Dcagenda.com - Vol. 1, Issue 2 - November 27, 2009

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Will Gartshore leads talented cast in Signature Theatre’s ‘Show Boat.’ Page 14

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NOVEMBER 27, 2009

City poised to approve gay marriage bill Catania, Mendelson urge Catholic leaders to compromise By LOU CHIBBARO JR. The D.C. City Council drew national attention this week as it made final preparations for the first of two votes on a same-sex marriage bill next Tuesday that observers say was expected to pass by a margin as wide as 11 to 2. Council insiders said there was no surge in phone calls or emails to the Council over the past week in response to national media reports about a warning about the bill from the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. Archdiocesan officials said they would stop operating city funded social service programs that help as many as 68,000

Council member David Catania called on the Archdiocese to adopt what has been dubbed the ‘San Francisco-Georgetown’ compromise over how the Catholic Church could provide health insurance and other benefits to same-sex partners of employees. (Photo by Michael Key) needy people unless the Council makes changes in the bill allowing the group Catholic Charities to deny same-sex spousal benefits to its employees. “I hear everybody in the press talking about it, but we haven’t heard anything at

all,” said Jason Shedlock, chief of staff to Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), who chairs the committee that approved the bill earlier this month. In a separate development, opponents of the same-sex

marriage bill, led by a Maryland minister, filed suit against the city in D.C. Superior Court to contest a decision two weeks ago by the city’s election board rejecting a proposed voter initiative to ban same-sex marriage in the District. The election board ruled that the proposed ballot initiative would violate the D.C. Human Rights Act, which bars discrimination based on sexual orientation. Same-sex marriage opponents say they have the funds to appeal the ruling all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court should they lose in Superior Court. Shedlock said Mendelson and Council member David Catania (I-At-Large), the author of the bill, had yet to receive an answer as of Monday to a letter they sent to Archbishop Donald Wuerl, head

of the Washington Archdiocese, suggesting a compromise solution to the church’s objection to the marriage bill. In statements last week, Archdiocesan officials said providing spousal benefits to their employees’ same-sex married spouses would violate church teachings that marriage must be restricted to a man and a woman. Church officials have asked the Council to add a provision in the marriage bill to amend the city’s Human Rights Act to exempt groups like Catholic Charities from having to provide equal employee benefits to same-sex couples. The Council has refused the request, saying it would be unfair to single out gay or lesbian employees for discrimination.

Story continues at DCAgenda.com.

D.C. gov’t official linked to trans bias complaint Dana Beyer charges Mont. Co. ethics panel with discrimination By LOU CHIBBARO JR. The Montgomery County, Md., Ethics Commission — which is headed by a D.C. government attorney working in an unofficial, volunteer capacity — violated the county’s human rights law by waging a “blatant political attack” against a transgender woman based solely on her gender identity, according to a discrimination complaint filed last week. The complaint was filed with the Montgomery County Human Rights Commission by transgender activist Dana Beyer, who works as a senior aide to Montgomery County

Council member Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At-Large). Beyer plans to run for the Maryland House of Delegates next year. Beyer said she filed the complaint Nov. 17 after the Ethics Commission found “reasonable cause” that she abused her position as a County Council employee by allegedly “intimidating,” “threatening” or “coercing” members of a group opposed to a county non-discrimination law protecting transgender people. Members of the group filed a complaint with the Ethics Commission accusing Beyer of intimidating them in an effort to stop them from gathering petition signatures at a Giant supermarket in 2007 for a referendum to overturn the transgender nondiscrimination law. The referendum died after its supporters

failed to obtain the required number of valid signatures. At a Nov. 17 news conference in Rockville, Beyer called the accusations against her baseless. She said the commission took statements only from her accusers and failed to interview several eyewitnesses who dispute claims that she acted improperly to stop the signature gathering. She also noted that the commission may have acted illegally by arranging for a county attorney to search her computer without her or Trachtenberg’s knowledge to determine whether she was using office equipment to campaign against the proposed referendum. “If the Ethics Commission acted responsibly, and frankly, ethically, we would not be here

today,” Beyer said at the news conference. “Instead, politics and bigotry dictated their actions and corrupted an institution dedicated to fighting public corruption.” According to Beyer and Trachtenberg, the Ethics Commission has never before investigated or brought charges against a County Council employee for engaging in political activity during their off-duty time. Antar C. Johnson, chair of the five-member Ethics Commission and a Silver Spring resident, serves as Assistant General Counsel in the D.C. Office of the Chief Financial Officer. When contacted Monday by the D.C. Agenda, Johnson said he could not comment on a pending case before the commission.

Trans activist Dana Beyer He said his involvement with the commission is based on his role as a volunteer commissioner appointed by former Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan and is unrelated to his full-time job as a D.C. government attorney.

Story continues at DCAgenda.com.

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4 dcagenda.com • Nov. 27, 2009

districtagenda

D.C. police chief assailed at hate crimes hearing Activists, union leader say Lanier ‘decimated’ GLLU By LOU CHIBBARO JR. Representatives of the LGBT community and the head of the D.C. police union told a City Council hearing on Nov. 20 that District Police Chief Cathy Lanier has failed to take adequate steps to curtail hate crimes targeting gays and transgender people. Kris Baumann, chair of the Fraternal Order of Police, and officials with five local LGBT organizations said Lanier has turned down their repeated request to assign more officers to the department’s highly acclaimed Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit, whose ranks have been reduced from seven to two members since Lanier became chief in 2007. “What the chief has done is decimate that unit,” said gay activist Peter Rosenstein. Lanier took strong exception to that assessment, telling the Council’s Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary that she is expanding the GLLU and other special liaison units in

the department by assigning officers “affiliated” with the units to each of the department’s seven police districts. She said her plan calls for assigning a total of 57 officers or supervisors to all four of the special liason units, including the GLLU. She said about 20 of the 57 would be assigned to the GLLU, making it far more responsive to the community than a sevenmember centralized unit. Lanier told the committee she would keep her promise to LGBT activists to retain a small, centralized GLLU office. But Baumann and Chris Farris, co-chair of Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence, each said Lanier has “systematically” dismantled the GLLU’s operations under the promise of replacing it with a decentralized unit that she has yet to produce more than two years after she first proposed the reorganization. “I am unfortunately significantly less optimistic today about this city’s willingness to tackle the difficult issue of hate crimes than I was a year ago,” Farris told the committee.

“I do not see what I think is needed – most importantly, leadership at the top, and a firm commitment to roll up our sleeves and treat the issue as it must be treated – holistically,” he said. “This means the MPD, the U.S. Attorney’s office, the D.C. Public School system, the mayor, and this City Council must all be unequivocally committed to the fight.” Farris questioned recent police data showing the number of LGBT-related hate crime has decreased since 2006. He said he believes the decrease is due to a lack of reporting that came about as a result of GLLU’s reduction in staff and its inability to push more aggressively for reporting hate crimes. Lanier and Assistant Chief Diane Grooms testified that a long-awaited training course for prospective GLLU officers would begin shortly. Lanier said she has found from her own conversations with LGBT officers that they prefer to remain in their regular units in the police districts rather than be “pigeonholed” in a special gay related unit.

Police chief Cathy Lanier (Photo courtesy of mpdc.dc.gov)

She angered some of the activists attending the hearing when she said she didn’t believe they represent the views of LGBT people in the neighborhoods across the city. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), who chairs the committee, said he would continue to monitor the department’s response to hate crimes against all city residents. He and the LGBT representatives that testified at the hearing noted that anti-LGBT hate crimes in the city far outnumber hate crimes targeting other groups. A report released last week

by Mayor Adrian Fenty and Lanier, “Bias-Related Crime in the District of Columbia,” shows that “sexual orientation” related hate crimes comprised more than 70 percent of the total number of hate crimes in the city each year from 2005 through 2009. So far this year, out of a total of 36 reported hate crimes, 30 were classified as “sexual orientation” related hate crimes. Alison Gill, an official with the D.C. Trans Coalition, and Julius Agers, a transgender activist, told the committee they were pleased that Fenty and Lanier published the bias-related crime report – three years after the report was due under rules set by the City Council. But the two said they were troubled that the report did not break down the statistics to show the number of hate crimes specifically targeting transgender people in the city. They noted that a number of widely reported anti-trans hate crimes have occurred in the District in recent years.

Story continues at DCAgenda.com.

Loved ones celebrate life of Desi Deschaine City officials hail young activist’s work ethic By PETER ROSENSTEIN Four months after Desi Deschaine died accidently in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, more than 200 relatives and friends gathered in Saint Patrick’s Church, on a slightly overcast afternoon, to celebrate his life. Rev. Msgr. Salvatore A. Criscuolo greeted the celebrants and began a one-hour service, which was organized by Lee Brian Reba from Council Chair Vincent Gray’s office and Jeff Coudriet from Council member Jack Evans’ office.

Desi Deschaine (Photo courtesy of facebook) Lending their voices to the service was the D.C. Boys Choir. A Council ceremonial resolution was presented to Desi’s parents by Evans, for whom Desi worked at the time he died. Evans was sur-

rounded by Council members Gray, Tommy Wells, Jim Graham, Mary Cheh and David Catania. Gray spoke of Deschaine’s dedication to the people of the District of Columbia and to his passion for service. Former Mayor Anthony Williams spoke of how Deschaine worked for his administration, noting that Deschaine was always around with a good word on a tough day. He recalled that whatever he asked Deschaine to do somehow got done. Former Council Chair Linda Cropp delivered the eulogy and kidded that Deschaine would have loved the picture that was displayed in

the front of the church as he looked so slim. She spoke of the warmth of Deschaine’s smile and how he could make anyone feel better by just being around and that he had the capacity to light up a room. Deschaine was remembered by best friend Neil Alpert, Lee Brian Reba and his cousin Terri Adams who shared anecdotes about Deschaine growing up in Connecticut and stopping by her house on the way home from school to chat. Then Deschaine’s parents, Linda and Philip, and his sister Desiree thanked everyone for being part of Deschaine’s life. His sister, Desiree, reminded everyone that De-

schaine switched from being a Republican in college to a Democrat. She said that when that happened her grandmother, a lifelong Democrat, could finally rest easy. Among the celebrants at the church were many local ANC members, city officials, and those who worked with Deschaine on all the various causes he cared about. Presenting the colors were the D.C. Fire and EMS Guard. As people left the church a few couldn’t help but remark that the celebration of his life was held in a Catholic church and that were Desi alive today he would be on the front lines fighting for marriage equality in the city.

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6 dcagenda.com • Nov. 27, 2009

nationalagenda

Pentagon nominee tight-lipped on DADT Stanley defers to military leaders on gay ban By CHRIS JOHNSON The presidential nominee who would oversee implementation of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was tightlipped about his personal views of the law during his recent confirmation hearing. Retired Marine Corps Gen. Clifford Stanley, who’s up to become the Pentagon’s undersecretary of personnel and readiness, told lawmakers he’d defer to military leaders on the issue. The Senate Armed Services Committee asked Stanley about a range of issues — including care for troops after deployment

— but also peppered him with questions about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the 1993 law that bars gays from serving openly in the U.S. military. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chair of the committee, asked Stanley whether he would be prepared to “give us your best, objective opinion on the question of whether or not ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ should be maintained or dropped” upon Senate confirmation. “Yes, senator, I will,” Stanley replied succinctly. Another “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” question came from Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), who asked Stanley about his position on pending cases of service members who could be dismissed under the law.

“If confirmed,” Stanley replied, “and there are pending cases there, they would fall under the existing statute, as I understand it.” Burris, in turn, responded that Congress could address the law this session in a way that would “free up” Stanley, adding that the U.S. military needs “all the volunteers who will commit to serve this country of ours to be able to serve.” Stanley began his affiliation with the U.S. military in 1969, when he studied at the Basic School for Marine Corps officers in Quantico, Va., according to his bio. Most recently, he was president of Scholarship America, which seeks to provide scholarships for those seeking higher education.

Stanley was also deferential to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law and the opinions of other military leaders in responses to written questions. Asked about his view on changing the law, Stanley replied “If confirmed, I would work closely with service Secretaries and Chiefs to provide the Secretary of Defense the best advice possible on the way forward regarding this issue.” And in response to whether overturning “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would impact unit cohesion, as many supporters of the law claim, Stanley said he “would work closely with the services to ensure the revising of this policy is done in a way that maintains our highest state of military readiness.”

Retired Marine Corps Gen. Clifford Stanley (Photo courtesy of Stanley) Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, told the DC Agenda on Thursday that Stanley’s responses on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” show he’s “being cautious.”

Story continues at DCAgenda.com.

internationalagenda

Local activists demonstrate at Ugandan embassy African nation considers harsh anti-gay legislation By CHRIS JOHNSON A harshly anti-gay bill introduced in Uganda’s legislature triggered a protest Thursday before the country’s embassy in D.C. where local activists railed against the measure. About 30 participants attended the protest, carrying signs reading, “Standing in

Solidarity with LGBT Ugandans” and “LGBT Rights = Human Rights.” Among other things, the bill would criminalize the formation of LGBT organizations and the publication or broadcast of pro-gay materials in Uganda. The bill would also penalize homosexual acts, punishing those who are repeat offenders and gays who are HIV positive with the death penalty. “It really is one of the most horrific bills that we’ve

seen introduced anywhere in recent years,” said Mark Bromley, chair of Council for Global Equality and organizer of the protest. Bromley said the protest was held in response to a public call for global attention to the issue from Sexual Minoriies Uganda, an LGBT group in the country, and other protests took place elsewhere, including New York City. Donald Hitchcock, a local gay activist among the protest-

ers, said the event was intended to show solidarity with LGBT people in Uganda. “One of things they just wanted us to do was raise awareness in this country and show solidarity that this bill that they’re proposing is really a barbaric act,” he said. During the protest, Ugandan officials at the embassy spoke with Bromley. He said the officials emphasized the legislation was a private bill that had been introduced and

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said the government had taken no position on it. Bromley also said he was told Ugandan officials feel the legislation was fostering productive discussion on the issue. “We believe that the discussion around the bill has actually been very problematic and demonizing for already targeted sexual minorities,” he said. Bromley said he thinks protests in the United States are showing Ugandan officials the “world is watching.”

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!!! I look forward to the continued excitement created in our LGBT community by!!! !!! publication of the!!! !!! new

DC AGENDA My congratulations and appreciation go to the Staff for ensuring that your important community coverage continues.

Clark

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David Carter Thanks the Washington Blade’s staff for 40 years of excellent journalism and congratulates them for continuing the Blade’s mission with the DC Agenda. For my next book, a biography of Frank Kameny, I would appreciate hearing from persons who have known Kameny or who have documents concerning Kameny’s life and his career as an activist. Please write to: [email protected] www.davidcarterauthor.com

10 dcagenda.com • Nov. 27, 2009

personalagenda

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Catholics get in bed with religious right ‘Manhattan Declaration’ unites anti-gay forces By JOSEPH M. PALACIOS After the loss of the 2008 elections, Catholic, Orthodox and Evangelical fundamentalists have regrouped and issued the “Manhattan Declaration: A Christian Call to Conscience.” As you peruse the signatories of the Manhattan Declaration, you see a stellar representation of the new religious right and their primary issues of pro-life, opposition to same-sex marriage, and Christian persecution in the U.S. This Declaration was issued in the same week as the U.S. Catholic bishops’ letter “Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan.” With a vote of 180 bishops in favor and 45 opposed the U.S. bishops have unequivocally stated their opposition to marriage equality. Quite a dou-

ble-header for the religious right! There should be no doubt that the present leadership of the U.S. Catholic Church represented by Archbishops Dolan (New York), Rigali (Philadelphia), and Wuerl (D.C.) has decided to shift the weight from a wide religious ecumenism with social justice and pastoral concerns for the American people to a narrow legalistic moral theology. In signing the Manhattan Declaration these bishops have linked up with the fundamentalism of such evangelical leaders as James Dobson, Gary Bauer, Bishop Harry Jackson and Tony Perkins. Who would have thought 30 years ago that this kind of ecumenism could be possible? Gay rights, marriage equality and pro-life advocacy have created a new form of Christian unity and ideology. Basic to this ideology is that God has pre-ordained a natural order and that the human body

has an ordered purpose to procreate and that the body’s functions have a natural order. The primary purpose of sexuality and marriage is for pro-creation. For the Catholic bishops and the signers of the Manhattan Declaration the family as the institution of marriage “is what one man and one woman establish when, forsaking all others and pledging lifelong commitment… not in some merely metaphorical sense, but by fulfilling together the behavioral conditions of procreation.” Yet the one man and one woman concept belies the polygamous families of the Hebrew scriptures, as well as the role of polygamy, extended families, and variant child-rearing practices in world history. The empirical evidence refutes anything “natural” about one man, one woman as a universal foundation for marriage and family life as the natural law proponents assert.

On the Catholic side, the defeat of marriage equality is integral to Pope Benedict’s campaign against moral relativism. Evangelical fundamentalists need the anti-gay and anti-marriage equality agenda as a focus for their social mission intertwined with the Republican Party. What’s new in D.C. is the integration of these two sides into a Catholic-Fundamentalist coalition led by Archbishop Wuerl and Bishop Jackson, who as Washington outsiders need to secure their places as national leaders. Through the new CatholicFundamentalist Right, Washington has become ground zero for the Manhattan Declaration.

keeps going in DC. We need it. Good luck, and thank you. — Evan Wolfson, activist

needed, and will be valued by us straight folks too. — Jack

tion. The reason DC Agenda is here is because the staff at the Washington Blade are committed and dedicated to delivering high quality news about our community. Your birth is the result of your legacy. I have high hopes for the future. Way to go! — Wesley Combs, Witeck Combs Communications

Joseph M. Palacios is adjunct professor of liberal studies, Georgetown University and an organizer of Catholics United for Marriage Equality. Reach him at [email protected].

feedback The following are excerpts from comments posted to DCAgenda.com responding to news of the Washington Blade’s closure and launch of the new publication. Join the discussion at dcagenda.com. As Rev. Anthony Evans said of the Blade’s demise, so let us say about the DC Agenda’s rise: It was God’s will! Congrats and best wishes to the entire staff. The bold statement you collectively made by coming out with today’s issue gives us all something else to be thankful for next week. As they say on Monty Python, “Not dead yet!” — Rick Rosendall, vice president, GLAA CONGRATS, guys. Bootstrap newspapers are the best. — Troy Masters, Gay City News Bravo! I am very proud of all of you for taking a blow and rebounding so fast…and for ensuring that good journalism

Good luck to all the staff! You folks are the hardest working journos in gay media and I wish you the best of success. — Japhy Grant, former editor, Queerty.com When I moved to the District 21 years ago you guys were there to help me get started with housing, social organizations, social life and – yes – sex. You’ve kept me up-to-date on the issues important to us for all these years and I will do what I can to keep you there for all of us. — Greg Case Good luck guys. As they say in the theater, break a leg. — Larry Kramer, activist Yay, go for it! I’m not a member of the LGBT community, but I’m happy to see this publication rise from the ashes of the Blade; it’s

You were both the heart and the brain of the Washington Blade. Therefore, let the DC Agenda carry on with your intelligent, diligent, soul searching and honest reporting. Whatever you call yourselves, I will definitely look forward to continue reading your publication online as I have every week. (I live in Los Angeles.) I respect you all for having the courage to continue. Robin Tyler, activist Good luck – get out there – from all at HOMOVISION.TV in the UK! Great job!!! There’s something to be said about that old adage of that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The entire community is pulling for you! — Robert Turner Best wishes to the best LGBT news team in the na-

The mission continues. Congratulations on regrouping so quickly and with such style. The Blade has been through reinventions many times in its life. Once again it is independent, indispensable, community-focused, and employee-owned. As we used to say in the ’70s, “Right on!” Good on you. — Mark Meinke, Rainbow History Project Talk about picking yourselves up and dusting yourselves off! Congratulations to everyone at DC Agenda. Hope the next 40 years are a

Vol. 1, Issue 2 PUBLISHER LYNNE J. BROWN EDITORIAL Editor KEVIN NAFF News Editor JOSHUA LYNSEN Features Editor JOEY DiGUGLIELMO Sr. News Reporter LOU CHIBBARO JR. News Reporter CHRIS JOHNSON Staff Photographer MICHAEL KEY PRODUCTION Art Director ROB BOEGER WEB Online Creative and DCATV Exec. Producer ARAM VARTIAN SALES & ADMINISTRATION Ad Operations Manager JEANNI CENTOFANTI Sr. Acct. Executive BRIAN PITTS Sr. Acct. Executive ANDREW HARTSFIELD Acct. Executive JERYL PARADE Classifieds Manager DANIELLE KING Display Classifieds Sales PHILLIP G. ROCKSTROH Distribution Coordinator ROBBIE BARNETT EDITORIAL POSITIONS of DC Agenda are expressed in editorials and in editors’ notes as determined by the paper’s editors. Other opinions are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinion of DC Agenda or its staff. © 2009, TWB Employee Acquisition, LLC. All rights reserved.

From the staff This is the second edition of the new DC Agenda, brought to you by the same staff responsible for the Washington Blade, which was abruptly shuttered by parent company Window Media last week. Our goal is to return to four-color newsprint within a week or two. Thank you for your patience as we navigate this unexpected change. We continue to be awed by the outpouring of local community support for DC Agenda and will respond to all offers of assistance as soon as possible. Please visit savetheblade.com to make a financial contribution to the new venture or DCAgenda.com for updated news and information. Again, our sincere thanks and best wishes for a safe and happy holiday weekend.

huge success. — Denis Dison, Victory Fund Mega hairy muscle hugs of continued success. A new beginning but a solid past. — BT

12 dc agenda.com • Nov. 27, 2009

socialagenda TODAY Gay Chicago DJ Steve Henderson is spinning in Washington this weekend. He’ll be at Secrets both tonight and Saturday from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Secrets is part of the Ziegfeld’s/Secrets Nightclub Complex and is located at 1824 Half Street, S.W. For more information, visit www.djstevehenderson.com or www.secretsdc.com. The music of Meredith Wilson’s “The Music Man” will be presented tonight by the National Symphony Pops Orchestra under the direction of the legendary Marvin Hamlisch at the Kennedy Center. Performances today are at 1:30 and 8 p.m. and also on Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Center's concert hall. Shirley Jones (“The Partridge Family”), Patrick Cassidy and Rebecca Luker will also appear. Tickets start at $20. For more information, contact 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org. A new Friday night drag show at Ziegfeld’s has started with a new hostess. The Ladies of Illusion hosted by Kristina Kelly has performances every Friday at 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.

SATURDAY, NOV. 28 Burgundy Crescent Volunteers is helping Food & Friends today from 8 to 10 a.m. Help is needed chopping vegetables and packing groceries at a new site near the Fort Totten Metro station. Groups are limited to 10 per shift. Donuts and coffee will be provided at 8 a.m. Those interested in this event should e-mail [email protected]. For other local LGBT volunteer opportunities with Burgundy Crescent, visit www.burgundycrescent.org. DJ Mike Cruz spins tonight at Town Danceboutique. Doors open at 9 p.m. Cover is $8 from 9 to 11 p.m. and $12 after 11. Town is located at 2009 8th Street, N.W. Visit www.towndc.com for more information.

SUNDAY, NOV. 29 Dignity Washington, a local gay Catholic group, celebrates Mass for the LGBT community every Sunday at 6 p.m. at St. Margaret’s, located at 1820 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Call

202-546-2245 for more information or visit www.dignitywashington.org.

For ages 18 and older. Free parking. Call 703-655-0056 or visit www.latinsouldc.com for more information.

Falcon, Hothouse and other studios. Lambda Rising is located in Dupont Circle at 1625 Connecticut Ave., N.W. A lecture on Hepatitis C and HIV infection, part seven of the Survival Forum lecture series hosted by Alpha Drugs, will be held tonight from 7 to 8:30 p.m. (registration starts at 6:30) in the Phillips Ballroom at Hotel Palomar, located at 2121 P Street, N.W. Dr. Micheal Pistole, an HIV specialist, will speak. Admission is free and dinner will be served, though RSVPs are required. RSVP by contacting [email protected] or 202-265-5757. Ziegfeld’s/Secrets Entertainment Complex is starting a new shirtless Tuesdays event tonight where shirtless guys drink for free. The club is located at 1824 Half Street, S.W. Visit www.secretsdc.com for more information.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 2

FRIDAY, DEC. 4

An HIV/AIDS support group meets tonight and on Wednesday, Dec. 16, at 1638 R Street, N.W., suite 260. Dinner is served but RSVP is required. Call 301735-2805 or 301-674-8901 for more information. D.C. Ice Breakers, an LGBT skating social group, meets tonight for its bimonthly event at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, located at 627 N. Gleve Rd. in Arlington, Va., from 7:45 to 8:45 p.m. Skating costs $8 with rental skates another $3. A social hour will follow at a nearby restaurant. Novices are welcome. For more information, visit www.dcicebreakers.org.

GAYLAW, a group of LGBT lawyers in Washington, is having its 17th annual holiday awards celebration tonight at the Woman's National Democratic Club in Dupont Circle, located at 1526 New Hampshire Ave., N.W. Several gay companies and individuals are being honored including gay D.C. Councilman David Catania, Ackerman Legal and the nowclosed Washington Blade. Those attending are asked to bring an unwrapped toy or article of clothing for a child aged 4 to 16 for Metropolitan Community Church’s fifth annual toy drive. For cost and ticket information, visit www.gaylaw.org. Metropolitan Community Church of Washington will have its annual Christmas concert featuring the church’s gospel choir and praise team tonight at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m. The choirs, under the direction of Shirli Hughes, MCC’s minister of music who's openly gay, will perform a variety of seasonal selections. MCC-D.C. is the region’s largest mostly gay church. Visit www.mccdc.com for more information on this and other church events.

MONDAY, NOV. 30 Level One, a gay-owned restaurant located below Cobalt at 1639 R Street, N.W., has pasta night every Monday with choice of three sauces, salad and dessert for $12.95 Bottles of wine are half price from 5 p.m. on every Monday and Wednesday nights. Visit www.levelonedc.com for more information.

TUESDAY, DEC. 1 The GLBT Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland is having a discussion today to honor World AIDS Day. Tonight’s topic is HIV and AIDS among the LGBT black community. The event is free and open to the public. The center is located at 241 W. Chase Street in Baltimore and starts at 7 p.m. E-mail to [email protected] om for more information. Fight HIV in D.C., the D.C. Center’s HIV working group, is having a cocktail party tonight from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Center, located at 1111 14th Street, N.W., suite 350. The “Our Heroes” exhibit, a collection of 150 black-and-white photographs honoring the key players in D.C.’s HIV/AIDS history, will be on display tonight and throughout the month. Visit www.thedccenter.org for more information. The D.C. Center’s HIV Working Group is also having a free World AIDS Day luncheon today from noon to 2 p.m. at the HRC Equality Center, located at 1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W. The event, in which a light luncheon will be served, is free and open to the public. The discussion topic will be “HIV Vaccine Research: a New Chapter.” Speakers include prominent AIDS experts such as Elizabeth Adams, Anthony Fauci, Barney Graham, Sanjay Phogat and Mark de Souza. Visit www.thedccenter.org for more information. Whitman-Walker Clinic is hosting and co-hosting several events today in honor of World

AIDS Day. A candlelight vigil will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Dupont Circle, sponsored in partnership with the AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families. An event dubbed Red Hot Night will be held at Hotel Rouge from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The hotel is located at 1315 16th Street, N.W. A suggested $10 donation includes one free drink ticket. Additional drink tickets will be available for $5. All proceeds benefit WhitmanWalker. And an exhibit called ADS vs. AIDS: 25 Years of Communications For the Cause, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Long View Gallery at 1234 9th Street, N.W. with a portion of the proceeds going to Whitman-Walker. Visit www.longviewgallery.com for more information. Local drag queen Shi-QueetaLee hosts drag bingo every Tuesday this month at Nellie’s Sports Bar from 6 to 10 p.m. She’s selling copies of her 2010 calendar. Nellie’s is located at 900 U Street, N.W. Hollaback, a social and support group for transgender people, meets tonight at 1638 R Street, N.W., on the second floor. For more information, call Dee Curry at 202-290-0324. Tabu Tuesdays, a gay Latin party, is held at Majestic Night Club located at 2922 Annandale Road in Falls Church, Va.

THURSDAY, DEC. 3 Author and gay porn star Aiden Shaw will be at Lambda Rising tonight at 7:30 p.m. signing copies of his memoir “My Undoing: Love in the Thick of Sex, Drugs, Pornography and Prostitution,” his second memoir, which picks up where the first, “Sordid Truths,” left off. Shaw is also the author of three novels and a volume of poetry. He’s made more than 50 gay porn films for Chi Chi LaRue,

14 dcagenda.com • Nov. 27, 2009

theater

Scaling back the ‘Boat’ Signature’s abbreviated production feels flat despite talented cast By PATRICK FOLLIARD Signature Theatre is celebrated for its tradition of reimagining big Broadway shows to suit its own smaller scale. The latest recipient of the Signature treatment is that old musical behemoth “Showboat.” The results are mixed. Set against the eternal tides of the Mississippi river, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s epic 1927 musical spans more than 40 years in the lives of those living and working on the Cotton Blossom, a river showboat. Described as the first modern American musical, “Showboat” — despite some of the stereotypical por-

trayals of blacks — was ahead of its time because it dealt with race and relationship issues. Gay director Eric Schaeffer sets a mood, very effectively establishing the racial inequity found in early 20th century America. Smartly, Schaeffer opts to include “Mis’ry Comin’ Aroun’,” a song typically cut from most productions. Sung by the showboat’s cook Queenie (Delores King Williams), the ominous dirge foreshadows the outcome of the musical’s most engaging subplot — the illegal interracial marriage of showboat stars Steve (Jim Newman) and Julie (Terry Burrell). Music director Jon Kalbfleisch conducts a 15-person orchestra playing the classic score (“Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” “Ol’ Man River” and “Bill”) with Jonathan Tu-

SHOWBOAT’ Through Jan. 17 Signature Theatre 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington $52 to $76 703-573-7328 www.signature-theatre.org nick’s new orchestrations. While the chemistry between Stephanie Waters’ naïve singer/actress Magnolia and gay actor Will Gartshore’s raffish river gambler Gaylord Ravenal isn’t exactly combustible, their gorgeously sung duets, “Make Believe” and “You Are Love,” are among the show’s musical highpoints. Noticeably absent from James Kronzer’s functional two-tiered set are the famed showboat paddle wheel and gang planks. Instead, the gay designer suggests a hardworking floating theater with

Gay actor Will Gartshore as Gaylord Ravenal in Signature Theatre’s ‘Show Boat.’ The production is ambitious, even in a slightly truncated format. (Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy of Signature Theatre) weathered wharf planks. During the musical’s landlocked second act, those same planks serve as promenade at Chicago World’s Fair promenade and worn floorboards in an inelegant rooming house where Magnolia and Ravenal stay when they’re broke. Despite a cast including talented D.C. funnymen like Bobby Smith and J. Fred Shiffman (playing a veteran showboat performer and rifle-toting mountain man, respectively) many of the pro-

duction’s comic moments fall inexplicably flat. Surprisingly, Karma Camp’s choreography lacks its usual fizz too. The original “Showboat” was more than four hours long. Signature’s edited version clocks in at a little less than three. And while this production’s 25-person cast is hardly small by today’s standards, for a “Showboat” production, it’s tiny. Standouts include Harry A. Winter as goodhearted Cap’n Andy and Kimberly Schraf as Parthy, his fault-finding Boston-born wife.

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