SERIOUSLY?  There is hate  all over the south,  but  now,  even in Washington DC?

Other restaurants — even in liberal Washington — have been publicly shamed for slinging homophobic and transphobic remarks, often directed at LGBTQ patrons who show affection in public. In London in 2014, a lesbian couple was asked to stop kissing because they were in a “family restaurant.” When a gay couple gave each other a peck on the lips before entering an Ohio pizzeria, they were accosted by a staff member, who told them, “You better get used to this, this is Trump’s America.” (He was later fired.) A gay couple reported that they were asked to leave a Dublin restaurant for holding hands. Incidents like these make LGBTQ couples believe, as Eleanor Margolis wrote in the New Republic, that they should put the “kibosh on sexuality until after dessert. … Same-sex couples are still forced to be careful about where they choose to kiss or even hold hands.”

The Prime Rib’s website boasts that it is one of the top five romantic restaurants in America. But a couple who recently dined at the restaurant’s Washington location disagrees: After the man and his partner asked to split an ice cream sundae, they say their server told them two men eating out of the same bowl “doesn’t go with the ambiance of the restaurant.”

Ron Gage, 55, and his partner, Henry McKinnon, 58, didn’t see it coming. They were properly attired in blazers, which the restaurant requires, for their 8:30 reservation. They had been joking around with their server Thursday evening, in what Gage said had been a nice evening until dessert.

“When it came time for dessert, we asked for one sundae with two spoons,” Gage said. Their server “said he would bring it in two separate dishes. He said ‘It wouldn’t look right with two gentlemen eating out of the same sundae. It doesn’t go with the ambiance of the restaurant.’ ”   Read  More  @  Washington  Post!

The Museum of Censored Art
will open to the public on
Thursday, January 13, 2011,
on the Smithsonian’s doorstep, announced art and free speech activists Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone today. The free speech advocates will open the Museum of Censored Art in a mobile office trailer outside the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, where they will screen the film censored by the Smithsonian, “A Fire In My Belly” by the late gay artist David Wojnarowicz .

The work was part of the larger “Hide/Seek” exhibit of gay and lesbian portraiture currently at the National Portrait Gallery. However, the piece was removed Nov. 30 by Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough after anti-gay groups labeled it “anti-Christian.” The same groups that succeeded in having the Wojnarowicz film censored originally wanted the entire “Hide/Seek” exhibit removed from the Gallery.

WHAT: The Museum of Censored Art. “Showing the art the Smithsonian won’t.” A mobile office trailer converted into a temporary gallery exhibiting the censored film as well as educational materials about the controversy. URL: Dont Censor

WHEN: January 13, 2011, 11:30 AM . Normal operating hours will mirror National Portrait Gallery hours: 11:30 AM – 7:00 PM every day through February 13, 2011.

WHERE: 7th & F Streets NW, Washington, DC, in the curb lane on F Street outside the entrance to the National Portrait Gallery.

WHO: DC-based activists Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone — the “iPad protesters” who were banned from Smithsonian property after playing the film inside the museum on an iPad. Protest video: Protest  .

“We are displaying this art on the doorstep of the National Portrait Gallery to restore the censored art to the Smithsonian, keep the censored art visible and accessible to the public, and hold the Smithsonian accountable for its actions,” Blasenstein said.


 

(photo by Philip Blackmon)

STATEMENT FROM MICHAEL CRAWFORD, CO-CHAIR OF D.C. FOR MARRIAGE
ON MAYOR ADRIAN FENTY SIGNING THE D.C. MARRIAGE BILL:

“D.C. for Marriage is elated that Mayor Adrian Fenty has signed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009, following the overwhelming vote in support of marriage equality by City Council on Tuesday. We are blessed to have the continuing strong and diverse support for marriage equality in Washington, D.C from Mayor Fenty, members of the Council, faith leaders, and residents.

“Having the right to legally marry will have an invaluable impact on gay and lesbian people and our families. Our work has always been about ensuring that every child and every parent in the District has the protection of full equality, so we can strengthen both our families and our community.  We are excitedly looking forward to seeing the first couples and their joy as they are finally able to marry, here in the District.

“With today’s bill signing, the District has once again proven its long-time commitment to social justice and equality. We have boldly blazed a trail for the rest of the country by creating a coalition of support among clergy representing many different faiths, and residents of every race, ethnicity and origin in this majority African-American city.  Together, we have ensured that the first jurisdiction in the South to make marriage equality law is our nation’s capital.

“As we now focus on defending marriage equality on Capitol Hill, we remain committed to our outreach and education efforts to unify the D.C. community. Our hope is that, as the federal government takes its first look at a local marriage equality measure, Members of Congress will respect the decision made by D.C.’s democratically elected government and not interfere with the enactment of the bill.

“At the same time, the discrimination-promoting groups who stripped marriage equality from our families in California and Maine now have their sights on D.C., and threaten to force a ballot initiative on same-sex marriage, along the lines of California’s Proposition 8 and Maine’s Question 1.

“In D.C., we believe all people and families should be treated equally. We disagree with outsiders who come into our city to advocate for discrimination against our friends and our neighbors. Their efforts will fail here.

“Mayor Fenty’s signing of the bill today may not end the fight, but we will triumph.  In a matter of months, the work of so many of D.C.’s residents will culminate in full equality for all.”

DC FOR MARRIAGE