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Necessity mothers invention for D.C. queer businesses in pandemic era
Online drag bingo, free home delivery among tactics employed by resourceful locals
With no end in sight of the COVID-19 lockdown, spotty testing and epidemiologists saying a vaccine is likely a year off, Washington’s LGBTQ entertainers and entrepreneurs are getting creative about how to forge ahead in the pandemic’s wake.
Like many restaurants, Duplex Diner (2004 18th St., N.W./duplexdiner.com) is soldiering on with a closed dining room and curbside service. Resident drag queen Goldie Grigio (aka Andrew Bair) works two Friday nights per month from 6-7:30 at the pick-up window (Venmo: @goldiegrigio) keeping, of course, at least six feet away. Customers pay online in advance.
“She’s kind of our resident drag queen and she does lots of different things so we thought this was a fun way to tie in with the viewing party for ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’” says Duplex manager Kelly Laczko, a lesbian who’s worked there for eight years, including five as manager.
Most of the Diner’s 27 employees (about 60 percent of whom are LGBT, Laczko says) have been laid off. Laczko and five others are rotating to fill current shifts. Duplex is open Monday-Saturday for dinner and Saturday and Sunday all day for brunch (no dinner on Sunday nights).
Prior to the pandemic, the diner didn’t have a large carryout component but had added Uber Eats and GrubHub within the last year. Most of the menu, save about 12 items that are not conducive to takeout, are available. Drinks and alcohol are also available.
“Things have been surprisingly good,” Laczko says. “We’ve had so much love from the community and people have been amazing. We’ve gotten a lot of support so far. We are very lucky.”
As for coronavirus concerns, Laczko says it’s something she’s hyper aware of. With 2,927 confirmed cases in the District and 105 COVID-19 deaths as of this week, she’s aware of the potential danger.
“Obviously it’s stressful,” she says. “I try not to be in my head too much about it. All of the staff, we’re taking all the precautions — wearing masks and gloves, washing our hands constantly, just trying to be as safe as possible. Nobody comes into the building except those of us who work here.”
Drag bingo moves online
Long-time D.C.-area drag performer Regina Jozet Adams (aka Richard Armstrong) has moved her weekly drag bingo events for Freddie’s Beach Bar and The Brass Tap (locations in Annapolis and Baltimore) totally online with the bar owners’ blessings. She has an intact day job in manufacturing but knows many area drag queens who performed full-time who are hurting.
“As a show director, I’m concerned about my girls not being able to work,” she says. “It’s hard for me to sit back when I see my girls not able to make any money.”
The Brass Tap bingo nights, which feature mostly straight crowds under normal circumstances, had just started in October and were still gaining steam but the Freddie’s one — which, perhaps surprisingly, drew about a 60 percent straight crowd — was popular, Adams says.
She hostesses the shows with Jalah Nicole at the Brass Tap and Ophelia Bottoms at Freddie’s and her drag daughter, Ashlee Jozet Adams at both locations.
There were logistical hurdles in getting the operation set up online — a wi-fi boost, two laptops, her TV and phone in addition to performance space in her living room. She gets the bingo cards online that allow her to see the cards of those playing. She and her girls intersperse games of bingo with lip sync performances. She says internet delay can be “pretty intense” at times and slows down the proceedings.
Adams concedes some of the magic of live performance is lost by going virtual but bar owners and patrons spoke up and said they wanted to continue during lockdown. So far the Freddie’s virtual bingo attracts about 10 players weekly. The Brass Tap averages just a few. It’s $5 to play.
Adams says doing the games online is fine, but she worries it may erode patronage when things get back to normal.
“I’ve been in the business since 1988 so I’ve seen it change quite dramatically,” she says. “Of course initially people will be excited to come back to the clubs once the lockdown lifts, but once the novelty of that wears off, I could see us losing another 5-10 percent of people who just want to sit at home and watch drag on their computer the same way we lost about 20 percent when ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ took off and people could just sit at home and get their drag fix. We’ve already had people say, ‘You’re gonna keep doing this, right?’”
Freddie Lutz, long-time owner of Freddie’s, has been posting comical fashion videos on his social media. He’s closed at both Freddie’s and Federico Ristorante Italiano just down the street in Crystal City, Va., but remains hopeful.
“One loan just came through today,” he said by phone last week. “We’re gonna try to get people back in some aspect or another soon.”
Miss Pixie soldiers on
Miss Pixie (i.e. Pixie Windsor) of Miss Pixie’s Furnishings and Whatnot (1626 14th St., N.W./misspixies.com) is also keeping busy and says things are, “Good, good, good.”
Though she had to furlough her staff of 10 and says her sales overall are down 88 percent, she has been keeping busy working in the shop between five-seven hours daily, selling things on social media (her Instagram, especially, has been popular) and through her display window. She’s offering free deliveries throughout the region (“I just drove a 10-inch brass bowl out to Centreville, Va.,” she says) and just does her best to practice safe social distancing.
“I’m surprised, the first couple of days of this, I was pulling everything out of closets thinking I’ll finally have a month or two to go through everything, then we got busy, so it’s not a bad problem. … It’s a different kind of way to work.”
She hasn’t been able to go to auctions — her usual source of inventory — but had plenty on hand and in storage to keep things going. She also has vendors who are eager to supply her with items should the pickings get slim.
“Another guy who’s a picker for me, he just called me today and said, ‘I got a whole warehouse full, you just tell me,’ but I’m gonna wait ’til it thins out a little here first,” Pixie, who’s bi, says.
She’s on unemployment but says she can maintain her rent if she sells $1,000 per day. Her landlord balked at her suggestion of a free month. A normal Saturday pre-pandemic, she’d sell between $10,000-20,000 worth of merchandise. She sells antiques, second-hand furniture, household tchotchkes, collectibles, dishware and more. She’s applied for small business aid but received nothing thus far. But no city interference so far either.
“I’ve been kind of waiting for it but I haven’t had anything yet,” she says. “I’ve been doing a lot of deliveries but I’m not out in the big pink van. I have thought, ‘Oh my God, what am I gonna say I’m doing if I get pulled over.’ But all my deliveries are contact free. I call them up, they come out to the curb. I’m kind of walking the line. I may hear something but so far so good.”
Shhhh, no talking!
Also moving to 100 percent virtual is today’s National Day of Silence, an annual GLSEN event celebrating its 25th anniversary that is a student-led protest of the “silencing and erasure of LGBTQ people.” Last year, nearly 8,000 gay/straight alliance clubs (GSAs) participated. This year, organizers predict the day of protest will be the largest-ever online gathering of LGBTQ youth.
Ordinarily students participating take a vow of silence for the day. But with school closed, Day of Silence this year will consist of social media campaigns, virtual meetings, artwork, videos and resource guides to “connect and empower LGBTQ youth.”
Christ Staley is a 17-year-old high school senior, lesbian and president of Spectrum, the GSA at her school, Monroe Woodbury High School, a school of 2,312 students in Central Valley, N.Y. Though she hasn’t seen a lot of anti-queer bullying in her school (she’s been out since seventh grade), she says it’s still important for the 10-15 Spectrum students to have a presence. She was pleasantly surprised last year to see so much solidarity from teachers. So many requested ally stickers they ran out.
She says the April 24 event to her will feel successful if she and her fellow members are “just able to get the message out there that LGBTQ discrimination is prevalent and we should stand together to help end this.”
Find out more at glsen.org.
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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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