‘Red Reminds Me’
Seven videos reflecting the spectrum of living with HIV
Sunday, Dec. 1, 4-9 p.m.
David Bethuel Jamieson Studio House at Walbridge
3229 Walbridge Place, N.W.
Washington, D.C.
Reserve free admission on Eventbrite

In the tradition of my family, funerals are not somber affairs cloaked in black garb. We call them “celebrations of life” where through our tears we laugh and reminisce about the dead. At the end, we all gather either in the basement of a church or a matriarch’s house where over a spread of rich, decadent food, we rejoice in the fact that our dead relative shed the chains of their flesh and transcended to the next phase. With bellies full, the kids run outside and play with each other and the adults would drink and trade stories. The repast is my fondest memories of childhood. It was a time when I could see family members separated by distance and eat collard greens simmered in smoked turkey and mac and cheese so cheesy that it solidified into a brick when cold. 

Never would I have imagined that a repast would occur at Don Juan’s on the corner of Mt. Pleasant and Lamont. Instead of collard greens and mac and cheese, I dined on cheese pupusas with curtido. This occasion solidified the importance of a chosen family. While none of us were related by blood, we were related through one thread: AIDS. The story of the Kilbourne Memorial Stones is an AIDS story in which through unraveling the lives of Robert Rockershousen, Jakob Efsen, and Charles Winney, we received a glimpse into the impact of AIDS within D.C.’s gay community. A community that is often overshadowed by New York City and San Francisco when the early years of the epidemic are discussed.

When the Blade published my story “Unraveling mystery of the Kilbourne Place memorial stones” in August of 2023, Charles Winney’s story was still untold. What I did find out about him was through scouring public records but, no one stepped up to eulogize him. My friend, Peter Stebbins, knew of my struggles to locate a source for Charles and motivated me to continue fighting for him. In June of this year, I told Peter that I knew of Charles’s partner, Larry Martin, who lives in Provincetown, Mass. Between the years of 2022 and 2023, I reached out to Larry through multiple means, but I received no response. Peter being a Provincetown regular since the 1980s, was adamant that he knew someone who knew Larry and could get him in contact with me. I cautioned Peter that this might not have been a good idea. I interpreted Larry’s silence as not wanting to reopen an old wound.

Undeterred, Peter found a mutual friend on Facebook and reached out to Larry; 48 hours later, a relationship formed between Larry and me. Through phone conversations and in-person interviews, he brought me into the world of Larry & Chuck (Charles). From their beginnings as a young couple in Baltimore through their years on 1747 Kilbourne Place, they built an intricate and intimate web of community that reminded me of the communal affection I received from my family. There was this sense of “through thick and thin” that allowed them to stand in the gap for others within their community that were affected by AIDS. Larry told of how he and Chuck used to host dinners and care for those who were dying. They did it because they cared, and it was important to their identity as gay Christians to be of service of others.

In our many conversations, Larry alluded to the identity of who placed the stones. He hinted at the fact that it was a communal effort, and it wasn’t some lone solitary figure. Excitedly, I wanted to immediately put the story out, but he suggested for me to wait until he brought in his two friends, Mark Lambert and John Koran. Mark was Chuck and Larry’s roommate on Kilbourne Place. He was one quarter of the “Golden Girls,” which consisted of Mark, his friend Robbie, Larry, and Chuck. Together, they hosted large parties on the property that included parties for Pride. John was Robert’s best friend and roommate. Like Larry, I reached out to John through multiple avenues, but we did not connect.

Within a week, we were sitting at Don Juan’s drinking and breaking bread. While it was my intention to keep the group interview as formal as possible, I became enraptured in the camaraderie and nostalgia that permeated the air. Among these men with their graying hair and wrinkles, I again felt like that kid at the repast listening in on the adults. Larry officiated in a manner that was reminiscent of a patriarch. He corralled us all together in a group chat and laid the foundation for us to gather. Although the initial goal was to find out more information about Chuck, that moment laid bare the reality that these men belonged to a fraternity where they were hazed by the devastation of the AIDS epidemic. They are AIDS survivors.

Allowing these men to convene and break bread in fellowship was a way to finally eulogize Chuck and also a way for them to have a repast for Jake and Robert. Their banter and inside jokes brought forth a youthfulness and exuberance that almost moved me to tears on a few occasions. They became the adults in my family who drank their liquor and slapped their knees in laughter as they reminisced about the good ol’ days. While the men gave their eulogies, it was revealed that Larry, John, and a few others decided to lay down the Kilbourne Memorial Stones. It was decided that now that these men were together, we should walk down to the stones and take photos. 

The men stood in front of the stones and on the porch of 1747 Kilbourne Place and they continued to laugh and tell stories while I snapped photos. We eventually parted ways and as I waited on the corner for a car to pass, I turned around and looked at the men for what may be the very last time. They were walking with their arms wrapped around each other like brothers. The scene reminded me of a discussion that was had at the dinner table less than an hour before. I asked the men if they believed their lives as gay men would be different during the epidemic if they didn’t have the support of each other. They all agreed in unison that their friendship was instrumental in their survival and Larry said among the nodding of heads, “I couldn’t have survived without you guys.”

The executive board of the D.C. Health Benefit Exchange Authority, which arranges for D.C. residents and nonresidents employed in D.C. to obtain health insurance coverage, voted unanimously on Nov. 19 to make the treatment and long-term care of people with HIV free of charge if they are enrolled in one of the authority’s health insurance plans.

D.C. Health Link, an independent D.C. agency created by the Health Benefit Exchange Authority to carry out its health insurance program, announced the new HIV care policy in a Nov. 20 statement.

“Making HIV care free – meaning no deductibles, no co-insurance, no copays – will save lives,” said Diane C. Lewis, chair of the Health Benefit Exchange Authority’s board in the statement.

“Starting in Plan Year 2026, residents enrolled in a D.C. Health Link Essential Plan can get free primary care visits, free laboratory tests, and free generic HIV medication,” the statement says. “Visits that would otherwise cost up to $45 per visit and $55 per lab test will be free,” it says.

“Making primary care for HIV free will improve health outcomes,” the statement continues, noting that HIV disproportionately impacts communities of color. It points out that in D.C., 71 percent of people living with HIV are Black and 8 percent are Latino.

The statement also points out that nationwide at the end of 2022, “only 64 percent of the Black population with HIV was linked to care and 53 percent were virally suppressed, meaning their HIV was suppressed through treatment.”

In contrast, according to the statement, “70 percent of the white population with HIV was linked to care and 63 percent were virally suppressed.”  

The statement also notes that Whitman-Walker Health, the D.C.-based LGBTQ supportive health care provider and research facility, played an important role in helping the D.C. Health Benefit Exchange Authority develop the free HIV care program.

Mila Kofman, executive director of the D.C. Health Benefit Exchange Authority, explained that the authority created D.C. Health Link as part of D.C.’s participation in the federal healthcare program established by the U.S. Affordable Care Act, which was approved by Congress during the administration of President Barack Obama.

Kofman noted that like programs established by states under the Affordable Care Act, D.C. Health Link arranges for D.C. residents or non-residents who work in D.C. to obtain health insurance plans from private health insurance companies. Among those participating in the D.C. program are United Healthcare, Blue Cross-Blue Shield, and Kaiser Permanente, Kofman said.

Like all private health insurance plans, Kofman said people participating in the plans arranged by D.C. Health Link must pay a monthly premium for their plan. She said the premiums vary based on the amount of coverage participants select in choosing a specific plan and reduced premiums are available for people depending on their income.  

She said that due to the highly complex process for making policy changes for health insurance, which includes a review and approval by the D.C. Insurance Commissioner, the process takes a little over a year to complete. Thus, the new “free” HIV care coverage will begin Jan. 1, 2026.

According to Kofman, existing D.C. Health Link insurance plans already cover the HIV prevention medication known as PrEP.

Organizers of World Pride 2025, the international LGBTQ celebration scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C. May 17-June 8, 2025, say plans for the many events associated with World Pride are moving ahead without any signs of problems caused by the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.

Although many LGBTQ activists saw President-elect Donald Trump’s positions on LGBTQ rights as far less supportive than losing Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, LGBTQ Republicans point out that Trump did not take steps to oppose Pride events in the nation’s capital during his first term as president. As president-elect, Trump recently nominated Scott Bessent, who’s gay, as Treasury Secretary. If confirmed, Bessent would become the “highest-ranking openly gay U.S. government official in American history,” according to the Equality Forum, since the Treasury Secretary is fifth in the line of presidential succession.

 Officials with the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes most of D.C.’s annual Pride events and that is playing a lead role in organizing World Pride 2025, note that World Pride is expected to draw more than two million visitors to D.C. and the events are being embraced by local businesses.

Theresa Belpulsi, senior vice president for Tourism and Visitor Services for Destination D.C., an organization that promotes tourism and business-related events in D.C. and that is working with Capital Pride Alliance to support World Pride, said the outcome of the presidential and congressional elections has so far not had a negative impact on World Pride.

“People are very excited about coming to D.C.,” she told the Washington Blade. “We’re looking at anywhere from two and three million people coming in over World Pride over the course of those three weekends that will be generating over $780 million in economic impact,” she said.

A spokesperson for the Trump presidential transition team couldn’t immediately be reached to determine whether the president-elect has taken a position on World Pride 2025.

Charles Moran, president of the national LGBTQ organization Log Cabin Republicans, said he expects the incoming Trump administration to be supportive of World Pride.

“Donald Trump has consistently reinforced a policy platform bolstered by economic opportunity for people to improve their quality of life, and travel/tourism is one of America’s leading economic generators,” Moran told the Blade in a statement.

“Anyone who adheres to Donald Trump’s America First agenda would clearly welcome people from around the world – and even those who don’t support him – to visit America to celebrate World Pride, bolster our regional economy, and celebrate freedom with us in the most free place in the world to be gay,” Moran said.

Ryan Bos, executive director of Capital Pride Alliance, said the organization fully agrees with reports by local business advocates that World Pride will have a positive economic impact on the D.C. area.

Among other things, Bos said his organization has submitted applications for permits with the U.S. National Park Service for use of the National Mall for World Pride events.

“With the event about six months away, we are fully moving ahead with planning the celebration that is expected to attract 2 million overnight visitors and an estimated $787 million in spending,” he told the Blade. “It is expected to take place on the National Mall but also throughout D.C. and its neighborhoods,” Bos said in referring to World Pride events.

Mike Litterst, a spokesperson for the National Park Service’s National Mall and Memorial Parks division, said the Park Service has received at least one permit application from Capital Pride Alliance for World Pride events.

He said that under longstanding Park Service policy, permits are approved based on the applicant’s ability to ensure “the preservation of park resources and the safety of all participants, park visitors, and  community members.” According to Litterst, “It is a deliberate process that does not consider the content of the message presented.”

In the week following the U.S. presidential election, a few people, including some from Europe, posted messages on a World Pride 2025 Facebook page saying they would not come to D.C. for World Pride because of Trump’s election as president. Those messages were no longer on the World Pride Facebook page as of early in the week of Nov. 24.

LGBTQ rights advocates from D.C. are expected to point out that the locally elected D.C. government, including the mayor and City Council, have for many years and continue to be highly supportive of the LGBTQ community and are supportive of World Pride.

A full list of the World Pride 2025 events can be accessed at worldpridedc.org.