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My Celebrity BEYOND transatlantic cruise arrives in Ft. Lauderdale

A memorable voyage comes to an end

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Celebrity BEYOND Transatlantic Cruise: Blog #9

Day 10 dawned rainy and windy, with the boat rocking again. Though not quite as bad as some of the previous days. But for me that simply means another wonderful lazy day on the ship. My dermatologist would be thrilled with a few days of no sun for me, LOL. Again, it didn’t stop me from having fun.

This morning the first thing I did after having my coffee delivered to the cabin, was to finish my column and press the send button to the Blade. Kevin Naff, editor of the Blade, had been nice and allowed me to send it late because of the election. I usually submit my columns each week on Sunday. It was a great feeling to be able to write about Democrats being winners across the nation. I then headed to the gym for my morning thirty minutes on the Lifecycle, and another thirty with some weight machines. Hey, if you look at me, you know the weights I lift are light, but then something is better than nothing. Then it was off to the retreat lounge to make up the few calories I lost at the gym with my daily cappuccino. 

This morning the chatter in the lounge was all about the elections. I don’t know about other groups on the ship, but our group, nearly all members of the LGBTQ+ community, and Democrats, were all very happy with the results. It was kind of like what I kid about in my coffee group back home at Java House in DC. We have a huge diversity of opinions, they go from A to C. The discussions this morning went on longer than usual, as we couldn’t head out to the sun deck, and for me it was fun. I also took the time to work with the concierge to straighten out the screwed-up reservations I had for dinner that evening at Le Voyage, the fancy Daniel Boulud restaurant on the ship. Finally got it straightened out and had reservations with Ken, Paul, and John, at 7:45. I was looking forward to it. But of course, I would eat before that and as lunch time approached a few of us, including Jason, Scott, Mike, and John, agreed to meet at 1pm at Luminae. It was more crowded than the last time I was there but the burger was just as good. Then it was suddenly nearly 3pm, and time for a break and some reading. I really enjoy having my kindle with me. I won’t let people look at my library on it as there are mostly junk, mindless, novels. 

Then suddenly it was happy hour again. The LGBTQ happy hours each evening at 6:00pm in the Eden lounge are well attended. Unfortunately, John, Paul’s other half, there are a few Johns in our group, couldn’t join us, as he had work, and it also caused him to miss dinner at Le Voyage. He had to organize a zoom call for hundreds of medical professionals. The fate of the young who are still working. But Paul, Ken, and I, had a great dinner. I had Caviar on salmon for an appetizer, and we each got to taste two of the other appetizers which they put in the center of the table. I loved the roasted beets. Then lobster risotto for the main course, we all chose the same thing, and then dessert. We had all been welcomed with a glass of great champagne, and while Ken and Paul ordered some other wine with dinner, I stuck with champagne. By the end of dinner, which was more than two hours later, we were all stuffed and wondered if some people, the rich and famous, eat like this all the time. While dinner was great, doing it every night wouldn’t be all that appealing to any of us. 

It was now about 10pm. Paul and Ken headed back to their cabins, Ken saying he may come back out to the casino, while I walked around a little to try and digest dinner. By eleven I headed back to my cabin for the night. On my bed was a little card telling me Dustin and Scott had made a deposit in my online account as a gift.  They did this for everyone in their group and it was incredibly generous. A reminder why we all book with them. Also, Scott had shared with me some possible 2025 fjords cruises, one out of Southampton, on the APEX on June 5, 2025, and he was going to price them and share the information with everyone.  Tomorrow would be our last sea day before reaching Bermuda.

Celebrity BEYOND Transatlantic Cruise: Blog #10

I woke up really early on day 11 of our cruise. It was partly sunny and warm, and the water was fairly smooth. I turned on the BBC and saw a program called HardTalk. The host sounded like he was on FOX news attacking the United States and Biden. But he did have a great guest, Fiona Hill, who pushed back on all he was saying. Fiona, who I had been lucky to meet at my friend Nick Irons’ gym, is a former US national security advisor and a specialist in Russia and Putin. She made so much sense in all she was saying and defending Biden’s view of the world and what the United States is and should be doing about the Israel/Hamas and Russian/Ukraine wars. Then there was a knock on the door and my coffee was delivered. 

It was going to be a nice day, and after some writing, and coffee, I headed to the gym. If I don’t go in the morning I tend not to go and I made that commitment to myself to go on every sea day. After the gym instead of the retreat lounge, I headed to deck 17 and the retreat sun deck. It is a beautiful space. I took a lounge next to Mike, Scott, and Justin in the shade and ordered my morning cappuccino when a waiter came by. The crew is so great. It was quite windy and a member of the crew brought me a blanket to cover my legs. It kind of felt like we were on one of those old ships like the QE2 on a transatlantic voyage in the old days. I had been on the QE2 from Southampton to NY for my first transatlantic cruise nearly twenty years ago. All that was missing here were the little cucumber sandwiches. 

After coffee, when the wind died down a little, I moved into the sun and sat with Diane, Will, Kenny, and others for a while. Then Dax and I agreed to meet at the Garden Café, the ship’s huge buffet, for lunch at 1 p.m. He and I had been on cruises together before but it was really the first time we had a more in-depth conversation. He is a great guy. He lives in Montreal and has a family condo in Miami Beach. He also, like me, has a lesbian sister. We sat and chatted for over two hours. Then it was time for me to head back to my cabin for a little down time. Once again, soon it was time to get ready for happy hour. The days on the ship just go very quickly. 

There was a large group in the Eden lounge, and I met a couple of guys I hadn’t met before. Also joining us were Mark and Juan. I had a really nice conversation with Juan, who in addition to being a good-looking hunk, is a really smart, nice, and charming guy. I had met them first years ago on a Panama Canal cruise. They were heading to Eden for dinner. I was going to go with a group to Cyprus, one of the four main dining rooms. I found dinner a little lacking as the lentil soup was cold, and the pasta was just goopy. Much too much cream sauce on it with not all that much taste. The waiter was nice and brought me something else which was much better. And the warm apple pie a-la-mode for dessert, was delicious. After dinner most of us were just tired and after walking around the ship for a while headed to our cabins for an early night. Tomorrow was Bermuda and I had an excursion around the Island planned. It was going to be the first time for me in Bermuda.

Celebrity BEYOND transatlantic Cruise: Blog #11

Day 12 dawned warm and sunny as we docked in Bermuda. I headed to the theater, the meeting point for our excursion, and met Paul and Ken there.  Turned out the excursion was going to be in a small taxi, and we hooked up with two guys from Canada, and got placed in a nice cab with a great driver/guide. He was incredibly knowledgeable, being a native Bermudian. He gave us a running commentary about the Island as we headed to our first top, a small interdenominational chapel he said was now used for weddings. It was in a beautiful small clearing with views of the sea. Then we continued on our way and headed into Hamilton, the largest city, and capital, of Bermuda. It is beautiful, with pastel-colored buildings, and spotlessly clean; set against a beautiful blue sea. After having 40 minutes to wander around, we again met our driver to continue the tour around the Island. He pointed out fishermen on the side of the road selling their fresh catch, and we passed a beautiful golf course where an international tournament was in progress. Then we headed to the beach, one of those famous pink sand beaches, and it was breathtaking. We stopped to walk on the sand, and head up the rocks for some beautiful views of the beach, and the ocean. The water was various colors of blue, and with the sun sparkling off it, made for incredible pictures. Then it was off to the lighthouse for a quick stop and some pictures, and then we continued the circle around the Island, back to the port and our ship. It had been a really great three hours in Bermuda, and I would go back. 

I headed back on board the ship while John and Ken stayed in the port and partook of some local fish chowder and sandwiches. I headed to the Café buffet for lunch and bumped into John, who hadn’t come with us, and we had a nice lunch together. After lunch I gave John a tour of the retreat lounge and sundeck as he was considering booking the retreat for a future birthday cruise. I stayed on deck 17 until it was time for Dustin and Scott’s sail-away party in the iconic suite. It was a crowded affair and they had drafted flyers to hand out telling people about the planned 2025 cruises. One, I had asked them to plan, was a 12-day round-trip from Southampton, England to the Arctic and the Norwegian Fjords, on June 5, 2025. The other was our annual transatlantic cruise which would be on the ASCENT out of Rome in October, 2025. Planning ahead can get you some of the best prices. 

Then for me it was the 7 p.m. show in the theater, the much-postponed Elements, which was great. Then dinner at the Rooftop restaurant. It was windy, but a warm wind, and the food was good. Only one slight issue, the table next to us was so loud, it did get annoying. But then they were having fun. After dinner I headed to the next show I wanted to see, in The Club. It was the Eden cast and Slavik and Vlad were doing some of their aerial work. The Club has changed their seating from what it was on the APEX, more balcony space but less on deck 4. I was lucky and friends, Piotr and Mark, and Kenny and Tom, had a seat for me. It is not an easy space for the cast to work and they are running around a small path in the audience. Despite that, they did a great job. They are all so incredibly talented. Great singers, dancers, including tap dancing, and acrobatics and aerial work. Congratulations to Celebrity for finding such talent. 

Then for me it was off to bed and preparing for another sea day, and heading to the last stop on our cruise, Nassau. Since I won’t get off the ship in Nassau, have been there several times before, and that was enough, it was going to be two days of relaxing on the ship.

Celebrity BEYOND transatlantic Cruise: Blog #12

Day 13 dawned warm and sunny and it was going to be a nice relaxing final sea day as we headed to Nassau.  As usual had my coffee, bagel and Juice delivered to the room, and began work on my regular political column for the Blade to be submitted Sunday.  I then made good on my commitment of going to the gym every sea day and went for an hour of Lifecyle and light weights. Then headed to the sundeck on 17 and grabbed a lounge chair. I saw Terry and Andy, and others already there. I found a chair in the shade and one of the ever-present waiters took my order. Instead of a cup and saucer, cappuccino was brought in a paper cup, but it tasted just as good. Around 1:30 I walked over to the bar and restaurant area, and saw Dustin and Rick at a table and asked if I could join them. They graciously said yes. I ordered a mudslide and a grilled chicken sandwich. It was getting late to make use of my premium drink package. Celebrity made out well on mine as I am not a big drinker. I had never chatted with Rick before and he is a great guy. Found out he is a financial planner in Houston, and a friend of Dustin’s for years. The next thing we realized it was after 4:00pm. Rick and his roommate will be going on the Galapagos cruise I will be going on in February, so look forward to continuing the conversation. I always enjoy chatting with Dustin and we will be talking about the 2025 trips just announced. 

Then it was time to head back to the cabin and get washed up and changed for Happy Hour. I had big plans for the evening; another show and my third dinner at Eden. This was going to be with Paul, John, Ken, Mary, and Nancy. Ken backed out claiming a headache, so I bumped into Dax and invited him. He went to the show with me first. It was ok, but the pianist who was good, seemed more like great background music, and we and many around us, while enjoying him, were on our iPhone catching up on email or posting pictures to FB. After the show we headed to dinner and it was again great. The chef came by and Dax impressed all of us by having a long conversation with him in French. Didn’t know what he said, but it sounded impressive, but then remember Dax is French Canadian, and David, the chef, is from Paris.

After dinner I stayed in the Eden Lounge for another great show with the Eden cast including Slavik and Vlad. They again were great to watch. Then it was time for bed for this old guy. 

Day 14 dawned warm and beautiful and as intended, stayed on the ship in Nassau. It was going to be a totally do-nothing day. Coffee, some writing, then took my kindle to lounge in the sun on Deck 17.  I actually had my first meal alone, when I headed to the buffet at around 1pm. Easy to find a table as so many were off the ship. A number of our group had gone to swim with the pigs, yes, you heard me right, but it wasn’t swimming with those who had overeaten on the cruise, rather some real pigs and piglets. Ok, to each their own, LOL. That evening was our final Happy Hour, and it was crowded with everyone kissing, and saying goodbye. Next morning would be an early departure.  I finally had the chance to chat with Jill, our official photographer, and relation of Scott.  She has photographed movie stars and politicians. If you ever need a great photographer, just call her. I then hooked up with Michael and Edward, and a few others, and headed to the Martini Bar for one last drink, for me it was a club soda. Then over to Cyprus, where Dax joined us, for a final cruise dinner. After dinner I headed to one of the shops to use the money Scott and Dustin has given us as online credit, and purchased a shirt with the Celebrity Beyond logo. Then it was off to the cabin to finish last-minute packing, and set an alarm for 5:30 a.m. when I would take my luggage and meet Dalton, one of the great crew in the Retreat, at Fine Cut restaurant. He would lead us to the gangplank as we walked off the ship early Monday morning, day 15. This cruise was officially over. 

I will be posting one more blog with my musings about the Celebrity Beyond, and Celebrity Cruises, which I wrote while sitting at the airport waiting for my flight back to D.C. Then there will be a column with the interview I had with Slavik, the Ukrainian acrobat and aerialist. 

I hope those of you who read these blogs, enjoyed them, and maybe they even got you interested in coming on a future cruise with the great LGBTQ friends, and their friends, I cruise with. I know my good friends, Scott, and Dustin, of My Lux Cruise, would be happy to talk to you about cruises, either joining us, or going anywhere your heart desires. They really are experts, and can get great rates wherever you may want to wander on the waterways of the world.

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Democrats need to stop the self-immolation

Republicans are the enemy of the people

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(Photo by Juliaf/Bigstock)

The felon in the White House, who has lied his way to victory, has now signed his ‘big disgusting bill’ into law. He has managed to get members of Congress to agree to screw their own constituents, and vote for this abomination of a bill. 

Republican members of Congress who have said it will be a disaster in their states. Who have said it will force the closure of rural hospitals, and throw seniors out of nursing homes, in their states, because they will lose their Medicaid. Who have said they oppose the bill because it will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit, which young people will suffer for in years to come. They have said they oppose it because it pretends to help those earning tips and overtime, but close reading of the fine print shows it does practically nothing for them. But because their lips are firmly attached to Trump’s ass, they voted for it anyway. It is the biggest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the country’s history. Now if that doesn’t give decent people the incentive they need to fight, to take back their country, nothing will. And when I say fight, I mean with their votes. 

To win, Democrats need to stop the self-immolation. Democrats are doing fine across the nation. Winning many special elections for state legislatures and the judiciary. Even when they don’t win, the margins in solid Republican districts are way down. Democrats will win governorships in New Jersey and Virginia this year. So instead of Democrats constantly talking about how bad the polls are for the party, and trashing each other, they need to focus on what it will take to win back Congress in 2026. The best way to start is to trash Republicans. I am concerned about groups like David Hogg’s PAC, and figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders, supporting candidates against sitting Democrats. Spending money and time on primaries against sitting democrats, even old ones, may not be the way to go this cycle. We need one focus — taking back Congress in 2026. That means laser like focus on which seats are winnable; open seats, and Republican seats, in both the House and Senate. Doing this is the only way we can stop the felon in the White House, and his MAGA sycophants in Congress, from doing more damage in his final two years as president. Time to face reality, that is really all that can be done for now.  

If Democrats take back the House, they can stop the budget machinations Trump is trying to get done. If Democrats take the Senate, they can stop the felon from getting any more MAGA judges, or disgusting unqualified executive branch nominees, confirmed. Again, that has to be the singular focus for 2026 for anyone serious about stopping Trump. I, too, want younger members of Congress. I would urge older Democrats, those in safe districts, to voluntarily step aside. But spending millions to primary them, when in most cases history shows they will win anyway, seems counterproductive at this time. Choose the best candidates in primaries for open and Republican seats — those with the best chance of winning in the general election. I have given my support at this time to Zach Wahls, running to unseat Sen. Joni Ernst in Iowa. 

Democrats must remember that most of the voters in the nation are moderate and concerned with kitchen table issues. So, while there are districts far left candidates can win, like Mamdani who just won the mayoral primary in New York City, we have seen such candidates lose in most of the country. There are takeaways from Mamdani’s win in New York for every candidate, other than everyone likes things for free. I recommend candidates look at the brilliant way he used social media. That is something Democrats around the country need to learn. People, especially young people, get their news that way these days. Then Democrats must accept the midterm elections are really local elections. They will be about what the local Democratic candidate campaigns on, and the contrast to what the Republican Party is doing for, or in most cases to, the voters in that particular district. 

If Democrats do anything nationally it should be to flood the airwaves with the negatives of Trump’s bill. If done right Democrats will win. Then stop trashing Democrats who don’t agree with you on every issue. Again, stop listening to the likes of Bernie Sanders, who tells people if they don’t like everything about a Democrat, they can vote for an independent. History tells us that only helps Republicans. 

Understand the most important vote any legislator makes is their first one. It determines who will control the legislature. Who will be Speaker of the House, and Majority Leader in the Senate, and most state legislatures. If the vote is for the Democratic leadership, then Democrats control the agenda, and committees. That is how to make a real difference. 

Stop listening to those who claim the Democratic Party is not clear on what it stands for. The Democratic platform has been clear for years. Democrats support equality, unions, working people, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They support the right of women to control their bodies; support equality for the LGBTQ community. Democrats are for a fair immigration policy; doing everything possible to fight climate change, and protect the environment; bringing down prices for groceries, gas, and rent. If Democrats take back control of committees, in both state legislatures, and Congress, they can once again begin to move forward on all those issues. 

So, stop the self-immolation, and attack Republicans. They are the enemy of the people, not a Democrat who you may not agree with on every issue. Try to move forward as a united Democratic Party. If everyone understands and does that, Democrats will win in 2025 and 2026, and will stop the felon in the White House before he totally destroys our country. 


Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist.

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USAID’s demise: America’s global betrayal of trust with LGBTQ people 

Trump-Vance administration dismantled agency after taking office

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Thousands of people on Feb. 5, 2025, gathered outside the U.S. Capitol to protest the Trump-Vance administration's efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Courtesy photo)

The U.S. Agency for International Development — proudly my institutional home for several years of my international development career and an American institutional global fixture since November 1961 — is no more.

How will USAID’s closure impact LGBTQI+ people around the world, especially in poor, struggling countries (“the Global South”)? Time will tell, but “dire,” “appalling,” and “shameful” are appropriate adjectives, given the massive increase in HIV/AIDS deaths that follow the callous, abrupt, and unspeakably cruel cut-off of funding for USAID’s health and humanitarian programming in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care.  

Regarding LGBTQI+ people and issues, USAID worked in a tough neighborhood. In Africa alone, more than 30 countries in which USAID had programming still criminalize same-sex relationships, often to the point of imposing the death penalty. These fiercely anti-LGBTQI+ countries share harsh anti-LGBTQI+ punishments with most countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Other countries where USAID formerly worked retain colonial-era sodomy laws. 

Where did USAID fit into all this turbulence? The agency was not allowed to transgress local laws, so how could it support the human rights of local LGBTQI+ people? USAID did so by building close and trusting relationships with local LGBTQI+ civil society, and by “superpower advocacy” for the universal human rights of all people, including those of us in the queer community.

I served at USAID’s Africa Bureau under the Obama administration, becoming the only openly transgender political appointee in USAID’s history. In that role, I was privileged to have a platform that caught the astounded attention of both queer people and of anti-LGBTQI+ governments around the world. If the president of the United States can elevate a transgender woman to such a senior position within the U.S. government, that open declaration of acceptance, inclusion, worth, and recognition set a precedent that many in the LGBTQI+ community worldwide hoped their countries would emulate. 

Serving as an openly queer person at USAID also afforded me the opportunity to meet with many fiercely anti-LGBTQI+ senior politicians and government officials from African countries who sought USAID funding. Uganda’s first woman speaker of the parliament, Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga and her whole delegation came to see me at USAID in Washington about such funding. I had some very frank (and USAID-approved) “talking points” to share with her and her team about President Obama’s strong and secular commitment to equal human rights for all people. My tense meeting with her was also an opportunity to educate her as to the nature of the transgender, nonbinary, and intersex community — we who are simply classified and discriminated against as “gay” people in Uganda and in most countries in the Global South. I also had the chance to represent USAID in the “inter-agency” LGBTQI+ human rights task team led by openly gay U.S. Ambassador David Pressman, whose effective leadership of that Obama-era initiative was inspirational.

Working closely with professional, capable, and caring USAID career employees such as Ajit Joshi and Anthony Cotton, and with the strong and open support of the USAID Deputy Administrator Don Steinberg, I helped to craft and promote USAID’s very first LGBTQI+ policy. Under President Obama, USAID also created the LGBT Global Development Partnership, a public-private partnership supporting LGBTQI+ civil society groups throughout the Global South. USAID funding also increased for programs promoting LGBTQI+ inclusion, anti-violence, and relevant human rights protections. This programming expanded further (albeit never adequately funded) during the Biden administration under the able leadership of USAID Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator Jay Gilliam and his team. 

So what did it all mean? Has USAID left a footprint for the global LGBTQI+ community? Will its absence matter?

In my view, that answer is an emphatic yes. International development and humanitarian response go to the heart of recognizing, respecting, and caring about universal human dignity. USAID converted those ethical commitments into tangible and meaningful action, again and again, and modelled for the world what it means to truly include all persons. 

My time serving at USAID was a high point of my career, being surrounded by the best of American civil servants and foreign service officers. For me, “USAID Forever” remains my battle cry. Let’s start thinking of how we will rebuild it, beginning in three years.

Chloe Schwenke is a professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

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Community comes together to repair WorldPride history exhibition

Vandals damaged pictures, timeline walls on June 22

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(Photo courtesy Rainbow History Project)

Earlier this month, vandals shouting homophobic slurs damaged the 8-foot hero cubes and timeline walls of the Rainbow History Project’s (RHP) WorldPride exhibition “Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington.” The week’s incident was the fifth homophobic attack on the exhibition chronicling DC’s LGBTQ+ History, the vandalism damage was only made worse by the storms this past week. 

In response, RHP posted a call online for volunteers and donations and over a dozen volunteers showed up on Saturday to repair the exhibition in its final stretch. 

It took three hours, but the group assembled during a heat advisory to bend the fences back into place, fix the cubes and zip tie all the materials together to keep them safe. Some of those who came out to volunteer, Slatt said, were known RHP volunteers but most were total strangers who had attended an event here or there or just wanted to get involved for the first time, one was even in D.C. as an out-of-town guest and after seeing the Instagram call, decided to spend their day lifting some heavy fencing back into place. 

When asked why they showed up, volunteer Abbey said: “especially during Pride month, it’s so important to come together as a community, not just to celebrate, but to support each other. To know that this historic exhibit is even able to exist right now under this administration is really amazing. The fact that we’re just able to help continue it in its last leg of being out here is really important.”

 “Rainbow History Project does a lot of work for the community,” another volunteer Ellie said, “they show up in a lot of ways that I think we really need right now, so in terms of being asked to come out and do a couple hours of lifting, that is something that we can easily support and do.”

 “We put out a call asking for support from the community, and so we didn’t know what we’d get,” Slatt continued, “but strangers have shown up. We were upset, we were crying. We were trying to come up with a battle plan and more and more people have shown up with open arms and empty hands to do this. It’s 95 degrees, we are melting in the heat. It’s just amazing the number of people who have come here.”

If anything, the anonymous exhibit designer said, the people who vandalized the exhibit made the community stronger and mobilized members passionate about preserving and sharing our histories. Their efforts backfired in a big way — bringing together people who had only attended one or two RHP events or had read about the organization online to actively contribute to the work. 

It’s a meaningful representation of the history of D.C.’s LGBTQ+ community, one that often starts with a small group of people who come together to protest but soon mobilize their communities and enact monumental change in the nation’s capital.

“If Pride in D.C. started with 10 people picketing the White House,” Slatt remarked, “you just got 12 more to join the gay history movement.”

This was especially poignant, another volunteer Mattie said, on the week that the Supreme Court issued a decision allowing Tennessee to ban puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors seeking gender affirming care. It was a devastating moment for the LGBTQ+ community who mobilized once more in front of the Supreme Court this past Friday. 

“It’s been actually really important to see this community come together in the face of direct attack on our history in the wake of direct attacks on our rights,” Mattie said, “and we stand up to that. We come together, and we represent. That is so important to maintaining our strength and our community throughout trying times now and ahead.”

When asked about how community members can support RHP’s work and repair the damage long-term to the exhibit, Slatt urged people to donate to RHP, to volunteer as exhibit monitors, and to come visit the exhibit. 

“We’ve been doing this for 25 years. This is our 25th anniversary, and if it weren’t for volunteers donating their time and their talents, if it weren’t for small dollar donors, we would never have gotten anything done,” Slatt said. “I’d say to anyone out there that we are on this plaza all through Independence weekend, we are here through the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, people can come on down.” 

Slatt and other volunteers will be leading tours each evening at 7 p.m. at Freedom Plaza, and people can pre-order the exhibition catalog right now, which will be delivered in time for LGBTQ+ History Month in October. 

Emma Cieslik is a D.C.-based museum worker and public historian.

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