Arts & Entertainment
Tranquility at the beach
Burned out on the Big Apple, gay couple relocates to run Delaware B&B
The Towers Bed & Breakfast
mispillion.com
302-422-3814
101 NW Front St.
Milford, DE 19963
David Rule and Christopher Clawson at the Towers. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Many people think about leaving behind the chaos of the city to find a quieter life near the beach, but few follow through with that dream for more than a weekend. Gay couple Christopher Clawson and David Rule left their busy lives in New York City to start over in the sleepy Delaware town of Milford, working as innkeepers at the Towers Bed & Breakfast.
Clawson and Rule met in their native Michigan but moved to New York together. Clawson worked at a church while Rule had a career in commercial marketing. They both acclimated to city life.
“I loved living in the city,” Rule says, “but I needed a change.”
Clawson agrees.
“We really wanted to slow down after having lived in the city. My commute to work was technically only a few miles, but it would take forever to get there. I couldn’t stand the constant typing on phones and texting. We would get home at 7 p.m. after work and would be too tired to do anything — and it would be too late to do anything anyway.”
A few clicks later on Craigslist, Clawson and Rule found Dan and Rhonda Bond, the overworked owners of the Towers Bed & Breakfast. The Bonds were looking for more hands to manage their inn as they concentrated on their other businesses and the renovation of their own home. Following an interview, the Bonds knew they had found what they were looking for in Clawson and Rule. The city couple packed their bags and moved to Milford to start their new lives as innkeepers.
“It takes a certain type of temperament to manage a B&B,” Dan Bond says. “Chris and David are a perfect fit for this kind of work.”
Indeed, Clawson and Rule seem to have been fully accepted into the community since they relocated in April. Rule, finally able to commit more time to his painting, is showing some of his work at a local art gallery two blocks away from the Towers. As his neighbors browse his work, Rule says, “Everyone here is so nice. The people of Milford have really embraced us.”
“We’re kind of the token gay couple here,” Clawson says.
The couple plans to buy the LadyBug Store across the street from the Towers in January, further cementing their place in the local community. They’re even thinking about buying a bed and breakfast of their own one day.
“I’m loving working here now, but when we were first thinking of getting into the business, we wanted to make sure that it was something that we could do, so it is a good thing to start out as innkeepers,” Clawson says.
“I figured, we could always move back to the city if it didn’t work out, but I love being so close to the beach,” Rule says.
Milford is a small town filled with historic buildings and quaint shops and is only a 40-minute drive from Rehoboth Beach. While Milford’s downtown can be explored in one lazy afternoon, the Towers Bed & Breakfast is a great place for travelers to avoid the crowds at the hotels along the boardwalk and find a more intimate and elegant place to stay. Originally built in the late 18th century, the home was once owned by a governor of Delaware and is now open to guests nearly year round.
Celebrity News
My evening with Madonna
Gay icon headlined the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key will be on assignment in the Netherlands through Aug. 10. They will be covering World Pride in Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM — Madonna and 6,000 of her closest friends celebrated World Pride at Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall early Sunday morning. I was fortunate enough to be one of them.
Madonna last Wednesday nearly broke the internet when she said on social media in Dutch that “I got somethin’ I wanna talk about,” referring to an opening line in “Danceteria,” one of the tracks on her “Confessions II” album that has received rave reviews since its July 2 release. The track has been on near constant replay on my playlist since I first heard it.
— Madonna (@Madonna) July 28, 2026
MISTR — a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term care that has organized Madonna’s Club Confessions shows in the U.S. and the U.K. — later confirmed the rampant speculation. I woke up on July 30 to an email in my inbox from MISTR and the World Pride Music Festival PR team that said I was on the press list.
Madonna was indeed going to headline the World Pride Music Festival that Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced, and I was going to be there. OMFG!!!!
The gay icon had one more surprise in store.
The Dutch internet on Saturday once again broke over speculation that Kylie Minogue was going to appear alongside Madonna. I was getting ready to leave our hotel in Amsterdam on Saturday night when I saw a video of the two of them together.
“Madonna is now teasing Kylie Minogue on her social media … she may be one of her ‘special guests’ tonight,” I wrote in a text to Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff at 8:46 p.m.
“Have fun! This is turning into the gayest concert ever,” he responded.
I arrived at AFAS Live shortly before 11 p.m. My press contact walked me and two other Dutch journalists into the venue’s cavernous main room known as the Black Box. We made small talk for a few minutes before I started to walk around and listen to Josh Harrison who was on the decks.
Madonna was scheduled to take the stage at 1:30 a.m., but she is known for being late — she is Madonna and she does what she wants. Hayla, a British singer, and Bebe Rexha are among those who performed ahead of Madonna. Thousands of sweaty men — including a group of Australians next to me who were eagerly awaiting Kylie’s anticipated appearance — packed the Black Box and were dancing, anticipating what was to come.
MISTR CEO Tristan Schukraft at one point came on stage and declared Madonna was indeed in the building. The moment for which we were all eagerly waiting finally came shortly before 2:30 a.m.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage.
Stuart Price, who produced her “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album in 2005, manned the decks during Madonna’s set.
She opened it with “I Feel So Free” from “Confessions II.” Madonna then sang “Bring Your Love” and “Danceteria” to which this reporter — and everyone else — sang along.
Madonna then teased a surprise before she began to perform “Love Sensation.” Kylie soon appeared on stage. It was nearly too much for my fellow partygoers from Australia. It was indeed the gayest concert ever!
Madonna and Kylie performed “Love Sensation” together. They then sang “Hung Up” and “Sorry” from “Confessions on a Dance Floor” to round out the set that ended shortly after 3 a.m.
Madonna and I share the same birthday — Aug. 16 — and I would like to think she and Kylie gave me an early birthday present. In all seriousness though, it was an amazing night for me and for everyone else who was fortunate enough to be there.
“On the dance floor I feel so free,” says Madonna in the opening of “I Feel So Free.”
For those few precious hours at AFAS Live I did not think about the Trump-Vance administration and the myriad ways it is destroying the U.S. I did not think about the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. I did not think about the pointless wars that continue to ravage Ukraine and other countries around the world. I simply lost myself on the dance floor and celebrated an icon who has always stood with my community.
Thank you, Madonna.
The Petal Release Party and Drag Show was held at Spark Social on Friday, July 31. Performers included Tiara-Missou, Labianna and Darcy de la Cuadra.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Celebrity News
Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Kylie Minogue made surprise appearance alongside gay icon
AMSTERDAM — Madonna on Sunday headlined the final night of the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam.
The gay icon took the stage shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday) during Club Confessions, a set that MISTR, a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term HIV care, organized.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage inside Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall that can hold up to 6,000 people.
Stuart Price, who produced Madonna’s 2005 “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album and “Confessions II,” which debuted on July 2, DJed the set.
Kylie Minogue made a surprise appearance. She and Madonna performed a new remix of “Love Sensation” from “Confessions II.”
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
“Throughout my career, I’ve always supported efforts to fight HIV and AIDS, and that fight begins with education and access,” said Madonna in a MISTR press release. “With MISTR, (CEO) Tristan (Schukraft) is expanding access to HIV prevention and sexual healthcare for everyone. Through this work, he’s helping preserve and strengthen LGBTQ+ spaces while investing in the communities and culture that have long sustained us.”
Minogue in an Instagram post thanked Madonna, Price, Schukraft, and MISTR.
Madonna appeared at The Abbey in West Hollywood, Calif., in April. Madonna in June celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York’s Times Square.
Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced the World Pride Music Festival that also featured Bebe Rexha and Paris Hilton, among others.
“Pride has always been about bringing our community together,” said Resnicow. “At a moment when too many people are being told to hide or make themselves smaller, gathering openly, joyfully, and without apology matters more than ever. I couldn’t be prouder of what this festival brought to life in Amsterdam — one dance floor, completely free.”
Buttigieg indicates he may run for president in 2028
Remembering Elliot Leonard, generous visionary who helped LGBTQ communities thrive
My evening with Madonna
PHOTOS: Petal Release Party
Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
PHOTOS: Lambda Legal in the Pines
Calendar: July 31-August 6
Taiwan’s government has failed to update process to change gender markers on ID documents
Come showcase your singing, poetry talent
