Arts & Entertainment
Queery: Walker Chaffin
The tennis coach and Team D.C. honoree answers 20 gay questions
Walker Chaffin (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Walker Chaffin isn’t 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 it’s become a big part of his life.
As a member of the Capital Tennis Association — a gay D.C.-area league of about 300 players — for about 22 years, he just finished organizing his fifth charity tournament, the “Capital Classic,” for the group last month. This year’s 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, he’s being honored Saturday night at the Team D.C. Champion Awards at the HRC building (teamdc.org).
“Well, you know, it’s a surprise and quite an honor,” Chaffin says. “My first thought was, ‘Who nominated me?’ but they’re very secretive about that. I’m happy we’ve been able to raise so much money. That’s why I wanted to do it, so it’s just a very nice surprise.”
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. He’s 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?
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?
Martina Navratilova — 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?
Present – Nellie’s. Past – Tracks. Where else could you dance and/or play volleyball at 2 in the morning?
Describe your dream wedding.
Saying “I do” when it’s legal for all to marry.
What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?
The environment
What historical outcome would you change?
Martin Luther King’s assassination and 9-11.
What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?
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?
Respect, a great sense of humor and two DVRs.
What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?
I don’t post very often. My last post was “Paris was amazing, on my way to Barcelona” back in May.
If your life were a book, what would the title be?
“Game Set Match”
If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?
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?
Those we have loved and lost are still with us.
What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?
I don’t think I’m 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?
The people I love, a winning lottery ticket or a chance to hit with Roger Federer.
What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?
That we’re not interested in or good at sports.
What’s your favorite LGBT movie?
“Big Eden,” “A Single Man” and “Brokeback Mountain.”
What’s the most overrated social custom?
Political correctness
What trophy or prize do you most covet?
I can’t say I’d mind winning an Oscar or the U.S. Open.
What do you wish you’d known at 18?
To buy up all of the Microsoft stock.
Why Washington?
I was born here and have always loved it. I’ve almost relocated a few times but the life I have here and the friends I’ve made make it impossible to leave.
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.”
Theater
Reggie White relishing first season as artistic director of Woolly Mammoth
First five shows a reminder that ‘pressure is a privilege’
Madly talented and preternaturally energetic, Reggie D. White, 38, is about to launch his first season as artistic director of D.C.’s boundary-pushing Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
White brings a lot to the job. As actor, playwright, and director, his varied resume includes a 2019 Broadway acting debut in Matthew López’s Tony Award–winning play “The Inheritance,” his semi-autobiographic play “Fremont Ave.” that opened to acclaim last season at Arena Stage, and a number of exciting regional directing credits.
A longtime admirer of Woolly, the out theater-maker was selected from a pool of candidates before receiving the offer last November and starting work in January. His season of five world premieres kicks off with gay playwright Steve Yockey’s “Venus” (Sept. 9-Oct. 4), a darkly funny study of modern relationships told through two lesbians looking back on their first encounter.
White was introduced to Woolly Mammoth as a pre-law student at Cal State Hayward in the San Francisco Bay Area, long before he foresaw a life in the arts. “As part of a random theater history course, I was assigned to write a paper on a counterculture company called Woolly Mammoth,” he recalls “Strange name. I was like what the hell is that?”
Nineteen-year-old White was intrigued. Research acquainted him with Howard Shalwitz who co-founded Woolly in 1980, and the company’s commitment to living playwrights and new work. He also learned how theater could be used as a tool for difficult conversations and shape the way people thought about social issues by employing imagination and rigor.
“Never in a million years did young me envision that one day I’d be Woolly’s third artistic director in its 46-year history,” says White. “It’s kind of serendipitously insane.”
WASHINGTON BLADE: Was there a moment when the enormity of the job hit you?
REGGIE D. WHITE: After I’d signed my contract and finished all the paperwork, I got my keys and sat in the theater by myself in the dark and thought about what an incredible honor it is to be trusted with what happens in this beautiful space [in D.C.’s Penn Quarter]. I might have cried. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to remember it’s real.
BLADE: Are you curating the upcoming 2026–2027 season?
WHITE: Yes, I am. It’s very rare that an incoming artistic director gets to program their first season, but I was lucky in terms of time. After being hired late last year, I asked Woolly’s managing director Kimberly E. Douglas, if she thought it would be crazy if I programmed the season. She warned me it would be hard.
I invoked tennis legend Billie Jean King’s maxim “pressure is a privilege” and got to work.
These plays [dubbed White’s “first five”] represent both the kind of theater that Woolly can do really well and speak directly to my voice as curator and how I want to contribute to the larger theatrical conversation in the DMV.
Getting here has meant a lot of late nights. But I knew the juice would be worth the squeeze.
BLADE: As a queer artistic director, what makes you unique?
WHITE: When I was playing in “Inheritance” on Broadway, after a performance, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sotomayer came backstage to meet the cast. She spoke about how her lens on the world as a Puerto Rican woman shapes her decisions. Similarly, because I’m a queer Black man I see through a lens that shapes my work.
I know I’m not the only queer artistic director in town. For me, it influences how I make editorial decisions. Out of this season’s five plays there are explicitly queer characters in four [“Venus,” “Chanukkah Spectacular,” “Ten Grand,” and “Love I Awethu Further”] and I’m directing two [“Venus,” “Ten Grand”].
BLADE: Will we see familiar faces?
WHITE: Every show this season will feature a Woolly Mammoth company member in its cast. Our company also includes designers and directors who we’ll include. I’m invested in continuing to provide a showcase for their work.
BLADE: How do you think queer audiences will receive the season?
WHITE: Very well, I think. For queer people who’ve had to navigate the world subversively and solve problems in unique ways, I think it will be especially interesting. I find theater a potent place for questions.
Like all artistic directors. I’ll show up for the job in my own way. I’m just excited that I’ve been invited to bring the fullness of myself to the role.
PHOTOS: Petal Release Party
Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Reggie White relishing first season as artistic director of Woolly Mammoth
PHOTOS: Amsterdam Pride Canal Parade
Amsterdam Pride Canal Parade draws hundreds of thousands
BLADE ENDORSEMENT: Susan Stewart for mayor of Rehoboth Beach
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
