Arts & Entertainment
Social agenda for March 5
Friday, March 5
Join the DC Front Runners for their First Friday Happy Hour from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Green Lantern, located at 1335 Green Court, N.W.
Participate in Gay District from 8:30-10:30 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church. Gay District is a weekly, non-church affiliated discussion and social group for GBTQ men between 18 and 35. The group meets at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (1820 Connecticut Ave., N.W., just north of Dupont Circle. For more information, e-mail [email protected].
Raw, held from 10 p.m.-3 a.m., returns to the Green Lantern, 1335 Green Court, N.W. Raw is an electro-disco party on the first Friday of each month at the Green Lantern, inspired by gay parties of the early 80s. Join your host, Karl Marks, and resident DJs, Shea and Bil, for some retro fun, fog, lasers, strobe lights and throbbing music. Free entry before 11 p.m., cover is just $3 after that.
Town Danceboutique, located at 2009 8th St., N.W., presents its “So, you think you’re a drag queen?” competition. Doors open at 10 p.m. with the drag show/contest at 10:30 p.m. Contestants must arrive at the club by 10 p.m. (no later than 10:15) and bring a CD with a song you want to perform. Makeup should be done before your arrival. The audience decides the winner with a grand prize of $250.
Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, holds its March Post-Valentine Sweet & Sentimental Social. To participate, visit www.burgundycrescent.org.
Saturday, March 6
Join your hosts and DJs Richard Morel and Bob Mould for Blowoff at the 9:30 club, located at 815 V St., N.W. Doors open at 11:30 p.m. with a $12 cover.
DC Metro LGBT IT Professionals meets from 10-11 a.m. at SteamCafe, 17th & R streets. RSVP at meetup.com at: http://www.meetup.com/GayDigerati/
Thom Bierdz will create a painting to be auctioned off to support Out for Work on Saturday, March 6 from 6-9 p.m. at MOVA Lounge (formerly Halo) at 1435 P St., N.W. Bierdz is the first openly gay actor to play an openly gay character, Phillip Chancellor III, on CBS’ “The Young & the Restless.”
EFF Winter Dance Party is held from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar, 555 23rd St., South Arlington, Va. Party is 21+. There is a $5 cover, which benefits Capital Pride.
The March edition of the monthly gear/fetish party CODE at Motley Bar above EFN Lounge, 1318 9th St., N.W., 9 p.m.-3 a.m., will feature DJ Shea Van Horn. Admission is $10. Code is an 18+ event. Gear, rubber, skin, uniform or leather dress code will be strictly enforced.
JAM @ MOVA Lounge at 1435 P St., N.W., 9 p.m. – 3 a.m. Join B.O.I. and the ladies of Mixology as they take over MOVA Lounge. Come out and mingle, dance, drink or chill.
In recognition of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Food & Friends will host a free community event 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Riggs LaSalle Community Center, 501 Riggs Rd., N.E. Free shuttle from the Fort Totten Metro Station (on the Red, Green-Yellow Lines). This free community event is open to all ages and includes free HIV testing and counseling, educational workshops and free food and entertainment.
DCist.com holds its fourth annual DCist Exposed Photography Show at Long View Gallery, March 6-21. Out of more than 1,000 entries submitted through Flickr.com, 47 winning images were selected by a panel to be included in this year’s DCist Exposed exhibit. This year’s opening reception will be Saturday, 6-10 p.m., $5 at the door. Long View Gallery is located at 1234 9th St., N.W., just a few blocks from the Mt. Vernon/Convention Center Metro.
A Night Out at Silo Point, a benefit for Moveable Feast. Built in 1923, the B&O Railroad grain terminal in Baltimore was the biggest and fastest grain elevator in the world. Today, it’s a contemporary 24-story condo tower rising above the Inner Harbor. Tour the building and help Moveable Feast while you’re at it — food and cocktails, dance to DJ D-Rizzo and tour six decorated models, 8 p.m.-12 a.m., 1200 Steuart St., Baltimore. Tickets are $45 per person or $75 per couple, purchase online at mfeast.org.
Sunday, March 7
Join the DC Center at Town Danceboutique, 2009 8th St., N.W., for the 5th Annual Oscar celebration, “Glamour, Glitter, & Gold.” Doors open at 7 p.m.; general admission is $15 in advance or $20 at the door. V.I.P. admission, $100. Purchase tickets at thedccenter.org or for more information e-mail [email protected].
AZÚCAR DC at EFN Lounge, 1318 9th St., N.W., 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Ginger Glamour joins the Queen of the House Alondra St. Cartier on the Azúcar stage and DJ Michael Brandon plays your favorite hits. Always 18 to dance, 21 to drink.
The Oscars at Black Fox Lounge. Black Fox is located two blocks north of Dupont Circle on Connecticut Avenue, between R and S Streets. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres, black tie optional. Prizes for Best Dressed Male and Best Dressed Female. 8-11:30 p.m. No cover.
Thom Bierdz will be signing copies of “Forgiving Troy,” at the Books-A-Million, Dupont Circle location from 3-5 p.m.
Monday, March 8
GLBT Youth Support Group will meet from 4:30-6 p.m. at the GW Center Clinic, 1922 F St., N.W., Suite 103.
Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, has volunteer opportunities for Food & Friends and for the HRC phone banks. To participate, visit www.burgundycrescent.org.
Tuesday, March 9
Town Danceboutique, located at 2009 8th St., N.W., presents “Speakeasy.” The topic is “American Idol: Stories about brushes with fame.” Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. $10 cover, 21+. To sign up or for more info visit speakeasydc.com.
Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, volunteers today for the Safer Sex Kit Packing Program. To participate, visit www.burgundycrescent.org.
Wednesday, March 10
Hollaback Transgender Support Group meets from 6:30-8 p.m. in the DC Center Activity Room. Hollaback is a program of the DC Community AIDS Network. The DC Center is located at 1810 14th St., N.W., convenient to the U Street/Cardozo Metro stop, and on the 14th Street bus lines.
Thursday, March 11
Whitman Walker: “Ready for Change” Harm Reduction Group, MRC, 2301 MLK Ave., S.E. from 3-5 p.m.
Dining Out for Life, an annual benefit for Food & Friends is held tonight at various restaurants around the city that donate a percentage of their take to charity. The Burgundy Crescent has related volunteer opportunities available. To participate, visit foodandfriends.org or burgundycrescent.org.
Celebrity News
Silky Nutmeg Ganache talks sex and dating, gender, politics, weight loss journey
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ semifinalist grew up in Bible Belt
Uncloseted Media published this interview on July 7.
By SPENCER MACNAUGHTON, ISABEL STOKES, and BELLA SAYEGH | After appearing on the 11th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the first season of “Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs. the World,” the sixth season of “RuPaul’s All Stars” and now the 11th season of “All Stars,” Silky Nutmeg Ganache, known by many as the Reverend, is undoubtedly a legend.
Born and raised in Moss Point, Miss., Ganache bears all in this episode of “UNCLOSETED with Spencer Macnaughton.” She speaks about her relationship with gender, her 100-pound weight loss, what it’s like living as a queer person of color in a red state and why she’s calling on allies to stand up for the trans community.
Patrons enjoyed a night out at the popular LGBTQ venue Crush Dance Bar on Friday, July 3.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Theater
‘My Favorite Sociopath’ debuts at Shepherdstown’s CATF
Gay playwright Aurin Squire’s take on D.C. journalism in the ‘90s
‘My Favorite Sociopath’
Contemporary American Theater Festival
July 10-Aug. 2
Shepherdstown, W.Va.
Catf.org
Discernment. It’s a thing some people have, explains playwright Aurin Squire, especially when you’re gay or Black in America (Squire is both).
“You instinctively know when the mob is teaming up for the best interests of the powers that be. You can feel it in the air.”
In his sharp new satire “My Favorite Sociopath,” Squire writes about life experiences but set in a different time and place: It’s the 1990s, early days of the 24-hour news cycle, and three ambitious journalism students are pursuing success in D.C.
And now, Squire’s play, along with other new works, are making their world premieres at the annual Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University in historic, queer-friendly Shepherdstown, W.Va. (just a 90-minute drive from D.C.).
“All of my plays are queer in some way,” says Squire, 46. “This one touches on harmless and dangerous lies. The characters are on the spectrum sexually, and it’s interesting how all that falls out.”
And he’s given it a lot of thought.
“Already as a kid, it seemed to me that the rage against rap music and sex was coming from closeted people resisting their own urges and temptations. For me, it was interesting to see a witch hunt led by witches. Queer people can always call out a lie.”
Since September, Squire has also been working with a TV show about the tech industry set in Silicon Valley. He says, “It seems the general flow of the tech industry is that humanity and civilization is finished and it’s just about accumulating as many goods as possible before everything collapses. In fact, those who are profiting actually agree. But for those who disagree, they believe the solution is to build bigger gates, but activists believe we can stop this”
Yet, he’s learned from folks associated with the show. “Many say the quickest way to divorce yourself from any responsibility or regulations — smash and grab. Otherwise, you have to stop and think and regulate your desires for greed and power”
Squire possesses a penchant for pithy titles. He laughs, explaining the first thing he wrote as a student at Juilliard was “Obama-ology,” the comedy with contemporary message. While a lot of people liked the name, it didn’t necessarily vibe with the author. He concedes that he chooses names based on “easy to remember” and titles that won’t be easy to lose as a file.
Another is “Defacing Michael Jackson,” a coming-of-age dramedy set in rural Florida in 1984, specifically Squire’s native town Opa-locka, Miami, a fantastical place famed for its fanciful Moorish revival architecture.
Living in the shadow of exotic structures, he wasn’t particularly fazed. Squire says “It wasn’t until returning to visit after my freshman year at Northwestern University in Chicago that I realized how weird it was: When you grow up in a place, you take surroundings for granted no matter how over the top.”
Now based in New York (where for two happy years, 2017-2019, he shared digs with drag king Murry Hill), Squire returns frequently to Miami to be with family, but this summer has been filled with both work and travel.
Currently, he’s in Shepherdstown with CATF shaping up “My Favorite Sociopath.” Later this summer he will travel to South Africa for research, followed by a silent writing retreat in Santa Fe, N.M.
Much of Squire’s work reflects the Latino, African, Caribbean, African-American, and Jewish cultures he grew up around in South Florida.
When asked if today’s winds of anti-multiculturalism worry him, he replies, “No, because that’s going to pass. Most people don’t like, people are seeing the negative results of it, and the young people coming up despise it. White male gamers were tricked momentarily through the algorithms into voting against their own interests and they’re now seeing how it’s not working out for them.
“Conservatives always try to stop progress and eventually they always lose. It’s just a question of where we’ll be in the middle of the end of civilization before that happens. I’d like to hope we can turn the ship around before then.”
In addition to “My Favorite Sociopath,” CATF summer season features three other world premieres (Lisa D’Amour’s comedy “The Smoker,” “Refugee Rhapsody” by Yussef El Guindi, “Best Line Wins: A Play Inspired by the Improvised Lives of Elaine May & Mike Nichols” by Beth Kander) and “¡VOS!” by Christina Pumariega.
CATF runs from July 10-Aug. 2 in three venues on the Shepherd University campus: Frank Center, Marinoff Theater, and Studio 112.
As Washington shifts right, Democratic Socialists gain ground
Susan Stewart could make history as Rehoboth’s first openly gay mayor
Silky Nutmeg Ganache talks sex and dating, gender, politics, weight loss journey
Madonna roundup: Reviews, sales, and love for ‘Danceteria’
Three overlooked court rulings limited White House anti-trans policies
‘Transcendent’ a tough but important read
Under-the-radar Delaware beach towns smart buyers are targeting
‘My Favorite Sociopath’ debuts at Shepherdstown’s CATF
In Trump’s divided America, Michael Weinstein’s AHF responds
