Arts & Entertainment
Queery: Kimberley Bush
The Reel Affirmations director answers 20 gay questions
Kimberley Bush believes strongly in LGBT-themed films as one might expect — she’s director of One in Ten, the group that stages the Reel Affirmations Film Festival, which kicked off Thursday and is in full swing all weekend.
Bush, a 43-year-old Westchester County, N.Y., native, sells real estate for Long & Foster in Georgetown by day and describes herself as a person who’s “always on the go, working or making something happen and always on.”
She does find spare moments; she enjoys ceramics, running, yoga, making soap, traveling and, of course, film.
She’s single and lives in Alexandria. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?
I would say about 25 years. It all started when I was around 18ish and at that age I was in college so my Mom was the hardest to tell. She was not a happy camper. But she did embrace me at some point.
Who’s your LGBT hero?
Phill Wilson, the founder of the Black AIDS Institute. People of color have been lost in the media, health care system and in general around the fight for/about AIDS/HIV and Phill is/was key in bring people of color to the forefront in regard to awareness/education, public policy and advocacy.
What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?
I have to say Tracks in SE was amazing back in the day. Consistent women’s night, outdoor space for all kinds of fun, music — just a great time!
Describe your dream wedding.
It of course stars the woman I adore and cherish completely and ideally would be out of the country. It begins at sunrise and ends at sunset. A simple, down-to-earth, lovely celebration with good food, friends and family to celebrate our union.
What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?
Racial and cultural equality. I am quite sensitive to individuals being treated fairly and appropriately in the workplace and in society in general.
What historical outcome would you change?
Dr. Martin Luther King’s death. He had so much more to do for all of our communities.
What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?
When Ilene Chaiken put her foot in it, and created “The L Word.” It provided an open environment for lesbians to see themselves elsewhere and not just in our everyday situations.
On what do you insist?
A must have in my life is a high level of integrity. What I insist for myself is to put my best foot forward every day, acknowledge how fortunate I am regardless of the outcome of the day and walk through the world with positive energy, patience, tolerance, understanding and positively affecting others.
What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?
Twitter: “@reelaffirmation Reel Affirmations 21: Washington DC’s International LGBT Film Festival is 2 DAYS away. Come out and support this Thursday through Sunday, Nov 1st – 4th #RA21”
Facebook: “it is several hours after I finished the 37th Marine Corps Marathon & while this is a huge accomplishment I am unsatisfied w/ my performance. Unfort round mile 13 both my calves seized up. In my training were I would run 20 miles per run I NEVER had this problem so this was problematic. I learned that my potassium/salt intake was low! Who knew? I had to grow a pair & kick the last 13 miles’ ASS!”
If your life were a book, what would the title be?
“Anything is Possible”
If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?
Bust every test tube, contaminate every trial, discredit all involved.
What do you believe in beyond the physical world?
Karma
What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?
Regardless of the this year’s presidential election, I would urge our leaders and advocates to continue their efforts and perseverance to the acts, bills and legislation that affect us all on the day-to-day basis.
What would you walk across hot coals for?
To have my mom back. My mother unexpectedly passed away a few years ago and it was more than a shock to my system. This loss was devastating, leveling, extraordinary. We were each other’s support system, friend, confidant, biggest fan — we were each other’s everything, and even though I know she is with me in spirit, I would walk across the world on hot coals to have her back in my life.
What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?
The fact that as a community we at times see it necessary to take on distinct gender roles in our same-sex relationships. In print, we are often portrayed as one person wearing pink with long hair and makeup while the other has on blue, short hair and more pronounced manly features. As a lesbian, and knowing many people in our community, we all know you cannot help who it is you are attracted to. Society has created this mold that we unfortunately have begun to play into even if that same society has yet to grant us the same rights to live and be happy.
What’s your favorite LGBT movie?
As an active participant in the nation’s fourth-largest LGBT film festival for the last several years, there are so many films that I appreciate for their production merit, content, depictions, powerful storylines, character development, poignant life lessons and the ability to move people while changing lives. This select list personally resonates with me and has a forever place in my DVD collection: “Gods and Monsters,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Bad Education,” “A Single Man,” “High Art,” “Paris is Burning,” “Fire” and “Before Night Falls.”
What’s the most overrated social custom?
I am guilty of it, but when you think you HAVE to bring something over to a person’s house for a gathering.
What trophy or prize do you most covet?
Even though I have run several half marathons, the MCM medallion was always in my sights. This year I no longer have to covet this medal, I trained and completed my first marathon, the 37th annual Marine Corps Marathon and now have my medal to show for it.
What do you wish you’d known at 18?
At 18, you are trying to get to the next level, do more, be more and now that I have grown up, I am realizing that you just have to work with what is before you. I shouldn’t have worried about life getting any better. It is what it is and I should appreciate what life has to offer.
Why Washington?
It was a family decision. My mom was an analyst for a telecom company and she moved our family here in 1989 to continue her career and upward mobility. After moving here I stayed to be close to my mom. I learned to like the area and do enjoy what it has to offer socially and culturally. Let there be no mistake made that I am happy here, but at this point in my life however, I do infrequently think about moving back home to Westchester County, New York.
Theater
Timely comedy ‘Fake It’ focuses on Native American themes
Arena Stage production features two out actors
‘Fake It Until You Make It’
Through May 4
Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., S.W.
Tickets start at $59
Arenastage.org
A farce requires teamwork. And Larissa FastHorse’s “Fake It Until You Make It” now at Arena Stage is no exception.
The timely comedy focuses on Native American nonprofits fractiously housed in a shared space. Friction rises when rivals River (Amy Brenneman), a white woman operating in the Indigenous world, goes up against the more authentic Wynona (Shyla Lefner) to win a lucrative Native-funded grant.
While Brenneman (best known for TV’s Judging Amy) is undeniably a big draw, it takes a group collaboration to hit marks, land jokes, and pull off the well-executed physical comedy including all those carefully timed door slams.
As members of the six-person “Fake It” cast, Brandon Delsid and Eric Stanton Betts, both out actors of partly indigenous ancestry, contribute to the mayhem. Respectively, Delsid and Betts play Krys and Mark, a pair of two-spirited Native Americans who meet farcically cute and enjoy one of the play’s more satisfying arcs.
For Krys, every attractive man is a potential next fling, but when Mark, handsome and relatively reserved, arrives on the scene, it’s something entirely different.
Both onstage and sometimes off, Betts plays the straight man to Delsid’s waggishness. But when it comes down to real life business, the friends are on the same page: not only are the L.A.-based, up-and-coming actors intensely serious about their film and stage careers, but they’re also particularly engaged in the themes of Indigenous People found in “Fake It.”
On a recent Wednesday following a matinee and an audience talkback, they were ready for a phone interview.
In establishing whose voice was whose, Delsid clarified with “I’m the one who sounds a little like a Valley girl.”
WASHINGTON BLADE: Brandon, you’ve been with the show since its early work-shopping days in 2022 and through its debut in Los Angeles and now Washington. Have things evolved?
BRANDON DELSID: Definitely. I’ve grown up in the last couple of years and so has my character; it’s hard to know where I end and Kry begins. There’s been a real melding.
Eric and I are both queer, and to get to play these roles that are so human, imperfect, sexy, and interesting is really joyful.
As queer artists you don’t always get the chance to do work like this. So many stories are queer trauma, which is incredibly important, but it’s liberating to feel joy and ride it off into the sunset, which, without revealing too much, is kind of what we get to do.
BLADE: There’s some race shifting in “Fake It” particularly with regard to “pretendian” (a pejorative term describing a person who has falsely claimed Indigenous status).
ERIC STANTON BETTS: The last few years I’ve been on a journey with my cultural identity and place in the world. I’m a mixed BIPOC artist, my dad is Black and Native American by way of the Cherokee tribe and my mom is white.
Since 2020, I’ve tried to figure out where I belong in this cultural history that I haven’t had a tie to throughout my life; it’s gratifying to find my way back to my indigeneity and be welcomed.
In the play, race shifting is introduced through farce. But it’s never in a disrespectful way; it’s never mocked or done in a way to take away from others. The playwright parallels race shifting with gender fluidity.
DELSID: But in life, there are people posing as Indigenous, actively taking grants, and the play goes there, we don’t hold back. Larissa, our playwright, has made it clear that she’s not trying to figure it out for us. With that in mind, we hope people leave the theater interested and curious to learn more.
BLADE: Mark arrives kind of the middle of some crazy drama, bringing along a jolt of romance.
BETTS: Yeah, when I show up, we’re all sort of shot out of a cannon, struggling to keep up with the initial lie.
DESLID: A very gay cannon.
BLADE: What’s up next for you two?
BETTS: Both Brandon and I are up for the same part in a TV pilot, so one of us may be getting some very good news. I also have a Tyler Perry film coming out soon [he plays a model, not an unfamiliar gig for Betts].
DELSID: Coming up, I have a recurring part on HBO’s “The Rehearsal,” and a supporting part in “June and John,” a John Besson film. But doing “Fake It Until You Make It” in L.A. and now D.C. has been a special time in our lives. It’s 23/7 togetherness. There’s that hour for sleep.
Point Foundation will host its annual “Taste of Point Reception” on Wednesday, May 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Room & Board.
The popular event will take place on the top floor and outdoor terrace at Room & Board, featuring small plates from area restaurants, hand-crafted cocktails from local mixologists, and a speaking portion where guests will hear directly from Point Foundation scholars. This year, Point is supporting a record-breaking class of 755 scholars and guests’ support will allow Point to continue its mission. Point Foundation is the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBTQ students of merit.
Tickets are tax deductible and can be purchased at Point’s website.
Friday, April 25
Trans Discussion Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This group is intended to provide an emotionally and physically safe space for trans* people and those who may be questioning their gender identity/expression to join together in community and learn from one another. For more details, email [email protected].
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Happy Hour” at 7 p.m. at Uproar Lounge and Restaurant. This event is ideal for making new friends, professional networking, idea-sharing, and community building. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
Saturday, April 26
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ+ Community Brunch” at 11 a.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant. This fun weekly event brings the DMV area LGBTQ+ community, including Allies, together for delicious food and conversation. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
Black Lesbian Support Group will be at 11 a.m. on Zoom. This is a peer-led support group devoted to the joys and challenges of being a Black lesbian. You do not need to be a member of the Beta Kappa Chapter or the Beta Phi Omega Sorority in order to join, but they do ask that you either identify as a lesbian or are questioning that aspect of your identity. For more details, email [email protected].
Sunday, April 27
“Trans Open Mic and Author Talk with Jeanne Thornton” will be at 5 p.m. at Busboys and Poets 14th & V. It’s a difficult time for trans people in the USA, and Jeanne would like to extend the opportunity to local trans fiction writers to build community by coming on stage and sharing their work as part of an opening “open mic” to this event. There are spaces for up to 6-8 readers to share work of up to five minutes each. If you are interested in reading, please select the “Open Mic Ticket” and find Jeanne before the show at 4:30 p.m. The reading will be arranged on a first come, first served basis on the night of the event. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
Monday, April 28
“Center Aging Monday Coffee & Conversation” will be at 10 a.m. on Zoom. This is a social hour for older LGBTQ+ adults. Guests are encouraged to bring a beverage of choice. For more details, email [email protected].
Queer Book Club will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This month’s reading is “All Systems Red and Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries Book 1 & 2)” by Martha Wells. For more details, email [email protected].
Tuesday, April 29
“OutPro Meaningful LGBTQ Networking” will be at 6 p.m. at Number Nine. Out Pro creates an environment that is welcoming to the full diversity of the LGBTQ community, as well as supportive allies. Guests are encouraged to embrace purposeful networking with the goal of helping connect people with opportunities. If you’re hiring, please come and meet motivated, aspiring LGBTQ professionals. As always, our events warmly welcome community allies. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
Wednesday, April 30
Job Club will be at 6 p.m. on Zoom. This is a weekly job support program to help job entrants and seekers, including the long-term unemployed, improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely “applicants” toward being “candidates.” For more information, email [email protected] or visit thedccenter.org/careers.
Thursday, May 1
API Queer Support Group will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a support group for the Asian and Pacific Islander queer community. For more information, email [email protected].
Virtual Yoga with Charles M. will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. This is a free weekly class focusing on yoga, breath work, and meditation. For more details, visit the DC Center for the LGBT Community’s website.
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