2 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 3 Now online at MetroWeekly.com Poliglot: Obama blasts Ugandan bill NewsLGBT Elsewhere: Copenhagen’s big wedding invitation Marriage Momentum As marriage-equality victories stack up, sights remain on the Supreme Court COURTESY AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR EQUAL RIGHTS Plaintiffs in the Virginia case Tim Bostic (left) and Tony London

by Justin Snow of today’s opinion, whatever disappear- in many cases pointing to an aspect of the ing trail of its legalistic argle-bargle one Windsor decision in their rulings. chooses to follow, is that DOMA is moti- The latest such ruling came Feb. 13 in AST JUNE, WHEN THE vated by ‘bare ... desire to harm’ couples Virginia, where U.S. District Court Judge Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that in same-sex marriages,” Scalia wrote in Arenda L. Wright Allen found that the Section 3 of the Defense of his fiery dissent. “How easy it is, indeed state’s marriage laws “unconstitutionally Marriage Act defining mar- how inevitable, to reach the same con- deny Virginia’s gay and lesbian citizens the Lriage as between a man and a woman was clusion with regard to state laws denying fundamental freedom to choose to marry.” unconstitutional, Justice Antonin Scalia same-sex couples marital status.” “Justice has often been forged from made a prediction: In the not so distant Scalia’s prediction has not yet come fires of indignities and prejudices suf- future, the question of whether same- to fruition, but the groundwork for such fered,” the ruling declared. “Our triumphs sex couples have a constitutional right a landmark ruling by the nation’s highest that celebrate the freedom of choice are to marry would once again be before court has certainly been set. Indeed, near- hallowed. We have arrived upon another the high court, and the rational set forth ly eight months later, every federal judge moment in history when We the People in that Windsor decision would all but — whether appointed by a Democratic becomes more inclusive, and our freedom ensure a sweeping ruling that legalizes president or a Republican president — to more perfect.” same-sex marriage nationwide. consider state same-sex marriage bans The victories that have been racked “As I have said, the real rationale has found them to be unconstitutional, up in less than a year since June — not

4 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM Marriage Momentum COURTESY AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR EQUAL RIGHTS

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 5 LGBTNews

only in federal courts from the South osition 8 case that same-sex couples confident their case would have standing to the Midwest, but also in state courts have a constitutional right to marry, before the Supreme Court because of the from New Mexico to New Jersey — illus- instead deciding last June that Proposi- defense put on by county clerks.) Appeals trates the injection of momentum to the tion 8 supporters did not have standing of decisions in the Utah and Oklahoma marriage-equality movement the Wind- to bring the case before the Supreme cases will be heard by the 10th Circuit sor decision has provided. Court in the first place, and that a lower Court of Appeals, and the 6th Circuit “Federal courts are consistently, regu- court’s ruling striking down California’s Court of Appeals will hear the Ohio and larly now affirming the right of gay and same-sex marriage ban would stand. To Kentucky cases. Any one of those cases, lesbian citizens to be a part of the popu- many observers, the move was seen as a or one of the more than 40 other lawsuits lation and the rest of our citizens with punt by the Supreme Court justices not filed in dozens of states, could make it equal rights to the fundamental right to yet ready to declare a national right to before the Supreme Court. marry,” said Ted Olson, the conservative same-sex marriages. “There are a number of cases that half of the star legal duo who, with David But while that may have been the are winding their way to the Supreme Boies, successfully challenged Califor- case, the brisk pace at which challenges Court,” said Boies. “I think they will nia’s same-sex marriage ban and is now to same-sex marriage bans have worked all get to the Supreme Court at about challenging the Virginia ban. their way through the court could place the same time. The Supreme Court Indeed, in the past two months alone the issue before the Supreme Court soon- can decide to take them all and con- five federal judges have struck down er than anyone anticipated. solidate them, they can take one or constitutional amendments that prohibit “The cases are percolating but they’re more of the cases but not all of them.” recognition of same-sex marriage. With percolating rapidly because people read- According to Olson, this could hap- the Feb. 13 ruling, Virginia joins Utah ing the decisions from the Untied States pen at some point during the Supreme and Oklahoma in having their bans on Supreme Court can tell what they mean,” Court’s next two terms. same-sex marriage struck down. Federal Olson said during a call with reporters. When those cases do arrive before courts have also declared bans in Ohio “Even the dissent in the DOMA case by the court, it will be seen whether Scalia’s and Kentucky prohibiting recognition of Justice Scalia recognized that the court prediction in the DOMA case, which has same-sex marriages legally performed in essentially had decided gay and lesbian cit- been directly cited by several federal other jurisdictions as unconstitutional. izens could not be deprived of their right judges in their decisions siding with mar- In each case, the rationale for such to fundamental happiness and the funda- riage equality, holds true. a ruling has gone back to the sweeping mental right of marriage and equality.” “[T]hat Court which finds it so horrif- ruling penned by Justice Anthony Ken- No one can predict with certainty ic that Congress irrationally and hatefully nedy in the Windsor case. In that deci- when same-sex marriage will again robbed same-sex couples of the ‘person- sion, which found DOMA in violation of appear before the nine Supreme Court hood and dignity’ which state legislatures the Fifth Amendment, Kennedy wrote justices, but it is certain that it will be conferred upon them, will of a certitude that the 1996 law “undermines both the sooner rather than later. be similarly appalled by state legislatures’ public and private significance of state- The recent ruling on the Virginia mar- irrational and hateful failure to acknowl- sanctioned same-sex marriages; for it tells riage ban is expected to be appealed to edge that ‘personhood and dignity’ in the those couples, and all the world, that their the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. (Olson first place,” Scalia wrote. “As far as this otherwise valid marriages are unworthy says that despite the fact that Virgin- Court is concerned, no one should be of federal recognition. This places same- ia Attorney General Mark Herring has fooled; it is just a matter of listening and sex couples in an unstable position of decided not to defend the state ban, he is waiting for the other shoe.” l being in a second-tier marriage.” “The differentiation demeans the cou- ple, whose moral and sexual choices the Constitution protects,” Kennedy contin- ued, “and whose relationship the State Grand Old Gays has sought to dignify. And it humiliates tens of thousands of children now being Gay Republican candidates are leaving the raised by same-sex couples.” That decision, plus the two other gay- closet behind in 2014 rights decisions made by the court and written by Kennedy — the first in 1996 Council and who is seeking to unseat when the high court ruled an attempt by Justin Snow Democratic Rep. Scott Peters in Califor- in Colorado to prohibit discrimination nia’s 52nd Congressional District — fea- protections for gay, lesbian and bisexual tured images of himself holding hands people was unconstitutional; and the sec- N A SIGN OF THE TIMES, gay with his partner, Johnathan Hale, during ond in 2003 when the court struck down Republicans vying for seats in a Pride parade and waving a rainbow flag. anti-sodomy laws — join together to “cre- Congress are not running away “He believes in equality and diver- ate a unified whole,” said Boies, that will from their sexual orientation this sity and is a defender of our personal lead to the most monumental gay-rights Ielection cycle, but on it. freedoms,” a narrator says in an ad that decision by the high court. In an ad published on YouTube last describes DeMaio as a “new generation The Supreme Court never addressed week, Carl DeMaio — an out gay Repub- Republican.” the arguments put forth by the Prop- lican who served on the San Diego City DeMaio is one of three out Republi-

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METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 7 LGBTNews

cans running for Congress in 2014, each bid to become the first out Republican out Democratic candidates. of whom has done little to hide his per- elected to Congress. Tisei served 26 “It is curious to note that while both sonal life from voters. While DeMaio’s years in the Massachusetts State Legis- Sean Eldridge and Clay Aiken tiptoe ad, originally reported on by The Wall lature and is again challenging Demo- around their sexual orientation, the gay Street Journal, is being pegged as a his- cratic Rep. John Tierny after narrowly GOP candidates for Congress aren’t shy- toric first for the GOP, that does not seem losing to Tierny in 2012 by 47.1 percent ing away from who they are,” Angelo told to be the case. to 48.3 percent. Metro Weekly. Dan Innis, another out Republican run- Tisei’s campaign website directly Indeed, Aiken, who announced his ning for Congress, from New Hampshire, mentions his husband as well, stating, candidacy for North Carolina’s 2nd prominently featured his husband, Doug “Richard co-owns his real estate com- Congressional District recently, made Palardy, and children in his campaign pany with his longtime partner, Bernie no mention of his sexual orientation in announcement released last October. Starr. Richard and Bernie were mar- his campaign announcement. (His web- “I live in Portsmouth with my hus- ried in 2013 and spoil their beloved dog, site appears to still be under construc- band and we own a successful business Mooki, at their home in Wakefield.” tion and only allows visitors to make downtown. And I have three great kids, DeMaio, Innis and Tisei all have an campaign donations.) Eldridge, who is and two of them are UNH Wildcats,” opportunity to make history should married to Facebook co-founder Chris Innis says in the ad, with images of his they win their respective races. Indeed, Hughes, made no mention of his hus- husband and children displayed on no openly gay Republican has ever been band or his advocacy work for Freedom screen. Innis, a businessman and dean of elected to Congress, while two Repub- to Marry in his campaign announcement the College of Business and Economics at licans — former Reps. Steve Gunderson for New York’s 19th Congressional Dis- the University of New Hampshire, also of Wisconsin and Jim Kolbe of Ari- trict last September. Eldridge’s marriage mentions his husband on his website. zona — have come out while serving in to Hughes is still not mentioned on his He is seeking to unseat Democratic Rep. Congress. campaign website. Carol Shea-Porter in New Hampshire’s According to Gregory T. Angelo, exec- “These aren’t in-your-face politi- 1st Congressional District. utive director of Log Cabin Republicans, cal statements,” said Angelo, “but it is Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, Rich- the matter-of-fact way in which all three a reflection of a changing tide in the ard Tisei has shown no qualms about out Republicans running for Congress in Republican Party. Being a gay Republi- discussing his sexual orientation, hav- 2014 have acknowledged their partners can isn’t something to hide — in fact, it’s ing appeared on a number of cable news has been a breath of fresh air, while something to be proud of, and DeMaio, shows in recent weeks to discuss his drawing contrast to some high-profile Tisei and Innis know that.” l

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BOUT 40 PEOPLE GATHERED AT THE ALEXANDRIA GENERAL District Courthouse Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, to take part in a demon- A stration calling for the commonwealth of Virginia to allow same-sex couples to legally wed and to recognize those with out-of-state marriages. In addition to holding signs calling for marriage equality, offering prayers, sing- ing and a rousing speech by Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille, the demonstration included attempts by same-sex couples to apply for marriage licenses, know- ing such applications would be rejected. The demonstration was just one of 23 held across the state, led by People of Faith for Equality in Virginia (POFEV). Notably, a U.S. District Court judge issued a ruling late Thursday, Feb. 13, find- ing Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. The judge issued a stay pending appeal, meaning the ban remains in effect, at least for the time being. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARAM VARTIAN

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METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 11 LGBTNews

Crime, No Punishment Creative team crafts a video message about global homophobia that pulls no punches

by Rhuaridh Marr

OR CHRIS S VOBODA AND MICHAEL agency, which they co-founded with a mission of forging “pow- Rohrbaugh, there’s no statement too bold. The cre- erful, thought-provoking content on issues that matter.” The ators of a video entitled “Russia Declares Discrimi- piece features a gay couple, newly engaged, being violently nation Newest Olympic Sport,” which has racked attacked by a group of Russian athletes, ending with a medal upF more than 800,000 YouTube views and is part of the Fair ceremony for the attackers as title cards display a series of har- Games Project, their aim is to shed light on the terrible plight rowing facts regarding laws that outlaw homosexuality around of LGBT citizens in the 77 countries around the world where the world. At just over two minutes, it’s not a long video, but it’s being gay remains a crime. impact greatly outweighs its length. Executive producer Svoboda and director/producer For Rohrbaugh, the aim was to shed light on homosexuality Rohrbaugh created the video through their Berserk creative being criminalized around the world.

12 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM words we keep hearing from people are powerful, heartbreaking, moving.” But it hasn’t all been positive. Criticism has been levied at the video for focusing too much on Russia, or for being overly violent. Svoboda in particular has been surprised to hear members of the LGBT community complain that the video is too graphic in its depiction of violence. Her response is simple: “When we get attacked, it’s violent! I’m not sugarcoating the situation. This is what happens. We’re not going to hide it behind closed doors. We’re not going to pretend it’s not there. We’re going to put it in your face because it’s too easy for people to turn away and not look.” Rohrbaugh is bemused at the response by some to the depiction of violence. “It’s funny that some people did react to the violence like, ‘Oh my God, that’s so violent!’ I would counter, ‘Wait a second, you’ve seen way more violent images depicted on cable TV.’ The show 24 or American Horror Story, all sorts of stuff.” The reason for their reaction goes beyond simple visuals. “It’s not the violence that people were taken aback by,” he continues. “I think it was the truth behind that and the fact that that’s actually a really uncomfortable truth for people to face. At the end of the day, discrimination is about violence. It’s about violence acted against those people at its most basic level. I think that’s something we can all relate to: violence being a terrible thing.” As for the criticism that the video focuses too much on Russia, Rohrbaugh believes it’s justified given the current Winter Olympics Games. “In terms of sort of highlight- ing Russia, I think that’s because it’s one of the more high-profile cases in which we’ve really seen a government flying backwards on these issues.” The violence depicted in the video is something of which both Rohrbaugh and Svoboda have personal experience. For Svoboda, it was an ex-girlfriend who was brutally attacked leaving a nightclub with a black, gay friend. “Five white Irish guys jumped them and beat the shit out of them,” she says. “She got her face basi- cally kicked in and lost most of her teeth to a steel-toed boot.” For Svoboda’s ex, the hardest part was the punishment the men received. “They got off with nothing. Absolutely nothing. She still has, to this day 30 years later, some major mouth and gum problems because of that injury.” Rohrbaugh’s experience with violence occurred while teaching filmmaking to students in Kenya. “My boyfriend sent me a video that featured two Kenyan men who were essentially, in broad daylight, dragged into the street and beaten to death by a mob of people while a policeman just stood by and watched.” The proximity of the brutal attacks shook Rohrbaugh. “On the one hand, I had really enjoyed every moment of my time in Kenya, and on the other hand there was this dark underbelly.” The choice of creating a video, as opposed to another medium, was an easy one to make. “Video has a really incredible power,” says Rohrbaugh. “It really has an incredible potential to help the audience empathize with the characters on the screen. It’s able to “Not everyone is aware of how severe make the situation real.” these punishments actually are and how Adds Svoboda, “Our strongest media outlet is the visual medium, and Michael and I bad the situation is for a lot of LGBT peo- are dedicated to using that visual medium to tell moving stories that will make people ple all over the world,” he says. “When a wake up to the reality of what’s going on out there. This video is two minutes and it’s a lot of people actually see those titles, it quick little slap in the face, but, it doesn’t even begin to go into the depth and breadth really starts to sink in. It’s been, I think, of the reality of the situation. really eye-opening for a lot of viewers.” “Gay couples with children can have their children removed, can lose their jobs, can As for the reception of the video, be forcibly broken up — it just goes on and on. They can be beaten, and the police have both Rohrbaugh and Svoboda have been been informed to turn away, don’t look, don’t interfere. The video doesn’t even begin overwhelmed by the positive feedback to tell the whole truth. I think it was quite tame, actually, in reality.” they’ve received. Though he hopes the video has an impact, Rohrbaugh is honest about the situation “I’m just amazed,” says Svoboda, who faced by many LGBT people. is based in D.C. “I’m absolutely blown “The message that we would want to tell people who are living [in those countries] away by the wonderful responses. Quite — just ordinary LGBT people who are living and fighting and living in mortal fear in frankly, I didn’t even think that it would some situations — is hang tough. There’s very little silver lining for people living in get like this. I figured maybe half of what those situations. These people are really suffering by themselves, alone, and I hope that we’ve gotten, half of the responses. Peo- our video is a small part of opening up that conversation globally.” ple saying, ‘Thank you so much for telling my story, for telling our story and I’m so Scan to Learn more about Berserk, “Russia Declares Discrimination glad you did this’ — that’s what makes it watch the Newest Olympic Sport” and The Fair Games Project all so worthwhile.” video indiegogo.com/projects/the-fair-games-project. l Rohrbaugh agrees, adding, “The

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 13 LGBTCommunityCalendar

Metro Weekly’s Community Calendar highlights important events in the D.C.-area LGBT community, from alternative social events to SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22 volunteer opportunities. Event information should be sent by email to BURGUNDY CRESCENT gay volunteer [email protected]. Deadline for inclusion is noon organization helps at Food & Friends. To of the Friday before Thursday’s publication. Questions about participate, visit burgundycrescent.org. the calendar may be directed to the Metro Weekly office at 202-638-6830 or the calendar email address. CHRYSALIS arts & culture group visits American Visionary Arts Museum and Museum of Industry in Baltimore. About $35 for admissions/transportation, plus lunch. Carpool 9:30 a.m., Forest Glen Metro Kiss & Ride lot. Larry, 301-728-7687, xlarry384@ gmail.com.

ADVENTURING outdoors group hikes 9 miles, Dupont Circle Metro to Silver Spring Metro via Rock Creek Park trails. Bring beverages, lunch, winter-worthy boots, $2. Meet 8:30 a.m., Dupont THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21 Circle Metro, north entrance, street level. Devon, 202-368-3379. adventuring.org. WEEKLY EVENTS Highwaymen TNT and others hold REMEMBRANCE SERVICE FOR NOKOMIS Jayne Kelly conducts free RELATIONSHIP METROHEALTH CENTER offers free, rapid HIV JEFFERSON. 7-9 p.m. Almas Temple, 1301 K St. WORKSHOP FOR LESBIAN COUPLES, focus on testing. Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW, NW. trashandtravel.com. family. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. The DC Center, 2000 14th Suite 700. 202-638-0750. St. NW, Suite 105. 202-682-2245, thedccenter.org. WEEKLY EVENTS ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH WEEKLY EVENTS offers free HIV testing, 9-5 p.m., and HIV services METROHEALTH CENTER offers free, rapid HIV (by appointment). Call 202-291-4707, or visit testing. Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW, ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH andromedatransculturalhealth.org. Suite 700. 202-638-0750. offers free HIV testing, 9-5 p.m., and HIV services (by appointment). 202-291-4707 or DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC) practice session ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH andromedatransculturalhealth.org. at the Takoma Aquatic Center, 7:30-9 p.m. Visit offers free HIV testing, 9-5 p.m., and HIV swimdcac.org. services (by appointment). 202-291-4707, BET MISHPACHAH, founded by members of the andromedatransculturalhealth.org. LGBT community, holds Saturday morning Shabbat DC LAMBDA SQUARES gay and lesbian square- services, 10 a.m., followed by kiddush luncheon. dancing group features mainstream through BET MISHPACHAH, founded by members of the Services in DCJCC Community Room, 1529 16th St. advanced square dancing at the National City GLBT community, holds Friday night Shabbat NW. betmish.org. Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle NW, 7-9:30 p.m. services followed by “oneg” social hour. 8-9:30 p.m. Casual dress. 301-257-0517, dclambdasquares.org. Services in DCJCC Community Room, 1529 16th St. BRAZILIAN GLBT GROUP, including others NW. betmish.org. interested in Brazilian culture, meets. For location/ The DULLES TRIANGLES Northern Virginia social group meets for happy hour at Sheraton in Reston, time, email [email protected]. 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, second-floor bar, 7-9 GAY DISTRICT holds facilitated discussion for p.m. All welcome. dullestriangles.com. GBTQ men, 18-35, first and third Fridays. 8:30 p.m. DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC) practice session at The DC Center, 1318 U St. NW. 202-682-2245, Marie Reed Aquatic Center, 2200 Champlain St. gaydistrict.org. HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker Health. The NW. 8-9:30 a.m. swimdcac.org. Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, 1701 14th St. NW, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. At the Max Robinson Center, 2301 GAY MARRIED MEN’S ASSOCIATION (GAMMA) DC FRONT RUNNERS running/walking/social MLK Jr. Ave. SE, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Call 202-745- is a peer-support group that meets in Dupont Circle club welcomes all levels for exercise in a fun and 7000. Visit whitman-walker.org. every second and fourth Friday at 7:30 p.m. gay- supportive environment, socializing afterward. married.com or [email protected]. Meet 9:30 a.m., 23rd & P Streets NW, for a walk; or IDENTITY offers free and confidential HIV testing 10 a.m. for fun run. dcfrontrunners.org. in Gaithersburg, 414 East Diamond Ave., and in HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker Health, Takoma Park, 7676 New Hampshire Ave., Suite 411. Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, 1701 14th St. NW, DIGNITY NORTHERN VIRGINIA sponsors Mass Walk-ins 2-6 p.m. For appointments other hours, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. 202-745-7000, whitman-walker.org. for LGBT community, family and friends. 6:30 p.m., call Gaithersburg, 301-300-9978, or Takoma Park, Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill, 3606 Seminary 301-422-2398. PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBT-affirming social Road, Alexandria. All welcome. dignitynova.org. group for ages 11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-5 p.m., by NW. Tamara, 202-319-0422, layc-dc.org. DC SENTINELS basketball team meets at Turkey appointment and walk-in, for youth 21 and younger. Thicket Recreation Center, 1100 Michigan Ave. NE, 202-567-3155 or [email protected]. SMYAL’S REC NIGHT provides a social 2-4 p.m. For players of all levels, gay or straight. atmosphere for GLBT and questioning youth, teamdcbasketball.org. WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE for young featuring dance parties, vogue nights, movies and LBTQ women, 13-21, interested in leadership games. [email protected]. GAY LANGUAGE CLUB discusses critical development. 5-6:30 p.m. SMYAL Youth Center, 410 languages and foreign languages. 7 p.m. Nellie’s, 7th St. SE. 202-567-3163, [email protected]. SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-6 p.m., by 900 U St. NW. RVSP preferred. brendandarcy@ appointment and walk-in, for youth 21 and younger. gmail.com. US HELPING US hosts a Narcotics Anonymous Youth Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-567-3155, Meeting, 6:30-7:30 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. [email protected]. IDENTITY offers free and confidential HIV testing The group is independent of UHU. 202-446-1100. in Takoma Park, 7676 New Hampshire Ave., Suite 411. Walk-ins 12-3 p.m. For appointments other hours, call 301-422-2398.

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METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 15 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23

ADVENTURING outdoors group hikes 7.5 easy miles, C&O Canal, including Seneca Quarries. Bring beverages, lunch, winter-worthy boots, transportation/trip fees. Carpool 10 a.m. from Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro. Craig, 202-462-0535. adventuring.org.

WEEKLY EVENTS

BETHEL CHURCH-DC progressive and radically inclusive church holds services at 11:30 a.m. 2217 Minnesota Ave. SE. 202-248-1895, betheldc.org.

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST welcomes all to 10:30 a.m. service, 945 G St. NW. firstuccdc.org or 202-628-4317.

HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST welcomes GLBT community for worship. 10:30 a.m., 6130 Old Telegraph Road, Alexandria. hopeucc.org.

Join LINCOLN CONGREGATIONAL TEMPLE – UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST for an inclusive, loving and progressive faith community every Sunday. 11 a.m. 1701 11th Street NW, near R in Shaw/Logan neighborhood. lincolntemple.org.

LUTHERAN CHURCH OF REFORMATION invites all to Sunday worship at 8:30 or 11 a.m. Childcare is available at both services. Welcoming LGBT people for 25 years. 212 East Capitol St. NE. reformationdc.org

METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, D.C. services at 9 a.m. (ASL interpreted) and 11 a.m. Children’s Sunday School at 11 a.m. 474 Ridge St. NW. 202-638-7373, mccdc.com.

RIVERSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH, a Christ-centered, interracial, welcoming-and-affirming church, offers service at 10 a.m. 680 I St. SW. 202-554-4330, riverside-dc.org.

UNITARIAN CHURCH OF ARLINGTON, an LGBTQ welcoming-and-affirming congregation, offers services at 10 a.m. Virginia Rainbow UU Ministry. 4444 Arlington Blvd. uucava.org.

UNIVERSALIST NATIONAL MEMORIAL CHURCH, a welcoming and inclusive church. GLBT Interweave social/service group meets monthly. Services at 11 a.m., Romanesque sanctuary. 1810 16th St. NW. 202-387-3411, universalist.org.

16 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM LGBTCommunityCalendar

US HELPING US hosts a black gay men’s evening ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24 affinity group. 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. offers free HIV testing, 9-5 p.m., and HIV 202-446-1100. services (by appointment). 202-291-4707, SAGE METRO DC and AARP DC present andromedatransculturalhealth.org. documentary film, The New Black, regarding WASHINGTON WETSKINS Water Polo Team African-American community and gay rights. 6:30- practices 7-9 p.m. Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 ASIANS AND FRIENDS weekly dinner in Dupont/ 8:30 p.m. 601 E St. NW. RSVP by Feb. 21 to Jackie, Van Buren St. NW. Newcomers with at least basic Logan Circle area, 6:30 p.m. [email protected], 202-434-7703. [email protected]. swimming ability always welcome. Tom, 703-299- afwashington.net. 0504, [email protected], wetskins.org. WEEKLY EVENTS DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC) practice session at Whitman-Walker Health HIV/AIDS SUPPORT Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van Buren St. NW. for newly diagnosed individuals, meets METROHEALTH CENTER offers free, rapid HIV GROUP 7:30-9 p.m. swimdcac.org. 7 p.m. Registration required. 202-939-7671, testing. No appointment needed. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 1012 [email protected]. 14th St. NW, Suite 700. 202-638-0750. DC FRONT RUNNERS running/walking/social club serving greater D.C.’s LGBT community and allies HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker Health. D.C.: hosts an evening run/walk. dcfrontrunners.org. The DC Center hosts COFFEE DROP-IN FOR THE Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, 1701 14th St. SENIOR LGBT COMMUNITY. 10 a.m.-noon. 2000 NW, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. At the Max Robinson Center, 14th St. NW. 202-682-2245, thedccenter.org. 2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. For an THE GAY MEN’S HEALTH COLLABORATIVE appointment call 202-745-7000. Visit whitman- offers free HIV/STI screening every 2nd and 4th Tuesday. 5-6:30 p.m. Rainbow Tuesday LGBT Michael Brazell teaches BEARS DO YOGA, a walker.org. Clinic, Alexandria Health Department, 4480 King program of The DC Center. 6:30 p.m., Green St. 703-321-2511, [email protected]. Lantern, 1335 Green Court NW. No cost, newcomers welcome. 202-682-2245, thedccenter.org. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25 Whitman-Walker Health’s GAY MEN’S HEALTH opens at 6 p.m., GETEQUAL meets 6:30-8 p.m. at Quaker House, AND WELLNESS/STD CLINIC 1701 14th St. NW. Patients are seen on walk-in basis. 2111 Florida Ave. NW. [email protected]. WEEKLY EVENTS No-cost screening for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. Hepatitis and herpes testing available KARING WITH INDIVIDUALITY (K.I.) SERVICES, A COMPANY OF STRANGERS, a theater chorus, for fee. whitman-walker.org. 3333 Duke St., Alexandria, offers free “rapid” HIV meets 7:30-9:30 p.m. A GLBTA and SATB looking testing and counseling, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. 703-823-4401. for actors, singers, crew. Open Hearth Foundation, 1502 Massachusetts Ave. SE. Charles, 240-764- 5748. ecumenicon.org. SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-5 p.m., by appointment and walk-in, for youth 21 and younger. Youth Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-567-3155 or [email protected].

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 17 LGBTCommunityCalendar

HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker Health. D.C.: METROHEALTH CENTER offers free, rapid HIV AD LIB, a group for freestyle conversation, meets Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, 1701 14th St. testing. Appointment needed. 1012 14th St. NW, about 7:45 p.m., covered-patio area of Cosi, 1647 NW, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. At the Max Robinson Center, Suite 700. 202-638-0750. 20th St. NW. All welcome. Jamie, 703-892-8567. 2301 MLK Jr. Ave. SE, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. For an appointment call 202-745-7000. Visit whitman- US HELPING US hosts a support group for black DC AQUATICS CLUB (DCAC) practice session at walker.org. gay men 40 and older. 7-9 p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave. Marie Reed Aquatic Center, 2200 Champlain St. NW. 202-446-1100. NW. 8-9:30 p.m. swimdcac.org. THE HIV WORKING GROUP of THE DC CENTER hosts “Packing Party,” where volunteers assemble HISTORIC CHRIST CHURCH offers Wednesday safe-sex kits of condoms and lube. 7 p.m., Green worship 7:15 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. All welcome. Lantern, 1335 Green Court NW. thedccenter.org. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26 118 N. Washington St., Alexandria. 703-549-1450, historicchristchurch.org. IDENTITY offers free and confidential HIV testing Capital Area Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in Gaithersburg, 414 East Diamond Ave., and in presents 6th annual MEGA NETWORKING AND IDENTITY offers free and confidential HIV testing Takoma Park, 7676 New Hampshire Ave., Suite 411. SOCIAL EVENT. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Town, 2009 8th St. in Gaithersburg, 414 East Diamond Ave. Walk- Walk-ins 2-6 p.m. For appointments other hours, NW. Free. caglcc.org. ins 2-7 p.m. For appointments other hours, call call Gaithersburg at 301-300-9978 or Takoma Park Gaithersburg at 301-300-9978. at 301-422-2398. THE LAMBDA BRIDGE CLUB meets for Duplicate Bridge. No reservations needed. All welcome. 7:30 HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker Health. D.C.: KARING WITH INDIVIDUALITY (K.I.) SERVICES, p.m. Dignity Center, 721 8th St. SE. For a partner, Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center, 1701 14th St. NW, at 3333 Duke St., Alexandria, offers free “rapid” HIV call 703-407-6540. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. At the Max Robinson Center, 2301 testing and counseling, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. 703-823-4401. MLK Jr. Ave. SE, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 202-745-7000, whitman-walker.org. SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-5 p.m., by WEEKLY EVENTS appointment and walk-in, for youth 21 and younger. , social club for mature gay Youth Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-567-3155, METROHEALTH CENTER offers free, rapid HIV PRIME TIMERS OF DC men, hosts weekly happy hour/dinner. 6:30 p.m., [email protected]. testing. No appointment needed. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 1012 Windows Bar above Dupont Italian Kitchen, 1637 14th St. NW, Suite 700. 202-638-0750. 17th St. NW. Carl, 703-573-8316; or Bill, ages 13-21 SUPPORT GROUP FOR LGBTQ YOUTH 703-671-2454. l meets at SMYAL, 410 7th St. SE, 5-6:30 p.m. Cathy ANDROMEDA TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH Chu, 202-567-3163, [email protected]. offers free HIV testing, 9-5 p.m., and HIV services (by appointment). 202-291-4707, andromedatransculturalhealth.org. FOR MORE CALENDAR LISTINGS PLEASE VISIT WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM

18 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM LGBTOpinion

FEBRUARY 20, 2014 VOLUME 20 / ISSUE XX

PUBLISHER Mixed Messages Randy Shulman Even as it gets better for gay couples in Virginia, it pays EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF to remember that change still comes slowly Randy Shulman ART DIRECTOR Todd Franson marriage license. Will the Old Domin- by Sean Bugg ion be ready when we are? Will the MANAGING EDITOR Will O’Bryan delay in implementing what everyone knows is coming force me into a winter POLITICAL EDITOR LEAVE IT TO wedding? Justin Snow Virginia to throw Now that I’ve thoroughly examined STAFF WRITER a wrench in my this particular gift horse’s mouth, I John Riley wedding plans. should say I do recognize how thrilling CONTRIBUTING EDITORS This was to be all this is. And it has been for a while — Rhuaridh Marr, Doug Rule the year that my even as Virginia remained retrograde SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER husband, Cavin, in Richmond, closer to home we’ve Ward Morrison and I took the final had few problems being recognized as CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS step of legalizing it a couple. It’s radical how differently Christopher Cunetto, Julian Vankim — getting an offi- Cavin and I are treated as a couple now CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS cial license that will be recognized by than we were 10 years ago. Scott G. Brooks, Christopher Cunetto the federal government and provide us My only fear is that the rapid pace of CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Daniel Burnett, Christian Gerard, with some much-needed security on change and success will lull too many of Brandon Harrison, Chris Heller, Troy Petenbrink, issues that our legally married friends us into complacency. I don’t say that in an Richard Rosendall, Kate Wingfield have stopped stressing over. effort to buttress our community infra- EDITOR EMERITUS This can be confusing as we use structure — it’s obvious that our “move- Sean Bugg the word “husband” when referring to ment” will go through many changes WEBMASTER each other. We got married in 2007, over the next decade, scaling back on David Uy Virginia having then recently enacted some fronts as we refocus on others. But MULTIMEDIA a statue that constitutionally refused to the work that remains will be as difficult Aram Vartian recognize big, gay, Buddhist wedding as what has already been done. ADMINISTRATIVE / PRODUCTION ASSISTANT ceremonies. When D.C. offered official As a case in point from our every- Julian Vankim knot-tying services, we held off because day lives, waiters are nearly universal for the most part in Virginia — or Ken- in treating Cavin and me as a couple. ADVERTISING & SALES tucky, when traveling home for the They are also nearly universal in how DIRECTOR OF SALES holidays — a legal marriage would be as they handle the check: They hand it to Randy Shulman invisible as our real marriage. But with me. When Cavin pays, which is often, NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Windsor pressing the issue and federal they still come back to me, the white Rivendell Media Co. retirement benefits on the line, 2014 guy, for the signature. It’s a subtle form 212-242-6863 was the time for us to make honest men of privilege that I hadn’t even noticed DISTRIBUTION MANAGER of each other by making the short trek for too long. The waiters aren’t rac- Dennis Havrilla to the D.C. courthouse. ist, they’re just acting on unexamined The plan is to get married on our assumptions. PATRON SAINTS anniversary, May 5, so we can celebrate There’s a wide swath of America that Angel, Blanche, Mercedes and Spooky the same date — it feels too retro to wants to believe that because we’re less have all the old gay anniversaries for racist as country that racism is over. But COVER ILLUSTRATION first met, first date, first sex (if different that’s just not true, whether we’re talk- Christopher Cunetto from first met), first co-signed lease, ing about minor things like the unearned etc. It’s a new world of one-and-done deference I receive or major things like METRO WEEKLY simplicity for our relationships. white fear of young black men. A situa- 1425 K St. NW, Suite 350 But with Virginia finding its anti-gay tion that gets better is not automatically Washington, DC 20005 marriage law struck down far sooner a situation that gets solved. 202-638-6830 than I expected, yet also under a stay I bring this up as a parallel, not an MetroWeekly.com All material appearing in Metro Weekly is protected by federal copyright law and may not be for appeals, everything’s up in the air. equivalence. But as we rightly celebrate reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publishers. Metro Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials submitted for publication. All such submissions are subject I’d really prefer to get married where our rapid success in marriage and other to editing and will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Metro Weekly is supported by many fine advertisers, but we cannot accept responsibility for claims I live and we are rapidly approaching issues, we can’t forget that we’re mov- made by advertisers, nor can we accept responsibility for materials provided by advertisers or their agents. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or the point in history where we can no ing from the political to the pernicious. advertising in Metro Weekly is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such person or organization. longer be among the first to crowd our There is no license to guarantee our © 2014 Jansi LLC. way into a county clerk’s office for a equality. l

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 19 LGBTOpinion From Feral to Forever The experience of fostering offers its own special insights

by Will O’Bryan ing us down the sidewalk? But the “ear-tip” confirmed that she was “trapped-neutered-returned.” Out of pity, my husband began feeding Jitters on the front NE OF THE KNOCKS ON THE DOOR LAST stoop. He even gave her that name, which fit perfectly, as she Halloween was not trick nor treat. It was a represen- would get close – but not too close. tative from the Humane Society holding the down- Then came this warning of the traps, and a new strategy. stairs neighbor’s cat in outstretched arms. We needed to get Jitters inside. O“Is this your cat?” Did we want a cat? Not really. While, no, it was not our cat, the visit was still rel- Regardless, the traps were com- evant, as the Humane Society rep explained that the ing. So was winter. Fernando organization had fielded some complaints about feral began putting Jitters’s dish just cats in the neighborhood and was setting out traps. inside the house, leaving the In Home Alone fashion, husband Fernando and I door open. She would take a slapped our faces and exclaimed, “oh, no, Jitters!” The few steps in for Friskies, but neighbor’s cat the Humane Society guy presented us she’d bolt if anyone got close. might not have been ours, but we felt some respon- Eventually, we were able to sibility for Jitters, who was out there on the street close the door behind her. somewhere. In the seemingly secure Jitters is a feral cat. At least, she was. She crossed backyard, where she was our paths in early spring of 2013, if memory serves. We assumed allowed in hopes that it would satisfy her craving for the great she was being cared for by someone who allowed her to be an outdoors, I watched her turn the barbecue hood into a cat perch. outdoor cat. Why else would she be so sociable, regularly trail- Then I watched her tiny body spring the 10 feet to the garage roof. She pulled herself up, strutted away and disappeared into the alley. Three days later, Jitters returned, and we tried again. This time, success. Within a couple days, she was litter trained. Not long after, she was on her back, exposing her belly and willing us to rub it. The only remaining hurdle is being able to pick her up. With so many of our gay friends adopting kids, you’d think our experience with Jitters would give us some tiny insight into that. Granted, raising a child is in a league far beyond owning a pet. Instead, I’m feeling a bit more empathy for those parents who decide to give up a child for the sake of improving that child’s future. Because that’s what we’re doing – at least at a cat level. Jitters’s latest lessons have revolved around feeling comfort- able with her new pet carrier. She’s been a quick study with everything else, and the carrier has been no exception. That’s great, because I’m hoping she’ll experience as little trauma as possible as she relocates to her new home. It’s a home with one very dedicated human who’s been looking for a cat companion for some time. She was even permitted a belly rub within min- utes of meeting Jitters. And why not? She’s the sort of person who will encourage Jitters to climb up on her bed and snuggle next to her on the sofa. We, on the other hand, discourage those behaviors. We love Jitters, and giving her up will be sad. But we know that we’re giving her a better life with a woman who can give her so much more. As I look at my gay pals and their kids, I’ll probably always see those mothers who made tough choices on the children’s behalf. And, at least from what I’ve seen, I wish I could tell them that those kids are doing as wonderfully as I’m sure Jitters will.

Will O’Bryan is Metro Weekly’s managing editor. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him @wobryan. l 20 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 21 22 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM From wet noses to wagging tails, celebrating our companion animals

Illustrations by Christopher Cunetto

OME MIGHT ARGUE THAT ANIMALS DON’T BELONG IN CLOSE confines with humans, that the wild is more suitable for paws, fins, beaks and claws. While we’re not about to defend cages and captiv- ity,SS we will proudly celebrate lives shared with animals that become part of our families. These are the animals we talk to, even when we know they cannot comprehend our language – aside from the brightest the animal kingdom has to offer, of course. These are the animals that bond to us and seek comfort from us, just as we seek comfort from them. These are the animals that remind us that affection is a basic need that requires no apology. These animals, unintentionally yet powerfully, also remind us of the responsibility we as humans, with our big ol’ brains, have for the entire planet; the power we have to ruin environments or to save them. How we care for the animals we love can be evidence of how we care – or don’t – for the world around us. In turn, these animals often show us how the world can love us back. They show us that when we’ve had a rotten day, and are being rotten as a result, they may still crave our company. Remarkably, they get to know us and they still love us. It’s no wonder our longtime companions are not exclusively fellow humans. To celebrate the best of the bond between humans and other animals, par- ticularly those with whom we share our homes and our hearts, Metro Weekly is offering its first annual Pets Issue. But that’s not all. The Pets Issue also kicks off an ongoing Pets section in the magazine and online, where we’ll continue the love affair weekly. We hope you’ll join the pack, too, by submitting photos of your own beastly buddies. Or simply participate in spirit, with “growls” and “woofs” as you see fit.

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 23 HHuunnttiinngg ffoorr aa HHoommee

24 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM HHuunnttiinngg ffoo etime of creature com r r a lif forts r Fo an d c o a mp a an ion s H hi H p , it o ju o st m ta m k es a e f e ew go od hom By Doug eRules

HROUGH HER LOVE OF CATS, LAURA GOODMAN TTfound the love of her life. “I fell in love with my partner [Rita Schoch] when she came to the door to adopt a cat from me,” says Goodman, who a few dria’s Potomac years earlier, in 1995, co-founded the Feline Foundation of Yards shopping Greater Washington Inc. center. The num- This boutique, all-volunteer, cat-rescue organization in sub- ber of possible dog urban Loudoun County, Va., provides “optimal medical care” adoptions any given to help rehabilitate previously homeless felines. The ultimate weekend is directly goal is to find each cat’s “perfect person,” with Goodman assist- tied to the number of ing as matchmaker by drawing from the organization’s pool of volunteers the organiza- approved adopters-to-be. tion has working the events. And that, of course, is the focus of all who work in pet rescue “The more volunteers we have, and adoption. This predominantly nonprofit sector of a booming the more dogs and cats that get pet industry is particularly strong and supportive in the Wash- adopted,” Learch explains. “We bring one ington region. “There are a lot of people doing a lot of really dog for every volunteer that we have at any of our events. great work in our area,” says Goodman, noting that she knows If we bring five volunteers, we can only bring five dogs.” of at least 20 other rescue groups in Northern Virginia alone. Because they’re in cages, cats are less dependent on the num- Included in that bunch is the large Arlington-based Lost Dog & ber of volunteers. Cat Rescue Foundation. The foundation makes it easy to say yes, offering a lifetime “We are fortunate that we live in an area where people love return policy. In fact, if within the first two weeks the adop- and value rescue animals, and we can place them into really tion isn’t working out, the foundation will refund its applica- great homes,” says Colleen Learch, a volunteer board member at tion fees, which range from $150 for one cat to $375 for a the foundation. Typically, the organization finds homes for more puppy. “We want everyone to be happy,” Learch promises. than 50 rescue dogs and cats every weekend through multiple “At any point in the animal’s life, if the adopter can’t care for adoption events at venues including the PetSmart in Alexan- that animal, they can come back to us and we’ll find them

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 25 another home.” She to other rescues.” (The remaining portion are deemed unadopt- says this is “one of able, generally because of dangerous behavior or late-stage the ways we have of mak- terminal illness, and are euthanized.) Still, WHS has made great ing sure that we’re doing our part to strides on this front. Seven years ago, when Lisa LaFontaine make sure more animals don’t end up became WHS president and CEO, the live-release rate hovered in shelters.” around 30 percent. The most recent rate was 80 percent, accord- While a shelter is rarely optimal, it may ing to Bell, who says the goal is to get to 95 percent. The path to also be a good place to start the adoption pro- getting there is through strong complementary programs, from cess. fostering to off-site adoption events. At WHS, these types of “A lot of times people think the shelter is a scary or programs, according to Bell, “are so new that there is room for a sad place for animals,” says Marika Bell of the Washing- growth within them, which is exciting.” WHS has also revamped ton Humane Society. “I think the biggest fear people have its adoption policies in the last couple years, “getting rid of the with animals from us is that they’re worried that the animal roadblocks that have traditionally been in the way,” to the point has been abused and might have health or behavioral issues that it now offers same-day adoptions. Previously it usually took because of that. Honestly, we don’t see that many abused ani- a week or more to get through the system. “We’re also trying mals. Generally we see animals that have been loved, but that the really hard to make good matches,” says Bell, who is the first person just couldn’t care for anymore. And there’s really nothing director at WHS to oversee both behavioral practices, such as wrong with them.” counseling and training, and adoptions. There are also misconceptions, largely based on outdated And making good matches is what motivates those work- practices and policies, about the Washington Humane Society ing in the rescue and adoption field. “We’re all doing this for itself. In recent years the organization has had “an entire staff the same reason,” as the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation’s turnover,” according to Bell, who is in her second year as direc- Learch puts it. “We want dogs and cats to have great homes. We tor of behavior and “rehoming,” aka adoptions. For one thing, don’t want them to be abused. We want their lives valued. And the organization does not set a time limit for animals in its two we don’t want to have to rescue them off the street in a terrible D.C. shelters. “They aren’t with us for a certain period of time situation, because they deserve better than that.” and then they get euthanized,” Bell says. “Visitors don’t have to feel sad when they come into the adoption center.” For more information about the Feline Foundation of Greater The WHS has not yet attained status as a “no-kill shelter,” Washington, call 703-920-8665 or visit ffgw.org. For the Lost Dog though. “The generally accepted definition of ‘no-kill,’” explains and Cat Rescue Foundation, call 703-295-DOGS or visit lostdo- Bell, “is when a shelter has a live-release rate of over 90 percent: grescue.org. For the Washington Humane Society, call 202-576- Of the animals that come in, 90 percent find homes or are sent 6664 or visit washhumane.org. l

26 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM FelinesFelines onon thethe FringeFringe Welcome or not, feral cat colonies are a D.C. creature feature

by Will O’Bryan

ASHINGTON HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CITY IN TRANSITION and likely always will be. And alley cats will probably continue to bear witness. They certainly had a front-row seat for the U Street corridor’s turn-of-the century changes. WW “I live near 13th and U,” says David Bryant. “When I moved there in 2001, there were still a lot of feral cats – probably 50 – in the area. I was seeing cats and kittens right there in my neighborhood and I wanted to help them. At the time, Metro Ferals was the local group doing that. Most of the shelters were doing euthanasia.” The alternative, Bryant explains, is “trap-neuter-return,” aka TNR. “I’ve always had an appreciation for animals,” he says. “When TNR became popular, I thought, ‘At least we can do that.’” And so he – and many others – do. Today, that’s largely through the Washington Humane Society, with its Cat Neighborhood Partnership Pro- gram, with the cute acronym CatNiPP. “CatNiPP works with residents and volunteers to Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR) cats in order to get to the root of the problem – reproduction,” reads the Humane Society’s description. “TNR is the most humane, practical and effective long-term strategy and its use is promoted by the D.C. govern- ment. We depend on the participation of community members, as WHS does not currently have the resources to trap all of the cats in need on our own.” Bryant is one of those volunteers, as Metro Ferals lends plenty of hands at the CatNiPP clinic and elsewhere. At the monthly clinic – though twice in February, marking World Spay Day with a special Feb. 23 clinic – held at the Humane Society’s National Capital Area Spay and Neuter Center, a feral cat is spayed or neutered and vaccinated for rabies and other viruses. A cat’s ear is also “tipped,” meaning the tip of one ear is removed, “the universal sign of a spayed or neutered free-roaming cat.” The cats are generally returned to the area where they were trapped. If kittens are spotted early enough, they can be conditioned for adoption. “I worked in an alley on Chapin Street,” shares Bryant, whose TNR efforts have been featured by China Central Television. “I rescued 21 kittens and got every one adopted. And we neutered a dozen adults.” Notably, there is some debate when it comes to feral cats. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), for example, considers it “rarely humane” to allow cats to “continue their daily struggle for survival in a hos- tile environment.” Alley Cat Allies, a national organization based in Bethes- da, counters, “Feral cats – who are not socialized to people, and therefore cannot be adopted – have been living outdoors, in close proximity to humans, for nearly 10,000 years. … Feral cats are part of our community. They always have been, and they always will be.” For those preferring Bryant’s TNR-style approach, the Humane Society of Washington has plenty of opportunities to help. There is a need for volun- teers to trap cats, to transport cats, to help with community outreach or at the clinic, or to foster feral kittens. Of course, donations are always welcome, too.

To learn more about the Washington Humane Society’s Community Cat Programs (CatNiPP), call 202-608-1356, email [email protected] or visit washhumane.org. l

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 27 iieess PPaawwss--aabbiilliitt ee While the human runs the rat race, ttiimm services step in for dog daycare aayy by Will O’Bryan DD IGH POWER, HIGH PRESSURE, LONG DAYS AT THE OFFICE. IT’S not everyone’s cup of tea, but many D.C. residents seem to find this a nor- mal way of life. Many of them even commit to throwing a dog companion into that go-go-go mix. “We have the ‘Wagmobile,’ because some of our clients don’t even have time to drop off,” says Lisa Schreiber, owner of Wagtime, which Hoffers dog daycare – to the point of picking up and dropping off canine clientsH from their homes – among other services. “A lot of people want dogs. Most of our clients are people who don’t have kids, who work long hours. And you can’t leave your dog alone for 10, 12 hours.” Thankfully, there are various options for dog-owning guys and gals on the go. Wagtime, with locations in Shaw and near the Navy Yard in Southeast, offers day- care for dogs, for example, as well as added “power walks.” Similarly, City Dogs in Adams Morgan offers dog daycare, with the option of including a midday walk. Notably, both make mention that dogs need to be able to socialize well with their fellow canine clients. City Dogs co-owner Dave Liedman says people shouldn’t be too concerned about that requirement, explaining that there’s a pretty good chance a daycare hopeful will be a good fit. “Over 90 percent [fit in],” he says. It’s not a high-pressure examination for the dog owners, either, who simply drop their dogs off. If Rover isn’t a good fit, owners will be advised later. Says Liedman, “We don’t make them wait around for the verdict.” If a dog isn’t a good fit, that doesn’t mean Rover is out of options. Some dogs simply don’t socialize well with other dogs for any number of reasons. Pet Peeps might be able to help. “We do individual service,” says Gus Elfving, owner of

COURTESY WAGTIME Pet Peeps, which is not a bricks and mortar operation, but

28 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM comes to the clients, and features one-on-one dog walks. “We do individual service,” say Elfving. “I think it’s safer, more serene. If you have six dogs on a leash, and one of them finds a ‘street treat’….” While Elfving paints the picture of no walker being able to control the frenzy that might ensue if his charges happen upon some tasty, smelly, possibly dangerous discards – chick- en bones, perhaps – he adds that some celebrate the group walks as a way to better socialize dogs. He grants that may be of benefit, but with one important caveat: “Often, the walker is not the leader of the pack.” In other words, Cesar Millan, famous for his Dog Whisperer show, is not at the end of every pack’s leashes, and there may be little training taking place. Elfving advises dog owners to look at their budgets, at their dogs’ dispositions and available options, and then make a reasonable outlay for some sort of dog care during the day. “A lot of people work through guilt and overdo it,” he says. Schrieber has a more forceful counter to those who would argue that people who don’t have the time to fully care for a dog shouldn’t have one in the first place. “People have to work. Why should they not be able to have a dog, too? Why not give a dog a home?” she asks, pointing out that shelters are full of dogs in need of human companion- eess ship. “We send our kids to daycare, to school. They’re still --aabbiilliittii your kids. And it’s still your dog.” aawwss For more information about City Dogs, call 202-234-WAGS PP (9247) or visit city-dogs.com; for Pet Peeps, call 202-232-PETS ee (7387) or visit petpeeps.biz; and for Wagtime, call 202-789- m l ttiim 0870 or visit wagtimedc.com. DDaayy

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 29 PetPet SpreeSpree Photography by Todd Franson Text by Rhuaridh Marr

HERE’S NO DENYING WE LOVE OUR PETS. They weave their way into the fabric of daily life, cementing their place as the furriest member of the family. As owners, we want to make TTtheir lives as comfortable as possible, which, inevitably, leads to presents, toys and little additions that make their time in our homes that much more Michael’s Soul Stew special. And picking the perfect gift for your pet needn’t $3.99-$7.99, 16 or 32 oz. be stressful. Which is why we’ve visited some D.C. pet Howl To The Chief spots to bring you six gifts we think every pampered pooch and coddled cat will love. If you’re at all concerned about the quality of the food your dogs are consuming, then you may want to take a look at Michael’s Soul Stew. Made in Pennsylvania, it prides itself on being prepared from restaurant-grade, American ingredients free from the unnatural additions used to bulk out many other brands. Take the venison: Its three ingredients are water, venison and yams. That’s it. Free-range, farm-raised venison, at that. Available in beef, chicken and turkey as well, it’s a great way to care for your dog’s health.

Bauer Pottery Food Bowls $24.99-38.99 The Big Bad Woof

Okay, your pet isn’t really going to care what its food comes in, but that doesn’t mean you don’t. Offering a break from staid stainless steel, these bowls by Bauer Pottery Sisal Scratchers in L.A. are guaranteed to brighten up every Door hanger, $11.99 mealtime and will look great on any surface. Curved scratchpad, $18.99 Color-coordinate your kitchen or just add a The Big Bad Woof vibrant splash to a room — either way, this is one gift that isn’t just for your pet, and we These two scratchers are ideal for housebound felines. Throw the hanger over think you deserve it. a door handle and your cat will have something to jump against and keep those claws in check — freeing your sofa from use as a substitute. For less agile cats, or for an additional scratching surface, the curved scratcher is great for placing flat or upright as another multi-dimensional scratching surface. You’ll thank us next time your cat jumps onto your lap and doesn’t immediately dig its claws in.

30 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM SmartCat Bootsie’s Bunk Bed and Playroom $39.99 Howl To the Chief (photo courtesy SmartCat)

This one box has everything a cat could possibly want. If it dispensed food and water, it would be heaven for them. Offering a dark hideaway for secret snoozing, a plush upper-bunk for relaxing, toys to be swatted and plenty of scratching surface, it’s an all-in-one pleasure center for your feline.

Dem Bones $5.99-$19.99 Howl To The Chief 733 8th St. SE 202-544-8710 howltothechief.com

Dogs are seldom happier than when munching away on a bone — so why not give them a real treat? Howl To The Chief has an incredible range of bones, with beef, venison, bison, lamb and elk all on offer for your dog’s delectation. Available in a multitude of shapes, sizes and cuts — from Superior Farm’s lamb femur to Tucker’s Raw Frozen bison bones — you’ll be hard-pressed to find something your pup won’t love.

Aussie Naturals Toys Pineapple $10.49, Tex $12.99 The Big Bad Woof 117 Carroll St. NW 202-291-2404 thebigbadwoof.com

These chew toys are a great mix of environmentally friendly and just plain ol’ fun! Pineapple and Tex both feature a recycled water bottle to give them that addictive “crinkle” sound when gnawed, which can be swapped out as required, and are made from 100 percent natural and sustainable materials. Aussie Naturals tests its products on rescue animals, so every time you buy a toy you know a pup in need has had great fun making sure your dog will love it, too.

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 31 PetSubmitted Scene by Metro Weekly readers

LolaMae Niles David Perruzza’s 7-year-old Bloodhound Michael Stratmoen’s 16-year-old cat “She is my 100 lb cuddle monster who snores like a freight train and “He helped me get through Catholic school as a gay boy growing up in thinks she’s a lap dog.” the DC area. He did not want to leave my father’s side when he was dying in hospice for cancer when I was in high school.”

Bratpack Ariel Reggie & Travis Reyes’s Chihuahuas Tracy Hancock’s 8-year-old Bichon Frise mix “Collectively called #bratpack consist of Gazpacho who’s 13, Mojito “We adopted her during last year’s 17th St Festival. She was a res- who’s 5, and Lumpia who’s going to be 1 in February. They love play- cue dog, totally blind, but so sweet. We just had to have her. Her ing with each other but most of all they love giving us kisses so they favorite snack is peanut butter. She quickly stole our hearts.” can get treats. :-)”

32 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM Pirulo Mark Lamont’s 7-year-old Golden Retriever “Pirulo (Rulo for short) is the most loving, gentle and adorable dog you’d ever want to meet. I brought him into my home a year and half ago when a friend of a friend was looking to place him. She had gotten to a point where she needs to give him up and I can only imagine how hard that Molly & Alfred must have been and wanted to help. We still stay in touch and I send her pictures so she can see how he is doing. If anyone would have told me Ben Martin’s Pug & English Bulldog that a 65lb Golden Retriever would be living with me one day I would have “My dogs instantly reduce my blood pressure. I can barely stand called them crazy. But 10 minutes after meeting him I knew he needed to the cuteness.” part of my life and me a part of his. Best decision I ever made!”

Hilde Donald Kautter’s 8-year-old Jack Russell/Dachshund mix “Hilde is a rescue dog. I was just supposed to be looking after her until an adoption event...well, within about 20 minutes I knew that she was not going to be adopted and rescued by anyone but me. She quickly became Pat comfortable with me and has not left my side since. What I did not know - ET Ngo’s boyfriend’s 9-year-old cat she was pregnant! 60 days later - she had 5 puppies - all cute - all adopted by the same rescue league where she came from. She has been the best “I love Pat because she belongs to my lovely boyfriend and she dog I have ever had - minus the fact that the hunting breeds in her have loves to spend time outdoors in the garden with me.” killed over 16 bunnies in my backyard (and a squirrel and 2 chipmunks)!”

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 33 Compiled by Doug Rule FEBRUARY 20 - 27, 2014 SPOTLIGHT

ASCAP: ONE HUNDRED YEARS AND BEYOND The Library of Congress offers an exhibition featuring 45 objects celebrating the work of the leading organization advocating on behalf of musical artists. Included in this centennial toast to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is the original manuscript of Henry Mancini’s The Pink Panther theme, Paul Williams’s lyrics for “The Rainbow Connection,” and the original lyrics, including the many drafts and revisions, to the Barbra Streisand staple “The Way We Were,” written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. There’s also interactive, audio and video stations, and the screening of a fi lm featuring artists explaining ASCAP’s work. Now to July 26. Performing Arts Reading Room Gallery, the Library of Congress’s James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Call 202-707- MAGIC ACT 8000 or visit loc.gov/concerts. Jose Carrasquillo returns to GALA with a picturesque puzzle ATLAS’S INTERSECTIONS: A NEW AMERICA ARTS FESTIVAL Every year, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, the H Street Corridor’s hub, creates a true hubbub

LONNIE TAGUE in the neighborhood, attracting upwards of 9,000 people over three weekends to its “Intersections: DON’T DO REALISM WELL, BUT I DO MAGIC REALISM VERY WELL,” A New America Arts Festival.” Now in its fi fth theater director Jose Carrasquillo says, by way of touting his latest show, The year, Intersections launches this Saturday, Feb. 22, Girl from Tacna, now at GALA Theatre. “It’s really worth seeing because of with various performances. Over the span of three I weeks, the festival will feature hundreds of artists, that: Whether you like this play or not, visually it’s very impressive.” most participating in multidisciplinary, curated The play, written by Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, is a somewhat surreal, events – intersections among different art forms, time-shifting exploration into one Peruvian family’s rich history. “It’s a memory such as fi lmmakers with musicians, or spoken-word play,” Carrasquillo says, “and the way it’s written, it really summons up a lot of stun- artists with dancers. Weekends to March 10. Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. Ticket prices ning images that you have to do onstage.” The play focuses on a writer’s work in and passes vary. Call 202-399-7993 or visit atlasarts. telling his family’s story over several generations. “As memories come to him, they org and intersectionsdc.org. three-dimensionalize onstage,” he explains. Performed at GALA in Spanish, with English surtitles, the play is in a largely GEORGE TAKEI WITH BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA unstructured style, featuring no discrete scenes and an intentionally blurry sense Star Trek alum and now gay activist George of time and place. It sounds confusing, even overambitious, and it was — on paper. Takei joins to narrate and host the BSO’s “Sci- “I read it a dozen times [and] I still wasn’t certain what the play was about,” Car- Fi Spectacular!” Jack Everly conducts a program rasquillo concedes, noting that it took him nearly three weeks to solve its storytell- including selections from Star Trek and John Williams’s classic sci-fi scores, from E.T. to Star ing puzzle as well as the theatrical challenge in presenting it. “It’s really cohesive,” Wars. Thursday, Feb. 20, at 8 p.m. Music Center at he says about the staged result. “It’s not like it’s choppy or anything. It just comes Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. together and people get it.” Also Saturday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 23, at 3 p.m. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Carrasquillo, who also runs a guesthouse with his partner in his native Puerto Cathedral St., Baltimore. Tickets are $44 to $109. Rico, is currently focused on helping produce a major, month-long, national Latino Call 410-783-8000 or visit bsomusic.org. theater festival launching this fall in Los Angeles. Over the past couple decades Carrasquillo has directed for most of D.C.’s major theater companies, from the Ken- JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE After taking a seven-year hiatus from music, the now nedy Center to Signature Theatre to Woolly Mammoth. proven movie star and superb Saturday Night Live But The Young Lady from Tacna is his fi rst show in a while. “I actually took a host came charging back in a big way in 2013, with little sabbatical for two years,” he says, a time to recharge, read and travel, check- not one but two albums in his The 20/20 Experience. ing off things on his bucket list, including hiking Machu Picchu and going to Spain. Yes, it’s true both sets were a bit half-baked, and more evidence he’s not as inspired and driven by music as – Doug Rule he used to be, such as when he gave us 2006’s Future Sex/Love Sounds, a brilliant, meticulous exercise in The Girl from Tacna runs to March 9 at GALA Theatre at Tivoli Square, 3333 14th pushing pop’s boundaries yet remaining accessible. That said, The 20/20 Experience is also evidence that St. NW. Tickets are $38 to $42. Performed in Spanish with English surtitles. he remains one of the most talented of today’s pop Call 202-234-7174 or visit galatheatre.org. superstars. And he’s still a consummate performer. Monday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m. Verizon Center, 601 F St. 34 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 35 NW. Tickets are $52.50 to $178. Call 202-628-3200 or visit verizoncenter.com.

MICHELLE PETERSON-ALBANDOZ’S REWOOD Long View Gallery offers another show from Michelle Peterson-Albandoz, a Chicago-based artist whose large, hanging-wood sculptures are made from reclaimed wood, often found in “dumpsters and back alleys,” she told Metro Weekly a couple years ago. Opening reception is Friday, Feb. 21, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Exhibition on view through March 16. Long View Gallery, 1234 9th St. NW. Call 202-232- 4788 or visit longviewgallery.com.

MORRISSEY After the recent release of his Autobiography, Morrissey embarks on a U.S. tour in advance of his first new album in five years, including a stop at Baltimore’s Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Singer- songwriter and keyboardist Kristeen Young joins as Morrissey’s special guest. Tickets on sale Friday, Feb. 21, at 12 p.m., for concert Tuesday, June 10, at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., Baltimore. Tickets are $119 to $575. Call 410-783- 8000, ticketmaster.com.

Stevens Mazzola ANGELISA GILLYARD PATTI LUPONE AND MANDY PATINKIN Through this weekend gay-popular Broadway veteran Patti LuPone offers a cabaret with Mandy Patinkin, reuniting with her longtime friend 34 years after their Tony-winning performances in Andrew PORTER HOUSE Lloyd Weber’s Evita. First presented in New York The InSeries’s new show pays tribute to the legendary Cole Porter a couple years ago, this cabaret tells a musical love story entirely through a selection of great love songs E LIT UP LIKE A CHILD ON CHRISTMAS MORNING ABOUT written for the stage that The New York Times raved as “nothing short of fearless,” calling it an exercise in the idea of getting to work with Cole Porter music,” Steven Scott Maz- “exhilaration.” Remaining shows Thursday, Feb. 20, H zola says. He’s talking about Greg Stevens, whom Mazzola tapped last through Sunday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. Also Saturday, year to help create and direct The Cole Porter Project, a new commission by The Feb. 22, and Sunday, Feb. 23, at 2 p.m. Kennedy InSeries. Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $95 to $150. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org. “I’ve loved Cole Porter since I was in high school,” Stevens explains, adding that, of all things, it was a disco version of a Porter classic that turned him on SAY YOU LOVE SATAN CONCERT READING to the legendary American composer and songwriter in the late 1970s. “My first The new Rainbow Theatre Project offers its third introduction to Cole Porter was truly on a disco album called Tuxedo Junction. of five “concert readings” of classic LGBT-plays and musicals, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s dark comedy Say And the song was ‘Begin The Beguine.’” As odd as that sounds, it is precisely You Love Satan. John Moletress directs this play, by virtue of many pop-star covers that Porter’s songs, which often originated about a graduate student in Baltimore who falls for as numbers in his Broadway musicals, became American Songbook standards a handsome stranger against his better judgment. After all, he has the number of the devil — “666” — known far and wide. stamped on his forehead. Preceding the reading is Still, even most Porter connoisseurs don’t know everything by the legend, Frank Anthony Polito’s new short play White Room who died in 1964. “He wrote a thousand or more songs, and dozens of musicals,” w/Red Door. Monday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. Source, Stevens says. And that’s why The Cole Porter Project, while featuring some of 1835 14th St. NW. Free. Call 202-204-7760 or visit rainbowtheatreproject.com. Porter’s most familiar tunes, also includes “songs that aren’t usually part of the catalog of what people think of as Cole Porter.” Among these: “In The Morn- WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA ing,” “No” and “Experiment.” Herman Melville’s classic Moby-Dick is now a Mazzola and Stevens also developed a plot for the fully staged show, featur- triumphant opera with music by Jake Heggie and a libretto by Gene Scheer, featuring massive nautical ing a cast of nine. “We’ve created a story about efforts to get a national holiday sets, dazzling visual effects, a beautiful score and a honoring Cole Porter through Congress,” Mazzola says. The 34 Porter songs talented cast. The Washington National Opera offers they’ve included are often used to advance that fictitious story line. The show the East Coast premiere of this English-language opera about Captain Ahab and the whale, originally alludes to Porter’s sexuality — he was openly gay only within his circle of friends commissioned by the Dallas Opera Company and and the Broadway community — but instead of being explicit, you might say the conducted by Evan Rogister. Carl Tanner and writers opted to follow the example of Porter himself, who was a master of the Stephen Costello lead the cast. Opens Saturday, Feb. double entendre. 22, at 7 p.m. To March 8. Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets are $25 to $305. Call 202-467-4600 “So much of what he wrote has these really rich and wonderful sexual or visit kennedy-center.org. undertones,” Stevens says, citing “You’re The Top” and “Love for Sale” as examples. “Some of the songs we consider to be love songs are really songs WPA’S ANNUAL ART AUCTION: SELECT 2014 about having sex.” — Doug Rule “Select 2014” from the Washington Project for the Arts is touted as the highlight of D.C.’s contemporary art world season. Featuring works The Cole Porter Project: It’s All Right With Me opens Saturday, Feb. 22, at 8 by more than 100 established and emerging artists p.m., and runs weekends to March 9. At Source, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets are from around the region and beyond, as selected by local curators and the WPA’s board of directors, the $38. Call 202-204-7763 or visit inseries.org. three-week exhibition and auction offers something for collectors both seasoned and aspiring. Opening reception is Thursday, Feb. 27, from 7 to 10 p.m. 36 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 37 Exhibition runs to March 21. Gala is Saturday, March SEMINAR projection screens, pulls off this feat without it 22, from 7 to 11 p.m. Artisphere, 1101 Wilson Blvd., Round House Theatre presents a new work by getting cluttered or confusing is one thing. That Arlington. Call 703-875-1100 or visit artisphere.com. Broadway’s most-produced female playwright Lauren Williams as Young Vi and especially Erin Theresa Rebeck. Seminar focuses on four aspiring Driscoll as Violet also regularly cross paths, even young novelists who sign up for private classes with cross dialogue in a couple scenes, without a hitch Leonard, an international literary figure who teaches in actor performance or audience comprehension FILM them lessons in survival as well as writing in this is yet another stunning accomplishment. The story comedy, directed by a Round House founder and focuses on a young woman who wants to alter her 3 DAYS TO KILL former artistic director Jerry Whiddon and starring physical appearance — chiefly, to remove the scar Yes, Kevin Costner is back, playing a dangerous Marty Lodge, Tom Story and Alexander Strain. To she sustained on her face from a wayward ax as a international spy eager to give up the work and get March 2. Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West teenager. She travels cross-country in 1964 in search closer to his estranged wife and daughter. Easier said Highway, Bethesda. Tickets are $50 to $60. Call 240- of a miracle, but along the way she instead finds than done. McG directs this action caper also starring 644-1100 or visit roundhousetheatre.org. herself — as well as love and friendship, principally, Amber Heard. Opens Friday, Feb. 21. Area theaters. shockingly, with two male soldiers, one white and Visit fandango.com. THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST one black. The journey is beautifully complemented HHHHH by the strong, large company of local performers ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS Calhoun casted to sing tunes that are mostly variants A late-Victorian romp filled with Oscar Wilde’s Capitol Hill’s The Hill Center ends its series screening of roots-based music, from bluegrass to the blues, relentless wit and merciless jabs at high society, the films from the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock gospel to country. It’s all just as pretty as Violet. To Shakespeare Theater Company’s The Importance of with post-show discussion from Hitchcock expert Feb. 23. Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are Being Earnest may be just the ticket for a bitterly Tom Zaniello. The focus is on his pre-Psycho “dark $20 to $52. Call 800-982-2787 or visit fordstheatre. cold winter’s evening. With wordplay that tickles side” repertoire, including the seven seasons of a org. (Doug Rule) the brain, creampuff costumes, an all-around weekly half-hour television show. Alfred Hitchcock insuppressible cheerfulness, and the kind of elocution Presents features Revenge, about the strange case of that borders on the hypnotic, it’s easy to forget about a ballerina found virtually catatonic in her trailer; the things like snow, ice and unscheduled leave — as brilliant Lamb to the Slaughter, about a police chief’s MUSIC long as one doesn’t also fall into a long winter’s nap. wife (the stuning Barbara Bel Geddes) who murders Which is to say that despite its confectionary-like her husband in a most unusual way; and Man from ATOS TRIO pleasures (including some fine sets) and its exuberant the South, in which Steve McQueen makes a crazy bet This critically acclaimed German classical trio good-naturedness, this isn’t the most riveting of with Peter Lorre in Vegas. Friday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. Hill presents The Light That Shines in the Darkness, an productions. Though it’s hard to put a finger on it, Center, Old Navy Hospital, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. evening inspired by the writings of Tolstoy with suffice to say it’s something to do with a slight lag Free. Call 202-549-4172 or visit hillcenterdc.org. pieces by Rachmaninoff, Anton Arensky, Alexander in rhythm, a slight lack of chemistry and a slight Weprik and Shostakovich. Featuring violinist imbalance between the smug and the sardonic tones Annette von Hehn, cellist Stefan Heinemeyer and that must drive the play. Extended to March 16. pianist Thomas Hoppe, the Atos Trio strives to STAGE Lansburgh Theatre, 450 7th St. NW. Tickets are $20 convey the spirit of a string quartet, with half the to $115. Call 202-547-1122 or visit shakespearetheatre. strings plus piano. Friday, Feb. 21, at 8 p.m. The BEACHES: A MUSICAL org. (Kate Wingfield) Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets Yes, it’s true: Signature Theatre presents a world are $35. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit wolftrap.org. premiere musical adapted from the 1985 novel, THE SCARLET LETTER best remembered as the 1988 weepy film starring Focused on creating one-hour audio plays of BRIAN GANZ Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey. Signature’s classics, Lean & Hungry Theater presents its first The acclaimed pianist Brian Ganz returns to Eric Schaeffer directs Mara Davi (Broadway’s A non-Shakespearean audio play with Nathaniel Strathmore for another recital in his Chopin Project, Chorus Line and The Drowsy Chaperone) and Alysha Hawthorne’s American classic. In this version, a multi-year effort to play every lush piece in the Umphress (Broadway’s American Idiot) in this Hester Prynne’s story of being socially ostracized composer’s oeuvre. Presented by Strathmore’s own musical adaptation by original author Iris Rainer for getting pregnant is seen through the eyes of National Philharmonic, this round includes Chopin’s Dart, with assistance from book writer Thom Thomas Hawthorne himself. The author questions Ruby, masterpiece of narrative and emotional power, the and composer David Austin. To March 23. Signature Hester’s great-granddaughter, about the events that “Ballade No. 4 in F minor,” the soulful, mysterious Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Call 703- took place in colonial Massachusetts. Renana Fox “Mazurka in A minor;” the tender and storied “Waltz 820-9771 or visit signature-theatre.org. directs the acting ensemble playing multiple roles, in A-flat Major;” and the highly dramatic “Prelude in with original music composed by Roc Lee and audio C-sharp minor.” Saturday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m. Music ELLA FITZGERALD: FIRST LADY OF SONG design by R. Mehdi Raoufi. The performance will be Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North HHHHH broadcast live on WAMU 88.5 FM. Friday, Feb. 28, at Bethesda. Tickets are $28 to $63. Call 301-581-5100 Freda Payne has absolutely no trouble channeling 8 p.m. The Dome Theatre at Artisphere, 1101 Wilson or visit strathmore.org. the big voice of Ella Fitzgerald, and it’s actually Blvd., Arlington. Tickets are $15. Call 703-875-1100 or quite remarkable. Payne, who had a pop hit in 1970 visit artisphere.com. CATHEDRAL CHORAL SOCIETY with “Band of Gold,” hits all the right notes singing, With “Visionary Women,” the National Cathedral’s scatting, even occasionally ad libbing in MetroStage’s THE YOUNG LADY FROM TACNA resident choral company offers a multidisciplinary latest bio-musical, Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song. Jose Carrasquillo from Puerto Rico directs the latest experience in tribute to two medieval visionaries: But she isn’t much of an actor. The enthusiasm Payne show at GALA Theatre, La señorita de Tacna, written the French warrior maiden Joan of Arc, and has performing as Fitzgerald is often lacking when by Peruvian 2010 Nobel Prize Laureate Mario Vargas the abbess, mystic and composer Hildegard merely portraying her, delivering lines from Lee Llosa. This memory play, performed in Spanish with of Bingen. J. Reilly Lewis leads the chorus and Summers’s book as if unsure of their veracity or her English surtitles, is a moving and humorous portrait soloists in Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light with memory, or both. MetroStage’s relatively barebones of a family and its secrets, focused on a 100-year- the celebrated 1928 silent film by Carl Theodor production doesn’t give Payne much wiggle room old spinster aunt and her canceled engagement to a Dreyer The Passion of Joan of Arc, plus works by either. To March 16. MetroStage, 1201 North Royal Chilean captain when she was young. Carlos Castillo composer von Blingen. Saturday, Feb. 22, at 5 p.m. St., Alexandria. Tickets are $55 to $60. Call 800-494- and Luz Nicolas star. To March 9. GALA Theatre at Washington National Cathedral, Massachusetts and 8497 or visit metrostage.org. (Doug Rule) Tivoli Square, 3333 14th St. NW. Tickets are $38 to Wisconsin Avenues NW. Call 202-537-2228 or visit $42. Call 202-234-7174 or visit galatheatre.org. cathedralchoralsociety.org. ORLANDO WSC Avant Bard presents Sarah Ruhl’s new adaptation VIOLET CIGARETTE of Virginia Woolf’s most imaginative novel, a wild and HHHHH Washington Post pop music critic Chris Richards wonderful romp through centuries and across genders Now at Ford’s Theatre, Violet will touch you in its launches a new series of concerts, generally once and based in part on the life of Woolf’s lover Vita unusual approach and its unexpected story line. a month, giving local D.C. musicians a platform. Sackville-West. Amber Jackson directs this regional The show, with music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics First up is indie dream-pop five-piece Cigarette, premiere of Orlando featuring company members Sara and book by Brian Crawley, follows the story of the made up of Jonathan Howard, Evan Napala, Richard Barker and Jay Hardee. Opens in a pay-what-you-can titular character, who we see as both a teenager in Howard, Johnny Ward and Drew Hagelin. Each preview Friday, Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. To March 24. rural North Carolina and as an adult traveling across concert begins with a 30-minute discussion with the Theatre on the Run, 3700 South Four Mile Run Drive, the South, often at the same time, in overlapping musicians led by Richards. Friday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. Arlington. Tickets are $25 to $35. Call 703-418-4808 or scenes. That director Jeff Calhoun, ably assisted Hill Center, Old Navy Hospital, 921 Pennsylvania visit wscavantbard.org. by Tobin Ost’s complicated, movable set and sharp Ave. SE. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 day of. Call 202-549-4172 or visit HillCenterDC.org. 38 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM CRYFEST: SUEDE SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK THE CURE VS. THE SMITHS DANCE PARTY A Cape Cod-based lesbian singer who grew up Strathmore presents a 40th anniversary celebration The Black Cat hosts one of its popular DJ-driven and got her musical start in D.C. and Baltimore, of the Grammy-winning, D.C.-based, all-woman battle-of-the-bands theme parties, and this one may Suede has spent decades wowing crowds with her gospel a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, actually be a cry fest if you don’t like mopey ’80s rich contralto voice and playful, charismatic stage founded by Bernice Johnson Reagon, mother of rock. Everyone else can cheer on DJs Steve Ep, DJ presence. She also occasionally plays the trumpet, lesbian blues singer Toshi. And they’ve proven their Missguided, Killa K and Krasty McNasty as they spin guitar and piano in her performances of jazz mettle as a gay-friendly group: A few years ago they tunes featuring Robert Smith’s forlorn croons and standards, along with some pop and a lot of blues. A sang “My Family,” which they penned for the gay- whine as they play the whines of Morrissey – or vice regular performer at gay events across the country inclusive HBO documentary A Family Is a Family Is versa, depending on if you prefer The Cure or The and as a regular guest with the now-defunct Lesbian a Family: A Rosie O’Donnell Celebration. Saturday, Smiths. Friday, Feb. 21. Doors at 9:30 p.m. Black Cat, & Gay Chorus of Washington, Suede comes back March 1, at 8 p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $10. Call 202-667-4490 to the region to perform at Annapolis’s Rams Head Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $29 to $70. Call 301-581-5100 or visit strathmore.org. or visit blackcatdc.com. accompanied by pianist Fred Boyle and bassist Max Murray. Saturday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m. Rams Head On GAY/BASH! Stage, 33 West St., Annapolis. Tickets are $30. Call THE DC CAPITAL STARS 410-268-4545 or visit ramsheadonstage.com. The Kennedy Center welcomes the top 10 finalists Local drag acts Heid Glüm and Rumor Millz are from this talent competition among D.C.’s public and the “hostesses with the grosstesses” at this monthly public charter high school students. The DC Capital performance-focused queer punk/electro-inspired Stars perform “A Tribute to Broadway” at this gala party. Each hostess performs twice during the party, along with “Special (Ed) Guest Ellen DeGenerate,” billed as a trashy drag queen from, appropriately enough, Baltimore. DJs Joshua and Dean spin tunes throughout. Saturday, Feb. 22, starting at 10 p.m. Black Cat Backstage, 1811 14th St. NW. Tickets are $5. Call 202-667-4490 or visit blackcatdc.com.

KENNEDY CENTER’S THE CONSERVATORY PROJECT Every February and May the Kennedy Center offers showcases of some of the best young musical artists from the nation’s leading undergraduate and graduate conservatories as part of its Conservatory Project and its free Millennium Stage programming. Remaining concerts on tap: Cleveland Institute of Music on Thursday, Feb. 20; the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University on Friday, Feb. 21; Indiana University Jacobs School of Music on Saturday, Feb. 22; Yale School of Music on Sunday, Feb. 23; and the Peabody Institute on Monday, Feb. 24. All performances at 6 p.m. Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are free. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

KRONOS QUARTET, TRIO DA KALI Former artists-in-residence at the University of Maryland, the eclectic classical contemporary group the Kronos Quartet join in concert the famed Malian vocalist Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté and instrumentalists Fodé Lassana Diabeté and Mamadou Kouyaté in their first visit to the U.S. as Trio Da Kali. Saturday, Feb. 22, at 8 p.m. Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Dekelboum Concert Hall, University of Maryland, University Boulevard and Stadium Drive, College Park. Tickets are $35. Call 301-405-ARTS or visit claricesmithcenter.umd.edu.

NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Christoph Eschenbach conducts the NSO in a performance of Beethoven’s First and Second Symphonies. Violinist Christian Tetzlaff joins to perform the U.S. premiere of Widmann’s Violin Concerto. Thursday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m.; and Friday, Feb. 28, and March 1, at 8 p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $10 to $85. Call 202-467- 4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

SIGNATURE THEATRE’S WINTER CABARET FESTIVAL Signature Theatre’s annual Winter Cabaret Festival runs for most of February. Remaining programs include: Carolyn Cole, who starred as Tracy Turnblad in Signature’s Hairspray and also appeared in the company’s recent Company, offers a series of rocking concerts in her farewell to D.C., Thursday, Feb. 20, through Saturday, Feb. 22; and The Lost Songs of Broadway: 1980s, Wednesday, Feb. 26, through Saturday, March 1. Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Tickets are $41, or $90 for an All Access Pass. Call 703-820-9771 or visit signature-theatre.org.

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 39 celebration presented by the DC College Access Sugar DC” party, an offshoot of a popular party in Program. Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. Kennedy Center her hometown. Friday, Feb. 21. Doors at 10 p.m. U COMEDY Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $35 to $45. Call Street Music Hall, 1115A U St. NW. Cover is $10. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org. 202-588-1880 or visit ustreetmusichall.com. COLIN JOST A head writer for and Seth Meyers’s forthcoming THE GRAND CANDY replacement as co-anchor of “Weekend Update” on This Arlington-based band performs at a party DANCE Saturday Night Live, Jost stops in town for a night of celebrating the release of its debut album, NSFW, standup. Thursday, Feb. 20, at 10 p.m., and Friday, recorded at D.C.’s famed Fugazi-popularized Inner PILOBOLUS Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m. Arlington Cinema N’ Drafthouse, Ear Studios. Led by jazzy-soul vocalist Dan Cohn, 2903 Columbia Pike, Arlington. Tickets are $15 to $24. Strathmore presents Pilobolus, a Connecticut-based the sound is more akin to the Dire Straits or Jeff Call 703-486-2345 or visit arlingtondrafthouse.com. modern dance troupe known, as its gay associate Buckley. The Grand Candy opens for Sol-Roots. dance captain Nile Russell told Metro Weekly a few Thursday, Feb. 27, at 8:30 p.m. IOTA Club and Café, years ago, for the “idea of ‘weight-sharing.’ … Not so JO KOY 2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. Tickets are $12. Call much lifting people, but pouring your weight into The Chelsea Lately weekly regular is not gay, despite 703-522-8340 or visit iotaclubandcafe.com. them to leave the ground.” Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 8 what Chelsea Handler insists. But he sure is funny. p.m. Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Variety has even named him one of “10 Comics to THE WASHINGTON CHORUS Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $27 to $67. Call Watch.” He’s certainly become popular: His annual Julian Wachner leads the Washington Chorus in its 301-581-5100 or visit strathmore.org. run of stand-up shows at the DC Improv usually sell celebration of Giuseppe Verdi in honor of the 200th out. So, you know, get tickets now if you want to go. anniversary of his birth. Sopranos Corinne Winters COMPAGNIE KAFIG/CCN CRETEIL Thursday, Feb. 27, through March 1. DC Improv, and Othalie Graham, mezzo-soprano Ola Rafalo, 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW. Tickets are $30. Call tenor Issachah Savage and bass Peter Volpe are ET VAL-DE-MARNE 202-296-7008 or visit dcimprov.com. featured soloists in “The Essential Verdi,” featuring This France-based “street art” dance company favorites from his operas, choruses and choral makes its debut at the Kennedy Center with masterworks, including highlights from Aida, La Agwaand Correria. Written and choreographed by Traviata and Il Trovatore. Sunday, March 2, at 5 p.m. the company’s Mourad Merzouki, this work features READINGS Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 to an all-male Brazilian cast performing celebrated $70. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org. works inspired by hip-hop, bossa nova and capoeira, ERIC SCHMIDT, JARED COHEN all centered on the theme of water, both as a vital Now out in paperback, The New Digital Age: ULTRA NATÉ human component and natural resource and Transforming Nations, Business and Our Lives, tackles a symbol of renewal. Friday, Feb. 28, at 8 p.m.; Once again, gay-popular Baltimore-based dance the multifaceted topic of technology as seen from and March 1, at 2:30 and 8 p.m. Kennedy Center singer Ultra Naté returns to U Street Music Hall to Google Mountain. After all, Eric Schmidt is the Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $22 to $60. Call play DJ, spinning soulful-house sounds – her own executive chairman and former CEO of Google and 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org. hits plus those of her colleagues and contemporaries, Jared Cohen is director of Google Ideas. Thursday, including Quentin Harris, Chris Willis, Jocelyn Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, 600 Brown, StoneBridge and Masters at Work. She’ll be I St. NW. Tickets are $18 including one book, or $28 joined by Lisa Moody and Kate Elder for this “Deep including two. Call 202-408-3100 or visit sixthandi.org.

40 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM JONATHAN ALLEN AND AMIE PARNES HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton examines the former secretary of state and senator’s political strategy to tease out plans for a presidential run in 2016. The book’s authors are reporters from Bloomberg News and The Hill. Monday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Call 202-364-1919 or visit politics-prose.com. GALLERIES

CREATING THE IDEAL HOME, 1800-1939 Housed in the same building as Constitution Hall, the D.A.R. Museum offers a new exhibit exploring the evolution of household comfort and conveniences, and how American inventors patented all sorts of laborsaving and leisure-providing home devices, from the vacuum and the washing machine to the telephone and television. Through Aug. 30. D.A.R. Museum, 1776 D St. NW. Admission is free. Call 202- 879-3241 or visit dar.org/museum.

GENOME: UNLOCKING LIFE’S CODE Thanks to the work of the decade-long, $3 billion Human Genome Project, human society has gained much greater insight into our bodies and our health. Scientists have identified genes that contribute to disease, stoking hope for ways to treat or eradicate cancer among many other ailments. This new Smithsonian exhibition, which will travel the country later next year, explores the work and growth in sequencing technology that helped spark this medical and scientific revolution. Through September. National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Call 202- 633-1000 or visit mnh.si.edu.

HOMOCATS: FIGHT THE POWER Transformer presents New York-based artist J. Morrison’s playful large-scale installation, featuring drawings and prints exploring both the abundance of cat culture on the Internet and the intersection of art and activism. This Valentine’s Day-pegged exhibition questions the state of modern love. Through March 15. Transformer, 1404 P St. NW. Call 202-483-1102 or visit transformerdc.org.

MIKE WEBER’S SYNCHRONICITY Former D.C.-based gay artist returns for a show at Long View Gallery with Synchronicity, which starts with photographs of tame animals as seen on sustainable farms or within rescue centers. Weber then layers additional materials to create both a sense of chaos and harmony simultaneously. To March 13. Long View Gallery, 1234 9th St. NW. Call 202-232-4788 or visit longviewgallery.com.

PASSION OF THE EMPRESS: CATHERINE THE GREAT’S ART PATRONAGE In the 18th century Catherine the Great reigned over a golden age of Russian culture, founding what would become the State Hermitage Museum and transforming St. Petersburg into one of Europe’s cultural centers. Hillwood Museum presents Passion of the Empress, which presents a selection of dazzling, finely crafted decorative art pieces in gold, silver, porcelain and enamel — from Hillwood’s collection as well as other pieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, Dumbarton Oaks, the Birmingham Museum of Art and private collections. To June 8. Hillwood Estate, 4155 Linnean Ave. NW. Suggested donation is $12. Call 202-686-5807 or visit HillwoodMuseum.org. l

FOR MORE OUT ON THE TOWN LISTINGS PLEASE VISIT WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 41 42 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM DOUG RULE STAGE

make up for their miscast leads by lining up an otherwise strong ensemble for this production. Besides Adams, Sheri Herren as Alice Russell, and especial- ly Susan Marie Rhea as Mabel Cantwell, deserve special men- tion for their studious portrayals of political wives; as does Rena Cherry Brown for her spot-on portrayal of mid-century female party boss Sue-Ellen Gamadge, and Stan Shulman as Russell’s savvy campaign manager. This is yet another Keegan pro- duction in which a large cast — in this case a total of 16 actors — fills the small stage space, allowing its veteran stage manager Megan Thrift to show off her dexterity as the theatrical equivalent of a station agent at a busy train ter- minal. Although she may be a bit

C STANLEY too good at the job in this case: Susan Marie Rhea & Colin Smith The Best Man is meant to emulate the raucous goings-on at a politi- cal convention in Philadelphia. Thrift’s Keegan Station is a little The Power of too ho-hum to sub as that city’s 30th Street Station. And Dan Deit- er’s sound effects of shouting del- egates, heard every so often when Charisma the candidates’ hotel suite doors are opened, are a little too canned Aside from its two leads, Keegan Theatre has assembled another strong to be convincing. Keegan’s set operation is head- ensemble for its latest production ed by Michael Innocenti, who does double duty, also playing the small role of Sheldon Marcus, S WRITTEN, GORE was equally superb and convinc- who accuses Cantwell of homo- Vidal’s The Best Man ing a couple years back playing sexual activity, years earlier when ultimately intends the Northeastern patriarch Joe the two served in the Army. This viewers to root for Keller in Arthur Miller’s All My is intended as a retaliatory move AWilliam Russell over Joseph THE BEST MAN Sons. Just chalk it up to being a by Russell to impugn Cantwell, Cantwell in their knock-down, first-rate actor. who is working to smear Rus- drag-out fight to become their By contrast, both Colin Smith sell’s good name with evidence of party’s candidate for president in and Keegan founder and artistic his medically documented bouts 1960. But as performed at Keegan To Feb. 23 director Mark Rhea stumble in with mental illness. Even if these Theatre, we unquestionably root their flat portrayals of the prin- dirty tactics aren’t as surefire for outgoing President Arthur Church Street Theater cipled Cantwell and the oppor- campaign decimators today, The tunist Russell, respectively. Rhea, Hockstader instead. The reason $35 Best Man still holds up as an inci- is simple: Kevin Adams plays in particular, doesn’t project or sive account of the game that is Hockstader with such command, enunciate well enough, causing American politics. And the dirty conviction and Bill Clinton-esque 703-892-0202 us to miss out on some of Rus- tactics aren’t the only things that charisma, you’d love to vote for keegantheatre.com sell’s choice retorts. Fortunately, have slightly changed over time. him in real life. Has Adams ever as integral as the two lead roles The late bisexual writer Vidal was been a politician? Is he actually are to the story, there’s enough a lifelong Democrat, even a wan- a Southerner? I don’t know the in the play to chew on, to savor, nabe politician, and The Best Man answers, though I do know that and directors Christina A. Coak- was originally written as veiled Keegan company member Adams ley and Timothy H. Lunch even continues on page 47

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 43 RHUARIDH MARR TECHNOCRAT

just plug the Slim in, copy the file across and move it to the other de- vice. It uses USB 3.0, so transfers are significantly faster compared with the older USB standard. A 4GB film will no longer leave you waiting endlessly as it drip-feeds data onto the hard-drive. Instead, it’s done in just a few minutes. I take it with me to work, in case I need to share something with a colleague. I take it to friends’ homes to bring my own music and films, should we run out of content. I take it when I’m working from a coffee shop, just as an additional backup in case I lose WiFi or something happens to the device I’m working on. What really seals the deal on portable storage for me is the peace of mind. This small, plastic box – available in blue, black, red or silver – has most of my digital life on it. No matter what happens

SEAGATE to my laptop or my Surface, I know Good things, small packages that all of my photos are stored on it — every vacation, every night out, every hipster-y shot of a crunchy leaf on the sidewalk — and my necessary files are kept safe from hackers. Want to stop someone ac- Pocket Cloud cessing your data? Disconnect the Slim from your computer. Simple. That I can take my entire digital Seagate’s Slim Portable Drive offers peace of mind for all your digital life with me in something smaller and lighter than my phone, which data, while fitting comfortably in your pocket boasts great read and write speeds and has so far withstood me drop- ping it, standing on it and a glass of had never really cared for portable storage. Hard drives and thumb drives were just water being accidentally thrown things that people used if they had ridiculously large music catalogs or needed to over it (I’d caution against repeat- securely transfer files from place to place. With modern cloud services such as those ing these scenarios — I may just be available from Google, Microsoft, Apple and others, which sync your music, files and extremely lucky), is incredible. photosI across multiple devices, more and more it seemed to me that portable storage was Of course, I still use Xbox Mu- becoming a thing of the past. I use several such services — mainly Xbox Music to store my sic, Google Plus Photos, Google music collection online, Microsoft’s SkyDrive (soon to be OneDrive) for syncing across my Drive and SkyDrive — a portable Windows devices, Google Drive to store and create documents for work and Google Plus to hard drive can’t match them for sync all of the photos I take on my Android phone. I have gigabytes of data soaring around convenience. What it can do, in the cloud, waiting for me to access them at any moment. So why, then, would I ever need though, is add both an essential a portable hard drive? backup to those services, and beat It was a question I was surprised to find had a rather simple answer: I do need one, and I them in situations where you don’t love it. Seagate was kind enough to send me its Backup Plus Slim Portable Drive to test, and have unlimited data, or accessible since receiving it I rarely go a day without using it. My portable hard drive is in my pocket WiFi, or just want to immediately almost as often as my phone. watch a film or TV show. Until It’s aided by some incredibly petite dimensions. At 4.4 inches by 3 inches, it’s a small, Internet access is ubiquitous, in- unassuming little device. It’s also only slightly thicker than an iPhone 4. Indeed, it feels just credibly fast and unlimited, stor- like a slightly wider iPhone in the hand and at 5.3 ounces. It’s a total featherweight. That’s age drives will always have their what gives the Seagate its appeal — extreme “pocketability.” Why, though, would you need place in the world. For the Seagate to pocket your hard drive? For a myriad of reasons, as it turns out. Slim, it’s a small place. Literally. I have the 500GB model, but it’s also available with 1 or 2TB of storage space. On my Slim I’ve got my entire music catalog, every photo I’ve ever taken across five years of An- Seagate Backup Plus Slim Portable droid and Windows Phone devices, important documents, a bunch of (legally procured) Drive is available from seagate. films and TV series, and save files for several games. I have a Windows laptop, tablet and com at $69.99 for 500GB or 1TB All-In-One, and I move between devices regularly. If I want to take something with me, I and $129.99 for 2TB. l

44 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 45 RHUARIDH MARR GEARS FISKER Fisker’s fitful Karma Electrifying Fates Once in strong competition, Fisker’s bankruptcy is China’s gain, as Tesla dukes it out with dealerships

FEW YEARS AGO, A RACE BEGAN. IT WAS help matters. Though beautiful and fast, it received a luke- between two relative unknowns, with two very warm response from critics and was beset by reliability prob- different strategies, and had two very different lems, requiring a recall to fix a coolant hose issue that could outcomes. Fisker Automotive and Tesla Motors lead to an electrical short or — in the worst case — a fire in the Aunwittingly locked horns in 2008, both intent on delivering engine. A house fire in Texas was blamed on a Karma combust- the world’s greatest electric sports sedan. For Fisker, the solu- ing, and another model ignited while parked in a California lot. tion was a tried and tested one: offer a car with limited electric When Consumer Reports test-drove the Karma, a model with range, perfect for the daily commute and short journeys, and just 200 miles on the clock, it broke down while undergoing a include a gas engine to boost power and charge the battery for speedometer check and refused to be revived. CR stated that it maximum performance and range. Tesla, which had enjoyed was the first time a car has been rendered un-drivable during limited success with its all-electric roadster, took the cleaner, the initial check-in process. but arguably more complex, route — an entirely electric sedan Fisker slowly fell apart, plagued by mismanagement, a lack with sufficient battery capacity to render a range-extending of funding and the inability to resume production of a car that, gas engine unnecessary. Both offered stunning designs, and by that point, nobody wanted to buy. Henry Fisker, who found- each had lofty goals. But fast-forward to today and it’s two ed the company, resigned in March 2013, citing disagreements very different tales for these companies. with management and business strategy, and the company offi- Fisker Automotive has finally been sold, to Wanxiang, a cially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November of that year. Chinese automotive-parts company. It suspended production It listed debt of as much as $1 billion. Fisker was put on sale, of its Karma sedan in November 2012 while in a quagmire of a hollow shell of a company, with the possibility that it would financial difficulties, the last straw in a series of issues that had be used for its parts and patents and no promise of production plagued the company. Originally intended to launch in 2009, ever resuming. The company was finally put up for auction the Karma didn’t reach showrooms until 2011, with just 2,450 Feb. 12, and after 19 rounds of bidding between Wanxiang and models built until production ceased. The Karma itself didn’t Hybrid Tech Holdings, the former emerged the winner with

46 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM TESLA Tesla Model S its $149.2 million bid. Incidentally, its bid er sales model, with dealerships let- year that action may be required at the was six times the figure that Fisker sought ting potential buyers customize and federal level. He told Automotive News, to recover when it filed for bankruptcy. purchase their model, which Tesla “It’s really difficult for a new company The sale is scheduled to be approved will then deliver directly to them. This with a new technology to be franchised. by Judge Kevin Gross in Delaware. If has, somewhat understandably, caused It’s not possible to effectively sell a new confirmed, Wanxiang could conceivably worry among the dealership networks technology like electric vehicles, for a revive the brand in China, as a poster that branch across every state, with fears dealer to do that, without undermining child to help combat the pollution that that other manufacturers could emulate the story behind gasoline cars.” blankets much of the country’s major Tesla’s business model and render their If more states consider legislation cities. It could also, potentially, restart dealerships obsolete. restricting Tesla’s selling model, Musk production of U.S. models. However, The latest challenge to Tesla’s busi- said, “rather than fight 20 different state much of this is pure speculation. One ness model comes from Ohio, where state battles, I’d rather fight one federal battle.” thing is certain: The Fisker that started Sen. Tom Patton (R) is pushing SB260 in For the moment, though, everything’s life in 2007 in Anaheim, Calif., with the the Ohio Senate. The bill would stop any coming up Tesla. dream of building an alternate-energy company from selling vehicles if it “is a vehicle is long dead. Whatever is resur- manufacturer, or a parent company, sub- Read more of Rhuaridh Marr’s automotive rected from the ruins will resemble it in sidiary, or affiliated entity of a manufac- coverage daily at metroweekly.com/auto. appearance alone. turer, applying for a license to sell or lease Follow him at @rhuaridh. l Tesla, on the other hand, couldn’t be new or used motor vehicles at retail.” stronger. With stocks hovering around Should the law pass without any mea- the $200 mark, sales of its Model S break- sures protecting the Tesla stores already STAGE continued from page 43 ing 25,000 worldwide since launching in open in the state, it would make Tesla’s 2012, production of its Model X cross- operations illegal there. commentary on his party, criticizing the over to begin at the end of this year What further muddies things is Pat- rise of John F. Kennedy over Adlai Ste- and a lower-priced model scheduled to ton’s rationale for proposing the measure. venson, of populism over principles. But begin sale in 2016, the company is moving Between 2002 and 2013, according to more than a half century later, The Best from strength to strength. A nationwide Media Trackers, Patton received at least Man — which assiduously avoids any recharging network, up to 265 miles of “$42,825 from state and national auto mention of a specific party — seems more range in the highest-powered Model S dealership owners, employees, and politi- like a critique of today’s Republican party. and Consumer Reports’ first ever 99 out cal action committees.” Venture onto Pat- Regardless of party, so much of poli- of 100 score have all helped to boost the ton’s Facebook page and it’s slowly filling tics is about keeping the worst at bay — Model S’s image, and the company is with angry posts from those decrying the worst impulses, the worst activities, expanding and planning for the future in his moves to shut down Tesla’s business the worst candidate. So much boils down a way many didn’t think possible when it model as “anti-American,” “crony capital- to voting, or campaigning, for the least- announced the Model S sedan in 2008. ism” and “just wrong.” bad option. Yet that expansion is coming at a As for what response Tesla might bring The best man doesn’t always – maybe price. Tesla favors a direct-to-consum- to the table, CEO Elon Musk stated last not even often – win. l

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 47

NIGHT LIFE LISTINGS

THURS., 02.20.14

9 1/2 Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • Multiple TVs showing movies, shows, sports • Expanded craft beer selection • No cover

ANNIE’S/ANNIE’S UPSTAIRS 4@4 Happy Hour, 4pm-7pm • $4 Small Plates, $4 Stella Artois, $4 House Wines, $4 Stolichnaya Cocktails, $4 Manhattans and Vodka Martinis

FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Karaoke, 9pm

GREEN LANTERN Shirtless Men Drink Free, 10-11pm

JR.’S $3 Rail Vodka Highballs, $2 JR.’s drafts, 8pm to close • Top Pop Night

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Beat The Clock Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of Beer $15 • Drag Bingo

NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • No Cover

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers • Shirtless Thursday • DJ Tim E in Secrets • 9pm • Cover 21+

FRI., 02.21.14

9 1/2 Open at 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • Friday Night Videos with resident DJ Shea Van Horn • VJ • Expanded craft beer METROWEEKLY.COM 49 selection • No cover M 50 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM COVERBOY bartenders EDITION

Interview by John Riley // Photography by Julian Vankim Shot on location at The Beacon Hotel in Washington. Visit beaconhotelwdc.com.

WE’RE RELAUNCHING NIGHTLIFE COVERBOY AS COVERBOY: Bartenders Edition. Each week, we will feature one of the gay community’s most personable drink slingers. Be sure to stop by during their week and pay them a visit.

F YOU HAPPEN TO DRIVE UP TO PW’S SPORTS BAR & Grill in Laurel, Md., you’re likely to encounter Eric, doing a job he loves and is passionate about. Though his Ieducational and work background is in computer science, the 30-year-old Houston-area native and self-described “country boy” loves to meet new people and chat them up as he crafts various cocktails to suit each patron’s individual taste. But beware: If you happen to nod off at his bar, the self-admitted prankster may shower you with water from the soda gun or jolt you awake with a serenade of party poppers, letting the glitter and streamers fly! An ex “band dork” who played the clarinet in high school, Eric joined the Navy after graduation, later transferring from sunny Hawaii to Columbia, Md., where he lives with his husband, Allan.

M ANNIE’S by Charger Stone • No NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR PHASE 1 PW’S SPORTS BAR Deverreoux and Ba’Naka • 4@4 Happy Hour, 4-7pm • cover before 9:30pm • 21+ DJ Matt Bailer • Videos, DJ Styalo • Dancing • 9855 Washington Blvd. N Doors open at 10pm • For $4 Small Plates, $4 Stella Dancing • Beat The Clock $5 cover Laurel, Md. those 21 and over, $5 from Artois, $4 House Wines, FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), 301-498-4840 10-11pm and $10 after $4 Stolichnaya Cocktails, Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • PHASE 1 OF DUPONT Drag Show in lounge • 11pm • For those 18-20, $4 Manhattans and Vodka Karaoke, 9pm Buckets of Beer $15 1415 22nd St. NW Half-price burgers and $10 all night • 18+ Martinis • Upstairs open For the Ladies • DJ Rosie fries 5-11pm JR.’S NUMBER NINE • Doors at 9pm • 21+ ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Buy 1, Get 1, Open 5pm • Happy Hour: TOWN All male, nude dancers DC BEAR CRUE 11pm-midnight • Happy 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm Drag Show starts at • Ladies of Illusion with @Town • Bear Happy Hour: 2-for-1, 4-9pm • $5 • No Cover 10:30pm • Hosted by host Kristina Kelly, 9pm • Hour, 6-11pm • $3 Rail, Coronas, $8 Vodka Red Lena Lett and featuring Cover 21+ $3 Draft, $3 Bud Bottles • Bulls, 9pm-close Tatianna, Shi-Queeta- Free Pizza, 7pm • Hosted Lee, Jessica Spaulding

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 51 What’s on your nightstand? A lamp, my alarm clock. Usually water. I always have water on my nightstand.

What’s in your nightstand drawer? Bills, lube, Christian Mingle log-in information.

What are your three favorite TV shows of all time? American Horror Story. Any Gordon Ramsay series. I enjoy watching him cook and be an asshole to everyone. And I also love Game of Thrones and True Blood.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why? Telekinesis. I’d like to be able to move things with my mind, because I’m lazy.

NUMBER NINE SAT., 02.22.14 Doors 5pm • Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm 9 1/2 • $5 Absolut and Bulleit Open at 5pm • Happy after 9pm • No Cover Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm • $5 Absolut & PHASE 1 Tito’s, $3 Miller Lite after Dancing, 9pm-close 9pm • Expanded craft beer selection • No cover PHASE 1 OF DUPONT For the Ladies • DJ Rosie FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR • Doors at 9pm • 21+ Diner Brunch, 10am-3pm • Crazy Hour, 4-7pm PW’S SPORTS BAR • Karaoke and/or live 9855 Washington Blvd. N entertainment, 9pm Laurel, Md. 301-498-4840 JR.’S Karaoke in the lounge • $4 Coors, $5 Vodka Charity Bingo with Cash highballs, $7 Vodka Red Prizes 3rd Sat. of Every Bulls Month

NELLIE’S TOWN Guest DJs • Zing Zang Scruffed Up with Johnny Bloody Marys, Nellie Beer, Scruff • Music by Matt House Rail Drinks and Bailer • DJ Wess • Drag Mimosas, $4, 11am-5pm • Show starts at 10:30pm Buckets of Beer, $15 • Hosted by Lena Lett

52 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM Pick three people, living or dead, you What annoys you? What turns you on? would like to spend the day with, People asking me if we have a phone Bodies always turn me on. Accents, and what would you do? charger at the bar. they get me, too. I’m a big eye person. I This is where my gay side comes out. like eye contact with people. Britney Spears, Taylor Swift and the guy What pleases you? who plays Hercules, Kellan Lutz. We’d When people don’t ask me for phone What about bodies? all go shopping together, go out for chargers. Muscles, ripped up. I’m not into the drinks afterwards. Have a slumber party, twink thing. I like the bigger guys. because, of course, that’d be amazing. What’s the worst thing a friend could do to you? What turns you off? What would you do at I do not like liars or backstabbing. Bad breath. I absolutely can’t stand it. the slumber party? Toenails kind of freak me out. I can’t tell you on camera. Of course If you could read the mind of Britney Spears and Taylor Swift would someone famous, who would it be? What’s the strangest place you’ve not be there, though. Britney Spears, because I want to know ever had sex? what the hell happened to I’ve had sex in the middle of a lake You’re stranded on a desert island her. I love her. before, in complete darkness. In the with one person. Who do you pick? water. I’ve also had sex in my bedroom My husband. As much as he drives me What’s your guilty pleasure? with my parents in the next room insane, I still love him, so it’d be him Chocolate brownies. They’re terrible for awake, back before I came out to them. and me there. me. I love them. That was exhilarating.

and featuring Tatianna, FIREPLACE 11am-close • Buckets of $4 Manhattans and Vodka PW’S SPORTS BAR FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Shi-Queeta-Lee, Jessica Skyy Vodka, $3 • $5 cover Beer, $15 Martinis 9855 Washington Blvd. N Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Spaulding Deverreoux and with $1 off coupons Laurel, Md. Karaoke, 9pm Ba’Naka • For those 21 NUMBER NINE FREDDIE’S 301-498-4840 and over, $8 from 10-11pm FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Buzztime Trivia JR.’S and $12 after 11pm • 21+ Champagne Brunch drink, 5-9pm • No Cover Karaoke, 9pm competition • 75 cents off Underground (Indie Pop/ Buffet, 10am-3pm • bottles and drafts Alt/Brit Rock), 9pm-close ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS JR.’S • DJ Wes Della Volla • All nude male dancers, Drag Show hosted by All male, nude dancers • Happy Hour: 2-for-1, 4-9pm 2-for-1, all day and night 9pm • Ladies of Illusion Destiny B. Childs featuring Decades of Dance • DJ • Showtunes Songs & TUES., 02.25.14 with host Ella Fitzgerald, performances by a rotating Tim-e in Secrets • Doors Singalongs, 9pm-close • NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR 9pm • DJ Steve cast, 9pm • No cover • 8pm • Cover 21+ DJ Jamez • $3 Drafts 9 1/2 Beat The Clock Happy Henderson in Secrets • DJ Karaoke follows show Open at 5pm • Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 Spyke in Ziegfelds • Doors NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • 8pm • Cover • 21+ JR.’S MON., 02.24.14 Beat The Clock Happy 5-9pm • Multiple TVs Buckets of Beer $15 • Sunday Funday • Liquid Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 showing movies, shows, Karaoke Brunch • Doors open at 9 1/2 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • sports • Expanded craft SUN., 02.23.14 1pm • $2 Coors Lights & Open at 5pm • Happy Buckets of Beer $15 • beer selection • No cover NUMBER NINE $3 Skyy (all flavors), all Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, Poker Texas Hold’em, 8pm Open 5pm • Happy Hour: 9 1/2 day and night 5-9pm • Multiple TVs ANNIE’S 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any showing movies, shows, NUMBER NINE Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $4 • No Cover drink, 5-9pm • Multiple NELLIE’S sports • Expanded craft Open 5pm • Happy Hour: Stella Artois, $4 House TVs showing movies, Drag Brunch, hosted by beer selection • No cover 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm Wines, $4 Stolichnaya PW’S SPORTS BAR shows, sports • Expanded Shi-Queeta-Lee, 11am-3pm • No Cover Cocktails, $4 Manhattans 9855 Washington Blvd. N craft beer selection • No • $20 Brunch Buffet • ANNIE’S and Vodka Martinis Laurel, Md. cover House Rail Drinks, Zing 4@4 Happy Hour, 4-7pm • 301-498-4840 Zang Bloody Marys, Nellie $4 Small Plates, $4 Stella 75 cents off bottles and Beer and Mimosas, $4, Artois, $4 House Wines, drafts • Movie Night $4 Stolichnaya Cocktails,

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 53 Define good in bed. What’s the best tip you ever got? Mustard, mayo or ketchup? Sweaty action, aggressiveness. I’ve gotten a $150 tip before, and their Ketchup. tab was only $50. I did not have sex Can men fake it? Should they? with them, either. Miley or Britney? They cannot fake it, because, obviously, Britney. something happens. It happens. And What’s the craziest thing someone why would you fake it? Everyone ever ordered from you? What’s your favorite cocktail should be happy during sex. A long time ago, I was asked to make a to make? “stuntman.” It’s basically a tequila shot, Bloody marys. I make them really spicy. If you were a porn star, what but you snort the salt, drink the shot would your name be and what and squirt the lime in your eye. What’s your theme song? would you be known for? Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Oh, man, we are getting intimate now. Gin or vodka? Trouble.” I’d use my middle name, Shane. I’m Vodka. actually a big shooter, so that’s You become master of the world. what I’d be known for. Scotch or bourbon? What’s your first act? Bourbon. It’d definitely be some equality thing. Name two people you don’t ever I’d get rid of the whole homophobic want to picture having sex. Wine or beer? attitude of the world. My parents. Beer.

JR.’S PW’S SPORTS BAR ANNIE’S/ANNIE’S NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR ANNIE’S WED., 02.26.14 Trivia with MC Jay 9855 Washington Blvd. N UPSTAIRS Beat The Clock Happy 4@4 Happy Hour, 4-7pm • Ray, 8pm • The Queen, Laurel, Md. 4@4 Happy Hour, Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 $4 Small Plates, $4 Stella 9 1/2 10-11pm • $2 JR’s Drafts 301-498-4840 4pm-7pm • $4 Small (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Artois, $4 House Wines, Open at 5pm • Happy & $4 Vodka ($2 with Free Pool • 75 cents off Plates, $4 Stella Artois, Buckets of Beer $15 • $4 Stolichnaya Cocktails, Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, College I.D./JR’s Team Bottles and Drafts $4 House Wines, $4 Drag Bingo $4 Manhattans and Vodka 5-9pm • Multiple TVs Shirt) Stolichnaya Cocktails, $4 Martinis • Upstairs open showing movies, shows, ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Manhattans and Vodka NUMBER NINE 5-11pm sports • Expanded craft NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR All male, nude dancers • Martinis Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any beer selection • No cover Beat The Clock Happy New Meat Wednesday DJ drink, 5-9pm • No Cover DC BEAR CRUE Hour — $2 (5-6pm), $3 Don T • 9pm • Cover 21+ FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR @Town • Bear Happy ANNIE’S (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Hour, 6-11pm • $3 Rail, Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $4 Half-Price Burger Night Karaoke, 9pm All male, nude dancers • $3 Draft, $3 Bud Bottles • Stella Artois, $4 House • Buckets of Beer $15 • THURS., 02.27.14 Shirtless Thursday • DJ Free Pizza, 7pm • Hosted Wines, $4 Stolichnaya SmartAss Trivia, 8pm GREEN LANTERN Tim E in Secrets • 9pm • by Charger Stone • No Cocktails, $4 Manhattans 9 1/2 Shirtless Men Drink Free, Cover 21+ cover before 9:30pm • 21+ and Vodka Martinis NUMBER NINE Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any 10-11pm Open 5pm • Happy Hour: drink, 5-9pm • Multiple FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm TVs showing movies, JR.’S FRI., 02.28.14 Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Crazy Hour, 4-7pm • Drag • No Cover shows, sports • Expanded $3 Rail Vodka Highballs, Karaoke, 9pm Bingo, 8pm • Karaoke, craft beer selection • No $2 JR.’s drafts, 8pm to 9 1/2 10pm cover close • Top Pop Night Open at 5pm • Happy JR.’S Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, Buy 1, Get 1, GREEN LANTERN 5-9pm • Friday Night 11pm-midnight • Happy Happy Hour Prices, Videos with resident Hour: 2-for-1, 4-9pm • $5 4pm-Close DJ Shea Van Horn • VJ Coronas, $8 Vodka Red • Expanded craft beer Bulls, 9pm-close selection • No cover

54 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM Cuddling: The best, or a waste of time? The best.

What are you most grateful for? I am most grateful for being loved and loving.

What would you die for? My family.

What’s your motto? Live, love and laugh. That was my mom’s saying.

Watch Eric’s Coverboy video at MetroWeekly.com/nightlife/coverboy l

NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR PW’S SPORTS BAR DJ Matt Bailer • Videos, 9855 Washington Blvd. N Dancing • Beat The Clock Laurel, Md. Happy Hour — $2 (5-6pm), 301-498-4840 $3 (6-7pm), $4 (7-8pm) • Drag Show in lounge • Buckets of Beer $15 Half-price burgers and fries NUMBER NINE Open 5pm • Happy Hour: TOWN 2 for 1 on any drink, 5-9pm Drag Show starts at • No Cover 10:30pm • Hosted by Lena Lett and featuring PHASE 1 Tatianna, Shi-Queeta- DJ Styalo • Dancing • Lee, Jessica Spaulding $5 cover Deverreoux and Ba’Naka • Doors open at 10pm • For PHASE 1 OF DUPONT those 21 and over, $5 from 1415 22nd St. NW 10-11pm and $10 after For the Ladies • DJ Rosie 11pm • For those 18-20, • Doors at 9pm • 21+ $10 all night • 18+

ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS All male, nude dancers • Ladies of Illusion with host Kristina Kelly, 9pm • Cover 21+ l

METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 55 scene

Fireplace Friday, January 31

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY WARD MORRISON

56 SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT AT WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM/SCENE METROWEEKLY.COM FEBRUARY 20, 2014 57 scene

Mimi Imfurst at Town Saturday, February 8

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER CUNETTO

58 SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT AT WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM/SCENE PURCHASE YOUR PHOTO AT WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM/SCENE/ 59 scene

43rd Annual Scarlet’s Bake Sale Sunday, February 9 Town

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY WARD MORRISON

60 SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT AT WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM/SCENE PURCHASE YOUR PHOTO AT WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM/SCENE/ 61 “They just absolutely went crazy when he announced and told the world he is a filthy pervert and a rebel against God. They fawned all over him.” — SHIRLEY PHELPS-ROPER, of the notoriously anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church, in an interview with Missouri’s KRCG. The church staged a protest against University of Missouri football player Michael Sam and the outpouring of support he received after announcing he is gay. (KRCG)

“I don’t have a problem with gay people. Be happy! But I look down on gay football players. This is a MAN sport! And being gay is not a man.” — Mississippi State’s RUFUS WARREN in a series of tweets discussing Michael Sam and his opinion on gay athletes. Following a backlash to his comments, Warren made his account private and later tweeted an apology, saying, “My school does not need to reflect my thoughts. I deeply apologize to my school and my followers for what I have said.” (Twitter)

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda, once law, will be more“ than an affront and a danger to the gay community in Uganda. It will be a step backward for all Ugandans.”

— PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, in a written statement following the announcement that Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has agreed to sign a law that will severely increase the punishment for homosexuality, already illegal in Uganda. (Metro Weekly)

“If I want to get married to the woman that I love, I want to do it here.”

— Gay Wyoming House Rep. CATHY CONNOLLY (D), responding to a vote in the House against a bill she sponsored to allow same-sex marriage in the state. The bill failed, 41-17. Members also voted down a bill to recognize same-sex marriages from outside the state. (Casper Star-Tribune)

“I am here today because I am gay.”

— Actress ELLEN PAGE, speaking at a Human Rights Campaign conference for LGBT youth. It was the first time the star discussed her sexual orientation publicly, with Page stating that the reason for her coming out was both to help youths afraid to do the same and because she was tired of hiding her sexuality. (HRC)

62 FEBRUARY 20, 2014 METROWEEKLY.COM