April 2, 2020
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CONTENTS
WORLD PRIDE
Pride season isn’t canceled. It’s moving online with “Global Pride.” By Rhuaridh Marr
RUBY
Casa Ruby’s founder isn’t backing down from the challenges posed by the coronavirus. Instead, Ruby Corado is facing it head-on. Interview by Randy Shulman
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Volume 26 Issue 46
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DIRTBAG DYNASTY
Liars, and ligers, and bears, oh my what a delirious freak show is Netflix’s true crime sensation Tiger King. By André Hereford
SPOTLIGHT: EASY WOMEN SMOKING LOOSE CIGARETTES p.5 IN MEMORY OF TERRENCE MCNALLY p.6 FOOD IT FORWARD p.6 ROUND HOUSE’S PLAYWRIGHTS ON PLAYS p.7 STRATHMORE’S “LIVE FROM THE LIVING ROOM” p.7 SYNETIC STREAMS p.8 VIRTUAL DRAG SHOW p.8 UNNEIGHBORLY p.12 PARTY FOUL p.13 WHAT TO DO IF YOUR PET GETS SICK p.15 POWER IN NUMBERS p.17 MUSIC: DUA LIPA AND SUFJAN STEVENS p.25 SELFIE SCENE p.27 FUN & GAMES: CONTESTS p.29 LAST WORD p.30 Washington, D.C.’s Best LGBTQ Magazine for 25 Years Editorial Editor-in-Chief Randy Shulman Art Director Todd Franson Online Editor at www.metroweekly.com Rhuaridh Marr Senior Editor John Riley Contributing Editors André Hereford, Doug Rule Senior Photographers Ward Morrison, Julian Vankim Contributing Illustrators David Amoroso, Scott G. Brooks Contributing Writers Sean Maunier, Troy Petenbrink, Kate Wingfield Webmaster David Uy Production Assistant Julian Vankim Sales & Marketing Publisher Randy Shulman National Advertising Representative Rivendell Media Co. 212-242-6863 Distribution Manager Dennis Havrilla Patron Saint Emma Corado Cover Photography Divalizeth Murillo Metro Weekly 1775 I St. NW, Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 202-638-6830 All material appearing in Metro Weekly is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced in whole or part without the permission of the publishers. Metro Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials submitted for publication. All such submissions are subject to editing and will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Metro Weekly is supported by many fine advertisers, but we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers, nor can we accept responsibility for materials provided by advertisers or their agents. Publication of the name or photograph of any person or organization in articles or advertising in Metro Weekly is not to be construed as any indication of the sexual orientation of such person or organization.
© 2020 Jansi LLC.
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CHRISTOPHER MUELLER
Spotlight
Signature Theatre’s Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes
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ORCED TO CLOSE ITS WORLD-PREMIERE, sold-out run early due to the onset of COVID-19, Signature Theatre got creative. The Shirlingtonbased company successfully convinced its theater union partners to approve a limited streaming run of the work by D.C. playwright Dani Stoller, which was filmed as a three-camera video production during a live performance. Billed as a “fresh and subversive new comedy” by Signature’s artistic director Eric Schaeffer, Easy Women
Smoking Loose Cigarettes focuses on Marian, the matriarch of a far-flung Jewish family, and her distressed daughter Lee, who interrupts her mother’s life of retirement in Florida after her marriage falls apart. The five-person cast is led by Susan Rome as Marian and Shanara Gabrielle as Lee. Directed by Stevie Zimmerman. Limited online streaming available through midnight on April 12. Virtual tickets are $35. Visit www. sigtheatre.org. —Doug Rule APRIL 2, 2020 • WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM
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TODD FRANSON
Spotlight
STREAMINGS IN MEMORY OF TERRENCE MCNALLY Last week, we lost a towering figure of the American stage and also a true LGBTQ pioneer when Terrence McNally died from complications due to COVID-19 at the age of 81. McNally and his work were a regular presence in Washington, D.C., where he married Tom Kirdahy a decade ago amidst the Kennedy Center’s “Terrence McNally at the Opera” mini-festival of three productions, including a revival of his Tonywinning Master Class starring Tyne Daly. McNally won the first of his four Tonys for his book to the Kander & Ebb musical Kiss of the Spider Woman (the movie, written by Leonard Schraeder, on which the musical is based is available on Amazon Prime). However, it was arguably the play that garnered him a second Tony that solidified his standing as one of the greatest gay playwrights of the AIDS era. The legacy of 1995’s Love! Valour! Compassion! (pictured) lives on today in part as a result of a successful 1997 film adaptation reuniting much of the Broadway cast for a tender yet lighthearted comedy-drama focused on eight gay male friends on vacation together at a lakeside house. The film, starring Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld), Stephen Spinella, John Glover, and Justin Kirk, is available for streaming on Netflix as well as other platforms. For a deeper dive into McNally’s repertoire, L.A. Theatre Works is offering audio
FOOD IT FORWARD
Two local multi-unit restaurant groups have teamed up for a notable partnership with a venerated local charity aiming both to keep restaurant workers employed as well as provide meals for families in need — all driven by public donations. Through the “Food It Forward” initiative, members of the public are encouraged to “buy a meal for those in need,” featuring meals prepared by participating restaurants in the Clyde’s Restaurant Group and Knead Hospitality chains — including Clyde’s, The Hamilton, Old Ebbitt Grill, Succotash and Mi Vida. The food will then be distributed by Martha’s Table to those in need and directly affected by the COVID-19 crisis. “We truly feel blessed by making what we feel is a profound connection,” says John McDonnell, CEO of Clyde’s Restaurant Group. “There are people who want to help. There are people who are desperate for food. There are people who can make this food and need work. Food It Forward is the solution.” A donation of $13 feeds an individual for one night while $54 covers a family of four, with $91 covering an individual’s meals for a week and $378 feeding four for a week. Visit www.fooditforwarddc.com. (DR) 6
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recorded in 2012 of the 1991 play Lips Together, Teeth Apart, focused on two straight couples celebrating the 4th of July surrounded by gays on Fire Island while staying at a beach house where they’re afraid to use the pool after its owner died due to AIDS-related complications. According to the L.A. Theatre Works, McNally “walks a fine line between laughout-loud comedy and truth-telling drama, masterfully bringing to life ghosts of the past as he lays bare secrets of the heart.” The production stars Kristen Johnston (3rd Rock from the Sun), Steven Weber (13 Reasons Why), Missy Yager, and Hugo Armstrong. It is available for free through the end of April. Visit www.latw.org/ remembering-terrence-mcnally. (DR)
Spotlight
ROUND HOUSE’S PLAYWRIGHTS ON PLAYS
Having scrapped the remainder of its traditional production season in the wake of COVID-19, Bethesda’s Round House Theatre has launched an alternate slate of digital programming dubbed Round House at Your House. Among the new offerings is this series featuring Round Houseaffiliated artists engaging in conversation with the company’s literary manager Gabrielle Hoyt, who will interview the artists about their own work and a play of their choice that inspired them. The discussions will be livestreamed to allow participants to submit questions for the playwrights in real-time via comments. The series launches Thursday, April 2, at 7 p.m. with Martyna Majok, whose own Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Cost of Living was originally scheduled to run at Round House in April but has been postponed to September 2021. Subsequent discussions include Tony-winning director Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown) on April 9, Dominique Morisseau (Detroit ’67) on April 16, J.T. Rogers (Oslo) on April 23, Charly Evon Simpson (it’s not a trip it’s a journey) on April 30, Sarah Ruhl (Stage Kiss) on May 7, Tim J. Lord
Clockwise from top left: Majok, Chavkin, Morisseau, Rogers, Simpson, Ruhl and Lord
(“We declare you a terrorist...”) on May 14, and Mfoniso Udofia (Sojourners) on May 28. Visit www.roundhousetheatre.org. (DR)
STRATHMORE’S “LIVE FROM THE LIVING ROOM”
Every Wednesday over the next weeks, Strathmore offers livestreams featuring solo performances of its multi-genre Artists in Residence, both those from the current 2020 class as well as a select few alumni of the esteemed A.I.R. program. Each concert presents bite-sized performances — roughly 20 minutes in length — captured live from the living rooms of local musicians and streamed via Facebook Live starting at 7:30 p.m. The lineup includes folk musician Jake Blount, a fiddler and banjoist steeped in the traditional music of black and indigenous communities of the southeastern U.S. (April 8), Niccolo Seligmann, a gay artist merging the sounds of obscure folk instruments with early classical music (April 15), Christylez Bacon, the celebrated Grammy-nominated progressive hip-hop artist and multi-instrumentalist (April 22), Bumper Jackson Duo, Jess Eliot Myhre and Chris Ousley’s American roots project merging country and jazz (April 29), Josanne Francis (pictured), an acclaimed steelpan musician and educator (May 6), and Mark G. Meadows, a well-known local theater pianist and vocalist (May 13). Call 301581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org. (DR) APRIL 2, 2020 • WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM
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Spotlight
SYNETIC STREAMS
Virginia’s Synetic Theater presents a streaming series in lieu of its regular season, with taped performances of two past staged productions available concurrently. In addition to a signature wordless take on the Brothers Grimm fairytale Hansel & Gretel from 2017 (above), the company presents an encore of last year’s Richard III (right). Another entry in the company’s “Wordless Shakespeare” series, the work delivers the Bard through dance, mime, soundscape, and music, with barely a spoken word. See a Synetic Shakespeare and you will experience an entirely new way of feeling and thinking about his plays. In turning their interpretative eye to Richard III, the story of the power-hungry royal who slaughters his way to the top, the company outdoes itself with a production that is as cleverly literal as it is imaginative. And in typical Synetic fashion, director Paata
Tsikurishvili kicks it to another, out-of-the-box level. Both streaming shows are offered through April 12. Tickets are available at pay-what-youcan rates from $5 to $50 per stream. Visit www. synetictheater.org. (Kate Wingfield)
WERQ THE WORLD LIVESTREAM VIRTUAL DRAG SHOW
This weekend, Bianca Del Rio and Lady Bunny co-host “a massive global fundraiser” touted as “the largest drag show on earth,” one featuring and benefitting entertainers who have lost their livelihood due to the COVID-19 shutdown of bars and nightclubs across America. Presented by Voss Events and produced by the RuPaul’s Drag Race-affiliated company Werq The World, the virtual drag show will feature performances from many Drag Race alum, including Aquaria, Asia O’Hara (right), Gigi Goode, Kameron Michaels, Kim Chi, Plastique, Vanessa “Vanjie” Mateo, Violet Chachki, and Yvie Oddly, all livestreamed from empty venues nationwide. This Saturday, April 4, at 8 p.m., and available for viewing 48 hours afterwards. Register to watch, and donate to drag entertainers, at www.vossevents.com. (DR) 8
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JOSH WILBURNE
theFeed
WORLD PRIDE
Pride season isn’t canceled. It’s moving online with ‘Global Pride.’ By Rhuaridh Marr
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RIDE ORGANIZATIONS AROUND THE WORLD are collaborating to offer Global Pride, an online-only event to replace the dozens of Pride celebrations that have been canceled or postponed due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Scheduled for June 27, 2020, Global Pride will use digital platforms to “deliver a Pride in which everyone can participate, wherever they are in the world,” according to a press release. Global Pride will be a live-stream featuring musical performances, speeches, and messages from key human rights activists. It has been organized by InterPride, the European Pride Organisers Association, and national organizations from the U.S., Canada, U.K. and other nations. “We need community and connection more than ever,” J. Andrew Baker, Co-President of Interpride, said in a statement. “This gives us an opportunity to both connect and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community’s resilience in the face of this pandemic and the true spirit of Pride. “Pride 2020 represents a milestone for Pride events, with many honoring the 50th anniversary of their first gatherings and marches, such as New York to the first Gandhinagar Pride this year and we would not let that pass without recognition and celebration.” “Annual Pride events in the United States engage and unite 20 million people who gather to celebrate the strength and resilience of the LGBTQIA+ community and to raise awareness for social justice and equal rights of all individuals,” said Ron deHarte, Co-President of the United States Association of Prides. “Through the pain and disruption
caused by the novel coronavirus, we will deliver a virtual message of hope, comfort, love and we will have an opportunity to show our appreciation to first responders everywhere.” Kristine Garina, President of the European Pride Organisers Association and Chair of Baltic Pride in Riga, Latvia, said that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic “won’t stop us from coming together as a united, strong LGBTQIA+ community to celebrate who we are and what we stand for.” “Global Pride will show the LGBTQIA+ movement for the very best it can be, showing solidarity at a time when so many of us are mourning and strength when so many of us are feeling isolated and lonely,” Garina said. “Above all, we will show our resilience and determination that Pride will be back bigger and stronger than ever before.” More details on Global Pride are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, with organizers noting that responding to COVID-19 and the ongoing global crisis it presented was key. On March 30, the Capital Pride Association announced that the Capital Pride Parade and Festival has been postponed due to concerns regarding coronavirus. Capital Trans Pride and Asian and Pacific Islander Pride have also been postponed, while DC Black Pride has been canceled and will return in 2021. Other partnered events including Youth Pride, Silver Pride, and DC Latinx Pride will be “similarly postponed or canceled,” with new dates for all postponed events to be announced in the coming weeks. “Like our fellow Pride organizers around the world, the Capital Pride Alliance has been monitoring the escalating APRIL 2, 2020 • WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM
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theFeed impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and has determined that the safest course of action will be to postpone all planned Capital Pride events in May and June,” Ryan Bos, Executive Director of Capital Pride Alliance, said in a statement. “Throughout, we have worked and will continue to work
closely with our federal, state, and local partners as we make decisions to ensure the safety of the entire community,” Bos said. “We will collaborate with all the agencies and our partner Prides to identify new dates and potentially new ways that our community can come together in Pride.” l
UNNEIGHBORLY
Gay couple told to leave home because ‘homosexuals are contaminated by COVID-19.’ By Rhuaridh Marr
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RENCH POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING AFTER A gay couple in Marseilles were told to leave their apartment because “homosexuals are the first to be contaminated” by the COVID-19 coronavirus. David, a 33-year-old caregiver, told LGBTQ magazine TÊTU that his partner, an Uber Eats driver, found the note on the windshield of their car while leaving for work. “Could you please leave the residence because we know that you homosexuals are the first to be contaminated with COVID-19,” the note read. “This is the first warning.” The men took the note to their local police department, but were allegedly told that it was “not a threat but a warning,” and told to file a report. After posting the note to his Facebook page, David said he was contacted by Bordeaux Police’s LGBT division, which told him to file a complaint online. “[They] told us that they were going to make sure it was treated, that maybe they could recover the DNA, analyze the writing,” David said. According to David, the couple lives in a “secure residence” in the city, which lies on the southern coast of France and has been on lockdown due to COVID-19 since March 16. David believes the note was written by someone in their building, with access to their car, and “with whom we’ve had little neighborhood problems,” including the resident reportedly filing a complaint against a newly married Muslim couple for playing “oriental music.” “I think he is a person without intelligence and education,” David said. “I think this person is certainly religious and that he truly believes in what he says…. To [write] bullshit like that, you have to believe it.” David said he feels particularly targeted, due to what he called an increase in threats and anger directed against his colleagues at the hospital where he works. “It affects me doubly, I’m a carer and I’m gay,” he said. “I can understand that, psychologically, it’s hard to be locked up at home, I think there are some who crack a little…. Personally, I didn’t expect to receive a word like that about
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my sexuality. I had never been confronted with homophobia in my life.” He told TÊTU that, despite the intervention of Bordeaux’s LGBT police division, he is “not reassured.” “I’m looking a little more behind me,” David said. “My spouse has a strong character, he’s pretty fiery. I’m pretty calm. I wonder what it’s going to be like next time. Are they going to smash my car? Are they going to wait for me downstairs?” While gay people are not the “first to be contaminated” with COVID-19, LGBTQ groups have warned that LGBTQ people are “particularly vulnerable” to coronavirus because of a number of issues, including increased rates of smoking among LGBTQ people, higher rates of HIV and cancer, and healthcare discrimination. However, health advocates have noted that people living with HIV who have an undetectable viral load due to regularly taking antiretrovirals do not have any more severe reactions to COVID-19 than those without HIV. A number of conservative and religious figures have attempted to blame LGBTQ people for COVID-19 coronavirus. Last month, White House-credentialed broadcaster Rick Wiles claimed that the death of an LGBTQ lawyer who contracted COVID-19 was God’s “judgment.” In January, he said that it was sent by God to “purge” gay people. Earlier in March, a Tennessee pastor said coronavirus was a “reckoning” from God because of marriage equality. And that same week, a guest host on The Rush Limbaugh Show said gay people are the reason San Francisco was placed on lockdown due to the virus. Conservative author Mark Steyn said the city’s mayor didn’t want “all the gays dropping dead” in a “big gay apocalypse,” and said gay people are “the ones with all the compromised immune systems from all the protease inhibitors and all the other stuff.” And an Orthodox rabbi in Israel and an American pastor both claimed in March that coronavirus was divine punishment for allowing LGBTQ people to exist. l
theFeed
PARTY FOUL
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Gay ‘Twinks4Trump’ founder held a ‘Corona Potluck’ party to spread coronavirus. By Rhuaridh Marr
GAY TRUMP SUPPORTER AND ALT-RIGHT FIGure threw a party to try and spread the COVID-19 coronavirus. The New York Post reports that Lucian Wintrich, 31, held a “Corona Potluck” party in his New York City apartment earlier this month to try and spread the virus and build herd immunity. Wintrich — who created “Twinks4Trump” in 2016 to try and encourage gay people to support Donald Trump — is a former White House-credentialed journalist who wrote for far-right website Gateway Pundit until he was fired in 2018 after appearing on a white nationalist podcast. An invitation for the party distributed to his friends contained an image of a fork impaled in a coronavirus spore, and implored: “‘They can’t diagnose us all!’ Dont [sic] wash your hands, bring your fav dish!” Wintrich seemed to believe that attendees would be absolutely fine if they did contract the virus, ignoring the fact that, while older people are more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19, people of all ages can die if they become infected. “The majority of folks I invited, if they got it, would recover fairly quickly and build up an immunity to the present form of COVID19,” he told the Post. “It was relatively inspired by the chickenpox parties that were all the rage in the 90s.” The party took place on March 14, after Broadway had already been shut down because of concerns over the spread of COVID-19, and only hours before New York implemented social distancing measures to try and slow the spread of the virus. Twenty people reportedly attended the party. One attendee opted — perhaps wisely — to speak anonymously to the Post, invoking World War II to justify their recklessness. “When Britain was being bombed by Nazi Germany during the blitz, they kept the fucking stores open. People went about their lives,” the party-goer said. “We get a flu… and we shut everything down…. We have completely handed over our civil liberties…and anyone who wants to go out and live a normal life is semi-ostracized.” Despite Wintrich’s invitation and the party’s intentions, he claimed that attendees wouldn’t deliberately infect vulnerable people.
“The quarantine, itself, is serious to a degree,” he said. “I wouldn’t hang around folks over the age of 50 and risk infecting the more vulnerable.” As of press time, New York State has over 65,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and has recorded more than 1,200 deaths due to the virus. After losing his job with Gateway Pundit, Wintrich is now a professional troll who peddles far-right and racist views for attention — akin to Milo Yiannopoulos, the gay altright figure and Trump supporter — LGBTQ Nation reports.
He was arrested in 2017 for allegedly assaulting a woman at a speech he gave at UConn titled “It’s Ok to Be White,” where he made a series of racist comments and decried “illegal immigrant tranny migrants.” The charges against him were later dropped. Prior to being fired from Gateway Pundit, Wintrich boasted of his connections to the Trump White House, including claiming that he was on an email chain with Ivanka Trump in an interview with NBC News in 2017. He also suggested fears that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions might rescind Obama-era protections for transgender students were unfounded. “With Betsy DeVos and with Sessions, I haven’t seen them propose any anti-gay policies, I haven’t seen them do anything within the administration to hamper LGBTQ rights, so I think these are completely unfounded worries,” he said. A few days after that interview was published, DeVos and Sessions rescinded the protections — something DeVos later admitted she knew would harm trans youth. l
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NADEZHDA V. KULAGINA
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR PET GETS SICK Animal hospitals and local vets are balancing emergency care with social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. By John Riley
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URING THIS TIME, WHEN WE’RE SOCIALLY DIStancing due to COVID-19, animals still have health needs, just like we do,” says veterinarian Sarah Bowman, co-owner of CityPaws Animal Hospital in Washington, D.C. “By staying open, we want to be able to provide that care to our patients. “While normally veterinary professionals — especially here at CityPaws — pride ourselves on face-to-face meetings and in-person discussions with clients, we’ve been forced to adapt,” she continues. “For the safety of our team as well as for our clients, we’ve gone to curbside service. So what we’re doing is more of a ‘handoff’ outside the hospital.” For instance, if a pet gets severely sick — say, from eating something that causes gastrointestinal distress — owners are encouraged to pull up outside the hospital and call the front desk, who will transfer the call to the vet and their assistants. An assistant will take down all relevant medical history, and then come to the car to bring the pet inside. The vet will then examine the pet and call the client, communicating via speakerphone while the exam is underway. “We do the exam and discuss what’s happening with the patient, what their needs are, and any medical recommendations,” says Bowman. “So we are still able to provide the same level of care. It’s just that our communications are more via phone versus face-to-face. That way we’re able to keep our team safe so we can stay open for business by minimizing [human] interactions for our team.” In worst-case scenarios, where older or sicker pets need to be euthanized, CityPaws will allow owners in the building, but will take extra precautions to avoid opportunities for trans-
mission of COVID-19 between humans. “It’s hard because we completely understand the sadness of that situation and how upsetting it is for people,” Bowman says. “We also want to be respectful of end-of-life scenarios. So that is the one exception to our rule of no clients in the building, because we recognize that that’s not something anybody would want their animal to go through on their own if they didn't have to.” CityPaws isn’t the only hospital practicing social distancing and offering “curbside service.” Christine Klippen, an emergency veterinarian at the Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington’s Tenleytown neighborhood, says that their management team has taken steps to limit human-to-human contact in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, even as they remain open 24 hours a day. “We are encouraging owners to call the hospital first, or email or use our live chat options, to determine if their pet needs to be seen, either as a sick appointment versus a true emergency,” Klippen says. “There is a lot of talking to owners on the phone and getting their history if we are scheduling appointments.” On Monday, Friendship decided to shut down its general surgery services in order to focus on more serious or life-threatening illnesses, and to conserve personal protective equipment used by staff. Elective procedures, including neuters, spays, and routine dental visits, have been postponed for the time being. “Inside the hospital, we are attempting our very best to practice social distancing ourselves,” adds Klippen. “We are thoroughly cleaning the hospital, and spreading out into areas that may not have been used for medical purposes in the past. Our lunch room has turned into a workspace area for doctors and veterinary support staff so that we can type up our records, APRIL 2, 2020 • WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM
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answer the phone, and keep ourselves safe.” Even JD Warford, owner and sole practitioner at DC MetroVet, which provides house call vet services for dogs and cats, has been forced to cut back on routine visits. “Since we're strictly a house call practice, we're a little different than a lot of clinics,” Warford says. “With the cutback, we’re trying to have people hold off on routine visits, although some pets do need vaccine updates because of requirements based on where the owners live, so we're trying to work with that. We’re doing more phone consults and video conferencing and we'll be offering that more over the next few months to our existing clients. “Mostly we’re limiting our visits for in-home pets that are sick,” Watford says. “If they’re urgently sick, we’re requiring that they go or contact their local clinics. And we do a lot of in-home palliative care consults and euthanasias for old, sick pets or pets that are dying from some sort of illness. We want to make sure we can maintain that.” If a person is sick or has been in the past 14 days — whether or not from COVID-19 — Warford is not scheduling any in-house appointments. “We’re doing a lot of our intake questions ahead of time by phone or email so we can show up, do exactly what we need to do with the pet, with the owner at a required distance away. And then, what I do is contact them by phone or email, after we leave, to follow up with what we need to do next.” All three vets note that while dogs and cats can suffer from their own form of coronavirus, based on testing done by the veterinary lab IDEXX, there hasn’t been any evidence showing that pets are contracting COVID-19-related illnesses. That said, Klippen notes, various health organizations are advising those
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who have tested positive for COVID-19 to avoid close contact with their pets, because their fur could act as a surface that could carry the germs. With people lodged in place due to the recent’s recent executive “stay at home” orders, owners may notice a change in their pet’s lifestyle, such as changes in appetite, drinking, or behavior. But that doesn’t necessarily mean their pet is ill. “Pets may be a little confused because they are very routine-oriented, and when we change that up, it can cause some anxiety,” says Warford. “Probably more than anything what this social distancing is doing is allowing pet owners to be home more with their pets, and they start to notice more things.” “If people are not clear on, ‘Hey, should I bring my pet in? Does this sound like a medical issue that needs to be seen or not?’, they should contact their veterinarian,” says Bowman. “Or they could contact our veterinary technicians for what we call a ‘tech triage,’ where they have a conversation with a client and decide if there is something simple that you could do at home for the next 12 hours where it doesn’t require you to come running in the door, or if this is an issue where we would recommend an appointment. That’s always a good resource for people.” l CityPaws Animal Hospital has two locations, at 1823 14th St. NW, and at 3513 Connecticut Ave. NW, inside Sam’s Park & Shop. For more information, visit www.citypawsanimalhospital.com. Friendship Animal Hospital is located at 4105 Brandywine St. NW. For more information, visit www.friendshiphospital.com. For more information on DC MetroVet, visit www.dcmetrovet.com.
POWER IN NUMBERS The Task Force’s “Queer the Census” campaign is designed to help ensure all LGBTQ Americans are counted. By John Riley
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N WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, THE NATIONAL LGBTQ Task Force celebrated Census Day, a day meant to urge Americans to “stand up and be counted” by the U.S. Government. The Task Force furiously engaged its followers on social media and set up a virtual phone bank (stay at home!) for those with questions about filling out the massive survey. Conducted every ten years, the Census, which is administered by the U.S. Census Bureau, is constitutionally mandated. Shifts in population result in changes to each state’s representation at the federal level. The results are used to assign seats in Congress and state legislatures based on population trends. They’re also used in redistricting, in which lawmakers “draw lines” in states to create areas with relatively equal numbers of residents. Those areas determine the balance of political power, both federally and locally, until the next Census in 2030. “If [LGBTQ people are] not counted in the Census,” says Meghan Maury, Policy Director of the Task Force, “it’s harder for us to build that political power we need to make changes to anything — from what types of questions will be on the next Census to whether or not we have access to nondiscrimination protections.” The Census asks each U.S. resident’s age, sex, racial and ethnic background, and religion, among other characteristics, but it does not inquire about sexual orientation or gender identity. (It does allow people to indicate whether they are involved in a same-sex marriage or relationship.) Maury notes that while the Census contains no LGBTQ-specific questions — by design, courtesy of the Trump administration and a compliant Congress — there’s a “bigger picture” for LGBTQ folks to consider. “The Census is used to allocate about a trillion and a half dollars of federal funding every year for programs like SNAP [food stamps], Medicaid, public housing, HIV programs, homelessness services, and scores of other things that LGBTQ people are disproportionally likely to need,” says Maury. “If we’re not
filling out and getting counted in the census, it means that our communities aren’t getting the money they need to provide those services to LGBTQ people. “It’s also used to make every day decisions about our communities on a local level,” they continue. “When a community is trying to figure out where to put bus routes or where to open a new grocery store, they rely on census data. We need to be counted so that our communities are built in ways that make sense for us.” While data on LGBTQ response rates is difficult to come by, traditionally the types of groups who may be undercounted include people of color, low-income earners, renters, people in rural areas, people experiencing housing instability, or members of other marginalized communities. Says Maury: “We know that LGBTQ people are disproportionately represented in all those communities, so we know our folks are less likely to respond because they also hold those other traits that are trackable.” Maury hopes the Task Force’s campaign to “Queer the Census” by enlisting LGBTQ people to pledge to complete it, will provide a better understanding of how our democracy works. “A lot of us feel so disempowered because of how the government is treating LGBTQ people, people of color, religious minorities,” they say. “But there are tools we can use — like the Census — that give us a little more power in our democracy and allow us to build the future we want to see.” l For information about the Task Force’s ongoing “Queer the Census” campaign, visit www.thetaskforce.org/queerthecensus. To participate in the U.S. Census, visit www.2020census.gov. APRIL 2, 2020 • WWW.METROWEEKLY.COM
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Ruby Casa Ruby’s founder isn’t backing down from the challenges posed by the coronavirus. Instead, Ruby Corado is facing it head-on. Inter view by Randy Shulman
“I sleep in chunks,” says the founder and driving force behind Casa Ruby. “If I get a call for help at three in the morning, more than likely I will be awake. If not, my phone is always on.” Corado is always on. Tireless, big-hearted, and emotionally generous, she’s become a role model for the local LGBTQ community. Casa Ruby, the organization she founded in 2004, has grown over the years to offer an impressive array of services and programs, many of which are devoted to the most disenfranchised within the LGBTQ community. In addition to a 24-hour drop-in service, Casa Ruby operates three distinct shelter and housing programs targeted to people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. The center also offers preventative health services, social services, and therapeutic and mental health services for victims of violence. It hosts a dedicated Trans Life Center, providing hot meals, clean clothing, computer access, and legal support for those in the process of gender transition. It was in the late 1980s that Corado left her home country of El Salvador for a new life in the United States. “I decided I needed to leave when I saw that my life was in danger for political and sexual orientation reasons,” she said in a 2006 cover interview with Metro Weekly. She did not make her transition until 1992, a decade after landing in D.C., but it coincided with a rise in 18
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her activism, a spirit that drove her career choices. Eventually, Casa Ruby became her true calling. “I am a caregiver,” she says. “I protect people, especially the people that are inside Casa Ruby.” Lately, the organization has been working overtime to meet the demands of its clientele while navigating the coronavirus pandemic. “I’ve aged in the last two weeks alone,” she said during a recent phone call. Still, despite her own at-risk status with regard to COVID-19 (she is both HIV-positive and a diabetic), the 50-year-old has thrown her full force into caring for her “kids.” “I call everybody a kid,” she laughs. “I have 63 adults who are like my damn kids. We have a little bit over 100 that are currently sleeping at all of our facilities.” Despite the uncertainty and intensity of the current situation in the D.C. area, Corado is determined to help as much as possible. As an organization that provides essential services, Casa Ruby is open and staffed, though extreme safety precautions are in place. She cares equally for her staff — she sent anyone with so much as a sniffle home weeks before the pandemic erupted — as much as her clients. Her underlying philosophy is one of ensuring that no one ever need feel alone. “The one promise I make — and that I have never broken — is that people who come to Casa Ruby no longer have to struggle
DIVALIZETH MURILLO
These days, Ruby Corado doesn’t get much sleep.
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alone,” says Corado. “There are people who come to Casa Ruby in their worst moments. People who survived suicide — and the hospital, instead of throwing them on the streets, sends them to me. There are people who come here from incarceration. There are people who get shot and they need to be saved. There are people who get raped, there are people who survive overdose. They come to Casa Ruby. And guess what? I haven't broken that promise. Because the one thing I know is, while I can't get them everything immediately, I will. I will get them something at some point. The one promise I make to them is they don't have to struggle alone. I keep my promise.” METRO WEEKLY: Tell us a little bit about Casa Ruby’s mission. RUBY CORADO: Casa Ruby is a 24-hour crisis intervention safe
space for LGBTQ people in the DMV. We address the unmet needs of LGBTQ people, especially those who are transgender, gender non-conforming, gender non-binary. People always ask me, "What do you mean by that?" And I say, "Well, our gay people are really gay. And our lesbians are really very lesbian." They are people who normally wouldn't fit in, in cisgender or in heteronormative America. MW: How long have you been operating? CORADO: This has been my work of 27 years, starting in 1992. I started the agency in 2004. I registered with the IRS in 2006 and I opened the first center in 2012. So we're going on eight years
small businesses, and still find time to come and drop off food at Casa Ruby. [Miss Pixie’s owner] Pixie [Windsor has] been a big supporter of Casa Ruby and she brings food every weekend in her own car. So I believe it’s because the organization still has the spirit of being grassroots. But we do impact the national agenda in this country — we continue to be a local organization that supports pretty much the rest of the country. Casa Ruby not only supports LGBTQ people in need from the DMV, we have people from all over the country. We have people from different countries who Google LGBTQ, and we pop on their search and they dream that one day that they’ll make it to us. MW: You're a beacon, in some respects. CORADO: I would say that we are. I have always said this: I believe in dreams. There were many times in my life where my reality was a living nightmare. It was very difficult surviving as a young, at times homeless, kid. But I believe in dreams. I really believe that your life will be better one day. And I’ve always said dreams become bigger when other people dream with you. I feel that is the Casa Ruby story. People dream that marginalized people, that homeless people, that people who are vulnerable, also have the chance to turn their life around. Usually, I have a booth at Pride, and there's lots of kids who come in with their parents and always donate $2. And these kids who are in LGBTQ families say to me, "We love Casa Ruby."
“I believe in dreams. There were many times in my life where my reality was a living nightmare. But I really believe that your life will be better one day. And
of an actual space that grew from a 200-square-foot little office space down on Georgia Avenue, to now having a 22,000-squarefoot facility in Upper Northwest. MW: That's incredible. CORADO: Well, I thank the community, who has been with me since day one. It would have never happened without community support — the doors that people opened for me, the people who really made it possible. Right now at this time, I still get calls from those original supporters. They're like, "Is everything okay?" I'm like, "Yes." They still donate $10, $20 here and there. The people of this city make Casa Ruby what it is today, and they continue to support it. MW: The community has great affection for Casa Ruby. What about your organization specifically unlocks people’s hearts? CORADO: I founded this organization to be a grassroots organization. And we continue to be a grassroots organization, which means that we have thousands of $5 donors. We have thousands of $10, $20 donors. When we talk about the big fundraisers, we are not there yet. We have very few major donors. But we do have lots of people. We have people on 14th Street who have 20
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We have donors in Fairfax, we have donors in Prince George’s County. They don't necessarily directly need the services of Casa Ruby, but they know that they are contributing to making the lives of someone better. And that shows me how it's not just about the everyday work of Casa Ruby, which is crucial for so many people, but it's also an opportunity for other people to also be involved. And I love that part. It really fills my heart because I may not have the $20,000 donors yet, but I know that I have thousands of $1 and $5 donors, and that makes me feel special. MW: What's your occupancy right now? CORADO: Right now we have over one hundred youth and adults who are sleeping in our facilities. And we have about 230 people who have come on a daily basis just for food, or just for emotional support, just to say hi. We are not limiting services, but we are [stopping] the big group activities. The blessing is that we have four facilities, including one in Southeast. Our main operation is out of the 22,000 footage facility that we have in Northwest. We have a huge patio in the back. We have a huge parking lot in the front. It is a blessing because the building really can accommodate a lot of people and they
DIVALIZETH MURILLO
I’ve always said dreams become bigger when other people dream with you.”
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don't have to be in one tiny facility breathing on each other. MW: How did you prepare for the current crisis we’re in? CORADO: I've been doing crisis response for many, many years. So I am very aware that preparation is key. When I heard that the epidemic was in China, I said it's just a moment — just a moment — before it will hit the United States. And I started preparing. I started calling my contacts. We had a donor who was aware that the Gaylord Hotel was going to be distributing some food that they were not going to use and I got 100 pans of protein, food that actually now I have in about eight freezers in the building and that I can use every day to feed people. I have food banks that, when they're going to throw out the food, they call us. They call us in the evening, and they're like, "Hey, we got some food for you." Right now, we're limiting some of the donations to actual food, cleaning, and hygienic products. And we're not taking too
How am I going to keep the doors open? How am I going to run the daily operations? And on top of that having an immunocompromised system? I think the power of my mind is saying, "You know what, I'm going to be fine." I prepared myself. So I'm not scared. I am taking every precaution. I have my mask, I have my hand sanitizer, I have my wipes. I am wiping all the doorknobs in cars. I am very aware of what I need to do. I do limit my contact with people that I don't know. Maybe this is a false sense of safety, but I feel that I am fine. Today, I am okay. And today the people at Casa Ruby are okay. We don't have any cases. MW: You have a shelter, and presumably an abundant need for things like toilet paper. How did you feel when you watched the news and saw people literally filling their supermarket carts with more toilet paper than they could possibly need, taking that resource from others? CORADO: I'm so glad you brought this point. Let me tell you how
“I've been doing crisis response for many, many years. So I am very aware that preparation is key. When I heard that the epidemic was in China,
I said it's just a moment before it will hit the United States. And I started preparing.” much clothing and stuff like that because we also must practice the social isolation model, which means we are trying to limit the number of people that come to Casa Ruby. I have never been a super freak when it comes to cleaning. But I'll tell you everybody here is in cleaning mode. We're trying to [keep] the place safe for the people who live at Casa Ruby. We don't want anybody who comes to Casa Ruby to get [infected with] anything. So we are limiting the interaction. I want to make sure that we continue to stay open. A lot of preparation. MW: If people want to donate something to you right now, clothing is not the way to go? CORADO: What they can do is prepare it. Make sure that they bag it, they box it, and they keep it for when we do have the opportunity to have access to it. Because we're going to go back to normal life sooner rather than later. At that point, it will be needed. MW: How are you caring for yourself? CORADO: I'm a person who is living with HIV. I am a person who has a compromised immune system. And just about two weeks ago I became a full-blown diabetic. So I want to make sure that people who have underlying conditions are my top priority. A lot of people have called in sick. I want them to be safe. I have people who are on my staff who have issues with their heart that I say, "Hey, go home. Go home." I want to make sure that they stay home. I haven't gotten sick. I think about the power of our minds. I think how powerful we are as human beings. I have incredible amounts of stress. How am I going to keep the food coming? 22
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disappointed and frustrated I am. I drove this week to probably ten Ace Hardware stores to buy four toilet papers. I went from Northeast to Northwest. I think I hit them all. I was only able to buy four rolls. And the mask — the N95 — I could only buy four. I saw people walking out with four masks — individual — and I'm like, “Why do you need four?” Here I am with over 100 employees and I need to make sure that when someone walks through the door who we don't know if they are sick or having symptoms, I need them to be safe. So it is very frustrating. People really just are not caring. I think when people do care, they share. And very often we are not attuned to be sharing in our communities, and that's why people do this. MW: Do you think Americans are by nature selfish? CORADO: There are a large number of Americans who are extremely self-centered, selfish, and think that they deserve everything. But I'm a big believer that there are good people in the world. And I'm just going to make it very clear: when I talked about fundraising earlier, I don't get a big chunk of how much money is raised in this city. But I do get those people who are very conscious. Sometimes all they have is $5. But guess what? They share that $5 with me. Those are the people who really can change the world. l For more information about Casa Ruby, visit www.casaruby.org. To make a donation to Casa Ruby, visit www.casaruby.org/donate.
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Television
Dirtbag Dynasty Liars, and ligers, and bears, oh my what a delirious freak show is Netflix’s true crime sensation Tiger King. By André Hereford
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OE EXOTIC, THE SELF-PROCLAIMED “GAY, GUN-CARRYING REDNECK with a mullet” and star attraction of the hit Netflix docu-series Tiger King (HHHHH), seems to have been rehearsing all his life for this moment in the spotlight. Back in 2013, on the short-lived NatGeo reality show Animal Intervention, even among the kooks and criminals hounded by host Alison Eastwood for abusing and exploiting wild animals, Joe Exotic stood out for his bleached blonde ’do and cultivated brand of big-talking showmanship. As if a mad scientist had tossed Chuck Norris, P.T. Barnum, and Rip Taylor in a blender — then tossed that blender into a bag of crystal meth — Joe Exotic (a.k.a. Joe Schreibvogel a.k.a. Joe Maldonado Passage) was an original creation destined for infamy. Tiger King offers an entertaining if lurid chronicle of the “murder, mayhem, and madness” that got him there. Of course, the exotic animals — including tigers, lions, ligers, bears, chimpanzees, and wolves — that Joe caged, exhibited, bred, and sold at his Oklahoma zoo were his major meal ticket. But directors Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode devote precious little running time of the series’ seven episodes to anyone’s concern for the animals’ well-being. Rather, Tiger King, as the show pointedly acknowledges in its finale episode, can’t 24
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help focusing on the human menagerie of cons, crooks, wild animal exploiters, and possible cult leaders and killers who got wrapped up in Joe’s years-long feud with his sworn nemesis, Tampa-based animal rights activist Carole Baskin. Direction and editing firmly posit cantankerous Joe and cheerful, smiling Carole as antagonists who fueled each other, and, perhaps, deserved each other. Founder and CEO of Big Cat Rescue sanctuary, Carole and her husband Howard mobilize massive PR and private investigative resources towards putting Joe’s operation out of business. Meanwhile, Joe makes sure the whole world knows that Carole conceals a not so cheerful past, marked by less animal-friendly practices and her own deadly mystery worth investigating. continues on page 26
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Music
Early Birds
Two unexpected early releases from Dua Lipa and Sufjan Stevens provide welcome escapes. By Sean Maunier
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ITH ITS MEMORABLE SONGWRITING, DISTINCT VOCALS, AND instantly relatable defiant tone, Dua Lipa’s first album left some weighty expectations. When “Physical” dropped earlier this year, we got a small taste of what was coming, and anyone who was paying attention could tell we were probably in for something fantastic. Although it rightly made an impression when it came out, “Physical,” while excellent, is only one of several incredible, highly memorable tracks. By any measure, Lipa has outdone herself with Future Nostalgia (HHHHH), upping her game with a greater range, an expanded musical pallet, and a whole lot of disco-pop brilliance. Future Nostalgia turns out to have been an apt title. From the crisp synths of “Cool” to the funky bass guitar of “Pretty Please” to the dreamy, kitschy space-rock of “Levitating,” Lipa seems to have had a lot of fun playing with the very concept of nostalgia — virtually every track on the album leans on references and callbacks, from the more recent past to eras and trends she was not even alive for. The stunning “Love Again,” the clear standout in an album full of standouts, owes much of its success to a brilliantly used trumpet sample copped from Al Bowlly, by way of White Town’s 1997 hit, “Your Woman.”
As much fun as Lipa is having here, the lyrics themselves often land quite heavily. Even the more playful “Pretty Please” and “Good In Bed” carry a sense of urgent physicality under their catchy, upbeat tone. She leaves the most arresting track for the very end, though, with “Boys Will Be Boys” calling out the regressive attitudes that, to paraphrase, allow boys to be boys but force girls to be women — in her words, the “sick intuition that they taught us so we won’t freak out.” Colorful, joyful, and demanding to be danced to from beginning to end, Dua Lipa’s sophomore album in many ways arrived at both the best and worst possible time. Obviously, an LP takes months to craft and this one would have come out with or without a pandemic raging. Still, an album that makes this strong an impres-
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sion arriving in the middle of one of the most fraught, unusual periods in living memory is going to sound like a product of its time. Having landed on the leading edge of fear and uncertainty, Future Nostalgia provides a welcome release. At a time when we are unable to go out and gather together, we can at least put on the best dancepop of the year so far and feel some much-needed joy. EVERY DAY, SUFJAN STEVENS SEEMS to drift farther away from his original brand as a doe-eyed indie-folk icon. Then again, he is long removed from his days penning the twee, folksy tributes to the midwest that he is perhaps best known for. These days, Stevens is probably best described as an experimentalist. In the last few years, he has been behind projects as diverse as sentimental ballads about Tonya Harding or sprawling, orchestral tributes to his Olympian ex-lovers, and, for good measure, picked up an Oscar nomination along the way. Even in Stevens’ eclectic discography, Aporia (HHHHH) truly stands out. A collaboration with his stepfather Lowell Brams, the entirely instrumental album is two-faced — soothing and meditative, but carrying a palpable sense of tension woven throughout. For
Stevens, whose lyrics are notably evocative, confessional yet enigmatic, richly layered with subtext and overt text, this album is an unusual outlier in that it eschews lyrics altogether. The only hint that it comes from Stevens at all is the vocal sampling, and even then, it would be difficult to recognize if we did not already know he was the one behind Aporia. Despite being such a departure from the familiar for Stevens, as an instrumental album, Aporia mostly succeeds. Certain tracks, such as “Agathon” and “Ataraxia,” hint at post-rock influence, while others such as “Glorious You” and “Captain Praxis” lean towards a certain flavor of atmospheric electronica, somewhere between Tycho and Boards of Canada. Owing partly to the short track lengths, it has enough ebb and flow to remain interesting and manages to establish its own coherent voice. Aporia builds a sonic landscape that is not quite captivating enough to get lost in, but is nonetheless an interesting listen, as well an enjoyable and soothing ride from beginning to end. l
Aporia and Future Nostalgia are available on most streaming services, including Spotify and Apple Music, and for sale on www.Amazon.com. continued from page 24
Theirs becomes an ugly war, and Joe fights dirty. He makes a running joke of threatening her life, and firing his gun at a dummy named Carole as part of his act. At one point, he gleefully reads incriminating entries allegedly from Carole’s diary on his internet talk show — which, based on the footage, spent an inordinate amount of time broadcasting his hatred for her. Both sides stage protests and counter-protests of each other’s parks, fight over cats and cubs, logos and copyrights, trade lawsuits, and ultimately, somebody starts plotting murder. The pattern of escalation registers as a sad indictment of Joe Exotic’s character and crisis management skills. But a sadder indictment for all of humanity might be that, as horribly as Joe comes off in this series, he doesn’t necessarily represent the bottom of the barrel among the scramble of rats and snakes comprising Tiger King’s cast of characters. Joe’s friend and fellow big cat keeper “Doc” Antle, the owner of Myrtle Beach Safari, distinguishes himself with his own distinctive hairdo, boiling hatred of Carole, and harem of helper wives, all of whom started off as teenage female apprentices before Doc “mentored,” seduced, then renamed them. Then there’s Joe’s angel investor Jeff Lowe, a grifting phony at best, according
to what comes to light here, and a murderous, backstabbing wife-abuser, if we’re to believe the worst. We can laugh at Joe’s gift shop promos for Tiger King sex gel, at his failed 2016 Presidential campaign, or at any of the mind-boggling music videos for his alleged country songs, but it’s disheartening to peer so close-up at him and his cronies, the sort of people who meet at an Applebee’s to plot their enemy’s downfall. Not even relatively innocent bystanders like Joe’s two hard-partying husbands, John and Travis, emerge with clean hands. Poor John doesn’t emerge with half his real teeth, thanks to all the crystal meth. The show carefully introduces its ever-expanding cast of associates, employees, and current and former husbands via interviews and well-sourced footage, as the filmmakers explode at least one head-snapping, bombshell reveal by the tail-end of each episode. The aforementioned Animal Intervention poured more true animal love into a single segment than Tiger King musters in seven episodes, but this all-American tragicomedy compels by keeping its eyes on the impending trainwreck of oh-so-human greed, ego, and evil. The show might just make a cult idol out of Joe Exotic yet — although he might not be in much position these days to enjoy it. l
Tiger King is available for streaming on Netflix. Visit www.netflix.com. 26
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SelfieScene
Be Scene! Take a selfie, and make it fun if you like, and TEXT to 202-527-9624.
Be sure to include your name and city. YOU could appear in next week’s Selfie Scene!
Leon Mendenhall (Washington, DC)
Rob Ordonez (NYC)
Matt Swanson (Silver Spring, MD)
Matt A., Going nuts working from home... (Houston, TX) Tyson McDonald, Red Bear Brewing Co. (Washington, D.C.)
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FUN & GAMES! Enter to win great prizes! Simply click on these buttons to be taken directly to the contests and enter for a chance to win! And don’t worry — those Landmark Theatre passes are good nationwide through DEC. 31, 2021, so they’ll outlive this damn virus. If you’re a winner, you’ll have plenty of time to catch a movie after this is all over!
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LastWord. People say the queerest things
“We lost a champion, a hero, someone who fought like hell for her community. Rest in power Lorena Borjas.” —Producer, director, and author JANET MOCK, in a tweet, after New York City-based transgender activist Lorena Borjas died due to COVID-19. Tributes for Borjas, who established a fund to help transgender people with legal costs and worked as a councilor for the Community Healthcare Network Transgender Families Program in Queens, poured in on social media after her death was confirmed by New York State Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, who said Borjas was a “great human being.”
“I thought, maybe I am gay. The captain of the football team should be having sex and drinking, right? But I wasn’t.
”
— COLTON UNDERWOOD, star of season 23 of The Bachelor, discussing in his recent memoir that he initially struggled with the idea that he might be gay. “It was one of those things where you hear something so often, you start believing it,” he wrote. Underwood, who was a virgin prior to his appearance on The Bachelor, said he confirmed his heterosexuality while appearing on the show.
“[We] encourage the FDA to shift to scientific practices that secure our nation’s blood supply based on individual risk rather than the perpetuation of inaccurate stereotypes.” —A group of 17 Democratic U.S. senators, in a letter to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn urging the agency to loosen its restrictions on blood donations by gay and bisexual men to address blood shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is imperative that we move away from discriminatory donor deferral policies that prohibit many healthy individuals from contributing much-needed blood and blood products,” they wrote.
“Just as there was a national movement against racial segregation in the 1960s, there now needs to be a national movement against hate violence in America.” —THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER, in a report confirming that the number of anti-LGBTQ hate groups in the United States continues to rise. SPLC identified 70 groups with anti-LGBTQ biases in 2019, a 43% increase over 2018. “The alarming rise of hate violence in our communities and bigoted rhetoric within mainstream political discourse has thus far failed to prompt a proportionate response from community leaders and political officials,” SPLC said in its report.
“Governor Brad Little and the Idaho legislature have decided to prioritize the demonization of transgender people.” —Human Rights Campaign President DAVID ALPHONSO, in a statement after Republicans lawmakers in Idaho pushed through two bills designed to discriminate against transgender people amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. One bill bars transgender female athletes from competing in teams and events that don’t match gender assigned at birth, while the second bars trans individuals from changing the gender marker on their birth certificates to match their gender identity.
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