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Out director readies ‘Love, Simon’
Gay-themed coming-of-age dramedy opens March 16
Nick Robinson, left, with director Greg Berlanti on the set of ‘Love, Simon.’ (Photo courtesy the Karpel Group)
By any measure, gay writer, director and producer Greg Berlanti has had an amazing career so far. Over the last 20 years, he’s been involved in the creation and development of several iconic movies and television series, many of which have featured prominent LGBT characters. Now he’s about to launch a very personal project, a big screen gay romance called “Love, Simon.”
The 45-year-old Berlanti was born in Rye, N.Y. and studied playwriting at Northwestern University. His first gig in Hollywood (1998-2002) was working as writer and then producer of the WB’s popular teen drama “Dawson’s Creek.” The cast of the show included Kerr Smith who played one of the first openly gay teens on television. In the 1998 episode entitled “True Love,” Jack’s kiss with Ethan (Adam Kaufman) was the first-ever gay male kiss on prime time television.
Following his success with “Dawson’s Creek,” Berlanti went on to create two more successful series for the WB: “Everwood” (2002-2006) and “Jack and Bobby” (2004-2005). The final season of “Everwood” featured the coming-out story of piano prodigy Kyle Hunter (played by Steven R. McQueen).
After his success at the WB, Berlanti moved to ABC to launch the series “Brothers and Sisters.” Written by gay playwright Jon Robin Baitz, the show explored the life of Nora Walker (Sally Fields), matriarch of the Walker clan following the sudden death of her husband. Gay son Kevin (played by Matthew Rhys) helps his mother tend his siblings while he sorted out his own on-again, off-again relationship with Scotty Wandell (Luke MacFarlane).
In 2007, Berlanti created “Dirty Sexy Money” about a New York lawyer (Peter Krause) and his rich New York City clients for ABC. Berlanti cast trans actress Candis Cayne as Carmella Rainer, a trans woman having an affair with married New York Attorney General Patrick Darling (William Baldwin). This made Cayne the first transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character on primetime TV.
Meanwhile, Berlanti began to explore his interest in filmmaking. In 2000, he wrote and directed “The Broken Hearts Club: a Romantic Comedy,” a heartwarming movie that has become a perennial gay favorite. Set in West Hollywood, the film is centered on a bar owned by Jack (John Mahoney) and the group of friends who frequent the bar and play on Jack’s softball team. Based on Berlanti’s friends at the time, the cast was filled with rising stars including Timothy Olyphant, Dean Cain, Zach Braff, Matt McGrath, Andrew Keegan and Billy Porter.
Movies were also Berlanti’s introduction to the DC Extended Universe with which he is now closely associated. In 2011, he co-wrote and co-produced “Green Lantern” starring Ryan Reynolds as the title character. Although the movie was neither a critical nor financial success, a reboot of the franchise is in development.
Since then, Berlanti has developed a highly successful and lucrative collaboration with DC Comics and the CW network. GLAAD and other LGBT media watchdogs have frequently praised Berlanti’s work with the DC Extended Universe for its inclusion of so many LGBT actors and characters.
Since 2012, Berlanti has been producing “Arrow.” He’s also involved with several other superhero series that are still on the air, including “The Flash,” “Supergirl,” “Legends of Tomorrow” and “Black Lightning.” He also produces “Riverdale,” based on updated versions of the characters from the Archie comics.
With all these series underway (and even more on their way), Berlanti set a record for having 10 different scripted television series planned to air in the 2017-2018 television season on various networks and digital platforms.
In the midst of all this, Berlanti still found time to get married. Last Dec. 2, Berlanti exchanged vows with Robbie Rogers who made history by coming out while he was a professional soccer player. Forced to retire in 2017 due to injuries, Rogers is now working as an actor and producer. Berlanti and Rogers live in Los Angeles with their son Caleb who just celebrated his second birthday.
And now, Berlanti is set to release his next project, “Love, Simon,” a romantic comedy-drama slated for a U.S. release March 16. Adapted by the writing team of Isaak Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger from the award-winning book “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda” by Becky Albertalli, the movie is about Simon Spier, a gay teenager who is not ready to come out of the closet. Things begin to look better when he starts an online relationship with a fellow student named “Blue,” but takes a turn for the worse when a classmate discovers the emails and blackmails him.
Berlanti says the movie is “a coming-out story that makes you laugh, cry and feel.” He became aware of the book when people in his office decided to pursue it, but couldn’t get the rights.
“When the script was written it came my way,” Berlanti says. “I fell in love. It felt both timely and timeless. It reminded me of films that I grew up with that were about coming of age and figuring yourself out. But, it had one essential difference — this script had a gay character front and center. I had a visceral reaction to the script and I hoped that audiences would have the same reaction.”
Once he had his hands on the script, Berlanti used the skills he has developed adapting comic books for the small screen.
“Working with the DC Comic Universe,” he says, “I’ve learned to try and honor the DNA of the characters, but it still has to work in this new art form. There’s a reason the character was popular to begin with and you have to get the heart of the character and extrapolate that out. … I would go back to the book all the time whether it was for a line or a moment. I just didn’t want to miss anything.”
With the premiere of “Love, Simon” approaching, Berlanti says he finds himself thinking about his first feature film, “The Broken Hearts Club.” Partially it’s because his new movie is getting the wide release that his first movie never received.
But it’s also because he misses his friend, actor John Mahoney (“Frasier”) who died in February at 77.
“John was a real godfather for that movie. He was the name who came on board to help us get financing. He knew I was kind of figuring out how I would pull this off and he was very supportive. I remember sitting with him in between set-ups and he was just giving me the confidence to tell that story.”
As for Mahoney’s sexuality, Berlanti says, “He and I never discussed our private lives.”
Of posthumous attempts to out people, Berlanti says, “I really think that Harvey Milk said it right: Every gay person has to come out. But, I do believe that everyone needs to determine their own timeline. To borrow Simon’s line from the movie, ‘I’m supposed to be the one that decides when and how and who knows, and how I get to say it, that’s supposed to be my thing.’”
To borrow another of Simon’s lines, “I’m done living in a world where I don’t get to be who I am. I deserve a great love story and I want someone to share it with.”
From left are Nick Robinson, Talitha Bateman, Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel in ‘Love, Simon.’ (Photo by Ben Rothstein; courtesy Twentieth Century Fox)
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Award-winning D.C. chef reaching new culinary heights
Anthony Jones of Marcus DC competing on ‘Top Chef’
In Anthony Jones’s kitchen, all sorts of flags fly, including his own. Executive chef at award-winning restaurant Marcus DC, Jones has reached culinary heights (James Beard Award semifinalist for Emerging Chef, anyone?), yet he’s just getting started.
Briefly stepping away from his award-winning station, Jones took a moment under a different set of lights. Recently, he temporarily gave up his post at the restaurant for a starring small-screen slot on the latest season of “Top Chef,” which debuted in March. (The show airs weekly on Bravo and Peacock).
Before his strategic slice-and-dice competition, however, Jones, who identifies as gay, draws from his deep DMV roots. In the years before “Top Chef” and the top chef spot at Marcus, he was born and raised in Sunderland, Md., in southern Maryland, near the Chesapeake.
Early memories were steeped in afternoons on boats with his dad bonding over fishing, and wandering the garden of his great-grandparents spread with fresh vegetables and a few hogs. “It was Southern, old-school ethics and upbringing,” he said. “Family and food went hand in hand.” Weekends meant grabbing bushels of crabs, dad and grandma would cook and crack them. Family members would host fish fries for extra cash. In this seafood-heavy youth, Jones managed time to sneak in episodes of the “OG” Japanese “Iron Chef” show, which helped inspire him to pursue a career in the kitchen.
Jones moved to D.C. after graduating from college, ending up at lauded Restaurant Eve, and met famed chef Marcus Samuelson, who brought him to Miami to be part of the opening team for Red Rooster Overtown. After three years, Jones moved back to D.C., where he ran Dirty Habit, reinventing and reimagining the menu, integrating West African flavors and ingredients.
Samuelson, however, wouldn’t let a talent like Jones stay away for too long. Pulling Jones back into his orbit, Samuelson elevated Jones to help him open his namesake restaurant Marcus DC, which has been named a top-five restaurant by the Washington Post. Since then, Jones has been nominated as a semifinalist for the RAMMYs Rising Culinary Star in 2026 and won the Eater DC’s Rising Chef award in 2025.
Samuelson’s Marcus is a tour de force interpreting the Black Diaspora on the plate, from the American South to West Africa, along with his signature “Swedopian” touches. Yet it’s Jones who has deeply informed the plate, elevating his own story to date. Marcus DC is primarily a seafood restaurant, which serves Jones well.
“Where I’m from is seafood heavy, and as I’ve progressed in my career, I’ve moved away from meat.” Veggies and fish are hero dishes. His own dish, Mel’s Crab Rice, was not only lauded by the Washington Post, but is framed by his youth carrying home the crustaceans from Mel’s crab truck. It’s a bowl of Carolina rice, layered with pickled okra, uni béarnaise, and crab. Jones also points to a dish on the opening menu, rockfish and brassica, paying respect to a landmark D.C. institution, Ben’s Chili Bowl. Jones reverse engineered a favorite bowl of chili that’s seafood instead of meat forward, leveraging octopus and rockfish along with different riffs of cauliflower: showing his intellectual, creative, and cultural sides.
While “Top Chef” is showing Jones’s spotlight side, he also lets his identity show at work. “In the kitchen, I make sure we’re inclusive. We don’t tolerate discrimination. Everyone that’s here should feel confident to express themselves. There are so many different flags in the kitchen.”
Jones says that he didn’t fully express his gay identity until fairly recently. He felt reluctant coming out to certain family members, “you’re scared to tell them about being different,” he says, and while that anxiety ate at him, “I’m lucky and fortunate to have unconditional love and that weight off my shoulders.”
Today, “I’m me all the time, Monday to Sunday. I’m honest with people, and my staff is honest with me.”
“Being a chef is hard,” he says, “and being a chef of color is even more difficult.”
Yet his LGBTQ identity is a juggling act, he says. “I need to keep that balance, because once someone finds out something about you, their opinion can change, whether you want it or not.”
Being on a whole season of TV cooking competition, however, might mean millions more might have an opinion of him (Jones has appeared on TV already, on an episode of “Chopped”). To prepare, he says, “I’ve just kept a level head. It’s just an honor to be on top chef with amazing people happy to be there.”
Plus, this season is set in the Carolinas, and Jones attended Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, N.C. “It’s a full story of my life, now a monumental moment for me.”
Jones also recently was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award. “JBF has been a north star, a dream for so long. I always had this goal on my wall.”
Being at the top spot at Marcus DC, making waves through his accolades, and cooking on Bravo means that Jones is highly visible. “I think that if someone has a similar background to me, and can see our story, trajectory, and success, they can have more ability to be themselves. This is my goal.”
Back at Marcus, Jones has plenty up his chef’s white’s sleeves. A new spring menu is in the works. He’ll be launching a new tasting menu “dining experience,” he says, and has plans to work on more events and collaborations with chefs and friends to bring in new talent and share the culinary wealth.
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Introducing the Torchbearers Awards honoring queer, trans women and nonbinary people
Meet the Legends and Illuminators lighting new paths
The Torchbearers Awards are more than recognition—they are a continuation of legacy. They honor the quiet architects of progress in our community: those who organize, advocate, build, and protect, often without fanfare but always with purpose. Rooted in a belief in intentional recognition, this honor names those who carry our movements forward—those who make room for others, who remind us that change is both generational and generative. In a time marked by uncertainty and challenge, these leaders push forward with courage, clarity, and an unwavering commitment to expanding opportunity and equity.
This year’s honorees reflect the full breadth of our community, spanning generations, backgrounds, identities, and industries. From Legends, with decades of leadership and having created pathways for others, to Illuminators, who are lighting new paths with creativity and innovation, each Torchbearer represents the power of intergenerational leadership and the strength found in our diversity. They are organizers, advocates, artists, policy leaders, healers, and changemakers whose lived experiences shape a shared vision for equity and liberation.
This award is our love letter to queer and trans women and nonbinary people who carry the flame when it would be easier to let it dim. To those who consistently show up, who use their voice and visibility and stand firm, often without recognition, so that others may live more freely and fully. The Torchbearers Awards celebrates not just what has been done, but the enduring spirit, responsibility, and collective care that ensure the work continues, and that the flame is always passed forward.
Co-Creators of the Torchbearers Awards: Shannon Alston, June Crenshaw, Heidi Ellis
Torchbearers Awards Advisory Board: Aditi Hardikar, Lesley Bryant, Jasmine Wilson-Bryant, Stephen Rutgers
ILLUMINATOR AWARDEES
- Representative Sharice Davids (she/her), (D, KS-03)
— U.S. House of Representatives - Greisa Martinez Rosas (she/her/ella)
— Executive Director, United We Dream - Paola Ramos (she/her)
— Journalist & Correspondent - Meagan A. Fitzgerald (she/her)
— Journalist & Correspondent - Jessica L. Lewis (she/her)
— Founder / Producer, Play Play DC - Savannah Wade (she/her)
— Founder, OAR Agency - Suhad Babaa (she/her)
— Filmmaker/ Former Executive Director of Just Vision - Ashlee Davis (she/her)
— Global Head of Inclusive Outcomes, Ancestry - Jazmine Hughes (she/her)
— Journalist and Former Editor at New York Times Magazine - Queen Adesuyi (they/she)
— Policy Advisor & Organizer, ReFrame Health & Justice - Michele Rayner, Esq. (she/her)
— Civil Rights Attorney, State Representative (Florida House of Representatives) - Gaby Vincent (she/her)
— Sports/Cultural Commentator and Community Leader - Jenny Nguyen (she/her)
— Founder & Owner, The Sports Bra - Denice Frohman (she/her)
— Independent Artist, Poet / Performer - Vida Rangel (she/her)
— Founder, Our Trans Capital - Roxanne Anderson (they/them)
— Executive Director, Our Space - Ann Marie Gothard (she/her)
— Co-Founder & President, Pride Live (Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center) - Diana Rodriquez (she/her)
— Co-Founder & CEO, Pride Live (Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center) - Wendi Cooper (she/her)
— Founder / Executive Director, Transcending Women - Toya Matthews (she/her)
— City of San Antonio, Texas - Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones (she/her)
— Sports/Cultural Commentator and Community Leader - Charity Blackwell (she/her)
— Poet, LGBTQ Advocate & Community Leader - Wilhelmina Indermaur (she/her)
— Director of Communications, Tyler Clementi Foundation - Em Chadwick (she/her)
— CMO, For Them & Autostraddle - Kylo Freeman (they/he)
— CEO, For Them & Autostraddle
LEGEND AWARDEES
- Sheila Alexander-Reid (she/her)
— Executive Director, PHL Diversity, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau - Cassandra Cantave Burton (she/her)
— Interim Director of Thought Leadership & Senior Research Advisor, AARP - leigh h. mosley (she/her)
— Photographer / Educator, PhotoFlo Photography - Jenn M. Jackson, PhD (they/them)
— Assistant Professor of Political Science; Author & Columnist, Syracuse University - Jordyn White (she/her)
— COO, Washington Prodigy / VP of Leadership Development & Research, HRC Foundation - AJ Hikes (they/them)
— Deputy Executive Director, ACLU - RaeShanda Lias (she/her)
— Digital Creator, RL Lockhart - Donna Payne-Hardy (she/her)
— Educator, EEO Specialist, Founder of NBJC, Former Leader at the Human Rights Campaign - Courtney R. Snowden (she/her)
— Principal, Blueprint Strategy Group - Gaye Adegbalola (she/her)
— Musician & Activist, Musician / Inductee of the Blues Hall of Fame - Cheryl A. Head (she/her)
— Independent Author, Novelist (Crime Fiction) - Letitia Gomez (she/her)
— The American LGBTQ+ Museum, Board Chair - Lynne Brown (she/her)
— Publisher, Washington Blade - Shay Franco-Clausen (She/Her/Ella/Queen)
— Political Strategist and Organizer - Melissa L. Bradley (she/her)
— Founder & Managing Partner, New Majority Ventures - Meghann Burke (she/her)
— Executive Director, NWSL Players Association - Victoria Kirby York, MPA (she/they)
— Director of Public Policy & Programs, National Black Justice Collective - Joli Angel Robinson (she/her)
— CEO, Center on Halsted - Jeannine Frisby LaRue (she/her)
— CEO, Moxie Strategies - Alice Wu (she/her)
— Film Director (Saving Face, The Half of It) / Screenwriter - Storme Webber (she/her)
— Interdisciplinary Artist / Educator, University of Washington - Kim Stone
— CEO of the Washington Spirit, Washington Spirit - Mickalene Thomas
— American Visual Artist, Mickalene Thomas Studio - Erika Lorshbough (any/they/she)
— Executive Director, interACT - J. Gia Loving (she/ella)
— Co-Executive Director, GSA Network
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D.C. springs back to life with new, returning events
Cherry blossoms, Rehoboth season kickoff, and more on tap
Longer and warmer days are back meaning: It’s time to get out of the house and enjoy Washington D.C.’s many events. Below are a few to check out this spring.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts will host “Making their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection” until Sunday, July 26. This exhibition illustrates women artists’ vital role in abstraction, considers historical contributions, formal and material breakthroughs and intergenerational relationships among women artists over the last eight decades. For more details, visit. NMWA’s website.
Art in the Attic will host a pop-up on Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m. at 1012 Madison St., Alexandria, Va. There will be a variety of vendors selling products across different modes of art. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
Play Play will host “Indoor Recess – The art of play” on Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. This event will embody classic recess energy, including opportunities to build and experience community and connections through games, movement, art stations, and creative freedom. Tickets are $12.51 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Spark Social will host “Gay Bar Crawl on U Street” on Friday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. This will be a fun night out in gay D.C. with other gay people, whether you’re visiting D.C., new to the area, or just looking to expand your social circle. Many crawlers have formed lasting friendships and even romantic relationships after just one night out. Tickets are $35.88 and are available on Eventbrite.
Creative Suitland Arts Center will host “EFFERVESCENT: House of Swann” on Saturday, May 30 at 7 p.m. This will be a gay, good time where we will celebrate love, joy, wellness, and visibility for the LGBTQIA+ community. Tickets start at $17.85 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
SWAG Works DC will host “Unapologetically Her” on Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. at 701 E St., S.E. This event is a powerful celebration of womanhood, resilience, creativity, and self-expression in honor of Women’s History Month. This all-women exhibition highlights the diverse voices, stories, and artistic perspectives of women who create boldly, live authentically, and stand confidently in their truth. This event is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
9:30 Club will host “Gimme Gimme Disco: A Dance Party Inspired by ABBA” on Saturday, March 14 at 6 p.m. There will also be a “Donna Summer Power Hour – The Queen of Disco” segment during this event. It’ll be one hour of music with no skips. Tickets are available on 9:30 Club’s website.
Harder Better Faster Stronger will host “Heated Rivalry Rave” on Friday, March 20 at 9 p.m. at Howard Theatre. This event is open to all ages. Tickets are available on the theater’s website.
CAMP Rehoboth hosts its 25th annual Women’s+ FEST, April 9-12 in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Entertainers include headliner Mina Hartong, a comedian, storyteller, and founder of Lez Out Loud; and singer Yoli Mayor. There are dances, dinners, pickleball, and much more. Details and tickets at camprehoboth.org.
Also in Rehoboth Beach, the Washington Blade’s 19th annual Summer Kickoff Party is set for Friday, May 15 featuring Ashley Biden, who will accept an award on behalf of her brother Beau. State Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall will also speak. More speakers and the venue to be announced soon.
The annual D.C. Cherry Blossom Festival kicks off March 21 at DAR Constitution Hall and culminates with Petalpalooza on April 4, the day-long, outdoor street party with music and art, stretching across Navy Yard, and ending with fireworks over the Anacostia River.
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