Arts & Entertainment
Best of Gay D.C. 2013: Nightlife
Blade readers choose their favorite clubs, parties, monthly events and more
Freddie’s Beach Bar (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best outside-D.C. bar: Freddie’s Beach Bar
555 23rd Street
South Arlington, Va.
703-685-0555
Runner-up: Club Hippo (Baltimore)
Blue Moon (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best Rehoboth bar: Blue Moon
35 Baltimore Ave.
Rehoboth Beach, Del.
302-227-6515
Runner-up: Rehoboth Ale House
Number Nine (Washington Blade photo by Lee Whitman)
Best happy hour:
Best place to meet men:
Number 9
1435 P Street, N.W.
202-986-0999
Runner-up for both: Cobalt
Best drag show: Big Bang Bingo at Mellow Mushroom
2436 18th Street, N.W.
202-290-2778
mellowmushroom.com
Runner-up: Ziegfeld’s
Best place to meet women: glittHER by V Spot D.C.
1807 4th St., N.W.
Dancing won’t feel right again without being covered in glitter.V Spot D.C.’s glittHER dance parties infuse great music, glitter, dancing and did we mention glitter? All while mingling with local ladies. (MC)
Runner-up: BARE by LURe at Cobalt
Stoney’s (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best gay-friendly straight bar: Stoney’s
1433 P Street, N.W.
202-234-1818
Runner-up: Brixton
Best live music: 9:30 Club
815 V Street, N.W.
202-265-0930
Runner-up: Black Cat
Best neighborhood bar: JR.’s Bar & Grill
1519 17th Street, N.W.
202-328-0090
Runner-up: Nellie’s Sports Bar
Hottest stripper or gogo dancer:
Christian Lezzil
By day he’s a graduate student with one semester left to earn his master’s in literature. By night, Christian Lezzil strips at Secrets.
Having done some modeling during his time in Virginia Beach — he came to D.C. about a year ago — Lezzil says dancing nude, initially at the behest of a drag queen friend, was a lark. He says in addition to paying for grad school, it’s had an unexpected benefit — it’s given him plenty of material for his writing. He has two books — “Crimson & Caramel” and “The Maniac in the Coffee Shop” — out (written under his real name, Eddie Generazio).
“It started with a student body competition in Virginia Beach,” Lezzil says. “Somebody said I should enter and I just thought, ‘Hell, why not? I’m not doing anything else.’ I was waiting to hear back from my graduate school application. … I was looking for some kind of alternative lifestyle-type of thing to do and I just thought, ‘Well, what’s more alternative than dancing in a male revue?’ There’s a lot of poetry in there and it just kind of started taking off after I arrived in D.C. I got so much material, my second book kind of wrote itself.”
The 23-year-old bi Virginia native, Lezzil (a stage name) says he enjoys the irony of stripping and writing. He says many of his colleagues at Secrets are also smart, though some try to hide it. He views his Best Of Gay D.C. award as a validation of sorts.
“Maybe I’m just a jerk and I’m inflating it, but I think of it as a kind of performance art,” he says.
(JD)
Christian Lezzil (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Runner-up: Ben Reznik
Best men’s party: CTRL at Cobalt
Last Saturday of the month
1639 R Street, N.W.
202-232-4416
Runner-up: Bear Happy Hour at Town
BARE by the Ladies of LURe at Cobalt. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best women’s party: BARE by LURe at Cobalt
Third Saturday of the month
1639 R Street, N.W.
202-232-4416
Runner-up: glittHER by V Spot D.C.
Joshua Vogelsong of the Black Cat’s Gay/Bash. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Best alt party: Gay/Bash! at Black Cat
Next event: Oct. 26
1811 14th Street, N.W.
202-667-4490
Runner-up: Mixtape
The Freddie’s Follies drag show was held at Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, Va. on Saturday, Jan. 3. Performers included Monet Dupree, Michelle Livigne, Shirley Naytch, Gigi Paris Couture and Shenandoah.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
a&e features
Queer highlights of the 2026 Critics Choice Awards: Aunt Gladys, that ‘Heated Rivalry’ shoutout and more
Amy Madigan’s win in the supporting actress category puts her in serious contention to win the Oscar for ‘Weapons’
From Chelsea Handler shouting out Heated Rivalry in her opening monologue to Amy Madigan proving that horror performances can (and should) be taken seriously, the Critics Choice Awards provided plenty of iconic moments for queer movie fans to celebrate on the long road to Oscar night.
Handler kicked off the ceremony by recapping the biggest moments in pop culture last year, from Wicked: For Good to Sinners. She also made room to joke about the surprise hit TV sensation on everyone’s minds: “Shoutout to Heated Rivalry. Everyone loves it! Gay men love it, women love it, straight men who say they aren’t gay but work out at Equinox love it!”
The back-to-back wins for Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein and Amy Madigan in Weapons are notable, given the horror bias that awards voters typically have. Aunt Gladys instantly became a pop culture phenomenon within the LGBTQ+ community when Zach Cregger’s hit horror comedy released in August, but the thought that Madigan could be a serious awards contender for such a fun, out-there performance seemed improbable to most months ago. Now, considering the sheer amount of critics’ attention she’s received over the past month, there’s no denying she’s in the running for the Oscar.
“I really wasn’t expecting all of this because I thought people would like the movie, and I thought people would dig Gladys, but you love Gladys! I mean, it’s crazy,” Madigan said during her acceptance speech. “I get [sent] makeup tutorials and paintings. I even got one weird thing about how she’s a sex icon also, which I didn’t go too deep into that one.”
Over on the TV side, Rhea Seehorn won in the incredibly competitive best actress in a drama series category for her acclaimed performance as Carol in Pluribus, beating out the likes of Emmy winner Britt Lower for Severance, Carrie Coon for The White Lotus, and Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us. Pluribus, which was created by Breaking Bad’s showrunner Vince Gilligan, has been celebrated by audiences for its rich exploration of queer trauma and conversion therapy.
Jean Smart was Hack’s only win of the night, as Hannah Einbinder couldn’t repeat her Emmy victory in the supporting actress in a comedy series category against Janelle James, who nabbed a trophy for Abbott Elementary. Hacks lost the best comedy series award to The Studio, as it did at the Emmys in September. And in the limited series category, Erin Doherty repeated her Emmy success in supporting actress, joining in yet another Adolescence awards sweep.
As Oscar fans speculate on what these Critics Choice wins mean for future ceremonies, we have next week’s Golden Globes ceremony to look forward to on Jan. 11.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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