Arts & Entertainment
Queery: Walker Chaffin
The tennis coach and Team D.C. honoree answers 20 gay questions

Walker Chaffin isnāt quite sure how he got into tennis as a kid. Nobody in his family played but somewhere along the way, he picked it up and itās become a big part of his life.
As a member of the Capital Tennis Association ā a gay D.C.-area league of about 300 players ā for about 22 years, he just finished organizing his fifth charity tournament, the āCapital Classic,ā for the group last month. This yearās recipients are the Washington AIDS Partnership and the Team D.C. scholarships. In past years, proceeds have gone to Food & Friends, Whitman-Walker, the Mautner Project and others. Over the years, Chaffin says the tournaments have raised about $100,000 for these groups.
For his efforts, heās being honored Saturday night at the Team D.C. Champion Awards at the HRC building (teamdc.org).
āWell, you know, itās a surprise and quite an honor,ā Chaffin says. āMy first thought was, āWho nominated me?ā but theyāre very secretive about that. Iām happy weāve been able to raise so much money. Thatās why I wanted to do it, so itās just a very nice surprise.ā
The 46-year-old Alexandria, Va., native works as a law librarian by day but is active in the Association and also teaches tennis on the side. Heās been in the area his entire life except for two years of college in Minneapolis.
He and partner Brian Peteritas met last year at the Capital Classic.
Chaffin lives in Columbia Heights and enjoys, besides tennis of course, movies, TV and hanging out with friends in his free time.
How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?Ā
I have been out since 1989. I am extremely lucky because my mother made it clear early on that I was loved no matter what so coming out was not difficult for me as it was for others. Thanks Mom!
Who’s your LGBT hero?Ā
Martina Navratilova ā she is a great role model and one of the greatest players of all time. She was brave enough to come out well before others were doing it.
What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?Ā
PresentĀ ā Nellieās. Past ā Tracks. Where else could you dance and/or play volleyball at 2 in the morning?
Describe your dream wedding. Ā
Saying āI doā when itās legal for all to marry.
What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?Ā
The environment
What historical outcome would you change?Ā
Martin Luther Kingās assassination and 9-11.
What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?Ā
I would say seeing Madonna in concert for the first time. I waited in line overnight in 20 below temperatures in Minnesota to get those tickets and it was so worth it.
On what do you insist? Ā
Respect, a great sense of humor and two DVRs.
What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?Ā
I donāt post very often. My last post was āParis was amazing, on my way to Barcelonaā back in May.
If your life were a book, what would the title be? Ā
āGame Set Matchā
If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?Ā
Nothing for myself but it would be fun to give it to Rick Santorum and the owner of Chick-Fil-A.
What do you believe in beyond the physical world?Ā
Those we have loved and lost are still with us.
What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders? Ā
I donāt think Iām qualified to give them advice. I would, however, like to thank them for all their hard work.
What would you walk across hot coals for? Ā
The people I love, a winning lottery ticket or a chance to hit with Roger Federer.
What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?Ā
That weāre not interested in or good at sports.
What’s your favorite LGBT movie?Ā
āBig Eden,ā āA Single Manā and āBrokeback Mountain.ā
What’s the most overrated social custom?Ā
Political correctness
What trophy or prize do you most covet?Ā
I canāt say Iād mind winning an Oscar or the U.S. Open.
What do you wish you’d known at 18?Ā
To buy up all of the Microsoft stock.
Why Washington?Ā
I was born here and have always loved it. Iāve almost relocated a few times but the life I have here and the friends Iāve made make it impossible to leave.
Photos
PHOTOS: DCGFFL 25th Anniversary Party
Gay flag football league marks milestone at Penn Social

The D.C. Gay Flag Football League (DCGFFL) held a 25th season anniversary party at Penn Social on Saturday, Sept. 23. Proceeds from the event benefited the LGBTQ youth services organization SMYAL as well as the D.C. Center for the LGBTQ Community.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)



















Books
New book goes behind the scenes of āA League of Their Ownā
āNo Crying in Baseballā offers tears, laughs, and more

āNo Crying in Baseball: The Inside Story of āA League of Their Ownā
By Erin Carlson
c.2023, Hachette Books
$29/320 pages
You donāt usually think of Madonna as complaining of being ādirty all dayā from playing baseball. But thatās what the legendary diva did during the shooting of āA League of Their Own,ā the 1992 movie, beloved by queers.
āNo Crying in Baseball,ā the fascinating story behind āA League of Their Own,ā has arrived in time for the World Series. Nothing could be more welcome after Amazon has cancelled season 2 of its reboot (with the same name) of this classic film.

In this era, people donāt agree on much. Yet, āA League of Their Ownā is loved by everyone from eight-year-old kids to 80-year-old grandparents.
The movie has strikes, home runs and outs for sports fans; period ambience for history buffs; and tears, laughs and a washed-up, drunk, but lovable coach for dramady fans.
The same is true for āNo Crying in Baseball.ā This āmaking ofā story will appeal to history, sports and Hollywood aficionados. Like āAll About Eveā and āThe Rocky Horror Picture Show,ā āA League of Their Ownā is Holy queer Writ.
Carlson, a culture and entertainment journalist who lives in San Francisco, is skilled at distilling Hollywood history into an informative, compelling narrative. As with her previous books, āIāll Have What Sheās Having: How Nora Ephronās three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedyā and āQueen Meryl: The Iconic Roles, Heroic Deeds, and Legendary Life of Meryl Streep,ā āNo Crying in Baseball,ā isnāt too āeducational.ā Itās filled with gossip to enliven coffee dates and cocktail parties.
āA League of Their Ownā is based on the true story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). From 1943 to 1954, more than 600 women played in the league in the Midwest. The leagueās players were all white because the racism of the time prohibited Black women from playing. In the film, the characters are fictional. But the team the main characters play for ā the Rockford Peaches ā was real.
While many male Major and Minor League Baseball players were fighting in World War II, chewing gum magnate Philip K. Wrigley, who owned the Chicago Cubs, founded the league. He started the AAGPBL, āTo keep spectators in the bleachers,ā Carlson reports, āand a storied American sportāmore important: his business afloat.ā
In 1943, the Office of War Information warned that the baseball season could be āscrappedā ādue to a lack of men,ā Carlson adds.
āA League of Their Ownā was an ensemble of womenās performances (including Rosie OāDonnell as Doris, Megan Cavanagh as Marla, Madonna as Mae, Lori Petty as Kit and Geena Davis as Dottie) that would become legendary.
Girls and women still dress up as Rockford Peaches on Halloween.
Tom Hanksās indelible portrayal of coach Jimmy Dugan, Gary Marshallās depiction of (fictional) league owner Walter Harvey and Jon Lovitzās portrayal of Ernie have also become part of film history.
Filming āA League of Their Own,ā Carlson vividly makes clear, was a gargantuan effort. There were āactresses who canāt play baseballā and ābaseball players who canāt act,ā Penny Marshall said.
The stadium in Evansville, Ind., was rebuilt to look like it was in the 1940s āwhen the players and extras were in costume,ā Carlson writes, āit was easy to lose track of what year it was.ā
āNo Crying in Baseballā isnāt written for a queer audience. But, Carlson doesnāt pull any punches.
Many of the real-life AAGPBL players who OāDonnell met had same-sex partners, OāDonnell told Carlson.
āWhen Penny, angling for a broad box-office hit chose to ignore the AAGPGLās queer history,ā Carlson writes, āshe perpetuated a cycle of silence that muzzled athletes and actresses alike from coming out on the wider stage.ā
āIt was, as they say, a different time,ā she adds.
Fortunately, Carlsonās book isnāt preachy. Marshall nicknames OāDonnell and Madonna (who become buddies) āRoā and āMo.ā Kodak is so grateful for the one million feet of film that Marshall shot that it brings in a high school marching band. Along with a lobster lunch. One day, an assistant director āstreaked the set to lighten the mood,ā Carlson writes.
āNo Crying in Baseball,ā is slow-going at first. Marshall, who died in 2018, became famous as Laverne in āLaverne & Shirley.ā Itās interesting to read about her. But Carlson devotes so much time to Marshallās bio that you wonder when sheāll get to āA League of Their Own.ā
Thankfully, after a couple of innings, the intriguing story of one of the best movies ever is told.
Youāll turn the pages of āNo Crying in Baseballā even if you donāt know a center fielder from a short stop.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
Theater
Rupert Murdochās powers on full display in āInkā
Media baron helped pave the way for Brexit, Prime Minister Thatcher

āInkā
Through Sept. 24
Round House Theatre
4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD 20814
$46-$94
Roundhousetheatre.org
Yes, Rupert Murdochās loathsome traits are many, but his skills to succeed are undeniably numerous.Ā
In the first scenes of John Graham’s West End and Broadway hit drama āInk,ā an exciting year-long detail from the life of a burgeoning media baron, Murdoch’s powers of persuasion are on full display.
Itās 1969 London. Over dinner with editor Larry Lamb, a young Murdoch shares his plan to buy the Sun and rebrand the dying broadsheet, replacing the Daily Mirror as Britainās best-selling tabloid. Whatās more, he wants to do it in just one year with Lamb at the helm.
Initially reluctant, Lamb becomes seduced by the idea of running a paper, something thatās always eluded him throughout his career, and something Murdoch, the outsider Australian, understands. Murdoch taunts him, āNot you. Not Larry Lamb, the Yorkshire-born son of a blacksmith, not the guy who didnāt get a degree from Oxford or Cambridge, who didnāt get a degree from anywhere. Not you.ā
Still, Lamb, played convincingly by Cody Nickell in Round House Theatreās stellar season-opener, a co-production with Olney Theatre Center, remains unsure. But Murdoch (a delightfully brash Andrew Rein) is undeterred, and seals the deal with a generous salary.
Superbly staged by director Jason Loweth, āInkā is riveting. Its exchanges between Lamb and Murdoch are a strikingly intimate glimpse into ambition involving an ostensibly average editor and a striving money man who doesnāt like people.
Once on board, Lamb is trolling Fleet Street in search of his launch team, played marvelously by some mostly familiar actors. He makes his most important hire ā news editor Brian McConnell (Maboud Ebrahimzadeh) ā in a steam bath. The remainder of the Sunās new masthead falls handily into place: Joyce Hopkirk (Kate Eastwood Norris) the womenās page editor whose forward thinking is marred by her casual racism; Zion Jang plays Beverley Goodway, an awkwardly amusing young photographer; persnickety deputy editor Bernard Shrimsley (Michael Glenn) who learns to love ugly things; and an old school sports editor who proves surprisingly versatile, played by Ryan Rillette, Round Houseās artistic director.
At Lambās suggestion, the team brainstorms about what interests Sun readers. They decide on celebrities, pets, sports, free stuff, and ārather revolutionarily for the time āTV. Murdoch is happy to let readersā taste dictate content and the āWhyā of the sacred āfive Wsā of journalism is out the window.
Murdoch is portrayed as a not wholly unlikable misanthrope. He dislikes his editors and pressman alike. He particularly hates unions. His advice to Lamb is not to get too chummy with his subordinates. Regarding the competition, Murdoch doesnāt just want to outperform them, he wants to grind them to dust.
Loewith leads an inspired design team. Scenic designer Tony Cisekās imposing, inky grey edifice made from modular walls is ideally suited for Mike Tutajās projections of headlines, printed pages, and Reinās outsized face as Murdoch. Sound designer and composer Matthew M. Nielson ably supplies bar noises and the nonstop, pre-digital newspaper clatter of presses, linotypes, and typewriters.
From a convenient second tiered balcony, the Daily Mirrorās establishment power trio Hugh Cudlipp (Craig Wallace), Chris Lee Howard (Chris Geneback) and Sir Percy (Walter Riddle) overlook all that lies below, discussing new tactics and (mostly failed) strategies to remain on top.
Increasingly comfortable in the role of ruthless, sleazy editor, Lamb is unstoppable.
Obsessed with overtaking the Daily Mirrorās circulation, he opts for some sketchy reportage surrounding the kidnapping and presumed murder of Muriel McKay, the wife of Murdochās deputy Sir Alick (Todd Scofield). The kidnappers mistook Muriel for Murdochās then-wife Anna (Sophia Early). Next, in a move beyond the pale, Lamb introduces āPage 3,ā a feature spotlighting a topless female model. Awesta Zarif plays Stephanie, a smart young model. She asks Lamb if he would run a semi-nude pic of his similarly aged daughter? His reaction is uncomfortable but undaunted.
For Murdochās purposes, history proves he chose well in Lamb. By yearās end, the Sun is Britainās most widely read tabloid. Together they give the people what they didnāt know they wanted, proving the pro-Labour Daily Mirrorās hold on the working class is baseless and paving the way for things like Brexit and a Prime Minister Thatcher.
āInkā at Round House closes soon. See it if you can.
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