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QUEERY: Cathy Fink
The local musician and activist answers 20 gay questions
You wouldn’t necessarily think of the D.C. region as being a hotbed of folk or bluegrass music but Cathy Fink says there’s a lot more than you might guess.
“There are many music communities around here,” the 65-year-old Baltimore native says. “Some overlap and some do not. We hang in a bunch of them — traditional and contemporary folk, old-time string band songs and dance tunes on fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, etc., swing music … and others. There is so much good music and musicianship in the D.C. area.”
Fink and her long-time singing partner and wife Marcy Marxer will be joined by their friend Sam Gleaves for a concert at AMP Strathmore (11810 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda, Md.) on Thursday, Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15-20 at ampbystrathmore.com. Expect lots of vocal harmonies and instrumental virtuosity on fiddle, banjo, mandolin, ukulele and guitar. The Bluegrass Situation called their collaboration a “perfect illustration of cross-generational mind and musical melds.”
Fink and Marxer met at a folk festival in 1980 and have been making albums and touring together for decades. They met Gleaves, who’s gay, five years ago and perform both with and without him. Fink says he’s a “great extension of our duo work. … We work together when it fits our schedules and the opportunity is right.”
Fink says the folk world has always been fine with lesbian musicians and the bluegrass realm is “slowly opening its doors.” Fink has released about 47 albums over the years. Her latest, “Shout and Shine,” was released in summer 2017. Find out more at cathymarcy.com.
Fink moved to the D.C. area in 1979. She and Marxer live in Silver Spring, Md. Fink enjoys music, quilting, writing short stories, hiking, cycling and volunteering in her free time.
How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?
Marcy and I have been together for 35 years. The hardest person to tell was probably my mother. She, like the rest of my family, easily saw how amazing Marcy was and those still alive are still crazy about her. Who wouldn’t be?
Who’s your LGBT hero?
Wow, there are many. Cleve Jones’ brilliance in starting the AIDS Memorial Quilt was a huge inspiration. I wrote five songs about the quilt. Holly Near sings loud songs that question, educate and inspire us to action.
What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?
Concert halls or theaters such as Round House Theater, The Birchmere, AMP by Strathmore, Strathmore Mansion, The Hamilton, Woolly Mammoth or even a local summer park show.
Describe your dream wedding.
I had my dream wedding. Marcy and I had a two-hour wedding and the party was part of the ceremony with several musical friends performing. It was happy, profound and an extension of the commitment we had already made to each other.
What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?
There are so many. We have always been passionate about helping children and families. Tomorrow I’m volunteering at Nourish Now, a Gaithersburg food pantry. I’m also passionate about mentoring the up-and-coming musical generations and volunteer a lot of time doing that. I’m most passionate about the thing I’m currently doing, whatever it is.
What historical outcome would you change?
Trump. Over and out. And out the sooner the better.
What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?
My first big folk music concert was Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie in Montreal. It was amazing and opened my eyes to the wide word of audience engagement, social justice in music and the simple concept of putting on a great show as a folk singer. I later got to work and record with Pete Seeger and have shared a few stages with Arlo. Thrilling!
On what do you insist?
Respect
What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?
I posted about yesterday’s Women’s March, including a few favorite signs. And today I posted about local lesbian songwriter Crys Matthews’ brilliant concert in honor of Martin Luther King at the Reston Community Center.
If your life were a book, what would the title be?
I am actually working on a memoir. Don’t know what it will be called. Possibly something along the lines of “You Can’t Make This Shit Up.”
If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?
I loved and lived with a male partner for five years. When that was over, it never occurred to me to think of myself as a lesbian. When I fell in love with Marcy, I had to come to terms with recognizing a love that would take some adjustments on my part in thinking about who I was. Honestly, I don’t think hard about whether I am this label or that label. I understood that I was one half of a magnet and she was the other half and we have lived happily ever after. I wouldn’t change a thing for myself, but I would be supportive of people who understood that they needed to make a change.
What do you believe in beyond the physical world?
I believe that energy is neither created nor destroyed. I believe in karma, but have no clue how it works. I believe I have met people that I was closely associated with in other lives or times. I believe there is some form of energy out there we can all contribute to.
What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?
Remember that music has powered many a great movement. “We Shall Overcome” went from hymnals to tobacco workers to the Highlander Center to Guy Carawan to Pete Seeger to the world and it still powers movements. There are a lot of us out there ready to support events and communities.
What would you walk across hot coals for?
To save a life.
What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?
Most of them.
What’s your favorite LGBT movie?
“Cloudburst” with Olympia Dukakis and Brenda Fricker (2011). And the closing song, “Ain’t Life Sweet” just happened to be by a friend of mine from Canada, Penny Lang.
What’s the most overrated social custom?
Changing the fork from left hand when cutting food to right hand when eating it. It is strictly an American thing and hopefully, a custom long done. But too late, my parents insisted I do it and I can’t help it.
What trophy or prize do you most covet?
Last weekend, I was in the studio in Raleigh, N.C., mentoring two 16-year-old musicians. They are both awesome and they both stepped right up to the plate creating some amazing tracks. That’s the best reward I can possibly get is to see and hear that magic. But I ain’t telling you that I ain’t proud of my 14 Grammy nominations and two Grammy Awards! Or the blue ribbon first place in the clawhammer banjo competition at the Appalachian Stringband Music Festival last summer.
What do you wish you’d known at 18?
I wish I’d known all kinds of stuff that no one in my family would have known how to talk about like social justice and activism.
Why Washington?
Friends and music. We also spend time in Lansing, N.C., and have built another community of friends, musicians and co-workers there.
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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.
Surviving spring cleaning
Iconic Eddie Izzard takes on 23 characters in ‘Hamlet’
How Pepper the courthouse dog helps victims of abuse
Women’s FEST returns to Rehoboth Beach next week
Belarusian lawmakers approve bill to crackdown on LGBTQ rights
Supreme Court rules against Colo. law banning conversion therapy for minors
Senegalese president signs bill that further criminalizes homosexuality
Trans activists gather on National Mall for Transgender Day of Visibility
Md. lawmakers reaffirm legislative priorities
Kristi Noem ‘devastated’ as husband’s alleged fetish spending surfaces
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U.S. Supreme Court5 days agoSupreme Court rules against Colo. law banning conversion therapy for minors
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District of Columbia4 days ago
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