District of Columbia
Activists hail new documentary on gays in the military after D.C. showing
‘Serving in Secret’ to premier nationally on MSNBC on Nov. 12
About 150 people, including LGBTQ rights advocates, their supporters and friends, turned out Wednesday for a premier D.C. showing of a new documentary film called āServing In Secret: Love, Country and Donāt Ask, Donāt Tell.ā
A production of MSNBC Films and Time Studios, the film chronicles the hardships and discrimination faced by LGBTQ people serving in the U.S. military going back to the early years of the nation’s armed forces up through the passage by Congress of the controversial “Donāt Ask, Donāt Tell” law and the eventual repeal of that law under the administration of President Barack Obama.
The repeal by Congress of “Donāt Ask, Donāt Tell” cleared the way for the first time in U.S. history for gays, lesbians and bisexuals to serve openly in the military.
The film showing, which was organized by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowserās Office of LGBTQ Affairs, took place at the auditorium of the recently opened John Hopkins University Bloomberg Center at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Two of the leading figures in the filmās production, U.S. Naval Academy graduate and former Marine Corps fighter pilot Thomas Carpenter, and his nephew, filmmaker Jonathan Baker, who served as producer and director of the film, appeared as guest speakers on stage following the showing of the film.
A discussion with the two, which included questions from the audience, was moderated by Ryan Bos, executive director of D.C.ās Capital Pride Alliance.
Moving and sometimes highly emotional on-camera interviews with Carpenter make up a significant part of the film, which focuses on his personal story as a gay man who had to hide his sexual orientation during his distinguished tenure as a military officer.
Carpenterās story includes his love relationship with fellow military member Courtland Hirschi, which the two had to keep secret, and Hirschiās discharge from the military after authorities discovered he was gay. Carpenter also tells of his struggle in coping with Hirschiās discharge and the emotional toll when Hirschi, who he considered his spouse, died of AIDS in the early years of the epidemic in the 1980s.
Others who appear in interviews in the film include former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who served in the military; former Army Secretary Eric Fanning; LGBTQ activist David Mixner, who spoke out against “Donāt Ask, Donāt Tell” when President Bill Clinton first embraced it; and Aubrey Sarvis, former executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which led the lobbying effort for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
āServing In Secretā is scheduled to be shown nationwide on Nov. 12 on MSNBC and on Nov. 13 on Peacock.
Bowser, who attended the film showing, thanked Carpenter, Baker and others involved in the production of the film.
āThis is the great team that brought this project to life and made sure that our nationās LGBTQ+ veterans have their story told,ā Bowser said in remarks on stage at the conclusion of the film. āSo, I want to thank you for your courage and for sharing your story as well.ā
In response to Bosā question, Carpenter told the audience how he felt in watching what was said to be his first viewing of the final edited version of the film.
āWell, as you can imagine, the making of this film was a double-edge sword in the sense that it brought back a lot of very, very difficult memories for me,ā he said. āBut at the same time, the good side of its was we were able to accomplish something very significant.ā
Carpenter added, āAnd what I walk away with after seeing this final cut, how in hell they put all that history in 43 minutes is beyond me.ā His comment drew laughter and loud applause from the audience.
Baker, who is a twice Emmy-nominated producer and acclaimed filmmaker, thanked the others who played an important role in making the film.
āItās just been an incredible team effort, including the studio and the network that everybody knows gave us the opportunity to tell the story,ā he said. āAnd to me itās been profound because I remember growing up with my uncle and I remember loving him dearly as a kid growing up.ā
Baker said he was grateful that Carpenter, his uncle, agreed to take part in the film knowing it would bring back difficult memories but at the same time it would include an āinspirational ending,ā which included Carpenter playing an important role in joining the nationās leading LGBTQ rights organizations to successfully obtain the repeal of “Donāt Ask, Donāt Tell.”
District of Columbia
Catching up with the asexuals and aromantics of D.C.
Exploring identity and finding community
There was enough commotion in the sky at the Blossom Kite Festival that bees might have been pollinating the Washington Monument. I despaired of quickly finding the Asexuals and Aromantics of the Mid-AtlanticāI couldnāt make out a single asexual flag among the kites up above. I thought to myself that if it had been the Homosexuals of the Mid-Atlantic I wouldāve had my gaydar to rely on. Was there even such a thing as ace-dar?
As it turned out, the asexual kite the group had meant to fly was a little too pesky to pilot. āHave you ever used a stunt kite?ā Bonnie, the event organizer asked me. āI bought one. It looked really cool. But I canāt make it work.ā She sighed. āI canāt get the thing six feet off the ground.ā The group hardly seemed to care. There was caramel popcorn and cookies, board games and head massages, a game of charades with more than its fair share of PokĆ©mon. The kites up above might as well have been a coincidental sideshow. Nearly two dozen folks filtered in and out of the picnic throughout the course of the day.
But I counted myself lucky that Bonnie picked me out of the crowd. If thereās such a thing as ace-dar, it eludes asexuals too. The online forum for all matters asexual, AVEN, or the Asexual Visibility and Education Network, is filled with laments: āI donāt think itās possible.ā āDude, I wish I had an ace-dar.ā āIf it exists, I donāt have it.ā āI think this is just like a broken clock is right twice a day type thing.ā What seems to be a more common experience is meeting someone you just click withāonly to find out later that theyāre asexual. A few of the folks I met described how close childhood friends of theirs likewise came out in adulthood, a phenomenon that will be familiar to many queer people. But it is all the more astounding for asexuals to find each other this way, given that asexual people constitute 1.7% of sexual minorities in America, and so merely .1% of the population at large.
To help other asexuals identify you out in the world, some folks wear a black ring on their middle finger, much as an earring on the right ear used to signify homosexuality in a less welcoming era. The only problem? The swinger communityāwith its definite non-asexualityāhas also adopted the signal. āItās still a thing,ā said Emily Karp. āSo some people wear their ace rings just to the ace meet-ups.ā Karp has been the primary coordinator for the Asexuals and Aromantics of the Mid-Atlantic (AAMA) since 2021, and a member of the meet-up for a decade. She clicked with the group immediately. After showing up for a Fourth of July potluck in the mid-afternoon, she ended up staying past midnight. āWe played Cards against Humanity, which was a very, very fun thing to do. It’s funny in a way thatās different than if we were playing with people that weren’t ace. Some of the cards are implying, like, the person would be motivated by sex in a way that’s absurd, because we know they aren’t.ā
Where so many social organizations withered during the pandemic, the AAMA flourished. Today, it boasts almost 2,000 members on meetup.com. Karp hypothesized that all the social isolation gave people copious time to reflect on themselves, and that the ease of meeting up online made it convenient as a way for people to explore their sexual identity and find community. Online events continue to make up about a third of the groupās meet-ups. The format allows people to participate who live farther out from D.C. And it allows people to participate at their preferred level of comfort: while many people participate much as they would at an in-person event, some prefer to watch anonymously, video feed off. Others prefer to participate in the chat box, though not in spoken conversation.
A recent online event was organized for a discussion of Rhaina Cohenās book, āThe Other Significant Others,ā published in February. Cohenās book discusses friendship as an alternative model for āsignificant others,ā apart from the romantic model that is presupposed to be both the center and goal of peopleās lives. The AAMA group received the book with enthusiasm. āIt literally re-wired my brain,ā as one person put it. People discussed the importance of friendship to their lives, and their difficulties in a world that de-prioritized friendship. āI can break up with a friend over text, and we donāt owe each other a conversation,ā one said. But there was some disagreement when it came to the bookās discussion of romantic relationships. āIt relegates ace relationships to the āfriendā or āplatonicā category, to the normie-reader,ā one person wrote in the chat. āOur whole ace point is that we can have equivalent life relationships to allo people, simply without sex.ā (āAlloā is shorthand for allosexual or alloromantic, people who do experience sexual or romantic attraction.)
The folks of the AAMA do not share a consensus on the importance of romantic relationships to their lives. Some asexuals identify as aromantic, some donāt. And some aromantics donāt identify as asexual, either. The āAromanticā in the title of the group is a relatively recent addition. In 2017, the group underwent a number of big changes. The group was marching for the first time in D.C. Pride, participating in the LGBTQ Creating Change conference, and developing a separate advocacy and activism arm. Moreover, the group had become large enough that discussions were opened up into forming separate chapters for D.C., Central Virginia, and Baltimore. During those discussions, the group leadership realized that aromantic people who also identified as allosexual didnāt really have a space to call their own. āWe were thinking it would be good to probably change the name of the Meetup group,ā Emily said. āBut we were not 100% sure. Because [there were] like 1,000 people in the group, and theyāre all aces, and itās like, āDo you really want to add a non-ace person?āā The group leadership decided to err on the side of inclusion. āYou know, being less gatekeep-y was better. It gave them a place to go ā because there was nowhere else to go.ā
The DC LGBT Center now sponsors a support group for both asexuals and aromantics, but it was formed just a short while ago, in 2022. The founder of the group originally sought out the centerās bisexual support group, since they didnāt have any resources for ace folks. āThe organizer said, you know what, why donāt we just start an ace/aro group? Like, why donāt we just do it?ā He laughed. āI was impressed with the turnout, the first call. Itās almost like we tapped into, like, a dam. You poke a hole in the dam, and the water just rushes out.ā The group has a great deal of overlap with the AAMA, but it is often a personās first point of contact with the asexual and aromantic community in D.C., especially since the group focuses on exploring what it means to be asexual. Someone new shows up at almost every meeting. āAnd Iām so grateful that I did,ā one member said. āI kind of showed up and just trauma dumped, and everyone was really supportive.ā
Since the ace and aro community is so small, even within the broader queer community, ace and aro folks often go unrecognized. To the chagrin of many, the White House will write up fact sheets about the LGBTQI+ community, which is odd, given that when the āIā is added to the acronym, the āAā is usually added too. OKCupid has 22 genders and 12 orientations on its dating website, but āaromanticā is not one of them ā presumably because aromantic people donāt want anything out of dating. And since asexuality and aromanticism are defined by the absence of things, it can seem to others like ace and aro people are āmissing something.ā One member of the LGBT center support group had an interesting response. āThe space is filled byā¦ whatever else!ā they said. āWeāre not doing a relationship āwithout that thing.ā Weāre doing a full scale relationship ā as it makes sense to us.ā
CJ Higgins is a postdoctoral fellow with the Alexander Grass Humanities Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
District of Columbia
Bowser budget proposal calls for $5.25 million for 2025 World Pride
AIDS office among agencies facing cuts due to revenue shortfall
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowserās proposed fiscal year 2025 budget includes a request for $5.25 million in funding to support the June 2025 World Pride celebration, which D.C. will host, and which is expected to bring three million or more visitors to the city.
The mayorās proposed budget, which she presented to the D.C. Council for approval earlier this month, also calls for a 7.6 percent increase in funding for the Mayorās Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which amounts to an increase of $132,000 and would bring the officeās total funding to $1.7 million. The office, among other things, provides grants to local organizations that provide services to the LGBTQ community.
Among the other LGBTQ-related funding requests in the mayorās proposed budget is a call to continue the annual funding of $600,000 to provide workforce development services for transgender and gender non-conforming city residents āexperiencing homelessness and housing instability.ā The budget proposal also calls for a separate allocation of $600,000 in new funding to support a new Advanced Technical Center at the Whitman-Walker Healthās Max Robinson Center in Ward 8.
Among the city agencies facing funding cuts under the mayorās proposed budget is the HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Disease, and Tuberculosis Administration, known as HAHSTA, which is an arm of the D.C. Department of Health. LGBTQ and AIDS activists have said HAHSTA plays an important role in the cityās HIV prevention and support services. Observers familiar with the agency have said it recently lost federal funding, which the city would have to decide whether to replace.
āWe werenāt able to cover the loss of federal funds for HAHSTA with local funds,ā Japer Bowles, director of the Mayorās Office of LGBTQ Affairs, told the Washington Blade. āBut we are working with partners to identify resources to fill those funding gaps,ā Bowles said.
The total proposed budget of $21 billion that Bowser submitted to the D.C. Council includes about $500 million in proposed cuts in various city programs that the mayor said was needed to offset a projected $700 million loss in revenue due, among other things, to an end in pandemic era federal funding and commercial office vacancies also brought about by the post pandemic commercial property and office changes.
Bowserās budget proposal also includes some tax increases limited to sales and business-related taxes, including an additional fee on hotel bookings to offset the expected revenue losses. The mayor said she chose not to propose an increase in income tax or property taxes.
Earlier this year, the D.C. LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition, which consists of several local LGBTQ advocacy organizations, submitted its own fiscal year 2025 budget proposal to both Bowser and the D.C. Council. In a 14-page letter the coalition outlined in detail a wide range of funding proposals, including housing support for LGBTQ youth and LGBTQ seniors; support for LGBTQ youth homeless services; workforce and employment services for transgender and gender non-conforming residents; and harm reduction centers to address the rise in drug overdose deaths.
Another one of the coalitionās proposals is $1.5 million in city funding for the completion of the D.C. Center for the LGBTQ Communityās new building, a former warehouse building in the cityās Shaw neighborhood that is undergoing a build out and renovation to accommodate the LGBTQ Centerās plans to move in later this year. The coalitionās budget proposal also calls for an additional $300,000 in ārecurringā city funding for the LGBTQ Center in subsequent years āto support ongoing operational costs and programmatic initiatives.ā
Bowles noted that Bowser authorized and approved a $1 million grant for the LGBTQ Centerās new building last year but was unable to provide additional funding requested by the budget coalition for the LGBTQ Center for fiscal year 2025.
āWeāre still in this with them,ā Bowles said. āWeāre still looking and working with them to identify funding.ā
The total amount of funding that the LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition listed in its letter to the mayor and Council associated with its requests for specific LGBTQ programs comes to $43.1 million.
Heidi Ellis, who serves as coordinator of the coalition, said the coalition succeeded in getting some of its proposals included in the mayorās budget but couldnāt immediately provide specific amounts.
āThere are a couple of areas I would argue we had wins,ā Ellis told the Blade. āWe were able to maintain funding across different housing services, specifically around youth services that affect folks like SMYAL and Wanda Alston.ā She was referring to the LGBTQ youth services group SMYAL and the LGBTQ organization Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing for homeless LGBTQ youth.
āWe were also able to secure funding for the transgender, gender non-conforming workforce program,ā she said. āWe also had funding for migrant services that weāve been advocating for and some wins on language access,ā said Ellis, referring to programs assisting LGBTQ people and others who are immigrants and arenāt fluent in speaking English.
Ellis said that although the coalitionās letter sent to the mayor and Council had funding proposals that totaled $43.1 million, she said the coalition used those numbers as examples for programs and policies that it believes would be highly beneficial to those in the LGBTQ community in need.
āI would say to distill it down to just we ask for $43 million or whatever, thatās not an accurate picture of what weāre asking for,ā she said. āWeāre asking for major investments around a few areas ā housing, healthcare, language access. And for capital investments to make sure the D.C. Center can open,ā she said. āItās not like a narrative about the dollar amounts. Itās more like where weāre trying to go.ā
The Blade couldnātā immediately determine how much of the coalitionās funding proposals are included in the Bowser budget. The mayorās press secretary, Daniel Gleick, told the Blade in an email that those funding levels may not have been determined by city agencies.
āAs for specific funding levels for programs that may impact the LGBTQ community, such as individual health programs through the Department of Health, it is too soon in the budget process to determine potential adjustments on individual programs run though city agencies,ā Gleick said.
But Bowles said several of the programs funded in the mayorās budget proposal that are not LGBTQ specific will be supportive of LGBTQ programs. Among them, he said, is the budgetās proposal for an increase of $350,000 in funding for senior villages operated by local nonprofit organizations that help support seniors. Asked if that type of program could help LGBTQ seniors, Bowles said, āAbsolutely ā thatās definitely a vehicle for LGBTQ senior services.ā
He said among the programs the increased funding for the mayorās LGBTQ Affairs office will support is its ongoing cultural competency training for D.C. government employees. He said he and other office staff members conduct the trainings about LGBTQ-related issues at city departments and agencies.
Bowser herself suggested during an April 19 press conference that local businesses, including LGBTQ businesses and organizations, could benefit from a newly launched city āPop-Up Permit Programā that greatly shortens the time it takes to open a business in vacant storefront buildings in the downtown area.
Bowser and Nina Albert, D.C. Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, suggested the new expedited city program for approving permits to open shops and small businesses in vacant storefront spaces could come into play next year when D.C. hosts World Pride, one of the wordās largest LGBTQ events.
āWhile we know that all special events are important, there is an especially big one coming to Washington, D.C. next year,ā Bowser said at the press conference. āAnd to that point, we proposed a $5.25 million investment to support World Pride 2025,ā she said, adding, āItās going to be pretty great. And so, weāre already thinking about how we can include D.C. entrepreneurs, how weāre going to include artists, how weāre going to celebrate across all eight wards of our city as well,ā she said.
Among those attending the press conference were officials of D.C.ās Capital Pride Alliance, which will play a lead role in organizing World Pride 2025 events.
District of Columbia
Taste of Point returns at critical time for queer students
BIPOC scholar to speak at Room & Board event on May 2
The Point Foundation will kick off May with its annual Taste of Point DC event. The event will be hosted at Room & Board on 14th Street and feature a silent auction, food tastings, a speech from a scholar, and more.
Pointās chief of staff, Kevin Wright, said that at Taste of Point, the scholars are the star of the show.
āPeople never come to an event to hear Point staff speak, they come to hear from the people most impacted by the program,ā he said. āAt its core Taste of Point is designed to center and highlight our scholarsā voices and experiences.ā
This year, a Point BIPOC Scholar, Katherine Guerrero Rivera will speak at the event.
āIt is a great opportunity to highlight the scholars out there on the front lines making impacts in almost every sector and job field,ā Wright said.
Wright pointed out that this year especially is a pivotal time for LGBTQ students.
āIn 2023, there were 20 states that passed anti-LGBTQ legislation,ā he said. āBy this point in [2024] we already have more.ā
Wright said the impacts of those legislative attacks are far reaching and that Point is continuously monitoring the impact they have on students on the ground.
Last month, The Washington Post reported that states with anti-LGBTQ laws in place saw school hate crimes quadruple. This report came a month after a non-binary student, Nex Bennedict, died after being attacked at school.
āSo, we see this as a critical moment to really step up and help students who are facing these challenges on their campus,ā Wright said. āOur mission is to continue to empower our scholars to achieve their full academic and leadership potential.ā
This year Point awarded nearly 600 LGBTQ students with scholarships. These include the flagship scholarship, community college scholarship and the BIPOC scholarship. When the foundation started in 2002, there were only eight scholarships awarded.
Dr. Harjant Gill is one of those scholars who said the scholarship was pivotal for him. Gill said he spent his undergraduate years creating films and doing activism for the LGBTQ community.
As a result, his academic record wasnāt stellar and although he was admitted into American Universityās graduate program he had no clue how he would fund it.
Upon arrival to American he was told to apply for a Point scholarship and the rest was history.
āIt ended up being the one thing that kept me going otherwise I would have dropped out,ā he said. āPoint was incredibly instrumental in my journey to becoming an academic and a professor.ā
More than a decade later, Gill serves on the host committee for Taste of Point and is a mentor to young Point scholars. He said that he donates money yearly to Point and that when he is asked what he wants for a gift he will often tell his friends to donate too.
To attend the event on Wednesday, May 2, purchase tickets at the Point website. If you canāt attend this yearās Taste of Point DC event but would like to get involved, you can also donate online.Ā
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