Arts & Entertainment
Queery: Esther Hidalgo
The organizer of Friday’s event for Latina lesbians answers 20 gay questions
Esther Hidalgo (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Esther Hidalgo is sometimes surprised when she meets other Latina lesbians in Washington and as she was discussing with a colleague this week, she sometimes wonders why their paths don’t cross more often.
“Unless it’s a Latin venue, we really don’t see each other,” says the D.C.-area native, whose parents are Cuban and Puerto Rican. “And we can’t always easily identify each other when we do see each other. Sometimes you don’t realize there may be other Latinas in a room.”
So Hidalgo is starting “Mujeres en el Movimiento,” a networking event for Latina lesbians that launches tonight (Friday) from 6:30 to 8:30 at the new MOVA (2204 14th St., N.W.). It’s an official event of the Latino GLBT History Project. Based on attendance, organizers will decide whether to make it a regular event.
“I’m sure we’ll do it annually at least, but maybe more often,” she says.
The name means “women in the movement” and has a dual meaning — movement as in coming together socially, but also as an extension of the larger LGBT rights movement. It’s a happy hour event with Latin music and a digital exhibition of black and white photos by Kevin Kenner of Latina activists from the area titled “Heroes Latinas.” A suggested donation of $5 includes a vodka drink (for more information, contact Hidalgo at [email protected] or 202-670-5547).
Hidalgo, a graduate student studying for a master’s in library and information science part time at Catholic University, met History Project founder Jose Guttierez years ago when they both worked at the Leather Rack. She joined the group two years ago working on its archives and Pride festivities. She juggles three jobs when she’s not in school — she prints black and white photos in a studio, works for a collections archive in Northeast D.C. and works as a student tech at the National Archives in College Park sorting and preserving government documents.
Hidalgo, who grew up in Langley Park, Md., but mostly attended school in D.C., lives now in Columbia Heights with her girlfriend of two years. (Blade photos by Michael Key)
How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?
Since around 18. Coming out to my dad was scary because I am close to my parents and an only child. Without missing a beat, he said that he could relate because “women are softer and they smell better.”
Who’s your LGBT hero?
Just one? I’m looking forward to meeting a few of them as they are featured in Friday’s exhibition. Most recently, my heroes are the Mujeres en el Movimiento Committee Members. In addition to working for political and humanistic causes, they saw the importance of this idea and worked hard to help bring it to fruition.
What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?
Wednesday Ladies Night at Chaos.
Describe your dream wedding.
There will be a lot of dancing and a lot of hip-hop.
What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?
This is difficult to answer because most social issues from immigration to domestic violence to education can and do affect members of the LGBT community. We are an intrinsic component of everyday society.
What historical outcome would you change?
That first moment in history where a woman took crap from a man and high-waisted jeans.
What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?
Michael Jackson Moonwalking.
On what do you insist?
Compassion
What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?
Mujeres en el Movimiento networking reception hosted by the Latino GLBT History Project on Friday, March 23rd from 6:30-8:30pm at MOVA. I am the event chair and super excited about it and promoting it all the time! :-)
If your life were a book, what would the title be?
I don’t know but it should definitely be a graphic novel.
If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?
Sit them down and have a real serious discussion about ethics (or just blow up the lab).
What do you believe in beyond the physical world?
In Buddhism, Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo is, among other things, the name of the mystic law that governs life eternally throughout the universe. I chant this every day as a form of prayer.
What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?
I think they should continue to build bridges of communication and cooperation between their respective causes.
What would you walk across hot coals for?
Are you really asking me to choose between my girlfriend and my cat?
What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?
That gay men have all the style and lesbians have all the guitars.
What’s your favorite LGBT movie?
“Dog Day Afternoon”
What’s the most overrated social custom?
Starting a conversation by asking. “So, what do you do?”
What trophy or prize do you most covet?
To positively affect the lives of others through action.
What do you wish you’d known at 18?
The heart will mend.
Why Washington?
D.C. holds a lot of hidden histories, like those of LGBT Latino organizations and activists, that shape the consciousness of its residents whether they realize it or not. Plus, it is the home of go-go.
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
‘La Lucci’
By Susan Lucci with Laura Morton
c.2026, Blackstone Publishing
$29.99/196 pages
They’re among the world’s greatest love stories.
You know them well: Marc Antony and Cleopatra. Abelard and Heloise. Phoebe and Langley. Cliff and Nina. Jesse and Angie, Opal and Palmer, Palmer and Daisy, Tad and Dixie. Now read “La Lucci” by Susan Lucci, with Laura Morton, and you might also think of Susan and Helmut.
When she was a very small girl, Susan Lucci loved to perform. Also when she was young, she learned that words have power. She vowed to use them for good for the rest of her life.
Her parents, she says, were supportive and her family, loving. Because of her Italian heritage, she was “ethnic looking” but Lucci’s mother was careful to point out dark-haired beauties on TV and elsewhere, giving Lucci a foundation of confidence.
That’s just one of the things for which Lucci says she’s grateful. In fact, she says, “Prayers of gratitude are how I begin and end each day.”
She is particularly grateful for becoming a mother to her two adult children, and to the doctors who saved her son’s life when he was a newborn.
Lucci writes about gratitude for her long career. She was a keystone character on TV’s “All My Children,” and she learned a lot from older actors on the show, and from Agnes Nixon, the creator of it. She says she still keeps in touch with many of her former costars.
She is thankful for her mother’s caretakers, who stepped in when dementia struck. Grateful for more doctors, who did heart-saving work when Lucci had a clogged artery. Grateful for friends, opportunities, life, grandchildren, and a career that continues.
And she’s grateful for the love she shared with her husband, Helmut Huber, who died nearly four years ago. Grateful for the chance to grieve, to heal, and to continue.
And yet, she says of her husband: “He was never timid, but I know he was afraid at the end, and that kills me down to my soul.”
“It’s been 15 years since Erica Kane and I parted ways,” says author Susan Lucci (with Laura Morton), and she says that people still approach her to confirm or deny rumors of the show’s resurrection. There’s still no answer to that here (sorry, fans), but what you’ll find inside “La Lucci” is still exceptionally generous.
If this book were just filled with stories, you’d like it just fine. If it was only about Lucci’s faith and her gratitude – words that happen to appear very frequently here – you’d still like reading it. But Lucci tells her stories of family, children and “All My Children,” while also offering help to couples who’ve endured miscarriage, women who’ve had heart problems, and widow(ers) who are spinning and need the kindness of someone who’s lived loss, too.
These are the other things you’ll find in “La Lucci,” in a voice you’ll hear in your head, if you spent your lunch hours glued to the TV back in the day. It’s a comfortable, fun read for fans. It’s a story you’ll love.
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