Arts & Entertainment

Queery: Jerame Davis

The Stonewall Democrats director answers 20 gay questions

Published

14 years ago

August 9, 2012

Joey DiGuglielmo

(Blade photo by Michael Key)

Jerame Davis, executive director of National Stonewall Democrats, has high hopes for November.

“I think after the Olympics are over and when the conventions kick off and people really start tuning in in earnest, I think the more people get to know Mitt Romney, the more people are going to get turned off,” he says. “He can’t hold a consistent position on any issue.”

Davis — his first name is pronounced “Jeremy,” says, “That’s very troubling, especially for the LGBT community.”

But haven’t Obama’s views — such as his recent change of position on same-sex marriage — changed perhaps even more starkly?

“Any politician will have some inconsistencies,” Davis says. “With Romney, he’s just craven. It’s totally for political gain without any sort of conviction. There’s nothing driving him except his desire for public office.”

Davis and his partner of 14 years, blogger Bil Browning of Bilerico, moved to Washington two years ago for Davis to accept a position — though not the one he’s in now — with the Stonewall Democrats. He’d been active with the group in his native Indiana where he worked for years as a political and IT consultant, and says when the opportunity became available to work in D.C., he couldn’t resist.

“The intersection of politics and LGBT organizing is really kind of perfect for me,” he says. “To merge those both into the activism I do is a super bonus.”

Davis, 37, has an 18-year-old daughter, Paige, born when he was just 18, who lives with her mother in Indiana, though she lived with he and Browning for eight years.

Davis lives in Adams Morgan and enjoys reading, tinkering with technology and playing video games in his free time.

“There’s something about blowing up virtual bad guys that calms my nerves,” he says.

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?

I came out at 21. The hardest person to tell was my daughter’s mother, but not for the reason you might think. A few years prior, just before my daughter was born, she had been the first person in my life to question my sexuality and I didn’t want to have to admit she had been right. She still claims she has better gaydar than me.

Who’s your LGBT hero?

As a geek, I have to say Alan Turing. Without Turing to break the German codes, the outcome of WWII could have been a lot different. Despite this fact, he was prosecuted for his homosexuality and chemically castrated by the British government he had served faithfully all his life. Only this year has parliament introduced a bill to pardon Turing and finally restore honor to his name.

What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?

I really don’t go out much, but I prefer JR.’s or the Eagle over Town or Cobalt. You can usually find me at 9:30 club when Blowoff is in town.

Describe your dream wedding.

Simple. Low-key. I think anniversaries are far more important than weddings.

What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?

Equal and free access to the Internet. Some folks call this net neutrality, but it’s more than just that single issue. Corporations are finding ways to circumvent existing law while still pressing hard in Congress for the right to completely lock out competing content providers.

What historical outcome would you change?

The 2000 election. Our economy, our foreign policy and so many other things would be radically different if we could wipe the slate clean from the George W. Bush presidency.

What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?

I’m 37 years old. There have been way too many to name just one. Even in the context of strictly LGBT pop culture moments, how do you pick just one?

On what do you insist?

Honesty. It’s the basis for any relationship with another person.

What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?

“Stonewall Democrats have moved offices! Our new digs are fabulous — thanks Progressive Congress for the space and all you do to make America a better place.”

If your life were a book, what would the title be?

“Against All Odds”

If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?

Let’s hope it never does. What a terrible idea.

What do you believe in beyond the physical world?

As an atheist firmly grounded in scientific learning and reasoning, I don’t believe there is anything beyond the physical world, but I am willing to be proven wrong.

What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?

As a current “LGBT movement leader,” I think I’ll skip this question for now.

What would you walk across hot coals for?

A lot of things. Hot coals actually aren’t that big a deal.

What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?

The meme that all trans people are crazy is probably the most insidious because it’s as pervasive in the LGBT community as it is outside it.

What’s your favorite LGBT movie?

“Milk.” We don’t know enough of our history and Harvey’s legacy is something every person in America should know.

What’s the most overrated social custom?

The position of the toilet seat. Is it really so much work to move it into the position you need when you use the bathroom?

What trophy or prize do you most covet?

Nothing. Glory and accolades are great, but they aren’t what drive me.

What do you wish you’d known at 18?

That being out and proud would change my life in such a positive and profound way.

Why Washington?

Washington was always in my top five cities to live in after escaping the Midwest, but it was taking a job at National Stonewall Democrats that finally brought me to our nation’s capital.

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Theater

Rorschach stages ‘Dragon Play’ in unlikely, raw space

Out sound designer Madeline ‘Mo’ Oslejsek notes ‘sound is my bag’

Published

5 hours ago

April 18, 2026

Patrick Folliard

Madeline 'Mo' Oslejsek (Photo courtesy of Oslejsek)

‘Dragon Play’
Through May 17
Rorschach Theatre
The Stacks @ Buzzard Point
101 V St., S.W.
$50 ($35 for students and seniors)
Rorschachtheatre.org

Celebrated for its site-specific, immersive productions, Rorschach Theatre puts on plays all over town. The unlikely spots have included greenhouses, church vestibules, closed retail spaces (including a vacant downtown big and tall men’s store) and historic locales like Rock Creek Cemetery’s Adams Memorial.

For its current offering “Dragon Play” (through May 17), a tale of love and longing, Rorschach is using a raw space in The Stacks at Buzzard Point, a new mixed-use neighborhood situated where the Anacostia and Potomac rivers meet.

Out sound designer Madeline ‘Mo’ Oslejsek considers all sites – whether traditional theatrical spaces or not – specific, particularly in terms of sound. She says, “Part of my practice is if you’re creating a soundscape for a theatrical production you’re also working with sound that already exists with the space.”

For instance, The Stacks space comes with its own unique qualities. It’s a large cement room that has a different reverberation, an echo.

“Some sounds (a car, dog bark) are planted or they might just happen. What starts as a live sound might be heard again as something recorded.”

Whip smart with a ready laugh, Oslejsek never set out to be a sound designer. She was going to direct. And now, the 2025 Helen Hayes Award nominee for Outstanding Sound Design (“Astro Boy and the God of Comics” at Flying V,) says, “Sound is my bag. Sometimes it seems that I’m the only one in the room thinking about it.”

As an undergrad studying theater at Ohio Wesleyan University, she was first exposed to sound design, but it didn’t make a big impression.

In grad school at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, she was interested in direction. But when students were offered a choice of three more specific tracks to choose from (performance, composition, and scenography, which includes sound design), Oslejsek was swayed.

“An introduction to scenography by the department head radically changed the course of my life,” she says.

What struck her most about sound was the subjectivity: “The core of my practice is that sound has no meaning until it’s experienced. All sound is noise. It’s just a pitch, active, or vocalization. It becomes real when you hear it and apply meaning to it. That’s very exciting to me.”

Today, Oslejsek and partner Caitlin Hooper, an actor and intimacy choreographer, are based in Baltimore but work primarily in D.C.

“It feels good to be in a place where art and queerness in art are celebrated. It’s not like that everywhere, and making that kind of work down the street from this White House where that’s not the vibe, is real resistance. That feels really meaningful.”

Also important to Oslejsek (who identifies alternately as queer and lesbian) is “queer as a practice,” a concept suggesting that a queer identity or practice does not seek to replace other identities but to encompass and bridge them.

“I’m queer because I like women, but the work is more about making room for what everyone in the room hears,” she says. “Never do I want to come into a space thinking I have all the answers. That’s no fun.”

As its title might suggest, Jenny Connell Davis’ play directed by Rorschach’s Randy Baker is filled with magic. “Dragon Play,” blurs the past and present; one world bleeds into the next; and, of course, there are dragons. At 80 minutes with no intermission, the play moves in and out of different timelines; increasingly things start to overlap.

And it’s also about the magic of relationships – all kinds. There’s a line where the dragon girl asks a Texas boy what he dreams about and he replies “you, always you.”

Oslejsek, 30, is touched by those words: “In my little gay heart, I cried. It makes me think of my partner. This play is about the idea of people who strike a match in your heart that never really goes away.”

In creating a layered soundscape, she brings her own brand of magic to the production. Her big goal was “not to play with how we think a dragon might sound, but rather with how does the world sound to a dragon.”

Sometimes sound design takes the lead, but in some productions, sound is purposely subtle or secondary, she says. Either way, sound can be monumental in shaping theater.

Calendar

Calendar: April 17-23

LGBTQ events in the days to come

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2026

Tinashe Chingarande

Friday, April 17

Center Aging Monthly Luncheon With Yoga will be at 12 p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. Email Mac at [email protected] if you require ASL interpreter assistance, have any dietary restrictions, or questions about this event.

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Social in the City” at 7 p.m. at Hotel Zena. This is a chance to relax, make new friends, and enjoy happy hour specials at this classic retro venue. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Trans and Genderqueer Game Night will be at 7:00p.m. at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. This is a relaxing, laid-back evening of games and fun. All are welcome and there’ll be card and board games on hand. Feel free to bring your own games to share. For more details, visit the DC Center’s website.

Saturday, April 18

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ+ community, including allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

The DC Center for the LGBT Community will host “Sunday Supper on Saturday” at 2 p.m. It’s more than just an event; it’s an opportunity to step away from the busyness of life and invest in something meaningful, and enjoy delicious food, genuine laughter, and conversations that spark connection and inspiration. For more details, visit the Center’s website.

Sunday, April 19

Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Lunch” at 11 a.m. at Federico Ristorante Italiano. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ+ community, including allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.

Monday, April 20

“Center Aging: Monday Coffee Klatch” will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more information, contact Adam ([email protected]).

Tuesday, April 21

Center Bi+ Roundtable will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is an opportunity for people to gather in order to discuss issues related to bisexuality or as Bi individuals in a private setting.Visit Facebook or Meetup for more information.

Senior Self Defense Class with Avi Rome will be at 12:30 p.m. This inclusive and beginner-friendly class, led by Instructor Avi Rome, offers a light warm-up, stretching, and instruction in basic techniques, patterns, and striking padded targets. Each session is designed to be adaptable for all ability and mobility levels, creating a welcoming space for everyone to build strength, confidence, and community through martial arts. For more details, visit the DC Center’s website.

Wednesday, April 22

Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom upon request. This is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely “applicants” toward being “candidates.” For more information, email [email protected] or visit thedccenter.org/careers.

Asexual and Aromantic Group will meet at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a space where people who are questioning this aspect of their identity or those who identify as asexual and/or aromantic can come together, share stories and experiences, and discuss various topics. For more details, email [email protected].

Thursday, April 23

The DC Center’s Fresh Produce Program will be held all day at the DC Center for the LGBT Community. People will be informed on Wednesday at 5:00 pm if they are picked to receive a produce box. No proof of residency or income is required. For more information, email [email protected] or call 202-682-2245.

Virtual Yoga Class will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This free weekly class is a combination of yoga, breath work and meditation that allows LGBTQ+ community members to continue their healing journey with somatic and mindfulness practices. For more details, visit the DC Center’s website.

Out & About

Team DC’s annual gala set for this weekend

LGBTQ sports organization to hold annual ‘Night of Champions’

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2026

Tinashe Chingarande

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Team DC will host “Night of Champions Gala” on Saturday, April 18 at 6 p.m. at the Georgetown Marriott.

This will be an evening of celebration and inspiration as Team DC honors remarkable individuals and supports the next generation of LGBTQ student-athletes.

There will be opportunities to support Team DC through auctions. The Silent Auction items will offer an array of unique goods and experiences. Additionally, Team DC will feature an exclusive selection of live auction items for those looking to make a significant impact.

This year, Team DC will recognize six outstanding awardees who have made significant contributions to the LGBTQ community and sports: