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Calendar: Nov. 1

Parties, concerts, exhibits and more through Nov. 7

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Forever Tango, dance, gay news, Washington Blade
Forever Tango, dance, gay news, Washington Blade

‘Forever Tango’ explores the history of the tango at the Strathmore. (Photo courtesy of the Strathmore)

Friday, Nov. 1

Adodi D.C., a black same-gender-loving men’s social/spiritual group, hosts its bi-monthly potluck discussion at Metropolitan Community Church of Washington (474 Ridge St., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m. Please bring food to share. For details, call 202-360-1143 or email [email protected].

D.C. Aquatics Club hosts its “November Happy Hour” at Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) from 6-9:30 p.m. The upstairs bar will be reserved and there will be drink specials. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.

Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) hosts Bear Happy Hour tonight from 6-11 p.m. There is no cover charge and admission is limited to guests 21 and over. For more information, visit towndc.com.

Saturday, Nov. 2

Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, volunteers today at Food and Friends (219 Riggs Rd., N.E.) from 8-10 a.m. Come help with food preparation and packing groceries. Coffee and donuts will be provided. For details, visit burgundycrescent.org.

Metro Cooking D.C. hosts “The Metropolitan Cooking and Entertainment Show” at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (801 Mount Vernon Pl., N.W.) today from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Enjoy samples and tastings from more than 40 chefs and restaurants, 300 vendors and cooking demonstrations from local chefs and workshops. Tickets range from $24.50-$63. For more details and to purchase tickets, visit metrocookingdc.com.

Run or Dye, a tie-dye 5k race, comes to Robert F. Kennedy Stadium (2400 East Capitol St., S.E.) today from 9 a.m.-noon. All ages and levels of fitness welcome. Team registration is $52 per person and individual registration is $57 per person. For registration, visit runordye.com.

JR.’s Bar and Grill (1519 17th St., N.W.) host a scavenger hunt and trivia challenge from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. today to raise money for Stonewall Kickball’s official charity The D.C. Center. Meet at JR.’s at 11 a.m. for instructions and teams have until 3 p.m. to earn points. At 3 p.m., meet at Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) for an after party and prizes. Entry fees are $50 per two-person team. Registration includes one free drink at Cobalt, 25 percent off food at Level One (1639 R St., N.W.) and happy hour pricing. For registration, visit stonewallkickballscavengerhunt.eventbrite.com.

Jinkx Monsoon performs her cabaret show with Major Scales “The Vaudevillains” at Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $20, open seating tickets $35 and open seating and meet-and-greet tickets are $50. For details and to purchase tickets visit flavorus.com.

fallFRINGE, a festival that brings back seven of the top shows from this summer’s Fringe Festival, kicks off this weekend. An opening party with an “all souls potluck” is tonight at 8 p.m. at Fort Fringe: The Shop, Redrum and Bedroom (607 New York Ave., N.W.). Tickets are $20 or $15 with a Fringe button. Visit capitalfringe.org for details on returning shows and more information on the opening party. The festival runs through Nov. 17.

Sunday, Nov. 3

Chick Chat, a singles group for lesbians ages 50 and over, meets at Brookside Gardens (1800 Glenallan Ave., Silver Spring, Md.) today at 2 p.m. for a walk rain or shine. Event is free. Please RSVP to [email protected].

Perry’s (1811 Columbia Rd., N.W.) hosts its weekly “Sunday Drag Brunch” today from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The cost is $24.95 for an all-you-can-eat buffet. For more details, visit perrysadamsmorgan.com.

Converge D.C., a new LGBT-inclusive church, holds its official launch at First Congregational United Church of Christ D.C. (945 G St., N.W.) tonight from 6-7 p.m. For more information, visit convergedc.org.

SMYAL hosts its 16th annual “Fall Brunch” at the Mandarin Oriental (13300 Maryland Ave., S.W.) today at 11 a.m. There will be a cocktail reception and a silent auction. Ally Sheedy will be honored as a community advocate. Tickets are $150. For details, visit smyal.org.

Monday, Nov. 4

The D.C. Center (1318 U St., N.W.) hosts coffee drop-in hours this morning from 10 a.m.-noon for the senior LGBT community. Older LGBT adults can come and enjoy complimentary coffee and conversation with other community members. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

The D.C Center (1318 U St., N.W.) hosts a volunteer night from 6:30-8:30 p.m. tonight. Come check out the new facilities, meet new people and give back to the local community center. Activities may include sorting through book donations, cleaning up around the center and taking inventory for FUK!T packets. For details, visit thedccenter.org.

Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) hosts poker night tonight at 8 p.m. Win prizes. Free to play. For more information, visit nelliessportsbar.com.

Tuesday, Nov. 5

Maryland Corporate Council hosts a look forward at 2014 legislative session with Michael Busch, Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, at Ballard Spahr (300 East Lombard St., Baltimore) today from 8-10 a.m. A complimentary continental breakfast will be served. For details, visit marylandcorporate.org.

Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) hosts its weekly ”FUK!T Packing Party” from 7-9 p.m. tonight. For more details, visit thedccenter.org or greenlanterndc.com.

SMYAL (410 7th St., S.E.) holds free and confidential HIV testing drop-in hours from 3-5 p.m. today. For details, visit smyal.org.

Wednesday, Nov. 6

The Lambda Bridge Club meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for social bridge. No partner needed. For more information, call 301-345-1571.

The Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8th St., S.E.) hosts happy hour from 5-7:30 p.m. today. All drinks are half price. Enjoy pool, video games and cards. Admission is free. For more details, visit bachelorsmill.com.

Us Helping Us (3636 Georgia Ave., N.W.) hosts a support group for black men living with HIV/AIDS tonight from 7-9 p.m. For more details, visit uhupil.org or call 202-446-1100.

Thursday, Nov. 7

Bookmen D.C., an informal men’s gay literature group, discusses “Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It” by Craig Timberg and Daniel Halperin at Tenleytown Library (4450 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m. All are welcome. For details, visit bookmendc.blogspot.com.

Sphinx Virtuosi, an ensemble comprised of alumni from the Sphinx Competition for young black and Latino string players, performs at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $32. For details, visit wpas.org or call 202-785-9727.

Music Center at Strathmore (5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md.) presents Luis Bravo’s “Forever Tango” tonight at 8 p.m. for one night only. The Tony-nominated show tells the history of tango with a cast of 14 Argentine dancers and an 11-piece orchestra. Tickets range from $36-$78. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit strathmore.org.

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Arts & Entertainment

Nominate your favorites for the Blade’s 25th annual Best Of LGBTQ DC Awards

Submit your picks now; top 5 vote getters move to the finals

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Nominate your favorites in our Best of LGBTQ DC categories through Sept. 24. The top 5 nominees from each category will become finalists with voting starting Sept. 28. Our 2026 Best of LGBTQ DC winners will be announced at the Best of LGBTQ DC Awards Party on Thursday, Oct. 22 and our special issue will come out on Friday, Oct. 23. One vote per email address per day. Good luck!

CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE OR USE THE FORM BELOW!

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Out & About

Blade Foundation to host fundraiser in Rehoboth on Sept. 12

Mayor-elect Stewart, state Rep. Snyder-Hall to give remarks

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Rehoboth Mayor-elect Susan Stewart will speak at the Blade Foundation fundraiser on Sept. 12.

The Washington Blade Foundation will host a fundraiser on Saturday, Sept. 12 in Rehoboth Beach featuring remarks from Rehoboth’s Mayor-elect Susan Stewart and Delaware state Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall.

The Foundation funds fellowships for aspiring queer journalists and enterprise journalism projects.

The event will be held at a private home in Rehoboth. Tickets are $100 and include open bar from Diego’s, catered appetizers from the Blue Moon, entertainment, guest speakers, and an auction. Tickets are available here.

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Books

New book examines fashionista Audrey Smaltz’s fabulous life

‘Every Inch a Lady’ reveals finding true love with another woman

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(Book cover image courtesy of Amistad)

‘Every Inch a Lady’
By Audrey Smaltz with Alina Mitchell
c.2026, Amistad
$27.99/256 pages

Snaps, zippers, buttons, ties.

Toss that garment on, pull it up, wrap it around, you know what you like and how to wear it. The color is perfect for your skin tone, the fabric enhances your form. Yep, you always look your best and, as in the new book “Every Inch a Lady” by Audrey Smaltz (with Alina Mitchell), that best is fabulous.

”Born, bred, toasted, buttered, jellied, and honeyed in Harlem” in 1937, Audrey Smaltz was a force to be reckoned with almost from the time she could walk. Her parents imbued confidence in her, they nurtured her creativity and sent her to charm school, but they never allowed her to create a stir.

“That,” says Smaltz, “is not what ladies did.”

By the time she was a teenager, Smaltz was modeling for New York City designers. Shortly thereafter, she started working for a married man with whom she had an affair, and whom she loved very much. She broke up with him, attended college, worked a series of jobs that taught her about fashion and jobs that didn’t seem to fit her. An ill-fated marriage took her to Chicago where she ultimately landed a position that sent her to work in Ebony magazine’s New York office.

Working at Ebony was a career-changer, in a way. Smaltz was able to travel the world and learn more about fashion, but she didn’t exactly get along with her boss.

Finally, seizing an opportunity, Smaltz decided to launch her own company, Audrey Smaltz, Inc., a “fashion production business,” but she couldn’t get any designers to take a chance on her. Undaunted, she reorganized, re-branded, hit the streets, and knocked on doors until she finally found one client, which led to many others.

Through it all, her personal life was a whirlwind. She dated “more men than you can shake a book at,” settling down occasionally, briefly. Fashion had always been her first love, but she accidentally found real love, “the love of a woman,” at a leadership course.

There’s an old saying that writers need to add lots of “color” into their stories. Read a little of “Every Inch a Lady,” and you’ll notice immediately that author Audrey Smaltz (with Alina Mitchell) quite literally takes that to heart by mentioning nearly every color of the spectrum here. Hmm.

That oddity aside, Smaltz is a wonderfully lively storyteller, speaking with the energy of a woman much younger to the heart of anyone who loves fashion. That glee extends to collectors of vintage clothing, who will be delighted to read about the industry long ago and the way things worked then. Smaltz says she experienced racism, which is not unusual for pre-Civil Rights America, but doors were surprisingly closed for other reasons that will astound anyone who’s savvy about the fashion industry, even today.

There’s quite a bit of name-dropping in this book but most of it belongs in the anecdotes, so you likely won’t mind. If you’re a fashionista, too, find “Every Inch a Lady,” and snap it up.

The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.

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