Arts & Entertainment
Best of Gay D.C. XIII: Lifetime Achievement Award
The Washington Blade honors D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray
To see the winners of the Washington Blade’s Best of Gay D.C. readers poll in other categories, click here.
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The LGBT community was divided in the city’s hotly contested Democratic primary in April when Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) finished ahead of Mayor Vincent Gray to capture the Democratic Party nomination for mayor for the Nov. 4 general election.
But virtually all of the city’s prominent LGBT activists agree — regardless of whom they supported in the primary — Mayor Gray’s record and accomplishments on LGBT issues in his more than three-and-a-half years in office are unprecedented and even historic in their breadth and scope.
“For those of us working in the trenches, it is all too easy to focus on the latest flap and forget that Vince is, by the evidence, the best mayor on LGBT issues our city has ever had,” said Rick Rosendall, president of the non-partisan Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance.
Rosendall made that comment when he presented Gray with GLAA’s Distinguished Service Award on April 30.
Gray’s LGBT-related initiatives and actions as mayor are so numerous that his supporters lamented during the primary campaign that people were having a hard time keeping track of them. Among the highlights:
• He directed his Office of GLBT Affairs to embark on a first-of-its-kind LGBT cultural competency or “sensitivity” training program that called for every D.C. government employee to undergo such training to better familiarize them with LGBT-related issues that could surface in their city agency.
• He made numerous appointments of LGBT people to important city government jobs and commissions, including the appointment of transgender advocates Earline Budd and Alexandra Beninda to the D.C. Commission on Human Rights.
• In response to concerns raised by transgender rights advocates, Gray directed the city’s Department of Employment Services to launch another first — a transgender employment initiative called Project Empowerment that reaches out to transgender residents in need of job training and related skills.
• The Office of Human Rights, in keeping with Gray’s interest in addressing discrimination faced by the transgender community, put in place a public relations and advertising campaign to promote respect and understanding for trans residents. It’s called the Transgender and Gender Identity Respect Campaign.
• In yet another first for the city, Gray directed the city’s Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking to require that health insurance companies doing business in the city, including companies providing health coverage for D.C. government employees, cover medical treatment such as hormone therapy for transgender people transitioning from one gender to the other.
• Gray also initiated an LGBTQ Youth Task Force and Bullying Prevention Task Force aimed, among other things, at curtailing bullying targeting LGBT youth. He convened and presided over the first city government sponsored LGBTQ Youth Summit.
• He became the first D.C. mayor to perform a City Hall wedding ceremony for a gay male couple shortly after legislation approved by the City Council giving the mayor and Council members authority to perform marriages took effect.
• In an action that angered some of the city’s conservative clergy, Gray disinvited controversial gospel singer Donnie McClurkin as a performer in a city-sponsored concert in August 2013 at the Martin Luther King Memorial. McClurkin, an outspoken “ex-gay,” has denounced homosexuality as a sin and a sickness. Gray said he was unaware that the city’s Commission on the Arts and Humanities had invited McClurkin to perform and directed the commission to cancel the invitation.
Prior to becoming mayor, Gray was an outspoken supporter of the city’s marriage equality law in his role as City Council Chair when the law came before Council for a vote.
Photos
Center for Black Equity honors leaders, activists at BE. Gala
Miyake-Mugler, Oakes co-host annual awards ceremony
The Center for Black Equity held its annual BE. Gala at Conrad Washington, D.C. on Saturday, Oct. 5. Lolita Leopard Miyake-Mugler and Anthony Oakes co-hosted the awards ceremony.
Honorees included journalist and producer Justin Stewart; nonprofit leader Nikki Alexander; HIV advocate Marlene McNeese; the nonprofit organization FreeLux Project; actress Monroe Alise; public health advocate Tori Cooper; Manassas Park Vice Mayor Darryl G. Moore; Rev. Dr. Carmarion D. Anderson; Bishop Steven Sawyer; government relations professional Courtney Snowden; Senior Deputy Director of HAHSTA at D.C. Health, Clover Barnes; and Texas state Rep. Venton C. Jones.
The event was sponsored by Gilead.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Books
In ‘The Lost Brontë,’ a complicated lie can lead to danger
New book features sweetly romantic girl-meets-girl twist
‘The Lost Brontë’
By Catherine Friend
c.2026, Bywater Books
$22.95/335 pages
Mom always said to tell the truth.
One lie leads to another and another and you have to remember them all until pretty soon, you’re caught. Fibs are hard, mistruths are messy, even little white social lies can destroy trust. Worst of all, as in the new novel, “The Lost Brontë” by Catherine Friend, a complicated lie can lead to danger.
Though Lilianne Loxley was very young when she lost her parents, she understood that her uncle didn’t really want her. As time passed, though, Lily made herself useful to Uncle, writing and signing letters for him and she became a good companion, helping him with his collection of Brontë memorabilia. Uncle was a keen enthusiast.
She had no idea that his obsession was out of control and he was deeply in arrears. The day Lily learned of his debt was the day she learned that he’d agreed to send her to his debtor’s home to work off the money owed.
It was so sudden. One minute, Lily was at Loxley House, happy and loved by Uncle’s staff … and five hours later, she was at Crag Thorn Manor, home of Lord Bexton, who informed her that she’d be working on his ledgers – work that seemed routine, but Lily tackled it.
Uncle always did say she was headstrong.
But would headstrong be enough to survive, when she was restricted from most of the Manor, when she was forced to dine with Brexton and his slimy friend, or – the worst! – when Brexton told Lily that her next task was to forge a letter from Emily Brontë? And then an entire manuscript?
Lily struggled to do what was right. She had to get Uncle out of debt but this last order horrified her. Did she dare refuse Brexton’s orders and commit a crime? It was unthinkable!
The only brightness in the whole situation was Wren, the ladies’ maid assigned to Lily’s room. Wren was adorable with freckles and the sweetest smile. But with everything else happening at Crag Thorn Manner, could Lily act upon her feelings?
This time of year, you may come to crave dark, spooky stories, and “The Last Brontë” fits those needs perfectly with its Gothic deliciousness. Think: Daphne du Maurier-type, stormy-night squirms with a dangerously chaste, sweetly romantic girl-meets-girl twist for fun.
If it’s been awhile since you’ve read a Gothic novel, you’re in for a nice reminder of why you love them here. You can almost tick off the must-haves: a novel like this is nothing without a foreboding stone manor with damp walls; stone steps to a dank basement; a mysterious portrait; and a nearby bog, and author Catherine Friend gives readers every one of them. You’d be disappointed if there was no ghost, wouldn’t you? Ha. You can practically feel the cold blow through the attic, right? Yeah, it’s that kind of book.
If you’re a fan of the Brontës, you’ll like this novel. If you love Gothic mysteries or Victorian romances, ditto. “The Lost Brontë” is good, no lie.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
Out & About
CAMP Rehoboth Block Party returns Oct. 18
Expect performances, vendors and more at annual celebration
CAMP Rehoboth will host its annual Block Party celebration on Sunday, Oct.18 at 11 a.m. on the second block of Baltimore Avenue in downtown Rehoboth Beach.
CAMP Rehoboth invites all community members to join in the festivities and to expect magnificent performances and dozens of vendors, including artists, craftspeople, non-profits, businesses, and more.
The event started in 2015 in celebration of CAMP Rehoboth’s 25th anniversary. This year, attendees can expect to shop sea glass art, pottery, jewelry, Pride merch, body care, clothing, and learn more about local non-profit causes and businesses.
Attendance is free. For more details, visit CAMP Rehoboth’s website.
Center for Black Equity honors leaders, activists at BE. Gala
In ‘The Lost Brontë,’ a complicated lie can lead to danger
CAMP Rehoboth Block Party returns Oct. 18
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