Arts & Entertainment
Dan Savage slams Melania Trump, calls her ‘ugly on the inside’
author and LGBT activist has no sympathy for the first lady


(Screenshot via YouTube)
Dan Savage slammed Melania Trump calling her “ugly on the inside” and listing the reasons why he hates her during his Savage Love podcast.
#FreeMelania and #SadMelania have become social media memes portraying her as a victim trapped in her marriage.Ā Savage claims the first lady doesn’t get the negative attention from liberals she deserves because of her good looks.
? somebody save her… #FreeMelania pic.twitter.com/46H0J6ztT0
ā SUTTON (@SuttonOfficial) January 23, 2017
When the divorced couple has to sit next to each other at their daughter’s wedding reception. #freeMelania pic.twitter.com/Y92GSvWsnE
ā Sean Kent (@seankent) January 24, 2017
I’m so glad this GIF exists. pic.twitter.com/a4BNmzfa5C
ā summer. (@SummerNazif) January 21, 2017
However, the author and LGBT activistĀ says he has no sympathy.
āGod knows thereās enough hate in the world and I donāt want to add to the sum total, but forgive me, I have got to get this off my chest: I f***ing hate Melania Trump,ā Savage began.
“Iām not alone in loathing Donald Trumpās third wife ā sheās married to a misogynist after all. Odds are good her husband hates her too,” Savage continued. “But there are some folks on the left who not only donāt hate her, they view her as some sort of sympathetic figure. The pretty princess in the tower locked up by the orange ogre with the bad combover, a princess desperately blinking out distress signals during swearing-in ceremonies and inaugural balls.”
Savage went on to call Trump “a birther” who pushed “the same racist conspiracy theories about Barack Obama that her husband did.”
He also mentioned the debacle over her Republican National Convention speech, which was plagiarized from Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech.
“Sheās famously a plagiarist. And sheās brought ruinous lawsuits against journalists and bloggers accusing them of among other things, potentially interfering with her ability to profit off her role as first lady,” Savage says.
Listen to the podcast here.Ā
Theater
Frenchie Davis wows as Sofia in āThe Color Purpleā
D.C. native on healing power of playing the iconic role

āThe Color Purpleā
Through Oct. 9
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, VA
$70-$108
Sigtheatre.org
D.C. likes to claim singer Frenchie Davis as its own. And now we can, again.
Davis has returned to the DMV to head the theater arts program at a new charter school as well as wow audiences in Signature Theatreās production of āThe Color Purpleā directed by Timothy Douglas. Adapted from Alice Walkerās Pulitzer Prize-winning, coming-of-age novel about Celie (Nova Y. Payton), a victimized teen in deep Jim Crow South who through grit and courage grows up to find redemption.
Davis plays Celieās sometime champion, ballsy Sofia, a Black woman loath to buckle under (a part memorably portrayed by Oprah Winfrey on the screen).
āI grew up in California but was born in D.C. when my parents were students as Howard University. And years later I came back to attend Howard, so artistically speaking I started my career here,ā explains Davis, 43. āI began singing in old school gay clubs like Edge and Wet – thatās how I made extra money when I was in college. I owe a lot of who I am to D.C.ā
She made national headlines when ā despite a big voice and vivacious personality ā she was booted off the second season of āAmerican Idolā in 2003 after some topless photos surfaced online, a āscandalā that reads quaint today. But thatās old news. Since then, Davis has performed on Broadway in āRent,ā done national tours of āDreamgirlsā and āAināt Misbehavinā,ā and played Henri in āThe View Upstairs,ā an off-Broadway musical about the UpStairs Lounge arson attack that killed 32 patrons of a gay bar in New Orleans. Additionally, she performed at the Bladeās 50th anniversary gala in 2019 and numerous other LGBTQ events.
āāThe Color Purpleā is a show Iāve long wanted to do, and performing with my old friend Nova, a beautiful soul and a real talent, makes it that much better,ā she says.
WASHINGTON BLADE: Sofia is incredibly strong. Do you relate?
FRENCHIE DAVIS: Thereās a beauty and vulnerability that the other characters miss at first glance because Sofia is so very strong. And I think thatās mirrored in my own life [she laughs]. Recently, Iāve had to stop being āthe strong friendā offstage ā sometimes itās too much to be just one thing.
But strength is important. I like how Alice Walker created with this book ā and it continues in the musical version ā a beautiful story of sisterhood and the power women have to change their lives and world around them when they come together in support and love.
BLADE: Walker is also an activist ā civil rights, womenās rights, Palestinian self-determination to name but a few. Your coming out as bisexual could be described as political. Are you an activist?
DAVIS: I am an activist. Not a lot of Black women performers were out of the closet when I came out. I think it was just me, Tracy Chapman, and Meshell Ndegeocello.
Now, people are kicking the door open. I have a lot of pride. I was young. I was in love with my āex-hersbandā and wanted to honor that love and not be afraid about holding hands in public.
My dad, a human rights activist, was terrified for my safety. I told him that if I have to lie then Iām not safe. Ultimately, he really surprised me. He treated my ex as another daughter. They went on hiking trips and all kinds of stuff without me. It kind of got on my nerves. [Laughs.]
BLADE: Walker portrays so many relationships between women: sister, friend, lover.
DAVIS: Itās very inclusive. For me, reading the book as a young person before it was dramatized was my first time seeing two black women in love. It was very impactful, especially because I identify as bi.
Also, Walker draws a beautiful contrast between shy, plain Celie and glamorous blues singer Shug Avery [played here by Danielle J. Summons], showing both ends of the spectrum of women who survive sexual trauma. In their love for each other, both Celie and Shug find a healing middle ground. As a rape survivor, I didnāt miss that part of the story.
BLADE: Is doing the show all that youād hoped for?
DAVIS: That and more. Iām dreaming lyrics at night. I love singing composer Brenda Russellās music. Sofiaās song, āHell No,ā morphs from anger to a plea for Celie to leave an abusive marriage with Mister.
Itās intense in different ways. After rehearsing the scene where Sofia gets beat up, I needed a session with my therapist. Signature is taking such good care of us, supplying intimacy coaches and advocating for selfcare. Itās a special production.
There are parts of me as Frenchie that are healing by playing Sofia.
BLADE: Is there a happy ending for Sofia?
DAVIS: In a way, but not necessarily the one Iād choose. In my mind the happy ending would be that she ends up with Harpo [played by out actor Solomon Parker III] and his girlfriend Squeak [played by nonbinary actor Tįŗ¹mĆdayį» Amay]. Thatās my own personal bisexual happy ending.
Arts & Entertainment
Team Rayceen Productions celebrates 8th anniversary
Group members, supporters reflect on the past and look to future

Team Rayceen Productions ā which helps facilitate an array of local LGBTQ-centered programming, including live events, performances and partnerships from collaborators and Pride celebrations ā is commemorating its eighth anniversary this month. Rayceen Pendarvis, the self-described āQueen of The Shameless Plug, the Empress of Pride and The Goddess of DC,ā is a veteran emcee and lifelong Washingtonian. The teamās other members are Zar, creative director, producer and founder, Niqui, booking agent and brand manager, and Krylios, event host and co-emcee.
In honor of the groupās August anniversary, the Blade sat down with Team Rayceen Productions and some of its frequent collaborators to discuss the groupās history, significance, and future.
The central members of Team Rayceen Productions met its namesake at different times and places, and the groupās members have shifted over time before the current ācore fourā assembled. According to Pendarvis, the teamās mission arose from the queer spaces where its members made their introductions, since āwe all met each other in wonderful safe spaces and safe places, and out of that rose that need to uplift, motivate and inspire the community on the next level.ā
Niqui, who came to the team from āThe Ask Rayceen Show,ā said that working on the monthly event āwas life changing and empowering for me personally, because seeing Rayceen living not just truthfully, but sharing wholeheartedly what makes her who she is, really helped to free my soul and my spirit.ā
Krylios, the youngest member of Team Rayceen Productions, said that while he was not there for the groupās founding, its clear sense of purpose and familial warmth drew him in.
āOne of the greatest core concepts of Team Rayceen is community, is family,ā Krylios said. āAs someone who was trying to find their way in not only a new space and a new community, but specifically the queer community in D.C., going to āThe Ask Rayceen Showā and becoming involved in Team Rayceen Productions was very important to me.ā
For Gigi Holiday, a burlesque performer and regular guest on āThe Ask Rayceen Show,ā appearing at the event was a kind of ārite of passageā that quickly turned into an annual tradition.
āI felt like every year, I had to, in the sense of āI need to come home,āā Holiday said. āYou have to have a family reunion once a year, right? Thatās why I have always done it once a year and will continue to do so.ā
Sylver Logan Sharp, a singer and longtime collaborator with Team Rayceen Production, emphasized Rayceenās unique ability to foster peopleās talents.
āThe things Iām good at were nurtured, and they were cultivated, and they were honed, and they are still right now. Rayceen [does] that for the community ā you and your entire team do the very same thing ā you give people a platform. And nothing is more important right now than a safe place,ā Sharp said. āYou create that, and you also initiate inspiration in people that otherwise might not have it.ā
Over and over, collaborators remarked on the groupās blend of familial warmth and comfort with the challenge to grow.
āOur gifts are called upon. When you join the family of Team Rayceen, you’re going to get called on, but whatever your gifts might be ā whether people know about them or not ā itās a really great chance to just step up to the plate,ā singer-songwriter Desiree Jordan said. āYou become a better person as a result of being within this family and within this community.ā
According to its members, the future of Team Rayceen Productions is bright. While the pandemic halted live performances and moved content creation online, Niqui shared that it was also an opportunity for the team to plan its next steps.
āOddly enough, the pandemic caused us to really focus and think. When you’re doing, doing, doing, you don’t really have an opportunity to future-cast, and so those two years were a turbo boost for us because they forced us to have to say āOkay, how do we want to focus our energy, what changes do we want to see in the world?ā And the world was changing at the exact same time.ā
Although āThe Ask Rayceen Showā recently wrapped its 10th and final season, Zar said that the teamās horizons have always been broader than that monthly event.
āWhat we have done and continue to do is create safe spaces. We create spaces for healing and celebration⦠we create spaces for voter registration, for community organizations and entrepreneurs; we create intergenerational spaces,ā Zar said. āWe create diverse spaces which honor and respect Black LGBTQ people who have been centered in so much of what we’ve done from the beginning ā so I think we’ve done a good job of both expanding our base and not forgetting how we got here.ā
In the future, Team Rayceen Productions is looking to increase the scale and ambition of its creative projects and to reach a wider international audience. However, as they ramp up operations, Rayceen re-emphasized the teamās commitment to its community, even when that means taking a pay cut.
āIn my 40 plus years getting here, I have done so much stuff free I should be a millionaire,ā Pendarvis said. āBut my riches come from the community, come from people when they say thank you, when people hug me ⦠those things that are priceless, that money canāt buy.ā
āWe know that, yes, we should be paid a lot more money than what we get. But when people come to us with a small budget or large budget, we take those lemons and make lemonade ⦠creating an experience that you will never forget. When you see or hear Team Rayceen mentioned, whispered or read about, you will know that experience is unforgettable.ā
For Team Rayceen Productions, this ambition for growth comes from the desire for representation. As a platform and safe space for LGBTQ people ā especially Black LGBTQ people ā the group reiterated the importance of telling these stories in the face of an increasingly regressive political climate.
āYou know how important representation is ā being able to see oneself represented, to see similar stories represented in different, unique ways that have not been done before. Because as things continue to change and things continue to evolve, sometimes things also regress,ā Krylios said. āItās important to have certain stories still being represented and being put to the front, and new stories, different stories, being done in that way, so that we keep the importance and we keep the visibility of how certain decisions being made affect people in real life.ā


Chuck Colbert had a touch of old Cary Grant in him ā dashing and debonair in his tuxedo at swank LGBTQ events. But he was also deeply humble and bursting with joy from his lifelong devotion to the core beliefs of the Catholic Church.
His journalistic discipline controlling his personal anguish over the proclamations about homosexuality enabled him as an out gay man to report professionally on the sex abuse scandals that rocked the Catholic Church in the early 2000s.
As a regular freelance contributor to the National Catholic Reporter and other media outlets, Chuck debunked tirades against gays and often underscored how girls and young women had been raped and abused by priests and church officials, too.
I thought about this a lot when I heard that Chuck had died on June 30. He was 67.
I was shocked by his sudden passing and how long it took to find out he had died. I met him decades ago through the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association. Why did it take a month and a half for news of his passing to spread?
Chuckās friend Karen Allshouse posted news on his Facebook page: Ā āI’ve learned that while visiting in Johnstown [Pa.] he developed a serious medical issue (involving his esophagus reportedly) and he needed to be transferred to a higher level of medical care and was transferred to a Pittsburgh hospital. Respiratory complications developed and he died. For those who are concerned about his mom ā a former high school teacher of his (English) accompanied his mom to the cemetery for the committal service.ā
I considered Chuck a loving friend and a journalistic colleague but I realized I actually knew little about him. Our friendship ranged from email exchanges to quick chats at events to deep conversations about religion, including the influence of Thomas Ć Kempisā “The Imitation of Christ.”
If anyone sought to imitate Christ, it was Chuck Colbert. He was kind without thinking about it. He walked the walk and scolded those who didnāt but claimed to have created the path.
On March 17, 2002, two months after the Boston Globe exposed the sexual child abuse by priests rotting the foundation of the Boston archdiocese (depicted in the movie āSpotlight,ā) Chuck wrote an op-ed in the Boston Herald entitled āLeaders of Catholic Church Must Listen to All the Faithful.ā Ā
āClearly, the Catholic Church in Boston is in crisis. Some blame āmilitant homosexualsā among the clergy, branding them āa true plague on the priesthood.ā Is the crisis, in fact, rooted there? Let me offer another perspective ā one based on more than 25 years of faith life as a convert. First, I have failed, somehow, to encounter any Catholic Church culture characterized by āpriestly homosexuals run amok with no fear of condemnation.ā The reality is significantly more boring,ā Chuck wrote.Ā
He went on to describe his scholarly and theological journey from the University of Notre Dame to Georgetown University, Harvard University and Weston Jesuit School of Theology, receiving degrees at each stop.
āStill, it was not until I arrived in Cambridge 15 years ago that my spiritual desolation over the conflict between my sexual identity and my religious conviction found its positive counterpart: consolation,ā Chuck wrote in the Boston Herald. āThe catalyst for that life-saving, personal transformation began when a bright and theologically astute Jesuit priest became my spiritual director.
āHe listened,ā Chuck continued. āOver time, I broke the silence of my anguished pilgrim journey and its struggle with homosexuality. He understood that I carried with me the heavy baggage of church teaching, those deeply wounding, soul-shaming words from the Catechism, āobjective disorderā and āintrinsic evil,ā that pathologize (and objectify) same-gender love and its sexual expression. Through the respectful, nonjudgmental listening and guidance of spiritual direction and through richer encounters of Godās grace in the sacraments, therapy, and prayer, I came to experience God’s unconditional love. I now feel, to the core of my being, that God loves me (I suspect you) along with all my quirky postmodern, American, but very human, strengths and vulnerabilities.ā
Chuck became an expert reporter covering the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. During a May 7, 2002, appearance on CNN, Chuck responded to a question about the culpability of Cardinal Bernard Law, Archbishop of Boston.Ā
āI think the question raises a very interesting question, or point,ā Chuck said. āAnd it is not just the personality of the cardinal. Other bishops who were auxiliary bishops at the time [of Fr. John Geoghanās arrest for child molestation and release] and are now bishops in other places, as the [Father Paul] Shanley documents have been revealed, these show higher levels of involvement of knowledge. And so it is systemic ā but it is also the leadership, the broad leadership that Cardinal Law mustered to either handle or mishandle this scandal, and I think that we will see more of that come out in court.ā
Chuckās expertise was invaluable to the LGBTQ community, as National LGBTQ Task Force Communications Director Cathy Renna told the Windy City Times.
“Chuck was a friend and colleague ā one who was extraordinarily principled and helpful, especially when addressing issues related to the LGBTQ community and the Catholic Church. He was instrumental in helping us frame and address the abuse scandal when church leaders scapegoated gay priests, as a person of faith and an intellectual,ā Renna said. ā[W]orking with him was a vital part of my work taking on the Catholic Church hierarchy while at GLAAD, along with other queer and allied groups. But he was also a pleasure to be friends with, who found joy in life and our community, and was one of the people I most looked forward to seeing at the NLGJA convention and other events. He will be greatly missed.”
Chuck caused some ripples in my life after an interview we did for the online LGBTQ press trade newsletter Press Pass Q in 2016 about my being laid off as news editor by my longtime publisher Frontiers Newsmagazine.
Chuck had interviewed Bobby Blair, chief executive officer of Multimedia Platforms Worldwide, and the new publisher of Frontiers.
āUnfortunately, Karen fell where we realized we were moving toward a digital and Millennial audience, and we wanted to give the generation of Millennials a real shot at creating our content,ā Blair told Chuck. āDid you get that on tape?ā I asked him.Ā
Chuck Colbert summed up his philosophy via a quote from Leo Tolstoyās “War and Peace:”
“Life is everything. Life is God. Everything shifts and moves, and this movement is God. And while there is life, there is delight in the self-awareness of the divinity. To love life is to love God. The hardest and most blissful thing is to love this life in one’s suffering, in the guiltlessness of suffering.ā
********************

Karen Ocamb an award winning veteran journalist and the former editor of the Los Angeles Blade, has chronicled the lives of LGBTQ+ people in Southern California for over 30 plus years.
She is currently the Director of Media Relations for Public Justice.
She lives in West Hollywood with her two beloved furry ākidsā and writes occasional commentary on issues of concern for the greater LGBTQ+ community.
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