Local
Butts out in the cold as Va. gay bar goes smoke free
There was fresh air, fresh faces and perhaps not quite so many raspy-voiced karaoke songs at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant last week as Virginia went smoke free.
Business hasn’t declined since the Dec. 1 changeover, and some patrons even said they were enticed back or came for the first time as a result of the smoking ban.
“It’s much more pleasant inside,” said Tom, a Crystal City man who declined to give his last name. A smoker, he has a non-smoking partner. The pair shuffled back and forth between the warmer entrance patio and the cold of winter’s first snow outside.
“I support the ban,” he said. “I’ve only lived in Virginia for three years. Before that I lived in New York City. They had the ban. Before that, Boston. They had the ban. It’s an incentive to smoke less.”
D.C. and Maryland banned smoking in bars and restaurants in 2006 and 2008, respectively. Freddie’s was the last remaining gay bar in the metro area to allow smoking.
Not everyone at Freddie’s supports the ban. Ophelia Bottoms, Freddie’s Saturday night DJ and drag host reserved her anger for the Virginian government.
“It was forced on us,” she said. “I think it’s funny that we’re the tobacco state and you can’t smoke inside. I perform in the city and Maryland, this was the only place left to perform where you could still smoke.”
“Now it’s cold outside — really cold. When I’m not in drag it’s fine, but when it’s raining or snowing, it is not the best thing to go outside.”
On the first night of the ban, it rained, Bottoms said, so five people were forced to huddle in the doorway while people were trying to get into the venue.
Vince, a former Freddie’s employee who declined to provide his last name, said he enjoyed being able to smoke while he worked.
“I understand that non-smokers want to go somewhere that is smoke free, but as a smoker, we want somewhere that has a balcony or a patio with a roof,” he said. “I love Freddie’s, but I want to go somewhere that has a smoking area.”
Freddie Lutz, the establishment’s eponymous owner, said he’d have to check with the Health Department on what changes could be made to accommodate the displaced smokers.
“I have a lot of smoking clientele, and I’ve grown very fond of them over the years,” he said. “They’re not bad people, they just smoke. I really appreciate all of them and they’ve been loyal to me, faithful loyal customers.”
Returning that loyalty was “a work in progress” he said, beginning with small changes like moving ashtrays outside.
“There was a lot of that sort of talk [about a smoking deck] and the smokers were trying to think of ways we could get around it, we do the patio or something like that, but we really wanted to try this cold turkey.”
Virginia law would not permit Freddie’s former non-smoking patio to be converted to a smoking area as it is currently fitted, because of the flaps.
“If we do that, the flaps would have to be open. It could get cold. We could have heaters on, too, but that would be pretty costly,” Lutz said. It would also lose functionality as additional seating, he noted, due to the exposure.
Despite the complications, Lutz said he expected to see many new customers as a result of the changeover.
“I had a lot of people come to me and say, ‘We would go to your place or we’d go to your place more often but we just can’t stand the smoke.’ I think we’re going to get a lot of those people coming now, which is a great thing.”
Lutz said the smokers he talked to had accepted the change.
“Anyone would admit that it was an inevitability, it was going to happen. I don’t think we’re going to lose the smokers because where can they go? They can’t go to D.C.; they can’t go to Maryland.
“I’m an ex-smoker myself. I swore to myself I wouldn’t turn into one of those bitchy ex-smokers. I can relate and feel for the smokers and it’s unfortunate that it’s in the dead of winter. I know it’s difficult for them.”
Freddie’s manager Ray Martin confirmed that bar receipts were unchanged this week.
“For every customer that is maybe staying home and smoking now, more customers are coming out,” he said.
“Personally, I’m very pleased. My smoking has been cut down to a third of what it used to be. Every smoker out there really wishes they could quit.”
Customers who can’t stand to abandon either Freddie’s or their cigarettes could find hope in the bar owner’s plans to open another Freddie’s in another city, particularly in Florida.
“I’m down in Fort Lauderdale looking for a bar,” he said. “It is still smoking down here, interestingly enough. Freddie’s has been a smoking bar all this time so it wouldn’t bother me.
“I was actually surprised — pleasantly surprised — that Virginia did this. I thought they’d be the absolute last because they’re such a tobacco state, so now if we could just get them to legalize gay marriage, we’d be set.”
Virginia
Two gay candidates running in ‘firehouse’ Va. House of Delegates primary in Alexandria
Kirk McPike, Gregory Darrall hope to succeed delegate vying for Ebbin’s seat
Gay Alexandria City Council member Kirk McPike and gay public school teacher Gregory Darrall, who serves as vice president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, are among four candidates running in a Jan. 20 “firehouse” Democratic primary for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.
With less than a week’s notice, Democratic Party officials in Alexandria called the primary to select a Democratic nominee to run in a Feb. 10 special election to fill the 5th House District seat being vacated by state Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-Alexandria).
Bennett-Parker won the Democratic nomination for the Virginia Senate seat being vacated by gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), who is resigning from the seat to take a position in the administration of Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who took office on Jan. 17.
Bennett-Parker won the nomination for the state Senate seat in yet another firehouse primary on Jan. 13 in which she defeated three other candidates, including gay former state Del. Mark Levine.
The Jan. 20 primary in which McPike and Darrall are competing will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. in two polling places in Alexandria: the Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library at 5005 Duke St. and the Charles Houston Recreation Center at 901 Wythe St.
The other two candidates running are former Alexandria City School Board member Eileen Cassidy Rivera and criminal law defense attorney Chris Leibig.
McPike, who first won election to the Alexandria City Council in 2021, served for 13 years as chief of staff for gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) prior to winning election to the Alexandria City Council.
“Now, Kirk is ready to bring his experience to Richmond to keep improving the lives of all Virginians as our delegate for House District 5,” his campaign website says. His website writeup says he and his husband, Cantor Jason Kaufman, have lived in Alexandria’s Seminary Hill neighborhood for 15 years.
“As delegate, we can count on Kirk to keep delivering for us — helping Virginia maintain our commitments to our schools, our first responders, and our efforts to address climate change, housing affordability, and infrastructure,” the website statement says.
McPike, a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter and advocate, has been endorsed by Ebbin and U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). Beyer said in a statement that McPike “has a proven track record of delivering results for Alexandrians.”
Darrall’s campaign website says he is a “proud progressive, lifelong educator, and labor leader running to put people first.” It says he is a political newcomer “with more than 20 years in the classroom” as a teacher who played a key role in the successful unionization of Fairfax Public Schools.
“He is a proud member and staunch supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community,” his website statement says. It says he met his husband Jose while living in Miami and the two operated a small business in South Florida for a decade before moving to Alexandria in 2015. It adds that Darrall is “fluent in Spanish, loves walking Alexandria’s neighborhoods, and is driven by a deep belief in fairness, equality, and strengthening our democracy from the ground up.”
The Alexandria Republican City Committee nominated local business executive Mason Butler as the Republican nominee for the House of Delegates seat in the Feb. 10 special election after he emerged as the only GOP candidate running for the seat, according to the Alexandria Brief publication. He will face the Democratic winner in the Jan. 20 firehouse primary.
The Washington Blade is seeking to determine GOP candidate Butler’s and Democratic candidates Leibig’s and Rivera’s positions on LGBTQ-related issues and will update this story if their positions on those issues can be determined.
Abigail Spanberger was sworn in as the 75th governor of Virginia at a ceremony on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol on Saturday. Thousands of spectators watched the swearing-in ceremony and parade, despite the rain and temperatures in the low 40s.
Spanberger, a member of the Democratic Party and an LGBTQ ally, became the first woman to be Virginia’s governor.
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Newly-elected Attorney General Jay Jones, Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi, and Spanberger were each administered the oath of office in the public ceremony.
Republican former Gov. Glenn Youngkin left the ceremony shortly after the oath of office was administered to Spanberger and before the inaugural address.
In her speech, the new governor made an appeal to bipartisanship and looking past division in our current moment.
“To my friends in the General Assembly — on both sides of the aisle — I look forward to working with you,” said Spanberger. “I know what it means to represent your constituents, to work hard for your district, and to pursue policies you believe in. We will not agree on everything, but I speak from personal experience when I say that we do not have to see eye-to-eye on every issue in order to stand shoulder-to-shoulder on others.”
Spanberger acknowledged Virginians’ frustrations with federal layoffs and governmental policy.
“I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington. You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities — cutting healthcare access, imperiling rural hospitals, and driving up costs,” said Spanberger. “You are worried about Washington policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry, and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service.”
Spanberger alluded to the Trump-Vance administration, though never mentioned President Donald Trump’s name in her remarks.
Spanberger said, “you are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking the social safety net, and sowing fear across our communities, betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values we celebrate here on these steps.”
The new governor then spoke of her priorities in office, pledging to tackle housing affordability by working to “cut red tape” and increase housing supply. Spanberger also spoke of forestalling an impending healthcare crisis by protecting access and cracking down on “middlemen who are driving up drug prices.”
Spanberger spoke of investments in education at every level, standing up for workers (including the large number of federal workers in Virginia), and taking action on gun violence.
Virginia married couple Mary Townley and Carol Schall witnessed the inauguration ceremony from the stands set up on the grounds of the Capitol. Schall and Townley are one of the plaintiff couples in the case that challenged the Virginia constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage became legal in Virginia in 2014.
“We are delighted with the inauguration of Abigail Spanberger as governor of Virginia,” Schall told the Washington Blade. “The celebration of her inauguration was full of the beautiful diversity that is Virginia. The Virginia Pride contingent was included as a part of what makes Virginia a great place to live.”
“Such an honor to attend such a wonderful event in Virginia history,” Townley told the Blade. “The weather before the Inauguration was cold and rainy, but I believe it represented the end of a dreary time and it ushered in the dry and sunny weather by the end of the inaugural parade. Madam Governor brought us to the light!”
The inaugural parade following the governor’s remarks included a contingent from Diversity Richmond and Virginia Pride. Marchers in the LGBTQ contingent carried a giant Progress Pride flag and were met with loud cheers from the gathered spectators.
Spanberger after her inauguration signed 10 executive orders. One of them bans discrimination against state employees based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and other factors.
“By virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor under Article V of the Constitution of
Virginia, I hereby declare that it is the firm and unwavering policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia to ensure equal opportunity in all facets of state government,” reads the executive order. “The foundational tenet of this executive order is premised upon a steadfast commitment to foster a culture of inclusion, diversity, and mutual respect for all Virginians.”
Virginia
VIDEO: LGBTQ groups march in Va. inaugural parade
Abigail Spanberger took office on Saturday
The inaugural ceremonies for Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger were held in Richmond, Va. on Saturday. Among the groups marching in the parade were Diversity Richmond and the Virginia Pride project of Diversity Richmond.
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