Arts & Entertainment
Rowing into the record book
Strokes return triumphant from Out Games
Fall sports: The D.C. Strokes Rowing Club in action. (Photos by Rachel Freedman; used with permission)
With the fall season upon us, all the LGBT sports leagues in Washington are already in action. Several of the local teams have recently wrapped up successful tournament action and several more have tournaments approaching.
The D.C. Strokes Rowing Club (dcstrokes.org) sent 15 rowers to the Out Games in Antwerp, Belgium in August to compete against athletes from all over the world. They returned home with a Gold, four Silver Medals and a Bronze.
The Strokes will pack up their boats for the winter in November and continue their ergometer and cross-training indoors until spring.
The Capital Tennis Association (capital-tennis.org) hosts the Capital Classic XXI this weekend. The event will include matches in singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
Open and B draws will be played on clay and A, C and D draws will be played on hard courts (indoor and/or outdoor). The tournament will be contested at the Rock Creek Tennis Center and the East Potomac Tennis Center at Hains Point.
The CCE Sports Network, the nation’s only live web streaming online gay and lesbian sports network, will stream live coverage. It has showcased more than 200 tournaments, matches and games on its site.
The Network recently covered the International Gay and Lesbian Aquatic Championships where the District of Columbia Aquatics Club captured the world title. Check out live tournaments and archived videos at ccesportsnetwork.com.
The District of Columbia Aquatics Club brought home an amazing 384 medals from the IGLA championships in Seattle in August along with setting several IGLA world records on their way to winning the world title. The records, in short course meters, are as follows:
Lindsey Warren- Shriner (25-29): 1500 free — 19:33.06
Lucas Amodio (18-24): 50 back — 27.65; 50 fly — 26.35
Meredith Stakem (30-34): 50 free — 28.31
Neill Williams (45-49): 50 back — 29.32; 50 fly — 26.78
Jose Cunningham (55-59): 100 IM — 1:10.20
Jeff Mead (55-59): 50 back — 34.37
Men’s relays:
72-99: 4 x 200 free relay — Lucas Amodio, Dustin Sigward, Evan Schlank, Joe Labriola — 8:43.82
72-99: 4 x 100 free relay — Lucas Amodio, Joe LaBriola, Peter Volosin, Paul Quincy — 3:40.15
72-99: 4 x 50 free relay — Joe LaBriola, Paul Quincy, Peter Volosin, Dustin Sigward — 1:42.31
200-239: 4 x 50 medley relay — Neill Williams, Jose Cunningham, Geoff Heuchling, Stan Young — 1:58.71
200-239: 4 x 50 free relay — Neill Williams, Jose Cunningham, Geoff Heuchling, Stan Young — 1:45.15
DCAC will host the annual Columbus Day Classic swim competition on Oct. 12 at the Woodrow Wilson Aquatic Center in D.C. Information on the event is at swimdcac.org.
The Columbus Day Classic will also feature a water polo tournament hosted by the Washington Wetskins water polo team. The event will be contested at the Tacoma Aquatics Center on Oct. 12-13. More information is at wetskins.org.
Local bloggers Puck Buddys (puckbuddys.com) are gearing up for the start of the 2013-2014 National Hockey League (NHL) season. This season they will have 15 contributors covering their respective NHL teams and they have begun to zero in on coverage of the Sochi Olympics and the Russian anti-LGBT laws.
They recently posted a Q&A with a Russian hockey journalist about the cultural and historic roots of homophobia in Russia. Coming up for the bloggers is an interview with a gay journalist who is traveling to Sochi to cover the Games in February.
The D.C. Ice Breakers (dcicebreakers.com) will host their next social skate on Wednesday from 8:10-9:20 p.m. at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington. The fee for skating is $8 and skate rental is $3. After the skate, they will host a social hour at Bailey’s Pub.
Ski Bums (ski-bums.org) have posted their 2014 group trips for skiing and snowboarding. The list includes Steamboat, Colo.; Snowshoe, W.Va.; Jay Peak, Utah; Lake Tahoe, Calif.; Chugach Mountain, Alaska; and Granite Peak, Wis.
The D.C. Gay Flag Football League (dcgffl.org) will be sending at least two of its travel teams to Gay Bowl XIII in Phoenix from Oct. 10-14.
The Chesapeake and Potomac Softball League (capssoftball.org) hosted the NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series from Aug. 26-31 at three separate complexes in the area. The tournament, the largest annual LGBT sporting event in the world, welcomed 170-plus teams that participated in more than 600 softball games. Results are at dcseries2013.com.
The D.C. Sentinels basketball team will open registration in October for the winter edition of the Washington D.C. Gay Basketball League (wdcgbl.leagueapps.com). The League will be a 10 week season including playoffs along with team practice days. Registration is on its site.
Team D.C. and the Federal Triangles Soccer Club and D.C. United co-host United Night OUT (unitednightout.com) Sunday at 4 p.m. as D.C. United take on L.A. Galaxy at RFK Stadium.
The event is part of the Team D.C. Night OUT Series and is a great opportunity for the LGBT community to experience a professional soccer match in a safe and welcoming environment. Tickets available at the Night OUT website.
The Freddie’s Follies drag show was held at Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, Va. on Saturday, Jan. 3. Performers included Monet Dupree, Michelle Livigne, Shirley Naytch, Gigi Paris Couture and Shenandoah.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
a&e features
Queer highlights of the 2026 Critics Choice Awards: Aunt Gladys, that ‘Heated Rivalry’ shoutout and more
Amy Madigan’s win in the supporting actress category puts her in serious contention to win the Oscar for ‘Weapons’
From Chelsea Handler shouting out Heated Rivalry in her opening monologue to Amy Madigan proving that horror performances can (and should) be taken seriously, the Critics Choice Awards provided plenty of iconic moments for queer movie fans to celebrate on the long road to Oscar night.
Handler kicked off the ceremony by recapping the biggest moments in pop culture last year, from Wicked: For Good to Sinners. She also made room to joke about the surprise hit TV sensation on everyone’s minds: “Shoutout to Heated Rivalry. Everyone loves it! Gay men love it, women love it, straight men who say they aren’t gay but work out at Equinox love it!”
The back-to-back wins for Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein and Amy Madigan in Weapons are notable, given the horror bias that awards voters typically have. Aunt Gladys instantly became a pop culture phenomenon within the LGBTQ+ community when Zach Cregger’s hit horror comedy released in August, but the thought that Madigan could be a serious awards contender for such a fun, out-there performance seemed improbable to most months ago. Now, considering the sheer amount of critics’ attention she’s received over the past month, there’s no denying she’s in the running for the Oscar.
“I really wasn’t expecting all of this because I thought people would like the movie, and I thought people would dig Gladys, but you love Gladys! I mean, it’s crazy,” Madigan said during her acceptance speech. “I get [sent] makeup tutorials and paintings. I even got one weird thing about how she’s a sex icon also, which I didn’t go too deep into that one.”
Over on the TV side, Rhea Seehorn won in the incredibly competitive best actress in a drama series category for her acclaimed performance as Carol in Pluribus, beating out the likes of Emmy winner Britt Lower for Severance, Carrie Coon for The White Lotus, and Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us. Pluribus, which was created by Breaking Bad’s showrunner Vince Gilligan, has been celebrated by audiences for its rich exploration of queer trauma and conversion therapy.
Jean Smart was Hack’s only win of the night, as Hannah Einbinder couldn’t repeat her Emmy victory in the supporting actress in a comedy series category against Janelle James, who nabbed a trophy for Abbott Elementary. Hacks lost the best comedy series award to The Studio, as it did at the Emmys in September. And in the limited series category, Erin Doherty repeated her Emmy success in supporting actress, joining in yet another Adolescence awards sweep.
As Oscar fans speculate on what these Critics Choice wins mean for future ceremonies, we have next week’s Golden Globes ceremony to look forward to on Jan. 11.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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