News
EXCLUSIVE: Fla. congresswoman meets with Cuban LGBT rights activists
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen met with Wendy Iriepa Díaz and Ignacio Estrada Cepero.
LGBT advocates Wendy Iriepa Díaz and Ignacio Estrada Cepero meet with Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) to discuss human rights in Cuba in the Rayburn House Office Building on Wednesday, July 31, 2013. (Washington Blade photo by Damien Salas)
Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on Wednesday met with two Cuban LGBT rights activists in her Capitol Hill office.
The Washington Blade had exclusive access to the majority of the meeting between the Cuban-born Republican who represents portions of Miami-Dade County and Wendy Iriepa Díaz and Ignacio Estrada Cepero that lasted more than half an hour.
Estrada, who founded the Cuban League Against AIDS in 2005, dismissed the Cuban government’s claims that people with HIV/AIDS receive free anti-retroviral drugs and other treatment under the island’s health care system. He and Iriepa, a transgender woman whom he married in a high-profile wedding in the Cuban capital of Havana in 2011, also criticized Mariela Castro, the daughter of President Raúl Castro who is the director of Cuba’s National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) that has publicly backed LGBT rights in the country.
Cuba has offered free sex-reassignment surgeries to trans Cubans under the country’s health care system in 2008.
Iriepa, who worked for CENESEX for seven years until she married Estrada, underwent the procedure herself in 2007. She told the Blade during an interview earlier this week that only 20 trans Cubans have received SRS since the law changed – and CENESEX determines those who will actually receive it.
Estrada and Iriepa arrived in D.C. on Monday and are scheduled to return to Miami tomorrow.
They are in the nation’s capital less than three months after Mariela Castro traveled to Philadelphia to receive an award from Equality Forum, an LGBT advocacy group.
Mariela Castro in May 2012 appeared on a New York City panel with Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Mariela Castro also met with LGBT rights advocates in San Francisco while she was in the U.S.
“With these international trips, with this amount of recognition she has undermined the work of the (Cuban) LGBT community,” Estrada told Ros-Lehtinen as he showed her posters of Pride walks and other events that he and other Cuban LGBT rights advocates organized independent of CENESEX. “You are seeing a broken policy.”
Ros-Lehtinen applauded Estrada and Iriepa at the end of the meeting.
“I feel very honored to be able to meet you,” she said. “I am grateful to you for filling this tremendous role inside of Cuba that is certainly not easy.”
“It’s very important for the U.S. community to understand what is the status of LGBT rights and the denial of rights in Cuba,” Ros-Lehtinen told the Blade after the meeting. “Mariela Castro, as part of the regime, has been on a propaganda tour internationally and here in the U.S. especially trying to sell this facade that is really non-existent in Cuba.”
A Cuban government representative did not immediately return the Blade’s request for comments about Estrada and Iriepa’s meeting with Ros-Lehtinen.
District of Columbia
Blade welcomes fall intern
Alexis McLean is student at University of North Florida
The Washington Blade this week welcomed Alexis McLean as its fall intern.
Alexis is studying political science at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. She is interning with the Blade as part of a continued partnership with the Washington Center.
“I am looking forward to spending my time in the fall with the Washington Blade, as this is a new experience for me,” said Alexis. “I have not experienced any journalist jobs in the past so this would be my first time, and I am excited to better my writing and communications skills with this internship.”
Alexis’s internship with the Blade ends in early December.
Rehoboth Beach
SUNFESTIVAL takes center stage as Rehoboth Beach closes out summer
Labor Day Weekend bustling with events, including David Archuleta performance
Labor Day Weekend marks the unofficial end of summer in Rehoboth Beach, but there will be no shortage of LGBTQ events, with CAMP Rehoboth’s annual SUNFESTIVAL taking over town this weekend.
Thursday (9/3)
Get your Labor Day Weekend started early Thursday night with happy hour from 5-7 p.m. at Diego’s Bar & Nightclub, followed by Naughtee Bingo hosted by Magnolia Applebottom at 8:30 p.m.
After bingo, the party continues with Dancing at Diego’s from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
Aqua Bar & Grill will also kick off its Labor Day Weekend festivities Thursday with a DJ spinning from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.
Friday (9/4)
The weekend ramps up Friday night at Aqua, where DJ Matt Bailer will keep the dance floor moving from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.
Over at Diego’s, DJ Steve Sidewalk will then take over Diego’s for Freedom Friday from 9 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
Saturday (9/5)
The main event of the weekend arrives Saturday with the opening night of CAMP Rehoboth’s SUNFESTIVAL.
Billed as the ultimate party to close out the summer, SUNFESTIVAL has become one of Rehoboth’s signature Labor Day Weekend events. The annual celebration sells out each year, with proceeds benefiting CAMP Rehoboth.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with refreshments available at the cash bar while attendees are invited to socialize and find their seats.
Saturday night will feature local singer Ashley Williams as the opening performer, followed by headliner David Archuleta. The event will also feature a live auction.
Back across town Saturday, Aqua will continue its Labor Day Weekend DJ lineup from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Diego’s will also have plenty happening, with ‘Splash Party’ hosted by Magnolia Applebottom at 5 p.m., followed by a Saturday Dance Party with Brett Oosterhaus from 9 p.m.- 1:30 a.m.
The Blue Moon hosts its popular Legends Show at 9 p.m. It’s an all-live singing show by the Blue Moon cast of celebrity impersonators.
Etienne Pilon has taken Rehoboth by storm this summer. Check out the talented singer/pianist at The Pines from 7-10 p.m.
Sunday (9/6)
Sunday’s SUNFESTIVAL event will shift the focus to the dance floor, with globally renowned DJs Robbie Leslie and James Anthony scheduled to perform. Doors open at 7 p.m., with dancing continuing until 1 a.m.
On Sunday, Aqua will throw its annual White Party, with DJs spinning from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Guests are encouraged to dress in white for the holiday weekend celebration.
Diego’s will host its Sunday High T-Dance with Pamala Stanley at 5 p.m. Later that evening, DJ Tannr will be spinning at 9 p.m.
John Flynn is on the piano from 6-8 p.m. at the Blue Moon.
Monday (9/7)
The final day of Labor Day Weekend brings one last chance to hit the dance floor before summer officially winds down.
Aqua will close out its five-day Labor Day Weekend celebration with DJ Biff from 3-7 p.m.
Maryland
Anne Arundel schools now need parent permission to call trans students by preferred names
Conservative groups challenged system’s policy
By JESSICA CALEFATI | Anne Arundel County Public Schools staff cannot use transgender students’ preferred names if their parents oppose it, according to an internal document reviewed by the Banner, a change that comes after conservative groups challenged the school system’s approach to gender identity.
Teachers union president Kristina Korona told members in an Aug. 20 email that the new guidance undermines district policy on acceptance and inclusivity and “will begin harming affected students immediately.”
Previously, the district didn’t require parental permission to use a high school student’s chosen name and pronouns corresponding to their gender identity, the internal document says. Now it does. The change comes as parents challenge the suburban school system’s gender identity policy and regulation in court and the Trump-Vance administration threatens the district’s funding.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Blade welcomes fall intern
PHOTOS: Miss Gay Old Bay
SUNFESTIVAL takes center stage as Rehoboth Beach closes out summer
Anne Arundel schools now need parent permission to call trans students by preferred names
Shooting outside gay bar in Ariz. leaves three dead
San Francisco, long a queer safe haven, remains competitive for homebuyers
Calendar: August 28-September 3
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Actor Tim Curry dies at 80
