Arts & Entertainment
Gone too soon
Teen suicide has received renewed awareness but the issue can affect gays well into adulthood
David Chung, a former Nellie’s bartender, committed suicide July 8. (Blade file photo by Pete Exis)
When David Chung took his own life a few weeks ago, his death sent shockwaves through a community that knew him as the smiling Nellie’s bartender. As hundreds gathered at his funeral service, many only wanted to remember the happiness he brought to those around him.
But Chung’s death is a reminder of a serious and often silent illness that has long plagued the LGBT community. According to a 2008 study from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, lesbian, gay and bisexual youths and young adults are three times more likely to report suicidal ideation (thoughts about suicide) and as high as seven times more likely to have reported attempting suicide. Research in these areas is still limited since mortality data does not report sexual orientation.
And while LGBT teen suicide has gotten a lot of attention in the last two years since a spate of bullying and suicide cases have been reported around the country leading to gay columnist Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” campaign and renewed awareness of the Trevor Project (thetrevorproject.org), an LGBT youth suicide prevention non-profit, depression and suicide disproportionately affect LGBT people at various ages.
Randy Pumphrey, manager of behavioral health at Whitman-Walker Health, says part of suicide prevention is being able to tell the warning signs. He admits, however, that it is not easy for people not trained in the medical field to differentiate between normal ups and downs and full-blown depression.
“I think it is going to be hard, unless you know the person really well,” he says. “You need to watch for extreme changes in behavior.”
Some of these behavioral changes include not acting the same at work or in social groups, withdrawing from social situations, engaging in more risky activities and verbalizing a death threat or wish.
“A lot of people will make outright allusions to suicide like, ‘I won’t be here anymore,’” says Tamara Pincus, a clinical social worker and therapist. “They may even start to give their possessions away to people, indicating that they are making plans to take their lives.”
Both Pumphrey and Pincus cite the stigma LGBT people face as a big stressor on those already predisposed to depression.
“It might be internalized homophobia,” Pumphrey says. “People who are having trouble identifying as gay or lesbian when they are in a heterosexual marriage or not being able to come out at their job, they might attempt suicide. This feeling of rejection, that can be a really huge thing.”
Mary Lou Wallner, minister at T.E.A.C.H. Ministries, directly understands how rejection can affect a person. Her daughter, Anna, committed suicide in 1997. Wallner says her daughter came out to her in a letter in 1988.
“At the time I was deeply entrenched in a conservative church,” she says. “When she came out, I thought that it was an abomination. I told her so in a letter.”
In the letter, she wrote, “I will never accept that in you. I feel it’s a terrible waste, besides being spiritually and morally wrong … I do and will continue to love you, but I will always hate that.”
Waller says she did not understand that her sexual orientation was not a choice. Nine years went by during which they continued contact but then in 1996, Anna began seeing a therapist who encouraged her to cut off contact with her family. Wallner began collecting cards and money she wanted to give her daughter in a shoebox so when they began speaking she could give them to her. Wallner never got the chance.
“There were probably a ton of warning signs,” she says. “I feel there were clues she was trying to give me. I have many, many regrets.”
Before Anna came out to her mother, she tried slitting her wrists and in another incident, took a whole bottle of aspirin. In hindsight, Wallner says she would have, “gotten in her car and driven to her right away” once she had cut off communication.
Pumphrey says the challenge is not only identifying the warning signs of depression, but also taking action. He says it might be a challenge to speak with someone who is going through this, but in the end it would be worth it.
“What happens in our culture is people are afraid to ask the questions about how a person is thinking and feeling,” he says. “If a person is having suicidal thoughts, they are usually thinking about how they are going to do it. Getting their plan helps you intervene and it may buy you some time.”
If a person seems to be posing an immediate threat to themselves or others, Pumphrey says the person should be taken to an emergency room or 911 should be called. This way he/she can be evaluated and possibly get treatment.
“My prerogative at this time is going to be their safety,” he says. “They may be angry upfront because it feels like a violation, but this is really serious and they might need help.”
Pincus says there are still several challenges facing the LGBT community, especially teenagers and young adults who are really connected to their family. She suggests if families are not supportive of their child’s sexual orientation, that person should seek support outside of their family.
“I think we would like to say that our society is getting past the stigma of LGBT, but we are really not,” she says. Pincus, who came out as bi when she was 16, says that the continual harassment and bullying that occurs in schools and other social venues to LGBT people is a major reason why the suicide rate is higher than for other groups.
“People are still getting beat up for holding hands with their partners and transgender people are getting shot because of their gender identity,” she says.
Since her daughter’s death, Wallner has shared her story with other groups around the country and was featured in the documentary “For the Bible Tells Me So.” She began T.E.A.C.H. Ministries, which stands for “To Educate About the Consequences of Homophobia.” She tries to spread the message of tolerance, not only for the LGBT community, but also for those who may not understand completely.
While she does not discuss scripture with others, she does have a message for other believers.
“It’s not a choice, if it is not a choice it can’t be a sin,” she says.
Theater
Dawn Huggins reflects on year-long reign as Miss Adams Morgan
38th annual pageant set for Halloween night
38th Annual Miss Adams Morgan Pageant
Saturday, Oct. 31
Washington Hilton
1919 Connecticut Ave., N.W.
thedupontsocialclub.com
On Halloween night at the Washington Hilton, the annual Miss Adams Morgan Pageant, D.C.’s largest and longest-running amateur drag competition, turns 38.
It also marks the end of HRH Dawn Huggins’s year-long reign as Miss Adams Morgan.
Joe Kuehne, the transformative performer who brings Dawn Huggins to life on stage, reviews the reign philosophically: “It’s funny, like most of life, the time flew by, and sometimes it didn’t. As a contestant, the preparation and planning can be a slog and then it’s all over before you know it.”
But, he adds, the time has been filled with creativity, community involvement, and innovation.
This year’s pageant is promised to run at a fast pace. The show kicks off with a mashup number starring Dawn Huggins along with several former queens. Dawn’s bit is a tribute to “The Shining.” Her carefully planned look is “haunted.”
Next, the seven contestants vying for the big title participate in the Parade of States (and U.S. territories). Their bios are read as they walk (doing whatever they wish with props of their choosing). The second half is performance (lip sync, comedic skits, etc.) and after several hours, a winner is selected by a panel of judges and the audience.
Prior to Dawn Huggins snatching the crown in October 2025, Kuehne wore numerous other pageant hats including “drag-wearing” attendee, contestant, and house videographer.
In 2006, Kuehne’s documentary short “Relative Freedom” (about his family’s reaction to his queerness) was screened at Reel Affirmations film festival. It caught the attention of that year’s reigning Miss Adams Morgan. She invited Kuehne to partner in adding video to the pageant. He accepted and had kept with it for two decades.
Inspired by the competitors and fun, he decided to give the pageant a shot. So, Dawn Huggins (“I’m a hugger, so the name fit.”) began competing, and won the title on her fifth try.
Putting on a dress and entertaining a ballroom full of people was never too much of a stretch for Kuehne. Prior to competing, he’d been a part of the audience in drag, and as a kid did community theater.
Over the years, Dawn has lip-synced (Brandi Carlile, Tory, Whitney, Mariah) and wooed the festive though not always easy-to-please throng with her clever comedy and camp. Last year for her winning number and skit, she did songs from “Wicked,” replacing the evil Wizard with Trump. “Not a huge leap,” she adds.
By day, Kuehne does marketing for tech companies: “In that role some of what I do is video production. The drag aspect doesn’t come up very often,” he deadpans. “But yes, the skillsets do overlap.”
Kuehne never thought of Dawn Huggins as a beautiful or polished queen; she was never meant to be that. He says, “I do my best to pull it together. But my goal is pure entertainment.”
Occasionally Dawn includes a message in what she does: “I try not to be too heavy handed about it. The second-year’s number was inspired by a person who, troubled by their sexuality, took their own life. Some of the audience members were moved, and that’s meaningful to me.”
Started in 1988 by a group of friends getting in drag and celebrating Halloween at Annie’s Paramount Steak House, the Miss Adams Morgan Pageant quickly ballooned into a storied tradition requiring a board and oversight.
Also in 1988, the Dupont Social Club was founded to not only encourage community but also help the pageant run things. Currently, Kuehne serves as the club’s V.P. of Social Events. Responsibilities include planning events, tracking attendance, and keeping things lively.
As both Queen and V.P., Kuehne is in a unique position to make things happen. During Dawn’s reign, the club created Sloppy Saturdays at Her Diner in Adams Morgan, a monthly happy hour fundraising event with performance tips and event donations going to support local LGBTQ+ nonprofits.
And now, as outgoing queen, HRH Dawn Huggins is charged with selecting the pageant’s charitable beneficiary.
She’s wisely chosen Whitman-Walker Legal Services. which provides free, comprehensive civil legal assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS, patients of Whitman-Walker Health, and members of the LGBTQ+ community across the greater Washington, D.C. region.
“With all that has and is going on, this feels like the right time to make that choice.”
Because the pageant has almost always taken place in October, it’s loosely tied to Halloween.
This year the show (themed “Something Wicked This Way Comes”) lands on Oct. 31, ticking all the boxes for pageant, drag show, and huge costume party.
On and offstage, you’re likely to see sequined gowns, ginormous hair, ermine robes alongside conceptual creations and comedic to dead serious style homages.
“What the contestants bring to the stage is pretty incredible, but sometimes that extraordinary creativity is surpassed by the audience members filling the ballroom, and we love that.”
a&e features
How Orville Peck healed his inner child through ‘Street Fighter (2026)’
Famous singer discusses this new role, what it means as LGBTQ artist
When asked to think about Orville Peck, most people would immediately remember the man’s music, his time on Broadway, his many scintillating photoshoots or, of course, the ornate masks he wears throughout it all.
Most wouldn’t, at least before a few months ago, think about the long-lasting video game franchise, “Street Fighter.”
This historic fighting game doesn’t instantly mesh with the image that Orville has spent years developing. The country singer has garnered national acclaim through his four albums, sultry and often somber affairs that have earned him numerous awards and thousands of fans. Along with his voice, new listeners are intrigued by his masks; Peck always wears a face covering to protect his privacy and embody a distinctly queer flair in his work. These are only removed for very special occasions — such as his renowned turn as the Emcee in a Broadway revival of “Cabaret” — with even his recent centerfold in the sexy magazine Playgirl seeing Orville bare everything except his face.
The musician does all of this while being proudly gay, serving as one of the most notable queer celebrities we have today. This, combined with his dynamic career, has earned Peck legions of supporters, each one excited about whatever new project he decides to do next. And they were all completely shocked in early 2026 when Orville announced just what that project would be: starring in Kitao Sakurai’s live-action adaptation of the classic video game, “Street Fighter.”
“They didn’t know I grew up playing this game, so it was so cool!” Peck raved as he discussed the film with the Los Angeles Blade. For the less digitally-minded of us, “Street Fighter” is an immensely popular gaming franchise, with this decades-spanning series offering dozens of games filled with colorful characters players can fight as. The cast for this latest adaptation dropped earlier this year and included stars like Jason Momoa, David Dastmalchian, Callina Liang — and, of course, Orville Peck.
“Fighting games probably draw a lot of queer people in [because] you can choose which character speaks to you, and they belong there,” Orville explained. “They don’t have to prove themselves…they belong, and you can connect in that way, since maybe you didn’t belong or [feel] included,” Orville admitted that it’s a connection he’s experienced himself; the man spent many hours of his childhood playing “Street Fighter” with his brothers. And one of his favorite characters was Vega, the bullfighting, gorgeous assassin obsessed with his own appearance (and slashing his opponents to ribbons).
It’s why there was no question Orville would take on the role when it was first offered to him. This may seem like an easy choice for many viewers — both Peck and Vega wear a mask — but the singer stressed that his link to the character went far beyond just the physical. “Vega did carry this kind of queer-coded energy that queer fans of “Street Fighter” have always picked up on and related to. And I was encouraged to not stray away from that — they wanted that to be included.”
Vega serves as the loyal henchman of “Street Fighter”’s main villain, M. Bison, with the claw-wielding fighter filling his screen time with snarky humor, great action scenes, and a distaste for wearing a shirt. But Vega also serves as a vital contrast in the film by punctuating the hypermasculinity of the men around him. He shows that queerness and strength can go hand-in-hand, with Orville finding it so affirming to bring out that universal truth through his performance.
It was something that he enjoyed not only for his adult self, but for the younger version who loved nothing more than playing “Street Fighter” with his brothers, saying, “Being a little queer kid … I definitely did not feel at times that I was going to be welcomed into some things in life, right? Getting to be the only openly gay man in this film with a bunch of very heterosexual gentlemen running around, and then having my place next to them? I think that would be really encouraging and healing to little Orville, for sure.”
Orville went on about his amazing co-stars — he warmly referred to Callina Liang, who plays Chun-Li in the film, as ‘my sister’ — and the countless joys this role brought him. When asked whether he would return for a possible sequel, he emphasized, “We’re all so close as a cast now. Everybody loves and supports each other so much. I would 100% do it again, of course.” It’s a promising message for many queer viewers absolutely loving his turn as Vega, and it signals an uplifting development for the man himself.
Orville Peck’s entire career is dedicated to utmost authenticity, showing your truest self in a way that feels genuine and recognizing what that truth brings to yourself and others. In a movie filled with nonstop fighting and campy chaos, he still managed to channel that into every second of his time onscreen. And whether it be as Vega or whatever role he decides to take next, it’s a vital message that this musician — and, he will remind you now, actor — will always work hard to make the center of his work.
Out & About
DC Center celebrates a decade of its art gallery
‘The Art of Belonging’ fall reception scheduled for Saturday
The DC LGBTQ+ Community Center will host “The Art of Belonging, a Fall Reception & Art Auction” on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at 1827 Wiltberger St. NW.
This event will celebrate 10 years of Center Arts Gallery, an arts & cultural offering of The DC LGBTQ+ Community Center. Charity Blackwell will guide guests through the evening, with live music from 2nd Independence, DC Different Drummers’ jazz combo, bringing warm, joyful energy to the celebration. There will also be food selections from Shaw’s Tavern’s new fall menu, along with a Sweets Flight of desserts created by Chef Patrick Vanas.
For more details, visit the DC Center’s website or see page 8 in this week’s Blade.
Dawn Huggins reflects on year-long reign as Miss Adams Morgan
How Orville Peck healed his inner child through ‘Street Fighter (2026)’
DC Center celebrates a decade of its art gallery
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