Arts & Entertainment
Calendar: event listings through Oct. 21
Friday, Oct. 15
Raging Stallion adult star Adam Killian will be live and nude on stage tonight at Secrets. Cover is $5 before 10:30 p.m. and $10 after. Doors open at 9 p.m. For more information, visit secretsdc.com.
Baltimore Black Pride starts today with a meet and greet with the Board of Directors at Club Bunns (608 W. Lexington St., Baltimore) from 7 to 9 p.m.
Dakshina Dance Company presents Mallika Sarabhai and the Darpana Dance Company’s performance of Sampradayam (Traditions) at the Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. This event is part of D.C.’s seventh annual Fall Festival of Indian Arts. Visit dakshina.org for more information and to purchase tickets.
The VelocityDC Dance Festival returns for a second year at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall (610 F St., N.W.) at 8 p.m. featuring CityDance Ensemble, Urban Artistry, the Washington Ballet and more. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at Shakespearetheatre.org.
Factory 449 presents “The Saint Plays” by Erik Ehn tonight at 8 p.m. at the Church Street Theatre (1742 Church St., N.W.).
The Black Squirrel (2427 18th St., N.W.) hosts its weekly LGBT night tonight at 9 p.m. There’s no cover charge. Must be 21 or older to enter. Visit blacksquirreldc.com to see a menu.
Sugarloft CraftsFestival starts today at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.. For more information, visit sugarloafcrafts.com.
This is the last weekend for Ganymede’s production of the gay-themed “Falsettos” at Noi’s Nook on 14th Street. Final performances are tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7. Tickets are $30. Go to www.ganymedearts.org for more information.
Saturday, Oct. 9
Cotton Candy, a new 18-and-up gay dance party from event planner Jacob Pring, is tonight from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. at Green Lantern. It will continue on the second Saturday of each month. Admission is $5 but is free for those with a college or military ID. Vodka drinks are free from 10 to 11 p.m. DJs David Merrill and Bryan Yamasaki will spin. Ten percent of proceeds go to the D.C. Center.
Baltimore Black Pride continues with the Living Red Ribbon Campaign from 9 a.m. to noon, rain or shine, at Rash Field, at the base of Federal Hill park, in Baltimore. Representatives from the Guinness World Records are expected to attend as attendees attempt to create the largest living red ribbon ever.
The 14th annual Human Rights Campaign national dinner is tonight at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (801 Mount Vernon Place, N.W.). The dinner is sold out but people who still want to attend can be added to the wait list. Visit hrcnationaldinner.org for more information.
The VelocityDC Dance Festival continues today at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Sidney Harman Hall (610 F St., N.W.) at 2 and 8 p.m. The 8 p.m. event includes performances by EDGEWORKS, Erica Rebollar, Furia Flamenca and more. The 2 p.m. event features the same performances as Friday night.
The eighth annual Cultural Affair, a part of Baltimore Black Pride, will be at the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center (847 N. Howard St.) from 7 to 11 p.m. tonight.
Logo and RCN present Morgan McMiachels and Shannel from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Drag U” tonight at Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) as part of the drag show starting at 10:30 p.m. Doors open at 10 p.m. Cover is $8 before 11 and $12 after. Attendees must be 21 or older.
Sunday, Oct. 10
LAMBDA SCI-FI will be holding its monthly meeting and social of LGBT science fiction, fantasy and horror fans at Brunswick House (1414 17th St., N.W.) at 1:30 p.m. for the meeting and 2 p.m. for the social. For more information call James at 202.232.3141 or e-mail to [email protected].
COLAGE celebrates its 20th anniversary today from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Mansion (O St., N.W.) Wilson Cruz, Angel from “Rent” will be emceeing the event.
Baltimore Black Pride will be having a National Coming Out Day party at the Comfort Inn Downtown Baltimore (8 E. Pleasant St.) from 2 to 4 p.m. Dress is casual and comfortable.
Pocket Gays hosts Sour Patch Sunday School today from 3 to 9 p.m. on the rooftop of Local 16 (1602 U St., N.W.). There will be drink specials and raffles including list spots to the “WTF” (What The Fuck?) party at Town the same night.
The fall festival ends Baltimore Black Pride at Club Bunns (608 W. Lexington St.) from 4 to 11 p.m. There is a $3 cover charge.
Women of Color Productions presents 10-10-10 The Unveiling of Epiphany Toi Williams from 6 p.m. to midnight tonight at Remington’s (639 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E.). This event is the true life account of Williams shared through spoken word, musical performances, dance ensemble and more.
Monday, Oct. 11
Zoom presents a picnic brunch at the National Arboretum (3501 New York Ave., N.E.) today from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be garden games including, twister, tug of war and more. Attendees are to bring their own picnic baskets. Well-trained pets are welcome. This event is free.
West Coast Swing Flash Mob choreography will be taught at Remington’s (639 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E.) tonight at 8:30 p.m. The choreography will be used to join a group from the D.C. area doing a flash mob on Oct. 16.
Hope Operas, whose founder is openly gay, has its second week of five new shows tonight to raise money for charity. The shows are at 8 p.m. at the Comedy Spot, in Ballston Mall (4238 Wilson, Blvd.), in Arlington. Each show benefits a different charity. Tickets are $12 per show. For more information call 323.788.8970 or e-mail [email protected].
Tuesday, Oct. 12
SpeakeasyDC will be at Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) tonight at 8 p.m. with “Coming Out: Stories about revelations, debuts and proclamations” in honor of National Coming Out Day. There is a $10 cover and attendees must be 21 or older. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Mautner Project presents a stress relief workshop tonight from 7 to 8 p.m. at Metropolitan Community Church (474 Ridge St., N.W.). Vanita Leatherwood will lead a small group through six sessions of ways to relieve stress. There is a $30 registration fee. E-mail to [email protected] or call 202-332-5536 for more information and to register.
Masters and Slaves Together will be holding its monthly meeting tonight from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.). For more information about the group, visit its website, mastwashington.org.
Wednesday, Oct. 13
Rainbow Response will be holding its monthly meeting tonight from 7 to 8 p.m. at D.C. Coalition Against Domestic Violence (5 Thomas Circle, N.W.). The meeting is open to all who are interested.
Green Lantern (1331 Green Court, N.W.) will host the weekly Poz D.C. happy hour upstairs from 8 p.m. to midnight. DJs, C-Dubz, Keith Hoffman, Jason Horswill and T-N-T Music factory will be spinning. Jacob Nathaniel Pring will host and bartend.
Thursday, Oct. 14
A new party dubbed “Homolicious” is at MOVA tonight from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. from MAG 7 Productions. Drag queen Stormy Vain and Allen Sexton will host. Downstairs from 7 to midnight, Jacob Pring and Justin Croft will bartend. Erik Lars Evans and Bryan Yamasaki will spin. Upstairs Mr. Gay D.C. 2010 Aaron Alexander will bartend and David Merrill will spin. “Homo” snow cones will be served. Those with birthdays the week of Oct. 10 to 16 will get a free drink.
DCBiWomen will be having its monthly dinner at Café Luna (1633 P St., N.W.) tonight from 7 to 8 p.m For more information, visit dcbiwomen.org.
Zenith Gallery (1111 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) has extended its Transparency exhibit of glass sculptures by Jackie L. Braitman. The gallery is open weekdays from 8 am to 7 p.m. For more information, visit zenithallery.com.
Sports
Attitude! French ice dancers nail ‘Vogue’ routine
Cizeron and Fournier Beaudry strike a pose in memorable Olympics performance
Madonna’s presence is being felt at the Olympic Games in Italy.
Guillaume Cizeron and his rhythm ice dancing partner Laurence Fournier Beaudry of France performed a flawless skate to Madonna’s “Vogue” and “Rescue Me” on Monday.
The duo scored an impressive 90.18 for their effort, the best score of the night.
“We’ve been working hard the whole season to get over 90, so it was nice to see the score on the screen,” Fournier Beaudry told Olympics.com. “But first of all, just coming out off the ice, we were very happy about what we delivered and the pleasure we had out there. With the energy of the crowd, it was really amazing.”
Watch the routine on YouTube here.
Italy
Olympics Pride House ‘really important for the community’
Italy lags behind other European countries in terms of LGBTQ rights
The four Italian advocacy groups behind the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics’ Pride House hope to use the games to highlight the lack of LGBTQ rights in their country.
Arcigay, CIG Arcigay Milano, Milano Pride, and Pride Sport Milano organized the Pride House that is located in Milan’s MEET Digital Culture Center. The Washington Blade on Feb. 5 interviewed Pride House Project Manager Joseph Naklé.
Naklé in 2020 founded Peacox Basket Milano, Italy’s only LGBTQ basketball team. He also carried the Olympic torch through Milan shortly before he spoke with the Blade. (“Heated Rivalry” stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie last month participated in the torch relay in Feltre, a town in Italy’s Veneto region.)
Naklé said the promotion of LGBTQ rights in Italy is “actually our main objective.”
ILGA-Europe in its Rainbow Map 2025 notes same-sex couples lack full marriage rights in Italy, and the country’s hate crimes law does not include sexual orientation or gender identity. Italy does ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, but the country’s nondiscrimination laws do not include gender identity.
ILGA-Europe has made the following recommendations “in order to improve the legal and policy situation of LGBTI people in Italy.”
• Marriage equality for same-sex couples
• Depathologization of trans identities
• Automatic co-parent recognition available for all couples
“We are not really known to be the most openly LGBT-friendly country,” Naklé told the Blade. “That’s why it (Pride House) was really important for the community.”
“We want to use the Olympic games — because there is a big media attention — and we want to use this media attention to raise the voice,” he added.
Naklé noted Pride House will host “talks and roundtables every night” during the games that will focus on a variety of topics that include transgender and nonbinary people in sports and AI. Another will focus on what Naklé described to the Blade as “the importance of political movements now to fight for our rights, especially in places such as Italy or the U.S. where we are going backwards, and not forwards.”
Seven LGBTQ Olympians — Italian swimmer Alex Di Giorgio, Canadian ice dancers Paul Poirier and Kaitlyn Weaver, Canadian figure skater Eric Radford, Spanish figure skater Javier Raya, Scottish ice dancer Lewis Gibson, and Irish field hockey and cricket player Nikki Symmons — are scheduled to participate in Pride House’s Out and Proud event on Feb. 14.
Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood representatives are expected to speak at Pride House on Feb. 21.
The event will include a screening of Mariano Furlani’s documentary about Pride House and LGBTQ inclusion in sports. The MiX International LGBTQ+ Film and Queer Culture Festival will screen later this year in Milan. Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood is also planning to show the film during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Naklé also noted Pride House has launched an initiative that allows LGBTQ sports teams to partner with teams whose members are either migrants from African and Islamic countries or people with disabilities.
“The objective is to show that sports is the bridge between these communities,” he said.
Bisexual US skier wins gold
Naklé spoke with the Blade a day before the games opened. The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will close on Feb. 22.
More than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes are competing in the games.
Breezy Johnson, an American alpine skier who identifies as bisexual, on Sunday won a gold medal in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, on the same day helped the U.S. win a gold medal in team figure skating.
Glenn said she received threats on social media after she told reporters during a pre-Olympics press conference that LGBTQ Americans are having a “hard time” with the Trump-Vance administration in the White House. The Associated Press notes Glenn wore a Pride pin on her jacket during Sunday’s medal ceremony.
“I was disappointed because I’ve never had so many people wish me harm before, just for being me and speaking about being decent — human rights and decency,” said Glenn, according to the AP. “So that was really disappointing, and I do think it kind of lowered that excitement for this.”
Puerto Rico
Bad Bunny shares Super Bowl stage with Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga
Puerto Rican activist celebrates half time show
Bad Bunny on Sunday shared the stage with Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl halftime show in Santa Clara, Calif.
Martin came out as gay in 2010. Gaga, who headlined the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show, is bisexual. Bad Bunny has championed LGBTQ rights in his native Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
“Not only was a sophisticated political statement, but it was a celebration of who we are as Puerto Ricans,” Pedro Julio Serrano, president of the LGBTQ+ Federation of Puerto Rico, told the Washington Blade on Monday. “That includes us as LGBTQ+ people by including a ground-breaking superstar and legend, Ricky Martin singing an anti-colonial anthem and showcasing Young Miko, an up-and-coming star at La Casita. And, of course, having queer icon Lady Gaga sing salsa was the cherry on the top.”
La Casita is a house that Bad Bunny included in his residency in San Juan, the Puerto Rican capital, last year. He recreated it during the halftime show.
“His performance brought us together as Puerto Ricans, as Latin Americans, as Americans (from the Americas) and as human beings,” said Serrano. “He embraced his own words by showcasing, through his performance, that the ‘only thing more powerful than hate is love.’”
N.Y. lawmaker vows ‘Pride flag will fly again’ at Stonewall Monument
Attitude! French ice dancers nail ‘Vogue’ routine
Philippines Supreme Court rules same-sex couples can co-own property
Disney’s Gay Days ‘has not been canceled’ despite political challenges
Pride flag removed from Stonewall Monument as Trump targets LGBTQ landmarks
D.C. bar Rush facing eviction on charge of failing to pay rent
LGBTQ Venezuelans in Colombia uncertain about homeland’s future
Blade, Pride House LA announce 2028 Olympics partnership
Calendar: February 6-12
