you believe in?

The fact that these nuns stay, I think I can understand that. They look at those tenets and they know that if they leave there will be no social justice done at all in the Catholic Church. They want to stay and preserve that. There is a foundation steeped in that, that they can clearly have their own spiritual permission – and also the blessing of American Catholics – to say ''F you'' to the powers that be when they call them out, which I admire.

I left. There's pretty much a big, fat, very low ceiling for women to thrive in the Catholic Church.

If you're exacerbating poverty – because that's what you're doing by saying to people never use birth control – it is so whack. It's insane. Not to mention, if you cared about poverty, you would be more for marriage equality, because a lot of people would get married and they would adopt children.

One of the funniest things my mom said – she would say things that were wildly inappropriate, but weirdly made sense – was, ''One of the reasons I'm not for gay marriage is because if you were to let gay men have gay sex with each other and everybody was okay with it, nothing would ever get done. Can you imagine the lines at the Post Office?'' [Laughs.] Basically, if men were left to their own devices they'd just be fucking constantly and therefore the lines would be longer at the Post Office.

MW: Do you have spiritual belief today? Do you believe in some sort of afterlife?

WINSTEAD: I kind of believe there is some bigger spiritual thing. I don't know what it is. I don't know how to define it. I also don't put it above other things, like science. It's called faith for a reason.

Hopefully, faith propels people to be good. But when it propels you to deny things that can be proven, I don't understand that. I also don't understand how some people of faith can say God says this and that. Well, God created scientists. And science. And facts. So why are you denying those things God created? It's sort of weird that we live in a country where if you are a climate-science denier, you can be leader of the free world. If you're somebody who says we need to prioritize science over religious beliefs, you can be banished for all eternity in big decision-making centers and be called a Muslim and a communist and a socialist and everything else. It's so weird.

MW: You're a big Planned Parenthood booster, so I want to take your mention of birth control a little further. Today, the debate isn't just about abortion, but now we're talking about contraception.

WINSTEAD: We used to be fighting this abortion battle. Now we are fighting a contraceptive battle, condom battle, moving into this very disturbing privacy realm. When [Sen.] Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) proposes a bill that says your boss can make moral judgments and deny you any kind of health care in your insurance plan if he deems that your behavior is somehow immoral, what kind of world is that? How is that even possible? This is the part where common sense goes off the rails.

When you say you'd like to reduce the number of abortions in this country and the way you plan to do that is to remove access to birth control? You shouldn't even be allowed at the table, because it's absurd. And it's legitimized. These people are legitimized. When you can say that conception happens two weeks before fertilization, I don't know what you're talking about. What? You make a suggestion in law that women should have a transvaginal probe inserted in them when it's not medically necessary and it's against their will and they have to pay for it? And you just assume we're going to sit there and go, ''Okay.''

MW: At first, being calm and reasonable, I sympathized with people not wanting their tax dollars used for something they found immoral. Then I remembered that my tax dollars helped fund the Iraq War.

WINSTEAD: We wouldn't be able to conduct ourselves as a nation if everybody got to pick and choose what they deemed morally acceptable and designate their tax dollars. That's impossible. That's why we have government. We vote for people to make decisions. We live under a set of laws and things need to make sense. Don't use those things if you're morally opposed. But don't put that on somebody else, because we all have the freedom to have sex. I hate to break it to you. As much as you're trying to legislate the sexuality and the sexual practices of people, people are going to finally catch on. It feels to me that people who have crappy sex lives are trying to ruin the world for the rest of us.

MW: I look at marriage equality that way. If you're opposed, belong to a religious body that won't allow it, so it won't happen in your church or synagogue or whatever. If you get the invitation to the wedding, decline it. If that's not good enough, you probably need to see a therapist.

Liz Winstead

(Photo by Mindy Tucker)

WINSTEAD: Not to mention, when you make the statement that two people of the same sex who live in a state you're never going to, who are just trying to get married, have some kids and go to PTA meetings have the power to destroy your marriage, maybe you shouldn't get married. Maybe you are so unstable that we need to legislate against you, because that seems crazy.

MW: Like Franks, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) tried to meddle in D.C., but with marriage equality. But I wonder, if D.C. was less like D.C. and more like, say, Colorado Springs, might the Congressional Progressive Caucus be just as tempted to meddle?

WINSTEAD: If D.C. was more like Colorado Springs, it would be a state. [Laughs.] But I don't think so. I don't see the Progressive Caucus creeping into places to begin with. That's the difference. Progressives seem to me to be people who are not trying to stop things from happening, but create the fullest lives they can for people. They want more health care. They want more freedom for people to marry. They want women to have more access to health care, things like that.

MW: In your book, you wrote about your first visit to Uncle Sam's nightclub in Minneapolis during high school, ''It was the beginning of a lifetime of gay bondage.'' You already had a sort of outsider status growing up, the gangly one. But did having gay friends help form your perspectives?

WINSTEAD: The traditional conventions used to prepare you for life didn't appeal to me. In fact, bored me. Whether it was playing with dolls or looking at appliances as toys, I wasn't fooled.

I call it ''the anvil rule.'' I can't lift an anvil. So, if I said, ''I'll lift that anvil! Why won't you let me lift the anvil?'' And people said, ''Because you can't,'' and I was defiant about it, that would be weird. But if I chose something that just wasn't the norm, and there was no physical reason why I shouldn't be able to do it and I wouldn't harm myself or others by doing it, if people didn't let me do it and gave me a lame reason, it really set me off. As I got older and saw friends of color and there were parents who were like, ''Don't play with them,'' or you read history and learned they couldn't do something because of the color of their skin, that didn't pass the anvil test. When gay kids wanted to go out with other gay kids and it was like, ''No, you can't,'' and there was no good reason, it all just fell in line with ridiculous people trying to prevent people from becoming their best selves. Whenever I saw a group of people – whether it was women, or myself, or gay friends or people of color – being prevented from doing something, it just made me mad. It was a natural thing for me to bond with the struggles of other people when they were being held back for no good reason at all.

None of it was calculated. It wasn't like I studied things and became more and more annoyed. It was literally just stumbling across things through my own struggles of trying to make sense of the world and trying to have a good time in it and be fulfilled, to watching my struggles play out in different people's lives in different ways and seeing them be held back, and being annoyed by all of it. Really, what it did more than anything else was reflect a narrow-minded stupidity in people. They were the power structure. And now, other people just as talented as them – or more talented sometimes – wanted to do what they did. That made them have to defend themselves and prove that they were still good enough to do it. When you do that with people, they don't like it much. They sometimes get annoyed. [Laughs.]

MW: Because I've got women in my life proving to me constantly that women's sexuality is more fluid than men's, I want to ask whether you've ever had any sort of romantic relationship with a woman.

WINSTEAD: In high school, here and there, there were little dalliances. But, no, I never really had any relationships with women. I don't know why. Maybe because I'm just not attracted to women for the most part. If I did, I would totally say. I wouldn't care. Men are very ''heels in'' about that. ''No. I haven't. Of course not.'' I probably would've written about it. [Laughs.]

But I do feel like when women are bisexual, they just are. There's no transitioning of, ''I'm coming to a place where I'm comfortable saying I'm a lesbian,'' or whatever. I just trust that women are bisexual. Where with men, I kind of feel like almost every single time men tell me they're bisexual, they end up in a same-sex partnership.

It seems very double-standard-y of me. Of course, I have no training at all, nor should I ever be listened to. [Laughs.] This is pure observation.

MW: Beyond sexual orientation, gender identity is such an important issue. I want your take on Iran being the No. 2 country for number of gender-reassignment surgeries.

WINSTEAD: Is that right?

MW: According to BBC. With sexual segregation, it's like you've got to be clearly female or clearly male.

WINSTEAD: I guess I just don't understand why, in the most simplistic of ways, why anyone cares or wouldn't support somebody trying to really be fulfilled in their lives, in who they are as a person, whether they're trans or whatever that means. It just makes people happy and better members of society.

If I can have sex with a thing I put batteries in, why would people care if I picked a woman or a man or a thing with batteries? If you had to lay it out in the scheme of things, that is the weirder of the three things to me.

Let's just be honest; doesn't everyone just want to get laid? Movies, novels, art and literature and entertainment, it all revolves around it. Whether it's romantic prose or porn, whatever it is, how much of that indulges in finding a partner so that you can have sex?

That's where it gets incredibly warped and lost for me. Focusing on what other people are trying to do instead of focusing on [yourself]? Are you so miserable that you can't even identify with joy? It couldn't be that your life is so joyful that you must go out and make sure other people aren't. [Laughs.] I am so happy that I'm going to make sure you're not! I don't know…. It just feels like if you're so miserable, you just need to make sure other people are miserable too? You want to create that tension in the world? Go fuck yourself.

MW: How do you actually define yourself? Left wing? Liberal? Progressive?

WINSTEAD: I'm a Lizzbian.

MW: Meaning?

WINSTEAD: I sum myself up as a Wellstone Democrat. [Minnesota's late Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party U.S. Sen.] Paul Wellstone was a man I may have admired more than any other politician who ever lived. I'm from Minnesota, volunteered on his first campaign. I'm a progressive. I don't know where that falls in line with any part of the Democratic Party now. I don't know who I would even say shares my full ideals. Probably [Rep.] Donna Edwards (D-Md.). I love her. She's awesome.

MW: And Sen. Al Franken (DFL-Minn.)?

WINSTEAD: Al is pretty close, although he and I disagreed on SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), I think. But Al Franken is really carrying on in the Wellstone tradition in a way that makes me really, really happy. It's really kind of cool to actually be friends with him. He's in the Senate! People in Minnesota are really happy with him, too. They're really proud. He knew the challenges he faced, just being somebody who was always this brilliant mind but went into comedy. He knew that he needed to prove to people that he was a really interesting, serious person, and he did it in a really smart way. People love him in Minnesota. They're super-psyched about him.

MW: I've only passed through Minnesota, but it seems like there's a sort of political identity disorder. You've also got [Rep.] Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.).

WINSTEAD: Every state has Bachmann these days. You name me a state, and I'll tell ya who their Bachmann is. But Minnesota has always had an independent streak. There is a big, wide swath of rural communities and farmers and people who don't feel like either party connects with them. In Minnesota, the Independence Party is pretty strong. Jesse Ventura was governor; he was Independence Party. People like it in Minnesota when you buck up against the power structure. They really like it. I don't know if that's just cold winters, or what.

They also have politics that are pretty astounding. It's the kind of place where when you grow up and somebody has a couple hours free, they usually spend that time helping somebody do something. When you ask them why, they say, ''Well, because I can.'' I really love that. Those Garrison Keillor moments, he really captures that. That's real. There are lawn signs that say, ''I'll pay more taxes for a better Minnesota.'' They get it. And they see it. If you go there, the lakes are beautiful. There are hundreds of miles of bike trails within an urban environment. It's an astounding place to be from and the people are pretty incredible. Even Michele Bachmann, as volatile as her politics are, she's a nice person. Al will tell you, she's a very pleasant person. She's not mean to you. She's not brutal. She's very affable, as opposed to some other people who are scathing reprobates with the same voting record. I think she's completely wrong and unqualified to lead, but I don't think she's evil. I think she really believes she was called by God. I believe that if God has called Michele Bachmann, then her number must be one digit off from someone really interesting. Maybe Elizabeth Warren.

MW: Maybe Bachmann's right. Maybe there's some crazy hell waiting for those who don't believe what she believes.

WINSTEAD: I don't think so. All the candidates who said God called them to run – there were more than Michele Bachmann; there was Rick Perry and also Rick Santorum – they all lost to Mitt Romney, which leads me to believe that Mitt Romney's underwear may really be magical.

MW: In Minnesota politics, your brother, Republican mayor of Bloomington, opposes a state constitutional amendment banning marriage equality, right?

WINSTEAD: Yes, he's a no. He is a no vote. He's gone to house parties. He's gone on record saying no, no, no.

MW: Had you two spoken much about that?

WINSTEAD: Unbeknownst to me, when [Minnesotans United for All Families] had their first round of house parties, [campaign manager] Richard Carlbom was at a party that my brother was at. He didn't make the last name connection with my brother until they got to talking. Then he tweeted, ''Just met Mayor Winstead's brother at a Marriage for All Families house party.'' I was like, ''Right on, brother! I'm so happy you went out and were putting your face on that. That's awesome.'' It was sort of a fun way to find out. He's just somebody who thinks that people should be able to live their lives. He is that person. For him to just put it out there made me incredibly happy.

MW: Is that how you got involved with the house parties?

WINSTEAD: That's a really good question. I knew there was an amendment and I figured I would do something, but I just didn't know what. I was like, ''Let me know what I can do.'' Then Richard and I started talking. We did an event in New York with [Freedom to Marry founder and President] Evan Wolfson and a lovely woman from Minnesota who hosted kind of an expat event at her house to raise some money for Minnesotans back home. It was a whole bunch of Minnesotans living in New York.

And I was going to Minnesota for my book tour and for a Planned Parenthood fundraiser and it coincidentally dovetailed right into the massive house party. ''Somebody drag me around and we'll do as many as we can!'' It was really fun.

MW: What's next for your career? Do you have some bureaucratic Soviet-style five-year plan?

WINSTEAD: No clue. I've never had a plan. The reason I even started this whole crazy comedy racket was I just simply wanted to be heard on some level. It didn't even need to be profound. It could just literally be, ''Would somebody shut the fuck up so I can make a suggestion about a restaurant?'' I had no idea that it would lead to standup comedy, that my sort of observations of life would lead to something more political. I kind of feel, so far, going into my 51st year, if I stay as open as possible to everything that comes into my purview, something new and interesting comes my way just by virtue of me responding and participating in the greater world. So I'm just going to assume that's going to happen.

Right now, it's just talking about the book and doing my standup. Wherever that takes me is where I'll go. And it's fun. Maybe I'll do another TV show this year. Maybe I won't. Maybe I'll do a theater piece. Maybe I'll write another book. I don't know. But I'm excited to see where my passions will have me put my focus next.

Lizz Winstead appears Thursday, June 14, at 6:30 p.m., at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor. Tickets are $5 for nonmembers. Winstead has 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. shows Friday, June 15, and Saturday, June 16, at The Forum at Sydney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW. Tickets are $20, available at lizzwinstead.com. Lizz Free or Die, $25.95, is available widely.

[Editor's note: In the initial posting of this interview, Rep. Ron Paul, a Republican, was erroneoulsy listed as a Democrat.]

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Committee Approves Beninda, Budd: Human Rights Commission nominees move forward to full City Council consideration

Wed, 30 May 2012 16:31:15 EST

News:

The D.C. City Council's Committee on Aging and Community Affairs today approved the nominations of two well-known transgender women, Alexandra Beninda and Earline Budd, to the 15-member D.C. Commission on Human Rights. It will be up to the full council to decide whether to appoint the two women to the commission.

The committee, which oversees the commission and its parent agency, the Office of Human Rights, approved a total of 13 nominations today, including Beninda and Budd, to the commission, membership for which had dwindled to three, with 12 of the 15 seats vacant since January. In his role as chief executive, Mayor Vincent Gray (D) nominated 13 candidates to Council Chairman Kwame Brown (D), who then forwarded their nominations to the committee.

All 13 nominations were passed unanimously, 3-0, by Chairman Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Councilmembers Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1). Councilmembers Vincent Orange (D-At Large) and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), who also sit on the committee, were not present.

If confirmed by the full council, Beninda and Budd would become the first transgender members of the commission, which is primarily tasked with adjudicating private sector discrimination complaints brought under the D.C. Human Rights Act.

Barry praised Gray's decision to name the two women to the commission, and recalled aloud how he, when on the council in 1977, had helped pass the Human Rights Act. He said the diversity of the commissioners was particularly important because of the insight they would have into issues affecting certain communities, especially in the areas of employment and housing discrimination.

''All the nominees have indicated their great honor to serve on this committee and have pledged to do all they can, not only to get people to abide by the law, but the letter of the law, because there's still discrimination in Washington and America against certain categories.''

Alexander also praised Gray's choice of nominees, contrasting his administration with his predecessor's, former Mayor Adrian Fenty (D).

''I am pleased to see a full complement of the Human Rights Commission,'' Alexander said. ''As you know, I formerly chaired the committee, and with the prior administration, it was so difficult, especially for the transgender community. We tried really hard to get the full complement of the protected classes to [be] reflect[ed] [by] the commission.''

Graham called the slate of nominees ''very highly qualified'' and particularly singled out Budd, calling her ''a pioneer on transgender issues.''

The nominations will be voted upon by the full council at the next meeting of the Committee of the Whole, scheduled for June 19.

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Kameny Home Sold: Unnamed buyer purchases historic site, while dispute continues regarding Congressional Cemetery plot

Wed, 30 May 2012 10:08:01 EST

News:

The house of Franklin E. Kameny, a leader in the gay civil rights movement who died in 2011 at age 86, has been sold, according to the attorney handling the estate.

Glen H. Ackerman, managing partner of Ackerman Brown PLLC, told Metro Weekly in an email that Kameny's house at 5020 Cathedral Avenue NW, in the District's Palisades neighborhood, had been sold to a private buyer for $725,000 on May 22.

Frank Kameny House

Photo by Patsy Lynch

The sale, which was not listed publicly, has not yet been entered into the District's Recorder of Deeds electronic database, where such transactions are logged. According to older records, Kameny purchased the house and took out a mortgage in 1984. Ten years later, records show Kameny paid off that mortgage.

Kameny later borrowed $16,000 in 2005 and, from 2007 to 2009, had five judgment liens, ranging from $1,654 to $14,877, plus interest, accrued interest, attorney's fees and court costs, placed against his house by three separate creditors. According to Ackerman, the debts owed to those creditors were paid at closing, and the overall amount taken from the proceeds of the sale was ''not significant.''

On Nov. 2, 2011, less than a month after Kameny's death, Oct. 11, Kameny's estate was added to the National Parks Service's Register of Historic Places, making it the only LGBT historic site listed in the register, which contains about 80,000 other sites. In February 2009, Kameny's house was listed as a D.C. historic landmark. Due to the historic status, any renovations to the home may require city approval.

In his will, Kameny left Timothy Clark, his longtime housemate, his house and car, naming him the estate's personal representative. Kameny also bequeathed personal papers to the Library of Congress.

Frank Kameny

Photo by Todd Franson

On behalf of Clark, as personal representative of the estate, Ackerman's firm filed lawsuits against Marvin Carter, Charles Francis, Richard J. Rosendall and Bob Witeck, asking them to return personal papers that Clark claimed belonged to the estate and were ''wrongfully taken'' by the four defendants. One of the lawsuits, against Charles Francis, asked for the return of other items, including an Army uniform, a statue, several ''Gay is Good'' pins, personal and historical photographs and a certificate, awarded posthumously to Kameny, from the American Astronomical Society.

The lawsuit against Francis was dismissed March 29; the one against Witeck was dismissed on April 4; and the remaining two, against Rosendall and Carter, were dismissed May 15. At the time, Ackerman added some items remained unaccounted for, including a collection of buttons, handmade picket signs and various posters. As of May 29, Ackerman is still looking for those items.

''We don't know what was taken from the home,'' Ackerman said. ''We've had to rely on people telling the truth.''

Rosendall, meanwhile, told Metro Weekly that Kameny's papers and picket signs had been appraised at $75,000 back in 2006, and that Francis had raised the funds to purchase the collection, with Kameny receiving the appraised value of the collection, plus additional money from other items that were sold on his behalf. The collection of papers was turned over to the Library of Congress as part of the Kameny Papers Project on Oct. 6, 2006.

Rosendall said that the Smithsonian had gone through the picket signs in Kameny's collection and picked out the ones they wanted for their exhibit. Afterward, Francis gave one of the leftover picket signs, reading, ''Private Sexual Conduct is Irrelevant to Federal Employment'' to Rosendall, with Kameny's approval, as a thank-you gesture for his assistance on helping with the Kameny Papers Project.

Rosendall characterized any notion that Carter, Francis, Rosendall or Witeck entered Kameny's home after his death and removed items without authorization as ''utterly groundless.''

''I don't have as much as a paper clip that was in Frank's house when he died,'' he said.

“We did remove items from the house – we were there to rescue Frank's remaining papers for the Library of Congress, being concerned that the house might be condemned and the remaining papers lost,” Rosendall added, explaining that he, Francis and Witeck were allowed into Kameny’s home after his death with the authorization of its occupants, and, initially, accompanied by attorney Michele Zavos, who represented the estate at the time. “This was not done secretively. It was all above board and authorized at the time. The items removed were stored in a secure facility pending resolution in probate. As I indicated in my affidavit, I borrowed a few items to examine, and returned them to Mr. Francis who put them with the other items, which he turned over to Ackerman Brown PLLC on March 28 as part of his settlement agreement with them.”

According to Rosendall, every action taken by the four following Kameny's death, including plans for his cremation and interment, was done with the knowledge of Clark and his cousin, Jessica Barnes, who both lived in Kameny's house, and with the written approval of Kameny's sister, Edna Kameny Lavey.

Rosendall said the estate seemed to be working off the assumption that anything once belonging to Kameny, even if it had been sold or given away, was part of the estate, adding he'd not been advised of any concerns by Clark or his lawyer until the four lawsuits were filed.

A related dispute not yet resolved regards ownership of a plot at D.C.'s Congressional Cemetery, where Kameny's ashes were to be interred.

According to Patrick Crowley, cemetery director, the plot, a marker and headstone were all purchased or requested by Helping Our Brothers and Sisters (HOBS), a local nonprofit dedicated to helping marginalized members of the LGBT community. HOBS also provided some assistance to Kameny before his death. Ackerman told Metro Weekly that the estate had asked HOBS and Carter, its co-founder and president, to transfer the title of the plot to the estate, but that Carter refused.

Ackerman said Carter has not responded to the estate, saying, ''We can't imagine what he's hiding from.''

Carter told Metro Weekly May 29 that he had received no communication from Clark's lawyers. Carter, who is in Las Vegas until August, said he was never served with papers and had heard of the lawsuits only through conversations with Witeck and Rosendall.

''I don't have any communication from them in that regard,'' Carter said. ''Glen Ackerman has not approached me.''

As to Ackerman's request to transfer the title of the plot over to the estate, Carter said he would be willing to do so if the estate asked him.

''Glen Ackerman knows my number,'' he told Metro Weekly. ''You just called my [listed] number. It goes directly to me.''

[Editor's note: Richard J. Rosendall contributes a bi-weekly, freelance opinion column to Metro Weekly.]

[Update: A clarifying quote from Rosendall was added to this story after its initial posting.]

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DC Black Pride Goes Back to School: Sunday's Health and Wellness Expo was full of education, but even stronger on community and communication

Mon, 28 May 2012 17:13:16 EST

News:

With attendees filtering in and out, about 150 people filled the schoolyard of the Francis-Stevens Educational Complex Sunday, May 27, at any given time, all there to participate in the ''It's a Family Affair'' Health & Wellness Expo, one of many events that are part of the five-day celebration of DC Black Pride.

Alongside food and live entertainment, the main attraction was the local organizations that set up tables to reach out to the community, informing attendees of services, programs and upcoming events. Many in the crowd frequently referred to DC Black Pride as an opportunity to meet new people and network with like-minded individuals, both from inside and outside of D.C.

Eugene Alston, 70, of Baltimore, said he has been coming to DC Black Pride for the past six years. This year he brought two friends to the celebration, which he views as an opportunity to enjoy a greater sense of community.

''It's important because it helps you identify yourself as part of a community, but you also realize we're all people, no matter our differences,'' he said.

Stephanie Lee, of Odenton, Md., has been coming to DC Black Pride for 10 years, dating back to when she lived in New York.

''I always love coming down here,'' Lee said. ''The people are so friendly and nice. And I particularly like this expo, because it focuses on health and wellness, which is really important for the LGBT community. There's so many challenges with resources, services that cater specifically to the LGBT community.''

Lee said the festival also serves as a chance for people from different places to network and form stronger relationships.

''I think it's particularly important because it's a forum for us to make the rest of the people aware of our issues,'' she said. ''It's a nice place for us to come together and share resources with each other, and people who are not part of the LGBT community can come to these events and find out more about us, just fellowship with us, and spend time with us – get to know we are just regular people like everyone else.''

Cory Corbett, program manager for Us Helping Us, People Into Living, an organization focused on improving the health and well-being of black gay men and on reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the black community, spent the afternoon handing out information about safe sex.

Corbett, echoing comments made by Lee, said higher rates of HIV and STD infection in the black community are still issues that need to be addressed, but that may get drowned out amid larger Capital Pride celebrations.

David M. Pérez of the Latino GLBT History Project, which has partnered with DC Black Pride to hold forums and other events, explained the importance of such partnerships.

''I think it's really important to work together. A lot of us might have similar issues that aren't talked about in the broader LGBT policy agenda sometimes,'' he said. ''Communities of color have higher rates of some health issues, economic issues. We really want to stand together in solidarity, understand each other's issues. I think we both have in common that we have multiple identities – LGBT and Latino, LGBT and African-American – and we can learn from and support each other.''

The festival also serves as a way for organizations or campaigns to mobilize volunteers and rally them to action. Karess Taylor-Hughes, the deputy canvassing director for Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the coalition seeking to uphold the recently passed marriage-equality law in the Free State, was busily collecting signatures of potential volunteers at one table.

''Black Pride to us means inclusion, it means reaching out to people,'' she said. ''There may not be a lot of pride festivals in Maryland besides the one in Baltimore, so a lot of people on the Montgomery County/Prince George's side will come to D.C., and this is where they're going to be.''

Aside from those D.C. suburbanites, Taylor-Hughes also looked to recruit a few District residents for the Maryland fight.

''People think there's this borderline between Maryland and D.C. that they can't cross,'' she said. ''But Marylanders helped out when D.C. needed their help, so D.C. can come out and help in Maryland.''

At a nearby table, Taylor-Hughes's commonwealth counterpart from Equality Virginia, Tiara Davis, said she was also receiving positive feedback from people stopping by to chat. She said she, too, was trying to educate expo attendees of the work that the organization is doing in Virginia, and warning them not to write the state off as a lost cause.

''Just like many other places across the nation, nobody ever thought that we'd be where we are now,'' Davis said. ''Virginia, like the rest of the country, will get on board – as long as there are people who are willing to fight for equality.''

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Coverboy: Jacques: Mr. Independent

Mon, 28 May 2012 15:14:07 EST

Coverboy Interview:

If Ne-Yo had a song called ''Mr. Independent,'' it would be Jacques's signature tune. The 22-year-old Howard University junior describes himself as a ''go-getter'' who likes to make his own money and provide for himself. Long out of the family nest, Jacques juggles school and a part-time job in retail. The native Marylander also has a soft spot for dogs – just ask him about Eyrie, his poodle-collie-terrier mix. Aside from dog walks, Jacques keeps fit by running, swimming and hours at the gym. When not at the gym, you can catch him kicking back at Ultra Bar, Aqua and the Fireplace.

What's on your nightstand?I don't have a nightstand. I use my refrigerator because it's next to my bed. It has a lot of DVDs, hair products, stuff like that.

Coverboy: Jacques

(Photo by Julian Vankim)

Where do you keep the condoms and lube?I keep the condoms in my shoe organizer. It hangs over my door and has a lot of compartments.

What are your television favorites?CSI: Miami, Friends, Lie to Me, Family Guy.

What was your favorite cartoon when you were a kid?Bugs Bunny. I love Bugs Bunny.

What superhero would you be?Batman. When I was young, I had everything Batman – the figurines, the car, everything.

Who's your greatest influence?My mother. She sacrificed a lot for me. She was always there for me, and I appreciate it.

What's your greatest fear?Being stranded and not having anyone to call or any way to get back to my life.

Pick three people, living or dead, who you think would make the most fascinating dinner guests imaginable.Eva Pigford, Trey Songz and Oprah.

What would you serve?I like seafood. So, fried shrimp, calamari – anything like that.

How would you describe your dream guy?Shorter than me. Good hygiene. Athletic, in good shape. Smart. In school. Has a job. Someone who catches my eye.

Define good in bed.Someone who can keep up with me.

Who should star in a movie about your life?Michael Jackson, because he missed out on a lot in his childhood and I can relate to that. My parents didn't really let me go out, I didn't have a lot of friends. They made me really focus on school.

Who was your first celebrity crush?Chris Brown for males. The first female would be Janet Jackson.

Who gets on your nerves?Cheaters and liars. They get under my skin.

If your home was burning, what's the first thing you'd grab while leaving?My dog. Everything else can be replaced.

What's your biggest turn-on?A nice smile. The first thing I notice about someone is their face.

What's your biggest turn-off?Someone who doesn't have style.

What's something you've always wanted to do but haven't yet tried?Bungee jumping. It seems scary, but it would probably be fun.

What's something you've tried that you never want to do again?When I was living on campus, every semester I would have to move into a new dorm. That's something I would never do again: force my self to move, move, move.

Boxers, briefs or other?Boxer-briefs.

Who's your favorite musical artist?At the moment, Nicki Minaj.

What's your favorite website?XTube. I go on there a lot.

What's the most unusual place you've had sex?In the shower.

What position do you play in the big baseball game of life?Pitcher.

What's your favorite retail store?Thrift stores.

What's the most you'll spend on a haircut?$25.

What about on shoes?$200.

What's your favorite food to splurge with?Seafood.

What's your favorite season?Winter, because you can wear more clothes, there's more things to accessorize.

What kind of animal would you be?Snake, being that they're quick and eat a lot. I love to eat.

What kind of plant would you be?A palm tree.

What kind of car would you be?The newest Charger. I love that car.

What are you most grateful for?A lot of people in my family have died of health problems, or currently have them, so I'm grateful for my health.

What's something you want more of?Education. I want to finish my bachelor's and go to graduate school.

State your life philosophy in 10 words or less.If you want something, go get it.

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Phil Hartnoll of Orbital (video): A Soundwaves Skype Chat

Sun, 27 May 2012 18:45:19 EST

Video:

Phil Hartnoll of Orbital talks with Metro Weekly's Randy Shulman.

Hartnoll talks about his renunion with his brother and the pioneering electronica's band's subsequent return, their new album Wonky and the creation of its wondrously dark new videos, and why touring with iPads is both better and worse than old-fashioned sequences. We are presenting the conversation in full, with minimal edits.

Interviewed via Skype on April 19, 2012.

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GLAA Issues ''Manifesto Against Religious Bullies'': Two-page document serves as guide for LGBT people to fight back against anti-gay rhetoric

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:24:38 EST

News:

The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., (GLAA) issued its ''Manifesto Against Religious Bullies'' today, just as the DC Black Pride weekend is kicking off.

The manifesto cites both the U.S. Constitution and the Bible to provide counterpoints to common anti-LGBT arguments, and also takes aim at a ''false symmetry'' sometimes seen in media equating the pro-gay movement to anti-gay efforts.

In a May 25 GLAA release, the group's vice president for political affairs, Richard J. Rosendall, said the guide will be distributed by GLAA at DC Black Pride during the Memorial Day weekend, and at the Capital Pride Festival June 10.

In an interview with Metro Weekly, Rosendall added that members of GLAA felt it was time to issue the document, in part to support the LGBT community's religious allies.

''It's us saying [to those arguing against LGBT equality], 'You have nothing to back you up in either the U.S. Constitution or the Bible, it's just trading in on fear, irrationality and mendacity,''' he said.

With DC Black Pride and Capital Pride drawing crowds from far beyond the District, the guide is designed not so much for D.C. residents, who already have many rights under the law, says Rosendall, but for LGBT people fighting for equality elsewhere.

''The trend over time is with us, and the margins against equality are decreasing over time,'' Rosendall said. ''This is simply a response, that this is a turning point we're at, and to demonstrate that a forceful argument can be made that is not defensive.''

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