‘Hands off!’ (Blade photo by Michael Key)
LGBTQ voices take center stage amid Kennedy Center fight, PAGE 06
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LGBTQ voices at forefront of Kennedy Center protests Tara Hoot, Gay Men’s Chorus join thousands at demonstration By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com
More than 2,000 supporters of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts turned out on Sept. 18, for a rally in support of the performing arts center and a vocal protest against President Donald Trump’s threats to permanently close the center and possibly demolish it. The event was organized by a group called Hands Off the Arts, which initially called for participants to form a “human chain” around the Kennedy Center’s main building following a rally on the plaza in front of the building. However, due to a decision by the Trump-controlled Kennedy Center’s board of trustees to close the center earlier in the week and install fencing around part of the building, participants could only form the chain around part of the building, according to organizers. Drag performer Tara Hoot, who co-organized the event and served as master of ceremonies for the rally preceding the “human chain,” said the large turnout could have fully surrounded the building at least twice had the fencing not prevented a full encirclement.
Drag artist TARA HOOT serves as the emcee at the Hands Around the Kennedy Center protest on Sept. 18. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Among the musicians and singing groups that performed at the rally was the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, which, like other rally performers, had performed at the Kennedy Center in past years. They drew loud applause after singing one of their favorite songs from the Broadway musical show Ragtime, which includes the lyrics, “Will justice be demanded by 10 million men? Make them hear you. When they hear you, I’ll be near you again.” Prior to their performance, Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s artistic director, Thea Kano, spoke at the rally, reminding participants that shortly after the Trump takeover of the center last year, Kennedy Center officials cancelled a concert the chorus was scheduled to perform there for World Pride 2025. A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the cancellation was due to a scheduling conflict, but chorus members and LGBTQ activists believe it resulted from policies put in place by Trump and his leadership team at the Kennedy Center following Trump’s statements that he would end controversial “woke” performances that he claimed the majority of Americans disapprove of. “Now this building sits empty in silence,” Kano told the crowd at the rally. “Let us raise our voices together and bring back the Kennedy Center as it was intended, a place where American culture could be celebrated and elevated, embracing the vibrancy with the spectrum of identify without censure and without politics,” she said. Among the others who spoke at the rally were U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), and D.C. Council member Robert White (D-AtLarge). Most speakers, along with LGBTQ participants in the hands-around-the-building event expressed strong opposition to Trump’s demand that the Kennedy Center name be changed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. At Trump’s request, his appointed board initially made that name change and placed Trump’s name on the front wall of the building along with the Kennedy name. But following legal action taken by opponents who pointed out that Congress must approve such a name change, a judge ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the building. Trump has said he will take steps to reverse that order and has said he will stop plans to renovate the Kennedy Center building and possibly demolish it if his name is not restored in the Kennedy’s Center’s official name. Throughout the Sept. 18 rally, LGBTQ participants repeatedly responded to the Trump threats by shouting, “Hands Off!” Chris Raleigh, one of the founders of Hands Off the Arts and a lead organizer of the Sept. 18 event at the Kennedy Center who spoke at the event told the Washington Blade that more similar events are being planned and he welcomes the support the event has received from the LGBTQ community. “The LGBTQ community was here first, and we’re following them,” he said. “They’ve been the spearhead; they’ve been the vanguard. And I’m so thank-
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ful for heroes like Tara Hoot,” he said, adding, “It’s because they know what it means and how this is a safe place – the theater – for many LGBTQ people.” Amy Austin, president of Theatre Washington, spoke to the Blade about the situation. “The Kennedy Center is the nation’s art center, so it belongs to everyone in the country,” she said. “But we have a relationship with it as residents in the District, Virginia, and Maryland. … So, I think what that demonstration says to me is that people who live and work here care about that institution deeply.” She disputed Trump’s assertions that the building needed to be closed for repairs. “I don’t think they needed to close the whole building in order to get the renovations done,” Austin said. “People repair buildings like this all the time and they do it in sections and in waves with a plan on how to do it. There’s no reason to close a performance space of that size, all at the same time. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Actress LYNDA CARTER speaks at the ‘Hands Off the Kennedy Center’ rally. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Former D.C. Council member Carol Schwartz, who’s served on the Kennedy Center Community Advisory Board since 1984, said she stepped down from that role after Trump’s takeover. “I’ve been appalled. I think it’s a living nightmare,” Schwartz said. “And so, I haven’t gone. I’m not spending one dime there. I’m not contributing money as I have annually for all those years. And I’m just appalled at what’s going on.” Alan Savada, a local travel agent and longtime D.C. resident and supporter of the Kennedy Center echoed Schwartz. “I just feel what they have done with the Kennedy is disgusting,” he said. “I’m involved with Washington Opera. I’m involved with Vocal Arts D.C. So many groups that perform at the Kennedy Center are my clients and groups we supported since I moved here 47 and a half years ago. And I’m so glad they’ve found other places and other venues and have survived. …Everybody is suffering because of some idiot’s vanity. That’s all it is. It’s vanity. That’s not what the arts are about.”
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GOP challenger booted from event after misgendering McBride Republican “Dr. Joe” Arminio, the Republican nominee for the First State’s at-large U.S. House of Representatives seat, attempted to misgender the the country’s first and only transgender member of Congress while at a forum on Thursday. This story was first reported by WDEL out of Wilmington, Del. Arminio used the terms “his” and later “gentleman” when referring to U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) during his time on the mic before he was asked to leave the forum, hosted by the Jewish Federation of Delaware at the Siegel Jewish Community Center in Talleyville on Thursday night. At that point, the crowd of about 100 people largely started booing Arminio, who then finished, “I would like to show respect to the speaker, that would be nice.” Moderator Ken Grant waited until Arminio was finished, then said, “this is your final warning, if you fail to show respect to anyone else on this stage, you’ll be asked to leave.” During the answer to his next question at the forum, Arminio responded to what he called an “error.” “I committed an error before, and I do acknowledge it,” Arminio said. “It’s not the first error I’ve made in this campaign, or at any point in my future life.” Despite the apology and acknowledgement that he had committed what was, at the very least, a social taboo, he did it again 12 minutes later. While talking about rising healthcare costs being a “catastrophe,” Arminio pointed to U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and McBride. “The reason it is is because gentlemen like the two up here with me in the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party … ” Arminio said. Despite his direct attacks on McBride’s gender identi-
ty, she responded to the situation with grace, attempting to intervene to allow Arminio to still have a chance to speak despite not heeding the moderator’s warnings. “I don’t want this gentleman to not have the ability … ,” McBride began. However, Republican Senate candidate Michael Katz interrupted her shortly before Arminio was removed from the forum, which was meant to inform the Delaware electorate on the candidates’ issues. Katz had his opening statement next and directly condemned Arminio’s comments. “I would like to apologize to everybody here and everybody else on this stage. As a physician, I believe in our common humanity and respect for each other. I feel that pain over those comments, and my apologies.” Following the forum, Katz called for Arminio to exit the race via social media. “Those who seek to represent Delaware must demonstrate integrity, judgment, decency, and respect — even toward people with whom they profoundly disagree,” Katz’s post read on Facebook. “For these reasons, I am calling on Joseph Arminio to withdraw his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives.” This is not the first time McBride has been the victim of misgendering. In 2025, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) introduced the sole representative from Delaware as “Mr. McBride” during a meeting. This is also not the first time McBride has faced vitriol from the other side of the aisle — both in terms of personal and legislative attacks on her trans identity. In 2025, the House voted to ban trans girls and women from playing school sports with other girls, while U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) pushed for legislation barring trans women from using women’s bathrooms.
Congresswoman SARAH MCBRIDE in her office on Capitol Hill. (Blade Photo by Michael Key)
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) instituted a similar rule barring McBride — and all other trans women — from women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill. McBride has also been a vocal opponent of Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office. The directive prohibits the federal government from recognizing the gender identity of trans people. She has criticized Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which would ban trans service members from serving in the Armed Forces. The directive is still being challenged in the courts to determine its constitutional legitimacy, but it has been allowed to remain in effect as the judicial system considers its legality. The Washington Blade sat down with McBride in May to reflect on a tense year for LGBTQ politics, where she, in typical McBride fashion, answered questions about the hate she has received. “Our politics are too often defined by hate,” McBride told the Blade. “I’m glad Delaware and Delawareans are showing that a different kind of politics is possible.” JOE REBERKENNY
Comings & Goings
Whitman-Walker announces leadership appointments By PETER ROSENSTEIN
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at comingsandgoings@washblade.com. Congratulations to Leigh Miles Jackson, Ph.D., named executive director of The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker, and Angel Earle, Ph.D. named as chief operating officer, Whitman-Walker Health System. Upon her appointment Dr. Jackson said, “Under my leadership, I would love for The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker to be known as a trusted, forward-looking research organization that shapes policies, strengthens practices and creates measurable change for the community.” Dr. Jackson spent 12 years with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, leading national initiatives on minority-serving institutions and economic evidence for investments in children, youth and families. Dr. Jackson holds an extensive educational background, including
postdoctoral fellowships in developmental Psychology and Neurogenomics from Vanderbilt University, a Ph.D. in molecular and systems pharmacology from Emory University and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Wake Forest University. Upon her appointment Dr. Earle said, “When we talk about parity and inequities and research, it’s never just about the dollars that are out there. It’s about making sure that we’re cultivating a change that embraces equity at the heart of everything that it does. As the COO for Whitman-Walker Health System I will be working closely to support The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker and the Whitman-Walker Foundation to drive advancement in research and support the strategic goals of all of the Whitman-Walker Heath System entities.” Dr. Earle is a genetic epidemiologist and senior executive. She brings a background from the London School of Economics and the University of South Carolina, with expertise in global health, corporate strategy and socioeconomic policy. She has co-authored peer-reviewed research on cancer genetics, nephrology biomarkers and reproductive genomes.
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LEIGH MILES JACKSON, PH.D.
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Dr. Heather Aaron, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health System said, “both leaders bring research-driven expertise and operational strength to the organization as it continues expanding research, health care access, and health outcomes for residents across the Washington, D.C., region, including the LGBTQ+ community, people living with and at risk for HIV, and communities experiencing persistent health disparities.” The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker is also expanding its research agenda beyond HIV to address the complex health conditions affecting people living with and at risk for HIV, as well as the broader communities The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker serves.
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White House press pool pushes back after Trump bans outlets Past the first checkpoint to get into the White House, multiple carts filled with camera equipment sat along a fence. Wagons loaded with tripods, cables, mics, and cameras sat just past where they normally would be working at full power. Today, they were turned off and packed away. Last week, President Donald Trump decided to bar CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from the White House following reporting he considers “FAKE NEWS.” Trump, in a post on Truth Social on Monday morning, described his move as “instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS,” which he said has “grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America.” “It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control,” he wrote on the social media site he owns. “It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!” (Washington Blade photo by Joe Reberkenny) As a result, all of the major television networks that comprise the television press pool — ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox News — suspended their White House TV pool coverage. They decided to no longer send camera crews to cover President Donald Trump’s events. “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” the five White House TV pool networks said in a joint statement Monday. “No administration should restrict a news orga-
nization because it objects to its reporting.” POLITICO, CNN and MS NOW filed a lawsuit Monday to immediately restore access for their reporters, who had their credentials confiscated by the Secret Service. In the White House, there was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere. The Washington Blade is the only LGBTQ news outlet that is part of the White House Press Pool, and was acting as the primary print pooler as the situation unfolded on Monday. Whispers about who might be kicked from the press pool next could be heard both in the press area of the West Wing, as well as outside the part of the White House dedicated to filming the president’s office. The area where TV stations normally film their live shots of the White House while reporting looked less busy than a normal Monday — especially as the president made his way to New York City ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting this week. CNN’s outdoor filming area, which is staffed nearly at all times, sat dark with a green cover over the space that normally houses its cameras and political reporters like Kaitlan Collins. There were small signs of solidarity from other outlets in the press office. A sign that has hung outside one of the news offices in the West Wing was updated. It originally read, “WE STAND WITH AP” following President Trump’s first attempt at removing a news outlet he deemed unfavorable. It now includes “I STAND WITH AP CNN MSNOW POLITICO.” The change could also be felt as the press pool attempted to cover the president. There was a ribbon cutting in honor of the $6 million helipad installed at Trump’s behest — which had nearly no audio as a result of fewer microphones in the space
following the outlets’ removal on Monday afternoon, and partly because of the loud sound of Marine One. Vice President JD Vance defended Trump when asked about the changes to TV access at the White House, standing with the president despite this likely being a violation of the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free and fair press. “He’s not banning media outlets. What he’s doing is saying we’re not going to give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda,” Vance said, alleging that 92% of the stories from CNN, MS NOW and Politico about Trump are “negative.” “That’s not representative of the American people. It’s not representative of public opinion,” Vance said. He pushed back on the notion that this is a hindrance on free speech — claiming access to the president through White House visitation is a privilege — a privilege that in this administration, at least until courts weigh in, could change the landscape of the American media system. “It’s about basic fairness. They can still report. They still have the access to free speech. They’re just not going to get an office in the White House anymore,” Vance said. Jacqui Heinrich, the White House Correspondents Association President condemned the president’s actions in restricting media access in a statement sent to WHCA members on Saturday. “Today’s action revoking access for journalists from CNN, POLITICO, and MSNOW violates the First Amendment. The implications extend beyond these organizations: a standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future.” JOE REBERKENNY
Longtime DignityUSA leader retires The executive director of the world’s oldest LGBTQ Catholic organization has announced she will retire once her successor has been chosen. Marianne Duddy-Burke has been with DignityUSA for more than four decades. She has been the group’s executive director since 2007. DignityUSA announced Duddy-Burke’s retirement on Sept. 17. Duddy-Burke during her tenure has urged the Vatican to do more to welcome LGBTQ Catholics. She has also, among other things, championed marriage equality and advised the State Department on LGBTQ-specific issues. (The Trump-Vance administration’s decision to freeze nearly all U.S. foreign aid shortly after it took office in January 2025 has had a devastating impact on the global LGBTQ and intersex rights movement and efforts to fight HIV/AIDS around the world. A report that Outright International released earlier this month notes 90 percent of LGBTQ and intersex rights groups around the world have lost funding since 2025.) Duddy-Burke met with Pope Francis in 2023. She traveled to Rome in 2025 for the papal conclave to choose the Argentine-born pope’s successor. Pope Leo XIV, who was born in Chicago, succeeded Francis. DignityUSA in the press release that announced Dud-
dy-Burke’s retirement notes she expressed “particular appreciation to people who spoke honestly about the reality of being a queer Catholic or family member.”
DignityUSA Executive Director MARIANNE DUDDY-BURKE (right) greets Pope Francis in 2023. (Photo courtesy of Duddy-Burke)
“I have been inspired every day by your stories and have done my best to lift them up,” said Duddy-Burke. “It is your lives, your faith, your struggles, your hopes that I have strived to reflect in my work, and doing this has
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been a great honor.” DignityUSA President Meli Barber praised Duddy-Burke. “It is almost impossible to sum up the scope and depth of Marianne’s achievements and contributions to DignityUSA over her more than four decades of service,” said Barber. “Under her wisdom and leadership, DignityUSA has only grown in stature as an advocate for LGBTQIA+ Catholics and as a visionary thought leader for LGBTQIA+ ministry and spirituality. “Marianne has been more than an extremely able executive director,” added Barber. “Her care for and ministry to chapters, her deep personal relationships with countless Dignity members, her connections to LGBTQIA+ Catholics around the world, the relationships she has built with other progressive Catholic organizations, her skill as a public representative, the respect with which she is universally regarded, and her tireless devotion to service all leave an indelible mark. It is not an exaggeration to say that she has shaped not only Dignity but a generation of LGBTQIA+ Catholics.” Barber said DignityUSA will “soon begin a search for a new executive director.” Barber added Duddy-Burke “will assist with the transition.” MICHAEL K. LAVERS
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Capital Pride chair resigns from board after just 10 months Anna Jinkerson ‘taking step back to move forward’ By LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Anna Jinkerson, who has served as chair of D.C.’s Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors for the past 10 months and has served on the board for the past four years, confirmed she is resigning from the board effective Sept. 30. Capital Pride Alliance serves as the lead organizer of D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Pride events. “I am taking a step back to move forward and plan to stay engaged in the community,” Jinkerson told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Serving as a volunteer leader during a period of transition following World Pride was both an honor and a challenge,” she said. “Throughout my tenure, I focused on strengthening accountability, improving communications, supporting staff and volunteers, and helping position the organization for long-term success,” she told the Blade in her statement. “Meaningful organizational progress requires collaboration, dedication, and a shared commitment to serving the community, and I am proud of the work accomplished during this period.” In February of this year, during Jinkerson’s tenure on the board, Capital Pride announced it had expanded the size of its board from 12 to 25 members. Around that same time one of the existing board members, transgender activist Taylor Lianne Chandler, announced in a letter to fellow board members that the Blade obtained from an anonymous sender that she was resigning from the board. Among her reasons for
resigning, she said in the letter, was the board’s failure to address “sexual misconduct” within the Capital Pride organization. In the letter, which she confirmed for the Blade was authentic, Chandler said she and other board members raised “credible concerns” of alleged sexual misconduct within the Capital Pride organization and the board chose not to adequately respond to those concerns. Chandler told the Blade a Capital Pride investigation identified an individual implicated in a “pattern” of sexual harassment related behavior, but said she was bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement that applied to all board members and she could not provide further details. When the Blade contacted Capital Pride for comment on Chandler’s allegations, Jinkerson responded with a statement saying Capital Pride was addressing her concerns. “When concerns are brought to CPA, we act quickly and appropriately to address them,” Jinkerson said. “As we continue to grow our organization, we’re proactively strengthening the policies and procedures that shape our systems, our infrastructure, and the support we provide to our team and partners,” she said. In her statement to the Blade this week commenting on her planned resignation from the Capital Pride board, Jinkerson appeared to refer to the concern raised by Chandler. “I am proud to have advocated for sexual harassment
training, supported staff and volunteers when concerns were raised, engaged community leaders in important conversations, and helped advance practices that strengthen safety, transparency, and accountability,” she said.
ANNA JINKERSON, on right, speaks at the 2026 Capital Pride Festival. (Washington Blade photo by Landon Shackelford)
“As I step away from board service, I do so with gratitude for the opportunity to serve and with confidence in the organization’s future,” she added. “I am taking a step back to move forward, and I look forward to remaining actively engaged in our community and continuing to support efforts that advance equality, belonging, and pride for all.”
Jeremy Moss looks to take LGBTQ advocacy from Lansing to D.C. With fall comes swapping out T-shirts for sweaters, raking leaves and, of course, elections. The summer’s primaries have narrowed the playing field in a slew of races, but the big ones — the actual races for seats in federal and local elections — are still to come. Jeremy Moss is one of those people running for a congressional seat in Michigan. Despite his young age, Moss has quickly learned the ropes of politics in the state, already serving terms in the Great Lakes State’s House of Representatives and Senate. Moss sat down with the Washington Blade to discuss his history in Michigan politics, his experience as an openly LGBTQ legislator and his vision for a better America as he looks toward Congress. He currently represents Michigan’s 7th Senate District, but now he is setting his sights beyond Lansing toward Capitol Hill to represent Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, which includes Detroit’s northern suburbs. Moss earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University, where just a few years later he made history as the first openly gay person elected to the Michigan Senate and the first to serve as its president pro tempore. His political experience stretches across multiple offices. Moss worked in the offices of Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence, who also served in the U.S. House of Representatives, and State Rep. Paul Condino. Moss, at age 25, was elected to the Southfield City Council in 2011, becoming the youngest member elected in the body’s history. He then switched over to the state legislature, representing Michigan’s 35th House of Representatives District in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2014-2018, becoming the second openly gay member elected to the Michigan legislature.
He then moved from Michigan’s House to its Senate in 2018, elected to represent the 11th Michigan Senate District and becoming the Assistant Democratic Leader. Moss started his second term in the Michigan Senate in 2023, this time representing District 7. He currently has a long list of priorities listed on his campaign website, many of which have become standard for Democrats running Michigan state Sen. JEREMY MOSS across the country, (Photo courtesy of the Michigan Senate Democrats) with a particular focus on minimizing — and cleaning up — issues that the Republican-controlled federal government has created under President Donald Trump. Those goals include lowering healthcare costs, tackling the cost of living crisis, holding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement accountable and fixing the broken immigration system, restoring national voting rights, protecting rights — with a particular focus on abortion access and LGBTQ rights — combating corruption in politics, preventing gun violence and strengthening gun safety, empowering Michigan workers, and preserving the environment. When asked why he wants to run for Congress, Moss pointed to his lengthy resume in state leadership, with a clear voice arguing that if he can do it in Lansing, he can get it done in Washington. “I’ve served 12 years in the legislature and have ascended into leadership as president pro tem of the Senate,”
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Moss explained to the Blade. “We flipped our state legislative chamber to a Democratic majority for the first time in 40 years in 2022, and we passed some big, generational-changing, consequential Democratic wins that had languished for a generation, but had improved people’s lives in our state. “We’ve passed the first gun safety laws in a generation that are saving lives. We protected the right to vote amidst attacks from Donald Trump and other conspiracies. We pushed forward and finally put LGBTQ rights in our state civil rights law. We provided free school meals and lunches for all public school children in the state of Michigan. “The problems from Washington, D.C., aren’t getting less severe over time,” he continued. “They’re getting more severe. So this district unexpectedly opened up due to a series of retirements and it was just a great opportunity for me to continue to advocate for big change that we’ve already achieved here in the state legislature.” “I’m a product of this district. I grew up here. I’ve represented a bulk of the district already in the state legislature, and I knew that I was going to earn grassroots support to be able to wage this campaign. We sought it out, we earned it, including some premier endorsements from Gov. (Gretchen) Whitmer, among many others, and were highly successful in the primary because we were in tune to the needs of this district.” Moss has been endorsed by a slew of Democratic leaders and organizations, including, as he pointed out, by Whitmer. Other endorsements include former Gov. Jim Blanchard, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Attorney General Dana Nessel, the Equality PAC, the Human Rights Campaign, the Unity Fund, and the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. JOE REBERKENNY
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A Rare Mid-Century Modern Compound Calling all modernists. Set on an exceptional 33,993-square-foot (approximately ¾-acre) park-like lot, 2101 Whiteoaks Drive presents a rare opportunity to own a private mid-century modern compound in Alexandria’s renowned Hollindale/Hollin Hills modernist enclave. With resort-like grounds, a private swimming pool, tennis court, extensive outdoor living spaces, and distinctive architectural character, this extraordinary residence offers an uncommon combination of design, privacy, scale, and indoor-outdoor living—all just minutes from Historic Old Town Alexandria and Washington, D.C. The home reflects the timeless design principles associated with mid-century modern icons including Florence Knoll, Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, Eero Saarinen, and Harry Bertoia, where structure, materiality, natural light, and function come together in a sophisticated yet remarkably livable setting. From the street, the residence presents an attractive, understated profile. Step inside and the architecture reveals itself through a welcoming foyer with exposed brick and a dramatic twostory overlook, walls of glass, abundant natural light, and carefully framed views of the surrounding landscape. At the heart of the home is a spectacular twostory great room with approximately 17-foot ceilings. Expansive windows and doors establish a seamless connection to the gardens, while an elevated deck overlooking the pool, tennis court and grounds provides an ideal setting for outdoor dining, entertaining, morning coffee or quiet relaxation. Approximately 4,850 square feet of finished living space unfolds across three levels, offering five bedrooms and four-and-one-half baths.
The main level includes spacious living and dining rooms, an expanded eat-in kitchen with island, dedicated library/study with extensive built-ins, and a vaulted, skylit sunroom ideal as a reading room, retreat or home office. Two wet bars and two brick-surround fireplaces further enhance the home’s entertaining potential. The finished walk-out lower level expands the home’s versatility with a spacious recreation room, bar and gaming area, plus two additional bedrooms with ensuite baths. Direct access to the patio and backyard makes the transition from indoor living to the pool, gardens and outdoor entertaining spaces effortless. Outside, the property takes on the character of a private resort. Mature trees, established gardens, expansive lawns, multiple patios and decks, a private swimming pool and tennis court create an extraordinary setting for recreation, entertaining or simply enjoying the outdoors. The landscaping has been thoughtfully cultivated over the years, creating a rare sense of privacy and permanence so close to the nation’s capital. Perhaps the greatest luxury is the setting. Despite its peaceful, secluded atmosphere, 2101 Whiteoaks Drive offers convenient access to Historic Old Town Alexandria, Arlington, National Landing, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Beautiful commuting along the breathtaking scenic George Washington Memorial Parkway further enhances the location. A home of scale, light, architectural drama and landscape, this rare modernist residence delivers a distinctly California-inspired sensibility in the heart of the Washington metropolitan area. A truly exceptional and irreplaceable offering for the discerning design enthusiast!
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2953 Stella Blue Lane, Fairfax, VA 22031 | Mosaic at Merrfield | $1,079,000 Open House: Saturday 10/26 1-3pm & Sunday 10/27 2-4pm
JUST LISTED FOR SALE! Mosaic Living at Its Best! Welcome to 2953 Stella Blue Lane, a beautifully appointed townhome ideally located in the heart of sought-after Mosaic at Merrifield. Built by EYA in 2012, this sophisticated “Bryant” model four-level contemporary residence offers 2,100+ square feet of flexible above-grade living space. It features 3 bedrooms with ensuite baths plus a versatile main-level den/home office that could easily serve as a 4th bedroom, 3 1/2 bathsand an attached two-car garage. The spectacular open main level is designed for today’s lifestyles, with a gourmet island kitchen featuring abundant cabinetry and generous counter space flowing seamlessly into the living and dining areas creating an inviting space for everyday living & entertaining. Upstairs, the luxurious primary bedroom suite provides a wonderful private retreat, complete with a walk-in closet and a beautifully appointed bath featuring a dual sink vanity. A convenient bedroom level washer & dryer make everyday living effortless. The sun-filled top level adds an-
other bedroom and a versatile loft style family room-perfect for movie nights, relaxing, reading, or a home office—with access to the private rooftop deck, a true crowd-pleaser for morning coffee, evening cocktails, entertaining, or unwinding under the stars. Natural light fills every level, while zoned HVAC provides year-round comfort. Residents also enjoy a community swimming pool and fitness center adding to the exceptional urban village lifestyle. And the location is hard to beat! Step outside and enjoy the vibrant Mosaic District, one of Northern Virginia’s premier lifestyle destinations, with upscale shops, acclaimed restaurants, cafés, brew pubs, entertainment, year round events, and the popular Angelika Film Center. Dunn Loring/Merrifield Metro and major commuter routes provide easy access to Tysons, Arlington, Falls Church, and Washington, DC. Stylish, spacious, exceptionally convenient, and completely turnkey-2953 Stella Blue Lane offers the best of Mosaic living, with an amazing home and an equally amazing lifestyle right outside your door.
FOR SALE!
UNDER CONTRACT!
9737 Kings Crown Ct. #202, Fairfax, VA 22031 Hawthorne Village | $289,000 JUST SOLD!
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971 N. Rochester St., Arlington, VA 22205 Madison Manor | $1,275,000
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UN Human Rights chief sounds alarm over anti-LGBTQ ‘onslaught’ UNITED NATIONS — U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Monday said there is a “comprehensive onslaught” against LGBTQ and intersex rights around the world. “We know that progress for human rights has never been linear … but today’s backlash is deep and it is coordinated and the persecution of LGBTIQ+ people around the world is escalating at an alarming rate,” he said during an U.N. LGBTI Core Group event that took place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. The Core Group is a group of U.N. member states that have pledged to support LGBTQ and intersex rights. Mexico and Norway are the current co-chairs. The U.S. withdrew from the Core Group shortly after the TrumpVance administration took office in 2025. “We know that across every region, LGBTIQ+ people continue to live and to love in the face of hostility and exclusion,” said Türk. “Their rights, safety, well-being are under attack … it’s a comprehensive onslaught.” The event took place days after Turkish authorities carried out raids in Istanbul and in other cities across the country that targeted the country’s LGBTQ community. Türk in his remarks specifically referenced Turkey and Senegal, which further criminalized consensual samesex sexual relations earlier this year. He also noted some countries have deemed LGBTQ and intersex rights groups as “terrorists, extremists, or national security threats.” The Trump-Vance administration’s anti-terrorism strategy that it released in May specifically references “radically pro-transgender” groups. Türk noted “more and more candidates and political parties … use bigotry in order to promote anti-LGBTIQ+ sentiments” during election campaigns. He pointed out trans people and women are often targeted. “These attacks are designed to confuse and to distract,” said Türk. “They cloak bigotry in the language of decency and morality. They evoke the protection of children against manufactured threats, while real and growing dangers to children’s lives and futures, including those linked to technology, to inequality and to the climate disaster remain unaddressed.”
“More broadly those who seek to erase difference and independent thought, expression, and voices from our societies often begin this by erasing LGBTIQ+ people from books and classrooms, from film and culture and from our streets,” he added. “So, this is always the beginning. It’s a wedge issue that unfortunately is used politically to erase other portions of society eventually.” The event took place less than two weeks after Outright International released a report that found 90 percent of LGBTQ and intersex rights groups around the world have lost funding since January 2025. The Trump-Vance administration froze nearly all U.S. foreign aid shortly after it took office. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in March 2025 announced 83 percent of U.S. Agency for International Development contacts had been cancelled, and the State Department would administer the remaining programs. USAID officially shut down on July 1, 2025. Rubio issued a waiver that allowed PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during the funding freeze. The Washington Blade has previously reported PEPFAR-funded programs in Kenya and other African countries have been forced to suspend services and even shut down because of gaps in U.S. funding. Dutch Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma in his remarks at the Core Group event noted his government — openly gay Prime Minister Rob Jetten took office in February — will pledge €50 million ($57.29 million) to support LGBTQ groups around the world. British Under Secretary of State Chris Elmore pointed out his government has pledged £21 million ($28.05) from 2026-2029 to bolster LGBTQ and intersex rights around the world. “Equality benefits everyone,” said Elmore. Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Roberto Velasco Álvarez, Norwegian International Development Minister Åsmund Aukrust, Icelandic Foreign Affairs Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, Maltese Foreign and European Affairs Minister Chris Fearne, Brazil’s National Secretary for the Promotion and Defense of the Rights of LGBTQIA+ People Symmy Larrat, Irish State Minis-
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights VOLKER TÜRK (Screen capture via UN Human Rights Council/YouTube)
ter for International Development and Diaspora Neale Richmond, South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation Director-General Zane Dangor, Uruguayan Multilateral Affairs Director María Noel Beretta, French Ambassador-at-Large for Human Rights Isabelle Rome, Cabo Verdean Permanent U.N. Representative Tania Romualdo, Estonian Department of International Organizations and Human Rights Director General Käthlin Saluveer, and Swedish International Development Cooperation Director-General Camilla Nevstad Bruzelius also spoke at the event that Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin moderated. Other speakers included Jon Tilli of Deutsche Bank, UN Women Civil Society Division Director Lopa Banerjee and two activists: Gloria Quaye of Ghana and Nhuun Wannapong Yodmuang of Thailand. Quaye was among the 21 people who Ghanaian authorities arrested in 2021 during a human rights workshop for LGBTQ activists. She was detained for three weeks until a court dropped the charges. “In times of adversity, countries can often be tempted to turn inward at precisely the moment when international cooperation is needed the most,” said Sjödin. “The United Nations, of course, brings together sovereign states, but sovereignty cannot be used to decide whose rights count.” The U.S. did not send any representatives to this year’s event. MICHAEL K. LAVERS
U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS grapples with fed’l cuts Advocates, public health experts, and healthcare providers gathered for the United States Conference on HIV/ AIDS on Sept. 17 in Anaheim, Calif. The conference is the largest of its kind in the nation and came amid a wave of new challenges for HIV research and treatment. Since the beginning of the second TrumpVance administration, federal spending cuts have targeted HIV/AIDS programs, including the gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development and proposed cuts to PEPFAR, which supports HIV testing and treatment globally, in 2025. Last year, Congress maintained funding for HIV programs after proposed cuts faced opposition from advocacy groups and bipartisan criticism. Yet, this year Congress has proposed similar cuts to many of the same programs, which would cut nearly one billion dollars in HIV funding. The majority of the cuts would impact HIV prevention and outreach, which includes ending nearly all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HIV prevention activities. “If we continue down this path,” said Jeremiah John-
son, the executive director of PrEP4ALL, an advocacy group that supports expanding access to HIV prevention. “We’re going to see more people falling off treatment. We’re going to see more wait lists. That’s going to lead to more people dying from AIDS-related complications.” The funding cuts loomed over the conference and inspired protest from activists. On the first day of USCHA, activists with Save HIV Funding organized a mock funeral outside the convention center. Advocates living with HIV wrote eulogies for themselves, meant to show the consequences of diminished access to treatment. Then activists marched through the conference carrying fake coffins. Johnson, who helped organize the protest, said that “the Trump administration has eviscerated global aid … and the fears that many of us are just talking about hypothetically for ourselves at the moment are already happening [internationally]. And so we wanted to place that front and center at this conference.” The attacks on funding for HIV research and outreach
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come at a complicated time for the movement to end the AIDS epidemic. While options for prevention and treatment have never been more accessible, such as PrEP and antiretroviral therapy, there have been some concerning upticks in infections, particularly among communities of color. Southern states account for the majority of new HIV infections in the country, despite making up only 38 percent of the population. And these infections impact disproportionately Black and Latino communities. According to the CDC, even as overall HIV infections decreased from 2018 to 2022, diagnoses of HIV among Latinos grew by 17 percent, with a majority of this increase happening in the South. Stigma is still the biggest barrier for people seeking out HIV treatment, said Guillermo Chacón, president of the Latino Commission on AIDS. “The progress that we [made] in the past two years has been demolished,” he said. CALEB KAUFMAN
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ANDREW MABRY
is a technology researcher and analyst specializing in UAV and drone technology, AI, and emerging digital technologies.
How emerging drone tech can support LGBTQ workplace inclusion Employers should establish clear policies governing data access
Workplace inclusion is increasingly becoming part of a broader conversation about employee safety, dignity, and equal access to secure working environments. For LGBTQ employees, an inclusive workplace is not simply one that communicates supportive values it is one where policies, infrastructure, and technology work together to help people feel protected and respected. As organizations explore emerging technologies to strengthen workplace operations, drones are becoming a valuable tool for improving physical safety, situational awareness, and emergency preparedness. When deployed responsibly and with appropriate privacy safeguards, drone technology can contribute to safer workplaces without singling out employees based on identity. Key Benefits of Drone Technology for Safety • Reduced Employee Exposure to Hazards: Drones can inspect difficult or potentially dangerous areas without unnecessarily placing employees at risk. • Faster Emergency Awareness: Aerial visibility can help safety teams assess incidents and make informed decisions more quickly. • More Consistent Safety Coverage: Drones can support inspections across large workplaces, campuses, warehouses, and remote facilities. • Safer, More Inclusive Environments: Technology can help organizations improve physical safety measures that protect employees equally, including LGBTQ team members. • Privacy-Conscious Safety Practices: With responsible policies, drones can support workplace security without profiling individuals based on gender identity, sexual orientation, or other personal characteristics. Improving Physical Workplace Safety A clear application of drone technology lies in the inspection of facilities and infrastructure. Inspection of rooftops, industrial machines, construction zones, warehouses, remote locations, and other risky areas can be achieved using drones fitted with cameras and other (Photo via Bigstock/kadmy) sensors. Such use of drone technology may help in reducing the risk of forcing employees to access such risky areas unnecessarily. Moreover, any technological advances in terms of improving workplace safety are equally beneficial to all workers irrespective of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. Supporting Emergency Preparedness and Response An emergency can reveal flaws in your workplace safety program. In big settings like industrial campuses, warehouses, or outdoor workplaces, it might take security personnel longer to respond. Drones might supply better aerial visibility in several types of incidents. They make it possible to see circumstances rapidly, locate blocked paths, examine out- of-the-way or damaged areas and direct needed aid. Enhanced situational awareness provides better answers while limiting exposure to risks. In a perfect safety world, all employees
are served with dignity and attention while emergency actions are created with diversity in mind. Creating Safer Shared Environments Workplace safety also involves creating physical environments where employees can move through facilities confidently. Dronebased inspections can help organizations identify infrastructure concerns such as damaged lighting, inaccessible areas, perimeter issues, or other physical conditions that could create safety risks. The technology does not need to identify who an employee is to provide value. Instead, organizations can use drones to evaluate spaces and infrastructure while maintaining clear boundaries around personal privacy. This distinction is particularly important when discussing LGBTQ workplace inclusion. Technology designed for safety should protect employees rather than create an environment in which individuals feel watched, profiled, or treated differently. Privacy Must Remain a Priority The potential benefits of drones also come with important responsibilities. Cameras, sensors, and data collection capabilities can raise legitimate privacy concerns if organizations deploy them without transparent rules. Employers considering workplace drone programs should establish clear policies governing where drones may operate, what information may be collected, who can access that information, and how long data is retained. Employees should also understand the purpose and boundaries of workplace drone operations. Drone technology should never be used to infer, monitor, or profile an employee’s sexual orientation, gender identity, personal relationships, or other sensitive characteristics. Inclusion depends on trust, and responsible technology policies are essential to preserving that trust. Technology Is Only Part of an Inclusive Workplace No drone platform can create an inclusive workplace on its own. Meaningful LGBTQ inclusion still depends on organizational culture, anti-discrimination policies, fair employment practices, accessible reporting channels, employee education, and leadership accountability. Technology can support these efforts by improving the physical conditions in which employees work. For example, drones may help reduce exposure to hazardous tasks or improve visibility during emergencies, while organizational policies ensure that these benefits are available fairly and respectfully. Building Safety and Inclusion Together As drone technologies continue to develop, there is a chance for businesses to expand their minds on what innovation should seek to achieve. Efficiency and increased operational intelligence are vital, but technology can equally play a part in creating safe and inclusive environments that show dignity to employees. When it comes to LGBTQ employees, along with the workforce in general, the most effective approach to technology is one that enhances safety without threatening privacy and equality. Consequently, the future of workplace innovation should take into account not only what technology is capable of but also how wisely it is applied. By combining cutting-edge technologies like drones with responsible business practices, businesses can make strides in both areas at once.
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PETER ROSENSTEIN
is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.
Young people should know history of the fight for human rights
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Trump is working to erase contributions of marginalized people
When talking with otherwise really smart young people, I am amazed how little knowledge many of them have about the fight for human rights in the United States. Our country was founded by white men, who didn’t think about giving full rights to Black Americans, women, the LGBTQ community (what they knew of it, or called it). They wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But that referred to all white men, and intentionally didn’t mention women. For 250 years, the country has been trying to make up for that, and making progress in fits and starts. We have yet to fully succeed. Today the felon, and his fascist aides, in the White House, are working daily to take us backwards. For that reason alone, it is important for younger generations to understand the fight for human rights, know who was fighting for those rights, and understand it is an ongoing fight. Often, when listening to some millennials speak, one would think the world began with them. They either forgot, or never learned, about all those who fought for the rights they now have. I realize this was true for previous generations as well. In 2016 I co-hosted a fundraiser for Pete Buttigieg during his run for president. He is an undeniably brilliant guy. Yet when he spoke of marriage equality, he just thanked Justice Kennedy for it. I reminded him after he spoke, while it’s nice to thank Kennedy for his vote, it shouldn’t be done without acknowledging the many activists who worked for decades, to get to the point that allowed Kennedy to cast that vote. In the same way it was clear to me during the Hillary Clinton campaign for president, many young women didn’t understand the work many of their own mothers had done, to fight for their right to control their own healthcare, and women’s rights in general. They took for granted the rights they had. Now, after losing some of them, many will realize the fight for their rights is never-ending. When I speak to younger members of the LGBTQ community, I am amazed how many don’t know the history of the AIDS epidemic, many thinking it was always a disease you could deal with by taking medication. They don’t understand the work so many activists did to bring attention to this devastating disease, and get the healthcare so many needed. Those like Cleve Jones, Larry Kramer, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and so many others. Recently, I realized how many young women don’t know the names of Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, Bella Abzug — women who fought for their rights. And this is just recent history, no less knowing about the Suffragettes, the strong women who fought for their right to vote. I’ve met young women who don’t know what the ERA is, and others who think it passed. Many don’t know the nation couldn’t get 38 states to approve an amendment to include them in the Constitution. The same for young members of the LGBTQ community who don’t know what the Equality Act is. Others think it passed, and are shocked when told it didn’t and in 27 states, they can be married on Sunday, and kicked out of their home, and fired from their job, on Monday. They don’t know names like Frank Kameny, Harvey Milk, Barney Frank, or the history of the Mattachine Society, or the Stonewall Riots. Our current president is trying to wipe out all this history, and reverse any progress that has been made. Knowing this, it makes it even more important for school systems across the nation to fight to educate our children. We should ensure no child can graduate high school, without taking a course called “The 250-year fight for human rights in the United States.” They need to understand the history, and learn about the people who fought for their rights. They need to know how far we have come in 250 years, and understand, as we begin the next 250, how far we still have to go, to ensure real, full equality, for all.
Lynne Celia
MBA, CFP®, Financial Advisor
703-584-2700
lcelia@wealthenhancement.com Advisory services offered through Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services, LLC, a registered investment advisor and affiliate of Wealth Enhancement Group®. AM 2026-13651 8/2026
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Raised to be straight, a Southern man flees his own truth—straight into the arms of a gay lover.
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Writing a play about Lincoln leads down a rabbit hole to a closet As LGBT History Month arrives, new hints that our greatest president was gay By SCOTT SUBLETT
Abraham Lincoln treasured poetry and it turns out his particular favorites were pretty queer, but I never would have detected that if I hadn’t decided to write a stage comedy about his sex life. In my research for the play, I stumbled across what I believe is new evidence that Lincoln and Joshua Speed were lovers. The remarkable thing is that the evidence has been sitting in plain sight for more than 150 years. The rabbit hole swallowed me in 2019, when C.A. Tripp’s revolutionary biography “The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln” somehow fell into my hands. I was embarrassingly late to the Lincoln-was-gay party—Tripp’s book had come out 14 years earlier—and the wonderful-to-me news that Lincoln played for my team started me plotting out a play, because I was pretty sure if I didn’t know this, lots of people didn’t and inquiring minds want to know, and the young queers of America should be told that they have yet another genius over whom to kvell. Historians and myth makers alike—often it’s hard to tell the difference—have always painted Abe straight, and now that it’s in question they’ve gotten peevish and insistent because, c’mon, bro, everybody knows that in the 19th century all the guys were writing each other gushingly romantic letters and sharing a bed every night for four years. Meanwhile, the Queer Studies crowd assures us that they, the inventors of homosexuality, had not yet invented it, so it couldn’t be that. But what kind of play to write? I wanted to put at least two of his lovers into it, and no playwright with any sense of drama would omit Abe’s mad, physically abusive, spendthrift wife Mary. To get all of them in the same place at the same time meant bedroom farce. Keeping one’s lovers from knowing about each other is the keystone of bedroom farce and why the sets have so many doors. Speed, the great love of Lincoln’s life, who often visited the White House during the Civil War, would arrive while Lincoln’s wartime lover Army Captain David Derickson was there, too, and Abe would conceal them from each other and from Mary, who is suspicious and dangerous and prone to striking her husband. I also folded in Lincoln’s writing of the Emancipation Proclamation, which in the play is helped along by an invented Black housekeeper, who has suspiciously 20th-century opinions and a shiny new invention: the animatronic steampunk Lincoln robot. “The Loves of Lincoln” finally had its world premiere on June 19 of this year in Memphis, Tenn., where it was nominated for the best new original play of the 2025–26 season, and lost. Now we’re getting to the part about Lord Byron. Wait for it. It’s coming. We’re still setting the scene. A cute, redheaded, gay Broadway producer told me the play would be stronger with a different kind of ending and for once a producer’s note was spot on—the play needed a final confrontation between Lincoln and Speed over love and slavery. The Speeds had dozens of slaves—lots more than Mary Todd Lincoln’s family, who had a few themselves. To write the scene I needed to know more than I did about the Speed-Lincoln relationship during the war. Speed was helping Lincoln keep the border state of Kentucky in line, but on the other hand his great wealth depended on slavery. Time for some research. Enter “Your Friend Forever, A. Lincoln: The Enduring Friendship of Abraham Lincoln and Joshua Speed” (2016, Columbia University Press) by
Charles B. Strozier, a “psychobiographer” who does the usual somersaults to explain away Lincoln’s behavior as straight because writing gushingly romantic letters to other guys and sleeping in the same bed for four years was absolutely not gay in the 19th century, which is proved by the fact that all the guys were doing it. Which kind of made me want to build a time machine and stop off in 19th-century Illinois on my way to ancient Greece. And then, suddenly, sitting there quietly on page 45, like a dangling thread on a cardigan begging to be pulled, was the interesting datum that Joshua lent his gangly, athletic bedmate books, among them Joshua’s “favorite”: Lord Byron. The same Lord Byron who cut a swath a kilometer wide across the comely young men of Greece? The notorious libertine and sodomite—that Lord Byron? Well, yes, and it’s not hard to draw a line straight from there to Lincoln’s closet (coincidentally, one of the doors in The Loves of Lincoln leads into a closet—“Why is my husband always in the closet?”), but for some reason, up to now, no one I know of has drawn that line. Understand, just reading Byron does not make Josh and Abe homosexuals. Byron was a big seller and lots of straight men read him, though perhaps not while gazing dreamily into each other’s eyes (Joshua’s wide and blue, Abe’s a melancholy gray), and OK we don’t know that’s exactly how it went down, but we do know other interesting things thanks to William Herndon. Bill was a clerk in Speed’s general store, the store Speed and Lincoln slept above, and later the junior partner in Lincoln’s Springfield law practice. Herndon worshipped Lincoln. After the assassination he interviewed pretty much every significant person in Lincoln’s life, in what Strozier called one of the first oral history projects in America. Naturally, he interviewed Speed, who reported Lincoln’s passion for the poetry of Byron. The sexual significance of the connection between Speed, Byron, and Lincoln has up to now been ignored by all biographers—even the queer ones, like Tripp, who tried and did make the case for Lincoln’s homosexuality. Speed told Herndon he had introduced Lincoln to Byron: “I don’t think he had ever read much of Byron previous to my acquaintance with him.” Lord Byron’s poetry was a stew of intense male friendship, forbidden sexuality, secrecy, alienation, and erotic misbehavior, and in the wake of his scandalous divorce his name had for years been a transatlantic byword for transgressive sexuality. Byron also became, alongside Burns, Milton and Shakespeare, one of Lincoln’s four favorite writers. Here’s where things get juicy. Speed said that, in particular, “Lincoln loved The Bride of Abydos.” Byron wrote the poem in the wake of his travels through the Ottoman Empire, which was partly what we today would call sex tourism. The poem’s beautiful young hero Selim is extremely feminized, conceals his true identity from his girlfriend (whom everyone thinks is his sister but they’re cousins), and only later reveals that he has a secret double life—in the case of the poem, as the leader of a band of pirates. Now there’s a secret life with an All-Male Cast. We’ll let you supply the pirate joke that goes right here. It gets better. Herndon’s admittedly fragmentary notes from the Speed interview also specifically bring up Byron’s “To Inez,” the extraordinary lyric in “Childe Harold” in which a man tells a woman that her beauty gives him no pleasure, that her eyes scarcely charm him, and that she must not at-
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Questions about President ABE LINCOLN’s sexual orientation have persisted and a new revelation about Lord Byron only adds to the speculation. (Public domain photo by Alexander Gardner)
tempt to discover his “secret woe” or “unmask” his heart. The subtext that leaps off the page, given that Byron was, as the actor Michael Redgrave described himself to his son, “to say the least of it, bisexual,” is that the speaker is in the closet. In the last stanza, he begs her not to pry: What is that worst? Nay, do not ask— In pity from the search forbear: Smile on—nor venture to unmask Man’s heart, and view the Hell that’s there. So, queer-coded Byronic poetry formed an important part of Lincoln’s imaginative world, and Speed remembered that fact nearly 30 years later, and told it to Herndon almost as if leaving literary breadcrumbs for posterity. As far as I have been able to determine, no previous Lincoln biographer or scholar of Lincoln’s sexuality has examined the queer implications of the Byron poems Speed specifically remembered Lincoln reading. Why has this been missed? All of this would be meaningless if Speed and Lincoln didn’t understand that Byron was a lover of men, but I assert that they would have. Lincoln was a discerning reader with a famously penetrating, tenacious mind that wouldn’t let go of a thing until he understood it thoroughly—and a huge fund of worldly knowledge. He was by this time in the Illinois Legislature, had campaigned all over the state, and lawyers often encounter the seamy side of life, whether they seek it out or not. Furthermore, although Byron’s indisputable affairs with men weren’t explicitly documented in 19th century biographies and periodicals as they are today (the conventions and laws of the time all but guaranteed euphemism), rumors of Byron’s “unnatural” conduct crossed the Atlantic even during his lifetime. Articles repeatedly referred to an unnamed, horrifying, or “unnatural” offense, a “peculiar enormity,” and conduct violating the “ban of nature.” In 19th century usage, “unnatural crime” was a familiar euphemism for sodomy, while phrases like “peculiar enormity” and “ban of nature” invited readers to imagine sexual offenses too scandalous to name. Why use the words at all if readers weren’t going to get the point? CONTINUES ON PAGE 22
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 American readers had easy access to Byron biographies and memoirs, including Thomas Medwin’s “Conversations of Lord Byron” and Thomas Moore’s enormously influential “Letters and Journals of Lord Byron,” while American periodicals discussed the Byron memoir burned by his friends and the salacious suspicions around its contents. Lincoln and Speed would certainly have understood that one of the unmentionable sexual accusations surrounding Byron was man-on-man action. Lincoln’s love of Byron’s queer-coded writings, fostered by Speed, “proves” little on its own, but a lot when added to the rest of the evidence. And it’s part of an even bigger story: reversing the erasure of queerness from history and documenting that many of humankind’s greatest achievements are thanks to queer individuals. Both Lincoln and Speed had beards, literal and metaphorical—they didn’t want their secret spilled while they were alive. But then again, I like to think that when Joshua Speed told William Herndon of Lincoln’s love for those poems, he imagined a day when their love could be decoded and celebrated. Come to think of it, that day is today.
Philadelphia event to launch 2026 LGBT History Month
Dr. Fauci to be honored as 31 LGBT ‘Icons’ are announced By LOU CHIBBARO JR. | lchibbaro@washblade.com
Equality Forum, the Philadelphia-based group that organizes the nation’s annual LGBT History Month in October is scheduled to launch the 2026 LGBT History Month at a VIP Reception on Sept. 27. The event, to be held at Philadelphia’s Independence Visitor Center, will honor Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases who is credited with playing a leading role in the fight against HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. Equality Forum was to present Fauci with its International Role Model Award. The Equality Forum, which operates programs focusing on LGBT history and the people who play a leading role in historic undertakings, will also present its Frank Kameny Award to Erica Deuso, who in 2025 won election as the first openly transgender mayor in the state of Pennsylvania as mayor of the town of Downington, Pa. U.S. Rep. CHRIS PAPPAS is among this year’s Icon award recipients A statement from the Equality Forum. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key) released by the Equality Forum points out that LGBT History Month, held each year, celebrates the achievements of 31 lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender icons throughout the month of October. “Each day in October, a new LGBT icon is featured with a video, bio, bibliography, downloadable images, and other resources,” the statement says. Although the statement releases the name and a short background description of each of this year’s 31 LGBT icons, the icons were scheduled to be officially announced and honored at the Sept. 27 event. “The LGBT community is the only community worldwide that is not taught its history at home, in public schools or in religious institutions,” the statement says. “LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community and makes the civil rights statement about our extraordinary national and international contributions,” it says. This year’s Icons include designer Calvin Klein, media mogul Barry Diller, U.S. Senate hopeful Chris Pappas, and perhaps most notably President Abe Lincoln. Additional information about the event and a list of the 2026 LGBT Icons can be accessed at lgbthistorymonth.com. 2 2 • WA SHIN GTO N BLADE.COM • SEPTEMBER 2 5 , 2 0 2 6
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CALENDAR |
By TINASHE CHINGARANDE
Friday, September 25
Thursday, October 01
GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Happy Hour” at 7 p.m. at DIK Bar. This is a chance to relax, make new friends, and enjoy happy hour specials at this classic retro venue. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite. Trans Discussion Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This event is intended to provide an emotionally and physically safe space for trans people and those who may be questioning their gender identity/expression to join together in community and learn from one another. For more details, email info@thedccenter.org.
The DC Center for the LGBTQ+ Community’s Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the Center. People will be informed on Wednesday at 5:00 pm if they are picked to receive a produce box. No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org or call 202-682-2245. API Queer Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a support group for the Asian and Pacific Islander queer community. The support group is co-sponsored by APIQS (Asian Pacific Islander Queer Society DC) and AQUA (Asian Queers United for Action). For more details, email supportdesk@thedccenter.org.
Saturday, September 26 GoGay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ+ community, including allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite. Black Lesbian Support Group will be at 1 p.m. on Zoom. This is a peer-led support group devoted to the joys and challenges of being a Black Lesbian. For more details, email info@thedccenter.org.
Sunday, September 27 “Nellie’s DC Drag Brunch” will be at 12 p.m. at Nellie’s Sports Bar. Come get served like a queen by a queen. Join Sapphire Blue, Deja Diamond and their team of amazing drag performers for the most fun you’ll have all weekend. Tickets cost $58.51 and are available on Eventbrite.
OUT & ABOUT Tyler Clementi Foundation to host fundraiser in Rehoboth To kick off National Coming Out Month, the Tyler Clementi Foundation will host a fundraiser on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. at CAMP Rehoboth in Delaware. The event will feature special remarks by Jane Clementi and Rep. Sarah McBride. If you are unable to attend, please consider making a donation to support the work of the Tyler Clementi Foundation to end online and offline bullying and harassment in schools, workplaces, and faith communities. For more details, visit the Tyler Clementi Foundation’s Facebook page.
Monday, September 28 Center Aging: Monday Coffee Klatch will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more information, contact Adam (adamheller@thedccenter.org). Queer Book Club will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. The Queer Book Club meets on the fourth Monday of the month to discuss queer books by queer authors. This month’s reading is “Happy Iceland” by Anne Marie Wells. For more details, visit the DC Center for the LGBTQ+ Community’s website.
Tuesday, September 29 The DC Center for the LGBTQ+ Community will host “Center Aging: Painting Class” at 1 p.m. This is a free watercolor painting workshop that will be held in the community room and led by Laya Monarez. All supplies and light snacks will be provided. This workshop involves paint, so please dress accordingly. Email Mac at maca@thedccenter. org for more details.
Wednesday, September 30 Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom upon request. This is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely “applicants” toward being “candidates.” For more information, email centercareers@thedccenter.org or visit www.thedccenter.org/careers.
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TYLER CLEMENTI died in 2010 by suicide. The foundation named for him is run by his parents and will host a fundraiser in Rehoboth Beach on Oct. 1. (Photo courtesy Facebook)
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THEATER
What’s frightening is also funny in ‘Venus’
Don’t miss spectacular Woolly Mammoth production from out director By PATRICK FOLLIARD
Meet Beth. She’s an art-house film projectionist. Cocky yet awkward, and a bit of a player, she’s exceedingly fond of international cinema and women. Her current interest is Nicole, a pretty librarian with an obsession for order and safety. Romance seems unlikely. Written by Los Angeles-based playwright Steve Yockey, “Venus” pits odd against odder, and similar to some of his past works, what’s frightening is also funny. When Beth (Kimberly Gilbert) crashes a “not fun” book club (currently reading Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying”), she succeeds in bagging a date with the group’s poised, and –according to Beth – “imminently fuckable” member Nicole (Regina Aquino). The pair climbs into Beth’s beloved vintage gold Mercedes (or “sort of rust colored,” says Nicole) and head into the night. They reach an isolated hilltop to star gaze and share a Thermos of spiced rum. Charmed by the surprise outing, Nicole warms up to her new friend, but that soon changes when Beth corrects Nicole on some planetary specifics, and lets it slip that she’s taken other women on this same exact date. Away from age (40 or so), the pair couldn’t be more ill matched. Whether it’s personal style, temperament, approach to dating, they’re chalk and cheese. Beth’s romantic M.O. is spontaneous, whereas Nicole’s dating app profile is “always clean, organized, and up to date with recent pictures and current information.” And she never makes the first move. “Venus” is perceptively staged by out director Reggie D. White who specifically selected Yockey’s newest play for his directorial debut as Woolly’s new artistic director, and it’s a spectacular launch. The out playwright and director, and the terrific two-person cast, successfully lean into the work’s dark comedy without denying past heart-
breaks. The actors play off each other compellingly, capturing precisely what’s both disturbing and funny about Yockey’s creations. Nicole (Aquino) isn’t particularly concerned about the horrors she visits upon her date, and while Gilbert’s Beth might fall into the most dreadful situations, she handles them with detached wit. It’s hilarious. The dialogue is spoken to each other, to us, to themselves. Words might switch from conversational to rapidly delivered monologues about varied things like wellmeant instructions that Nicole once received from her father on how to box and bury things that upset her. Costume designer Danielle Preston captures the women’s carefully chosen attire. Nicole is dressed boho prep with a conservative silhouette, flat shoes, and interesting artisanal jewelry. Beth is a bit hit or miss: wide-legged pants, black thick-soled, black boots, and on trend frames– all the sort of things that might look cool. After the date, Beth drops Nicole at her immaculate, meticulously mid-century curated house. Beth tells us that she’s not averse to a clean home, but other than Susanna, a goldfish in the kitchen, this house with its collection of precisely placed handstitched pillows, looks entirely unlived in; other than the alarming contents of a mysterious drawer, it might be a show home. And while Beth has made a few moves that her date didn’t entirely dodge, the evening has come to an end. Nicole has a Scholastic book fair in the morning, so she gives Beth the old heave-ho. Nicole likes a clean exit. What ensues is a one-sided obsession with grand floral gestures, incessant texts, and some stalking. Just when you think one couldn’t grow any madder and that the other is the voice of reason, the script flips. They take turns at being the most neurotic or easily triggered.
KIMBERLY GILBERT as Beth and REGINA AQUINO as Nicole (Photo by Cameron Whitman)
Also, each in turn encounters an unseen woman wearing a red raincoat, a sort of physical manifestation of fear. How said interactions work differently for each of the daters, explains a lot. But to say more would be a spoiler. With its myriad twists and turns, there are so many possible spoilers, scores of them, that might ruin the experience of an absolutely glorious 90-minute uninterrupted traipse through the madly unexpected. So ably written and acted, you’ll leave believing that you’ve seen the vintage car, been inside a pristine house, and visited a hilltop. But you didn’t. Giselda Esstrada’s scenic design includes a raised black platform backed by a dark circle broken into segments, above hang lanterns, globes, pendant lights, and lamps raised and lowered to great effect by lighting designer Nic Vincent. One of the more significant orbs is singled out as a green-hued celestial body. The ground is a blanket of clunky gray gravel. Even with its two, or maybe three, particularly (and personally) dreaded scenarios, it’s unstoppably pleasing. There’s nothing not to like about “Venus.”
‘Venus’
Through Oct. 4 | Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | 641 D St., NW $20– $105 | Woollymommoth.net
TV
‘Lizzie Borden’ might be the best ‘Monster’ yet Exquisitely realized, shrewdly written with outstanding performances By JOHN PAUL KING
“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” That famously cynical quote from the 1962 Western movie “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” could easily have been the mission statement behind the latest season of Ryan Murphy’s controversial anthology series, “Monster,” which retells the story of America’s most famous axe murderer – Lizzie Borden, who, in 1892, “took an axe” to her father and stepmother at their family home in Fall River, Mass. Except, officially, she didn’t. Borden was acquitted of the killings in a trial that was a national sensation; the crime remained unsolved, and despite rumors and theories that have proliferated over the last century, nobody really knows what actually happened nor who was responsible for it. Yet in the popular imagination, Lizzie is still remembered as a killer who got away with one of the most notorious murders in American history. Though she walked free and lived a life of wealth and high social position for another three decades after her trial, she never truly escaped the scandal; she would be forever branded as guilty, her alleged crime even immortalized in a children’s schoolyard rhyme, and all but a few die-hard theorists assume, unequivocally, that she was the killer. In other words, the legend of Lizzie Borden, axe-murderer, has “become fact.”
“Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story,” like most other retellings of this gruesome crime saga, “prints” the legend - and indeed, goes even further to canonize her into something like a radical feminist saint. With Ella Beatty (daughter of Hollywood royalty Warren Beatty and Annette Bening) in the title role, the show frames Lizzie as the repressed and disregarded adult child of wealthy businessman Andrew Borden (Charlie Hunnam) and stepmother Abigail (Rebecca Hall), who married her father after her mother’s death; both of them treat her – and indeed, almost everyone around them – with dismissive cruelty. Andrew is an alcoholic who openly disdains both wife and daughter, while Abigail takes out her own frustration with the marriage on Lizzie, whom she has branded as a “simple” child that she never wanted to have – and a difficult one at that. The arrival of a new household maid — Bridget Sullivan (Vicki Krieps), who goes by the name “Maggie” — changes Lizzie’s outlook and her destiny. Well-traveled, worldly, and deeply independent, Maggie befriends her and becomes both her companion and mentor, introducing her to new ideas and cultivating her sense of self-worth; they become lovers, their bond deepened by a dissatisfaction with the
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ELLA BEATTY stars in ‘Lizzie Borden.’ (Image courtesy of Netflix)
cultural limits imposed upon them by their status as women. As conditions within the household grow increasingly unbearable, they formulate a gruesome plan which, if they can succeed, will liberate them from the patriarchal subjugation that relegates them to the level of chattel while puffing a pipe full of expensive tobacco. From there, writer/creator Ian Brennan takes us through an effectively grisly re-enactment of the famous murders and onward through the trial in which Lizzie, ironically benefitting from stereotyped male assumptions about what women are or are not capable of doing, is ultimately acquitted of the gruesome crime she absolutely DID commit. It then follows her – and Bridget – into the aftermath of the scandal, where a kind of imprisonment awaits them both, anyway. CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
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ADVICE
I’m 66, he’s 27. Is it love or am I being played? What to do when your friends don’t trust your boyfriend By MICHAEL RADKOWSKY
Dear Michael, I’m 66, Peter is 27. I’m retired, financially comfortable. He’s a grad student. We met last summer at the beach and started dating. Now we’re living together. I want this to be forever, and Peter says he does too. The problem: Some of my friends are telling me that Peter is taking me for a ride. I know all the cliches about older gay men thinking they’re in a loving relationship when the truth is they’re just some young guy’s sugar daddy. But I don’t feel old. And I think I have a grip on reality. I do support Peter financially now, but he is eventually going to have a job. And if I didn’t pay for things, there’s no way he could share my life in terms of travel, dining out, etc. I want to have fun with him and am happy to foot the bill. My friends say there’s no way he could be attracted to anything but my money. But I take great care of myself and look good. We don’t have the greatest sex life but I think it’s pretty hot. Peter says he is attracted to older guys. And there’s much more to our relationship than sex. Despite the age difference, I think we are kindred spirits, and Peter says he feels the same. We both like travel, talking about politics, have similar taste in books and movies and TV shows. Lots of common interests. I can deal with the age/money criticisms, but there’s some other stuff I’m more worried about. One of my friends says he saw Peter making out with
someone much younger over the summer. That worries me. I asked Peter about it and he said it wasn’t true. Peter does go out, solo, because he can stay up a lot later than I want to. My party-till-dawn days are over. He says he’s just dancing and hanging out with friends. I want to believe him. One night he didn’t come home and it unsettled me. He told me it just got too late so he crashed at a friend’s place. I thought of asking the friend about it but I didn’t want to seem like I was spying on Peter, and I also was afraid that the friend would say this didn’t happen. If it didn’t, then what? Do I break up with him for lying and cheating? I really don’t want to be old and alone. I can’t tell if my friends are making me paranoid or if I am being played. Michael replies: Obviously, I can’t know if Peter is telling you the truth or not. But I can give you some pointers on dealing with trust in a relationship. The main person to focus on trusting is yourself. Do you trust your own sense of whether or not Peter is being honest with you? If not: What would it take for you to do so? Could you let yourself see things that you are currently not wanting to let yourself see? What is now stopping you from seeing him accurately? You describe many ways in which you think the two of you are compatible. How about in terms of values? Do you respect Peter’s character? Can you get a good read on whether he is just telling you what you want to hear in order to stay
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in the relationship, or giving you an honest representation of where he really stands? I understand that you’re afraid of finding out that Peter is lying to you, and that you don’t want to have to deal with ending the relationship. Given the possible ramifications, that makes sense. But do you want to let your fear stop you from keeping your eyes open? When we decide to see things not as they are, but as we wish they were, or tell ourselves that what we see isn’t what we’re seeing, we end up getting hurt. And we do a great disservice to ourselves by discrediting our own internal witness, making it difficult to trust both ourselves and other people. Only you can decide which would be preferable: Living with someone whom you don’t trust to be honest with you, or being alone. CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM
PRESENTS
DEFINITELY NOT BASED ON A MAJOR TELEVISION SHOW. OCTOBER 24, 2026 2PM (ASL), 5PM, & 8PM KEEGAN THEATRE 1742 CHURCH STREET NW TICKETS AND INFO AT GMCW.ORG
D TS AN R O P TS Y ABOU T E E PLA R W A S B E A CA R GAM OTHE
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Wanda Alston Foundation Fall Reception
LGBTQ youth services organization honors Robert White, Japer Bowles, Washington Capitals (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The Wanda Alston Foundation held its Fall Reception at the Penthouse Rooftop at The Wharf on Friday, Sept. 18. Honorees included D.C. Councilmember Robert White, Director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs Japer Bowles, and the Washington Capitals. Rayceen Pendarvis served as the emcee and entertainment was provided by the Thomas Circle Singers.
Walk and 5K to End HIV
Whitman-Walker Health holds 40th annual event (Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Whitman-Walker Health held the 40th annual Walk and 5K to End HIV at Anacostia Park on Saturday, Sept. 19.
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REAL ESTATE
Factors to consider when hiring an interior designer It’s essential to have confidence in the professionals you engage By STATEPOINT MEDIA
(StatePoint) Ready to redesign your home? Whether you have only a vague notion of how you want your spaces to look or a very specific vision, relying on the expertise of a professional can help you bring your dream home to life. Before choosing and hiring an interior designer, though, be sure to take the following factors into consideration: Style: Identify your style. Is it boho chic? Industrial? Maximalist? Many designers have their own signature look and preferences. It’s best to understand what vibe you want first, then search for a designer who aligns with that style. Past client projects: One of the best ways to know whether a particular designer is the right fit for you is to review their past client projects. Ask to see their portfolio or review their finished projects on their website or socials. Also, take a look at reviews and testimonials to ensure their previous customers walked away satisfied with a job well done. Budget: Communicate your budget in advance of work to confirm that you and your designer are on the same
page financially. Your decorator will need this ballpark figure to get a handle on the scope of the project and to make design decisions accordingly. You should also use this conversation to understand their rates so you can decide whether you want to move forward. Preferred vendors: It’s important that the interior designer you choose has preferred vendors that they work with. These are partners they’ve built strong relationships with that provide the same first-rate experience they do, and have streamlined processes in place. “A home renovation has so many moving parts. That’s why we try to take the hassle out of the process for designers and homeowners alike,” says Katie Zess, senior marketing manager and director of Renewal by Andersen’s Interior Designer Loyalty Program. Through the loyalty program, the full-service window and door replacement division of Andersen Corporation offers their program members exclusive access and rewards, including a “designer discount” they can share with
(Photo courtesy of StatePoint)
their clients. Renewal by Andersen also offers designers a dedicated point of contact to ensure a smooth process that’s customized for your project from start to finish. To learn more, visit https://www.renewalbyandersen.com. Before you begin your home renovation, it’s essential to have confidence in the professionals you hire. Be sure your interior designer has fostered partnerships that will streamline your redesign, and that their goals and budget aligns with yours.
The LGBTQ real estate map is being redrawn
Affordability, higher mortgage rates reshaping where we choose to call home By SCOTT HELMS
For decades, the map of LGBTQ+ America was relatively easy to recognize. New York. San Francisco. Los Angeles. Palm Springs. Provincetown. Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors. These communities became LGBTQ+ destinations because they offered something that wasn’t always easy to find elsewhere: visibility, acceptance, community and the freedom to live openly. But that map is changing. Today’s LGBTQ+ homebuyers are navigating a housing market defined by high prices, elevated mortgage rates and affordability challenges. At the same time, remote and hybrid work, retirement and the growth of LGBTQ+ communities beyond traditional destinations are giving buyers more choices about where to live. Increasingly, the question isn’t simply, “Where are the most LGBTQ-friendly places to live?” It’s also: “Where can I find community and afford the life I want?” That shift may become one of the defining LGBTQ+ real estate trends of the coming decade. Affordability Is Changing the Conversation For many buyers, the biggest issue in today’s housing market is simple: the monthly payment. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.95% in mid-September, compared with 6.26% a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac. Meanwhile, the median price of an existing U.S. home reached $429,100 in August, according to the National Association of Realtors. The combination of elevated home prices and higher borrowing costs has changed what many Americans can afford—and where they can afford it. Some buyers are purchasing smaller homes or condominiums. Others are moving farther from major urban centers. Still others are reconsidering expensive markets entirely. For LGBTQ+ buyers, this is helping broaden the definition of an LGBTQ+-friendly place to call home. LGBTQ+ Buyers Have More Choices
A generation ago, relocating away from a major city or established gay neighborhood could sometimes mean sacrificing access to a visible LGBTQ+ community. That’s increasingly less true. Traditional LGBTQ+ destinations such as Palm Springs, Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors, San Francisco, New York and Provincetown remain important centers of LGBTQ+ life. But today, LGBTQ+ buyers can also find established or growing communities in cities across the country. Places such as Minneapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Richmond, Atlanta and the Tampa Bay area are among the markets attracting buyers who may be looking for a different balance of housing costs, lifestyle and community. The goal isn’t necessarily to find the cheapest house. It’s to find the right combination of affordability, LGBTQ+ community, lifestyle, employment opportunities, healthcare, culture and quality of life. Remote and hybrid work have expanded those possibilities for some buyers. If a job no longer requires being in an expensive employment center five days a week, the geographic search for a home can become considerably larger. That can make communities that once seemed impractical suddenly worth considering. Retirement Is Redrawing the Map, Too Retirement is another important part of the changing LGBTQ+ real estate landscape. As more Americans reach retirement age, LGBTQ+ retirees are considering where they want to spend the next chapter of their lives. Housing costs, taxes, healthcare, climate and proximity to airports, restaurants and cultural activities all play a role. But LGBTQ+ retirees may have additional questions. Will I feel comfortable living openly? Is there an LGBTQ+ community nearby? Can I find LGBTQ+-affirming healthcare? Will I have opportunities to build a social network as I get older? Those considerations can make choosing a retirement destination particularly personal. Palm Springs and Fort Lauderdale/Wilton Manors remain
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LGBTQ buyers are looking beyond Palm Springs and other popular queer destinations these days when searching for a forever home. (Photo by photojohn830/Bigstock)
well-known LGBTQ+ retirement destinations. But retirees are also exploring smaller cities and communities across the Southeast, Midwest and other regions where housing costs and lifestyles can look very different. For many, the search is becoming less about moving to a famous gay destination and more about finding a place where community, lifestyle and affordability intersect. Buyers Finally Have More Leverage There is another significant change in today’s housing market: buyers have regained some negotiating power. The National Association of Realtors reported 1.62 million existing homes for sale in August, up 5.9% from a year earlier. That represents approximately 4.9 months of housing supply, the highest level in more than a decade. Realtor.com also reported that 20.4% of active listings had experienced a price reduction in August. That’s a very different environment from the pandemic-era housing market, when buyers in many communities faced bidding wars, waived inspections and offers well above asking price. Depending on the market, today’s buyer may have more time to evaluate a property and greater opportunity to negotiate price, repairs, closing costs or other concessions. CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM Scott Helms is with GayRealEstate.com.
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PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY
CLEANING
LEGAL NOTICE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION 2026 ADM 000904 Gwenever A.Quigley, Name of Decedent
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Notice of Appointment, Notice to Creditors and Notice to Unknown Heirs Darvai Williams, whose address is 654 Hobart Place Northwest, Washington, DC 20001 was appointed Personal Representatives of the estate of Gwenever A. Quigley who died on March 21, 2023 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., 3rd Floor, Washington, DC. 20001, on or before March 18, 2027. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or to the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before March 18, 2027, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Date of first publication: September 18, 2026 Name of Newspaper and/or periodical: Washington Blade /s/ Darvai Williams /s/ Nicole Stevens, Register of Wills.
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