CONTENTS

MARCH 22, 2018 Volume 24 Issue 45

14 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Professor Bonnie J. Morris returns to D.C. with a timely new
book on the history of feminism.

By Randy Shulman

THE VOICE
Long regarded as having one of the greatest voices in the
business, k.d. lang revists the album that assured her legacy
as one of the world’s foremost out pop stars.

By Doug Rule
28
34 GET OUT!
With Unsane, Steven Soderbergh wrings chilling horror
from a frightening premise, and a dumb plot.

By André Hereford

SPOTLIGHT: AMPED FOR ACTION p.7 OUT ON THE TOWN p.11

COMEDY WHIZ: DAVID ALAN GRIER p.12 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: BONNIE MORRIS p.14
THE FEED p.19 COMMUNITY: ANTI-GUN BALL p.21 FORUM: BRANDON WOLF p.25
FORUM: KATE KENDELL p.27 COVER STORY: THE VOICE p.28 K.D. LANG’S 10 BEST SONGS p.31
GALLERY: VIEWFINDERS - 8 PHOTOGRAPHERS p.33 FILM: UNSANE p.34
FILM: ISLE OF DOGS p.35 NIGHTLIFE p.37 SCENE: NUMBER NINE p.37 LISTINGS p.38
SCENE: STOLI KEY WEST COCKTAIL CLASSIC p.44
LAST WORD p.46
Real LGBTQ News and Entertainment since 1994
Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Managing Editor Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editor Doug Rule
Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrator Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers André Hereford,
Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim
Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla
Patron Saint Leonard Cohen Cover Photography Jeri Heiden

Metro Weekly 1775 I St. NW, Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 202-638-6830
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© 2017 Jansi LLC.

4 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 Spotlight
PHOTO COUTESY I.M.P.

Fall Out Boy

Amped for Action

L
IKE ANY REASONABLY-MINDED, CONCERNED PAR- this has to change,” she says. “This is one of those frustratingly
ent of a 17-year-old, Donna Westmoreland is opposed to intractable [issues] where the logic is there, but for some reason,
President Trump’s recent kowtow to the National Rifle politics is keeping it from being resolved. The students are seem-
Association, in which his proposed solution to the gun crisis in ing to break that log jam.”
this country is not a ban on assault weapons or to raise age limits, To support the cause, I.M.P. is presenting “Stay Amped,” a con-
but to arm high school teachers. Trump wants even more guns. cert on Friday, March 23, ahead of Saturday’s March For Our Lives.
“It’s so ridiculous on so many levels, I can’t even,” sighs the Fall Out Boy is headlining the benefit — which will help Everytown
Chief Operating Officer of I.M.P., which owns and operates the for Gun Safety Action Fund and Gabby Giffords’ Courage to Fight
9:30 Club, Merriweather Post Pavilion, and The Anthem, the Gun Violence produce “sibling marches” across the country — and
dazzling, new, 6,000-capacity concert venue on the southwest will be joined by G-Eazy, BeBe Rexha, Lizzo, and Cam, along with
waterfront. “When our son was a child, if there was somebody “surprise superstar guests.” All artists are donating their services.
we didn’t know very well, we would ask ‘Do you have a gun in I.M.P. itself has a long history of producing concerts for social
your home?’ We didn’t want him to go there if they did. So, in a causes, including marriage equality and last year’s women’s
school? No way. No way.” march. “We are unabashedly liberal,” says Westmoreland. “And
Westmoreland is both moved and impressed by the Parkland, we’re a privately-held company. We don’t have to do that cal-
Florida students who are vigorously spearheading a movement culus of ‘What will the shareholders think?’ We feel we should
to deal with the issue of gun reform in a meaningful way. “The support the things that we think are good and right. And so we
students are coming through with a beacon-clear message that do.” —Randy Shulman
Stay Amped is Friday, March 23, at The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $50 to $175. General admission. “Super Excellent Seats,” however, are available and when purchased, a ticket is donated
to a student activist attending the March for Our Lives rally. Tickets available at The Anthem, Merriweather,
or 9:30 Club Box offices and online at theanthemdc.com.

MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 7

 Spotlight
NATIONAL SYMPHONY
ORCHESTRA: VERDI’S REQUIEM
No one brings out all the sweeping drama and passionate
intensity of Verdi’s great masterpiece quite like Gianandrea
Noseda (pictured), a critic in The Guardian noted, saying the
NSO’s Music Director “has Verdi in his system...electric from
start to finish.” The Requiem is an oratorio, an opera, and a
religious work all at once, and to give it full force, the NSO is
joined by the Washington Chorus, the Choral Arts Society of
Washington, and soloists from Washington National Opera’s
Don Carlo — namely, Eric Owens, Russell Thomas, Leah

STEFANO PASQUALETTI
Crocetto, and Veronica Simeoni. Thursday, March 22, at 7
p.m., and Friday, March 23, and Saturday, March 24, at 8 p.m.
Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Tickets are $15 to $109. Call
202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.

HILLWOOD’S FABERGE EGG

FAMILY FESTIVAL
The former estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post
hosts an annual two-day festival in which guests
can take part in a traditional Russian egg-roll-
ing game, decorate their own Fabergé-inspired
egg, take in performances from the Samovar
Russian Folk Music Ensemble and Kalinka
Dance Ensemble, and hear stories of Russian
Easter traditions in a fun family play produced
by Happenstance Theater. All that in addition
to admiring all of the finer things Post collected,
including many exquisite Russian imperial eggs
PHOTO COURTESY OF HILLWOOD

and other fanciful Fabergé creations. You can also

take a tour of Hillwood’s working greenhouse
most days in March, also known as Orchid Month.
Saturday, March 24, and Sunday, March 25, from
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hillwood Estate, 4155 Linnean
Ave. NW. Suggested donation is $18. Call 202-
686-5807 or visit HillwoodMuseum.org.

TRANSLATIONS
British army engineers arrive in 19th-cen-
tury rural Ireland to draw new borders and
translate local place names into the King’s
English in a work dating to 1980 from cele-
brated Irish playwright Brian Friel (Dancing
at Lughnasa). “Born out of a contested cul-
tural moment,” says Studio’s David Muse,
“Friel’s classic about language and all of its
limits will have particular resonance in this
town at this time.” Directed by the compa-
ny’s Belfast-born Associate Artistic Director
Matt Torney and starring Caroline Dubberly,
Megan Graves, Martin Giles, Molly Carden,
Matthew Aldwin McGee, Jeff Keogh, and
Joe Mallon. In previews. Runs to April 22.
TEDDY WOLFF

Metheny Theatre, 14th & P Streets NW. Call

202-332-3300 or visit studiotheatre.org.

8 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 Spotlight
RED BARAAT
WITH ZESHAN B,
WOMEN’S RAGA MASSIVE
Jazz artist Sunny Jain conceived of and leads the
bhangra-rooted party band Red Baraat, an ensemble
returning to D.C. on their annual Festival of Colors
tour. This year’s party, which celebrates spring rites
as well as the South Asian Diaspora in America, also
features as opening acts Zeshan B on Friday, March
23, and Women’s Raga Massive on Saturday, March

RICHARD GASTWIRT
24, both starting at 8 p.m. The Hamilton, 600 14th
St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $25. Call 202-787-1000
or visit thehamiltondc.com.

THE QUEER
QUEENS OF QOMEDY
L.A. comedian Gloria Bigelow (pic-
tured right) headlines a night of “high
octane, high caliber” comedy also
featuring Poppy Champlin (pictured
left) — named America’s Funniest Real
Woman on The Joan Rivers Show —
and Michele Durante. The show is an
official Baltimore Pride event, with
some proceeds benefiting the GLCCB,
Baltimore and Central Maryland’s
GLBT Community Center. Tickets are
$25 for general admission and $40 for
VIP, which includes prefered seating
and a meet and greet before the show

POPPYCOCK PRODUCTIONS
POPPYCOCK PRODUCTIONS

with wine and cheese. Sunday, March

25, at 5 p.m. Magooby’s Joke House,
9603 Deereco Road, Timonium, MD.
Call 410-252-2727 or visit magoobys-
jokehouse.com.

BROOKLYN: THE MUSICAL

The title character in Mark Schoenfeld and
Barri McPherson’s musical is on a journey to
find her father, as told by a group of people
suffering out on the streets led by the Street
Singer. Briana Taylor is Brooklyn and DeCarlo
Raspberry the Street Singer, in a cast also
including Taylor Washington, Amana Leigh
Corbett, Jonathan Helwig, Ashley K. Nicholas,
Topher Williams, and Marika Countouris.
The mostly sung-through show is directed
by Michael Windsor and choreographed by
Patricia “Pep” Targete. To March 31. Ainslie
Arts Center in Episcopal High School, 3900 W.
Braddock Rd., Alexandria. Tickets are $40. Call
RJ PAVEL

703-933-3000 or visit monumentaltheatre.org.

MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 9

MAIKE SCHULZ
Out On The Town

BIG APPLE CIRCUS AT NATIONAL HARBOR

National Harbor is celebrating its 10th anniversary by hosting the Big Apple Circus, now in its 40th year of presenting
shows in a one-ring, intimate, and artistic style, including a full lineup of global artists and acts — but never exotic or wild
animals, only rescue dogs, horses and ponies. From Nik Wallenda and the Flying Wallendas’ seven-person pyramid on
the high wire to daredevil roller skating, a flying trapeze act to a master juggler, contortionist Elayne Kramer to comedian
Grandma the Clown, the nearly two-hour show, directed by Mark Lonergan, has a little something for everyone. To April
1. Intersection of Waterfront Street and St. George Boulevard, National Harbor, Md. Tickets are $27.50, or $109 for VIP
Ringside. Call 855-258-0718 or visit BigAppleCircus.com.

Compiled by Doug Rule
FILM
EASTER PARADE
It might not be top of mind when
you think of Judy Garland classics,
but this 1948 American musical film
directed by Charles Walters is cited
as the most financially successful
for both Garland her co-star Fred
Astaire. Easter Parade, with music
by Irving Berlin, also features some
of the dancing pair’s best-known
songs, from “Stepping’ Out with
My Baby” to the title track. Part
of Landmark’s West End Cinema
Capital Classics weekly screening
series. Wednesday, March 28, at
1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m., 2301 M
St. NW. Happy hour from 4 to 6:30
p.m. Tickets are $10 to $12.50. Call
202-534-1907 or visit landmarkthe-
atres.com.
HOT BITS QUEER EROTIC
FILM AND ARTS FESTIVAL
Now in its second year, this
two-evening festival presents a
range of erotic indie video, soft to
hardcore, as well as performance
and visual arts, all documenting
aspects of queer desire and sex-
uality that stray well beyond the
mainstream commercial porn and
sex industries. A collective of queer
artists curated Hot Bits, which
received over 113 film submissions
from across the U.S., Europe, North
Africa, and Central and South
America. Saturday, March 31, at 8
p.m., and Sunday, April 1, at 7 p.m.
Creative Alliance at the Patterson,
3134 Eastern Ave., Baltimore.
Tickets are $10 in advance, or $13
at the door, or $18 for a festival pass
to both nights. Call 410-276-1651 or
visit creativealliance.org.
MILDRED PIERCE
This hybrid of film noir and “the
women’s picture” allowed Joan
Crawford to reinvent herself as
an independent, career-oriented
woman suffering in great luxury.
“She was a queen at MGM for many
years, and then they kicked her out
very unceremoniously,” says film
critic Nell Minow. “I think a large
part of why that is her best perfor-
mance is that she really was suffer-
ing in real life. She really was very
humiliated. And that comes across
in the role.” The AFI offers another
screening of the 1945 classic, which
garnered Crawford her one and
only Oscar, as part of a series paying
tribute to director Michael Curtiz.
Saturday, March 24, at 11:30 a.m.
AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville
Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $10
to $13 general admission. Call 301-
495-6720 or visit afi.com/Silver.
RA XTRA: Q-MASON
A selection of short films from the
Film and Video Studies program at
George Mason University featur-
ing students telling their LGBTQ
stories. Rayceen Pendarvis of The
Ask Rayceen Show hosts the eve-
ning, ending with a director talk-
back and reception. The lineup of 11
shorts includes: Alisa Posey’s Cope,
a narrative electronic music video
about the struggles of a high school
girl with anxiety and depression,
set to new music by the filmmak-
er; Michael Rose’s Both, a comedy
about a young woman out to prove
to her ex that she is over their rela-

MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 11

 tionship; Haven Houston’s Right
Man, Wrong Time, about “one of
the best mistakes” one could make,
dating someone older than your-
self; Hannah Looney’s Gone, a mod-
ern twist on Bonnie & Clyde with
music by Aylive; Kyle Finnegan’s
Cling Wrap, about a boy and his
mother, coming to the end of her
battle with a terminal illness; and
Jordon Jones’ Grace The Ghost, in
which a recently heartbroken man
is haunted by a not-so-ordinary
ghost. Friday, March 30, at 7 p.m.
HRC Equality Center, 1640 Rhode
Island Ave. NW. Tickets are $12,
or a VIP Pass for $25 in include the
Talkback and Reception plus a com-
plimentary cocktail and popcorn.
Visit thedccenter.org.

RAMEN HEADS
A mouthwatering survey of Japan’s
culinary history, famous restau-
rants, and specialty ingredients,
CLAIRE BUFFIE

filmmaker Koki Shigeno takes

a deep dive into the broth of the
country’s ramen craze. The focus
is on the country’s reigning ramen
king Osamu Tomita, who is seen in
the runup to his restaurant’s 10th

COMEDY WHIZ
anniversary celebration. Opens
Friday, March 23. Landmark’s E
Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Call
202-452-7672 or visit landmarkthe-
atres.com.
Comedian David Alan Grier eases into Arlington Drafthouse
to speak his piece. STAGE

D
ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE,
AVID ALAN GRIER LOVES BRINGING HIS STAND-UP ACT TO THE HORRIBLE, NO GOOD,
nation’s capital. “It’s one of the venues and cities in which there’s a high intellect VERY BAD DAY
and an ability to appreciate, from the audience, intelligent conversation, politi- Cara Gabriel directs a musical adap-
tation of Judith Viorst’s book, doc-
cal, cultural, artistic stuff,” he says.
umenting one day in a boy’s life
Detroit-born and raised, Grier has been performing in and around the District since and the hope for better days ahead.
the early ’90s, during the Emmy-winning heyday of In Living Color, the TV sketch series Christian Montgomery leads a cast
that introduced the multi-talented Yale Drama grad to millions. that also includes Sylvern Groomes
Jr., Sophie Schulman, Tiziano
Of course, before Grier donned a dainty chapeau alongside Damon Wayans in the D’Affuso, Daniel Westbrook, and
show’s iconic “Men On...” sketches, he was a Tony-nominated stage actor for his 1981 Sally Horton as Alexander’s mother.
Broadway debut portraying baseball legend Jackie Robinson in The First. Subsequent To March 31. Adventure Theatre
MTC, 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen
returns to Broadway have brought two further Tony nods, for David Mamet’s Race and
Echo. Tickets are $19.50. Call 301-
for Grier’s perfectly unctuous Sportin’ Life in the 2012 revival of The Gershwins’ Porgy & 634-2270 or visit adventurethe-
Bess. And he delivered a memorable Cowardly Lion on NBC’s live broadcast of The Wiz. atre-mtc.org.
Despite also appearing in countless films and TV series, he always heard the siren
BECOMING DR. RUTH
call of comedy. The stand-up bug bit while he was still at Yale. As Grier made the leap to
Broadway, Eddie Murphy emerged on the stand-up scene. “I was really attracted to that Playwright Mark St. Germain illu-
world,” he says. “There was a lot of energy around comedy and I really wanted to be a minates in ways both poignant
part it. I did a couple of open mikes at Catch a Rising Star and the Improv. There was a and unexpected the remarkable
true story of consummate survi-
sexiness that I clearly saw.” vor Karola Siegel, better known
Grier will arrive at Arlington Drafthouse primed and ready to take on all the crazy to millions as perky sex therapist
that’s happening now, from the “nutty” White House, to his fellow Michigander Betsy and media personality Dr. Ruth
Westheimer. Directed by Holly
DeVos embarrassing herself in a recent 60 Minutes interview. Twyford, the play’s chief vehicle for
“If you wanna call it an interview,” he retorts. “Betsy DeVos was me, many times conveying the reality of this steel-
when I had to get up and give a book report on a book I never read. You hem and haw, willed mother, educator, sex expert,
you say a bunch of bullshit. It was really like watching a kid do an oral exam and they had and ex-paramilitary sniper is the
masterful performance of Naomi
not read the material.” —André Hereford Jacobson, whose rich approxima-
tion captures the famous accent,
directness, and undeniable twinkle
that’s endeared the good doctor to
David Alan Grier appears Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24 at Arlington generations of fans. To March 18.
Drafthouse, 2903 Columbia Pike, Arlington. Tickets are $25. Call (703) 486-2345 Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW. Tickets
or visit arlingtondrafthouse.com. are $39 to $69. Call 202-777-3210 or

12 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

visit theaterj.org. (André Hereford)
EVERY BRILLIANT THING
Developed with actor Jonny
Donohue, Duncan MacMillan’s
unusual one-person play pivots
on interactions with the audience,
collectively examining a child’s
reaction to his depressed moth-
er’s attempted suicide, and helping
build a list of things worth living for.
From the No. 1 item “Ice Cream”
to No. #999, “the Alphabet,” Every
Brilliant Thing is said to elicit as
much laughter as it does tears in
creating its catalog of gratitude.
Jason Loewith directs Alexander
Strain in the Olney Theatre Center
production. Extended to April 1.
Theatre Lab, 2001 Olney-Sandy
Spring Road, Olney, Md. Call 301-
924-3400 or visit olneytheatre.org.
THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS
WSC Avant Bard revives its Helen
Hayes Award-nominated retelling
of the Oedipus tale, a synthesis
of religious parable, Greek trage-
dy, and African-American gospel
revue. William T. Newman, Jr.,
also returns as Preacher Oedipus,
who recounts for his flock the trag-
ic exile of Oedipus the King, now
played by gospel recording artist
Kenton Rogers. They’re joined by
the joyous sounds of the Women’s
Ecumenical Choir of Alexandria’s
Ebenezer Baptist Church. To
March 25. The Gunston Arts
Center, Theatre Two, 2700 South
Lang St. Arlington. Tickets are $10
to $35. Call 703-418-4804 or visit
wscavantbard.org.
COMMUNITY
STAGE
I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT,
NOW CHANGE
A celebration of the mating game
from gay Tony-winning scribe and
lyricist Joe DiPietro (Memphis)
and composer Jimmy Roberts, this
musical comedy revue takes on the
truths and myths behind modern
love and relationships, as presented
in the form of a series of vignettes.
Touted as the second-longest run-
ning musical Off Broadway (after
The Fantasticks), I Love You...
sees a Baltimore community ver-
sion directed by Fuzz Roark, with
Mandee Ferrier Roberts as musical
director and a cast of six taking on
over 30 characters, all in search of
love. Opens Friday, March 23. To
April 22. Spotlighters Theatre, 817
St. Paul St., Baltimore. Tickets are
$18 to $22. Call 410-752-1225 or
visit spotlighters.org.
MOON OVER BUFFALO
Ken Ludwig’s fast-paced screwball
comedy circa 1995, a throwback
farce, is a valentine to the stage,
featuring characters with larger-
than-life personalities. Set in 1953
in Buffalo, Charlotte and George
Hay are the stars of a floundering
touring theater company current-
ly staging repertory productions of
Noel Coward’s Private Lives and
a “revised, one nostril version” of
Cyrano de Bergerac. The Maryland
community theater Laurel Mill
Playhouse offers a production
directed by Larry Simmons. Opens
Friday, March 23. Runs to April 15.
508 Main St., Laurel, Md. Tickets
are $$15 to $20. Call 301-617-9906
or visit laurelmillplayhouse.org.
MUSIC
AIR SUPPLY
Russell Hitchcock is 68 and
Graham Russell is 67, and the two
have been the principal members
of this Australian soft-rock group
for 43 years. Yet based on recent
reviews from concerts elsewhere,
time and age have done little to
slow down Air Supply as a live act.
In fact, lead vocalist Hitchcock can
still sing “in the distinctive tim-
bre that characterized Air Supply’s
music in its heyday,” according to
a review last summer in the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, whose critic
further noted that the duo harmo-
nizes together “as precise as ever.”
For the most part, they’re expected
to follow in Cher’s footsteps when
they hit MGM National Harbor,
keeping the show focused on their
hits, with only occasional dips into
their more recent recorded rep-
ertoire. Wednesday, March 28, at
8 p.m. Theater at MGM National
Harbor, 7100 Harborview Ave.,
Oxon Hill, Md. Tickets are $31 to
$176. Call 844-346-4664 or visit
mgmnationalharbor.com
AKUA ALLRICH
This young jazz vocalist and com-
poser, a D.C. native and Howard
University alum, draws from tra-
ditional, modern, and African jazz
styles while often singing in the
showy, rangy manner of many of
today’s leading soul/pop divas
— when not channeling her idol
Nina Simone. She returns to the
Kennedy Center to showcase her
intriguing pan-African and pan-Af-
rican-American musical blend with
two performances, the first of which
is sold out. Saturday, March 24, at 7
and 9 p.m. Terrace Gallery. Tickets
are $26 to $30. Call 202-467-4600
or visit kennedy-center.org.
AUGUST GREENE
A newly formed supergroup of rap-
per Common, pianist and composer
Robert Glasper, and percussionist
and producer Karriem Riggins, this
trio performs a blend of jazz, hip-
hop, and soul, creating songs that
are highly rhythmic yet smooth and
suave, nearly trance-inducing, med-
itative offerings to help cope while
pushing through the dark for brighter
days. Joining the trio live is Burniss
Travis on bass, Samora Pinderhughes
on vocals and additional keys, and DJ
MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 13
 rights and the portrayal of les-
bians in movies and TV.”
Asked about the current
wave of feminism manifest-
ing through the #MeToo
movement, Morris says, “It is
simply an explosion of being
fed up. These cycles of being
pushed to the snapping point
emerge every so often, and
they’re usually triggered by
some event, which, in the era
of social networking, can gal-
vanize a community instantly,
PHOTO COURTESY OF MORRIS

because one person reports

something on Facebook and
then everybody has access to
it. What shocks me is that only
now did we bring to trial that
gymnastics team doctor who
had been helping himself to

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
little girls for a generation. The
fact that that only emerges so
late speaks to how reluctant
many kids are to talk about
Professor Bonnie J. Morris returns to D.C. with a timely new book the abuse they endured. It’s
on the history of feminism. so shameful, and it’s buried

T
by parents who want them to
HERE’S A GENERAL COARSENESS I ATTRIBUTE TO INTERNET CULTURE AND succeed. There’s always a lag
hate radio,” says Bonnie Morris. “Talk radio became nastier and nastier to induce ratings. in the reportage about what is
Initially it was Rush Limbaugh and his remarks about ‘feminazis.’ I had students coming done to minors.”
to me on the first week of classes saying, ‘Golly, you’re a great professor. I was afraid you’d be a As for Trump, Morris
feminazi.’ They felt completely comfortable using that language to their professor, who’s a Jewish thinks “he’s been dreadful for
woman. The popularization, through talk radio, of let’s put down feminists, resonated with all the everything, but I think con-
people who later became the Tea Party. versations about what’s hap-
“And not only guys,” she continues. “Dr. Laura and Ann Coulter. Those women found that you pening have awakened people
could go as far as you wanted as a powerful female if what you were saying pleased conservative who might have been asleep....
men.” My mother and I are specu-
Morris, a professor at George Washington University for 22 years and now a lecturer in the lating about whether or not
Gender and Women’s Studies Department at UC Berkeley, is discussing how the feminist revolu- the real issue that’s being hid-
tion stalled and, actually, fell into retrograde. den in Russia is paternity and
“We have a generation of kids who were homeschooled in very specific pro-America, anti-fem- whether Trump has fathered
inist rhetoric, who were able to get a law school education through Liberty University run by Jerry kids. That sometimes repels
Falwell and Regents University founded by Pat Robertson. Those are schools that specifically train people once and for all. On
young conservatives to influence Washington, and it’s been very successful.” the other hand, it’s so com-
Morris will be in town this weekend to promote her latest book, The Feminist Revolution: The monplace. Strom Thurmond
Struggle for Women’s Liberation (Smithsonian Books, $34.95), co-authored with D-M Withers. was found to have been paying
“It’s a very wonderful, big hardcover coffee table book, an illustrated social history of second wave child support to a young black
feminism,” says Morris. “It goes from 1966 to 1988 and its nine chapters range from reproductive woman with whom, for all of
rights to women in the anti-war movement, the women’s music movement, which I enjoyed writ- his racism, he fathered a kid.”
ing about, black feminism, publishing, Ms. Magazine, and a big, big, big, big, big section on lesbian —Randy Shulman

Bonnie Morris will sign copies of “The Feminist Revolution” on Sunday, March 25, at the Smithsonian American History Museum
from 1 to 3 p.m., and will appear on Monday, March 26 at 7 p.m. at Politics & Prose (5015 Connecticut Ave. NW)
for a reading and signing. Visit Politics-Prose.com.

Dummy. Thursday, March 29, at 8
p.m. Kennedy Center Concert Hall.
Tickets are $39 to $149. Call 202-467-
4600 or visit kennedy-center.org.
DEAD MEN’S HOLLOW
A pure Americana sound of tight
harmony vocals backed by tradi-
tional bluegrass instrumentation
is what this Washington band aims
for — and achieves, according to a
Washington Post review that praised
the local band’s “blend of the tradi-
tional and the transcendent.” Sadly,
after 17 years together, Dead Men’s
Hollow plans to disband this summer,
and readies a free farewell concert
on the Millennium Stage. Thursday,
March 29, at 6 p.m.
Kennedy Center. Call 202-467-4600 or
visit kennedy-center.org.
DREW KID
As part of its annual Artists-in-
Residence guidance program,
Strathmore presents concerts by the
year’s AIR roster of up-and-coming
artists, including this young Filipino-
American musician who offers his own
take on soul and funk that incorporates
jazz, even hip-hop elements that Kid
has picked up from years of performing
with local acts, including the Capital
Focus Jazz Band and the Bohemian
Caverns Jazz Orchestra. A few years
ago, the Washington City Paper named

14 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 S
I ON
AT
L

“A period play of ideas…

IE
FR

that have haunting resonance

SL

in our own era.”

T T TE IAN

—The New York Times

AN
BR

RN Y
EY
TO D B
DI BY
TR

1833, COUNTY DONEGAL: Languages and histories

C
MA RE

collide when British army engineers arrive to map

A W
NG

the country and translate the country’s place names

PL NO
YI

into English. A modern classic from an Irish master

that reminds us how personal the political can be.

FOR TICKETS CALL 202.332.3300 OR VISIT STUDIOTHEATRE.ORG

 Politics are Brooklyn’s grunge/
punk act Dreamers and L.A.’s indie-
rock band The Wrecks. Monday,
March 26, at 7:30 p.m. Fillmore
Silver Spring, 8656 Colesville Road,
Silver Spring. Tickets are $25. Call
301-960-9999 or visit fillmoresilver-
spring.com.

OF MONTREAL
Despite its name, Of Montreal was
founded and is led by singer-song-
writer/multi-instrumentalist Kevin
Barnes, who is based in the indie-
rock hotbed of Athens, Ga. Barnes
named his five-piece after a woman
he once dated from Montreal. The
odd name hasn’t stopped the eccen-
tric ensemble, whose music is all
over the psychedelic rock map,
from gaining a devoted following.
Of Montreal tours in support of
its 15th studio set, White Is Relic/
Irrealis Mood, a six-track EP of
songs inspired by the extended
dance remixes that first emerged
in the 1980s — and the result is as
strange and baffling as that inspi-
rational source. Mega Bog opens.
Sunday, March 25. Doors at 7 p.m.
9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. Tickets
are $20. Call 202-265-0930 or visit
930.com.

RENÉ MARIE:
TOM MEYER: NARRATIVE VISIONS EXPERIMENT IN TRUTH
The president of Clyde’s Restaurant Group, a Culinary Institute of America alum, has This local Grammy-nominated
cooked up something wholly unexpected with his latest project. And it’s one that has vocalist swings with verve and
esseone that has nothing to do with food. In his spare time, Meyer has been studiously sings with the spirit of Eartha Kitt,
as well as jazz’s pioneering lead-
brushing up on his strokes and blobs as he steps closer attempting creating a personal uni- ing ladies, from Ella Fitzgerald to
verse of ghosts, devils, aliens, and demons flirting with everyday objects, animated trees, Dinah Washington. Unlike many
and an array of animals. All of that is on display in the self-taught painter’s first exhibition of her jazz contemporaries, how-
ever, Marie isn’t just putting her
of his artwork at a gallery in Georgetown. Now to April 7. Addison/Ripley Fine Art, 1670 spin on other songwriters’ songs,
Wisconsin Ave. NW. Call 202-338-5180 or visit addisonripleyfineart.com. or American Songbook standards.
In fact, Marie garnered a nod from
the Grammys in 2016 for Sound of
Red, a Best Jazz Vocal Album con-
Rebirth, an album Kid recorded as “All I Need Is A Miracle,” “Living over a decade ago by a strings man tender featuring mostly originals.
leader of the Oooh Child Ensemble, Years” — and has remained an off- himself, violinist Leonid Sushansky. And Marie draws inspiration from
to its Best Local Music of 2015 list. again/on-again act ever since, with A reception follows the perfor- folk in tackling social issues via her
Wednesday, March 28, at 7:30 p.m. Let Me Fly, the band’s 8th album mance. Saturday, March 24, at 7:30 songwriting, as evidenced on two
The Mansion at Strathmore, 10701 featuring all-new material — most p.m. Unitarian Universalist Church of her better known originals: the
Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. of it even decent to good — released of Arlington, 4444 Arlington Blvd. homelessness-themed “This Is Not
Tickets are $17. Call 301-581-5100 just last year. Interestingly, only Tickets are $18 to $36. Call 703- A Protest Song” and “Three Nooses
or visit strathmore.org. Rutherford remains from the orig- 276-6701 or visit nationalchamber- Hanging,” about racial tensions in
inal lineup, and in 2010 he intro- ensemble.org. Louisiana. Marie next performs on
GLEN HANSARD duced an entirely new incarnation the University of Maryland campus
The Irish singer-songwriter got his with two new vocalists, Andrew NEW POLITICS as presented by the Clarice at a near-
start in the group The Frames but Roachford and Tim Howar, plus The Danish punk-pop trio featuring by, affiliated venue, the hybrid cam-
is best known for his work with guitarist Anthony Drennan, key- David Boyd on lead vocals and gui- pus/community arts venue MilkBoy
Czech musician Marketa Irglova in boardist Luke Juby, and drummer tar, Soren Hansen on bass, and Lluis ArtHouse that also features a cafe
duo The Swell Season, which led to Gary Wallis. It’s those six that carry Vecchio on drums, whips punk, and craft bar. Thursday, March 29,
his Tony-winning score for Once. on the torch today. Tuesday, March pop, and dance-rock into a frenzy at 7 and 9 p.m. 7416 Baltimore Ave.,
Hansard tours in support of his third 27, at 7:30 p.m. The Birchmere, 3701 that certainly isn’t anything novel. College Park, Md. Tickets are $10 to
solo outing, Between Two Shores. Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. For example, all throughout Lost $30. Call 240-623-1423 or visit milk-
Saturday, March 24. Doors at 6:30 Tickets are $45. Call 703-549-7500 In Translation, the band’s fourth set boyarthouse.com.
p.m. The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. or visit birchmere.com. released last year, you hear echoes
Tickets are $35 to $75. Call 202-888- of other Nordic rock acts, from SAN FERMIN
0020 or visit theanthemdc.com. NATIONAL CHAMBER ENSEMBLE Sweden’s The Sounds to fellow Named after the famous annual
Brahms’ dramatic String Sextet No. Danes The Raveonettes, as well as “Running of the Bulls” festival in
MIKE + THE MECHANICS 2 and Mendelssohn’s vigorous Octet Neon Trees, Mika, and that ultimate Pamplona, Spain, the nine-piece
Mike Rutherford initially formed in E-Flat Major are considered two touchstone Queen, the latter most New York band creates eclectic,
his group as a side project while of the greatest Romantic works fea- prominently on quirky single “One eccentric — and sometimes just
waiting out the hiatuses from his turing the lush sounds of strings. Of Us.” It’s the type of boisterous plain weird — chamber pop (or
main gig as a founding member of They’re also the focus of the Spring jam you can’t deny or resist, or dis- “Baroque pop”) similar to that of
Genesis. The Mechanics scored a “Strings Fever” concert from this miss. And with tunes this catchy, hipster-darlings Vampire Weekend,
string of hits in its first few years — Arlington-based group founded who needs novel? Opening for New as well as Antony and the Johnsons.

16 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

Founded and led by composer
Ellis Ludwig-Leone, the diverse
DANCE
group features two lead vocalists,
CHRISTOPHER K. MORGAN
Charlene Kaye and Allen Tate,
& ARTISTS
plus trumpet player John Brandon,
Contemporary dance company per-
saxophonist Stephen Chen, vio-
forms a wide-ranging, mixed-rep-
linist Rebekah Durham, drummer
ertory program for its debut as a
Michael Hanf, and guitarists Tyler
Dance Place Resident Company,
McDiarmid and Aki Ishiguro. San
with the first evening including a
Fermin tours in support of its third
post-show After Party reception
album Belong, which has only got-
honoring the group’s namesake
ten better with additional listens
leader and his new role as Dance
since its release last year. Friday,
Place’s artistic director. Morgan’s
March 30, at 8 p.m. The Barns at
solo work Unpredictable Repeat
Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road, Vienna.
Hesitation opens the program put-
Tickets are $25 in advance, or $30
ting the audience in charge of the
day-of. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or
score — and of Morgan’s dancing.
visit wolftrap.org.
The program also includes: the
world premiere of Tiffanie Carson’s
THE SOUL REBELS BRASS BAND
B.U.G. – [Backlight. Uplight. Glare.],
FEAT. GZA & TALIB KWELI
set to an original score played live
An eight-piece brass band from New
by Wytold; Adriane Fang’s pow-
Orleans, the Soul Rebels draw from
erhouse duet Conflict Resolution,
jazz, funk, rock, soul, and increas-
staged on Morgan and guest per-
ingly hip-hop to create an origi-
former Alex Springer; and Morgan’s
nal musical blend that sounds just
Inconstancy, a lighthearted look
perfect when performed at bois-
at relationships and the notion of
terous, party-like live shows. In the
greener pastures just beyond them,
past decade, the Soul Rebels have
with an original score by David
become a higher-profile act due
Schulman. Saturday, March 24, at
to touring and supporting artists
8 p.m., and Sunday, March 25, at 7
as varied as Green Day and Bruno
p.m. Dance Place, 3225 8th St. NE.
Mars, Metallica and Trombone
Tickets are $25 in advance, or $30
Shorty, plus an increasing number
at the door, or $75 for the Saturday
of rappers, including the social-
“Toast Christopher!” After Party.
ly conscious Kweli and Wu-Tang
Call 202-269-1600 or visit dan-
Clan’s GZA. It was two years ago
ceplace.org.
at Michigan’s Electric Forest
Festival that the two hip-hop art-
MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP
ists first collaborated on stage with
A Kennedy Center co-commis-
the band — consisting of found-
sion based on a tragic, ancient
ing members and percussionists
Azerbaijani tale akin to Romeo and
Lumar LeBlanc and Derrick Moss,
Juliet, Layla and Majnun centers
with trumpet players Julian Gosin
on a young man’s zealous feelings
and Marcus Hubbard, trombonists
for his lover, and how his perceived
Corey Peyton and Paul Robertson,
madness turns their would-be
saxophonist Erion Williams, and
union into scandal, misfortune, and
sousaphonist Manuel Perkins Jr.
eternal longing. The dancers from
All Good presents what is sure to
this acclaimed gay-led contempo-
be a rousing local show. Thursday,
rary troupe perform with singers
March 29. Doors at 7 p.m. 9:30 Club,
and musicians from virtuosic pan-
815 V St. NW. Tickets are $25. Call
Asian group the Silkroad Ensemble,
202-265-0930 or visit 930.com.
backdropped by a set from painter
Howard Hodgkin. Thursday, March
22, and Friday, March 23, at 7:30
p.m., and Saturday, March 24, at 1:30
and 7:30 p.m. Opera House. Tickets
are $29 to $99. Call 202-467-4600 or
visit kennedy-center.org.

MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 17

 Tickets are $20 online, or $25 at
the door. Call 202-293-1887 or visit
prettyboidrag.com.

ABOVE
AND BEYOND
DR. RUTH AT THEATER J’S
2018 ANNUAL BENEFIT
Theater J welcomes the real-life
inspiration and subject of its latest
play Becoming Dr. Ruth, the one
and only Dr. Ruth Westheimer. The
groundbreaking sex therapist will
reflect on her life and career as
a trailblazing broadcast personali-
ty offering a refreshing — and still
rather rare — sex-positive outlook
in the mainstream, in a conversa-
tion with Georgetown University
professor and best-selling author
PAUL KLONIK

Deborah Tannen (You Just Don’t

Understand). The evening will
also honor prominent D.C. trial
lawyer Hank Schlosberg for his 15
years helping to guide Theater J,
NEW YORK CITY BALLET including 11 years on the Theater J
Council. Sunday, March 25, at 6 p.m.
The acclaimed company brings two distinct programs for this year’s annual visit to the Washington Hebrew Congregation,
Kennedy Center, and accompanied throughout the run by the Kennedy Center Opera 3935 Macomb St. NW. Tickets are
House Orchestra. First comes Works by Balanchine, Martins & Peck, featuring three clas- $300, including a meal sponsored
by Provisions Catering. Call 202-
sic works by the company’s George Balanchine, including Divertimento No. 15, a work 777-3210 or visit theaterj.org.
for 16 dancers set to Mozart’s score that Balanchine considered the finest ever written.
The first program also features Peter Martins’ Zakouski, plus a new work from Resident NATIONAL CHERRY BLOSSOM
FESTIVAL
Choreographer and Soloist Justin Peck, Pulcinella Variations. Tuesday, March 27, through The Tidal Basin should be ringed
Thursday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m. Opera House. The second program is an all-Robbins in pink-hued blossoms next week
affair, celebrating the centennial of Jerome Robbins, the company’s co-founding chore- and weekend, per the National
ographer and still one of its most influential dance-makers. The evening nods as well to Park Service’s prediction of when
the cherry trees will reach peak
the centennial of Leonard Bernstein, chiefly through the frequent collaborators’ first-ever bloom (March 27-31). The annu-
work together, the ballet Fancy Free, which would go on to inspire the musical On The al four-week festival official-
Town. Robbins’ postmodern dance elements set to Philip Glass and his quartet of frolic- ly kicks off this weekend with
the Opening Ceremony concert,
some divertissements to Verdi’s The Four Seasons round out the program. Friday, March pushed back a day so as not to
30, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 31, at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 1, at 1:30 p.m. interfere with the March for Our
Opera House. Tickets are $29 to $99. Call 202-467-4600 or visit kennedy-center.org. Lives. This year’s concert features
musical performances by Japanese
pop stars T.M.Revolution (also a
Japanimation composer) and Akiko

READINGS bring the now-iconic cherry blos-

CASS SUNSTEIN
W/BENJAMIN WITTES:
CAN IT HAPPEN HERE?
Benjamin Wittes of the Brookings
Institution will lead a conversation
with the acclaimed legal scholar,
Harvard Professor, and New York
Times best-selling author and
focused on Sunstein’s latest book,
a thought-provoking collection of
essays, from some of the nation’s
leading thinkers, assessing the state
and security of American democra-
cy in the era of Trump. Thursday,
March 29, at 6 p.m. Kramerbooks,
1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. Tickets,
including one book, are $25. Call
202-387-1400 or visit kramers.com.
CHASING CHERRY BLOSSOMS:
ELIZA SCIDMORE
The first female writer, photogra-
pher, and board member at National
Geographic also led the effort to
soms from Japan to the National
Mall. The heroine is the subject
of the first book in a new discus-
sion series called From The Archive.
National Geographic photo archi-
vist Sara Manco shares Scidmore’s
trailblazing story through archival
images, while local stage actress
Anne Stone brings the story to life
through dramatic readings of her
books. Thursday, March 29, at 7:30
p.m. National Geographic Society’s
Gilbert H. Grosvenor Auditorium,
1600 M St. NW. Tickets are $25.
Call 202-857-7700 or visit events.
nationalgeographic.org/dc.
DRAG FUN
SHAW’S TAVERN:
DINNER-N-DRAG, SERVED!
Sometimes you’re dragging and
you just can’t make it to brunch.
And sometimes you want a regular,
more traditional kind of meal — you
know, at night, over wine. Well,
these days, you can have just that
Yano (also a renowned jazz artist),
D.C.-based Japanese drumming
with one of D.C.’s leading ladies of group Miyako Taiko, and the 6821
Quintet, a group of world-class
drag. Every Sunday night at Shaw’s
musicians, part of the Potomac
Tavern, Kristina Kelly hosts a show
Music-Lab Project and named
over supper with half-priced bot-
for the mileage distance between
tles of wine and different dinner
Tokyo and D.C., which will pre-
specials each week. Seating at 7
mier a specially composed piece.
p.m., show at 8 p.m. 520 Florida
An additional performance comes
Ave. NW. Reservations required via
from the Shodo Girls from Fukuoka
shawsdinnerdragshow@gmail.com.
Prefectural Yahata Chuo High
Call 202-518-4092 or visit shaw-
School, who won the 10th Annual
stavern.com.
“Shodo Performance Koshien”
competition as both the sharpest
PRETTY BOI DRAG:
dancers and most innovative callig-
PRETTYBOIDECADES
raphy artists — based on the large,
Founded two years ago by former
dynamic work of calligraphy they
DC King Pretty Rik E, this troupe of
created on the spot, during the
drag kings offers a tribute to “boi”
dance. Sunday, March 25, from 5
bands and pop stars from the ’50s
p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Warner Theatre,
on into today, plus a whole lot of
the rock, funk, disco, R&B, and hip- 513 13th St. NW. Free, but advanced
tickets required. l
hop that came in between. Sunday,
March 25, from 2 to 5 p.m. Bier
Baron Tavern, 1523 22nd St. NW.

18 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 theFeed
BLOCK PARTY
Want to see who blocked you on Grindr? Here’s how. By Bailey Vogt
A
LOCAL DEVELOPER IS GETTING ATTENTION
for a website that allows Grindr users to see who
has blocked them. C*ckBlocked lets Grindr users
input their username and password, and then displays
the profiles that have blocked them from view — data not
accessible through the standard Grindr app. Trever Faden,
who currently runs a real estate tech company in the D.C.
area, created the application in his spare time after recently
becoming single.
“I downloaded Grindr, and as soon as I downloaded it
and I opened it up, I realized, ‘Wow, there’s a lot of really
interesting data here,’” he says.
Faden found that when the block feature is used, both the
people they have blocked and the people that have blocked
them are stored within a user’s profile. While inaccessible
through the app itself, it can be detected within the code of
Grindr.
“[Grindr blocking data] returns two lists — the profile IDs
of the people that you’ve blocked, and then a list of people
that you’ve been blocked by. I thought that was interesting
because it makes sense that you would be able to see a list of
all the people that you’ve blocked.”
Faden then created C*ckBlocked, which takes the hidden
information and visualizes it, by latching into Grindr’s pri-
vate APIs. Since launching last week, the website has already
had 30,000 users check to see who has blocked their profile.
Faden has been tracking its spread on social media, and says
his creation has led to some interesting stories.
INDEFENSIBLE BIGOTRY
Republican Congressman believed same-sex marriage would cause gay people
to marry “everybody in California with AIDS.” By Rhuaridh Marr
R
EPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN STEVE PEARCE
once said that same-sex marriage would lead to peo-
ple marrying “everybody in California with AIDS” to
obtain health insurance benefits for them.
Pearce, who also thought marriage equality would lead
to “polymorphism,” made the comments in 2008, but they
were recently uncovered by Huffington Post. After saying he
would “not have the government tell anybody how to live
their life,” Pearce then launched into a tirade about why the
government should refuse to allow same-sex people to marry.
“What’s going on with gay marriage is...the redefining of
a social institution. And the redefinition has serious down-
side results,” Pearce said at an event in Carrizozo, New
Mexico. “The next step then is polymorphism, where one
marries many.” (We presume Pearce meant polygamy.)
Pearce also believed that same-sex marriage would lead
“I’ve heard people say, ‘Oh, I’ve seen my significant other
on here that said he wasn’t on the app,’” he says. “I also saw
somebody who said they noticed someone who infected
them with HIV and still isn’t declaring their status, and
blocked their profile on Grindr.”
As tempting as it may be to discover exactly who has
blocked your profile, some have expressed concern about
what Faden is doing with their login information. The devel-
oper says he does not have access to anything more than the
user’s email.
“Instead of me having to let you store your password on
your computer in clear text, you can store an authentication
token,” Faden says. “You’re the only person who has the
keys. It’s you and Grindr. I’m just a guy in the middle kind of
throwing things on both sides.”
If a Grindr user wants to learn who has shielded them
from view, Faden suggest they do it quickly, as his website
may lose accessibility soon.
“I would imagine they will try to shut me down very
quickly,” he says. “They could just block that traffic, so
that way nobody could use the app that I built, because if a
request tries to go out from the server, it will just basically
block it.“
Faden says he might poke around in other dating service
apps to see whether C*ckBlocked will work.
“I’ve gotten a lot of requests to see if there are other apps
that have similar vulnerabilities in some way,” he says. “I’ll
probably download and give them a shot, and so we’ll see.” l
to insurance fraud, with healthy single gay people marrying
others to pass on their insurance benefits.
“You can imagine that a person would say, ‘Oh all these
people in California don’t have access to AIDS treatments.’
... They might say this to themselves: ‘I’m gonna marry
everybody in California with AIDS,’ and suddenly they’ve
got access to the, maybe the benefit program, the health
insurance that a single person has,” Pearce said.
HuffPo reached out to Pearce’s spokeswoman, Keeley
Christensen, who not only confirmed that he still doesn’t
like same-sex marriage, but also didn’t distance Pearce from
his belief that marriage would lead to insurance fraud.
“Congressman Pearce believes the government should not
be involved in redefining marriage. He personally believes
marriage is between a man and a woman,” Christensen told
Huffington Post. “The issue, however, is settled law.” l
MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 19
 theFeed
BOOK OF LOVE
John Oliver has turned Mike Pence’s rabbit into
a gay children’s book character. By Rhuaridh Marr
A
RE YOU AWARE OF BOTUS? MARLON BUNDO,
Bunny of the United States, is the Second Family’s
pet rabbit — meaning he belongs to anti-gay Vice
President Mike Pence. He is also the star of a new children’s
book, Marlon Bundo’s Day in the Life of the Vice President,
which sees BOTUS follow VPOTUS on a typical day of (we
presume) dreaming about hanging gay people and trying to
get his extreme conservative platform onto Donald Trump’s
desk. However, there’s nothing intrinsically awful about a
cute children’s book, even if it’s from the family of a man
who believes in conversion therapy and opposes same-sex
marriage, right?
Wrong. As John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight team discov-
ered, part of the book’s nationwide tour will see it stop at
anti-LGBTQ organization Focus on the Family in Colorado.
“Congrats Pence, you even managed to ruin Marlon
Bundo,” Oliver said during the segment. “Now none of us
can enjoy a book about your rabbit.
“Or can we?” Oliver added, revealing that — in a coin-
cidence, we’re assured — his team has also written a book
about Pence’s bunny. The twist? Their Marlon Bundo is a
20 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
“story about Marlon Bundo falling in love with another boy
rabbit, because our Marlon Bundo is gay — just like the real
Marlon Bundo.”
Yes, Last Week Tonight writer Jill Twiss has penned a
children’s book where the vice president’s beloved pet rab-
bit is gay. A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, as its website
notes, is “for every bunny who has ever felt different.” It
follows Marlon as he meets the aforementioned boy bunny,
plans to spend the rest of his life with him, and then encoun-
ters an evil stinkbug who objects to their love — one who
just happens to look like the vice president.... And if you
need this story to get even more delectable, there’s also an
audiobook read by Jim Parsons, with special guests includ-
ing Jesse Tyler Ferguson and RuPaul.
The real kicker? Proceeds from the book will go to the
Trevor Project, a crisis hotline for LGBTQ youth, and AIDS
United, which is working to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in
America.
“Those are two great reasons to buy this book,” Oliver
said. “Another is that selling more books than Pence will
probably really piss him off.” l
 Community
THURSDAY, March 22
The DC ANTI-VIOLENCE
PROJECT, a group dedicated
to combating anti-LGBT hate
crimes, holds its monthly meet-
ing at The DC Center. 7-8:30
p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite
105. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.

The Latinx Coalition holds a

workshop on healing communi-
ty through the arts, with artist
Xemiyulu Manibusan, who
WARD MORRISON / FILE PHOTO

will lead participants through

an interactive art-making
workshop as they consider the
question: WHAT DOES TRANS
LATINX JUSTICE LOOK LIKE?
The workshop will focus on
issues important to trans and
intersex people of color. 6-7:30
p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite
Hoffmann as Barbara Comstock at the 2017 High Heel Race 105. For more information, call
202-682-2245 or visit thedc-

ANTI-GUN BALL
center.org.

Weekly Events

ANDROMEDA
The second annual GAG Ball is aiming to topple NRA-funded TRANSCULTURAL HEALTH
representative, Barbara Comstock. offers free HIV testing and HIV
services (by appointment). 9

B
a.m.-5 p.m. Decatur Center,
ARBARA COMSTOCK HAS BEEN IN TOPHER HOFFMANN’S 1400 Decatur St. NW. To
proverbial crosshairs for a while. Last year, the activist even dressed as arrange an appointment, call
202-291-4707, or visit androm-
Comstock for the High Heel Race, in order to call attention to the Virginia
edatransculturalhealth.org.
Republican’s robust financial support from the National Rifle Association.
“Comstock ranks number ten in the House of Representatives for career dona- DC AQUATICS CLUB practice
tions, and has been a target of ours for a while,” he says. “That’s why, at this year’s session at Takoma Aquatic
Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van
GAG Ball, we’ll be raising money to help unseat her.” Buren St. NW. For more infor-
Born in the aftermath of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, the annual GAG Ball, mation, visit swimdcac.org.
now in its second year, raises awareness about gun violence. This year, however,
the ball’s theme is specifically focused on toppling Comstock in November’s mid- DC FRONT RUNNERS run-
ning/walking/social club
term elections. welcomes runners of all ability
So while attendees are either dancing or watching over-the-top performances levels for exercise in a fun and
from drag queens and other entertainers, they’ll be helping GAG raise money to supportive environment, with
socializing afterward. Route
fund various demonstrations, as well as the production of an online video series distance is 3-6 miles. Meet at
this summer that will educate voters about Comstock’s vehement opposition to 7 p.m. at 23rd & P Streets NW.
gun reform. For more information, visit
dcfrontrunners.org.
“One of the things I like about GAG DC’s mission...is to ‘Name, Blame and
Shame,’” says Otter Den promoter David Brown, who is partnering with Gays DC LAMBDA SQUARES, D.C.’s
Against Guns to produce the event. “So calling out and talking about who’s doing gay and lesbian square-dancing
what, the direct actions they’re taking related to gun violence, and communicating group, features mainstream
through advanced square
that to their constituents.” dancing at the National City
Hoffmann says Brown’s tradition of holding “parties with a purpose” dovetails Christian Church. Please dress
nicely with GAG’s style of activism, which has included headline-generating “die- casually. 7-9:30 p.m. 5 Thomas
Circle NW. 202-930-1058,
ins” and other symbolic protests on Capitol Hill and in front of the headquarters of
dclambdasquares.org.
some of the NRA’s top corporate sponsors.
“GAG is a descendant of ACT UP, so we’re all about raising awareness and DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds
causing a ruckus,” says Hoffmann. “We take queer theater tactics to the streets to practice. The team is always
looking for new members. All
draw a lot of attention to issues we care about. And that’s what we’ll be doing this welcome. 7:30-9:30 p.m. King
summer.” —John Riley Greenleaf Recreation Center,
201 N St. SW. For more infor-
mation, visit scandalsrfc.org or
The second annual GAG Ball is Saturday, March 31 from 6 to 10 p.m. at The Living dcscandals@gmail.com.
Room DC, 1008 Vermont Ave. NW. Tickets are $10 if purchased online before Mar.
THE DULLES TRIANGLES
24, and $15 if purchased afterwards or at the door. Visit gagballdc.com. Northern Virginia social group

MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 21

 meets for happy hour at Sheraton
in Reston. All welcome. 7-9 p.m.
11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, sec-
ond-floor bar. For more informa-
tion, visit dullestriangles.com.
HIV TESTING at Whitman-Walker
Health. 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and from
2-5 p.m. at 1525 14th St. NW, and
9 a.m-12 p.m. and 2-5 p.m. at the
Max Robinson Center, 2301 MLK
Jr. Ave. SE. For an appointment
call 202-745-7000 or visit whit-
man-walker.org.
IDENTITY offers free and confi-
dential HIV testing at two separate
locations. Walk-ins accepted from
2-6 p.m., by appointment for all
other hours. 414 East Diamond Ave.,
Gaithersburg, Md. or 7676 New
Hampshire Ave., Suite 411, Takoma
Park, Md. To set up an appoint-
ment or for more information, call
Gaithersburg, 301-300-9978, or
Takoma Park, 301-422-2398.
METROHEALTH CENTER
offers free, rapid HIV testing.
Appointment needed. 1012 14th
St. NW, Suite 700. To arrange an
appointment, call 202-638-0750.
SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-5
p.m., by appointment and walk-in,
for youth 21 and younger. Youth
Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-567-
3155 or testing@smyal.org.
STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker
Health. 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2-3
p.m. at both 1525 14th St. NW and
the Max Robinson Center, 2301
Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE.
Testing is intended for those with-
out symptoms. For an appointment
call 202-745-7000 or visit whit-
man-walker.org.
US HELPING US hosts a Narcotics
Anonymous Meeting. The group
is independent of UHU. 6:30-7:30
p.m., 3636 Georgia Ave. NW. For
more information, call 202-446-
1100.
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP
INSTITUTE for young LBTQ
women, 13-21, interested in lead-
ership development. 5-6:30 p.m.
SMYAL Youth Center, 410 7th St.
SE. For more information, call 202-
567-3163, or email catherine.chu@
smyal.org.
FRIDAY, March 23
GAMMA is a confidential, volun-
tary, peer-support group for men
who are gay, bisexual, questioning
and who are now or who have been
in a relationship with a woman.
7:30-9:30 p.m. Luther Place
Memorial Church, 1226 Vermont
Ave NW. GAMMA meetings are
also held in Vienna, Va., and in
Frederick, Md. For more informa-
tion, visit gammaindc.org.
22 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
The DC Center holds its CENTER
AGING MONTHLY LUNCH social
for members of D.C.’s senior com-
munity. 12-2 p.m. 2000 14th St.
NW, Suite 105. For more informa-
tion, visit thedccenter.org or call
202-682-2245.
WOMEN IN THEIR TWENTIES
(AND THIRTIES), a social discus-
sion and activity group for queer
women, meets at The DC Center
on the second and fourth Friday of
each month. Group social activity
to follow the meeting. 8-9:30 p.m.
2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105. For
more information, visit thedccen-
ter.org.
Weekly Events
BET MISHPACHAH, founded by
members of the LGBT community,
holds Friday evening Shabbat ser-
vices in the DC Jewish Community
Center’s Community Room. 8 p.m.
1529 16th St. NW. For more infor-
mation, visit betmish.org.
DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-
tice session at Howard University.
6:30-8 p.m. Burr Gymnasium, 2400
6th St. NW. For more information,
visit swimdcac.org.
PROJECT STRIPES hosts LGBT-
affirming social group for ages
11-24. 4-6 p.m. 1419 Columbia Road
NW. Contact Tamara, 202-319-
0422, layc-dc.org.
SMYAL’S REC NIGHT provides a
social atmosphere for LGBT and
questioning youth, featuring dance
parties, vogue nights, movies and
games. For more info, email cather-
ine.chu@smyal.org.
SATURDAY, March 24
Join The DC Center as it vol-
unteers for FOOD & FRIENDS,
packing meals and groceries for
people living with serious ailments.
10 a.m.-noon. 219 Riggs Rd. NE.
Near the Fort Totten Metro. For a
ride from the Metro, call the Food
& Friends shuttle at 202-669-6437.
For more information, visit thedc-
center.org or foodandfriends.org.
The DC Center holds a
VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION
for those interested in helping
out at The DC Center, especial-
ly as a Support Desk volunteer.
Operations Manager Chris
Rothermel will lead the training.
Registration is required and the
training is limited to 20 partici-
pants. 12-2 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW,
Suite 105. For more information,
visit chris@thedccenter.org.
Weekly Events
DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a prac-
tice session at Montgomery College
Aquatics Club. 8:30-10 a.m. 7600
Takoma Ave., Takoma, Md. For
more information, visit swimdcac.
org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS running/
walking/social club welcomes run-
ners of all ability levels for exercise
in a fun and supportive environ-
ment, with socializing afterward.
Route distance will be 3-6 miles.
Walker meet at 9:30 a.m. and run-
ners at 10 a.m. at 23rd & P Streets
NW. For more information, visit
dcfrontrunners.org.
DIGNITYUSA sponsors Mass for
LGBT community, family and
friends. 6:30 p.m., Immanuel
Church-on-the-Hill, 3606 Seminary
Road, Alexandria. All welcome. For
more info, visit dignitynova.org.
SUNDAY, March 25
CHRYSALIS arts & culture group
travels to Richmond to see exhi-
bition on “The Horse in Ancient
Greek Art” at the Virginia Museum
of Fine Arts. Lunch in nearby
Carytown neighborhood. Carpool
at 9 a.m. from the King Street
Metro Station in Alexandria.
Drivers needed. For more informa-
tion, contact Craig, 202-462-0535
or craighowell1@verizon.net.
Weekly Events
BETHEL CHURCH-DC progressive
and radically inclusive church
holds services at 11:30 a.m. 2217
Minnesota Ave. SE. 202-248-1895,
betheldc.org.
DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a
practice session at Wilson Aquatic
Center. 9:30-11 a.m. 4551 Fort Dr.
NW. For more information, visit
swimdcac.org.
DC FRONT RUNNERS running/
walking/social club welcomes run-
ners of all ability levels for exercise
in a fun and supportive environ-
ment, with socializing afterward.
Route will be a distance run of 8, 10
or 12 miles. Meet at 9 a.m. at 23rd
& P Streets NW. For more informa-
tion, visit dcfrontrunners.org.
DIGNITYUSA offers Roman
Catholic Mass for the LGBT
community. All welcome. Sign
interpreted. 6 p.m. St. Margaret’s
Church, 1820 Connecticut Ave.
NW. For more info, visit dignity-
washington.org.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
welcomes all to 10:30 a.m. service,
945 G St. NW. firstuccdc.org or
202-628-4317.
HOPE UNITED CHURCH OF
CHRIST welcomes GLBT commu-
nity for worship. 10:30 a.m., 6130
Old Telegraph Road, Alexandria.
hopeucc.org.
HSV-2 SOCIAL AND SUPPORT
GROUP for gay men living in the
DC metro area. This group will be
meeting once a month. For infor-
mation on location and time, visit
H2gether.com.
Join LINCOLN
CONGREGATIONAL TEMPLE –
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST for
an inclusive, loving and progressive
faith community every Sunday. 11
a.m. 1701 11th Street NW, near R in
Shaw/Logan neighborhood. lincol-
ntemple.org.
METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY
CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, D.C.
services at 9 a.m. (ASL interpret-
ed) and 11 a.m. Children’s Sunday
School at 11 a.m. 474 Ridge St. NW.
202-638-7373, mccdc.com.
RIVERSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH,
a Christ-centered, interracial,
welcoming-and-affirming church,
offers service at 10 a.m. 680 I St.
SW. 202-554-4330, riversidedc.org.
UNITARIAN CHURCH OF
ARLINGTON, an LGBTQ welcom-
ing-and-affirming congregation,
offers services at 10 a.m. Virginia
Rainbow UU Ministry. 4444
Arlington Blvd. uucava.org.
UNIVERSALIST NATIONAL
MEMORIAL CHURCH, a welcom-
ing and inclusive church. GLBT
Interweave social/service group
meets monthly. Services at 11 a.m.,
Romanesque sanctuary. 1810 16th St.
NW. 202-387-3411, universalist.org.
MONDAY, March 26
Weekly Events
DC AQUATICS CLUB holds a
practice session at Dunbar Aquatic
Center. 7:30-9 p.m. 101 N St. NW.
For more information, visit swim-
dcac.org.
GETEQUAL meets 6:30-8 p.m. at
Quaker House, 2111 Florida Ave.
NW. For more information, email
getequal.wdc@gmail.com.
STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker
Health. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at both 1525
14th St. NW and the Max Robinson
Center, 2301 Martin Luther King,
Jr. Ave. SE. Testing is intended for
those without symptoms. For an
appointment call 202-745-7000 or
visit whitman-walker.org.
The DC Center hosts COFFEE
DROP-IN FOR THE SENIOR LGBT
COMMUNITY. 10 a.m.-noon. 2000
14th St. NW. For more information,
call 202-682-2245 or visit thedc-
center.org.
US HELPING US hosts a black gay
men’s evening affinity group for
GBT black men. Light refreshments
provided. 7-9 p.m. 3636 Georgia
Ave. NW. 202-446-1100.
WASHINGTON WETSKINS
WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9
p.m. Newcomers with at least basic
swimming ability always welcome.
Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van
Buren St. NW. For more informa-
tion, contact Tom, 703-299-0504
or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit
wetskins.org.
TUESDAY, March 27
GENDERQUEER DC, a support and
discussion group for people who
identify outside the gender binary,
meets at The DC Center on the
fourth Tuesday of every month.
7-8:30 p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite
105. For more information, visit
thedccenter.org.
Queer-identifying women who
have survived violent or traumatic
experiences and are looking for
support are invited to take part
in a bi-weekly QUEER WOMEN
WORKING THROUGH TRAUMA
GROUP at The DC Center.
Participants are encouraged to
do an intake assessment with
moderator and social worker Sam
Goodwin. 6-7 p.m. 2000 14th St.
NW, Suite 105. For more infor-
mation, email Sam at samantha@
thedccenter.org.
Weekly Events
DC AQUATICS CLUB practice
session at Takoma Aquatic Center.
7:30-9 p.m. 300 Van Buren St. NW.
For more information, visit swim-
dcac.org.
DC SCANDALS RUGBY holds prac-
tice. The team is always looking for
new members. All welcome. 7:30-
9:30 p.m. King Greenleaf Recreation
Center, 201 N St. SW. For more
information, visit scandalsrfc.org or
dcscandals@gmail.com.
THE GAY MEN’S HEALTH
COLLABORATIVE offers free
HIV testing and STI screening
and treatment every Tuesday.
5-6:30 p.m. Rainbow Tuesday
LGBT Clinic, Alexandria Health
Department, 4480 King St. 703-
746-4986 or text 571-214-9617.
james.leslie@inova.org.
OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS
holds an LGBT-focused meet-
ing every Tuesday, 7 p.m. at St.
George’s Episcopal Church, 915
Oakland Ave., Arlington, just steps
from Virginia Square Metro. For
more info. call Dick, 703-521-
1999. Handicapped accessible.
Newcomers welcome. liveandletli-
veoa@gmail.com.
SMYAL offers free HIV Testing, 3-5
p.m., by appointment and walk-in,
for youth 21 and younger. Youth
Center, 410 7th St. SE. 202-567-
3155 or testing@smyal.org.
STI TESTING at Whitman-Walker
Health. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at both 1525
14th St. NW and the Max Robinson
Center, 2301 Martin Luther King,
Jr. Ave. SE. Testing is intended for
those without symptoms. For an
appointment call 202-745-7000 or
visit whitman-walker.org.
Support group for LGBTQ youth
ages 13-21 meets at SMYAL. 5-6:30
p.m. 410 7th St. SE. For more
information, contact Cathy Chu,
202-567-3163, or catherine.chu@
smyal.org.
Whitman-Walker Health holds its
weekly GAY MEN’S HEALTH AND
WELLNESS/STD CLINIC. Patients
are seen on walk-in basis. No-cost
screening for HIV, syphilis, gon-
orrhea and chlamydia. Hepatitis
and herpes testing available for fee.
Testing starts at 6 p.m, but should
arrive early to ensure a spot. 1525
14th St. NW. For more information,
visit whitman-walker.org.
WEDNESDAY, March 28
The DC Center hosts a monthly
meeting of its HIV PREVENTION
WORKING GROUP. 6-8 p.m. 2000
14th St. NW, Suite 105. For more
information, visit thedccenter.org.
The LAMBDA BRIDGE CLUB meets
at the Dignity Center, across from
the Marine Barracks, for Duplicate
Bridge. No reservations needed.
Newcomers welcome. 7:30 p.m. 721
8th St. SE. Call 202-841-0279 if you
need a partner.
Weekly Events
AD LIB, a group for freestyle con-
versation, meets about 6-6:30 p.m.,
Steam, 17th and R NW. All wel-
come. For more information, call
Fausto Fernandez, 703-732-5174.
FREEDOM FROM SMOKING, a
group for LGBT people looking
to quit cigarettes and tobacco use,
holds a weekly support meeting at
The DC Center. 7-8 p.m. 2000 14th
St. NW, Suite 105. For more infor-
mation, visit thedccenter.org.
JOB CLUB, a weekly support pro-
gram for job entrants and seekers,
meets at The DC Center. 6-7:30
p.m. 2000 14th St. NW, Suite 105.
For more info, centercareers.org.
WASHINGTON WETSKINS
WATER POLO TEAM practices 7-9
p.m. Newcomers with at least basic
swimming ability always welcome.
Takoma Aquatic Center, 300 Van
Buren St. NW. For more informa-
tion, contact Tom, 703-299-0504
or secretary@wetskins.org, or visit
wetskins.org. l
MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 23
 Forum
LEADING THE CHARGE
We need to support the students who survived the Parklawn shooting,
as they help bring about real gun reform.
By Brandon Wolf
I
T HAS BEEN NEARLY TWO YEARS SINCE THE
worst night of my life. On June 12, 2016, a gunman
entered Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, just a few yards
from the bathroom where I stood,
and opened fire. What at first
sounded like a music malfunction
turned out to be gunshots. Armed
with an assault rifle and countless
“These
rounds of ammunition, the shooter
killed 49 people, including my best teenagers have
threatened the
friends, Drew Leinonen and Juan
Guerrero.
For the past 20 months, I have
committed myself to saving this
country from gun violence. At first,
very existence
my involvement felt like a coinci-
dence. I instantly became an unwit- of the gun
ting voice for other survivors and
victims of mass shootings across
America. But as the weeks went on,
lobby that
my voice and message steadied. I
railed angrily on a broken political currently
system that would cast aside mass
violence as a pop culture phenom-
enon. I called out lawmakers that
cripples our
leveraged Orlando’s pain to get a
leg up on the campaign competi- political
tion. And I begged for legislation
that would stop these things from
happening again. In all, I felt an
system.”
obligation, a responsibility to keep
those 49 Pulse victims from dying
in vain. I felt challenged to ensure that Drew’s voice didn’t
die on the dancefloor with him.
That’s why the news of a shooting in Parkland, Florida
felt like a gut punch. In one instant, all the pain and trauma
of Pulse came flooding back, and I wondered if I had failed
those students. I considered the hours spent fighting for
change and wondered if it had all been in vain. I wondered
if I had let Drew down once again.
Then a miraculous thing happened: the survivors from
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School opened my eyes.
The first time I met these students, I was saddled with
my sense of failure and regret. I stood with half a dozen
of them and tried to think of words of encouragement to
share. But I was speechless. How could I possibly have
anything to share when, after 18 months of work, I had
come up empty? How could I look them in the eyes when
I had failed them, just like so many others before me? And
just when my silence turned to discomfort, that incredible
group of students locked themselves in a hug around me
and told me that things would be
alright.
That is why March For Our
Lives is so important. And it’s the
reason I will be in Washington,
D.C. marching alongside the
incredible students from Marjory
Stoneman Douglas this Saturday.
They have gathered around the
people of this country, wrapped in
a big group hug, and reminded us
that the future is still bright. In one
month, these teenagers have taken
on one of the most polarizing issues
in our nation’s history, amassed a
social media army, and threatened
the very existence of the gun lobby
that currently cripples our political
system. But they cannot win this
battle alone. Where I once grap-
pled with grief and regret, I am
now filled with hope and determi-
nation. When this new community
of survivors takes to the streets
to demand justice, we must all be
there to lift them up, clear their
path, and protect them from the
pitfalls ahead.
The LGBTQ community has
seen more than its share of horror and pain. All too often,
we are the targets of violence and hatred. But what the
Pulse shooting taught me is that we are not victims, we are
warriors. And just like so often before, it is our duty to take
to the front lines of progress and fight for the change this
country deserves — this time with new allies by our side. l
Brandon J. Wolf is vice president of The Dru Project, a
nonprofit that promotes LGBTQIA equality. He is a spokes-
person for the #noNRAMoney campaign, advocating for
politicians candidates and the public to reject the National
Rifle Association.
The opinions expressed in Forum do not necessarily reflect
those of Metro Weekly or its employees. Add your voice to
Forum. Learn how at metroweekly.com/forum.
MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 25
 Forum

PARTING GLANCES
What the LGBTQ community has witnessed in the past two decades
is nothing short of extraordinary.

By Kate Kendell

T
HIRTY YEARS AGO, A CLOSE FRIEND GAVE ME
a card with a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Do
not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead,
where there is no path and leave a trail.” It has been tacked
somewhere close to my desk ever since. In my 24 years
at NCLR — 22 as Executive
Director — I was lucky enough
is nothing wrong with us. We do not need to be fixed. We
are beautiful, gifted and worthy. All this, in 24 years. It is
breathtaking.
I know that this moment seems particularly perilous,
and I am not sanguine about the threat posed by this most
venal and cruel Administration.
Even as we mark how far we

“There is
to tread a path laid by others have come, we must have the
and I hope, as I end my tenure vigilance and engagement
at NCLR at the end of this year, demanded to protect our hard

nothing
also marked some new terri- won gains and to assure that the
tory. I am, for sure, about to most vulnerable in our commu-
chart an unknown trail. Since nity suffer as little as possible.

wrong with
I was 17, I have never not had But, by any measure, what
a job and I have never left a job we’ve witnessed in the past
without knowing exactly where two decades is nothing short of

us. We do
I was going next. I could never extraordinary. All of us share
afford that freedom and I was the privilege of being such a
not that adventurous. witness. We all, in our own way,

not need to
While I still cannot afford blazed a path and fought for a
the luxury of choosing not to day when every LGBTQ person
work, at almost 58, I am ready could wake up knowing that

be fixed. We
to swing without a net for a who they were and whom they
bit. I am not sure exactly what loved did not limit either their
I will be doing next, but I am opportunities or their dreams.

are beautiful,
clear it has been an honor of the That day, while still distant, is
highest order to walk this path within sight. The fact that we
for over two decades. can imagine such a day is a

gifted and
When I first came to NCLR, virtual miracle given where we
in 1994, I was shocked at the were when I first crossed the
harm and damage being done threshold of NCLR.

worthy.”
to far too many LGBTQ peo-
ple in this country. Coming
from Utah, where I grew up
Mormon, I believed I had seen
the worst. Not even close. From
losing jobs and custody of kids, to family acceptance, self-
worth, religious community, hope — we heard from dozens
of queer people every day who struggled against what felt
like a tidal wave of homophobia and stigma.
Now, within the lifetime of a college graduate, we have
witnessed a sea change, from out celebrities and openly
LGBTQ elected officials, to fierce and unbowed allies and
legal and policy wins. The place of LGBTQ individuals
and families is cemented in our culture. We still see the
lethality of anti-LGBTQ bigotry, but the ethos in our nation
is that such bigotry is wrong and unacceptable. More
importantly, we know it is wrong and unacceptable. There
When I walk past that
threshold for the last time as
Executive Director at the end
of the year, I do so with a heart
filled to bursting with gratitude
that I got to do this work and be part of bending that leg-
endary arc of the moral universe. Now someone else gets to
walk this path. Lucky them. l
Kate Kendell is the Executive Director for the National
Center for Lesbian Rights, a nonprofit committed to advanc-
ing LGBT equality through litigation, legislation, policy, and
public education across the country. Visit nclrights.org.
The opinions expressed in Forum do not necessarily reflect
those of Metro Weekly or its employees. Add your voice to
Forum. Learn how at metroweekly.com/forum.

MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 27

Long regarded as having one of
the greatest voices in the industry,
k.d. lang revists the album that
assured her legacy as one of the
world’s foremost out pop stars.

By Doug Rule

F
OUR YEARS AGO, K.D. LANG MADE HER
Broadway debut, replacing Fantasia Barrino for a
month as the Special Guest Star in After Midnight.
“It was intimidating, firstly, because we were
doing original Duke Ellington arrangements and
singing classic songs,” lang says. “It was intim-
idating to be a very white Canadian going into a superior all-
black cast.... It was daunting, but it was a wonderful experience
musically — working the Lincoln Center Jazz Band and singing
the Duke Ellington songbook.”
As daunting as it may be, lang is no stranger to the format,
having spent several decades working jazz and pop bands both
big and small — and her forte has long been in covering classic
songs. The pioneering lesbian singer-songwriter got her start
35 years ago leading a Patsy Cline tribute band in Edmonton,
Alberta, and won two of her four Grammys for her work with
covers, including her international breakthrough duet with Roy
Orbison on his song “Crying.”
And yet, after all that, lang still gets nervous performing the
standards, “especially if they’ve been sung by people like Ella
Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.”
“I really believe, the minute I heard this person sing,” Tony
Bennett said, before introducing lang on a recorded version of
the duet “Moonglow,” “that this is one of the artists that will go
up on the shelf with them,” meaning Holiday, Edith Piaf, and
Hank Williams. On lang’s shelf, of course, sits another Grammy,
one she earned with Bennett: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
for A Wonderful World, their 2002 duets album in tribute to
Louis Armstrong.
Any way you look at it, lang’s career has not been predictable
or followed any obvious course. Nor was her lasting success
in the industry a foregone conclusion — especially considering
that she came to fame as a country artist. “I think I was hard to
swallow, pardon the pun, in a lot of ways,” she says. “I didn’t try
to fit in, and I didn’t feel like it was necessary for me to change
my ways to become better friends with the establishment of

The
country music.”
In fact, lang has previously characterized her shift away from
the genre as a logical progression. “I was never interested in a
lifetime career in country music,” she told Metro Weekly in 2016.
“I love country music, and I loved being a part of it, but I never
thought of myself as a country singer.”
Not helping matters was a very public falling out with the
genre — one that predates her public coming out by two years.
In 1990, lang stirred up controversy by signing on to PETA’s
“Meat Stinks” campaign. “If you knew how meat was made,
you’d probably lose your lunch,” lang said in her ad. “I know,

28 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

Voice
MATT DUBOFF

MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 29

 I’m from cattle country — that’s why I became a vegetarian.
Meat stinks, and not just for animals but for human health and
the environment.”
In addition to being banned by a number of country stations
in the U.S. and Canada, lang also became persona non grata
in her Alberta hometown, where a billboard that read “Home
of k.d. lang” was burned to the ground. Fortunately, over time
many have come around,
aided by the fact that, as
“WHEN THERE IS she puts it, “veganism
and vegetarianism is far
CONFUSION AND more common and prac-
ticed today.”

OPPRESSION, “You know, it was

questioning somebody’s

IT AFFECTS ALL lifestyle [and liveli-

hood],” she says. “That’s

HUMAN BEINGS
always a slippery slope.
When you’re talking — and that’s a lifelong process.”
about the complexi-
REGARDLESS OF
She has similar thoughts on the state of gender relations.
ty of survival and food “I’m very happy that the #MeToo movement is in process,”
and eating, that’s some-
NATIONALITY.
she says. “It affects a lot of women and a lot of men. Again it’s
thing I’ve struggled with about respecting others and respecting yourself. Whenever
every single day because that happens, whenever that’s in the forefront, it’s a pos-
It’s a human vegetarianism is not free
of causing suffering —
itive thing. It’s about

“I FEEL A DEEP
respecting yourself and
issue, it’s a global many beings die in the
harvesting of the rice
respecting others, and

SENSE OF PRIDE
trying to make changes
problem. It really fields, for example. So
life itself comes with a
to [make relationships]
healthier.”
extends past complex relationship to
death and suffering.” To
Reflecting on the
changes since she came
THAT I WAS
borders.” find the right balance,
lang tries not to over-
out 26 years ago, lang
marvels that “people
ABLE TO IMPACT
think, or at least not to
overdo, her diet. “It’s just a matter of being conscious and
have grown up with me
being out.” “Certainly,”
THE EVOLUTION
mindful of what you’re eating. I’m not strict organic because...
everything has its own set of issues. I just try not to consume too
she says, “I feel a deep
sense of pride that I was
OF THE LGBTQ
much and to be thankful for what I have.”
On thing lang is thankful for is being able to split her time
able to impact the evolu-
tion of the LGBTQ com- COMMUNITY
between Calgary and Portland, Oregon, where she lives with
her partner. “I’ve always just really loved Portland,” she says.
munity and the straight
community in relation- and the straight
“It’s my favorite place in North America. I just really feel at
home there.” And three years ago, lang got the ultimate unoffi-
ship to the liberties of
our society.” community in
cial nod of recognition as a Portlander when Fred Armisen and But for all that, she’s
Carrie Brownstein asked her to appear on their hit TV parody not sure what advice relationship to
Portlandia. In the finale of Season 4, lang plays an exaggerated she’d give to the next
version of herself: a folkie on a feminist retreat who briefly gets
lost in the forest flirting and “looking at wood” with a charac-
singing ingenue coming the liberties of
of age today. “I think
ter played by Jason Sudeikis. “It was crazy, fun, exhilarating,”
she says. “A lot of it is improvised, and it was thrilling to watch
probably it’s easier to
be an out musician,” she
our society.”
Carrie and Fred do their thing. They’re masters.” says, “and there’s more
The liberal bastion of Portland is certainly far removed music and a lot of great music out there. But at the same time
from the seemingly endless parade of controversies and hostile the music business is more competitive and more confusing
practices emanating from Washington in today’s conservative than ever — it’s getting better and worse simultaneously. I’m so
Trump Era. And yet, there can be no escaping or avoiding it. glad that I’m not a youngster trying to navigate the system of the
“When there is confusion and oppression, it affects all music business these days.... It’s just a wide open race, and the
human beings regardless of nationality,” lang says. “It’s a chances of being a huge star are less.”
human issue, it’s a global problem. It really extends past bor- As far as supporting today’s music and musicians, lang puts
ders.” In addition to speaking out, “I think probably the best another chink in Spotify’s armor. “I personally do not use the
thing to do is make changes personally and catch yourself on streaming options. I don’t feel like they support musicians
your own prejudices and your own shortcomings and really as much as they should, and there are a lot of other options.
try to change your relationship to yourself and to others first Internet radio is something that I use a lot of.... I think radio is

30 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 k.d. lang’s 10 Best Songs
By Sean Maunier
B
ETWEEN HER FAMOUSLY ANDROGYNOUS
persona, a powerful and unmistakable voice,
and a sound that has never sat fully on the
fringes nor in the mainstream, k.d. lang has never
been easy to categorize. We run down our picks for
the 10 tracks that have defined her career.
JERI HEIDEN
10. Miss Chatelaine (1992)
“Constant Craving” tends
to loom over any discussion
of lang’s breakout album
Ingénue, but the seductive,
high-femme fantasy “Miss
Chatelaine” deserves praise
as well. After being named
Woman of the Year by wom-
en’s magazine Chatelaine, lang decided to run with
the title, right down to performing the song in a stun-
ning full formal dress on Late Night with Arsenio Hall.
9. Big Big Love (1989)
“Big Big Love” was an early sign of the versatility we
have come to expect from lang. For an artist whose
style has long skewed towards the dusky and melan-
choly, she sounds truly in her element in this upbeat
take on Wynn Stewart’s 1962 hit.
8. Lock, Stock and Teardrops (1988)
Lang’s sultry, devil-may-care rendition of
a heavily covered Roger Miller number
earned her some well-deserved early rec-
ognition. While she would later became
known for her covers of Joni Mitchell, Neil
Young and most famously Leonard Cohen,
she cut her teeth on covering classic coun-
try from the ’60s, songs that she updated yet also
lent a certain timelessness to.
7. Western Stars (1988)
This stunning slow burn of an open-
er to Shadowland may not be one
of lang’s better known songs, but in
many ways the powerful yet under-
stated emotional heft she brought to
it was a tem-
plate not just
for that album, but the rest
of her career as well.
6. Crying (1989)
While her star had long since
risen in the Canadian country
music scene, lang’s ground-
breaking duet with Roy Orbison was pivotal in intro-
ducing her to a wider American audience. Despite
being a relative unknown at the time, she more than
held her own alongside the legendary Orbison.
5. So in Love (1990)
An early departure from country, “So in Love”
showed a markedly different side of lang, one that
could stand alongside the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and
Shirley Bassey in delivering a haunting
and seamless rendition of a classic
Cole Porter number.
4. Sexuality (1996)
This track off the criminally underap-
preciated All You Can Eat leaves little
to the imagination. Hearkening back to
the seductive country numbers of her
early albums, “Sexuality” sees lang
ditch the subtlety and turn subtext into text, suggest-
ing to an unnamed lover, “Release yourself on me.”
No matter your type or orientation, it’s hard not to
get a tingle up the spine at that lyric.
3. Trail of Broken Hearts (1989)
Perhaps the definitive track from
Absolute Torch and Twang, “Trail of
Broken Hearts” has lang’s voice hovering
over a warm steel guitar. In many ways
it bridges the gap between the small-
hours country of Shadowlands and the
more contemporary, vocal-driven pop of
Ingénue.
2. Hallelujah (2004)
Although famously prickly about his
best-known song, Cohen himself once
allegedly referred to lang’s interpreta-
tion as the definitive version. You can’t
get much higher praise than that, and
it was not for nothing. One could be
forgiven for thinking for a second that
“Hallelujah” had been written for her all along.
1. Constant Craving (1992)
No contest here. lang brings incredible vocals to
a song that manages to be fiery, starry-eyed, and
tortured all at once. The lead single off her pivotal
breakthrough album Ingénue has come to be known
as the definitive k.d. lang track, and for good reason.
Sean Maunier is Metro Weekly’s popular music critic.
Read his reviews at metroweekly.com.
MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 31
 more monitored in terms of royalties.” Among the non-Ingenue songs she’s likely to perform, at the
At the moment, lang doesn’t know what her next career top of the list is her splendid, powerful cover of “Hallelujah” by
move will be — or when, even if, she might record new music. Leonard Cohen, the towering Canadian musical figure who died
“Eventually, hopefully, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had a last year. Many — maybe too many — have tried their hand at
vision of what I want to do in the future. Rather than force it, I’m what has become a pop standard, but few have earned the kind
just going to wait for it to happen.” of praise or play that lang has. First giving her interpretation on
If nothing else, it’s encouraging to consider it was only two Hymns of the 49th Parallel, her stellar Canadian covers album
years ago that she recruited fellow singer-songwriters
Neko Case and Laura Veirs to team up as case/lang/
veirs. From that came an acclaimed album and a tour.
She demurs when asked if there are other artists she
hopes to collaborate with in similar ways in the future.
“I don’t know, there’s a lot. I love the element of sur-
prise and how life throws curves, so I wouldn’t even
put it out there, probably.”
She does squelch the idea of a longer or future run
on the Great White Way, however. “Broadway is not
my cup of tea,” she says. “I love to, I guess, habitually
move from venue to venue. It makes me antsy when
I’m stuck in the same theater for more than two
nights.... It was definitely out of my comfort zone and I
walked into the fire. I did it — I don’t think I have to do
it again, ever, but it was a great experience.” By con-
trast, while she doesn’t love the constant interactions
with the TSA and the
back-and-forth of travel
“I’M SO GLAD as a touring recording
artist, the hassle seems
THAT I’M NOT worth the effort. “It
A YOUNGSTER comes to fruition when
you’re on stage and
TRYING TO doing what you’re meant
to do,” she says. “It ends
NAVIGATE THE up being rewarding and
enriching. Just being
SYSTEM OF at the vortex between
THE MUSIC musician and audience
and being a part of what
BUSINESS I consider an offering is
worth it.”
THESE DAYS. Last year, lang decid-
ed to try something she
It’s just a wide hadn’t done before:

JERI HEIDEN
revisit a past album. And
open race, and not just any album —
the chances of Ingenue, the 1992 set that
propelled her into the
being a huge mainstream as an out pop star, and
featured two Grammy-nominated
from 2004, lang has since performed the song everywhere from
the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010 to the Canadian
star are less. singles, her biggest hit “Constant Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006, the year Cohen was inducted.
Craving,” and “Miss Chatelaine.” “His passing is sad for us, of course,” she says, “but I think if
After a 25th Anniversary Tour anyone was prepared for the afterlife, it was Leonard.”
through Canada and Australia, lang and a seven-piece band are As a singer and a musician,” lang continues, “just to look at
now reprising the feat on a tour of the U.S. “We took a little bit his body of work and the profundity both as a human being and
of liberty with a few songs,” she says, but most sound as they do as a poet, it’s pretty astonishing what he was able to accomplish
on record. “Sometimes it transports me right back to being on in his lifetime and the wisdom that he left us. I really feel like...
stage 25 years ago. Obviously having toured that record and the he transcribed the wisdom of the gods and the deities and trans-
success of that record and having lived 25 years, there’s a definite lated it into a language that human beings understand, and that’s
convoluted emotional relationship to the songs — all good.” a rare thing.” l
And she’s looking forward to bringing the set to Strathmore.
“I have very fond memories of my last show there. I always love k.d. lang performs Sunday, March 25, at 7:30 p.m., at the Music
to play in the great houses. It definitely makes a vocalist very Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda.
happy to feel free to let go in such a great-sounding room.” Tickets are $48 to $98. Call 301-581-5100 or visit strathmore.org.

32 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

 Gallery
Viewfinders: 8 Photographers
W
ITH ITS LATEST EXHIBITION, HILL
Center shines the light on eight photog-
raphers, each getting their own display.
Karen Cohen presents her Surreality, Jane Mann
continues with Layers II, Bruce McNeil explores
In The Land of Eden, Mike Mitchell shows us Four
Seasons in the C&O Canal National Historical Park,
Rindy O’Brien offers his timely series Anticipating
Spring, Larry O’Reilly reveals Contemporary Still
Lifes, Monica Servaites focuses Downside Up (pic-
tured), and Richard Paul Weiblinger offers Unique
Visions. Through April 29. The Galleries in the Old
Navy Hospital, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. Call 202-
549-4172 or visit HillCenterDC.org.
MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 33
FINGERPRINT RELEASING - BLEECKER STREET
Movies

Foy plays Sawyer as smart, resourceful,

Get Out!
and sardonic. Her character is only idiotic
when the plot needs her to be. Still, to her
credit, this damsel in distress commits
relatively few of the typical horror movie
With Unsane, Steven Soderbergh wrings chilling horror from mistakes, and at no point does she jump
a frightening premise, and a dumb plot. By André Hereford into a car that won’t start. Rather, the
script, by Jonathan Bernstein and James

O
Greer, keeps Sawyer and the audience
F ALL THE MENTAL HOSPITALS IN ALL THE TOWNS IN ALL THE guessing, while poking mordant fun at all
world, poor Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy) walks into Highland Creek. And the “Highland Creeks and Tumbling Pines
they don’t let her walk out. The very idea that a fairly casual visit to consult a and Cedar Valleys of the world” that prey
therapist might suddenly turn into a living nightmare of confinement inside a mental on the paranoid and well-insured.
institution is genuinely terrifying. From his debut with sex, lies, and vid-
Working in indie mode, Steven Soderbergh keeps his newest film Unsane (HHHHH) eotape, Soderbergh has been a master at
casual, just another day in the nuthouse for Highland Creek’s paper-pushing staff, as lacing tension with bone-dry humor. He’s
the realization dawns on Sawyer that she has summarily and involuntarily been com- abetted here by erstwhile SNL impres-
mitted. But wait, it wasn’t entirely involuntary, because she signed the form herself. sionist Jay Pharoah, as Sawyer’s fellow
(Should’ve read the small print, Sawyer!) patient Nate, hiding both a contraband cell
Thus, she’s stuck, after admitting to the therapist that sometimes she does have sui- phone and a secret. Juno Temple is not so
cidal thoughts. Also, occasionally, she sees visions of David Strine (Joshua Leonard), a masterful portraying Sawyer’s belligerent,
man who was stalking her back in Boston. At least, she thinks they’re just visions. She cornrowed tormentor, Violet, who stays
can’t be sure. one-note crazy throughout the film.
Until she is sure that Strine has not only followed her to her new city, but he’s work- As Strine, Leonard strikes several
ing inside this very hospital. Could the orderly doling out her daily meds actually be the chords of creepy with his blank affect and
man who stalked and terrorized her? Whether he’s real or imagined, Sawyer believes oversized glasses. He looks like a seri-
she’s been locked in a loony bin with the person she most fears, and that is enough to al killer mugshot, silently lingering over
drive anyone truly mad. Sawyer’s shoulder. Leonard employs that
The plot machinations that place Sawyer in her predicament don’t hold up to rig- off-putting reserve most effectively in a
orous scrutiny, so Soderbergh lets the harrowing premise and Foy’s frightened perfor- flashback depicting the stalker’s escalating
mance lead the way. Shot on an iPhone 7 Plus using wide-angle lenses, Unsane captures campaign of surveillance and harassment
the bleak horror of feeling held captive by an uncaring staff inside a facility where lives that drove Sawyer to hightail it out of town.
are lost, or taken. continues on page 36

34 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
Movies

filled with so much life, you’ll almost for-

get you’re watching a masterpiece of art

High Flying Fur

unfold before your eyes. You’re drawn in,
fully, completely, assuredly.
With its slightly insane narrative, one
that fills in blanks via flashback, Isle of
Filled with heart, adventure, and whimsy, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs Dogs is at once a dark comedy and a tren-
is a masterpiece of stop-motion animation. By Randy Shulman chant (if thin) political parable. Because
our attachment to dogs is hard-wired and

R
primal, the film automatically creates a
ECENTLY, TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES BROADCAST A COLLECTION OF deep, emotional warmth lacking from
quirky shorts from the 1930s and ’40s known as “Puppetoons.” Created by many of Anderson’s human-based works
George Pal, the director who would later go on make War of the Worlds and The (Moonrise Kingdom being the exception).
Time Machine, these little-known, super-stylized, mostly European-produced shorts It amusingly appropriates Japanese cul-
are considered milestones of stop-motion animation. Literally thousands of “figures” ture in its aesthetics, and yet it does so
were carved from wood, each minutely different, to produce characters that, when respectfully and with deep, abiding regard.
filmed one frame at a time and screened back at 24 frames per second, created a stun- Most importantly, however, it presents us
ningly fluid, often surreal cacophony of perpetual, improbable motion. Stop-motion with an array of fully-realized character-
was nothing new, of course, but Pal elevated it to a new, ridiculously obsessive level. izations that grab hold of our hearts and
The Puppetoons, apart from some disconcerting racial insensitivities that were unfor- squeeze as hard as possible. It’s a rare
tunate harbingers of the times, are small works of jaw-dropping animated theatrics. cinematic breed — filled with almost too
Over the years, not much has changed in the way in which stop-motion is produced. many wondrous details to absorb on a sin-
It’s a long, laborious process, even with the assist of modern-day technology. And it gle viewing alone.
takes a specific mindset, an almost extremist (read: masochistic) dedication to create The basic story, by Anderson, Roman
a 100-minute feature. So it’s especially notable when a major director takes it on. Tim Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Kunichi
Burton has ventured into the painstaking waters several times — both as producer on Nomura, is set 20 years in the future, in a
Nightmare Before Christmas and as director on The Corpse Bride — but he got his start province of Japan where the dog pop-
as an animator, so it’s in his DNA, one could say. ulation has run rampant. Outbreaks of
Less obvious is a filmmaker like Wes Anderson, whose films are often wild joyrides, “snout fever” and “dog flu” have given
filled with equal parts misanthropy and glee, and more often than not, huge emotional the dynastic Mayor Kobayashi (Nomura)
vacancies needing to be filled. But Anderson is nothing if not a playful filmmaker. His and his political cronies — cat-lovers, all
human movies feel like they belong in the animated genre — The Grand Budapest Hotel — reason enough to banish all canines to
is essentially one long Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote chase — and they’re just damn fun Trash Island. The fascist overtones aren’t
to sit through. Anderson’s films strive to be bigger than life, boldly etched, and when- politically subtle, but nor do they need
ever possible, frenentic and unbridled. Delirium unchained. to be: Anderson is in “wide brush stroke
Anderson waded into stop-motion territory in 2009 with the acclaimed The Fantastic mode,” a comfort zone most of his films
Mr. Fox, an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel. He eschewed the smooth, slick plasticine occupy, and yet he unearths nuance in
visages typical of most stop-animated features for ones coated in fur. The abundant, the film’s design details and in the small,
animated hairs are forever in slight, kinetic motion, as though electrically charged. Add telling movements of the characters, even
that to the slight herky-jerky quality of stop-motion and suddenly something amazing down to the simple blink of an eye.
happens: the “puppets” connect more authentically with audiences than hand-drawn The adventure lurches into high gear
or computer-generated counterparts. It’s the closest animation gets to duplicating when Atari (Koyu Rankin) — who also
reality, to creating life. And Anderson’s newest project, Isle of Dogs ( ) is happens to be the ward of the mayor —

MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 35


makes his way to Trash Island in search of his beloved Spots
(Liev Schreiber). He’s befriended by a forever chattering pack
of alpha dogs — Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Boss
(Bill Murray), and Duke (Jeff Goldblum), who feel a knee-jerk
obligation to help Atari, a symbol of the masters they once ador-
ingly served. Only one dog holds out — the stray Chief (Bryan
Cranston), who warns, rather plainly, “I bite.”
“Why should I help him?” says Chief to Nutmeg (Scarlett
Johansson), an impeccably groomed show dog who knows
“some tricks,” and who captures Chief’s interest.
“Because he’s a 12-year-old boy,” she responds. “Dogs love
those.”
The journey undertaken by Chief and Atari is what powers
the true emotional core of Isle of Dogs, and the build is masterful,
direct, and rife with deeper meaning, like a perfectly crafted haiku.
The film has its dark moments (it’s really not made for kids,
Isle of Dogs is rated PG-13 and opens Friday, March 23, at area theaters. Visit Fandango.com.
FINGERPRINT RELEASING - BLEECKER STREET
continued from page 34
There’s an air of Hitchcockian kink about the fact that the
guy who directed, and pseudonymously shot and edited, this
movie appears at times to be drawing the audience towards iden-
tifying more with the creep who’s desperate to ensnare and con-
Unsane is rated R, and opens in theaters everywhere on Friday, March 23. Visit fandango.com.
36 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
though most kids shouldn’t be too alarmed by it, given what
they endure in cinema nowadays). For instance, a rallying cry
from a rival political party intent on saving “man’s best friend” is
met with murderous intent from the mayor’s administration in
a scene involving sushi that is utterly mind-blowing to witness.
The vocal performances are perfect — no complaints here —
even down to Tilda Swinton’s squealing, prophetic pug named,
appropriately, Oracle. But the real heroics come from the team
of animators who bring the stop-motion “puppets” to life. They
are astonishing, rich, masterfully unique creations.
Anderson’s canny choice to film the dogs addressing the cam-
era snout-on is nothing short of genius. In doing so, he ensures
we don’t miss a single expression — or, for that matter, delicately
animated teardrop. And by the end of Isle of Dogs, I suspect there
won’t be a dry eye in the house. At least not among dog lovers.
Cat lovers, on the other hand, will have to wait for a sequel. l
trol the object of his obsession. While dancing on that precarious
line, the film thankfully never fully crosses into the exploitation
of so-called torture porn.
There will be blood, however. By its third act, Unsane has
dispensed with any mystery, and starts tallying up a body count.
Under those deadly circumstances, Sawyer might go crazy trying
to prove herself sane, as would practically anyone in her hospital
slippers.
Soderbergh conveys her frazzled, drug-addled state via a vari-
ety of handheld camera tricks, odd edits and superimpositions.
Shots roam the hospital halls Shining-style, as the film cheekily
references other classic horror scenarios, including a quick nod
to Leonard’s most noted role in The Blair Witch Project.
Ultimately, Unsane takes on the gleeful pace of a slasher pic,
and even provides a meaty role, as Sawyer’s concerned mom, for
Amy Irving, an Oscar-nominated actress well-acquainted with
cinematic suspense. Her mere presence adds to the enjoyment
of this cockamamie construction, which, scary though it may be,
requires an unsane suspension of disbelief in order to completely
satisfy. l
NightLife
Photography by
Ward Morrison

MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 37

 Scene
Number Nine - Saturday, March 17
Photography by Ward Morrison
See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

DrinksDragDJsEtc... Underwear Drink Free, 5-10pm • Beer and wine in the Tavern, 9pm-2am NUMBER NINE
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TVs showing movies,
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8-10pm in the Nest • $5 10-11pm • Men in

38 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

over, $12 • For those
18-20, $15 • Club: 18+ •
Patio: 21+
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS
Men of Secrets, 9pm •
Guest dancers • Rotating
DJs • Ladies of Illusion
Drag Show • Doors at
9pm, Shows at 11:30pm
and 1:30am • DJ Don T. in
Ziegfeld’s • Cover 21+
Saturday,
March 24
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut
and $5 Bulleit Bourbon,
9pm-close • Expanded
craft beer selection •
No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Happy Hour, 3-9pm •
March Madness Regional
Finals • Leather and Fetish
Saturdays, Code Bar,
8pm-2am • Code enforced
after 9pm in the Code Bar
• Testosterone: Black Light
Party, 9pm-2am • $7 Cover
in advance online • Back
to the Retro Saturdays:
Nothing But ‘90s Dance
Party in the Nest,
9:30pm-2am • Featuring
DJ Vince Christopher •
Drink Specials in the Nest
• Long Island Leather
Saturdays — $5 Long
Islands all day • thebalti-
moreeagle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Saturday Breakfast Buffet,
10am-3pm • $14.99 with
MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 39
one glass of champagne NUMBER NINE Celebration, 11pm-close at 11:30pm and 1:30am gested and can be made NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
or coffee, soda or juice • Doors open 2pm • Happy • Featuring DJs Devon • DJ Don T. in Ziegfeld’s online beforehand • March Drag Brunch, hosted
Additional champagne $2 Hour: 2 for 1 on any drink, Trotter, Jeff Prior, and • DJ Steve Henderson in Madness Regional Finals by Chanel Devereaux,
per glass • World Tavern 2-9pm • $5 Absolut and $5 Adam Koussari-Amin • Secrets • Cover 21+ • DJ Ryan Doubleyou in 10:30am-12:30pm and
Poker Tournament, 1-3pm Bulleit Bourbon, 9pm-close Music and video by DJ the Tavern • Sunday Fun- 1-3pm • House Rail Drinks,
• Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • • Jawbreaker: Music Wess downstairs • Drag Day, 4-9pm • From 2-8pm, Zing Zang Bloody Marys,
Freddie’s Follies Drag of the ‘90s, with DJs Show starts at 10:30pm • buy a cup for $5 and fill Nellie Beer and Mimosas,
Show, hosted by Miss
Destiny B. Childs, 8-10pm
BacK2bACk, 9:30pm Hosted by Lena Lett and
featuring Tatianna, Shi-
Sunday, it with any Absolut Flavor
and Mixer for $3 each
$4, 11am-close • Buckets
of Beer, $15
• Karaoke, 10pm-close SHAW’S TAVERN Queeta-Lee, Riley Knoxx March 25 time(excluding energy drink
$15 Bottomless Mimosas, and Ba’Naka • $15 Cover mixers) • thebaltimoreea- NUMBER NINE
GREEN LANTERN 10am-3pm • Happy Hour, from 10pm-midnight, $12 9 1/2 gle.com Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on
Happy Hour, 4-9pm • $5 5-7pm • $3 Miller Lite, after • 21+ Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any any drink, 2-9pm • $5
Bacardi, all flavors, all $4 Blue Moon, $5 House drink, 2-9pm • $5 Absolut FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR Absolut and $5 Bulleit
night long • JOX: The Wines, $5 Rail Drinks • TRADE and $5 Bulleit Bourbon, Champagne Brunch Buffet, Bourbon, 9pm-close • Pop
GL Underwear Party, Half-Priced Pizzas and Doors open 2pm • Huge 9pm-close • Multiple TVs 10am-3pm • $24.99 with Goes the World with Wes
9pm-close • Featuring DJ Select Appetizers Happy Hour: Any drink showing movies, shows, four glasses of champagne Della Volla at 9:30pm •
David Merrill • $5 Cover normally served in a cock- sports • Expanded craft or mimosas, 1 Bloody No Cover
(includes clothes check) TOWN tail glass served in a huge beer selection • No Cover Mary, or coffee, soda or
DC Rawhides host Town glass for the same price, juice • Crazy Hour, 4-8pm SHAW’S TAVERN
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR & Country: Two-Step, Line 2-10pm • Beer and wine BALTIMORE EAGLE • Gayborhood Night Piano Happy Hour, 5-7pm • $3
Drag Brunch, hosted Dancing, Waltz and West only $4 Lizzie Beaumont and Bar, 5-8pm • Karaoke, Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
by Chanel Devereaux, Coast Swing, $5 Cover to Betty Whitecastle present 9pm-close $5 House Wines, $5 Rail
10:30am-12:30pm and stay all night • Doors open ZIEGFELD’S/SECRETS Queens Who Brunch, Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas
1-3pm • House Rail Drinks, 6:30pm, Lessons 7-8pm, Men of Secrets, 9pm-4am 12-2pm • $34 per person GREEN LANTERN and Select Appetizers
Zing Zang Bloody Marys, Open dance 8-10:30pm • • Guest dancers • Ladies includes All You Can Eat Happy Hour, 4-9pm • • Dinner-n-Drag, with
Nellie Beer and Mimosas, General admission doors of Illusion Drag Show • Free pitcher of Mimosas Karaoke with Kevin down- Miss Kristina Kelly, 7pm
$4, 11am-close • Buckets open 10pm • Upstairs: with host Ella Fitzgerald per 4 admissions • stairs, 9:30pm-close • For reservations, email
of Beer, $15 • Guest DJs CTRL DC: 6-Year Birthday • Doors at 9pm, Shows Reservations highly sug- shawsdinnerdragshow@
gmail.com

40 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 41
 TRADE
Doors open 2pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
2-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
Monday,
March 26
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • Multiple
TVs showing movies,
shows, sports • Expanded
craft beer selection •
No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Happy Hour, 3-9pm, all
liquors, beers and wines up
to 50% off • Micro Brew
Draft/Bottle Mondays —
$4 all day • SIN: Service
Industry Night, 11pm-2am
• First Well Drink or
Domestic Beer Free • 10%
off your Food Order all day
• thebaltimoreeagle.com
42 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm •
Singles Night • Half-Priced
Pasta Dishes • Poker Night
— 7pm and 9pm games •
Karaoke, 9pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour all night
long • Singing with the
Sisters: Open Mic Karaoke
Night with the Sisters
of Perpetual Indulgence,
9:30pm-close
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
Beat the Clock Happy Hour
— $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
$4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of
Beer $15 • Texas Hold’em
Poker, 8pm • Dart Boards
• Paint Nite, 7pm • Two
Ping-Pong Tables
NUMBER NINE
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • No Cover
SHAW’S TAVERN
Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 House Wines, $5 Rail
Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas
and Select Appetizers •
Shaw Nuff Trivia, with
Jeremy, 7:30pm
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
Tuesday,
March 27
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • Multiple
TVs showing movies,
shows, sports • Expanded
craft beer selection •
No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Happy Hour, 3-9pm, all
liquors, beers and wines
up to 50% off • Fibbage
Tuesdays, 8pm — How
good are you at fibbing?
• Free to play with your
smartphone • $6 Any
Flavor Martinis and $7
Manhattans (call liquors) •
thebaltimoreeagle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • Taco
Tuesday • Poker Night —
7pm and 9pm games •
Karaoke, 9pm
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour all night long,
4pm-close
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
Beat the Clock Happy Hour
— $2 (5-6pm), $3 (6-7pm),
$4 (7-8pm) • Buckets of
Beer $15 • Karaoke and
Drag Bingo
NUMBER NINE
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • No Cover
SHAW’S TAVERN
Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 House Wines, $5 Rail
Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas
and Select Appetizers •
Half-Priced Burgers and
Pizzas all night with $5
House Wines and Sam
Adams
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4
Wednesday,
March 28
9 1/2
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • Multiple
TVs showing movies,
shows, sports • Expanded
craft beer selection •
No Cover
BALTIMORE EAGLE
Happy Hour, 3-9pm, all
liquors, beers and wines
up to 50% off • Domestic
Bottles are $3 all day •
Team Trivia, 8-10pm •
thebaltimoreeagle.com
FREDDIE’S BEACH BAR
Crazy Hour, 4-8pm • $6
Burgers • Beach Blanket
Drag Bingo Night, hosted
by Ms. Regina Jozet
Adams, 8pm • Bingo prizes
• Karaoke, 10pm-1am
GREEN LANTERN
Happy Hour all night
long, 4pm-close • Bear
Yoga with Greg Leo, 6:30-
7:30pm • $10 per class
• Upstairs opens 9pm •
Lantern GoGo Dancers,
10pm-2am
NELLIE’S SPORTS BAR
SmartAss Trivia Night,
8pm and 9pm • Prizes
include bar tabs and
tickets to shows at the
9:30 Club • $15 Buckets of
Beer for SmartAss Teams
only • Snatched Drag
Show, hosted by Brooklyn
Heights, 9pm
NUMBER NINE
Happy Hour: 2 for 1 on any
drink, 5-9pm • No Cover
SHAW’S TAVERN
Happy Hour, 4-7pm • $3
Miller Lite, $4 Blue Moon,
$5 House Wines, $5 Rail
Drinks • Half-Priced Pizzas
and Select Appetizers •
Piano Bar with Jill, 8pm
TRADE
Doors open 5pm • Huge
Happy Hour: Any drink
normally served in a cock-
tail glass served in a huge
glass for the same price,
5-10pm • Beer and wine
only $4 l
 Scene
The 5th Annual Stoli Key West Cocktail Classic Competition at Nellie’s
Monday, March 12 • Photography by Ward Morrison
See and purchase more photos from this event at www.metroweekly.com/scene

44 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY

MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY 45
 LastWord.
People say the queerest things

“I love New York, and today

I’m announcing my candidacy for governor.”
— CYNTHIA NIXON, award-winning actress and progressive activist, challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic nomination
to be governor of New York. Nixon slammed Cuomo’s eight year record, arguing he had helped New York become the most
unequal state in the country. Nixon has a long history of advocating for LGBTQ and women’s rights,
and would become the state’s first female and out LGBTQ governor should she win.

“ You have to be qualified and have experience.

She isn’t qualified to be the governor.”
— CHRISTINE QUINN, former Speaker of the New York City Council, reacting to Nixon’s news. Quinn, the first openly gay Speaker
of the council, attacked Nixon as an “unqualified lesbian,” saying Nixon was opposed to a “qualified lesbian” becoming mayor
of New York. Nixon supported NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio instead of Quinn when they both ran for mayor in 2013. Quinn later
apologized for criticizing Nixon’s identity, but did not retract the view that Nixon is unqualified to be governor.

“ What do they want?

To look through my dick pics?”
— CHRISTOPHER WYLIE, the gay whistleblower who revealed that Cambridge Analytica — which ran Donald Trump’s 2016 election
campaign — harvested over 50 million profiles from Facebook, responding to news that Facebook is demanding to inspect his
computer and phone. Observer journalist Carole Cadwalladr, who broke Wylie’s story, reported his comments in a tweet.

“This department is not going to make law,

”
we are going to enforce laws that we are given to do.

— Education Secretary BETSY DEVOS, speaking during a House Appropriations subcommittee, confirming that her department
will not support transgender students who feel they have been discriminated against.

“Every time you see LGBTQ in an article,

simply replace those letters with ISIS.
”
Change nothing else.

— Oklahoma Wesleyan University President EVERETT PIPER, in a highly criticized op-ed for the Washington Times, arguing that
accepting LGBTQ people is akin to accepting members of ISIS. “In doing this, something will quickly become quite obvious,”
Piper continued. “Sentences will emerge such as these: ‘Love is love and ISIS has the right to love who they want to love.’
‘The ISIS community simply wants to be accepted and affirmed.’ ‘What right does anyone have to refuse
to bake a cake for an ISIS wedding?’”

46 MARCH 22, 2018 • METROWEEKLY