Several local LGBT organizations and advocates announced Monday via Facebook their plans to launch the DC Anti-Violence Collaborative (DCAVC), a new group dedicated to ending cycles of violence and oppression directed against members of the LGBTQ community and its heterosexual allies.

The group, intended to be another resource in addition to existing anti-violence, public safety and LGBT service organizations, will meet monthly and has plans to organize two town hall-style meetings this fall. It will also be launching a new online tool to report and map incidents of anti-LGBTQH violence.

''The DC Anti-Violence Collaborative will allow us to start coordinating vital services for survivors of violence in our communities,'' said Ruby Corado, the founder and executive director of the LGBT service organization Casa Ruby. ''There is a tremendous need, and by working together across organizations, we will be better able to address that need.''

''DCAVC will help us create an inclusive advocacy agenda in a safe space for all intersections of the LGBTQH communities,'' Hassan Naveed, co-chair of Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV), said in a statement. ''It's time for us tighten coordination in our advocacy efforts and make sure we are providing representation for everyone.''

The group's official launch will take place on Aug. 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Columbia Heights Plaza, near the intersection of 14th Street, Kenyon Street and Park Road NW. Local advocates and survivors of violence will be among those speaking at the launch rally.

''The central idea behind the DC Anti-Violence Collaborative is that organizations and activists can come together in a place to address, collectively, issues of police violence, hate violence, sexual violence, and partner violence through advocacy, education, grassroots organizing, and providing services,'' said Jason Terry, an organizer with the DC Trans Coalition. ''I see this as really long-term work that over time can build collective power and collective safety.''

As Mayor Vincent Gray (D) considers vetoing a bill that would force employers to pay a higher minimum wage to workers amid threats from Walmart that the company will scuttle its plans to set up shop in the District if the measure passes, advocates for the transgender community are wading into the debate.

In a letter posted to the DC Trans Coalition's website earlier this month, Andy Bowen, the social policy organizer for the organization who has been instrumental in pushing the D.C. Council to support pro-transgender pieces of legislation, asks Gray, on behalf of the transgender community, to sign the so-called ''living wage'' bill, also known as the Large Retailer Accountability Act, into law.

''You have been tremendous on transgender issues,'' Bowen tells Gray in the letter. ''Since entering office, you have supported vital programs for our community, such as Project Empowerment; you have made strong showings of support for priorities, such as the Deoni Jones Birth Certificate Equality Amendment Act; and you understand the importance of following the community's lead.

''On that last point, please remember: labor standards are a transgender issue,'' Bowen writes. ''If the trans community is to thrive, it needs employers that pay well, and can provide a guarantee that they will treat trans workers with respect. Walmart, without the strong urging of the D.C. government via the Large Retailer Accountability Act, is not that employer.''

The letter specifically points to Walmart's current wages, which do not match the city's definition of a living wage, meaning employees of the company may not be able to afford housing in the District.

''Furthermore, speaking to the discrimination point, Walmart – according to the Human Rights Campaign's 2013 Corporate Equality Index – does not provide a program for cultural competency across the entire company,'' the letter reads. ''Non-discrimination polices mean nothing without a solid regime of enforcement.''

The living-wage bill passed the D.C. Council on an 8-5 vote in July, with future mayoral hopefuls Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), both potential rivals if Gray should choose to stand for re-election, voting against the measure.

Most political observers expect Gray veto of the bill. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who supports the bill, has not yet sent it to the mayor, indicated to NBC News 4 that he hopes to get one of the five who originally opposed the bill to switch sides, which would give the D.C. Council the nine votes needed to override any veto.

Eleanor Holmes Norton was 26 years old when somewhere around 250,000 people descended on the nation's capital for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Aug. 28, 1963.

A native Washingtonian who has represented the District of Columbia in the House of Representatives since 1990, Norton calls the march the ''zenith point'' of a decade of protests, many of which she witnessed firsthand as an organizer of sit-ins in D.C., Maryland and Ohio.

''There had been no mass march that anyone could remember,'' Norton says. ''We got to the point, especially after you got to Mississippi, there's no place else to go but to the seat of power.''

U.S. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton

(Photo by Todd Franson)

Sitting in her Capitol Hill office, Norton reflected on her role in the march – during which she worked side-by-side with the gay man who organized the march, Bayard Rustin – as well as the lessons that can be drawn a half century later.

METRO WEEKLY: How did you come to be at the March on Washington 50 years ago?

ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON: I was a law student at Yale Law School. I had gone to the [Mississippi] Delta to work for at least part of the summer on preparation for what was called the '64 Summer when it was planned students would come down. So I was working on the prototype for the workshops for voter registration.

Mississippi was the last place to open. There had been demonstrations throughout the South. Medgar Evers, the state [field officer] of the NAACP, had to lead -- he's a grown man -- had to lead the sit-ins in Mississippi. There were so few lawyers that Medgar Evers showed me all around Jackson trying to convince me to stay. No lawyers. A law student, which are a dime a dozen now, was a rarity.

I know I'm going to the delta, I promised I'd come there because if Jackson -- and [Evers] had been beat terribly at the lunch counter -- was like that, you can imagine what a place, which really had no movement. He ultimately took me to the bus station to get the last bus -- 10 o'clock or something -- he went home and he was shot in the back. That's the night he died. I learned the next morning when they woke me up and told me that. So this is how I was christened in Mississippi and prepared to stay.

I had been in touch with friends, and the talk of the march was all over New York. I'm a native Washingtonian, but lots of my friends were in New York and I knew them and knew Bayard Rustin very well because there was a small clique of us young people who were -- What should I call us? -- students of Bayard Rustin, who was a one of a kind. He was an activist of the kind none of us had been. He had been a pacifist during World War II, sent to jail for a year, did civil disobedience there, got out in the '40s and did an early Freedom Ride, was a student of Gandhi, deeply involved in the labor movement.

In New York, either you were coming to hear Bayard speak, or Bayard was just hanging around in his apartment, or you were hanging in a bar with him. That was the kind of guy he was.

The most important thing to remember when talking about the March on Washington is you will hear endlessly about, ''Oh, I remember this speech or that speech or that sight,'' and of course I will have those memories. I'm sure they're duplicative of memories others had. But what is less duplicative is the experience I had as a very young woman working for the March on Washington.

I got a call saying, ''Eleanor, it's going to happen. It's really going to happen. If you want to do it, this is the time to come.'' And so I left Mississippi, for then, and went to New York, bunked with a friend in a five-story brownstone where the march was essentially organized by one man. There was one field marshal. And in my judgment [Rustin] was the only person who could have organized the march, and I say that out of some sense of history.

There had been no mass march that anyone could remember. Sure there had been soldiers here and there marching, but no mass march. The important thing to remember about the march, it seems to me, is that this wasn't somebody's bright idea. This was the zenith point of 10 years of protests and demonstrations throughout the South. We got to the point, especially after you got to Mississippi, there's no place else to go but to the seat of power. And the man with the skills who knew how to organize something – Bayard was by then in his 50s – had the experience of a lifetime.

He was, for me, a public intellectual. He was a major master of strategy, having been an adviser to civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King. And the reason he had been such a major adviser is that he knew how to do something. The Civil Rights Movement, like every movement, was an ad hoc affair. What was not an ad hoc matter was the March on Washington. And it wasn't ad hoc, but it was without precedent. And if you're doing something without precedent, somebody smart has to be in charge. Now the umbrella, the overriding grand master of the march, not the organizer of course, but the one who drew everybody together was A. Philip Randolph. And there's a reason why he was, because he was the only black man in America who organized anything. I still don't know how he managed to do it. This was a man who knew something about organization. And Bayard had been his mentor.

So for me, yes, being in the march I can tell you a thousand stories that you've already heard. But it was the anticipation, the understanding that people would come. All we didn't understand was how many people.

MW: Now Bayard Rustin is going to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

NORTON: I went to [Rep.] John Lewis (D-Ga.), who was the chairman of [the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee], and I said, ''John, we got to get this Medal of Freedom for Bayard because he is the man who made it happen, but is least recognized.'' And so wrote a letter that was signed by everybody in the Black Caucus; called Valerie Jarrett, said, ''Look, this is the time to do it.'' It was very important that it was announced. You can't have this march and have Bayard unrecognized.

MW: Why do you think it took so long for Rustin to receive this recognition?

NORTON: There have been other commemorations so you might have thought he would have been recognized before this, but there have been lots of civil rights leaders who haven't been recognized, either. And he was not a front man in the Civil Rights Movement, nor did he want to be.

MW: In your time knowing him, did you ever witness any negative reaction toward him because he was gay?

NORTON: This is interesting. It was certainly before sexual orientation was even discussed. But we were young people and he was out – very out. There were some among us who tried to make sure he behaved himself, because he was so precious to us.

Now, during the march he was attacked [by Strom Thurmond on the Senate floor] and to their great credit, even though sexual orientation was not even discussed in American society then, the civil rights leaders closed in around Bayard and that was that.

MW: Do you see any parallels between the Civil Rights Movement and the LGBT-rights movement?

NORTON: I think when you consider there had never been a march, that the last time anyone had ever heard of a movement it was the labor movement, that each of the great movements that followed the Civil Rights Movement drank from the Civil Rights Movement because of the clear parallels. Sure, they're all different and it's important to bear in mind that they are different. But if the underlying themes of the Civil Rights Movement resonate at all, the parallels are plain to the naked eye to see – for the GLBT movement, just as they were for the women's rights movement, just at they are for immigration.

MW: Do you think we'll ever get to a point where there is not only full equality before the law, but racism and homophobia will be a thing of the past?

NORTON: Probably generationally. It's the turnover of people that has enabled change to occur. If the same people were there who were there 50 years ago, I think we'd have the same problems.

But times change. Their children think differently because they're born into a different world. So if that is the case with race, it could be the case with sexual orientation as well. Although, I must say, sexual orientation runs deeper and if anything many of us are surprised at how quickly what had been a deep-rooted – not simply discrimination but a phobia and antagonism – has changed.

MW: Is there one thing you remember most about Aug. 28, 1963?

NORTON: It won't be anybody's speech, because it's true that Martin Luther King's speech was a classic keynote speech bringing everything together. I'm telling you I was floored speech after speech. By the time they reached Martin Luther King he better have been good. There were so many good speeches. Mahalia Jackson and Bob Dylan, all kinds of exquisite music.

So it's not this speech or that speech. The staff was of course on the [Lincoln] Memorial looking out. We went down and looked up occasionally. This impression may also be a function of being a native Washingtonian, knowing something about the Reflecting Pool. But the most memorable sight to me was standing on the memorial and looking and not being able to see the end of the people. That's the sight that remains in my mind -- looking out at these people gathered, filling every spot, some wading in the water and sitting on the side of the pool. I just couldn't see the end of the crowd on each side of the pool going way back where you get to the Washington Monument.

MW: Why do you think that image stuck out so much in your mind?

NORTON: Partly from being a native Washingtonian and knowing something about the topography, and partly from working on the march and seeing that it had worked. It had worked beyond anybody's wildest dreams.

It had worked even though the Kennedy administration was against the march, fearful of what they too had never experienced before. They did everything but welcome the march. They tried to discourage the leaders from having the march – I'm sure they were delighted when it went off so well. I didn't have the slightest fear of violence. I just didn't. I think they didn't fear violence from us, I think they may have feared what had happened in the South could happen here. But they'd have to bring a whole lot of Bubbas up in order for that to have been pulled off.

MW: And how are you marking the 50th anniversary?

NORTON: Like everybody else -- marching.

At 35, Aisha Moodie-Mills was a long way from arriving on the scene when the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom took place. But she carries on the legacy of activism today, fully present in her position as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, founded in 2003 by Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff John Podesta. At CAP, Moodie-Mills heads up the FIRE (Fighting Injustice to Reach Equality) Initiative, ''at the intersections of race, sexual orientation, and gender, as well as environmental and economic justice.''

That is, however, hardly the end of this dynamo's résumé. You might catch her and her wife, Danielle Moodie-Mills, on their fun and informed weekly Politini podcast. Speaking of her wife, this couple's D.C. marriage was made possible, in part, by work they did securing marriage equality for the District. And maybe you caught the couple's Aug. 16 piece for The Washington Post? Or Aisha Moodie-Mills's column in The Atlantic assessing the Supreme Court's rulings on marriage equality and voting rights?

Aisha Moodie-Mills

(Photo by Todd Franson)

From Capitol Hill to popular culture, Moodie-Mills is seizing the stage with her brand of progressive politics and activism. Inarguably, she is carrying forward the torch that shined brightly Aug. 28, 1963.

METRO WEEKLY: While you weren't even born when the March on Washington happened, your work – and your life – have you ideally positioned to assess how far we've come in these decades since. What's your take?

MOODIE-MILLS: We've made tremendous progress, and that has to continue to be underscored. I know that we're commemorating this march so that we can talk about what's next, how we can take the lessons we've learned and move toward the future, but it's really important that we stand still, pause and reflect on the fact that in 50 years we've come a long way. Not only are African-Americans not being hosed down in the streets today, but from an economic standpoint if you look at cities in the South like Atlanta or Charlotte and see the sort of African-American flight that's moving back from the North, there has been tremendous gain in terms of people's quality of life. We have an African-American in the White House. I don't think Dr. King ever anticipated in 50 years, in a generation, that would be the outcome we see from this march.

MW: In his speech that day, Dr. King mentioned the portion of the crowd, that 20 percent or so, of white people. He said they ''have come to realize … their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.'' Are we getting closer, in a progressive sense, to a united front? Of people seeing their freedoms interconnected?

MOODIE-MILLS: This march reminds us that actually all of these different people came together around equality. And that is the lesson we take into the future as we continue the next 50 years of working toward justice. [But] there are always going to be competing interests.

In 1963, the entire black church was not aligned with the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, Dr. King and his sect of the black church were ostracized. A lot of black clergy did not support them, thought they were rabble-rousers, running around making a whole lot of noise when they should've just been quiet. You're never going to have everyone on the same team.

MW: What about within the LGBT community? While you've got a coalition of LGBT groups ''calling for justice'' for Trayvon Martin, or decrying the Supreme Court's ruling on the Voting Rights Act, there are also some in the community saying these are not LGBT issues.

MOODIE-MILLS: The LGBT community is a microcosm of society at large. Because LGBT people have been fighting for rights we kind of make an assumption that they're all in solidarity with other people fighting for rights, that there aren't racist people within the movement, for example. But there are people who are completely ignorant to racial disparities and just don't understand oppression.

That said – maybe I'm just an optimist – but I really do believe that there are so many more people now who see the connections among struggles, that are in solidarity because they get that any group being oppressed is a threat to anyone else who is a minority group, because those same arguments – we see this historically – those same arguments made against African-Americans having full rights are being made against gay people. This is all cyclical. I think that most people get that.

But I get concerned when these LGBT groups say, ''We're in solidarity with all these racial minorities who are being affected,'' and don't see that if the groups of people being targeted with voter-suppression tactics don't go to the polls because they're unable to exercise their full right to vote, that directly thwarts and stalls LGBT progress. The people in these regions -- in the South particularly, be it Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, wherever – the people in these regions most likely to go to the polls and elect likeminded progressive members to their local legislatures are going to be people of color, are going to be youth. They're going to be the people who are the targets of all these crazy measures.

It's really not about, ''Oh, we're so sorry that black people had to wait in line two hours longer than anybody else in Florida in order to vote in November.'' It actually should be a cognition of, ''Wait a minute. These are our voters too. These are our constituents.'' As LGBT advocates, these folks standing in line are our constituents. College kids are our constituents because they are the new American majority. And the new American majority believes that we should be treated equally. And if we are standing idly by and just patting them on the head and saying, ''We're so sorry,'' as their democracy is being stripped away, that's going to directly affect our ability to move forward.

MW: While we've come a long way in terms of equality since 1963, a big part of the march was geared toward economic justice. We keep hearing instead about greater economic gaps, a shrinking middle class.

MOODIE-MILLS: I've always pushed back against folks who talk about the Civil Rights Movement and talk about this march as exclusively about rights for black people. This was also about economic justice, about the fact that here we are, a community being disenfranchised, and we're also poor as a result. So, if we had some economic stability, if we could get onto the rungs of the middle class, that would improve some of our condition.

Economic justice should be a critical priority of the LGBT community, as well. By almost every metric LGBT families, families raising children – particularly those of color – are more likely to be living in poverty than anybody else in America. Same-sex families, particularly lesbians of color who are raising children in the South, have a major issue. We have allowed our movement to become so upper-middle-class, dominated by this kind of myth of gay affluence, that we miss the mark in talking about economic security and economic justice.

MW: Do you imagine this commemoration could have the impact of the original march?

MOODIE-MILLS: I've been talking about this from a strategy standpoint with some friends. That's an interesting question about what might come of this, as it relates to some actual substantive policy changes. This is very different. That March for Jobs and Freedom had some very specific policy imperatives that folks understood, really basic rights.

We're at a place now where that type of agenda for African-Americans is less clear. The disparities and the gaps are very clear, but the resolutions and specific policy prescriptions to fix those are less clear. If anything out of this march – and it's less about the march, quite frankly, and more about current affairs – is that we're seeing some real serious thinking about how we reform our criminal justice system.

Particularly around racial profiling and criminal justice issues, writ large, and gun reform, I do believe that this march and the fact that people are organizing and coming together to commemorate it is really going to create a critical mass of voices that can move those issues – which were already rolling – but I think us coming together could really move those issues.

MW: How do you and Danielle plan to mark this 50th anniversary?

MOODIE-MILLS: We're dedicating an entire [Aug. 29] Politini show to the Civil Rights Movement, the ''Civil Rights 2.0'' show. What that conversation is going to do is talk about the legacy of the march and how we continue that legacy. How is it that we really employ 21st century tools to fight the battles that we have today?

It's really important that we remember, but we use our memories to motivate us to create fresh strategies and inspire us. I am so grateful for the shoulders of the giants I'm able to stand on, and the work that they did to pave the way for us. I also take inspiration from their work, as opposed to just literal interpretation.

We have to be clear that we're living in a different time. We need fresh thinking for a fresh generation.

When it comes to dates, Paul Kuntzler is a sort of human computer.

''I first came to Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 1961, for John Kennedy's inauguration,'' Kuntzler recalls, citing the historic event that occurred two days later. He easily recalls the dates – and days of the week – of, for example, meeting gay-rights pioneer Frank Kameny, who invited him to join the Mattachine Society, harbinger of the country's modern LGBT-rights movement.

Paul Kuntzler

(Photo by Patsy Lynch)

''I participated in the first gay-rights picket in front of the White House on Saturday, April 17, 1965,'' he says of his Mattachine roots. ''There were 10 of us – seven men and three women.''

He moved in with his partner, Steven Brent Miller, May 29, 1962, enjoying a life together until Miller's death in 2004.

The Detroit-area native, active in Democratic politics since his youth, remembers much – like helping to found the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., and the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. Certainly, he remembers Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1963.

METRO WEEKLY: By the time of the march, you were serving on the board of the Mattachine Society of Washington?

PAUL KUNTZLER: I was elected to the board of directors of the Mattachine Society April 3, 1962. I was just 20 then, the only minor involved in this tiny gay-rights movement, which consisted of no more than 150 people in five American cities: Washington, Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

MW: Was it more dangerous at the time to be single or to be a couple?

KUNTZLER: Well, it was difficult whether you were single or a couple, because there was a total ban on lesbians and gays working in the federal government, including the District government. The American Psychiatric Association classified us as mentally ill.

MW: What can you tell me about the day of the march?

KUNTZLER: First of all, President Kennedy declared a virtual state of martial law. There was this belief that there were going to be riots. A lot of offices were closed, including my own.

MW: Were you expecting any rioting?

KUNTZLER: Not really. But the idea of a huge march on Washington was a radical idea in 1963. It had never happened before. I didn't really expect any problems, but I knew there was this belief that there might be riots. Of course, there weren't. There was virtually no crime that day.

MW: It actually looks like it was a beautiful day.

KUNTZLER: It was – sunny, in the 80s.

MW: How did that Wednesday unfold for you, a young, gay, white man joining this March on Washington?

KUNTZLER: In the morning, probably about 11 o'clock, I took the bus to the Washington Monument grounds where the crowds were gathering. There were civil rights organizations, church groups and trade unions. I remember being on the monument grounds and a woman saying, ''The buses are still coming through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.'' There were about 2,000 buses.

My father had been a member of United Auto Workers. Walter Reuther, president of the UAW in Detroit, he was one of the march leaders. He spoke that day. So I decided to march with the UAW down Constitution Avenue to the Lincoln Memorial.

MW: And then the music and speeches began?

KUNTZLER: Peter, Paul and Mary sang, ''If I Had a Hammer'' and ''Blowing in the Wind.'' There was a gospel singer and others. There were a number of actors – Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, Sidney Poitier, Diahann Carroll, Harry Belafonte….

MW: Where were you?

KUNTZLER: I was on the side of the Reflecting Pool underneath the trees, near the temporary World War II buildings. I could see soldiers lined up against the temporary buildings. There was a tremendous amount of military force.

MW: Could you hear everything well?

KUNTZLER: Yes, very much so. The speaker system was very clear. I could hear all the speeches.

MW: Is there a particular memory of the day that stands out for you?

KUNTZLER: I have a very strong emotional memory of people joining hands together, swaying and singing, ''We Shall Overcome.'' That was sung throughout the day. It was very emotional.

MW: What was your motivation for joining the march that day?

KUNTZLER: There was a lot of racism and segregation in Washington.

As difficult as it is now to believe, Steven was on the staff of the House Appropriations Committee – 22 white males. They only hired white males. He was going to the Stenotype Institute of Washington to become a stenotype reporter. Only whites were permitted to attend the institute, as was the case with all of Washington's business schools.

In early 1962, I saw an ad in The Washington Post about a job. I had to go over to an Arlington employment agency. I got a job in the proofing department of Union Trust Co. This employment agency over in Arlington had an agreement with Union Trust that they would only send white applicants. For the several months I worked at Union Trust, there was a young woman I worked with, someone I befriended. She had an African-American boyfriend and all my colleagues were openly critical.

People would say things, express racial attitudes quite openly. That always offended me.

MW: Did your feelings about racial equality come from your family?

KUNTZLER: I think it had to do with the fact that I was gay. I thought [the march] helped push a progressive agenda – not just for African-Americans, but for anyone who was oppressed. I always thought these issues were linked together. That's why I was always opposed to racism.

It was like a straitjacket when I came here. There was a lot of racism in the Detroit area, but people didn't express it like they did in the early '60s here in Washington. It was a very Southern city then.

MW: Did the march inspire Mattachine members?

KUNTZLER: It inspired all of us, because people came from around the country and they went home to their communities with an inspired message that helped bring about change.

All three television networks covered it live. I got home and they were replaying it. People saw it all over the country. It had a profound effect on people's attitudes all over the country. They thought there were going to be riots, but here was a very solemn, peaceful, enormous congregation of people. MW: How far have we come since that day?

KUNTZLER: It's extraordinary. We couldn't even conceive back in the '60s that we'd make the progress we've made. The struggle for human rights never ends. It's something you're always having to work at. We've made extraordinary progress, but in terms of all groups it's an ongoing process. I was very proud of having participated.

The LGBT community and its struggles for equality will share the stage alongside other communities advocating for social justice as community organizers, activists and civil rights leaders participate in a host of activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

The march, famous for Martin Luther King Jr.'s ''I Have a Dream'' speech and for raising the country's consciousness, focused on the struggle for equal rights, particularly on economic opportunity. This 50-year commemoration of that Aug. 28, 1963, mark on America's timeline will also celebrate the ongoing work of activists and advocates working for voting rights, immigration reform, employment and LGBT equality.

March on Washington

(Photo by Library of Congress, Warren K. Leffler: U.S. News World Report Magazine Collection)

On an Aug. 20 conference call, Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT civil rights organization, said the aim of the march, as it was 50 years ago, is to urge Congress to take legislative action on these various fronts. With regard to LGBT rights, Griffin focused on the struggle for marriage equality and the pending Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would provide federal workplace protections for LGBT people.

Many of the LGBT-related local events between Aug. 23 and Aug. 28 will invoke the name of the late Bayard Rustin, the gay civil rights leader who worked closely with King on several initiatives and is credited with planning the 1963 March on Washington. On Aug. 8, the White House announced that President Barack Obama will posthumously award Rustin with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Among those LGBT-related events, the Mayor's Office of GLBT Affairs, in partnership with the Mayor's Office of Community Affairs, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Black Justice Coalition and the Center for Black Equity, will host a forum, ''What's the Unfinished Business for the LGBT Community?'' to discuss the progress made since the original March on Washington and future challenges confronting the movement.

Sterling Washington, director of the Mayor's Office of GLBT Affairs, says that event will feature various speakers representing different movements within the LGBT community. The event will be held Friday, Aug. 23, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., in the foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building, at 45 Independence Ave. SW.

On Saturday, Aug. 24, organizers will hold the first of two major marches, with the second occurring on Aug. 28, the exact anniversary. Prior to the Aug. 24 ''Action to Realize the Dream March and Rally for Jobs, Justice & Freedom,'' sponsored by the National Action Network, Mayor Vincent Gray and other advocates for D.C. statehood, including the organization DC Vote, will host a short rally at 8:30 a.m. at the District of Columbia War Memorial, on the north side of Independence Avenue SW, across from the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

The statehood rally will include a contingent from the city's major Democratic LGBT organization, the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club of Washington. Participants will then feed into the larger march, starting at 10 a.m.

On Monday, Aug. 26, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, an AFL-CIO-affiliated organization, along with the National Black Justice Coalition and the American Federation of Teachers, will host ''A Tribute to Bayard Rustin and the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington,'' which will focus heavily on Rustin's role in organizing and executing the famous march.

That event will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Historic Lincoln Theatre, located at 1215 U St. NW, and will include a screening of a segment from the award-winning documentary Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin.

Wednesday, Aug. 28, the Center for Black Equity will host an event commemorating the role that Rustin played in organizing the march, with a panel discussion featuring Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.); Mandy Carter of the National Black Justice Coalition; Damien Connors, the national executive director and chief operating officer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Inc. (SCLC); and the Rev. MacArthur H. Flournoy, who serves as the director for faith partnership and mobilization at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). The discussion, followed by a reception, will be held at the HRC Equality Forum at 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW, at 7 p.m., and will be broadcast live enabling viewers to ask questions and engage in online chat during the event.

Another event, sponsored by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, celebrating Rustin and the gay African-American novelist James Baldwin, was originally scheduled for Aug. 22, but has since been postponed to September.

For more information about LGBT-related events during the March on Washington 50th Anniversary, call the Mayor's Office of GLBT Affairs at 202-727-9493 or visit glbt.dc.gov. For general information on commemoration events, visit marchondc50.dc.gov.

You won't hear Lady Gaga's ''Applause'' at Baltimore's Club Hippo this Saturday, Aug. 24. You won't hear Katy Perry's new single ''Roar," either.

You might hear Britney Spears, however. Or Nicki Minaj. But only in the context of the duets those young starlets did with the grand diva mother of them all, the original material girl.

''It's not a divas party. It's all about Madonna,'' says DJ Jason Royce. ''It's strictly 100 percent Madonna.''

Royce named his party ''Vogue,'' intended as a nod to the Madonna classic as well as all hits Madonna, of course, and not to today's charting divas and diva wannabes. Nonetheless, people still requested songs by female pop stars not named Madonna at the party's debut last December. But that party was so successful, Club Hippo will host a second edition one week after Madonna's 55th birthday.

Royce, the evening's DJ, says he'll start the night playing Madonna's early hits from the '80s. He'll play both radio and remixed versions of songs from Madonna's repertoire -- though nothing too ''out there'' or too tribal. ''Just like my '80s nights, I still try to stay true to the original stuff,'' says Royce, who made his DJ name in D.C. last decade with his popular retro-themed Flashback party Tuesdays at Cobalt. Over the past year Royce has dramatically scaled back the number of events he DJs. ''I was at the Hippo once a month, playing current stuff,'' the D.C.-based DJ says. ''And I just got burnt out.'' Royce, who these days assists with advertising and marketing for Cobalt, but works full time as a manager at Vida Fitness, is still planning his next party, also expected at the Hippo.

But his focus is on Vogue. This time around, fellow veteran D.C. DJ Darryl Strickland will be on VJ duty. ''God, his video library for this is insane -- live performances and interviews and things like that,'' Royce says. The two plan to coordinate what they'll play, so that at times the music Royce spins is lined up with Strickland's video. Says Royce: ''He's got this really cool way of synching up video on his computer to what I'm playing.''

Vogue is this Saturday, Aug. 24, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., at Club Hippo, 1 West Eager St., Baltimore. Cover is $8, or free with military/college ID, or if you're a Leo like Madonna. Call 410-547-0069 or visit clubhippo.com.

''There's so much going on in the seven days leading up to the 28th,'' says Terri Harris Reed of The George Washington University, referring to the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, which occurred Aug. 28, 1963.

''We were thinking about what we could do that contributed to that celebration/commemoration/conversation, but that was a little bit different,'' continues Reed, vice provost for diversity and inclusion at the university.

Frederic Yonnet

(Photo by Stephanie Pistel)

Organizers settled on a multimedia cultural arts program they're calling Soundtrack of a Movement: Freedom Songs in Perspective. The event's jumping-off point is the 2009 documentary Soundtrack for a Revolution. ''This documentary took the history of freedom songs and the role they played in the Civil Rights Movement, and had contemporary artists having a conversation about not just history but current activism, and about how music and songs give people courage and a sense of unity,'' she explains. ''Music has no color. It crosses boundaries and brings people together.''

Excerpts from the documentary will be screened at the event, which will also feature civil rights leader Julian Bond, a central figure in the documentary. There will also be performances by spoken-word artists and poets as well as freedom songs performed by Patrick Lundy & The Ministers of Music with jazz harmonicist Frédéric Yonnet, who has toured with Prince and Stevie Wonder. Eddie Glaude of Princeton University will narrate the event. Glaude, says Reed, ''talks a lot about the fact that we're still aspiring to be the democratic society that we laid out for ourselves. We've not yet achieved it.''

Reed, who was only a toddler in 1963, sees the legacy of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the Civil Rights Movement every day. The first in her family to go to college, she says, ''I believe that access to higher education is a key accomplishment of the Civil Rights Era. … My life's work has been tied to increasing access to college -- not just to get in, but to be included.''

Soundtrack of a Movement is Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m., at Lisner Auditorium at The George Washington University, 730 21st St. NW. Tickets are free, reservations recommended. Call 202-994-6851 or visit lisner.org.

A few years ago, Shea Van Horn performed at night on the National Mall as part of the Hirshhorn Museum's After Hours programming. Next Thursday, Aug. 29, Van Horn will nearly repeat the experience -- though this time with a performance a couple blocks off the Mall at the gorgeous Art Museum of the Americas (AMA). And this time as DJ Shea Van Horn, not drag performer Summer Camp.

''Untitled'' by Wilfredo Lam

(Photo courtesy of the Art Museum of the Americas)

Jonathan Goldman helped put together this year's ''Art After Dark'' event at the AMA, part of the Organization of American States (OAS). ''I think it's a really nice time to have fun and see the museum and experience the OAS in a way that most times the public can't,'' says Goldman, an exhibition designer at AMA. Now in its fourth year, the soiree has become the museum's chief source of revenue for exhibitions, with a fundraising goal of $30,000. And this year the museum will actually be open during the nightly event, allowing people to see the full collection of modern Latin American and Caribbean art as well as the current special exhibition Fusion: Tracing Asian Migration to the Americas.

In addition to Van Horn, Dangerous Muse will perform. The New York-based electro-pop band is expected to premiere its new music video during a 45-minute set that will also include its own video projections. But video art by various artists will also be projected onto OAS's neo-colonial main building throughout the night. Goldman, who's been with the museum for more than three years, says that's become a tradition of the event. It's just another way, he adds, that the museum ''is trying to carry out the mission of the OAS through art and culture and music.'' '

Art After Dark is Thursday, Aug. 29, from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., at the Art Museum of the Americas, 201 18th St. NW. Tickets are $25, or $45 for VIP, allowing early and express access plus a private bar. Call 202-370-0147 or visit amamuseum.org.

On behalf of the National Black Justice Coalition and the black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, I applaud President Barack Obama for giving the late Bayard Rustin the national esteem and recognition he deserves by awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As one of the chief architects of the Civil Rights Movement and the brilliance behind the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Rustin's indispensable contributions to the ethos of our country continue to reverberate and push us toward a more just and fair society. America is indebted to Rustin, and our nation is right to finally honor him for his stalwart courage and leadership.

Rustin was a radical visionary – a black gay activist for freedom and peace during a time when the conditions of both of these identities were perilous. The fact that he lived at the intersection of these identities while fighting for the freedoms of all oppressed people is even more revolutionary. Rustin owned his power as a black, openly gay man to fiercely challenge the status quo and fight on behalf of the oppressed and marginalized, while at the same time refusing to be defined by any single aspect of his identity. Rustin was as unapologetically black as he was gay, and by his very presence challenged the evils of homophobia and racism throughout his life. His legacy leaves a salient lesson for us on the power of living authentically.

Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks

(Photo courtesy of NBJC)

In spite of all that Rustin was able to achieve, however, racism and homophobia have long clouded the narrative of Rustin's work, erasing him from our history books and stymieing the proper celebration of his contributions to our country. Thanks to the tenacity and unabashed passion of black lesbian activist Mandy Carter, who ushered us toward this moment and has selflessly given of herself to serve as NBJC's national coordinator of the Bayard Rustin Commemoration Project for the last two years, I am proud that the National Black Justice Coalition has remained dedicated to giving voice to Mr. Rustin's history of social-justice organizing and strategy. Our work at NBJC is a testament to the spirit of Bayard Rustin's life, inspiring black LGBT people to own their power and teaching others how black LGBT people navigate space at the intersection of their identities. On Saturday, Aug. 24, we will march with all the other civil rights organizations to take our rightful place in history, 50 years in the making, as a just and noble cause – the fight for full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Rustin dedicated his life to the pursuit of human rights and justice for all in a dynamic and selfless way, and has verily earned his space in the history books. Words cannot express how elated I am to see Bayard Rustin given his just due. I thank President Obama for lifting up this important piece of our nation's history, and I look forward to working with the White House and other allies, like the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU), to continue sharing the significance of Rustin's life and work through this prestigious national honor. Our dream is that more will come to know of the late, great Bayard Rustin, and will use the lessons of his life to make the world a more just and welcoming place for all people.

NBJC and others present ''A Tribute to Bayard Rustin and the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington'' Monday, Aug. 26, at the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW, 6 to 9 p.m. RSVP to the event via nbjc.org. Free, but donations will be accepted to fund the Bayard Rustin Leadership Fellowship.

Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks is the executive director and CEO of the D.C.-based National Black Justice Coalition, dedicated to empowering black LGBT people. Follow her on Twitter @sharonlettman, the organization @nbjconthemove, or visit nbjc.org.

I take my politics seriously, because politics is a means to an end, how we decide the structure of our society and best provide for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That's why I don't often read Politico, which covers politics as an end unto itself. I would compare it to sports journalism and its endless fascination with numbers that indicate who's winning and who's losing, but that's disrespectful to the sports journalists who spend a surprising amount of time on why people play in addition to how they win.

Obviously, I'm on a bit of a high horse here. But I have tried to live by this idea that politics should be less about party and polls than policy and people. So during Virginia's last gubernatorial election cycle I took one look at Terry McAuliffe on the Democratic primary ballot and immediately voted for ''anyone else.''

Which means I voted for Creigh Deeds and we all know how that turned out: a Pat Robertson-educated governor, Bob McDonnell, once a presidential prospect for his ability to deflect concerns over his retrograde beliefs about gays and women, but now more accurately known as Gov. Grifter.

And as part of that Republican victory over an inept Democratic field, we also got Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, aka The Cooch, who immediately went on a campaign against anything that could be perceived as being nice to LGBT folks, from blocking partner benefits for gay employees of state universities to his quixotic quest to resuscitate Virginia's unconstitutional sodomy law.

Cuccinelli claims that his sodomy law efforts are about protecting children from sexual assault, even though as a member of the state Legislature he voted against a modification to the law that would have done exactly that. So not only is Cuccinelli a fire-breathing Christianist who wants to impose his religious beliefs on everyone else, he's also a damn liar.

So now here we are in 2013 and Cuccinelli is running for governor, grabbing the nomination when his Republican supporters managed to cancel a primary election in favor of a convention where the party's most radically right wing members nominated not only The Cooch, but people even crazier than him for lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Virginia Democrats, terrified of Cuccinelli and chastened by the Deeds disaster, took another look at McAuliffe and said, ''Okay, fine! You can have the nomination this time.'' Luckily, Virginia's electronic voting system makes it easier to cast your ballot while holding your nose.

This is not the state of affairs I'd hoped for.

But while idealism is a necessary component of making our society a better place for everyone, there comes a time when you have to suck it up and say hello to realism. Cuccinelli and the entire Republican ticket are a danger not only to LGBT Virginians, but any Virginian who has different religious beliefs, who has compassion for the less fortunate, or who simply has a vagina.

In short, elections have consequences. And the consequences of The Cooch taking up residence in the governor's mansion are frightening to me. My idealism recoils at the thought of voting for a blatant political operative who is the distillation of everything that makes a Politico fan quiver with delight, but realism is here to slap me in the face. Come the election, I'll be checking the box for every Democratic candidate because the degeneracy of the state's Republican Party leaves me no choice.

My vote won't be a means to achieve a positive end. It'll be my only chance to block a disaster. It's not the idealistic approach I'd prefer, but with the specter of Cuccinelli looming over my life, I have to accept fear as my motivation.

Sean Bugg is the co-publisher of Metro Weekly. He can be reached at sbugg@MetroWeekly.com and followed on Twitter at @seanbugg.

The man accused of killing a gay man in July in Columbia Heights by shooting and setting him on fire appeared in D.C. Superior Court today, where he was scheduled for a felony status conference early next year.

Jermaine Brown, of Northwest Washington, is accused of killing 31-year-old Randolph Scott Harris Jr. of Northwest D.C. on July 26 by shooting Harris three times and then setting him on fire while he was still alive. Prosecutors are seeking an indictment against Brown on the charge of felony murder currently lodged against him.

Brown was arrested following an investigation that connected him to the crime scene by witnesses who placed Brown in the area around the time of the murder. Other witnesses told police that they had seen Brown with a bag containing an iPad, iPhones and an iPod touch, which had been left at the home of a third party. From there, a witness returned that bag to the police, who matched the serial numbers on the devices to packaging in the victim's home.

Prior to his arrest, Brown was interviewed multiple times by police and was challenged about inconsistencies in his statements to investigators. According to charging documents, in the course of one of the interviews Brown told police that he had visited the victim, whom he referred to as ''Man,'' and alleged that Man, who was gay, had tried to ''holla'' at him, meaning initiate some sort of sexual relationship. Brown denied ever ''going that way'' – or engaging in a sexual relationship with Harris – because he told police he saw something wrong with being gay and described it as ''nasty.''

Brown has not been charged with any bias enhancements related to Harris's murder. On Thursday, Judge Robert E. Morin scheduled Brown for a felony status conference for Jan. 10, 2014. Brown remains held without bond as he awaits trial.

If you like traveling abroad, you'll want Jesse by your side. The 22-year-old Woodbridge, Va., native and University of South Carolina graduate is always on the move, either for work as a part-time defense contractor or for fun. And he's always eager to get a new stamp in his passport. Due to his travel schedule, he doesn't have a regular bar to call his favorite hangout, but he'll have plenty of time to find one when he moves to Columbia Heights next month. When he's not grabbing a drink at Nellie's or attending a house party, Jesse loves to cook, work out and do yoga.

What's on your nightstand?A big, beautiful book of architecture, a Playboy from March 1991 and an orchid.

Coverboy: Jesse

(Photo by Julian Vankim)

Why the Playboy?I was exploring an antique shop, found some Playboys, and thought it would be cool to have an issue from the month and year that I was born.

So are you a Pisces or an Aries?I'm a Pisces.

That's supposed to make you adaptable.Yeah, I am. I'm super adaptable. That's actually something I like about myself.

What's in your nightstand drawer?A lot of dust.

Where do you keep the condoms and lube?In convenient spots all around the house.

What are your television favorites?I usually don't watch TV, but I just finished watching Orange Is the New Black, and now I'm dying to see the new season. I also watch a lot of National Geographic documentaries.

Coverboy: Jesse

(Photo by Julian Vankim)

What was your favorite cartoon when you were a kid?Scooby-Doo. But I never really liked cartoons. I've always been very old for my age.

Who's your greatest influence?I influence myself. I'm an individual.

What's your greatest fear?I'm not really afraid of anything.

Pick three people, living or dead, who you think would make the most fascinating dinner guests imaginable.Jesus; Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha; and myself. I think that'd be fascinating, to see a physical version of yourself from another person's perspective.

What would you serve?Lots and lots of Champagne.

How would you describe your dream guy?Confident and intelligent, but looks a little stupid.

Define good in bed.Confident and adventurous?

Who should star in a movie about your life?Me, obviously.

Who was your first celebrity crush?Nick Carter. Actually, all of the Backstreet Boys. I like the blond hair.

Who gets on your nerves?Somebody who can't appreciate another person's perspective.

Coverboy: Jesse

(Photo by Julian Vankim)

If your home was burning, what's the first thing you'd grab while leaving?My dog and my phone.

What's your biggest turn-on?Confidence, but not arrogance.

What's your biggest turn-off?Bitchiness.

What's something you've always wanted to do but haven't yet tried?Skydiving over the ocean in some tropical destination. Or flying a plane.

What's something you've tried that you never want to do again?I don't know. Some terrible food or something. I'm pretty positive about life.

Boxers, briefs or other?Depends on the occasion.

Who's your favorite musical artist?At the moment, Lana Del Ray, but I like everything from reggae to opera.

What's your favorite website?Tumblr.

What's the most unusual place you've had sex?None of your damn business!

What position do you play in the big baseball game of life?Probably third baseman, because I have a strong arm and I'm not afraid to take risks.

Coverboy: Jesse

(Photo by Julian Vankim)

What's your favorite retail store?Barneys.

What's the most you'll spend on a haircut?$60 with Nicole at the Barber of Hell's Bottom. She's totally worth it.

What about on shoes?Two words: Lanvin high-tops. I'll let you do the research.

Aren't you worried they'll get destroyed?I wore them once to this rave in this dirty warehouse, and they came out all black. They used to be suede, but now they're totally ruined. But on the other hand, I like that worn, grungy look.

What's your favorite food to splurge with?I really like to try new things. If I can't pronounce the name, that's even better.

What's your favorite season?The transitional period between summer and fall.

What kind of animal would you be?A two-toed sloth, because they have the most relaxed lifestyle.

What kind of plant would you be?A Venus flytrap.

What kind of car would you be?A Tesla, because they are stylish, but environmentally conscious.

What are you most grateful for?Being educated and well-traveled.

What's something you want more of?Stamps in my passport.

State your life philosophy in 10 words or less.Do you.

Members of the D.C.-area LGBT community announced Friday they plan to picket outside of a concert by the Mexican rock band Molotov due to the group's anti-gay lyrics, which are alleged to have inspired violent attacks against LGBT people.

The LGBT-rights organization Equality Maryland, service organization Casa Ruby, and the Latino GLBT History Project announced they will be picketing to educate fans and to protest the use of certain anti-gay phrases.

Molotov

(Photo by via Wikipedia)

At issue is one of the group's songs, ''Puto,'' which contains the lyrics Amo maton, matarile al maricon! Y que quiere ese hijo de puta? Quiere llorar! Quiere llorar! in its refrain. Roughly translated, the lyrics say: ''Love the killer, kill the faggot, and what does this son of a bitch want? He wants to cry! He wants to cry!''

The song also uses other crude language. But the phrase Matarile al maricon was allegedly yelled during an attack on a 19-year-old gay male in Chile. The victim, Esteban Navarro, was attacked by a group of six people in June wielding a machete, knives and iron bars, causing injuries requiring his leg to be amputated, as reported by Terra.

''We appreciate that Molotov released a statement saying 'No one should be a target of violence because they are LGBT,''' Equality Maryland and its partners said in Friday's announcement, citing a statement posted on Molotov's website. ''They also said they would refrain from using this hurtful phrase during their U.S. tour. However, they should stop using this word in any country and should encourage their fans not to use it.''

''Our music gives voice to the people who aren't in a position to do so for themselves and often times we sing about things that some governments don't want you to see or hear,'' the band's statement reads, in part. ''It was never meant to disrespect the gay community.''

The picketers hope to encourage concert attendees to sign a petition urging Molotov to stop using the phrase in the band's music and to discourage fans from using it as well.

The protesters will be meeting in front of The Fillmore entertainment complex, at 8656 Colesville Road, in Silver Spring, at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 26.

Maryland's next general election is well more than a year away, but LGBT groups and their allies are already raising money for candidates committed to advancing LGBT equality.

In an email blast to supporters earlier this week, Equality Maryland's political action committee (PAC) announced a a Saturday, Aug. 24, fundraiser at the home of a lesbian couple in Anne Arundel County.

''Last year, 96 Maryland state legislators voted for the Civil Marriage Protection Act,'' the email reads. ''For some of these legislators, this 'yes' vote did not come easy. Some spent days, weeks or even months contemplating this vote. Some voted 'yes' despite heavy pressure from lobbyists and constituents to vote 'no.' Moreover, many of them continued the fight and helped us in all kinds of ways when we took the issue to the voters.''

Tim Williams, chair of the Equality Maryland PAC, told Metro Weekly in a Friday interview that today's event is the first of several fundraisers that Equality Maryland PAC plans to hold, continuing into next year. He said the PAC's chief legislative priority during this election cycle is backing incumbents who supported 2012's marriage-equality law and the gender-identity nondiscrimination bill that was killed in committee in March.

While Equality Maryland PAC has yet to endorse candidates for next year's races, Williams said the group's primary concern is protecting those running for re-election.

''We are focused on helping those who helped us,'' Williams said. ''Our first priority is defending people who supported the marriage-equality law and who have indicated they will support the transgender-rights bill.''

Williams noted that some legislators may be at risk not necessarily because of their votes for marriage equality, but for backing a number of other measures such as the repeal of the death penalty, new taxes or gun control.

''The thing I want people to understand is we cannot take the support of the governor or the General Assembly for granted,'' Williams said, noting that retirements and open slots for statewide offices mean there will be plenty of turnover in the House of Delegates and state Senate. ''We want to make sure we have a pro-LGBT Legislature and governor in Maryland after the 2014 elections.''

About a dozen people from the D.C. and Maryland LGBT community picketed outside the concert of the Mexican rock band Molotov Monday night as part of a protest against what they say are homophobic, anti-gay lyrics in the group's songs.

The picketers in front of the concert venue, The Fillmore Silver Spring, included members of Equality Maryland, the D.C.-based service center Casa Ruby and the Latino GLBT History Project. Others at the picket included Dr. Dana Beyer, executive director of Gender Rights Maryland, and David Moon of the Maryland Juice blog.

LGBT activists hold up signs protesting violent anti-gay lyrics of the Mexican rock band Molotov outside the band's concert Monday night at the Fillmore Silver Spring.

(Photo by John Riley)

The group held signs reading, ''Words Matter/Las Palabras Importan,'' to protest lyrics that the band has used, particularly those in the song ''Puto.'' The lyrics of that song include the phrase matarile al maricon, or ''kill the faggot.'' But the band and its fans have defended the lyrics, noting that the song is primarily about political corruption and government officials who seek to infringe on people's freedoms. LGBT activists, on the other hand, say the term maricon is used in a negative context and that the ''Puto'' lyrics were allegedly screamed in June in Chile during an attack on a gay teen, Esteban Navarro, who had to have his leg amputated after being attacked by six people wielding machetes, knives and iron bars, according to Terra Online.

Following the attack on Navarro, Molotov released a statement saying the band did not intend for its lyrics to be used to incite violence against the LGBT community. The band also promised to stop using the word maricon on its U.S. tour.

The activists, however, counter that it's not enough to stop using the offensive lyrics in the United States. Throughout the demonstration, the LGBT picketers handed out fliers explaining to concertgoers that they were trying to encourage both the band and its fans to refrain from using homophobic or derogatory language.

''We want concertgoers to be aware that words matter,'' Evan Glass, a member of Equality Maryland's board of directors, told Metro Weekly. ''Molotov has some violently homophobic lyrics in its songs, and these words are very hurtful to the LGBT community. … They have the right to perform here, but we just want to educate concertgoers about the words that the band uses, and we are urging the band to stop using these words wherever they perform.''

Most concert attendees accepted and read the fliers, but many others expressed disagreement and defended the band's use of lyrics as a form of artistic expression and protest against government corruption.

Molotov

(Photo by via Wikipedia)

''I respect their right to voice what they feel, but I think it's a little biased, because the song was written over 10 years ago, and our realities were different,'' Ellen Flores, a concertgoer and local blogger at The Incognito Latina, said of the protesters. ''Matarile al maricon, yes, maricon does mean 'fag,' but that's one of the many definitions it has. For me, my frustration is there are such things as context clues, which they teach us when we learn English, that, when you read a word, you have to read what's around it to understand it. Just because it says puto and matarile al maricon doesn't mean 'fag' or hate crimes against the homosexual community.''

''We have so many struggles, and, pardon my words, but there's so much bullshit going on in our countries, there's so much corruption, and that song is a way for us to vent,'' Flores continued. ''It happens to be that maricon is how they said it, so be it. But it's not toward the gay community. It's toward the political parties and all the corruption.''

Protester Travis Ballie said that even though some of the concertgoers vehemently disagreed with him, he found them ''very respectful'' and aware of the controversy over Molotov's lyrics. He said that some even told him they were allies of the LGBT community. Ballie's argument to several concertgoers that they deserved a band that would not use such homophobic lyrics in its songs.

Besides making the case for why the lyrics should be dropped or changed, Ballie also pushed back against those who would claim the picketers were trying to infringe upon Molotov's free-speech rights.

''I'll say that these lyrics make me feel unsafe in my own neighborhood,'' he said. ''These lyrics are similar to many different names I've been called when walking down the street. Regardless of what they think those lyrics mean, I know what they mean when they are called out to me, whether I was in Mexico City for a trip or I was right here in D.C.''

''Molotov has a constitutional right to be here and perform here,'' Ballie continued. ''I have a constitutional right to question The Fillmore's judgment in booking this band. I have a right to question the wisdom of the band to use lyrics that are violently homophobic by many accounts. I'm here to speak out against the band, and they're still able to perform, but their use of the language doesn't insulate them from the reaction it gets, and it doesn't insulate them from the effect their lyrics have.''

Dana Byer, Ruby Corado (center) and other LGBT activists protest Molotov at the Fillmore Silver Spring.

(Photo by John Riley)

Staff members of The Fillmore Silver Spring were very accommodating to the picketers, providing them bottles of water, though the venue avoided taking a side in the controversy.

''The Fillmore Silver Spring presents a wide variety of music, comedy and other entertainment for an audience that makes up a really diverse community,'' Stephanie Steele, the venue's market general manager, said in release from the venue. ''The views expressed by all of the bands that we feature here, and all of the performers, are not necessarily shared by the venue or the staff.''

Ruby Corado, who heads Casa Ruby, said the band should have dropped ''Puto'' from its set list altogether. She also noted that the band has not promised to stop using the controversial lyrics when it performs outside of the United States, characterizing its promise to refrain from using the lyrics as a ''dishonest'' public relations move.

''You don't say, 'Oh, we'll just hate you outside of the United States,''' Corado said of the band's approach to the controversy. ''Because there, there are no rules, there are no laws [that protect LGBT people]. So, in the United States, we're not going to hate you. But we're going, with your money, to promote homophobia outside of your country.''

Corado, a native Spanish speaker originally from El Salvador, pushed back against the claim that the lyrics are about frustrations over political corruption, noting that Molotov's pejoratives are used in a culture that has historically seen homosexuality as a disease. She added that at Casa Ruby, which works with many Latino LGBT people, several clients have experienced violence, harassment or discrimination from other Latinos, particularly newer immigrants who may hold anti-gay attitudes deemed acceptable in their home countries.

''Overall, the band is not homophobic,'' she said. ''But you can't claim you're not at all when you promote lyrics that are. You may not personally practice it, but you promote it, and homophobia is partly about promotion.''

The LGBT Technology Partnership, a national nonpartisan group of LGBT advocacy groups, academic institutions and technology companies that seeks to address technology issues of specific concern to LGBT communities in public policy, will host its inaugural fall policy forum Sept. 12.

The half-day conference, which takes place from 8 a.m. to noon at the Fulbright Center at 555 13th St. NW, will feature keynote speaker Ajit Pai, an Obama nominee to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), followed by two panels comprised of community and policy experts who will discuss the future of broadband and issues pertaining to online security, privacy and confidentiality.

The broadband discussion will be moderated by Joseph Kapp, one of the co-founders of the LGBT Technology Partnership, and will feature Blair Levin, a fellow at the Aspen Institute and a former chief of staff to the FCC chairman; Denis Spivak, director of membership at Centerlink: The Community of LGBT Centers; Jessie Daniels, a professor at CUNY Graduate Center at Hunter College; and Michael Crawford, director of online programs for the LGBT rights organization Freedom to Marry.

The security and privacy discussion will be moderated by Allyson Robinson, the former executive director of the gay military organization OutServe/Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and will feature input from Alison Gill, the government affairs director for the Trevor Project; Brooke Oberwetter, associate manager of public policy for Facebook; Christopher Wolf, a lawyer with Hogan Lovells and a cofounder of the Future of Privacy Forum; Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance; and Berin Szoka, president of TechFreedom.

Registration for the Thursday, Sept. 12, event, which is free and includes continental breakfast, is available online at lgbttechpartnership.org.

Robbie Rogers never set out to make history. But on May 26, he did just that.

Rogers had taken to the soccer field hundreds of times. Growing up one of five siblings in Orange County, Calif., he began kicking the ball around when he was 4 years old. But as the 26-year-old professional soccer player took to the field this past May for the Los Angeles Galaxy, he became the first out gay man to ever play for a major league team in the United States.

Robbie Rogers

(Photo by courtesy LA Galaxy)

A former Olympian, Rogers had come out just three months earlier in a heartfelt blog post on his personal website in which he announced he was gay and retiring from soccer at the age of 25.

"For the past 25 years I have been afraid, afraid to show whom I really was because of fear. Fear that judgment and rejection would hold me back from my dreams and aspirations. Fear that my loved ones would be farthest from me if they knew my secret. Fear that my secret would get in the way of my dreams," Rogers wrote on Feb. 23 from London, where he had been playing for Leeds United. "Secrets can cause so much internal damage. People love to preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple. Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay. Try convincing yourself that your creator has the most wonderful purpose for you even though you were taught differently."

The revelation that Rogers was gay came at the same time speculation was swirling about when the first male athlete playing for one of the major American sports leagues would become the first to come out as gay. But Rogers was playing in in the United Kingdom, and now he would step away from soccer, he wrote, in order to find himself.

Fast-forward two months, and Rogers had reconsidered his decision to retire. One day after basketball player Jason Collins announced he was gay, becoming the first out male athlete in any of the four major American sports leagues, though he's not since played professionally, Rogers was training with Major League Soccer's L.A. Galaxy and would soon sign a contract with the team after being inspired by a visit with LGBT teens.

"Until I came out publicly," he says, "I didn't realize how important it was for me to talk about it and speak with kids and go visit kids and to share my life a little bit more just so it would help them out because I didn't have that growing up."

Rogers has embraced his new role as a spokesman and role model, and, six months after he announced to the world he is gay, the athlete appears as confident as ever, on and off the field.

METRO WEEKLY: I read you recently suffered an injury on the field. What happened and how are you doing?

ROBBIE ROGERS: Yeah, I've had two injuries, both hamstrings. Just going back now and starting to ride the bike again this week. It's frustrating because you have an injury and you come back and train for a few weeks and you have another one. It's part of being an athlete, but it never gets easier.

MW: It's been a little over six months since you came out in a statement posted on your website. Has the reaction been anything like you anticipated?

ROGERS: I didn't anticipate anything. I didn't know what the reaction was going to be. That's why when I announced I just turned off my phone and shut my laptop, because I didn't know what to expect. From that point on it's been very positive. Everyone's been very supportive.

I told my family back in October/November and they've been with me all along the way. They've been amazing. I feared so much. I feared, obviously, coming out and telling people and talking to people about that part of me. But people have made it really easy for me, really easy for me to come back to soccer and just made it easy for me to get on with my life. So, I'm pretty blessed in that way.

I wasn't going to make a statement or do anything. I was just going to kind of step away from soccer in the middle of January. But I wrote the thing I posted on social media in December and had it on my desktop for a few months and in February I just felt like I kind of wanted to. I don't really know what was urging me to do it, but something inside me told me to do it. And I just spoke with a few friends and they were like, "Yeah, why not? What do you have to lose?" So, that's when I posted that.

MW: How did you come out to your family?

ROGERS: I was in London, so over Skype.

MW: Did they see it coming at all?

ROGERS: No, they didn't.

MW: And what led you to come out over social media?

ROGERS: I didn't have it all the way off my back. I told my family and friends, and people said I looked like I felt 20 pounds lighter. And I did feel that way, but I still felt like it was something I just needed to get off my chest. I didn't know what the reaction was going to be, and I didn't care very much. I just wanted to get this out of me. So that's why I did that. And now in the age of social media it's so easy to get your thoughts and opinions out there.

Robbie Rogers

(Photo by courtesy LA Galaxy)

MW: Do you wish you had done it sooner?

ROGERS: No, I think everyone is different. For me, it was just coming to terms with myself and just kind of doing it on my own time. I think some people are maybe late bloomers and do it in their 30s. Some kids are really confident and know who they are at a young age. For me it took me some time, but I wouldn't have changed it. It was just kind of part of my journey.

MW: You grew up in California and I know that you spent a little bit of time at the University of Maryland. Those two places have reputations as being very accepting, so I'm wondering what drove you into the closet?

ROGERS: The culture of athletics. You're expected to be a straight, very manly like machine. That's the stereotype of athletes. So there was just hearing homophobic things and growing up in the locker room. California, in general, is a pretty liberal place, but the areas I grew up in were very conservative, very Christian-Catholic areas. You grow up hearing things that make you think that if you're gay and were to come out, you wouldn't be accepted.

Everyone has been very positive and accepting, but it starts at a young age that you hear so many things that are negative towards the gay community, which just scares you. And at Maryland, I didn't know anyone gay there. I only went there for a year. It was more so the sports world.

MW: How old were you when you had that realization that you were different?

ROGERS: I was 14 when I really put my finger on it, but I didn't really come to terms with myself until I was about 23. I struggled with it for a long time.

MW: You and Jason Collins are trailblazers in a lot of ways. Why do you think there are so few professional male athletes who have come out publicly, and when do you think that might change?

ROGERS: That last question is a difficult one. After I came out and after Jason came out I thought that there would be a bunch of different people back to back. I think the sports world is still very masculine and everyone is expected to be a certain way and there are those expectations to live up to. But I think there's a lot of fear that if an athlete came out they would not be treated the same by their teammates and by fans and by owners or agents. I don't think it's true, I think we've come to a point in society where we're very accepting and think at any time now is the time to do that.

I think everyone is on their own terms to have the courage and confidence to do that. I think it's tough to put a timeline on it and so it's tough for me to ask people to come out because I'd be a hypocrite. It took me 25 years and it was all about me finding the courage and confidence to do that. I think [other athletes] might look at Jason and I and say, "Okay, everything was good for them." But it's about them. It's about each individual athlete and of course hearing our stories is positive, but it's not going to change everything for them.

MW: You have a huge social media following. Was there any negative reaction to your coming out among them?

ROGERS: Of course. There's always some people out there who are negative and say things like, "Why can't you just keep it to yourself? Why do you have to talk about it?" I wish those people could see the letters that I get from young kids that are suicidal and say, "Hey, I read about your story and I don't want to kill myself anymore." As simple as that.

On social media people can say whatever they want, but I usually just ignore that stuff. I don't go out looking for negative comments. People are going to love you, people are going to hate you no matter. That's just part of being a public figure.

MW: How important is that message sent to kids?

ROGERS: Until I came out publicly I didn't realize how important it was. I didn't realize how important it was for me to talk about it and speak with kids and go visit kids and to share my life a little bit more just so it would help them out because I didn't have that growing up. I think, for me, it's something people with a platform need to do: Be a positive role model. I'm going to continue to do it until it's not an issue at all and then I'll stop talking about it.

MW: When you were growing up, was there anyone in particular who was a role model, maybe not necessarily an athlete?

ROGERS: My parents and family. My grandpa was a huge role model and just an amazing person, but not really. There wasn't anyone that I could really look up to or really relate to, which is probably why it took me so long to come out. I didn't have anyone to mold my life after that I thought was similar to me so that's something I struggled with. Hopefully kids can connect with me. I'm human, so I make mistakes, but I hope that I can live a life where I can be a positive role model for other kids.

MW: You've now played soccer in the U.S. and the U.K. How is it different?

ROGERS: Football in the U.K., it's the biggest sport. And here in the U.S. it's not, so the energy behind the teams, the fans, how much it's on TV, it's so different. If you can just imagine American football, but I think it's even more passionate over in the U.K. and other European countries. There's a lot of history and tradition over in Europe and the rivalries are insane.

MW: You mentioned some of the hyper-masculine environments.

ROGERS: It's very much in soccer in the U.K. and Europe.

MW: Do you think it's more so the case over there?

ROGERS: Definitely more than soccer here, but I've never been inside an NBA or an NFL locker room, so I can't speak for those. Over there it is very masculine and the banter and the jokes and all the conversation is very — I hate to say it like this — very straight, stereotype-athlete mentality talking about, you know, what girls you're hooking up with, what cars you're driving around, where you went out the weekend before, all that stuff. It's tough for a gay athlete to really connect with all that stuff.

MW: Did that ever get under your skin?

ROGERS: It bothered me and made me quiet, but I wouldn't say it got under my skin.

Robbie Rogers

(Photo by courtesy LA Galaxy)

MW: You recently wrote a piece for USA Today about your opposition to boycotting the Winter Olympics in Sochi over Russia's anti-LGBT law. What's your reasoning behind that position?

ROGERS: I was just trying to speak for my experience. After I came out and went back to sports, I realized that the conversations I was having about my life as a gay man were conversations a lot of guys wouldn't have in the locker room or at a team dinner, and I thought that me just being present and playing my sport was a more impactful message to people in the U.S. or soccer fans everywhere or just people around the world.

If someone wants to boycott, they can boycott it. I wasn't trying to say, "No, don't boycott." I was just saying from my experience and if I had a choice I would go and if I was able to encourage people to go I would just so that they could be themselves and be open and be positive and compete. I think that would be the real message. That would make more of a difference. That's just how I felt about it, but I think the decision is up to the athletes themselves.

My experience at the Olympics in Beijing was just amazing, so I wouldn't want to take that away from anyone.

MW: Russian officials have said that there is a risk of arrest if people speak out about this or do so much as wear a rainbow pin. Do you think it's worth that risk?

ROGERS: That's why I also wrote about how I think the Olympic Committee needs to protect people. We'll see what the Olympic Committee does, but it's very important that the Olympic Committee take care of the athletes and create a safe environment for any kind of athlete. It will be interesting to see what happens. But, honestly, I still would go. I'm not going to tell another athlete what to do, but I would still go.

MW: Have you been satisfied with the response from the International Olympic Committee?

ROGERS: No. ... I think until the Olympic Committee makes an official statement or something public where they address all of those issues, I'll wait and see what happens. But I think they simply need to protect everyone. They need to create an Olympics that is positive and safe. That's just common sense to me.

MW: Is there any reaction to your coming out that stands out in your mind more than anything else?

ROGERS: I don't think there was one thing specifically, but it was more in the messages from younger adults that were messages like, "I read your story and really connected with it and now I came out to my family yesterday. It wasn't easy, but thanks for sharing your story because that's what inspired me." Or people who talk about suicide and reading the story and being motivated to live. As simple as that. It's crazy.

I never thought in a million years that me coming out would inspire someone to be themselves and to want to continue to live and kind of change their life. Those kind of reactions were when I was like, "Okay, I'm happy I did this and I feel better about myself." But now I'm really helping people as well. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it feels great to know I'm helping people in that way.

MW: In a lot of ways it seems like you're a spokesman now.

ROGERS: Yeah, if you would've asked me this a year ago — I also came out to my family eight months ago, so it hasn't been that long — but a year ago I would've told you you were crazy.

MW: Is it a role you're comfortable with?

ROGERS: Now I am. I had to get comfortable with it very quickly. Obviously, I came out in public. In a way, I wasn't asking for it. But it's kind of like, you did that so now you have to do it. You know what I'm saying? So I feel very motivated to help people and, again, that wasn't my intention. When I came out I just wanted to be happy with myself and my life and just let people know where I stand.

MW: I'll never hear the end of it if I don't ask this next question. Are you single?

ROGERS: Yes, I am.

MW: And I know you have interests other than soccer. You're involved in a men's fashion line — "Halsey." Is that something we'll see more of in the future?

ROGERS: Yeah, I'm involved with that and working on different things with that. Every season we create a new line so that's obviously busy.

Working on a charity called "Beyond 'it,'" where I'm raising money for nonprofits. And I'm going to co-chair the GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) Respect Awards with Kerry Washington, and a working on a documentary with Steve Nash, and just a bunch of different little things that I think will really help people. It's been very enjoyable for me and I've been learning a lot. My focus right now is definitely soccer -- the other stuff when I have time I work on it.

MW: What's your message to either current athletes who are thinking of coming out, or to some of these young people we've talked about who want to go into professional sports but don't see someone like them on the field or the court?

ROGERS: That's a great question. There's a lot of things I'd like to sit down and say to them, but from my experience I've realized just being honest and open with people makes things really easy. They just know where you stand. They grow to trust you and respect you. I think if you can be an athlete and be totally open, your performance will change and you'll be happy with your life off the field or outside the arena — whatever sport you're in.

Honestly, for me, being open with people has changed my life. I don't know how to word that into a cheesy phrase, but that's about what I would say to them.

Team DC and the Federal Triangles Soccer Club present United Night Out vs. the L.A. Galaxy Saturday, Sept. 14. Game begins at 4 p.m., RFK Stadium. Tickets, $30, are available online at unitednightout.com.

Recently, Ana Matronic left a voicemail. But it wasn't for Pickles, so she didn't ham it up. And since she was calling for a Metro Weekly interview, she also didn't exactly propose a "kiki." But in her way she did complain about the MTA.

"I am a little bit late, my apologies," Matronic said. "I was running errands, and at the mercy of the subway."

Ana Matronic

(Photo by Seth Kirby)

Last year at this time practically every gay in the global village was complaining about the MTA -- "which should stand for Motherfuckers Touching my Ass," as Matronic so memorably put it on "Let's Have a Kiki," the Scissor Sisters hit.

Then, just a couple months later, when people were still drunkenly "kiki"-ing, or partying, the band announced it was going on an "indefinite hiatus" to allow the foursome to take a vacation and pursue other projects. The hiatus is still very much on. Matronic, for one, is nearing the final stage of putting together a debut solo album, with the first single expected by Halloween and the full set due "shortly after that." As a teaser, and an excuse to get back onstage, Matronic will preview at least one song from the new set at Town Danceboutique on Saturday, Sept. 7.

"I think it's just gong to be a short little set," Matronic says, "but we're going to be as in-your-face and hopefully as fun as possible." She's bringing with her Benny and Javier Ninja, from Harlem's "Legendary House of Ninja," made famous from the classic 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning and known for elaborate drag balls and voguing. "I've been under their incredible tutelage. They are my sensei," Matronic says. "I've been learning to vogue and we've been working on a live show together."

Matronic will perform at least one Scissor Sisters song -- as well as "Let's Have a Kiki," of course -- on which she was prominently featured. From "Tits on the Radio" to "Kiss You Off" to "Any Which Way," any time Matronic was out front in a Scissor Sisters song, it was a party.

In fact, the more you learn about the band, the more you appreciate that Matronic, in many key respects, has been the driving force behind the Scissor Sisters. Especially in concert, Jake Shears may be the lead singer and lead showman, but Matronic was essentially in charge of the stage goings-on, particularly for last year's tour. More fundamentally, Matronic, the lone female and heterosexual, was also instrumental in making the band. She put its pseudonymous founders, Shears and Babydaddy, onstage for the first time as Scissor Sisters in 2001 at the New York club party she promoted, joining them to add some pizzazz. The two gay men smartly realized they needed her to be in the band. With her charisma and stage know-how, she helped the band generate buzz for its music, turning it into one of the world's biggest pop acts -- certainly the gayest.

Even on the phone, Matronic oozes charisma. She also proves herself to be smart and savvy -- and sweet -- and one of the gay community's staunchest straight allies, using her pop-star platform to draw attention to gay rights, particularly internationally. To paraphrase a famous line of hers, Putin: She's gonna let you have it.

METRO WEEKLY: Let's start with the question on everyone's mind: "Indefinite hiatus," is that still the status of the Scissor Sisters?

ANA MATRONIC: As far as I know, yeah. But I don't think it's going to be too long. I definitely know how I feel as a performer. I am always itching to perform, and I'm sure it's not too long until we're like, "Okay, it's been a while. We're getting bored here. Let's get back together. Let's do this." But it has been nice having a bit of a break in getting off the roller coaster, because it can be really hard and very, very demanding. We did two albums back to back. Writing, recording, touring. We never really stopped touring between Night Work and Magic Hour. We probably only really had about three months off between the touring of the two, so it was a real ride. The hiatus has been nice. I've definitely been able to get some shit done that was ignored or put off.

MW: Well, you hear "indefinite hiatus" and automatically assume the band's never going to get back together. They're done. But you're saying you don't see things that way with the Scissor Sisters?

MATRONIC: No, I definitely don't. I definitely know that we have at least one more album and tour in us, if not more. We all have other pursuits and other projects that we've worked on since the beginning of the band, and so it's nice to just take a step away, be able to do those other things. And I think you come back together feeling very individually fulfilled. Because sometimes when you are in a group, that group takes over, and you are locked into a dynamic. Locked into a role. And there are so many other modes of creativity for each of us in the band, so it's been really fun for me to have some time to concentrate on writing my comic book, which I've been writing for three years. And work on the Joshua Light Show. And work on a solo record. And collaborate with people that I've been talking about collaborating with for years and never really had the time because I was on tour with Scissors. It's been nice to be able to do those things, but I definitely know that there is something with Scissor Sisters that doesn't happen anywhere else. There is a magic in the combination of the four of us that I don't think I'll be able to create any other place. And certainly not alone.

MW: Would you mind briefly explaining how you got started with the Scissor Sisters? I've seen a couple slightly conflicting stories. Where did you meet Jake and Babydaddy?

MATRONIC: Jake and I met through mutual friends on Halloween at the Slipper Room, this club in the Lower East Side where I was doing a show. We met on Halloween. He was dressed as a late-term back alley abortion, and I was dressed as an Andy Warhol Factory reject. And we took one look at each other, and I was like, "You're my kind of freak." And I invited him to perform at our next cabaret show, which was a week later. And he was there onstage and performed a couple times. And then he brought Babydaddy, and they performed as Scissor Sisters. So the very first show was at my night at the Slipper Room, called "Knock Off." I introduced Jake and Babydaddy as Scissor Sisters. They performed twice at the cabaret. And then at a friend's birthday party, about a month after that, Jake said, "Oh, you know, we've been thinking we might want some feminine energy in the band, and I can't think of anybody who'd be more amazing than you."

MW: Did you have any qualms about joining a band with that name?

MATRONIC: No, oh my God, not at all! I was really mad I didn't think of it myself. Luckily, I got to have at least some ownership of it.

MW: Did the idea for "Let's Have a Kiki" germinate with you?

MATRONIC: It was a collaboration. "Let's Have a Kiki" was Jake's idea, and it was also his idea to do the phone message. But everything in the phone message was me, sort of basing it on a former experience and trying to come up with something funny and engaging. And something to start a party. And wow! Did it ever! More than I could have ever imagined. I knew it was a fun song, but I had no idea the phenomenon it was going to create.

MW: Well, maybe you can do it again with a future single from your debut album.

MATRONIC: I do hope to be delivering an entire album of that fun. [The solo set] is definitely a record that is designed for the dance floor. That's where I find my bliss, and that's where I want to create it as well.

MW: I know that a solo record is just one of several Scissor Sisters side projects you're working on during the hiatus. Another is lighting design. I understand you're working with your husband, Seth Kirby, on that.

MATRONIC: Well, he does a multitude of things, and he's actually my main collaborator on the music for the solo record. Both Seth and I are in a light show called The Joshua Light Show. It was the original psychedelic light show in the '60s at the Fillmore East. And about eight years ago they had a revival of the light show, and Seth has been a part of it since the revival and has become the sort of right-hand man to Josh, the originator of the light show. And I joined in 2010. All the stuff that I do is with liquids. I use a giant overhead projector, and make light that plays behind bands out of oil and water, and the combination therein. All that old liquid imagery that you see from the '60s behind Jefferson Airplane or Jimi Hendrix or the Grateful Dead, I know how to do!

MW: How often does the Joshua Light Show tour?

MATRONIC: We do gigs all over, pretty much anytime we're asked. In April, we were at [University of California] Davis playing with Medesky Martin & Wood. We were at Pace University in end of June/July with So Percussion, and then in October we're going to London to play the Barbican [Centre] for two shows. Oh, and we're backing up MGMT when they play the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in December. I'm super excited about that, I love them.

The Light Show is such an amazing thing to see. It defies description. It's a lot like talking about music. It is its own beautiful visual music that really enhances the experience. It's incredible to see and it makes what you hear have so much more depth and layers.

MW: Do you ever incorporate that into your performing, in your music?

MATRONIC: Yeah, actually. Seth and I made visuals for the last Scissor Sisters show. So there were several songs that had handmade visuals by Seth and myself. And he's done work with Scissor Sisters throughout. He did some visuals on the Night Work Tour, had some on the Ta-Dah Tour. So, yeah, he and I have had our fingers in the production of Scissor Sisters. But it's going to be very hands-on for my solo record, and has been so far. It's really just been all us. The photo shoots, the imagery -- all of it is coming from us and from our creative collaborations, and literally from the inside of our house.

MW: I guess that's something in all these years of covering Scissor Sisters I overlooked: your role with the band's live production, which was always top-notch.

MATRONIC: I was more or less the production designer on the last tour. So I was writing lighting cues and working with the lighting director on the show and overseeing the production and watching shows every night and giving back notes and things like that. So the live experience is something that is really, really important -- the most important thing, as far as I'm concerned. I'm really, really invested in what the audience gets from us. And so I was really heavily involved.

MW: Let's talk a bit about your childhood in Portland, Ore. I understand your parents separated when you were young.

MATRONIC: Yeah, very young, 3.

Ana Matronic

(Photo by Seth Kirby)

MW: And the separation was a result of your father coming out as gay. Is it true that part of the reason you think you long ago immersed yourself in gay culture is because your father was gay?

MATRONIC: That sentiment is in hindsight. It was never something that, when I was 20 and attracted to drag, it wasn't because I had lost my father at 15. It was just because that's what I liked.

Looking back, I think there was a subconscious desire for me to understand my father in a way that I wasn't -- you know, I'm not able to talk to him about his experiences. But I think I really learned a lot about where his head was at, and why he made the decisions he did. And it provided me a great deal of, I think, understanding and forgiveness, because, when you're a kid and your dad leaves you, you don't really understand the reasons why. And you can hang on to that anger and never process it and never let go. And it can cause really detrimental things later on in life. And so, I think in order to forgive and to process the anger and those feelings of abandonment, I subconsciously immersed myself in a world -- or, maybe it was just moving to San Francisco, because that's where he had lived.

My father was never, to my knowledge, involved in the drag scene, or any sort of scene. He was, besides his sexuality, a pretty straight person. He was really preppy, had a Silicon Valley job. And liked musicals and interior decorating. [Laughs.] It sounds really cliché, but that's what he was into. Looking back on it in hindsight, I think there was a certain desire to understand what was going on with my father. But, really, I just sort of fell into this drag community and it spoke to me as somebody who loved to put on the glamorous look and lip-synch to songs, and to get onstage and perform. And that's what drag was and continues to be: this great way to get that hit of performance adrenaline, which I love.

MW: How was growing up in Portland?

MATRONIC: I'm so thankful I grew up there, because I definitely felt like a city kid even though it's a very manageable city, where I could walk around as a 10-year-old, unaccompanied, and feel more than safe. But Portland, it doesn't have the diversity of a big city, the kind that I crave. I felt like I had already, at 21, experienced what Portland had to offer. Portland was live music and beer, and hanging on a friend's porch, and nine months of rain.

MW: As an aside, I should ask what you think of Portlandia?

MATRONIC: Oh, my God. Okay. Portlandia is so on-the-nose, it's crazy. I think it's hilarious. I have one major gripe with Portlandia and that is it never rains on that show. Why does it never rain? And there's never been a sketch about the rain. And there has to be or I'm not going to watch it anymore. Yeah, with the women's bookstore skit, it should always be raining when people are going in there, I think. Why else are people going in there? It's raining!

MW: Your first big city was San Francisco, where you and your sister had gone often to visit your father after he moved there.

MATRONIC: Oh, yes, several times a year. So San Francisco was already a second home to me by the time I was a teenager. And moving there felt at once exciting and challenging, but also like a homecoming. I hadn't been there since my father passed away.

MW: Did you consider yourself close to your real father?

MATRONIC: I didn't think of him as a very open person, but yes, I was as close as I could be with quarterly visits, and we would talk maybe once a week. And then I have my stepfather who really was my more dominant father figure, who came into my life when I was 7. So I was very lucky to have two dads in my life. I had very strong day-to-day dad in JF. And then Robert, my biological dad, he was sort of my fun dad, and he took me to do fun things every time I would come see him. And he's the first person to take me to New York, actually.

MW: Who do you take after most?

MATRONIC: Well, I'm definitely my mother's child, but my father gave me some real gifts and some real traits. I love, love, love architecture, and that's my father all the way. And I love theater and theatrical stuff, and that's also my father. He was really into the theater, and very much into old-style Hollywood glamour, and loved taking me shopping. He was a very sensual person. He loved anything that tasted good, smelled good, looked good. So he passed on a real love of that to me. I've never felt his presence so much as I have while renovating a home, which is what my husband and I have been doing for five years. We've been renovating a house in Brooklyn. It's his voice that I hear, "Yes, go all the way. Do not half-step it."

MW: Growing up, were you performing and viewing yourself as a performer?

MATRONIC: Yes, definitely. My mother likes to say that, when my sister and I were in the bathroom, she never knew how many people were actually in there because there were so many different voices going on. And my sister and I were definitely two little hams together. We were Muppet Babies. We loved The Muppet Show. And I really credit The Muppet Show as being one of my first inspirations, because it was all about what was happening backstage, and then what was happening onstage. We were both really into performing, and both were in drama in high school. We both won Actor of the Year our senior year in high school. [Laughs.] And she still does music as well. She's in a taiko drumming group in Seattle, where she lives.

MW: I understand that your mother is a big fan of yours?

MATRONIC: She is. She wears a sparkly shirt that says "Mama Matronic" across it. She loves to come see us perform. She's 77 now, so she doesn't get to make it out to some of the shows as much as she'd like, but she's never missed a show when we go to the Northwest.

MW: One of my colleagues, who is a huge Duran Duran fan, wanted me to ask how was it working with them, recording the 2010 song "Safe (In The Heat of the Moment)" and singing with them live a few times?

MATRONIC: It was one of those things that I can't even call a dream come true, because I never even in my wildest of wild dreams thought that I would ever work with Duran Duran. So it's one of those things that's so incredible and so awe-inspiring, it kind of doesn't compute. I had to at one point early on in the process -- I was in the studio with Mark Ronson and Simon LeBon and Nick Rhodes -- and I had to walk out of the studio and walk into the bathroom, close the door and just kind of have a little mini freak-out. I looked into the mirror, and there's this 10-year-old me, wetting her pants. [Laughs.] And it's that little chubby 10-year-old that I sort of elbow in the ribs and just think, "Can you believe this? You never thought this was going to happen!"

MW: Tell me about the work you do with Amnesty International, raising awareness about global gay rights.

MATRONIC: I'm involved with Amnesty particularly in the case of a woman named Noxolo Nogwaza. She is an LGBT activist in South Africa, who was brutally beaten, raped and stabbed to death for her work. And so I've been working with Amnesty just in an effort to get her story out, but also just to get people to support Amnesty, and support gay rights, not just in America but in the world. We've come really far in America, and thank God for our Supreme Court repealing DOMA. I'm really happy about that. But stories like Noxolo really show us how far we have to go in the rest of the world. And there's still a lot of work to be done.

What we can do as people is take the time to send an email, or send a letter; send a note of support to somebody. I think about my gay friends in Russia. I think about Pussy Riot in Russia every day. And I think what we really need to do right now is just use our voices in whatever way we can. Amnesty is a really important way to do it.

It's really important for gay people to be visible. For people like Noxolo who take the chance to be visible, they can often pay with their lives. And I don't think that should be forgotten.

MW: On the topic of Russia, there's a lot of debate over what in the grand scheme of things seems trivial -- whether we should boycott Russian vodka such as Stoli, for example. How do you feel about that? What do you think people can do to make a difference?

MATRONIC: I think people do what's important to them. And I think in America we do speak with our wallets, and we speak with our money. We have a capitalist system. And so taking your dollars and using them that way I think is one. I'm not buying Russian vodka. I'm trying not to buy Russian products.

It's really difficult because my heart wants to say boycott the fuck out of Russia. But then I've been there and I've met the people who put on the Queer Fest in St. Petersburg, and I want to support them. And I don't want to not go to Russia because that would mean not seeing them, and not supporting them physically. But I think Vladimir Putin is a motherfucker. And I think he is setting himself up to be a czar. Putin is putting himself in the same place that Czar Nicolas, in the same place that Stalin was in, in the same place that Lenin was. And it's not democracy, it's bullshit. And so we have to continue to use our voices. I'm very lucky to have a platform, and my voice can reach a lot of people. I just think that it's important for everybody to do something. And I think that for me what really works, and what we need to do, is use our voices. It's hard. It's early days yet. But I'm hopeful that with enough voice and enough pressure, we can change things.

You know, I came of age in the '80s and '90s, when ACT UP was a big thing. And I had that "Silence=Death" bumper sticker on my car. And I believe it. Silence equals death. If you do not speak up your rights will be taken away. And the voice and the visibility just lends to the cause, and lets people know that the homosexual community is a community of human beings.

MW: What else is on your horizon? Is it true there are talks of you becoming a judge on the U.K. edition of The Voice?

MATRONIC: I don't know. There have been rumors. I've been a mentor on The Voice over there. And I think a couple of judges are leaving. I would love to do it. It would be so fun. And I'd get to sit in one of those chairs! It'd be rad. Beyond that, I would really love to work with people who have amazing voices but then maybe have some confidence issues, or some performance anxiety. Or need performance help, because that's something I'm really good at. I can get a good performance out of somebody.

MW: You did something similar with Eurovision, I gather.

MATRONIC: For Eurovision I just provided commentary, which was so fun. And it was just me in a booth watching the show and then introducing each act and stuff. It was so much fun, I had a great time. And I hope they ask me back. I had such a blast.

MW: How about personally? Do you see any kids in your future?

MATRONIC: Oh boy. I love the idea, but completely terrified by the reality of it. But perhaps. And if not biological, than probably adopt a kid. Sometimes I think that maybe a foster kid, or if there's a trans kid who's been in foster care, who needs a place, that may be my kid someday. I don't know. I'm open.

Ana Matronic performs Saturday, Sept. 7, at Town Danceboutique, 2009 8th NW. Cover is $8 before 11 p.m., or $12 after. Call 202-234-TOWN or visit towndc.com.

Daniel Clarkson has a valid fear of “Potterheads.”

“These people come dressed up with all their wands,” he says about fans of Harry Potter. “Although the wands might not be able to do magic, if you get a wand shoved in the wrong place it still hurts.”

Fortunately, Clarkson has so far avoided any wand wounds from Potterheads angry at a wrong word or detail in his parody of the Potter franchise, co-written and co-performed with Jefferson Turner. In fact, Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience has been a critical and commercial success everywhere it’s played.

Potted Potter: Jeff Turner and Daniel Clarkson

(Photo by courtesy of Potted Potter)

“What we attempt to do is condense all seven Harry Potter books into 70 minutes,” Clarkson says. “Jeff plays Harry Potter, which leaves me to play all the 360 other characters. And we throw in a live game of ‘quidditch’ as well.”

The idea for Potted Potter, which makes its Washington debut next week at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, came from a publicity stunt as part of the launch of H.K. Rowling’s sixth Potter book, 2009’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. At the time, Clarkson was doing a lot of standup comedy in the U.K., and a friend of his at a London PR firm asked him to condense the plot of the first five books into a 20-minute sketch. Ever the comedian, Clarkson says he recruited Turner to help because, “He looked like Harry Potter if you kind of squint and look the other way.” Soon enough, the two had created a full-length stage show that was a sell-out success at the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Thanks to its seemingly unstoppable success, including hit runs on London’s West End and New York’s off-Broadway, Clarkson and Turner have started a company, Potted Productions, and are considering future condensed parodies of The Lord of the Rings and Dr. Who. But they have already developed two other thematic shows that have toured the U.K.: Potted Panto, condensing eight pantomimes popular in that country at Christmastime, and the multi-sourced Potted Pirates.

“You can see the theme here,” Clarkson says. “It’s what we kind of want to dress-up as: wizards, pirates and princesses. That kind of sums us up as people.”

Potted Potter opens Thursday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m., and runs to Sept. 15, at Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW. Call 202-547-1122 or visit shakespearetheatre.org.