Miscellaneous
Calendar: May 10-16
Screenings, parties and events in the week to come


Friday, May 10
D.C. Bear Crue presents Jail and Bail at Uproar Lounge and Restaurant (639 Florida Ave., N.W.) tonight from 7-10 p.m. Attendees can pay $5 to have someone arrested, frisked and jailed by motorcycle men in leather. The inmate has to spend five minutes in jail or pay $5 to bail themselves out of jail early. All inmates will receive a full body search. There will be $5 rail cocktails, $5 32 oz. draft pitchers and free appetizers. For more information, visit facebook.com/bearhappyhour.
Gamma D.C., a support group for men in mixed-orientation relationships, meets at Luther Place Memorial Church (1226 Vermont Ave., N.W.) tonight from 7:30-9:30 p.m. The group is for men who are attracted to men but are currently, or were at one point, in relationships with women. For more information about the group, visit gammaindc.org.
Saturday, May 11
May Is? All About Trans presents its inaugural art exhibition curated by Matt Storm at Westminster D.C. (400 I St., S.W.) today from 3-5 p.m. Participating artists include Ahanu, Alex Ramirez, Ameirah Neal, Dorian Blue, Edith Flores, Kay Wrenn, Sir Max Even, Molly Stratton, Nona Conner, Star Bennett from Check It Enterprises, Yuri Littlebear, Zayn Thiam and Xemi Tapepechul. All artists identify as transgender, non-binary, two-spirit, genderqueer, gender-fluid or a-gender. There will be an open mic from 5-7 p.m. followed by a film screening from 7-9 p.m. For details, visit mayistransdc.com.
Uproar Lounge and Restaurant (639 Florida Ave., N.W.) hosts Nicks Flix 2, presented by Night of 1000 Stevies DJ Travis Island, tonight at 10 p.m. DJ Travis Island will remix video edits of Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac. Suggested dress code is Stevie Nicks-inspired. For more information, visit facebook.com/uproarloungedc.
The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) presents Arty Queers: a LGBTQ art market, today at 11 a.m. Local LGBTQ artists will sell their working including paintings, pottery, photography, jewelry, glass work, textiles and clothing. For details, visit thedccenter.org.
Distrkt C hosts Leather Pride at Karma D.C. (2221 Adams Pl., N.E.) tonight from 10 p.m.-4 a.m. Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2019 Emerson Aniceto and Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather 2018 Gerard Turner host the party. DJ Oscar and DJ Edgar Velazquez will play music. There will also be a leather market. Cover is free before 11:15 p.m. and $30 after. For more information, visit distrktc.com.
Sunday, May 12
DCATS hosts Masculinizing through Fitness: a discussion for Transmasc folx at Whitman-Walker Health (1525 14th St., N.W.) today from 5-7 p.m. This will be a facilitated discussion on fitness and techniques to masculinize the bodies whether you’re on hormones or not. The meeting will start at 5:05 p.m. If you’re late, text the number on the door and a DCAT member will get you. Binder donations will be accepted. There will also be a needle/syringe exchange. DCATS meetings are open to trans men, non-binary, gender-queer and questioning individuals. For more information, visit dcats.org.
Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.) hosts its Spring Yard Sale, a pop-up flea market, today from 2-6 p.m. If interested in selling, message Trade on Facebook or email [email protected].
Uproar Lounge and Restaurant (639 Florida Ave., N.W.) hosts CopCakes for a Cause, a wine and dessert tasting and silent auction, today from 5-8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and include wine, soda, cupcakes and desserts from local D.C. bakeries. A full cash bar will be open. Ticket sale proceeds will benefit the LGBT Fallen Heroes Fund and silent auction proceeds will benefit the Concerns of Police Survivors, an organization that provides resources to rebuild the lives of surviving families and co-workers of law enforcement officers who have died on duty. For details, visit facebook.com/lgbtfallenheroes.
Monday, May 13
LGBT Fallen Heroes Memorial Service is at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial (2 Memorial Ave., Arlington, Va.) today from 2-5 p.m. Volunteers will read stories aloud about fallen heroes. The flags flown over Washington in their honor will be presented to the hero’s significant other. The significant others will also be given a commemorative portrait of their loved one. The memorial precedes the Candle Light Vigil for National Police Week. For more information, visit facebook.com/lgbtfallenheroes.
Busboys and Poets Anacostia (2004 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., S.E.) presents a screening of the documentary “From Selma to Stonewall: Are We There Yet?” tonight from 6:30-9:30 p.m. The screening is part of Busboys and Poets’ Focus In! Film Series. After the screening, there will be a panel discussion with Bishop Gene Robinson; Ashley Smith, board president of Capital Pride Alliance; Sheila Alexander-Reid, director of Washington D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs; and Rebecca York, SMYAL’s community engagement and youth leadership coordinator. For details, visit facebook.com/busboysandpoets.
Tuesday, May 14
Jill Biden discusses her memoir “Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself” at Sixth and I Synagogue (600 I St., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m. The memoir chronicles her first heartbreak, her relationship with then U.S. Senator Joe Biden, and how she balanced life as a wife and mother. Tickets are $45 and include one book. Doors open at 6 p.m. For details, visit sixthandiorg.
Desiree Dik and Bombalicious Eklaver host drag bingo at Red Bear Brewing (209 M St., N.E.) tonight at 7 p.m. Bingo is free to play and there will be prizes. Attendees can’t join in the game mid-round. There will be six games in two hours. For more information, visit redbear.beer.
Wednesday, May 15
Going the Extra Mile, a benefit for Whitman-Walker’s Legal Services, is at City Winery (1350 Okie St., N.E.) tonight from 6:30-9:30 p.m. The cocktail reception will raise funds and celebrate the staff, volunteers and allies working to give every person the legal right for equality and inclusion. Monika Nemeth will receive the 2019 Robert Fenner Urquehart Memorial Award and Akin Gump of Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP will receive the 2019 Stonewall Award. Tickets start at $200. For more information, visit whitman-walker.org.
Thursday, May 16
Venus Valhalla hosts Thirst Trap Thursdays at Pitchers D.C. (2317 18th St., N.W.) tonight at 11 p.m. Drag queens from throughout the DMV area will perform. After the show, there will be dancing until 1:30 a.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/pitchersdc.
Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.) hosts a viewing party of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 11 tonight from 9-10:30 p.m. Desiree Dik hosts the party. WesstheDJ will spin tracks during the episode and after. There will be games and free drinks. Happy hour is extended until 10 p.m. For more details, visit facebook.com/tradebardc.

When Lizzo sings “If I’m shinin,’ everybody gonna shine,” in her hit song, “Juice,” she means it. Proof of that came this week on Instagram when the LGBTQ ally announced the first winner of her annual Juneteenth Giveback Campaign is the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, a national nonprofit based in Richmond, Calif., dedicated to the protection and defense of Black transgender people.
And she did so in song: “On the first day of Juneteenth, Lizzo gave to me,” she sang in her video, posted Tuesday, as she revealed her $50,000 gift to MPJI.
“That’s right, we know who Marsha P. Johnson is. We know what Marsha P. Johnson has done for the LGBTQ, emphasis on that ‘T,’ Q community,” said Lizzo to her 13.5 million followers. “Thank you so much to the people at the Marsha P. Johnson Institute. You deserve this, and I hope this helps you so much as you help protect our Black trans family.”
“What the Marsha P. Johnson Institute does is protects and defends the rights of Black transgender people. They do this by organizing community, advocating for the people, and creating an intentional healing community, developing transformative leadership and promoting collective power,” she said.
“We are overjoyed for the shoutout from Lizzo today, the generosity of her sharing her platform and the recognition of MPJI and its work,” said Elle Moxley, MPJI’s executive director. “The resources from this campaign will ensure the protection and defense of Black transgender people continue at a time where it is so vitally needed. We are so grateful for the support of Lizzo and her fans.”
As one of Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year for 2019 and a 2023 Grammy winner, Lizzo is more than a pop star but an inspiration to millions of fans for her body-positive attitude, her self-confidence on stage and in her videos, her empowering music and her activism. She’s also the founder of her own clothing line, Yitty. In 2021, she made headlines when she publicly corrected a paparazzo for using “she/her” pronouns and misgendering Demi Levato.
As part of her campaign, now in its 4th year, Lizzo recognizes Black-led grassroots organizations and businesses and encourages her fans to join her in supporting each of the five organizations she highlights this week. Fans who take action by donating are entered into a drawing for an all-expenses paid trip to see her perform at Fuji Rock in Japan later this year.
This week’s other nonprofits receiving gifts are: Black Girls Smile, Sphinx Music, the University of Houston and Save Our Sisters United.
Find out more about Lizzo’s 4th annual Juneteenth Giveback Campaign by clicking here.
Celebrity News
Anne Heche dies after removal from life support
Actress dated Ellen DeGeneres in late 1990s

Actress Anne Heche died after she was removed from life support on Sunday, nearly two weeks after her Mini-Cooper crashed through a two-story house in Los Angeles’ Mar Vista neighborhood. Investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department believe she was intoxicated at the time.
She sustained a severe anoxic brain injury along with severe burns and was being treated at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital, near Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley.
The 53-year-old actress who was a star of films like “Donnie Brasco,” the political satire “Wag the Dog” and the 1998 remake of “Psycho,” had been declared legally dead under California law on Friday, however, her family kept her alive long enough to be an organ donor.
In a statement Friday, the LAPD announced that: “As of today, there will be no further investigative efforts made in this case. Any information or records that have been requested prior to this turn of events will still be collected as they arrive as a matter of formalities and included in the overall case. When a person suspected of a crime expires, we do not present for filing consideration.” LAPD detectives had previously made public that investigators into the crash found narcotics in a blood sample taken from Heche.
The actress’s family released a statement on Friday:
“Today we lost a bright light, a kind and most joyful soul, a loving mother, and a loyal friend. Anne will be deeply missed but she lives on through her beautiful sons, her iconic body of work, and her passionate advocacy. Her bravery for always standing in her truth, spreading her message of love and acceptance, will continue to have a lasting impact,” the statement added.
Heche was married to camera operator Coleman Laffoon from 2001 to 2009. The two had a son, Homer, together. She had another son, named Atlas, during a relationship with actor James Tupper, her co-star on the TV series “Men In Trees.”
Laffoon left a moving tribute on an Instagram reel in which he also gave an update on how their 20-year-old son Homer Laffoon is coping with the loss of his mother.
“I loved her and I miss her, and I’m always going to,” he said adding: “Homer is okay. He’s grieving, of course, and it’s rough. It’s really rough, as probably anybody can imagine. But he’s surrounded by family and he’s strong, and he’s gonna be okay.”
“Rest In Peace, Mom, I love you, Homer,” the actor’s 20-year-old son, Homer, said in a statement after Heche was declared legally dead on Friday.“ My brother Atlas and I lost our Mom,” read the statement. “After six days of almost unbelievable emotional swings, I am left with a deep, wordless sadness. Hopefully, my mom is free from pain and beginning to explore what I like to imagine as her eternal freedom. Over those six days, thousands of friends, family, and fans made their hearts known to me. I am grateful for their love, as I am for the support of my Dad, Coley, and my stepmom Alexi who continue to be my rock during this time. Rest In Peace Mom, I love you, Homer.”
Tupper, a Canadian actor who starred alongside Heche in “Men in Trees,” had a 13-year-old son, Atlas, with her. “Love you forever,” Tupper, 57, wrote on his Instagram post’s caption with a broken heart emoji, which shared an image of the actress from Men in Trees.
Between 1997 and 2000, Heche was also in a relationship with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.
“This is a sad day,” DeGeneres posted on Twitter. “I’m sending Anne’s children, family and friends all of my love.” The year after her break-up with the comedian, in September 2001, Heche recounted in her memoir “Call Me Crazy,” about her lifelong struggles with mental health and a childhood of abuse.
KTLA’s entertainment reporter Sam Rubin noted that over the past two decades, Heche’s career pivoted several times. In 2017, she hosted a weekly radio show on SiriusXM with Jason Ellis called “Love and Heche.”
In 2020, Heche made her way into the podcast world. She launched “Better Together” which she cohosted alongside Heather Duffy Boylston. The show was described as a way to celebrate friendship.
She also worked in smaller films, on Broadway, and on TV shows. She recently had recurring roles on the network series “Chicago P.D.,” and “All Rise” and was a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.”
People magazine reported that several of Heche’s acting projects are expected to be released posthumously.
These include “Girl in Room 13,” expected to be released on Lifetime in September, “What Remains,” scheduled to be released in 2023, and HBO Max TV series “The Idol,” created by Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson.
In her Instagram post from earlier this year Heche stands between her sons Atlas, 13 and Homer, 20.
From KTLA:
Celebrity News
‘Star Trek’ actress Nichelle Nichols dies at 89
George Takei tweets ‘we lived long and prospered together’

She was a groundbreaking cultural icon who broke barriers in a time of societal upheaval and battling for the civil rights of Black Americans. An actress, a mother and thoroughly devoted to the legions of fans of “Star Trek,” Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek’s Lt. Nyota Uhura, has died at 89.
The announcement on her Facebook page by her son read:
Sunday, July 31, 2022
Friends, Fans, Colleagues, World
I regret to inform you that a great light in the firmament no longer shines for us as it has for so many years.
Last night, my mother, Nichelle Nichols, succumbed to natural causes and passed away. Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration.
Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.
I, and the rest of our family, would appreciate your patience and forbearance as we grieve her loss until we can recover sufficiently to speak further. Her services will be for family members and the closest of her friends and we request that her and our privacy be respected.
Live Long and Prosper,
Kyle Johnson
Nichols was born in Robbins, Ill., in 1932, according to her IMDb page. Legendary composer Duke Ellington “discovered” Nichols and helped her become a singer and dancer. She later turned to acting, and joined Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek,” where she played Uhura from 1966 to 1969.

It was in that role of Uhura that Nichols not only broke barriers between races, most famously her onscreen kiss, the first between a Black person and a white person, with castmate William Shatner, who played Capt. James T. Kirk, but she also became a role model for young Black women and men inspiring them to seek out their own places in science, technology, and other human endeavors.
In numerous interviews over the years Nichols often recalled how the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a fan of the show and praised her role and personally encouraged her to stay with the series.
When the first series ended Nichols went on to become a spokesperson for NASA, where she “helped recruit and inspire a new generation of fearless astronauts.” She later reprised her role in several successful “Star Trek” films and continued to advocate for the advancement of Black Americans especially in the areas of science and technology.
We celebrate the life of Nichelle Nichols, Star Trek actor, trailblazer, and role model, who symbolized to so many what was possible. She partnered with us to recruit some of the first women and minority astronauts, and inspired generations to reach for the stars. pic.twitter.com/pmQaKDb5zw
— NASA (@NASA) July 31, 2022
Formerly a NASA deputy administrator, Frederick Gregory, now 81, told the Associated Press he once saw an advertisement in which Nichols said “I want you to apply for the NASA program.”
“She was talking to me,” he recounted. The U.S. Air Force pilot would apply and later become the first African American shuttle pilot.
President Joe Biden weighed in Sunday afternoon on her passing in a statement issued by the White House:
“In Nichelle Nichols, our nation has lost a trailblazer of stage and screen who redefined what is possible for Black Americans and women.
A daughter of a working-class family from Illinois, she first honed her craft as an actor and singer in Chicago before touring the country and the world performing with the likes of Duke Ellington and giving life to the words of James Baldwin.
During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, she shattered stereotypes to become the first Black woman to act in a major role on a primetime television show with her groundbreaking portrayal of Lt. Uhura in the original Star Trek. With a defining dignity and authority, she helped tell a central story that reimagined scientific pursuits and discoveries. And she continued this legacy by going on to work with NASA to empower generations of Americans from every background to reach for the stars and beyond.
Our nation is forever indebted to inspiring artists like Nichelle Nichols, who show us a future where unity, dignity, and respect are cornerstones of every society.“
Nichols son said that services will be private for family members and her closest friends.
In 2008 the actress at a news conference, coordinated by the filmmakers of the motion picture “TRU LOVED,” in honor of the more than 900 students at Los Angeles’ Miguel Contreras Learning Complex’s School of Social Justice who participated in the GLSEN Day of Silence.
Nichelle Nichols speaks on LGBTQ rights:
Her fellow castmate and life long friend, openly Out actor George Takei shared his sadness on hearing of Nichols’ passing on Twitter:
We lived long and prospered together. pic.twitter.com/MgLjOeZ98X
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) July 31, 2022
From the September 2016 edition of the Smithsonian Channel: “Star Trek’s decision to cast Nichelle Nichols, an African American woman, as major character on the show was an almost unheard-of move in 1966. But for black women all over the country, it redefined the notions of what was possible.”
Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols on Uhura’s Radical Impact:
-
U.S. Federal Courts5 days ago
Federal judge: drag is ‘vulgar and lewd,’ ‘sexualized conduct’
-
Real Estate4 days ago
D.C. rentals: DIY or seek professional help?
-
Delaware4 days ago
Flight attendants union endorses Sarah McBride
-
Virginia4 days ago
Lawsuit seeks to force Virginia Beach schools to implement state guidelines for trans, nonbinary students