a&e features
Best of LGBTQ DC 2022
Our 21st annual celebration of city life
It was a big year for local businesses as we finally put COVID restrictions behind us and returned to a new normal that included a fully restored Pride celebration. With events like theater and popular fundraisers back to in-person operations, it’s an exciting year to assemble Best Of.
More than 4,000 nominations and 30,000 votes were cast in more than 60 categories for the 21st annual Best Of awards. The Blade’s Stephen Rutgers coordinated the process. Michael Key served as photo editor for the project and shot the cover. This year’s contributing writers are Patrick Folliard, Tinashe Chingarande, Parker Purifoy, Lou Chibbaro Jr., Evan Caplan, Michael K. Lavers, and Kevin Naff. Congratulations to all of the nominees, finalists, and winners. Thank you to our sponsors ABSOLUT, PEPCO, Eaton DC, and The Washington Regional Transplant Community.
Local Hero: Kimberley Bush
In her eight years in leadership positions at the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, including her appointment in February of this year as its executive director, Kimberley Bush has witnessed first-hand the full diversity of D.C.’s LGBTQ community.
Before being named Interim Executive Director of the D.C. Center in October 2019, Bush served as the Center’s Director of Arts & Cultural Programs. The Center programs she headed in that position, which she continues to oversee in her executive director’s post, provide a vivid account of her involvement and interaction with the many LGBTQ people who got to know and admire her.
Among other duties, she has played a lead role in these D.C. Center programs: Reel Affirmation: DC’s International LGBTQ Film Festival and Monthly Film Series; the Center Arts Gallery; Arty Queers: DC’s LGBTQ Indoor Art Market; Outwrite: DC’s LGBTQ Literary Festival; and DC Queer Theater Theatre Festival.
“In her role as Director of Arts & Cultural Programs, Kimberley has demonstrated a sense of innovation and ambition in the projects she has taken on,” the D.C. Center’s Board of Directors said in a statement at the time it named Bush as Interim Executive Director.
“The Reel Affirmations program, which Kimberley had been involved with for more than 15 years, has been ranked in the top three LGBTQ film festivals in the country,” the statement says. “Though a New York native, Kimberley has lived in the D.C. area for thirty years and has become an accomplished leader in the community.”
Before switching careers to her leadership roles with Reel Affirmations and the D.C. Center, Bush says she worked for more than 12 years as a property management executive and Realtor as well as a ceramic artist.
In addition to the D.C. Center’s Arts & Culture Programs, Bush currently oversees programs related to health and wellness, social and peer support, and advocacy and community building. She also oversees the Center’s accommodation of numerous local LGBTQ groups ranging from political to social, LGBTQ seniors, families, and people with disabilities, which have used the D.C. Center’s offices at 2000 14th St., N.W. as their meeting place.
When the full force of the COVID pandemic hit the city in 2020 Bush played a lead role, along with the D.C. Center’s staff and board, in arranging for the programs and the community meetings it hosted to switch from in-person events to virtual events.
“I am extremely proud to be able to continue to guide our small yet mighty team at the DC Center for the LGBT Community through these extraordinarily challenging times into brighter chapters of our lives, as we provide safe and peaceful space as well as the much-needed support, kindness, outreach, care, celebration and affirmation to our LGBTQIA2S+ community,” Bush told the Blade.
Bush’s next challenge will involve overseeing the D.C. Center’s move to a new location. The city’s Reeves Center municipal building, where the Center rents its office space, is scheduled to be demolished to make way for a new city sponsored development project, requiring all its occupants to vacate the building at a yet undisclosed time.
“I, our team and board of directors firmly believe our new home is in a location that is accessible to our community,” she said. “I cannot state just yet where the new location will be nor when the move will occur but as soon as we can share that exciting news with the community, believe me, we will!”
EATING & DRINKING
Best LGBTQ Bar: Number Nine
1435 P St., N.W.
Runner-up: As You Are Bar
Nested in the heart of Logan Circle in Northwest D.C., this bar is a bi-level queer space that offers inventive cocktails. The second level also has a video bar outfitted with multiple TVs so guests can watch their favorite shows, teams, movies, special events, and music videos.
Best Bartender: Dusty Martinez, Trade
Editor’s Choice: Jo McDaniel, As You Are Bar
Dusty Martinez has proven that he’s a fan favorite in the city (winning this category for the second year in a row) when it comes to making mouth-watering drinks that keep guests coming back for more. In fact, he’s so good at what he does that he was nominated for this award four previous times and won in 2014 and 2017. As he’s said in the past, he always tries to have fun with Best of LGBTQ D.C.
“Anytime the bar is nominated for something, I try to make some funny videos and images to add to my feed,” he said when he won last year. “I really try to make light of it. It’s both an honor and delight to even be nominated.”
Best Neighborhood Bar: Red Bear Brewing
209 M St., N.E.
Editor’s Choice: Dirty Goose
Red Bear Brewing is no stranger to this list, returning as the winner of this category for the second year in a row. This gay-owned venue in the District hosts several types of events including drag shows, trivia, and stand-up performances. But at the heart of what it does is brewing in-house beers and serving classic bar food in the heart of NoMa. While guests chow down on a satisfyingly greasy burger, they can sip on one of the bar’s creatively named drinks— “Hefe Don’t Preach,” “OktoBEARfest,” or “Tall, Dark and Nutty,” to name a few.
Best LGBTQ-Owned Business: KNEAD Hospitality + Design
Editor’s Choice: Urban Adventures (Vida Fitness, Bang Salon, Penthouse Pool Club)
D.C.-based KNEAD Hospitality + Design founders and co-owners (and partners for more than 20 years) Jason Berry and Michael Reginbogin envisioned big plans for their rapidly expanding business. KNEAD owns, operates, and designed its own restaurants over a varying range of concepts and cuisines.
Berry and Reginbogin have pulled off more than 10 restaurant openings, from fine-dining to fast-casual, Mexican to French.
“It is such an honor to win,” Berry and Reginbogin said. “We are a born and bred Washington, D.C. company and have been working diligently to share excellent dining experiences throughout the area. This award recognizes the dedication we have to D.C.”
Some of their celebrated restaurants include Mi Vida, Succotash, and Gatsby.
“As an LGBTQ+ owned-and-operated restaurant group, it’s important that we actively raise awareness toward diversity and inclusion. We proudly support the LGBTQ+ community through sponsorships, donations and participating in events during Pride month each year that continue to create awareness. It is opportunities like this we’re we can use our platform to create awareness and make a difference in our own communities.”
Most LGBT-Friendly Workplace: EatWell DC
Editor’s Choice: Whitman-Walker Health
EatWell, a locally owned and operated restaurant group, has planted its flag firmly in the Logan Circle area for more than two decades. EatWell DC operates five restaurants: Grillfish in the West End; Logan Tavern, Commissary, and The Pig in Logan Circle, and The Charles in La Plata, Md.
According to its website, “We care about people, our staff, our guests, and our planet and truly believe business can coexist comfortably, safely and proactively.”
EatWell owns its own farm in La Plata, to bring local produce into its restaurants.
Logan Tavern won Best Restaurant in 2020 and 2021. Logan Tavern also won Best Bloody Mary in 2018 and Best Date Restaurant in 2012.
Best Coffee Shop: Compass Coffee
Multiple locations
Editor’s Choice: Tatte Bakery & Café
Founded in 2014 by two Marines, Michael Haft and Harrison Suarez, Compass Coffee has 15 brick and mortar cafés in the Washington area, plus one roasting facility in Ivy City. Compass Coffee can be found in many local restaurants and grocery stores across the mid-Atlantic. The company aims to source its coffee as ethically as possible.
“While the roaster is no stranger to this award—Compass had five consecutive wins in this category through 2022—the Compass Team is incredibly honored to win this year,” says Compass VP Max Deem.
Best Restaurant: Crazy Aunt Helen’s
713 8th St., S.E.
Editor’s Choice: Mi Vida
Owner Shane Mayson’s vibrant restaurant Crazy Aunt Helen’s debuted last July on Barracks Row, just a few days after Pride concluded.
“We are thrilled to have been nominated in the 3 categories! We’ve only been open for a little more than a year, and to be receiving this attention makes us feel like we are on the right path,” says Mayson.
“We have begun making donations to LGBTQIA organizations and have hosted happy hours for our community organizations. We hope as we grow, we are able to do even more.”
The food is solidly American, with Mayson’s creative twists. Appetizers include items like fried green tomatoes, and entrees include chicken fried steak smothered in chicken sausage gravy. Yet many of the dishes are also vegan and vegetarian, too.
“We serve American comfort food that we hope will make everyone feel like they’ve been given a big hug,” says Mayson. We have put together a vibrant showcase of mostly local entertainment with monthly “headliners” just to whet your whistle.” Events include shows, book readings, a ladies’ tea dance, play readings, bingo, and more.
Best Brunch: Duplex Diner
2004 18th St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Perry’s Drag Brunch
Duplex Diner opened its doors in 1998, as a safe and fun space for the LGBTQ community, perhaps best known for its lemon squeezes.
The longstanding, much-loved neighborhood spot snatched up the highly competitive Best Brunch spot this year. Drag queens, fundraisers, and team events all help to bring a fun energy to Duplex brunch, which it serves on Saturdays and Sundays.
“Duplex Diner is so honored to be nominated in this category, especially as brunches are the staff’s favorite shifts,” says General Manager Kelly Laczko. “We have worked hard to develop brunch and feel it has a great vibe.”
Duplex serves brunch faves from chicken and waffles to Benedicts and omelets. Mimosas go for a mere $5, and espresso martinis have found their way onto the menu, too.
Laczko is one of the co-chairs of the SMYAL Brunch, and ensures that Duplex has a close relationship with SMYAL as well as other local LGBTQ organizations.
“The ‘Queer Cheers’ is a place to come by yourself or with a group of friends to grab a bite for brunch or dinner. We would be nowhere without the love and support of our regulars and are so happy to serve as a neighborhood space that is inclusive of all,” says Laczko.
Best Outdoor Dining: Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse
1609 17th St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Shaw’s Tavern
Taking the prize for the third year in a row, a Washington pillar Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse offers a variety of hearty American dishes including burgers and salads for lunch, savory omelets and benedicts for brunch and classic steaks for dinner.
According to owner Paul Katinas in an earlier interview with the Blade, “Annie’s became home, and was there when there weren’t too many other opportunities or places to go. During a time when the LGBTQ community was struggling to find places where they were accepted, the restaurant was always a welcoming and loving environment.”
Katinas’s daughter Georgia added that, “Annie’s is honored to be nominated by the Blade and supported by the community. We absolutely love hearing that our space brings joy to people.”
As for the Streatery that they constructed during the pandemic, “Our Streatery has been wonderful for business, a great way to keep more people employed and we believe has brought tremendous value to 17th Street. We do our best to keep our space beautiful and exciting and truly believe in the Streatery program”
Annie’s will turn 75 in 2023, with a host of special events and offerings throughout the coming year.
Best Outdoor Drinking: Uproar
639 Florida Ave., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Pitchers
Nominated as Best Neighborhood Bar in 2021, Uproar won best outdoor drinking spot for its high-energy, third-floor rooftop. Perhaps best known for its Beer Bust every Sunday afternoon, it also hosts drag shows, karaoke, gaymers events, international nights, and much more.
Unlike many other D.C. LGBTQ bars, Uproar also serves an extensive menu of bar food, from mozzarella sticks to sliders to wings – and offers many of those snacks on the rooftop on Sundays.
Best LGBTQ-Friendly Bar: Dacha Beer Garden
79 Potomac Ave., S.E. (Navy Yard) and 1600 7th St., N.W. (Shaw)
Editor’s Choice: Wundergarten
Fresh off its win from last year, gay-owned Dacha has won this award yet again. Dacha has two locations (Shaw and Navy Yard) offering a variety of German, Belgian, and American craft beers, among its many offerings. Dacha previously won Best Outdoor Drinking in 2018 and 2019 and Best Straight Bar for five consecutive years until 2019. The outdoor beer garden is a favorite for its all-weather atmosphere, pet friendliness, and ginormous pretzels.
On Sept. 4, 2013, Dacha Beer Garden opened as a small beer truck with a makeshift bar, a few picnic tables, and port-a-potties in a small vacant lot on 7th Street N.W. The owners opened a café and loft in the adjacent building, on which they commissioned a now-Instagram-worthy three-story painting of Liz Taylor. The bar has expanded from a short list of German beers to include cocktails, alcohol-free drinks, sangria, and cider.
Best Burger: Slash Run
201 Upshur St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Duke’s Grocery
The divey Slash Run, located in Petworth, promotes three things: beer, burgers, and rock ‘n’ roll. Taking home the award for Best Burger, the bar opened in 2015. It already has some burger accolades, voted 2nd Best Burger in the city by Washington City Paper 2019. The bar allows diners to choose one of five protein options and nine styles, from the Otto’s Shrunken Head (Korean BBQ, pork rinds, avocado, pineapple relish) to the I’ll Have What She’s Having (sunny side up egg, shaved-fried Brussels sprouts finished with Siracha aioli and served on pretzel bun). The bar also has 15 draft beers, 100 whiskeys, and an impressive list of live shows, parties, and neighborhood events.
Best Ice Cream/Gelato: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
1925 14th St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Ice Cream Jubilee
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is devoted to making better ice creams and bringing people together, according to its website. Packaged in Instagram-worthy colorful cups, Jeni’s ice creams have a “uniquely smooth texture and buttercream body” that allow one to savor the sweetness of flavors like birthday cake and fruit crumble.
Best Pizza: Andy’s Pizza
2016 9th St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Timber Pizza
Andy’s Pizza serves up pizza straight from the long and storied New York tradition. Featuring stone deck ovens, long-fermented dough, Wisconsin mozzarella, California tomatoes, and a skilled pizzaiolo, this neighborhood pizzeria brings New York to D.C. while serving classic combinations. Andy’s now boasts six spots across the area, including one spot in Shaw across from 9:30 club and mere feet from popular bars Dirty Goose and Kiki.
The pizzeria serves pizza by the slice in favorite options like pepperoni and white sauce, but the whole pies come in a range of flavors with both classic and modern options, including a vegan pie with plant-based cheese.
“I am a local, born and bred in the DMV,” says Andy Brown, owner and head pizzaiolo. “The D.C. community is a melting pot of the global stage, and winning an award as a local always feels like a victory for our local community. We were thrilled to even be considered, and over the moon to win!”
As to why Andy’s Pizza makes a great winner, he concluded that, “There aren’t a lot of restaurants you would visit at 3am and for lunch!”
Best Local Winery: Montifalco Vineyard
1800 Fray Rd., Ruckersville, Va.
Editor’s Choice: City Winery
It’s official. DMV oenophiles love Montifalco Vineyard. The delightful family farm winery in Ruckersville, Va., a small town not far from Charlottesville in the beautiful Monticello American Viticultural Area of Virginia, has again come out on top as fan favorite among Blade readers.
Still owned and operated by sommelier and winemaker Justin Falco, Montifalco Vineyard derives inspiration from traditional family farm wineries of the French countryside. With its friendly, unpretentious atmosphere, Falco’s vineyard remains committed to high standards; Montifalco adheres to the fusion of Old World tradition and New World taste and flavor, creating small batch boutique wines with distinct personality. And yes, well-behaved, leashed pooches continue to be welcome.
Best ABSOLUT Happy Hour: Kiki
915 U St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Larry’s Lounge
Kiki, an LGBTQ bar located in Shaw, is fast approaching its one-year anniversary. This spot offers a safe space for LGBTQ individuals by hosting drag shows and availing its dance floor to anyone who wants to shimmy, do the splits, and completely lose themselves to music. Kiki offers four different bar areas — a beer garden, a sports-themed bar, lounge areas, and a dance floor.
Best Local Brewery: Red Bear Brewing Company
209 M St., N.E.
Editor’s Choice: DC Brau
One win isn’t enough for Red Bear, it had to return for more accolades. This fan favorite and LGBTQ-friendly bar also cares about the environment. Red Bear is currently working toward a “Pending B Corporation Status,” which will become fully “Certified” after one year of operations, according to its website. This certificate is awarded to a business that has met the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and legal accountability. Additionally, the bar creates its own furniture from reclaimed wood.
Best Local Distillery: Republic Restoratives Distillery
1369 New York Ave., N.E.
Editor’s Choice: Cotton & Reed
This women-owned, community-led and District-made distillery offers top notch spirits. The company “[celebrates] an outspoken and disruptive attitude towards the production of quality American spirits,” according to its website. Some of the spirits it offers include the Borough Bourbon, a five-year-old high-rye bourbon boldly finished in 50-year-old Armagnac casks. This year-round whiskey has hints of dried fruits, worn leather, and rich candied nuts.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Best Drag Queen: Cake Pop!
Runner-up: Vagenesis
This year’s most glittery award goes to this queen whose Instagram bio reads, “A party without cake is just a meeting.” Like other legendary drag queens whose performances have riveted audiences and inspired young children to be confident in their identity, Cake Pop! exists to celebrate Black queer bodies. Whether she’s wearing her hair in towering afro puffs or ginger-colored tightly-coiled curls, the Regent University, a Christian college, graduate proves to the world that “[the] conversion therapy didn’t work,” according to her Instagram.
Best Drag King: Molasses
Runner-up: Rico Pico
King Molasses is an avid impersonator of Canadian superstar Alannah Myles, who dominated the charts in the early 1990s. They are also a co-producer for “HalfnHalf,” D.C.’s newest bi-weekly drag king show, and chief hooligan at BANSHEES, an event series that attracts the city’s rock ‘n’ roll fans. For Molasses, drag is about having fun with masculine identities while providing astute political commentary about them. “[Drag performance] is that swag you get in the shower that nobody sees,” they said in a Vox interview in June.
Best Transgender Performer: Sophia Carrero
Runner-up: Whitney Gucci Goo
A 2016 picture of this Latin American bombshell shows her clad in a figure-hugging, beaded red cut-out dress, with a flower pinned to her blonde curly hair that cascades down her back. In essence, she’s all about gilded glamour and jaw-dropping beauty. Carrero captured the hearts of many when she won Miss Gay Maryland America in 1999, the preliminary competition to Miss Gay America. She was also crowned Miss Hippo in 1998.
Best Drag Show (tie): Desiree Dik’s: Oddball AND Freddie’s Follies
While some drag queens prance around the stage in sky-high stilettos while lip-syncing to popular ‘80s tunes by Diana Ross and Whitney Houston, Desiree Dik’s Oddball treated guests to blood, comedy, grossness, queer art, and in their own words “just plain odd fun!” This summer event, hosted by restaurant Slash Run, featured D.C.’s finest performers including Bratworst, Mix N Match and Dvita FauxFemme.
Freddie’s Follies also provided guests with weekly drag entertainment from D.C.’s top drag queens. After riveting shows of back-breaking dancing and comedy, guests are then welcomed to the center stage to showcase their karaoke-singing skills. For the ultimate drag fan, Freddie’s Follies is where one should be on a Saturday.
Best Museum: Smithsonian American Art Museum
8th and G Streets, N.W.
Editor’s Choice: National Gallery of Art
Housed in the old Patent Office Building since 1968, the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) boasts a sprawling permanent collection of American works from the colonial period to today including photography, modern folk and self-taught art, African-American art, Latino art, and video games as well as a changing roster of featured exhibitions.
What’s more, SAAM shares the historic building with the equally wonderful National Portrait Gallery. Both museums have access to the Kogod Courtyard, a soaring, covered space where museumgoers can grab lunch from the Courtyard Café or simply work on their laptops. The quiet is occasionally interrupted by welcomed scheduled events and live entertainment.
Best Theater: GALA Hispanic Theatre
3333 14th St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Studio Theatre
Helmed by its dynamic co-founders, husband and wife team Hugo Medrano and Rebecca Reed Medrano, GALA Hispanic Theatre has been promoting and sharing Latino arts and cultures with a diverse audience since 1976. Located in the former balcony space of the historic Tivoli Theatre in Columbia Heights, GALA creates work that speaks to communities today drawing from both exciting new works and the classic Spanish canon.
The company also strives to serve the community by providing free education programs for multicultural youth, bringing bilingual theater to children, and making theater in Spanish accessible to thousands of youths from low-income families yearly.
Best Theater Production: “There’s Always the Hudson”
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
641 D St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: “Six,” National Theatre
In May and June, Woolly Mammoth Theatre presented a compelling production of “There’s Always the Hudson,” playwright/actor Paola Lázaro’s audacious and unapologetically healing new work in which actors didn’t cower and audiences were compelled to experience a little discomfort along with the entertainment.
Lázaro and out actor Justin Weaks played best friends Lola and T (short for Toussaint) who met in a sexual abuse survivors support group three years previously. At some point, the pair made a pact that if things failed to improve, they’d kill themselves. When Lola says today’s the day to die, they agree to first settle scores with some of those who’ve hurt them. The night is about them taking New York City by storm and confronting their wounds head-on.
In an interview with the Blade, Weaks wisely commented, “Healing can be messy.”
Best Live Music in DC: 9:30 Club
815 V St., N.W.
Runner-Up: The Anthem
Yes, D.C.’s legendary 9:30 club has been selected Best Live Music in D.C. once again.
No surprise there. In recent years it’s been named one of the best live music venues in America by Rolling Stone, and dubbed “Venue of the Decade” by the widely read VenuesNow.
Everyone in the area who sees live music has multiple memories of the place. Some of us remember seeing the Waitresses sing in the club’s old F Street, N.W. location. (That night what seemed a small invasion of rats scared audience members witless.)
Since opening in 1980, the club has hosted everyone from the Psychedelic Furs to the B52s to Tony Bennett. Originally billed as the “first non-disco niteclub to open in downtown D.C. in thirteen years,” a concept that’s worked at the club’s original location in a then-blighted part of town, and since 1996 at its bigger, arguably better and vermin-free space on V Street.
Best Live Music Outside-the-District: Wolf Trap
1645 Trap Road
Vienna, Va.
Editor’s Choice: The Fillmore Silver Spring
Set on 117 verdant acres of national park land near Vienna, Va., Wolf Trap’s three performance venues offer something for everyone: the cavernous Filene Center hosts the summer music festival; the Barns at Wolf Trap, provide a more intimate year-round experience; and the Children’s Theatre in the Woods is ideal for kids in nicer weather.
Wolf Trap’s mission is to present and create excellent and innovative performing arts programs for the enrichment, education, and enjoyment of diverse audiences and participants. Wolf Trap reliably provides top-notch musical talent in a gracious setting.
Best LGBTQ Social Group: Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington
Editor’s Choice: Impulse Group DC
A veritable D.C. institution, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington (GMCW) is beloved by its members and audiences alike. The chorus gives members an opportunity to gloriously express a love of music while honing their talents, as well as do good works for the LGBTQ community. It’s also a place where longtime friendships and romances are forged.
On Oct. 22, GMCW presents the much-anticipated “Judy,” a cabaret celebrating the music of – who else? – Judy Garland. Fourteen select soloists from the Chorus will share stories as they sing their favorite Judy tunes. Songs include “Over the Rainbow,” “The Trolley Song,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “The Man That Got Away,” and “Happy Days are Here Again.”
Best LGBTQ Event: Pride Run 5K
Editor’s Choice: Nationals Night Out
Looking for a healthful, fat-free way to kick off the Pride season? Why not try the DC Front Runners Pride Run 5K? Listed as an official event of Pride, the race takes place on Friday of Pride weekend, starting and ending at historic Congressional Cemetery not far from the grave of Air Force tech Sgt. Leonard Matlovich. He’s the LGBTQ hero who came out to his commanding officer in the 1970s, and when he was discharged, famously sued for reinstatement. Proceeds from the race help to raise money for worthy LGBTQ causes like SMYAL and the Blade Foundation.
The run is followed by a Finish Line Party, featuring beer for race participants, a live DJ, entertainment, and awards for the race’s top performers.
Best Regional Pride: Annapolis Pride
Editor’s Choice: Baltimore Pride
Save the date – the third Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival is slated for June 3, 2023.
With long established Pride events in Baltimore and D.C., you might not think Annapolis needed one of its own. But a small group of LGBTQ folks thought otherwise. They asked, why not bring Pride to Maryland’s historic capital so charmingly situated on the Chesapeake?
So, the group of spirited locals moved ahead and Annapolis Pride was founded in the spring of 2018. Initially unsure how their endeavor would be received, the all-volunteer group was thrilled to see the enthusiastic support from the LGBTQ and ally communities, resulting in a well-attended parade down West Street feeding into the People’s Park where attendees found camaraderie, vendors, entertainment, fun. And now it’s already become a tradition.
COMMUNITY
Most Committed Activist: Rayceen Pendarvis
Runner-up: Preston Mitchum
As a longtime event moderator, emcee, entertainer, and LGBTQ rights advocate, Rayceen Pendarvis became a well-known and admired figure in D.C.’s LGBTQ community as host of “The Ask Rayceen Show,” a live monthly variety program that had a 10-year run from 2012 through 2121.
In addition to live music and other performances, segments of the show included panel discussions, interviews on LGBTQ related topics, comedy, and games.
Pendarvis has also served as an elected D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner and hosted multiple fundraisers, Pride celebrations, arts festivals, talent showcases, fashion shows, and other events, including the Reel Affirmations International LGBTQ Film Festival in D.C.
In June of 2021, the D.C. Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution recognizing Pendarvis’ accomplishments as a community leader and advocate for causes that have made D.C. a better city. That same year, Mayor Muriel Bowser issued an official mayoral proclamation declaring Sept. 1 as a day to recognize the contributions of Pendarvis and the long-running “The Ask Rayceen Show.”
Best D.C. Public Official: Mayor Muriel Bowser
Runner-up: D.C. Council member Robert White
Since serving as a member of the D.C. Council and since the time she won election as mayor in 2014, Muriel Bowser has emerged as one of the strongest supporters of the LGBTQ community among all the city’s previous mayors, according to many of her LGBTQ supporters.
With the city having adopted legislation safeguarding LGBTQ people from discrimination before she became mayor, activists have praised Bowser for making sure her administration enforces the anti-discrimination laws and policies to protect LGBTQ people and other minorities.
LGBTQ people have joined others in the city in praising Bowser for her role in leading the city through the COVID pandemic
During more pleasant times, Bowser has appeared at many LGBTQ events during her tenure as mayor, including Pride events. In a development that may have been a first for a D.C. mayor, Bowser arranged for her Office of LGBTQ Affairs to become the lead organizer of one of the city’s largest LGBTQ events, the 17th Street drag queen High Heel Race that takes place each year in October at Halloween time. The mayor has appeared in person on a stage to give the official signal to start the race, for which several thousand people turn out each year to watch.
Best Medical Provider: Whitman-Walker Health
1545 14th St., N.W.
Runner-up: Robert McKernan, Big Gay Smiles
Since its founding as the Gay Men’s VD Clinic in 1973, Whitman-Walker Health has been providing comprehensive healthcare services for the LGBTQ community in the D.C. area through numerous public health crises, including the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the current COVID-19 and monkeypox pandemics.
A statement on its website explains why members of the LGBTQ community consider Whitman-Walker a highly regarded institution in the community.
“Through multiple locations throughout D.C., we provide stigma-free care to anyone who walks through our doors,” the statement says. “We are proud and honored to be a place where the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer communities, as well as those living with or affected by HIV feel supported, welcomed and respected.”
In addition to medical services, Whitman-Walker provides dental and behavioral care as well as legal services at its three locations and at a soon to opened new facility at the redeveloping St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Campus in Southeast D.C.
Best House of Worship: Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C.
474 Ridge St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Foundry United Methodist Church
The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C., known as MCC-DC, was founded in 1970 and officially chartered the following year by the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a national federation of LGBTQ supportive Christian churches founded by the Rev. Troy Perry of Los Angeles.
MCC-DC grew steadily in its first decade and continued to grow in the 1980s as it responded to the AIDS epidemic. It partnered with the then Whitman-Walker Clinic, the National Institutes of Health, MCC Baltimore, and Georgetown University Hospital to host one of the first AIDS forums in the nation in 1982.
The forum was held at the First Congregational Church in downtown D.C., where MCC-DC held its worship services for nine years before it purchased its first ministry center at 415 M St., N.W. and a short time later built its current church and ministry center at 474 Ridge St., N.W., which opened its doors in December 1992.
In addition to its many diverse ministries, Bible study classes, and its highly regarded church choir, MCC-DC has opened its new church to LGBTQ supportive events, including forums where candidates running for local public office have appeared before packed audiences.
Best Local Day Trip: Easton
Editor’s Choice: Annapolis
If you’ve driven past Easton 1,000 times on your way to Rehoboth or other spots on Delmarva and never stopped, then you’re missing out. Next time you need a convenient getaway close to D.C., plan a trip to Easton, Md., with its quaint B&Bs, shops, galleries, and a plethora of high-end restaurants. Stay at the gay-owned Hummingbird Inn (14 N. Aurora St.) with its sumptuous breakfast feast. Shop for unique, hard-to-find books at Vintage Books & Fine Art (4 N. Washington St., vintagebooksmd.com); artwork at Studio B Art Gallery (studiobartgallery.com); or clothing at Marc Randall boutique (3 E. Dover St., marc-randall.com). Dining options are plentiful; among the best are Scossa (8 N. Washington St.), owned by Chef Giancarlo Tondin who was born in Italy and began his career at Harry’s Bar in Venice; Out of the Fire (22 Goldsborough St.), a farm-to-table bistro; and The Wardroom (108 N. Washington St., thewardroom.com).
Best Hotel: Eaton DC
1201 K St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: The Line D.C.
Eaton DC is more than a place to sleep on K Street. The boutique hotel that fancies itself a cultural hub has proven to be just that.
Eaton DC, Eaton Workshop’s flagship hotel in downtown D.C., offers onsite wellness treatments like yoga and meditation gatherings, as well as a multi-instrumental sound bath experience every Thursday night. The hotel is also currently hosting “The Gender Within,” an exploration of gender identity and orientation featuring works by 20+ local LGBTQ+ artists and co-curated by the Blade and Dupont Underground.
With its black brick edifice with a mid-century inspired interior, Eaton DC offers a cool look to accompany its innovative concept, which it describes as providing a place “for kindred spirits, locals, and travelers alike, to convene, collaborate, and create. Hospitality is a means for community, creativity, and culture.”
Best Local Businessperson: Bryan Van Den Oever
Red Bear Brewing Co.
209 M St., N.E.
Runner-up: Ed Bailey, Trade & Number Nine
In February, Bryan Van Den Oever told the Blade that the pandemic hit the service industry hard but that “the brewery is my dream.” A Seattle native, Van Den Oever opened Red Bear in 2019 with two friends, Simon Bee and Cameron Raspet. The trio told the Blade at the time that they wanted to turn D.C.’s LGBTQ community onto beer, offering creative flavors and a playful environment.
“The gays are not exclusively about spirits,” Van Den Oever says. “In fact, I think they aren’t exclusive to anything.”
Red Bear and its owners are host to dozens of events each month, including trivia, comedy, and drag events. The show offerings include the wildly popular “Slay Them Drag Competition” hosted once a month from August to January with a grand prize of $500.
Throughout the pandemic, Van Den Oever said the brewery continued to host virtual events to support the city’s queer performers.
“We’re so grateful for the love and solidarity,” he said of the community support during the pandemic.
Best Clergy (tie): Fr. Thomas Wieczorek and Rev. Ashley Goff
Father Thomas Wieczorek moved to D.C. from Ionia, Mich., in 2005 and has since held positions including newspaper reporter, police officer, fire chief, director of public safety, and city manager. He is now an owner and partner of a consulting firm that assists cities and counties with public safety issues. In addition to serving as a clergymember at St. Mary’s National Catholic Church, Wieczorek has also been a vice chairperson of Capital Pride and established the Barry Smythers Fund in memory of his partner who died in 2016. The fund targets suicide prevention and mental health issues.
Reverend Ashley Goff is the pastor at the Arlington Presbyterian Church. According to her website, she graduated from Union Theological Seminary in New York City where she developed her passion for liturgy. Goff is also a liturgy writer, penning multiple pieces to direct religious services.
“I write to hear myself. I write to build my own resiliency and witness to the Ways of God. I write to keep my voice from being reluctant to social change,” Goff wrote on her website.
Best Local Professional Sports Team: Washington Mystics
1100 Oak Drive, S.E.
Editor’s Choice: Washington Nationals
The Washington Mystics is D.C.’s women’s basketball team and it competes in the Women’s National Basketball Association as a member club of the league’s eastern conference. Led by general manager and head coach Mike Thibault, assistant general manager Maria Giovannetti and associate coach Eric Thibault, this team shows that D.C.’s women’s basketball teams are strong national contenders within the sport. The team is currently third in the conference with 22 wins and 14 losses.
The team recently announced a string of LGBTQ history month events and partnerships with The Rainbow History Project and As You Are Bar.
Best Amateur Sports League: DC Gay Flag Football
Editor’s Choice: Stonewall Kickball
The DC Gay Flag Football League began in the mid-90s and then grew over the years to its current lineup of 20 teams with approximately 270 players from around the region. The league hosts a summer tournament each year in Rehoboth Beach and also funds five travel teams to compete in tournaments around the country. Earlier this year, the league sent teams to the national Pride Bowl in Chicago where one team—the DC Commanders—went on to win their championship game against the Austin Capitals.
Nikki Kasparek founded the league’s first women’s travel team, the DC Senators, in 2014 and told the Blade she is very excited about the growth of the league.
“I am incredibly competitive and the DCGFFL leagues and travel tournaments allow me to scratch that itch,” Kasparek says. “I am going to enjoy all of it – the friendships, the seasons, the tournaments, the moments – until I can’t flex that muscle anymore.”
Best Real Estate Agent: Justin Noble
TTR Sotheby’s
1515 14th St., N.W.
Runner-up: Stacey Williams-Zeiger, Zeiger Realty
Justin Noble is a real estate agent with TTR Sotheby’s and has nearly a decade of experience in the field. According to the company’s website, Noble was born into a real estate centric family and spent much of his childhood reading architecture and design magazines. Noble has also been a contributor to the Blade for the past year, writing real estate columns such as “Alternative ways to deal with high interest rates” and “Tips for preparing your home for fall.”
“If you have read my previous columns (I hope you have) then you will know I am a huge fan of sass and more importantly, controlling your controllables!” Noble wrote in one column.
Best Real Estate Group: Jenn Smira Team, Compass
1313 14th St., N.W.
Runner-up: Asgari Moore Group, Compass
The Jenn Smira team is a Compass real estate team offering a full suite of services, including marketing, staging, negotiations, and listings management. The team is composed of 17 Realtors and three supporting staff members. Jenn Smira—founder of the team—was previously on the board of DC Women In Solidarity for Empowerment, a nonprofit that raises money for local organizations serving women and children.
The group also gives back to the D.C. community through direct contributions to local elementary schools and nonprofit organizations focused on assisting homeless individuals. In 2021, one of the group’s Realtors Elvin Merlo raised more than $70,000 for cancer research through Haymakers for Hope.
Best Lawyer: Lawrence Jacobs
Runner-Up: Amy Nelson
Lawrence Jacobs is with McMillan Metro, P.C. and practices in multiple areas, including estate planning for same-sex couples.
“I’ve been the trusted adviser to more than 800 same-sex couples looking to protect their partners or spouses and their families with documents such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney, partnership agreements and pre-nuptial agreements,” he says in a statement on his site.
Best Fitness or Workout Spot: VIDA Fitness
1517 15th St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Barry’s Bootcamp
This is VIDA’s fourth consecutive win in this category and 11th win in the category overall. The company has six locations U Street (1612 U St., N.W.), Logan Circle (1517 15th St., N.W.), The Yards (1212 4th St. S.E. #170), Ballston (4040 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Va.), Gallery Place (601 F St., N.W.) and City Vista (445 K St., N.W.). The chain is gay-owned by David Von Storch and the locations frequently hold LGBTQ-centered events, such as the Pride Pool Party.
Membership packages run between $119-179 per month and include access to all locations, virtual classes, indoor and outdoor classes, discounts at Aura Spa and Bang Salon and more.
Best Alternative Transportation: Alto
Runner-Up: Capital Bikeshare
Billed as the world’s first employee driver rideshare, Alto offers an elevated experience with luxury vehicles, professional drivers, and music controlled by the passenger.
Best Pet Business or Veterinarian: District Dogs
2323 Sherman Ave., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: City Dogs
District Dogs started as a dog walking business in 2014 by owner Jacob Hensley and has since grown into one of the best pet care businesses in the district with four full-care facilities and one training facility. Another facility at National Landing in Virginia will open in 2023 in Amazon’s HQ2 development. District Dogs offers daycare, overnight boarding, grooming, and training classes.
The company also hosts a number of community events such as bootcamps, pride parties and happy hours.
Best Salon/Spa: Logan 14
1314 14th St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: The Burrow
This is Aveda’s seventh consecutive win in this category and according to the company, about 75 percent of their clientele are LGBTQ.
The salon offers cuts, coloring, extensions, hair styling, and an array of spa options including massages, botox, and laser hair removal.
General Manager Katie Rose told the Blade last year that the salon has almost fully bounced back from the pandemic but that COVID-19 has forever changed the business.
“We service our guests and make people look and feel better about themselves,” she said.
Best Adult Store: Bite the Fruit
1723 Connecticut Ave., N.W. (second floor)
Runner-Up: Lotus Blooms
Best Car Dealership: BMW of Fairfax
8427 Lee Highway
Fairfax, Va.
Runner-Up: DARCARS
Best Local Website/Blog: District Fray Magazine
Editor’s Choice: DCist
District Fray is a monthly print and digital magazine that describes itself as “a vibrant source of lifestyle and entertainment news to Washingtonians.”
“The magazine has translated media, social sports, and events to make DC Fray’s ‘Make Fun Possible’ mantra into a tangible ethos that locals can rely on to stay in the know about what to do in and around the city through the lens of inclusive, eclectic and objective content,” District Fray says on its website. ‘District Fray Magazine’s’ elevated editorial allows readers to experience the city through the voices of its talented writers and local interviewees.”
“Our goal is to highlight the voices in the District who are keeping their fingers on the pulse and champion the diverse communities who make our city vibrant and unique,” said District Fray Editor-in-Chief Monica Alford. “We are proud to support D.C.’s LGBTQ+ community through the lens of inclusive, eclectic and objective content.”
District Media is on social media at @districtfray.
Best Local TV/Radio Personality: Evan Koslof, WUSA9
Runner-up: Chuck Bell, NBC4
Evan Koslof has been a reporter with WUSA 9 since 2016.
His bio notes an interview with a 10-year-old nonbinary child from Bowie, Md., and the Nationals 2019 World Series victory are among the many stories he has covered. Koslof, who has won six Emmy Awards, also notes he met his husband, Realtor Justin Noble, at the beach in Delaware in 2015.
“Being a reporter in the nation’s capital is a dream come true,” Koslof said. “As a reporter, I’ve covered elections, inaugurations and even insurrections. I’ve gone live from dozens of protests and rallies. I’ve traveled to hurricanes and mass shootings, and I’ve met people at their lowest and their highest.”
“And the older I get, the more I’ve come to learn that the ‘best’ reporters are those who share their authentic selves,” added Koslof. “I’m a proud gay man, who’s been married to my best friend since 2019 (Justin Noble — Best Realtor.) I hope that my openness can inspire future generations to be their true selves as well.”
Best Tattoo Parlor: Dapper Dog Tattoo
75 Maryland Ave.
Annapolis, Md.
Editor’s Choice: Tattoo Paradise
Best Non-Profit powered by PEPCO: Capital Pride
Editor’s Choice: SMYAL
The Capital Pride Alliance offers a variety of programs and events that celebrate the LGBTQ community in the DMV throughout the year. The ‘reUNITED’ Capital Pride Parade brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of D.C. for the first time in two years.
“We thank the community for its long-term support, especially over the last few years as we had to navigate the constraints imposed by the pandemic,” said the Capital Pride Alliance. “Being unable to hold large gatherings for two years was a challenge that required us to create new and unique ways to provide platforms to highlight the community’s visibility until we were able to bring back a full-scale Pride celebration this past June. We appreciate everyone’s willingness to reUnite to show that we still have Pride.”
Best Home Furnishings: Miss Pixie’s
1626 14th St., N.W.
Editor’s Choice: Hamilton’s Sofa Gallery
This 14th Street institution once again makes this year’s list.
Best Private School: Barrie School
13500 Layhill Rd.
Silver Spring, Md.
Editor’s Choice: Maret School
REHOBOTH BEACH
Best Rehoboth Drag Queen: Magnolia Applebottom
Runner-Up: Kristina Kelly
Magnolia Applebottom is a repeat winner in this category and it’s easy to understand why: She’s simply everywhere, from Rehoboth to Milton to Salisbury performing for packed crowds at happy hours, Pride events, and charity functions. In addition to her towering stature, entertaining standup, and fabulous fashion sense, Magnolia sings live. No visit to Rehoboth is complete without a stop at her show at Diego’s.
Best Rehoboth Outdoor Dining: Purple Parrot
134 Rehoboth Ave.
Rehoboth Beach, Del.
ppgrill.com
Editor’s Choice: Aqua
Rehoboth suffers from a relative dearth of outdoor dining spots, something the locals have complained about for years. One bright spot remains the Purple Parrot Biergarten on Wilmington Avenue (you can also access it from the main entrance to the Parrot on Rehoboth Avenue). The food is consistently good with regular specials like prime rib nights and German-themed dinners. But the best part of eating here is arguably the festive atmosphere complete with upbeat music, the friendliest bartenders in town, and a lush, green roof over the bar. Say hi to Chandler, who has been voted Best Rehoboth Bartender multiple times, and to the current titleholder, first-time winner Georgiy Yanchenko.
Best Rehoboth Bartender: Georgiy Yanchenko, Purple Parrot
134 Rehoboth Ave.
Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Runner-Up: Evelyn Orta “Fluffy,” Freddie’s
Everyone in town knows Georgiy, the friendly, outgoing face behind the bar at the Purple Parrot Biergarten. He’s a first-time nominee and winner in this category. No matter how crazy busy the bar gets on a summer holiday weekend, Georgiy handles it all with a smile and skilled service. This is one of the most competitive categories, so hats off to Georgiy as this is not an easy award to win.
Best Rehoboth-Area Live Show: Drag Brunch at the Pines
56 Baltimore Ave.
Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Editor’s Choice: Magnolia Applebottom at Diego’s
Local legends Mona Lotts and Kristina Kelly headline the uproarious drag brunch at the Pines on Sundays from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. As the website warns: “Mature comedy not for the faint at heart.” Bear that in mind as things get rather racy early in the day. Tickets are $15 and there’s a delicious brunch buffet offered at $25.
Best Rehoboth Coffeeshop: The Coffee Mill
127 Rehoboth Ave B
Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Editor’s Choice: Rise Up
The gay-owned Coffee Mill is a go-to spot for many Rehoboth locals, offering a staggering array of freshly ground coffees along with pastries and other breakfast treats. The outdoor patio becomes quite the scene in summer and don’t forget to check out owner Mel’s photography on display inside.
Best Rehoboth Restaurant: Blue Moon
35 Baltimore Ave.
Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Editor’s Choice: The Pines
The venerable Blue Moon may not be the crowded bar of old, but it lives on with a top-notch fine dining restaurant on one side of the building and a cabaret/event space on the other that features rotating performers. The restaurant has won this award so many times that we’ve lost count. It’s a cozy spot, perfect for a romantic dinner, fun night out with friends, or Sunday brunch. The beloved Tasting Tuesday offers a prix fixe menu featuring three courses each with wine for just $45.
Best Rehoboth Real Estate Agent: Lee Ann Wilkinson
16698 Kings Hwy A.
Lewes, Del.
Runner-Up: Chris Beagle
This is Lee Ann Wilkinson’s fifth consecutive win in this category. The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group has ranked #1 in real estate sales in Sussex County, Del., for more than 20 years. She even finds time to contribute insights on the local market to the Blade.
Best Rehoboth Business: Diego’s Bar & Nightclub
37298 Rehoboth Ave.
Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Editor’s Choice: Freddie’s Beach Bar
Joe Ciarlante-Zuber and his husband and business partner Darryl Ciarlante-Zuber continue to draw crowds for their exuberant happy hour specials, drag entertainment, and late night dance parties. The venue has a long history of hosting Rehoboth’s only real dance parties and it’s gratifying to see the tradition continue post-pandemic. This is Diego’s second consecutive win in this category.
a&e features
Eastern Shore chef named James Beard Finalist
Harley Peet creates inventive food in an inclusive space
In a small Eastern Shore town filled with boutiques, galleries, and the occasional cry of waterfowl from the Chesapeake, Chef Harley Peet is most at home. In his Viennese-inflected, Maryland-sourced fine-dining destination Bas Rouge, Peet draws from his Northern Michigan upbringing, Culinary Institute of America education, and identity as a gay man, for inspiration.
And recently, Peet was named a James Beard Finalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic – the first “Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic” finalist representing the Eastern Shore.
Peet, after graduation from the Culinary Institute of America, took a position as sous chef at Tilghman Island Inn, not far from Bas Rouge. Falling in love with the Eastern Shore, he continued his passion for racing sailboats, boating, gardening, and fishing, and living his somewhat pastoral life as he opened Bas Rouge in 2016 as head chef, a restaurant part of the Bluepoint Hospitality group, which runs more than a dozen concepts in and around Easton, Md.
Coming from a rural area and being gay, Peet knew he had his work cut out for him. He was always aware that the service and hospitality industry “can be down and dirty and rough.”
Now as a leader in the kitchen, he aims to “set a good example, and treat people how I want to be treated. I also want to make sure if you’re at our establishment, I’m the first to stand up and say something.”
The Bas Rouge cuisine, he says, is Contemporary European. “I’m inspired by old-world techniques of countries like Austria, Germany, and France, but I love putting a new spin on classic dishes and finding innovative ways to incorporate the bounty of local Chesapeake ingredients.”
His proudest dish: the humble-yet-elevated Wiener Schnitzel. “It is authentic to what one would expect to find in Vienna, down to the Lingonberries.” From his in-house bakery, Peet dries and grinds the housemade Kaiser-Semmel bread to use as the breadcrumbs.
Peet works to support the LGBTQ community inside and outside of the kitchen. “I love that our Bluepoint Hospitality team has created welcoming spaces where our patrons feel comfortable dining at each of our establishments. Our staff have a genuine respect for one another and work together free of judgment.”
Representing Bluepoint, Peet has participated in events like Chefs for Equality with the Human Rights Campaign, advocating for LGBTQ rights.
At Bas Rouge, Peet brings together his passion for inclusion steeped in a sustainability ethic. He sees environmental stewardship as a way of life. Peet and his husband have lived and worked on their own organic farm for several years. Through research in Europe, he learned about international marine sourcing. Witnessing the impacts of overfishing, Peet considers his own role in promoting eco-friendly practices at Bas Rouge. To that end, he ensures responsible sourcing commitments through his purveyors, relationships that have helped create significant change in how people dine in Easton.
“I have built great relationships in the community and there’s nothing better than one of our long-standing purveyors stopping in with a cooler of fresh fish from the Chesapeake Bay. This goes especially for catching and plating the invasive blue catfish species, which helps control the species’ threat to the local ecosystem.
Through his kitchen exploits, Peet expressed a unique connection to another gay icon in a rural fine-dining restaurant: Patrick O’Connell, of three Michelin starred Inn at Little Washington. In fact, Peet’s husband helped design some of O’Connell’s kitchen spaces. They’ve both been able to navigate treacherous restaurant-industry waters, and have come out triumphant and celebrated. Of O’Connell, Peet says that he “sees [his restaurants] as canvas, all artistry, he sees this as every night is a show.” But at the same time, his “judgment-free space makes him a role model.”
Being in Easton itself is not without challenges. Sourcing is a challenge, having to either fly or ship in ingredients, whereas urban restaurants have the benefit of trucking, he says. The small town “is romantic and charming,” but logistics are difficult – one of the reasons that Peet ensures his team is diverse, building in different viewpoints, and also “making things a hell of a lot more fun.”
Reflecting on challenges and finding (and creating) space on the Eastern Shore, Peet confirmed how important it was to surround himself with people who set a good example, and “if you don’t like the way something is going, fuck them and move on.”
a&e features
What to expect at the 2024 National Cannabis Festival
Wu-Tang Clan to perform; policy discussions also planned
(Editor’s note: Tickets are still available for the National Cannabis Festival, with prices starting at $55 for one-day general admission on Friday through $190 for a two-day pass with early-entry access. The Washington Blade, one of the event’s sponsors, will host a LGBTQIA+ Lounge and moderate a panel discussion on Saturday with the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.)
With two full days of events and programs along with performances by Wu-Tang Clan, Redman, and Thundercat, the 2024 National Cannabis Festival will be bigger than ever this year.
Leading up to the festivities on Friday and Saturday at Washington, D.C.’s RFK Stadium are plenty of can’t-miss experiences planned for 420 Week, including the National Cannabis Policy Summit and an LGBTQ happy hour hosted by the District’s Black-owned queer bar, Thurst Lounge (both happening on Wednesday).
On Tuesday, the Blade caught up with NCF Founder and Executive Producer Caroline Phillips, principal at The High Street PR & Events, for a discussion about the event’s history and the pivotal political moment for cannabis legalization and drug policy reform both locally and nationally. Phillips also shared her thoughts about the role of LGBTQ activists in these movements and the through-line connecting issues of freedom and bodily autonomy.
After D.C. residents voted to approve Initiative 71 in the fall of 2014, she said, adults were permitted to share cannabis and grow the plant at home, while possession was decriminalized with the hope and expectation that fewer people would be incarcerated.
“When that happened, there was also an influx of really high-priced conferences that promised to connect people to big business opportunities so they could make millions in what they were calling the ‘green rush,'” Phillips said.
“At the time, I was working for Human Rights First,” a nonprofit that was, and is, engaged in “a lot of issues to do with world refugees and immigration in the United States” — so, “it was really interesting to me to see the overlap between drug policy reform and some of these other issues that I was working on,” Phillips said.
“And then it rubbed me a little bit the wrong way to hear about the ‘green rush’ before we’d heard about criminal justice reform around cannabis and before we’d heard about people being let out of jail for cannabis offenses.”
“As my interests grew, I realized that there was really a need for this conversation to happen in a larger way that allowed the larger community, the broader community, to learn about not just cannabis legalization, but to understand how it connects to our criminal justice system, to understand how it can really stimulate and benefit our economy, and to understand how it can become a wellness tool for so many people,” Phillips said.
“On top of all of that, as a minority in the cannabis space, it was important to me that this event and my work in the cannabis industry really amplified how we could create space for Black and Brown people to be stakeholders in this economy in a meaningful way.”
“Since I was already working in event production, I decided to use those skills and apply them to creating a cannabis event,” she said. “And in order to create an event that I thought could really give back to our community with ticket prices low enough for people to actually be able to attend, I thought a large-scale event would be good — and thus was born the cannabis festival.”
D.C. to see more regulated cannabis businesses ‘very soon’
Phillips said she believes decriminalization in D.C. has decreased the number of cannabis-related arrests in the city, but she noted arrests have, nevertheless, continued to disproportionately impact Black and Brown people.
“We’re at a really interesting crossroads for our city and for our cannabis community,” she said. In the eight years since Initiative 71 was passed, “We’ve had our licensed regulated cannabis dispensaries and cultivators who’ve been existing in a very red tape-heavy environment, a very tax heavy environment, and then we have the unregulated cannabis cultivators and cannabis dispensaries in the city” who operate via a “loophole” in the law “that allows the sharing of cannabis between adults who are over the age of 21.”
Many of the purveyors in the latter group, Phillips said, “are looking at trying to get into the legal space; so they’re trying to become regulated businesses in Washington, D.C.”
She noted the city will be “releasing 30 or so licenses in the next couple of weeks, and those stores should be coming online very soon” which will mean “you’ll be seeing a lot more of the regulated stores popping up in neighborhoods and hopefully a lot more opportunity for folks that are interested in leaving the unregulated space to be able to join the regulated marketplace.”
National push for de-scheduling cannabis
Signaling the political momentum for reforming cannabis and criminal justice laws, Wednesday’s Policy Summit will feature U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate majority leader.
Also representing Capitol Hill at the Summit will be U.S. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) — who will be receiving the Supernova Women Cannabis Champion Lifetime Achievement Award — along with an aide to U.S. Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio).
Nationally, Phillips said much of the conversation around cannabis concerns de-scheduling. Even though 40 states and D.C. have legalized the drug for recreational and/or medical use, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I substance since the Controlled Substances Act was passed in 1971, which means it carries the heftiest restrictions on, and penalties for, its possession, sale, distribution, and cultivation.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services formally requested the drug be reclassified as a Schedule III substance in August, which inaugurated an ongoing review, and in January a group of 12 Senate Democrats sent a letter to the Biden-Harris administration’s Drug Enforcement Administration urging the agency to de-schedule cannabis altogether.
Along with the Summit, Phillips noted that “a large contingent of advocates will be coming to Washington, D.C. this week to host a vigil at the White House and to be at the festival educating people” about these issues. She said NCF is working with the 420 Unity Coalition to push Congress and the Biden-Harris administration to “move straight to de-scheduling cannabis.”
“This would allow folks who have been locked up for cannabis offenses the chance to be released,” she said. “It would also allow medical patients greater access. It would also allow business owners the chance to exist without the specter of the federal government coming in and telling them what they’re doing is wrong and that they’re criminals.”
Phillips added, however, that de-scheduling cannabis will not “suddenly erase” the “generations and generations of systemic racism” in America’s financial institutions, business marketplace, and criminal justice system, nor the consequences that has wrought on Black and Brown communities.
An example of the work that remains, she said, is making sure “that all people are treated fairly by financial institutions so that they can get the funding for their businesses” to, hopefully, create not just another industry, but “really a better industry” that from the outset is focused on “equity” and “access.”
Policy wonks should be sure to visit the festival, too. “We have a really terrific lineup in our policy pavilion,” Phillips said. “A lot of our heavy hitters from our advocacy committee will be presenting programming.”
“On Saturday there is a really strong federal marijuana reform panel that is being led by Maritza Perez Medina from the Drug Policy Alliance,” she said. “So that’s going to be a terrific discussion” that will also feature “representation from the Veterans Cannabis Coalition.”
“We also have a really interesting talk being led by the Law Enforcement Action Partnership about conservatives, cops, and cannabis,” Phillips added.
Cannabis and the LGBTQ community
“I think what’s so interesting about LGBTQIA+ culture and the cannabis community are the parallels that we’ve seen in the movements towards legalization,” Phillips said.
The fight for LGBTQ rights over the years has often involved centering personal stories and personal experiences, she said. “And that really, I think, began to resonate, the more that we talked about it openly in society; the more it was something that we started to see on television; the more it became a topic in youth development and making sure that we’re raising healthy children.”
Likewise, Phillips said, “we’ve seen cannabis become more of a conversation in mainstream culture. We’ve heard the stories of people who’ve had veterans in their families that have used cannabis instead of pharmaceuticals, the friends or family members who’ve had cancer that have turned to CBD or THC so they could sleep, so they could eat so they could get some level of relief.”
Stories about cannabis have also included accounts of folks who were “arrested when they were young” or “the family member who’s still locked up,” she said, just as stories about LGBTQ people have often involved unjust and unnecessary suffering.
Not only are there similarities in the socio-political struggles, Phillips said, but LGBTQ people have played a central role pushing for cannabis legalization and, in fact, in ushering in the movement by “advocating for HIV patients in California to be able to access cannabis’s medicine.”
As a result of the queer community’s involvement, she said, “the foundation of cannabis legalization is truly patient access and criminal justice reform.”
“LGBTQIA+ advocates and cannabis advocates have managed to rein in support of the majority of Americans for the issues that they find important,” Phillips said, even if, unfortunately, other movements for bodily autonomy like those concerning issues of reproductive justice “don’t see that same support.”
a&e features
Juliet Hawkins’s music defies conventional categorization
‘Keep an open mind, an open heart, and a willingness to evolve’
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Emerging from the dynamic music scene of Los Angeles, Juliet Hawkins seamlessly integrates deeply soulful vocals with contemporary production techniques, crafting a distinctive sound that defies conventional categorization.
Drawing inspiration from the emotive depth of Amy Winehouse and weaving together elements of country, blues, and pop, Hawkins’ music can best be described as a fusion–perhaps best termed as soulful electronica. Yet, even this characterization falls short, as Hawkins defines herself as “a blend of a million different inspirations.”
Hawkins’s musical palette mirrors her personae: versatile and eclectic. Any conversation with Hawkins makes this point abundantly clear. She exhibits the archetype of a wild, musical genius while remaining true to her nature-loving, creative spirit. Whether recording in the studio for an album release, performing live in a studio setting, or playing in front of a live audience, Hawkins delivers her music with natural grace.
However, Hawkins’s musical journey is far from effortless. Amid personal challenges and adversity, she weaves her personal odyssey of pain and pleasure, transforming these experiences into empowering anthems.
In a candid interview with the Blade, Hawkins spoke with profound openness and vulnerability about her past struggles with opiate and heroin addiction: “That was 10 years ago that I struggled with opiates,” she shared. Yet, instead of letting her previous addiction define her, Hawkins expressed to the Blade that she harbors no shame about her past. “My newer music is much more about empowerment than recovery,” she explained, emphasizing that “writing was the best way to process trauma.”
Despite her struggles with addiction, Hawkins managed to recover. However, she emphasizes that this recovery is deeply intertwined with her spiritual connection to nature. An illustrative instance of Hawkins’ engagement with nature occurred during the COVID pandemic.
Following an impulse that many of us have entertained, she bought a van and chose to live amidst the trees. It was during this period that Hawkins composed the music for her second EP, titled “Lead with Love.”
In many ways, Hawkins deep spiritual connection to nature has been profoundly shaped by her extensive travels. Born in San Diego, spending her formative years in Massachusetts, and later moving to Tennessee before returning to Southern California, she has broadened her interests and exposed herself to the diverse musical landscapes across America.
“Music is the only thing I have left,” Hawkins confides to the Blade, highlighting the integral role that music has in her life. This intimate relationship with music is evident in her sultry and dynamic compositions. Rather than imitating or copying other artists, Hawkins effortlessly integrates sounds from some of her favorite musical influences to create something new. Some of these influences include LP, Lucinda Williams, Lana Del Rey, and, of course, Amy Winehouse, among others.
Hawkins has always been passionate about music—-she began with piano at a young age, progressed to guitar, and then to bass, eagerly exploring any instrument she could get her hands on. However, instead of following a traditional path of formalized lessons and structured music theory, Hawkins told the Blade that she “has a hard time following directions and being told what to do.”
This independent approach has led her to experiment with various genres and even join unexpected groups, such as a tribute band for Eric Clapton and Cream. While she acknowledges that her eclectic musical interests might be attributed to ADHD, she holds a different belief: “Creative minds like to move around.”
When discussing her latest musical release — “Stay True (the live album)” which was recorded in a live studio setting — Hawkins describes the experience as a form of improvisation with both herself and the band:
“[The experience] was this divine honey that was flowing through all of us.” She explains that this live album was uncertain in the music’s direction. “For a couple of songs,” Hawkins recalls, “we intuitively closed them out.” By embracing creative spontaneity and refusing to be constrained by fear of mistakes, the live album authentically captures raw sound, complete with background chatter, extended outros, and an extremely somber cover of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” coupled with a slow piano and accompanied strings.
While “Stay True” was a rewarding experience for Hawkins, her favorite live performance took place in an unexpected location—an unattended piano in the middle of an airport. As she began playing Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”, Hawkins shared with the Blade a universal connection we all share with music: “This little girl was dancing as I was playing.”
After the performance, tears welled in Hawkins’ eyes as she was touched by the young girl’s appreciation of her musicianship. Hawkins tells the Blade, “It’s not about playing to an audience—it’s about finding your people.”
What sets Hawkins apart as an artist is her ability to connect with her audience in diverse settings. She highlights EDC, an electronic dance music festival, as a place where she unabashedly lets her “freak flag” fly and a place to connect with her people. Her affinity for electronic music not only fuels her original pop music creations, but also inspires her to reinterpret songs with an electronic twist. A prime example of this is with her electronic-style cover of Tal Bachman’s 90’s hit, “She’s So High.”
As an openly queer woman in the music industry, Hawkins is on a mission to safeguard artistic integrity. In songs like “My Father’s Men,” she bares her vulnerability and highlights the industry’s misogyny, which often marginalizes gender minorities in their pursuit of artistic expression.
She confides to the Blade, “The industry can be so sexist, misogynist, and oppressive,” and points out that “there are predators in the industry.” Yet, rather than succumbing to apathy, Hawkins is committed to advocating for gender minorities within the music industry.
“Luckily, people are rising up against misogyny, but it’s still there. ‘My Father’s Men’ is a message: It’s time for more people who aren’t just white straight men to have a say.”
Hawkins is also an activist for other causes, with a fervent belief in the preservation of bodily autonomy. Her self-directed music video “I’ll play Daddy,” showcases the joy of embracing one’s body with Hawkins being sensually touched by a plethora of hands. While the song, according to Hawkins, “fell upon deaf ears in the south,” it hasn’t stopped Hawkins from continuing to fight for the causes she believes in. In her interview, Hawkins encapsulated her political stance by quoting an artist she admires:
“To quote Pink, ‘I don’t care about your politics, I care about your kids.’”
When Hawkins isn’t writing music or being a champion for various causes, you might catch her doing the following: camping, rollerblading, painting, teaching music lessons, relaxing with Bernie (her beloved dog), stripping down for artsy photoshoots, or embarking on a quest to find the world’s best hollandaise sauce.
But at the end of the day, Hawkins sums up her main purpose: “To come together with like-minded people and create.”
Part of this ever-evolving, coming-of-age-like journey includes an important element: plant-based medicine. Hawkins tells the Blade that she acknowledges her previous experience with addiction and finds certain plants to be useful in her recovery:
“The recovery thing is tricky,” Hawkins explains, “I don’t use opiates—-no powders and no pills—but I am a fan of weed, and I think psilocybin can be helpful when used at the right time.” She emphasizes the role of psychedelics in guiding her towards her purpose. “Thanks for psychedelics, I have a reignited sense of purpose … Music came naturally to me as an outlet to heal.”
While she views the occasional dabbling of psychedelics as a spiritual practice, Hawkins also embraces other rituals, particularly those she performs before and during live shows. “I always carry two rocks with me: a labradorite and a tiger’s eye marble,” she explains.
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