Local
Transgender hairstylist continues to give back
Brandi Ahzionae works as apprentice in Maryland salon
Transgender hairstylist apprentice Brandi Ahzionae has been working with Consuella Lopez to pursue her dreams. (Photo courtesy of Brandi Ahzionae)
Brandi Ahzionae of Southeast D.C. was at the official launch of the city’s transgender rights campaign at Mova on 14th Street, N.W., last September when she met Montgomery County hairstylist Consuella Lopez.
Lopez, who appeared in the campaign the D.C. Office of Human Rights created, began speaking with Ahzionae through Facebook and other social media networks.
Consuella Lopez at her Bethesda, Md., studio on June 17. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Ahzionae, who had just enrolled in Project Empowerment, a D.C. jobs initiative designed to reduce unemployment and poverty rates among trans Washingtonians, declined Lopez’s invitation to model for a calendar she was producing for Casa Ruby, a multicultural LGBT community center in Northwest Washington. Lopez subsequently invited Ahzionae to become her apprentice at Nivál Salon and Spa in Chevy Chase, Md., where she worked at the time.
She accepted the offer.
“She was like, what do you want to do with your life?” Ahzionae told the Washington Blade during a recent interview. “We talked more about that. She was like, great, I can help you do that. She then pulled me to the salon and then started the apprenticeship thing and it’s been great ever sense.”
Ahzionae now works alongside Lopez in the studio she opened inside an old dance studio near Bethesda Row in Bethesda, Md., in May.
Lopez, who is a licensed senior stylist in Maryland, is able to license Ahzionae as an apprentice for two years. Ahzionae will be able to obtain her own license at the end of her two-year apprenticeship in May 2015 if she passes a test.
In the meantime, Ahzionae is attending classes once a week at Aesthetics Institute of Cosmetology in Gaithersburg, Md., that the school’s director offered to her for free.
“We are working together as a team now,” Ahzionae said, adding she has also begun to build her own clientele. “I am her left hand in the salon.”
Lopez, who transitioned in 1992 when she was 18, began working in hair salons as an assistant when she was a child.
She and a friend in 2006 opened a salon and day spa in Georgetown that closed after 19 months. Lopez subsequently began working at Nivál – formerly the Ted Gibson Salon and Hela Spa – in Chevy Chase in 2008.
Lopez – who has worked with Anna Wintour, Patricia Arquette, Tracy Edmonds, Mila Kunis, Mindy Cohen, the Real Housewives of D.C. and other celebrities – told the Blade during an interview at her studio late last month that she feels it is important to provide trans people opportunities that “most girls don’t have.”
Ahzionae became homeless after her mother died when she was 13. She was also incarcerated for what she described as the “result of lifestyle.”
“I don’t want that to happen to anybody,” Lopez told the Blade. “If I were in that situation I would want someone to help me.”
She further stressed she believes in Ahzionae and “she has shown me.”
“She shows up to work, daily, in and out,” Lopez said. “She is working it right and still having clients in between.”
“I think she’s doing really, really well,” Casa Ruby CEO Ruby Corado, who has worked with Lopez since 2011, told the Blade on Tuesday. “I’m so glad that she found Consuella who’s mentoring her.”
As for Ahzionae, she hopes she will be able to continue to give back to her community.
She had written for VenusPlusX, a website co-founded by D.C. activists Alison Gardner and Dan Massey that advocates for sexual freedom.
Ahzione now produces a newsletter called the DMV Trans Circulator that seeks to create what its website describes as a “trans community inside and outside the prison walls in D.C., Md., and Va.” that is “free from imprisonment, police violence, racism and poverty.” She recently received a grant from the Diverse City Fund, which supports groups that work among communities of color.
Ahzione also looks to continue to give back at the salon and the clients with whom she works.
“My job is to make everything OK,” she said. “If I drop the ball, everything goes wrong. There’s a lot of work to be done, but I welcome the challenge and I think I’m tackling it pretty well.”
Ahzione also remains thankful to Lopez for inviting her to work with her.
“People don’t care about trans women trying to make a difference,” she said.” They don’t care and she does.”
Virginia
Va. LG opposed marriage equality affirmation bill in handwritten note
Winsome Earle-Sears constitutionally required to sign HB 174 as Senate president
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears last year in a handwritten note indicated her opposition to marriage rights for same-sex couples when she signed a bill that affirmed marriage equality in the state.
Brandon Jarvis of Virginia Scope on May 1 published Earle-Sears’s note on House Bill 174, which state Del. Rozia Henson, a Prince William County Democrat who is gay, introduced.
The Virginia Senate passed HB 174 by a 22-17 vote margin, and the state constitution required Earle-Sears to sign it as the chamber’s president. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the measure into law after it received bipartisan support.
“As the lieutenant governor, I recognize and respect my constitutional obligation to adhere to procedures set out in the constitution of Virginia,” wrote Earle-Sears in her note. “However, I remain morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly.”
Earle-Sears, a former U.S. Marine who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002-2004, in 2021 became the first woman elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor. Activists have criticized her for her opposition to LGBTQ rights in Virginia.
She sparked controversy last year when she misgendered state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who is transgender, on the Senate floor. Earle-Sears has also spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Earle-Sears is running to succeed Youngkin as governor once his term ends in January 2026. She will likely face former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who previously represented Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
John Reid, a conservative talk show host who is openly gay, last month secured the Republican nomination to succeed Earle-Sears as lieutenant governor. Youngkin has called for Reid to end his campaign amid reports that he posted “pornographic content” on social media.
Reid has strongly denied the reports.
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours
D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
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