Arts & Entertainment
Images and outrage
Controversy aside, ‘Hide/Seek’ is a groundbreaking show
A still from the video that caused controversy in the current "Hide/Seek" exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery.
Catcher Yogi Berra once famously called it “deja vu all over again.” But it was Karl Marx who perhaps defined it best as “when history repeats itself — the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.”
That was the feeling at least for a moment last week, when officials at the National Portrait Gallery censored a video component of its exhibit titled “Hide/Seek,” the show about gay and lesbian sexual love and its impact on American art. Complaints by right-wing Catholics over 11 seconds of a depiction of ants crawling on a crucifix was enough for NPG director Martin E. Sullivan to decide to turn tail and yank an entire half-hour-long 1987 video, titled “A Fire in My Belly” — a meditation on the ravages of AIDS by David Wojnarowicz, the gay artist who died from HIV-related causes in 1992.
Shades of Robert Mapplethorpe and the cancellation of an exhibit of his erotically charged photos by the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1989. And now as then GOP politicians are on the attack under the banner of “no promo homo,” and also as before, another gallery — this time Flashpoint — courageously took up the challenge and began to show the offending video.
But what about the groundbreaking NPG show itself, which opened in October and runs through mid-February? It’s stunning with 105 pieces of art from the canon of America’s greatest artists of the past century and more, depicting the ways in which their sexual orientations expressed themselves — usually coded and concealed — visually on canvas and other surfaces and as images in motion.
The exhibit is titled as a playful reminder of the childhood game of hide-and-seek, when concealment is the first task for survival. “HIDE/SEEK — Difference and Desire in American Portraiture,” with its range and breadth of seeing and finding works of art that dare speak, however sotto voce, the name of taboo love, boldly snaps in two the several decades-long taboo, welded firmly in place after the Mapplethorpe fiasco, of acknowledging same-sex desire in major U.S. museums.
The range of artists begins with Thomas Eakins and his scenes of naked boys swimming and passes through other giants of American painting — John Singer Sargent, George Bellow, Georgia O’Keefe, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and others — to our own new century. But as co-curator Jonathan D. Katz contends, “seeking and noticing” the sexual subtexts of their work “are two very different acts,” and this exhibit “seeks to turn such seeing into noticing.”
As with their work itself, nothing is as it seems at first. Therefore, “HIDE/SEEK” features, says Katz, “straight artists representing gay figures, gay artists representing straight figures, gay artists representing gay figures, and even straight artists representing straight figures, when of interest to gay people/culture.”
For Katz, considered the dean of academic study of gay and lesbian art history, this has been the curatorial work of more than 15 years. Katz shaped this exhibit with Smithsonian historian David C. Ward, who has openly called Katz “my camerado — per Walt (Whitman).”
Ward also says that Katz, who founded the gay and lesbian studies program at Yale University and is the first tenured professor in LGBT studies in the nation, “is a model of the engaged scholar” and as a result ran afoul of academic norms in the past for his avowed interest in these subjects.
“He’s someone who managed to be thrown out of two institutions, the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University,” Ward says, “for daring in the 1970s to want to write about gay and lesbian Americans.”
In the magisterial catalogue accompanying the exhibit, Katz confesses that their choice of subjects is “firmly canonical” and rooted in “the register of great American artists … within the American mainstream,” so that many artists, less well known, have been excluded. The key objective, says Katz, is to show that “the assumption that same-sex desire is at best tangential to the history of American art” is “utterly unsupportable.”
With “HIDE/SEEK,” and even with the Wojnarowicz censorship fresh at hand, it now seems safe to say, in Katz’s words, that the “pervasive silencing of same-sex desire in accounts of American portrait painting” is over.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of the exhibit comes in its revelation that American artists at the turn of the 20th century could in fact be much more open about their subject matter than those of the mid-20th century in a period haunted by sexual McCarthyism and the hunt for “reds and gays” in government, the schools and the clergy. During that era only on the fringes of the entertainment world, and there not always, could different sexual proclivities find open or even closeted refuge.
In other words, same-sex desire could be expressed more freely in the arts at that earlier time “prior to the advent of ‘homosexuality’ as an available category,” says Katz, even though same-sex desire acted upon was literally a crime. But this was before an explicit “homo/hetero binary” was established as the enforced norm, he says, and before “gay” and “straight” were paired as strict opposites instead of subtle inflection points on a spectrum of the sort spelled out by Alfred Kinsey in his scale of zero to six.
Key to this transformation, Katz says, was when “sexual behavior evolve(d) into sexual identity, from what you did to what you were.” In the earlier era, after all, sexual identity was premised not on the gender of one’s sexual partner but rather on one’s own gendered role —insertive or receptive — in the sex act. As Katz notes, “it was socially acceptable to penetrate a queer” for sexual relief and as “tolerable stand-ins for women.”
Thus, Katz begins the exhibit catalogue with a searching exegesis of George Bellows’ print from 1917, “The Shower Bath,” where two naked men are depicted front and center – one thin and effeminate, looking seductively over his shoulder and thrusting his posterior provocatively at a second man, beefy of build, butch and masculine, whose towel barely conceals his sexual arousal. Opposites in every way, “they are made a pair,” says Katz, and what he calls “the odd couple” are “the focal point of this image.” But the forward homoeroticism of the Bellows print did not hamper its commercial success at the time. And Bellows himself was a man devoted to his wife and children.
There is, of course much more in this exhibit, with many works coded with layers of longing, that NPG director Sullivan — before the controversy erupted over the video — spoke of “with pride” as offering “a new lens with which to view the panorama of American life.” It is indeed, as he said earlier, “a sumptuous survey of more than a century of American portraiture,” asking “new questions and risking new interpretations.” It dares to be at once risky and risque.
With portraits such as these, we enter the lives of others, to explore how identities were forged in the past. With portraits such as these, we end up staring at ourselves.
Out & About
A roundup of fall events not to be missed
Laverne Cox, Oktoberfest, arts celebrations, and more
Colder temperatures don’t mean you have to stay indoors — here’s a roundup of what to do this fall.
Laverne Cox will discuss her memoir, “Transcendent,” with Dr. Melanie Bryant on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. at Baltimore Book Fest. Cox will share her journey as a transgender woman in Hollywood, confronting childhood trauma, shame, gender identity, her transition, body image issues, her search for romantic love, deep-seated feelings of unworthiness, and ultimately, healing.
Dacha Beer Garden will launch its longest and loudest Oktoberfest yet on Friday, Sept. 18. This will be 17 consecutive days of Bavarian festivities across both locations — the original Shaw beer garden and the 800-person Navy Yard garden — running through Sunday, Oct. 4. On opening night, DC Brau will tap the ceremonial first keg and then Manuela Horn, the six-foot-two Austrian yodel queen, will trade sets with Johnny Koenig and his four-piece band in a live back-and-forth of yodeling, polka, and crowd games that can only be described as Oktoberfest ping pong.
Fay Jacobs will host “Aging Gracefully: 2nd Annual Farewell Tour” on Friday, Oct. 9 and Saturday, Oct. 10 at CAMP Rehoboth Community Center. This show will feature a new script with lots of new stories, and only a couple of “signature” tales.
Capital One Center will host its “Celebration of the Arts” starting on Saturday, Sept. 19 at its location in Tysons, Va. There will be art, music, food trucks, local vendors, and family-friendly outdoor entertainment. This curated experience invites you to engage with hands-on workshops, immersive art activations, and live performances. More details are available on Eventbrite.
Spark Social will host “open Mic Night” on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. Get ready to share your talent or just kick back and enjoy some great performances at Spark Social. Sign Ups are first-come-first-serve,, but you can also message the venue on Instagram to reserve a performance spot. Whether you’re a singer, poet, or comedian, this is your chance to get on stage and share your art. Tickets are $13.26 and are available on Eventbrite.
Howard University’s School of Social Work will host “Intergenerational Trauma in the BIPOC Community and the Use of Art” on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 3 p.m. This in-person, interactive workshop explores the role of art as a creative and supportive tool for understanding and addressing intergenerational trauma. Participants will examine the meaning and impact of intergenerational trauma, with particular attention to its historical roots and ongoing effects within Black and other BIPOC communities. More details are available on Eventbrite.
9:30 Club will host “BERTHA: Grateful Drag” on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. The group has partnered with PLUS1 so that $1 from every ticket sold goes to SMYAL and their work supporting and empowering LGBTQ+ youth. Tickets are available on 9:30 Club’s website.
Steve Lacy’s “Oh Yeah?” tour is coming to The Anthem on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. Tickets are available on The Anthem’s website.
Rapper Cupcakke will perform at Howard Theatre on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. More details are available on the theater’s website.
Team DC will host “Open Play: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Athletes and Sports Fans” on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. at Trade. Join Athlete Ally, Team DC and District Wrestling for a casual, in-person mixer as they celebrate LGBTQ+ sports fans and athletes at all levels of the game. Whether you’re part of an LGBTQ+ recreational league or just love watching sports, this is the place to connect, celebrate, and share the love of the game with other queer athletes, fans, business leaders, policymakers and more. Reserve a spot on Eventbrite.
The DC LGBTQ+ Community Center will host “2026 LGBT Intergenerational Extravaganza” on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 12 p.m.This is an event to connect, build relationships, and have fun with LGBTQ folks from other generations, and it will include lunch, an intergenerational dialogue and breakout sessions. More details are available on Eventbrite.
Music & Concerts
Queer mega stars coming to D.C. this fall
Indigo Girls, Charli XCX, Doja Cat headed our way
As D.C. enters the fall season, LGBTQ performers and allies will take the stage. This fall’s lineup is massive and diverse, from rock to electronic dance music.
Ryan Beatty, a gay musical artist, will bring his show, “Arms Over Armor North American Tour ’26” to the Lincoln Theater (1215 U St. N.W.) in D.C. on Sep. 26, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets go for $43.15 per attendee. Visit https://www.thelincolndc.com/#block-3 for more information.
All Things Go Music Festival: A major lineup of allies, including Mitski, Ethal Cain, Rebecca Black, Underscores, and many more. The festival, known for being LGBTQ-friendly, will take place at Merriweather Post Pavilion (10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia, Md.) from Sept. 26-28. Visit allthingsgofestival.com for tickets and details.
Bisexual singer Charli XCX will bring her “Music, Fashion, Film Tour” to Capital One Area (601 F St, N.W.) in D.C. on Sep. 28 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go from $102 – $500. capitalonearena.com for more info.
Bisexual artist Phoebe Bridgers will bring her “The Lost Tour 2026” to Capital One Arena on Sep. 29 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go from $157-$500.
Power To the People Festival, another fantastic festival will take place at Merriweather Post Pavilion (10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia, Md.). It will feature LGBTQ artists and allies, such as Bruce Springsteen and Brittney Howard. The festival is on Oct. 3 and doors open at 12 p.m.
Anabel Englund, calls herself a “heterosexual ally” on Instagram. She will perform at the Diplo’s Glow Block Party at Echo Stage (2135 Queens Chapel Road, N.E.) in D.C., Oct. 3. Doors Open at 3 p.m. Tickets range from $106-$154.
Amy Ray and Emily Saliers are the two lesbian singers who make up the Indigo Girls, one of the most recognizable folk duos who have sold more than 2 million albums with two singles: “Closer to Fine” and “Kid Fears” alone. Both will be performing at the Anthem (901 Wharf St., S.W.) in D.C. on Oct. 4. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Grateful Drag, featuring PLUS 1, will take place at the 9:30 Club (815 V St., N.W.) in D.C. on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.
Lauren Sanderson is a lesbian and queer performer with viral tracks that include “GAY 4 ME” (with G Flip). She will bring her “COME SAY SUM TOUR” to the Alantis (2047 9th St., N.W.) in D.C. on Oct. 15.
Steve Lacy, a bisexual artist, will bring his “Oh yeah?” tour to the Anthem on Oct. 18. Doors open at 6 p.m. and show starts at 7 p.m.
Washington Concert Opera‘s ARMIDA, staring Daniel Laucerica, Andrew Wilkowske, and Jonathan Pierce Rhodes, will take place at the Lisner Auditorium (730 21st St., N.W.) in D.C. on Oct. 24 at 6 p.m.
Yebba, a bisexual and queer artist, is a singer and songwriter within the genre of contemporary music who has performed alongside Ed Sheeran, Drake, and A$AP Rocky. Yebba will perform on Oct. 31 at the Anthem. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 8:30 p.m.
Brutalismus 3000 is a longtime LGBTQ ally. They will bring their “Harmony US Tour 2026” show to Echo Stage on Nov. 13 at 10 p.m. Tickets range from $48-$66.
The Washington National Opera Orchestra will feature Andrea Gibson, a queer, nonbinary, and genderqueer poet/spoken-word artist, who will perform “Andrea Gibson’s Love Letter from the Afterlife” on Nov. 17 at the Anthem. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Doja Cat, a bisexual artist who previously worked with Laurel Charleston, a trans women makeup artist, will bring her “Ma Vie World Tour” to Capital One Arena on Nov. 21. The show is at 7:30 p.m. and tickets range from $69-$316.
Victoria Monét: A bisexual R&B singer and a three-time Grammy winner, will bring her Frequency of Love Tour to the Anthem on Nov. 27 at 8 p.m.
Nightlife
Parties, dinners, concerts and more on tap for fall nightlife
Blade’s 25th Best Of party among highlights
The heat is on in the city this fall for gala season, culture, and nightlife, including many LGBTQ and ally artists. Select shows, parties, and events for the season are below.
September
9/18-20: Fuchsia Fest – The inaugural Fuchsia Fest is a new multi-day celebration created to highlight LGBTQ community and expression, bringing together a mix of community gatherings, entertainment, and nightlife. Hosted by Capital Pride, Fuchsia Fests’s various events take place across the city throughout the weekend.
9/24: Katie Pruitt – The Americana/indie-fold singer-songwriter is known for her soaring vocals and deeply personal storytelling. She is on tour for her latest album, released Sept. 18, “Fools for the Fleeting.” She is part of the LGBTQ community.
9/25-27: All Things Go. This annual music festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion includes performers like Mitski, Hayley Williams, Brandi Carlile, MUNA, Zara Larsson, Ethel Cain, and many more beloved artists. Featuring and highlighting female artists, the festival has turned into a must-see for many LGBTQ audience members. There are single-day and three-day tickets.
9/26: Human Rights Campaign National Dinner – This annual big-ticket fundraiser for HRC (black tie, of course) celebrates achievements and recognizes the road ahead for LGBTQ+ equality. Taking place at the Mayflower, look out for D.C. stars, like members of Congress, former first ladies, and Broadway actors.
9/26 Gorillaz – Two decades strong, this artistic group unites visuals, storytelling, and music across diverse genres, from rock to reggae to electronic, for a show at Capital One Arena.
9/29 Charli XCX – British singer-songwriter and pop diva known for her bold expression, mixes electronic, pop, and dance, will bring thrilled audiences to her show at Capital One Arena as part of her Music, Fashion, Film Tour.
Multiple dates: Smithsonian Festival – This fall, the Smithsonian Institutions is debuting a festival called Rhythms, Roots, Recipes: Community Stories of Food and Music. Across this five-part series, each session features cooking demos, discussions, and live music. All programs are free and open to the public, and take place in the demo kitchen at the National Museum of American History.
October
10/3: GLOW BLock Party – GLOW is back! After throwing a giant party this spring with 10,000-plus dancing fans dancing against the Capitol dome at sunset, GLOW returns with an even more epic lineup: legendary Grammy-winning DJ and producer Diplo leading a seven-hour party with vendors, activations, and a number of other huge acts like Westend, Anabel Englund, Monty Kiddo, and D.C.’s own Ratalina.
10/3: Home Rule Music Festival – Now in its fifth year, this is a free, all-day community-driven event of local music, food trucks, and vendors at the Parks at Walter Reed. The D.C.-focused event features bands playing go-go, soul, hip-hop, jazz, and more, plus a record fair and live art.
10/3: PRIDEtoberfest – Gay-owned Wunder Garten presents PRIDEtoberfest, marrying the festive spirit of Oktoberfest and the joy of the LGBTQIA+ community for an all-day celebration of Pride, community, live music, DJs, overflowing steins of beer, and entertainment. Food will be available from Little Miner Taco and CaliBurger, plus plenty of friendly men in lederhosen.
10/3: Power to the People Festival – The inaugural Power to the People Festival will take place at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md. The festival, curated by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist and acclaimed activist Tom Morello, is a celebration of peace, justice, solidarity, music, and community action.
10/10: Jessie Ware – British singer and songwriter fully embraced by the LGBTQ community brings her impassioned mix of pop, disco, and electronic genres to Capital One Arena supporting her latest album Superbloom,
10/19: Chefs for Equality – This annual dinner fundraiser for HRC remains in its remixed, diffused form this year. Under the theme of United Plates of America, there will be six different activations: four multi-course collab dinners (at CUT by Wolfgang Puck, Marcus DC, Moon Rabbit, and Centrolina); Drag Brunch for Dinner at Perry’s; and a lavish cocktail party at cocktail lounge Silver Lyan. In any form, Chefs for Equality is a signature benefit toward the fight for full LGBTQ+ equality.
10/20 Rodrigo y Gabriela – Grammy-winning Mexican acoustic guitar duo that blends flamenco, rock, and heavy metal is coming to The Anthem. They have been playing at 9:30 Club and sister venues since 2007.
10/22: Washington Blade Best of Party – Celebrate the best of LGBTQ DC at the Blade’s epic Halloween party: Murder on the Dance Floor. Winners of the Blade’s annual Best of DC will be announced at this party at Longview Gallery. This marks the 25th anniversary of the Blade’s Best Of competition. “Real Housewives” star Ashley Darby hosts.
10/31: Into the Shadows – An immersive, indoor/outdoor Halloween party actually on the spooky day itself at Berhta. With multiple stages across multiple rooms, there are various DJs and activations.
November
11/11: Whitman-Walker Gala – This annual fundraiser at the Ritz-Carlton is themed “A Celebration of Impact & Innovation.” It aims to showcase the impact of Whitman-Walker’s healthcare, research, and policy programs, and will include presentation of the Groundbreaker Award for Community Philanthropy.
11/20: Ilana Glazer – Comedian, actor, advocate, and creator best known for co-creating and co-starring in the acclaimed series Broad City brings her act to Lincoln Theater. Her first show is already sold out, but a second show has been added.
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A roundup of fall events not to be missed
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